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Pre-Mixed Warm Up Set – Yay or Nay?

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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • April 9, 2015 at 1:33 am #2172661
    Maximlee
    Blocked

    Anyone would in this situation play a cd… If there is not many people there plus they are doing a auction background noise is the most professional thing. You dj when it is necessary. When there is people and there attention is not on something else.

    April 9, 2015 at 9:10 am #2172821
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    I disagree.
    If you are being a professional you DJ. Have I DJed for thousands of people: Yes. Have I DJed for 3 people: Yes.
    Your job is to entertain, no matter how many people are there. If you do a good job, more people will come early and more people might not just mingle but be entertained and shuffle their bodies…
    Just playing a CD is like: Oh wait I do not care about you unless there are more of you. Which is highly unprofessional.

    April 9, 2015 at 9:22 am #2172921
    Solow
    Participant

    I’d say take it easy on your mixing till you get to the peak of the night. That way you can still be professional but don’t wear yourself out. Just fade in between tracks for a while and then kick it into a higher gear when its time to jam

    April 9, 2015 at 9:42 am #2173021
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    I used to be a resident in 5-star hotels for a few years (Hilton, Sheraton, high end Holiday Inn). Those were 6 days a week gigs. 6 hours a day. There’d be days with 0-10 people in over the entire night, there’d be jam-packed nights (mostly weekends with the locals). Like Terry said, you are there and getting paid to DJ, so you DJ.

    There is another practical thing to playing yourself instead of playing CDs (and playing other DJs soundcloud stuff would be a no-no for me. If you have to play premixed, premix some stuff yourself). If you actually play, you prep your mind for the night ahead. You start the process of thinking “what comes next”. You don’t fall prey to boredom, but are getting ready for the hot part of the night. Also, you can watch the crowd and see how they react, are they foot-tapping, head-shaking, body-shuffling to your 70s/80s low bpm stuff or it is the most recent low energy top 40 hits that have them moving at their seat.

    It’s all valuable information that you take with you into the evening.

    And doing a 6 hour gig is really not that big of a thing. If you do mobile DJ work, you start loading the truck at three in the afternoon and don’t come home til 5 in the morning after emptying out the truck again. And there isn’t any peace for the wicked in between, apart from the time spent behind the wheel perhaps.

    Hope that helps.

    April 10, 2015 at 4:15 am #2173831
    Lamid45G
    Participant

    Disagreeing too,

    Using a premixed sets in the beginning is a no no for me, even tough like you said the organizer “fine with it”, later on they going to think “well he just playin a mixtape anyway, well folks next time we dont need a DJ’s, save our budget!”

    The organizer hired you as a DJ not an operator, so act like one,
    Even tough your sounds just a background sound for everyone else, but you still can commandeering, manipulated their mood, get them all warm, prepped up for your next bangin sets!

    It can also leads to a laziness attitude, which is not good

    Only time i slipped a mixtape (my own made mixtape anyway, not some random download from soundcloud, another sign of “laziness attitude”, if you use your own mixtape you can still maintained your style and colors) is when i need to take an emergency exit #2 to a bathroom, or grab me a bite to eat, then again I cant just let the mixtapes runs for too long, cuz im itching to get back behind the decks again lol

    April 10, 2015 at 5:01 pm #2174871
    Nathan Kelly
    Participant

    Thanks for the tips, everyone. Vintage, this in particular struck a chord with me: “If you actually play, you prep your mind for the night ahead. You start the process of thinking ‘what comes next’. You don’t fall prey to boredom.”

    That’s a really good point. Just some things to add:

    (1) I’m a hobbyist, not a professional. 1-2 gigs a month here, mostly for fun.
    (2) Getting paid very little, and the organizer is a personal friend.

    I was still thinking that I’d be “directing” the background music. Watching reactions, adjusting levels, switching genres, eventually mixing in my own stuff. I just wanted to take it easy until it’s time to get the party going.

    But I agree with the general sentiment here: The optics of putting the music on “auto-pilot” are bad.

    April 10, 2015 at 8:06 pm #2175081
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    I guess Rizki said it all:

    cuz im itching to get back behind the decks again

    April 10, 2015 at 9:47 pm #2175261
    Alex Moschopoulos
    Participant

    I’d refrain from doing it. If you can’t play five hours like that, then you’re missing what being a DJ is. It’s not short “guest spot” sets, but long nights. Danny Teneglia would play 10 hours in a night.

    It’s up to you.

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