Song Transitions

I’ve definitely noticed it. I’ve seen it mostly in drum & bass sets but in many others as well. I liked it the first few times I heard it (maybe because it was just something different) but now it irritates me a bit (especially when it’s one of my favorite tracks that they cut short into something else). My theory (most likely unfounded– just a theory) is that it may be a cover-up for poor programming. Instead of selecting an appropriate amount of solid tracks that flow well together to make a set with, they cram in as many as possible knowing that, just by pure probability theory, the crowd’s going to like at least some of them. On the other hand though, they could simply be showing off how quick they can mix tracks.

JSeabee, post: 16938, member: 1658 wrote: That’s to funny I just cant seem to get into any of the 80’s stuff but I still play it ever now and then when its requested.

Sure man, it’s all good 🙂

Personally i like a lot of pop/rock stuff from other decades, and also it’s fun to use some really old stuff to spice up an indie set 🙂 Of course i don’t cut guitar solos in the middle like the other guy i mentioned haha

When I spin at a venue that attracts a top 40/hip hop crowd, I tend to do alot of fast mixing at the start of the night.
The tunes Im usually playing in the intro stage are mostly classic top-40 style songs from a few years back so I tend to do alot of quick transitions because I like to give a wide variety of music in the beginning. I like giving people the “Wow! I used to love this song back in the day” feeling when building up. I also tend to quick-mix these because I feel it is unnecessary to play the whole song to give people that feeling. Since its mostly hip-hop/R&B, I dont feel like it kills the energy making quick transitions, because unlike EDM genres, there are not energetic build ups and drops in the tracks. I try to put myself in the perspective of the crowd when making these transitions, and I think when playing alot of classics in the intro stage of a set, playing each and every song from start to finish is a waste of valuable real estate in the night to play newer music and current chart toppers. When Im at the peak of my set, I usually play the current hits from start to finish as these tunes are more fresh in the minds of the venue goers. I guess it all depends on feeling your crowd, since they are the most important thing to please.

That is also true. (This is a top-40 venue remember) By playing more variety of music early, I can find out when building up the set, whether I should be playing more of, say…

Rap-style hip hop (Notorious BIG/Jay-Z),
Club-hop (Flo-Rida/Pitbull),
Pop (Katy Perry/Nicki Minaj….weak lol)
etc.

Typically Id play ALL the chart toppers at peak hour (1 1/2 hour before closing), no matter how they reacted to these early tunes, simply because I’m confident the majority of the venue goers would perfer to hear these. After doing this, Im confident ill have a full floor, and at this point (45 minutes before closing), I can get away with playing newer music that has yet to reach the charts, and some of my own personal style (Prog house/Electro/Mashups), and of course ending the night with a smasher.