D-Jam

My top tip for forging your own sound is to listen to DJs you like and any that many people recommend. See what they do mainly so you’ll get introduced to new stuff.

Shop beyond the popular. Most people sound the “same” because they’re too busy buying the top 10 and top 20 tunes everyone else ends up playing. Seen guys try to “copy” or “mimic” the big sound of the popular local DJ. They’ll get all protective of their playlists and claim to be different, but in the end they’re just wannabes of the bigger name.

Explore music…get things that might sound good to you, but you worry might turn off a regular crowd. Make tracks your own…so if one of those uncertain tracks wins them, you’re the one they’ll know for that tune.

Go beyond the new. Like Phil mentioned, play old and new. Dig for older stuff and work it with the new. The best DJs are NOT the guys who come in and play 20 new promos…but the guys who rock it with 20 years of great music.

I think it’s a good idea…and if one things “why?”, ask them what they would do if a cat accidentally spilled an open beer on their laptop or midi controller…two hours before a gig.

Let me hit you with my observation on most of the haters out there. I’m talking about most of the DJs who consistently post, complain, and come down on digital, laptops, etc.

These guys complain to death about the new technology always talk about how DJing was better when it was analog vinyl, and maybe CDJs.

So imagine when it was before Final Scratch. These guys complained to death about how there’s loads of punk kids who charge pennies for a gig and thus they get hired…and how they illegally download all their music. How the promoters never go for “quality”.

OK, so we’ll then somehow magically make it that promoters/owners will run that one Australian program to check for pirated music, or even only hire vinyl-only DJs. They even pay these guys decent money.

THEN…these same DJs complain to death how they have to play all this pop/top-40 crap. How they used to just rock a room and never had to take requests, but now they have to play all the David Guetta/SHM/Katy Perry/Ke$ha stuff…or how they have to play all the P. Diddy/Beyonce/Britney Spears stuff.

So we’ll imagine then promoters pop up who will put barriers so no one can take requests, and even the DJ is fully allowed to say “no” and refuse to play anything but the house they love.

Now those DJs will complain to death how the only guys who get booked are the “popular” guys. They go on and on about how unfair it is that they’re now required to bring in 50-100 people in order to get booked. Or they complain how they have to promote and hand out flyers…when they used to just spend all week looking for music, sleeping, playing video games, and just show up to play.

Don’t you all see what’s going on? These guys really aren’t complaining that kids with pirated software, sync buttons, pirated music, pop music, table service, politics, etc…is “destroying the culture”. They’re complaining why they have to work to get somewhere in DJing. They might have had a string of success for a bit, but they got comfy and it all died out…now they’re unemployed and no one’s booking them. Their 15 min of fame ended.

No matter what you do, what counter-argument you give, they’ll complain…forever. They’ll cling on to some fantasy of a time when a local noname DJ could walk into the club, play anything he/she wanted, and get paid good for it. I look back at my own DJ life and never saw this. I saw SOME guys getting to play whatever they wanted, but they were the few who worked even harder and sacrificed a lot to get into that position.

These complainers are like the old men who keep rambling about “the good ol days”. I try to ignore them now, because I notice MOST of those DJs are not playing anywhere, and seemingly just want a crowd to worship them and their tastes. They want to do no actual work to get that DJ spot many want. Life doesn’t work that way. I used to complain like that, but I had to learn. This is why I backed off and only do things I love in DJing…even if it means I only play to myself.

I think I “liked” your page. I’ll stay in touch and share music. Just ignore the complainers though. They’ve dug their own grave. Most successful people work to adapt, not force others to live in the past.

adit, post: 21356, member: 2099 wrote: say I get the BPM matched, but the mix still sounds wrong. what’s the cause of it? to fix it I just have to nudge some, right? what if I turn off the BPM counter, how would I know that I don’t need to change the pitch and just nudge it? can a DJ trapped in an endless search of the perfect BPM when in fact what they need is just nudging the wheel? I know this sounds confusing but I hope you get the gist of it. thanks.

This is the point when the software is lying to you. This is what I try to say in all the talks about manual beatmatching.

If you see the beat grids are aligned, BPMs equal, but the blend sounds messy, then two possibilities:

1) Take your eyes off the laptop screen, even close them, and then feel it with your ears. Start pitch bending or nudging the tune until you hear them align perfectly.

2) Think about the tune you’re bringing in. Some producers put sound that are offbeat, so they sound good in playing (funky too), but when mixing they make things sound messy. This is when you think about programming and song selection.

Radio mixes are as says. They’re 3-4 minutes long so they play quick. Plus they are “cleaned up” for the airwaves.

I’ll usually put radio versions of EDM tunes I love into my iPhone for my own enjoyment. I also agree they can be useful if you want to play things shorter. Perhaps remix them on your own to add intros/outros.

I was at a recent first communion event that had loads of kids aged 4-13. The DJ there initially played a lot of party/wedding anthems like cha cha slide, chicken dance, and such. He had a hot potato competition, and even musical chairs. The kids loved it.

I dunno if 8th graders will think that to be too “juvenile”, but it’s one idea.

Another would be perhaps the “you got served” kind of dance competitions. In the end, I think the kids will just want to dance fast for a bit, then slow. Treat it like any other school dance.

It sounds like the bride wanted deeply to not have her wedding end up an electric slide/cha cha slide/twist/hokey pokey lame night. She’s probably being lil Miss Type A and thus wants full control over every tiny thing. I’m watching female friends get that way now with their own wedding planning…scary.

My suggestion (I know you’re not asking for it) would be to just pick 20-30 songs based on the few she gave you, and send that to her. Just say “based on what you picked, here’s my suggestions”. I have a feeling she’ll know songs by sound, not name…so you giving her a list might give her peace of mind and thus she’ll leave you alone.

In all honesty…this is one of the reasons why I never do weddings.