Im a Horrible Dj…What Next?

you have to stick at it, relax and don’t try to force progress. i’ve been djing for 10 years now and am still learning every day. it took me 5 years until i was comfortable enough to play in front of a crowd.
practice, practice and more practice is the key. you can read all the books and tutorials in the world, but nothing beats hands-on experience. nobody taught me anything, i learnt about beatmatching, cueing, phrasing all through trial and error (with a little basic understanding)… i figured out what sounded good/bad on my own. if it was good, i’d try it again and again. if it was bad, i’d try it again and then never again.
if you try to run before you can walk then you’ll fall. ask yourself, do you really want to do this? or do you just think you do. you can still love and have passion for music without being a dj. if you do want it, then be prepared for it to be very hard, but also have fun with it.

Sounds like you have Data Overload try a break from DJing for sometime do all those other jobs you put off because you where learning how to DJ.

Then get back into DJing and see how it works out.

The thing to remember as another person wisely said is to keep practicing. To me it sounds like you are trying to do too much at once. You need to chill and learn your music. Having a passion is also about being patient enough to learn and understand that you will make mistakes. It’s comes with learning. Learn from your mistakes. DJing is about having fun as well. Play some tunes and enjoy. Good luck and remember to breath.

Question: are you a gifted person by any chance?

Vocals mixing: the obvious advice to NOT mix vocals is solid. If for some reason the vocals get in the way, a trick I use on occassion is mid EQ. Since vocals happen around 2-4 kHz, turning down the mids on the incoming tune will give it a karaoke feel. If you do this on a singlee song it sounds awful, but in the mix the effect gets masked because you still have the full mid range of the outgoing song, including … it”s vocals. If all else is going well, you quickly bring over the lows (down eq on outgoing up eq on incoming), then start with the vocals. Depending on the vocalsyou can do it quickly or play with it for a longer mix. It’ll be a knob turning mix but can be done.

Big BPM difference: the first question to ask is, WHY do I want to switch tempo so dramatically. More often than not those transitions break the flow you have the audience in. cause no matter how smooth you transitioned, ghe crowd needs to start dancing to a totally different beat! Mobile DJs are forced to make some crazy moves like that and will use mic techniques to prepare the crowd for what is coming, effectively slowing the crowd down before getting them moving in a different direction again. Ifyou really want/must do it, tap delay could offer a helping hand. Make sure that you have a tapped in delay ready that is long enough to give you a few seconds of echo. Then bring the new song in (maybe from a filtered position bringing in the lows first). What you have accomplished is that the dying out echo will signal to the crowd that something is coming to an end and you bring in something new ” through the mist” so to speak.

Tip: in the old days, you just had records and a flat mixer. DJs managed to get crowds moving then. Sure the crowds have gotten more demanding, but in the end it is still musical selection that will make or break a night, no matter how skillfully mixed. I have seen trainwrecks at great nights and I have had flawless nights that were dead as a doornail.

Others said it already, but allow me to drill the point home: don’t focus on the technology too much, enjoy and use what you can with confidence. I have 35 years of DJ-ing on me and have never made a serious mashup ( well not consciously anyway :-)) But I have made my audiences happy most of the time and sent people home after a night of enjoying themselves. What they’ll remember is having danced all night to great music in a flow. Very few will remenber the transitions, the effects and yes even the occassional trainwreck.

Good luck buddie, your in school for life. Just make sure you enjoy the journey not just the destination.

Greetinx,
C.