What one lesson has playing in front of a real audience taught you about programming / song choice?

This topic has 20 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by Phil Morse.

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June 13, 2012 at 4:17 pm #1006125

Miec
Member

Not exactly on programming but the biggest thing for me would be, that the same track can sound drastically different on a large PA than it sounded on your home speakers and/or headphones. And that happened in two directions.

On the one side tracks that had sounded rather relaxed at home were too harsh when played on a big system. This especially happened with tracks that have very dominant hi-hats.. or generally much going on in the high frequency band.

And the other way around, it happened that a track that sounded rather boring at home was played out by another DJ and I questioned myself how I could have missed the brilliance of that very same track.

June 13, 2012 at 6:19 pm #1006132

Jahit Halil
Participant

After many years of djing it still suprises me to hear the same records sounding so different because of venue changes and the energy one gets from the crowd at that time and space. İn other words records you think will work dont and vice versa. İve also learnt how to pace myself or should i say not get into the music too deeply so to speak as this used to be so distracting for me that i would lose concentration.

June 13, 2012 at 10:07 pm #1006143

Steelo
Participant

Don’t play all your bangers at once. Start more mellow, tease the dancefloor with a few familiar samples but make them wait a bit. When you do drop something big, it will tear the roof off.
Also don’t get too silly with effects. New DJs often get over the top with this…not every track needs a flanger!

June 13, 2012 at 11:08 pm #1006147

NewportDJ Drew
Participant

Watch out for the ‘Alpha’ in the crowd. This can be harnessed or can destroy you. This tip is for mobile work and not so much the club scene..

June 14, 2012 at 2:04 am #1006151

actionPak
Participant

Always intersperse your set with some songs the crowd knows (i.e., radio friendly, commercial remix) or else they will all leave the dancefloor…. 🙁

June 14, 2012 at 6:40 am #1006165

Terry_42
Keymaster

Good organization saves you programming time and the need to search your whole collection….
Like have the BPM there already in iTunes if you make playlists there.
I then make playlists by genre and by putting low energy songs first and the highest energy songs last. So I know where to scroll in the playlist to search for a particular energy I need.
If you mix in key, have the key clearly visible, even having it in 2 places can be beneficial if you use different DJ software.
MixedInKey is a valuable tool and worth trice its money….

June 18, 2012 at 2:43 pm #1006377

softcore
Member

Never underestimate the “power” of a mediocre track as an intro to one of your “bangers”….In order tog et the audience high you first have to pick them up from “low”…….

I hope it makes sense – I know it does in my native language! 😉

June 18, 2012 at 3:00 pm #1006379

Rodders
Member

This might sound obvious but be prepared to change direction of your mix if the audience seem so inclined, regardless of what genre was expected beforehand.

actionPak, post: 22081, member: 2399 wrote: Always intersperse your set with some songs the crowd knows (i.e., radio friendly, commercial remix) or else they will all leave the dancefloor…. 🙁

This is where clever use of samples, loops and acapellas come in.. Find a few choice snippets to drop over whatever you happen to be playing and the crowd simply think they’re listening to a new bootleg and you don’t lose any credibility by ‘selling out’ your mix 🙂

June 18, 2012 at 3:01 pm #1006380

Rodders
Member

This might sound obvious but be prepared to change direction of your mix if the audience seem so inclined, regardless of what genre was expected beforehand.

actionPak, post: 22081, member: 2399 wrote: Always intersperse your set with some songs the crowd knows (i.e., radio friendly, commercial remix) or else they will all leave the dancefloor…. 🙁

This is where clever use of samples, loops and acapellas come in.. Find a few choice snippets to drop over whatever you happen to be playing and the crowd simply think they’re listening to a new bootleg and you don’t lose any credibility by ‘selling out’ your mix 🙂

June 18, 2012 at 7:23 pm #1006392

Steelo
Participant

softcore, post: 22323, member: 243 wrote: Never underestimate the “power” of a mediocre track as an intro to one of your “bangers”….In order tog et the audience high you first have to pick them up from “low”…….

I hope it makes sense – I know it does in my native language! 😉

This makes perfect sense. You’re set should be a journey.

June 19, 2012 at 5:27 pm #1006445

Mike Steed
Participant

I have 2 big ones.

Never plan your set completely in case it bombs..
and no matter how many times the most drunk person in the venue asks you for the most mental tune in your collection at 10pm do not bow to the pressure you will have nowhere to go afterwards!

June 19, 2012 at 6:10 pm #1006448

DJ T3ch Hu5ky
Member

Avoid anime and video game based remixes. unless you are djing at a convention that is based on those genres. they will NOT go over well.

June 20, 2012 at 5:50 pm #1006493

twicx
Member

I’ve got 2.

1. “I’m not sure if I have that track, but I’ll have a look through my library and put it on if i have it, k?”
2. “No seriously, i’m really grateful for the opportunity to play here. It was a lot of fun, and I’d absolutely love to play again. You got my card, right? And did you give me yours?”

Now bare in mind that I’m only new to playing live, but they’re mine so far. That and making sure you piss before you play, but thats obvious.

June 20, 2012 at 6:30 pm #1006495

gullum
Participant

Be prepaired to play nothing you’ve prepeard. I’ve pland some sets verry good beforehand and when starting to play figguring out that the age groupe was way of and had to switch to classic 80-90’s dance hits. If you play a set no one likes to dance to it’s going to be the most boring night for you and the crowed. Thats why I how alwasy have some backup playlists 80-90’s pop/ Clasic rock/ Disco. Usealy I’m there for the crowed and not them that are there for me.

So I learned to have backup plans. If the mens room is taken use the ladies room 🙂

July 11, 2012 at 12:47 am #1007485

TheReturn
Member

softcore, post: 22323, member: 243 wrote: Never underestimate the “power” of a mediocre track as an intro to one of your “bangers”….In order tog et the audience high you first have to pick them up from “low”…….

I hope it makes sense – I know it does in my native language! 😉

I think ‘mediocre’ track is the wrong word.

You should always play tracks that you think are great! I think what you mean is you need to play a more restrained track or a building track or a deeper track.
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