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Tips for my first gig

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  • October 22, 2011 at 11:58 pm #8936
    Arbite
    Member

    Alex Sertini, post: 8931 wrote: Hello there,next friday I have my first gig coming up,so this is one of the basics question. How should I prepare myself,and how to negotiate with the club owner? I will mix for about 5 hours,and just in case you need to know,i will mostly mix,house,tech-house and some commercial music,for example Guetta,Alexandra Stan,Pitbull and something like that… Some tips and advices would be usefull! Thank you

    Ask if you can get the chance to play with the clubs system before the gig. Get used to all the various spots in the room and how the music sounds in each one. It will also help you at the actual gig because you’ll already have an idea of how you want to set up everything. Also, try and get to know the bar staff, most of the guys who work at the clubs tend to be pretty friendly. Doing this can help you get a consistant spot there.

    October 23, 2011 at 12:52 am #8937
    Deathray
    Member

    take your time, don’t rush your mixes but don’t keep the same track going on so long that it bores the pants off the crowd. Don’t be afraid to play a good track twice.

    October 23, 2011 at 1:47 pm #1001968
    softcore
    Member

    Personally speaking I would avoid playing the same track twice, even if the first time I played it only the bar tenders heard it (the place was empty).

    Provided you ‘ll be playing house and tech-house, and if you are going to be the only DJ on that night, I would suggest to have about an hour of some deeper, minimalistic house as warm up.

    Also, since the duration allows (5 hours) play some less known-commercial tracks that you believe could fit with the style of the more commercial ones – use them to let the audience know that you don’t only play the “established” and anticipated tracks and create the image that you are a well-informed DJ musically. Don’t be afraid to “touch” a bit of softer and harder genres (deep house as I mentioned for warm up – a bit of techno during the peak hour).

    If you are an organisation freak organise your playlist track order by “hours”. I speculate you will be needing at least 80 tracks for a 5 hour set. Gather even more if you want to have a flexible playlist that you will be able to adopt according to the audience’s reactions.

    All the above are personal opinions and as such should not be taken as “must do” but rather as “what I would do”. 😉

    October 23, 2011 at 3:52 pm #8946
    DJ Max D.
    Member

    Srecno 🙂

    October 23, 2011 at 6:07 pm #1001970
    Alex Sertini
    Participant

    Thank you guys. Hvala Maxe 🙂

    October 23, 2011 at 9:05 pm #8953
    Digitall DJ
    Member

    First, well done for getting such a good set for a first gig!
    My early gigs were all short and sweet (60-90mins). Based on that experience my main tip was going to be plan your set before the gig. In the case of such a long set I’d certainly plan the first 30mins. You will have lots to think about at the beginning of the night – setting up, working out connections, getting levels right etc. and invariably the booth is a busy place as the staff set up lighting etc, so I find it a great advantage to be able to load a playlist and go without having to think about track selection.
    When I say plan, I mean not just the tracks, but also the transitions – put cue markers in to remind you when to mix out and set load cues for all tracks. It’s time consuming and sounds too clinical but you will be grateful when you are there. As soon as you are settled in and relaxed, you can of course abandon your playlist and go with the flow.
    I would also echo the advice above – set up playlists for segments of the night – that way the night will have a good structure.

    Final tip – enjoy yourself! There’s nothing better than seeing those first groups venture onto the floor!

    Let us know how it goes – good luck.

    October 29, 2011 at 1:20 am #9145
    Alex Sertini
    Participant

    So here I am,just came home from my first gig. I must say it was pretty good. I played for about three and a half hours. First I played tech-house,and tribal house,then I switched to something like “loca people” and some other commercial music,and then again some tech-house and house music… I played it from the lowest tempo which was 124 to the highest 136. The only problems were the fight which broke out,so I had to finish earlier,and people who weren’t dancing. I tried to make them dance with lot of types of music,but they just didn’t seem to be in good mood. But there were also people that were dancing all night. 3 guys told me that the music was awesome,and I was really glad to hear that from them. Well,that’s how my first gig looked like,and I must say I am really satisfied with it.

    October 29, 2011 at 2:17 am #1002015
    DJ Max D.
    Member

    Glad to hear it went well 🙂

    October 29, 2011 at 4:33 pm #9159
    Digitall DJ
    Member

    Great news dude – and if you dealt with those problems and come out unscathed you should indeed be pleased!!
    Onwards and upwards!

    October 29, 2011 at 7:55 pm #9165
    Phil Morse
    Keymaster

    Good work!

    October 30, 2011 at 2:26 am #9180
    Alex Sertini
    Participant

    Hvala & thanks 🙂

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