TL;DR: I used to think operating four decks meant learning to manage more complexity through practice and muscle memory. After changing my workflow, I discovered something unexpected: how much mental energy I’d been wasting just operating my controller. Removing that burden hasn’t just improved my confidence. It’s given me more freedom to be creative.
I’ve been reflecting on something interesting about four-deck DJing.
Previously, just thinking about moving beyond two decks brought a certain uneasiness.
I could actually feel myself becoming more mentally alert, preparing for the additional workload.
I’d scan my iPad, check the controller, confirm settings, double-check which deck I was controlling, and mentally prepare for the next action.
It wasn’t particularly enjoyable.
The conventional advice is to practise until muscle memory takes over. And muscle memory is certainly valuable.
But I’ve started questioning whether we’re sometimes using muscle memory to compensate for unnecessary complexity.
Why should we have to train ourselves to work around an interface when the interface could be designed to work more naturally with us?
Recently, I changed the way I interact with my controller.
What surprised me wasn’t simply that operating four decks became easier.
It was the psychological change.
That familiar mental preparation has largely disappeared.
The checking, second-guessing and hesitation have been replaced by confidence.
And here’s the part I find most interesting.
I hadn’t fully appreciated how much attention I’d been sacrificing until I no longer needed to sacrifice it.
Instead of thinking about how to operate four decks, I’m thinking about what I can create with them.
More spontaneous ideas. Greater willingness to experiment. Less interruption to my creative thinking.
Before, four decks felt like four responsibilities.
Now, four decks feel like four possibilities.
It’s made me wonder how much of our creative potential is unnecessarily occupied by managing equipment rather than making music.
I’m curious whether other DJs have experienced something similar.
Have you ever held back a creative idea because the mental effort of operating your controller got in the way?
