This method works great if you want to have a preloaded DJ mix on your iPod, replete with crossfades from one song to another and other fancy moves you can add in. Your DJ mix will play all the way through if left unattended, which is the desired effect in most cases.
- Get an audio editing program, and learn to use it. Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a free open-source audio editing program that delivers surprisingly good quality. Though this is a powerful tool, learning to use it is not so hard (there are more tutorials on the website).
- Open your songs for the night in your editing tool and patch them together into one big file, using crossfading, delay, repetition, and whatever other effects you want to throw in there. Mixing in movie quotes works well too, although it's illegal to download those from fan sites without permission of the copyright owner.
- Once all the tracks are lined up end to end, mix the file down and put it on your iPod. Now when you play this file from your iPod over your own stereo or at the club, bar, pool room, campfire, or wherever, you'll have a solid evening of pumping entertainment.
- Build up your library of dance tunes with tracks from DJ-oriented sites and labels (such as www.city16.com, www.FadeRecords.com, www.RatRecords.info) that offer digital downloads.
- The iTunes Music Store is another good source for theme playlists you can purchase, but those cannot be edited into your mix in Audacity; you'd have to play them back-to-back, sans crossfading instead.
If you want something more hands-on, something that approaches the live shuffling of discs and the ability to choose tracks that move with the crowd's energy, you're going to need two iPods to allow you to seamlessly fade and keep the choices dynamic.
