Alex Moschopoulos

Is it brand new? Or have you been using it for a while?

Only suggestions is to download and run CCleaner, and then defrag the hard drive.

Check to see if you have loads of stuff running in the background. Smitten wrote a piece of optimizing for Windows here:

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/08/14/optimizing-windows-for-djing-part-i-power-script/

Look for and uninstall bloatware. All those free and useless programs many manufacturers put into Windows machines that do more to slow down computers than help.

Make sure you are up to date with Windows. I’ll also check security settings and even run my DJ program as an administrator so it can use the full power of the OS. I know recently I had to start running Firefox as an Administrator because the OS would not let me run Silverlight for Netflix without it. Same deal with Photoshop.

I give them credit for all the added security, but it can be a nuisance on the seasoned techie.

although I think it’s a bit of a bleak outlook on the (DJ) world.

I understand how my assessment does look bleak, but in all honestly I think the DJ world is anything but bleak.

I started in 1992 with analog vinyl. Imagine a world where I could not go online and buy music files to play. Imagine a world where you can’t have less “footprint” with your gear setup (thinking of a midi control versus a full analog setup). Back in 1992, I never would have fathomed it.

Imagine how DJing was before the internet.

I’ll tell you, if we had the “1992 world” right now, and I’m 40 and “done” with the gig world…I’d probably sell it all and completely stop. YET…because of the internet, midi, digital, DAW, DVS, etc…I can keep going. I can blog. I can produce. I can make mixes and upload them for anyone to hear. I can buy tunes anytime from anywhere I can get online. I can buy loops and samples. I can have a setup that I can easily take apart when I’m not DJing. I could take a small control and laptop and make a mix while sitting in a cafe sipping a latte. I can sit at my work on an off-day and produce a track or remix with just a laptop…and then put it online to share or sell.

I think this brave new world we live in has made it so much more easier to be a DJ. Yeah…the really cool gigs with great people and cool “underground” music are still difficult to land, but if one doesn’t want to deal with it all…they can still be a DJ.

Lord knows if I wanted more, I can podcast. I can blog. I can do plenty.

One thing is for sure, “complaining” that the old days are gone and the new days “suck”, is not gonna bring any change.

So I am with you that if you don’t like what you see and you feel you have a message of change, be creative about bringing it around.

And there is the point of my responses. Complaining won’t change anything. The complainer just becomes the old fart sitting in the corner reminiscing about the “good ol days”.

I prefer to do what I love…and find ways to enjoy it at my own “rules”. I honestly love that I can be the kind of DJ I want to be and not have to worry about pleasing a tough crowd or make a living out of this.

However, I’ve embraced being a bedroom/hobbyist DJ. For the others who want a crowd and such…they need to adapt, or work to build something so they potentially have this life they wish for. Every superstar had to build something in order to be a superstar. 🙂

The only big change I think that needs to happen is that DJs need to start looking to take control of the scene again.

Back in the past, the promoters who ran the scene were more scenesters who stayed out of the way of the DJ. They wanted to build a cool vibe that stood out from the pack. It’s why DJs had so much musical freedom in the past.

After the 90s, it changed. Suddenly the managers or promoters became businessmen more focused on the bottom line over anything. Many times a new club would open from a couple of lawyers or stock traders who made big money and now they want to be seen as “cool” (and get laid). They didn’t think outside of the box, but simply went with the “safe” options that they believe would bring the maximum results.

This especially started when bottle service went rampant. In many ways, it was these folks trying to rid the club scene of the rave culture that dominated it for so long. Now, we have a scene where DJs are fired quickly and easily if they don’t work their tails off the please the biggest spenders, or the hottest women.

This is why I keep saying “build a scene”. It’s the only way the DJ-minded and music-minded folks will gain back an avenue to broaden the musical landscape.

I dunno Eliah. I look at the scene now and it’s reminded me of every time the mainstream world embraced dance music and DJ culture.

In the past, kids bought mix tapes or recorded pop tunes off the radio. Only major difference is clubs and promoters stood by their DJs when they refused to play a request. Now they’ll fire that DJ on the spot for daring to say “no” to a trust fund baby or trixie with a boob job.

I just think there is no “easy” way to be the “cool DJ who plays the underground and gets paid well”. Every instance I know of it are people who work their tails off every day to stay relevant. Even then, many of them still aren’t making big money. That’s only reserved for a very few.

I’ll bet money even that many of these “big hit producers” now will be forgotten memories in five years…and we’ll find them hustling like crazy to pay the rent in the long run.

Only thing I can tell you all is:

1. Stay true to what you like and how you think it should be performed
2. Stay relevant. Don’t hold on to the past, but continually evolve
3. Build a scene, or help build a scene.
4. Stay positive…because no one likes a hater
5. Find what makes you happy in DJing and stay with it…even if it means being a bedroom DJ.

A bit harsh BigChipsHI…but true.

I usually dismiss the 80-90% who love cheese, and welcome the 10-20% who suddenly dive deeper down the rabbit’s hole. That’s tomorrow’s promoters, producers, DJs, and scenesters.

I’d try making a mix you would upload. Just find a good “starting tune” and build on it. When I did my latest mix, I had planned it all out first, then recorded it in pieces, later assembling the final mix in a wav editing program.

Produce music because you have creative ideas and want to follow through with them. Don’t produce music because you want bigger DJ gigs. Like Terry alluded to, you end up making formulaic mediocre crap that floods the system.

If you want to get noticed as a DJ, production is one path. You could also try podcasting (and stay consistent). You could try blogging, or even promoting events.

Go out into your scene and get involved. Many promoters won’t turn away dedicated people who will do the work.

I would say first to get in tune with the scene. That means go out to events, get to know the regulars, the resident DJs, and even the promoters.

Biggest mistake many DJs make is to just show up to a busy event, hand a promoter a demo with a short introduction, and then leave. It just screams that you only care about playing a set and not about being an enhancement to the event.

Make sure when you make a demo IT FITS THE EVENT. I don’t care if someone thinks dark trippy dubstep is utterly cool, if he’s handing a mix of that to a promoter pushing poppy EDM, then expect to never hear anything back.

If you have materials, then make a press kit. I’d even tell you to venture into making it all as digital files and give it to a promoter on a thumb drive they can keep.