Hi DT, well there is an article on the “serato”-face on the blog right now. Good reading :-).
I am not familiar enough with Trance DJs to know if 6-7 minutes per track is too long. It would be for most other genres. It would be way too long for me as a visitor if I heard the same tune going for 6=7 minutes. A bit like the remixes in the old days of big disco hits. Good as they were, they were not made to be played in full, but rather to give DJs more creative space on where to mix in/out of those. A rule of thumb is 20 tracks an hour on average, leaving it at 3 minutes. This will make you a little busier.
Since we don’t advocate set playlists for live gigs, you’ll always be busy preparing the next track, cueing it up, getting the bpm ready. But you are right, even then you’ll get to the point where you actually have nothing to do. It’s (all my opinion of course) really important to create a connection/rapport with the audience. You have to see what happens there to be able to pick the next track going forward. And if you don’t dance yourself, at least stand moving to the beat, nodding your head, making eye contact with people in the crowd (especially the girls – they usually are girls – that are first on the dancefloor, they are your allies!). Look like you are enjoying not only the DJ-ing but the actual music your are playing.
THIS will be the biggest challenge for every DJ going from bedroom to live playing. In your bedroom you are the only audience and what you pick as next tune will automatically be ok with you. But live you are no longer playing for YOU, you are playing for THEM! Suddenly you can put on the next 6-7 minute tune and people will turn around and head to the bar. Clearly you picked the wrong tune. No worries, we all do that (me too after 37 years experience), but the trick is to not let that track play to it’s long-@ss end, but grab another track you think will bring them back, mix it in professionally at the shortest feasible moment and look like you planned it that way.
Not sure what the rest of your setup is like, but swap out the 350 for a 900 and you have some extra buttons and features you don’t have to worry aobut (live is usually not a very good place to start experimenting with new features – “what does this button do? – NOOOO – KABOOOM!!!!” 😀 ). So no, don’t worry, just stick to the buttons and faders you know from your 350. Volume, cross, EQ, filter, trim. The FX you have on your 350 will be on the left hand side of the 900. And you will have a color knob per channel (to control those FX, like filter). I’d forget about the right hand side FX, they take practice to work as intended.
Hope that helps and break a leg. And remember: you have only one first gig, so whatever you do, make sure you ENJOY the experience. It’ll be a great story to tell your grandkids one day!
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