DJ Medik
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DJ Medik
MemberThat is such a great idea!! Do you mind if I ask you some questions? We have a historic Mission here in Riverside (Southern California) which on Fridays and Sats attracts a MASSIVE crowd! I would love to set up shop and play outside but..
1. I saw you mentioned above about a power source. Is there a particular model you could recommend to me?
2. The speakers you use are chargeable? So you play until they run out of juice? I know I can power my S4 on my Laptop, but without plugging it in, that will only give me a few hours of juice
3. Do you contact the city or do you just find a good spot and set up? I would be worried about getting shut down by police..
4. While it attracts a lot of people, we also have issues with gang violence and just general vagrants around. Do you worry about gear theft or someone stealing your tips/ mugging you while you haul your gear back to your car?
5. And lastly (sorry for so many questions!) I spin a pretty wide range of electronic music, but I must admit I do not own much hip hop/ rap. Should I just stick to what I know? Or pick up a few popular rap/ hip hop tracks just to please more of the crowd? I have never spun this style of music so would be afraid it would sound bad. Also, I have never scratched before, but I do jump and dance a lot when I DJ so I hope that will create something fun to watch at least!
MemberExactly! Try to work on it daily.. even if it’s only for ten minutes or so. Another thing that might help is to burn all your recorded mixes onto a CD. Then take that with you everywhere and listen to it in the car, or at work/ school if possible. The more you listen to your mix, the more things will pop out that you might want to improve on. Jot your notes down and the next time you get home, try re-recording your set with your improvements.
MemberHey Shaun, good stuff mate! I didn’t hear any audio dips and the transitions seemed to go pretty smooth. To be honest I don’t think I’d be able to DJ that kind of music so props to that! You already mentioned you were a bit effects heavy, maybe just lower the volume a bit on that particular effect? You seem to be fond of the flanger (which is a very popular effect) but maybe just reduce the volume of the flanger a bit so it doesnt take over the track that is currently playing. Otherwise great job man!
MemberDang.. I wish I could help but know nothing about French Hip Hop 🙁 Is there an underground club you can check out first to get a feel for the genre?
January 24, 2013 at 10:24 pm in reply to: Lets all "Like" each others Facebook Fan Page. Post your links here! #35647MemberOk, just went through all 7 pages and liked everyone on FaceBook! If I missed you, please let me know! I would really appreciate the return favor!! Thanks guys, this is such a great community!
January 24, 2013 at 9:47 pm in reply to: Lets all "Like" each others Facebook Fan Page. Post your links here! #35645MemberThis is such a cool idea! My links are in my sig! I’ll start going through the pages and liking all of your pages too! 🙂
Member5′ 4″ here! I landed a gig where there was a wooden stage and a built in platform to put DJ gear on. I guess the builders were tall because once I had my rig set up, I could not see over my laptop! To me, being able to see and interact with my crowd is very important so I grabbed a chair and rocked it from there! I’m just glad I didn’t fall because I move around a lot when I DJ! People thought it was hilarious and some took pictures. I didn’t bother me though because I was generating interest in one way or another 🙂
MemberI think using an already known nickname is perfect! You already have a known handle amongst friends who can easily get on board with helping you spread your name around! I never went by a nickname myslef so I had to start one from scratch, haha!
MemberFor me… there is no greater feeling then having a packed dance floor and a crowd reacting to what YOU are playing! The amount of raw energy from that is very addictive!
MemberHi X-kisscut-X,
I can share your pain! I’ve been DJ’ing live now for two years and I have two residencies at small “goth/ industrial” style clubs (although Electro and EDM are my true passion! haha). The problem is, two years ago when I played my first gig, the agreement was no pay for a 45/ 1 hr set and I would get experience. Being a total beginner I thought that was a good deal so I took it. I DJ’ed there for a year without receiving a dime! But I kept saying, “this will get me out of the gate and get me known so I can start playing paying gigs.” I just finally got my laptop about a month ago and have been pushing really hard to try and get out of this club. It’s at the point where I feel stuck there now and they have come to rely on me. Every now and again I get $10…
My second club I spin at I get $20 a night for an hour set weekly. So at least I’m getting paid there, but after gas and drinks I still come up in the negative.
I think the main problem I’m having is this just seems to be the general attitude of goth club promoters (all of the other DJ’s are on the same level as myself so I’m not the only one getting screwed out of good pay).
My advice to you (which is what I’m in the process of doing right now) is:
1. Don’t burn any bridges with the current club promoter. Just keep searching for another gig and work HARD at it! You have to really put yourself out there. Once you secure a paying gig, you can approach the current club promoter/ owner and let them know your time is worth money and if they don’t start paying you, you will be forced to get the paying gig. Anyone person with some amount of logic would understand this. Remember stay professional!
2. As I read through these forums, the mantra I keep seeing is “Never work for free” and this is something I will be adopting myself for sure. In fact I just had to turn down a guest DJ spot because they did not offer pay. We are not a charity and we all work hard. We deserve to get paid regardless!
So I’m in the process of searching myself for other weekly gigs to pick up and start making some cash. I will respectfully leave the clubs I spin at now on good terms for better paying, higher audience gigs.
Just remember to keep working hard, never give up, and respect the hard work you put into this by not working for free!! I hope I was able to help a bit 🙂
MemberIt took me quite a while to settle on a DJ name myself.. it’s a HUGE decision in my opinion! The key points to remember are:
1. It is easy to say? Try to avoid long names with too many syllables.
2. Can you remember it easy? Remember you want people to walk away from your gig and telling your friends that DJ “XX” was amazing.. and not… “Oh yeah.. that one guy who closed the night was awesome”
3. Think marketing as well. How will it look on an E-flyer or what images can you associate with your name that would be a cool logo?
4. Keep it non-music specific! You don’t want your DJ name to be something like “DJ 100% DubStep” and then you DJ at a Trance gig.. and people will think “umm..that is odd considering his DJ name”For me I choose my name because I’ve been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 8… so have always been around medical stuff. I love the red cross logo and it is quite marketable! I throw on a red cross hat and people will automatically know who is up at the decks (plus I like to throw some ambulance/ hospital sounds throughout my mix). Of course I’m no expert by any means and these are just my opinions.. but I hope I was able to help!
Member@ Shaun,
I liked the mix man! I LOVE the funky disco grooves and when the crowd is right.. I always try to work it into my sets. I would agree with Dec MG about the dip in audio during the transition though. It didn’t sound bad mind you (I’ve heard some pretty train wreck transitions and this was not one) but when the audio drops down low like that and it’s not a break it disrupts the flow of the mix a bit. But otherwise it was a very enjoyable mix! Looking forward to hearing more of your stuff! 🙂
Member@ Dec MG,
Your set rocked man!!! Awesome stuff! I loved the break at 11:20 and the following drop at 11:33..it really took it up a notch and it was right at the middle of the set! Perfect timing! Then you played Intro by XX and I went nuts! That is one of my favorite tracks (both the original and the Sander Van Doorn mix)! Very clean and smooth transitions as well. Keep up the good work! I look forward to hearing more mixes!
@ Shaun,
I’m going to check out your mix in a min!
Memberhaha, I get that 100% I liked to torture myself so I only burned one track per disc. I basically treated each CD as if it were its own single! Needless to say I carried a ton of cases with me to each gig. The digital library took me a while to get used to, and I spend a great deal of time setting up my playlists and library exactly how I want it. Now I can just sort by BPM or Key to try and keep the flow going. I like the Traktor S4 interface and, unless I’m selecting a new folder, I pretty much never have to touch my laptop. Just use the scroll knob and load buttons and I’m good to go! Every now and again I will pull out the CDs just for old time sake 😛
MemberHi Ess Jay! That sounds like an awesome event!! I would imagine it would be more like a house party where you don’t have a traditional dance floor to dictate what you play. This is pretty fun because it really allows you to be creative with your mixes without having to worry about killing the floor. I guess if it were me I would focus on high energy tracks and try to capture feelings that go with free running/ parkour. I like your idea of playing 5 or so tracks per genre, but of course you’ll want to adjust based on what kind of reaction you’re getting from the crowd. In this case it sounds more like you will be in charge of the “feel” for the event, rather than a dance floor so I think the strength here would be in your track selection. Good luck with this event, it sounds like it will be a blast!
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