Emma Partnow

DJS, post: 6899 wrote: Hey guys,

Just wanted to see if anyone else is as OCD (Obsessive) as me when it comes to creating and organising tunes for mixing. I make charts, sort tags, arrange tunes until the early hours, and even then I can’t sleep because the tunes are running through my head.

Take care

James Pieaterson

Hello James 🙂
A Great Number of people are Challenged by Conditions such as yours;
However; as long as your ‘Filing System’ still Enables You To Find The Track You Need; in your Circumstances you can Take Advantage Of This; as although I ‘Love Filing’; I am still Unable to Find The Track I Need 🙁

Hello Andy; A Very Warm Welcoem To The Forum 🙂
We have a number of Discussions regarding Controllers here;
I can’t give you Prices; but the Numark Mixtrack Pro is Recommended over the Hercules;
Although you are talking about a Controller that is Twice the Price of the Numark (according to Google); so I would suggest making a Specific Thread regarding the Hercules Controller on the Forum as it could be the Better One 🙂

Hello Mykl; A Very Warm Welcome To The Forum 🙂

Hello Umar; A Very Warm Welcome To The Forum 🙂
I have 2 Pioneer CDJ’s too; and a 6 Channel Mixer and a 2 Channel Mixer; and you can still use them with a Software Programme (not Literally to Control a Software Programme – but to Work Alongside your Software Programme);
VDJ Pro 7 I Understand is Free right now; so maybe you could have a look at that 🙂

mr stifffy, post: 6799 wrote: I have self taught knowledge html and flash but nothing official 🙁

I do too my Friend;
However; in Your Position; I would Forward Your Portfolio as you stand an Equal Chance to a ‘Certified Person’

Rob Francis, post: 6801 wrote: Its looking like I stay at the party! The gig is tomorrow, wish me luck!

How did that Decision come about Rob :confused:;
Anyway; the Very Best Of Wishes For A Fabulous Party; and a Lovely Night Away with your Wife 😎

Fluxdeep, post: 6771 wrote:
On rock definition, well…. Emma, i must ask you to forgive me on this one, but i think that inserting a link to Wikipedia to define rock is a bit too much condescending. It would not be nice for me to link to Wikipedia’s article on “Pump Up The Jam” if i caught someone talking mainly about 2011 dance music. Anyway, if you check that article, you will find Indie, Metal and so on mentioned as rock sub-genres, and that’s’ exactly my point: rock is BIG. It’s big, it’s very diverse, and most people that likes some variants may or may not enjoy others. Once again, i can only speak based on what i know; around here usually it works (with all the possible exceptions) that way.

Hello Fluxdeep;
Please Accept my Sincere Apologies if you found my Reference to WIKI Condescending; I Certainly didn’t Mean to Offend You In Any Manner; and I Certainly wasn’t Aware of your Country Of Origin;
I suppose this is the Difficulty with the Internet and Groups of people from all Walks Of Life and Cultures; Misunderstandings and Mis-Judgements can be made in Error;
However; in order that this Thread be allowed to Continue to Evolve as it Should; with All Views Expressed Honestly; I think it Best I get out of the way really; as my Knowledge of this Matter is Extremely Limited;
I Wish You Well Fluxdeep; and Hope that you will be able to Accept My Apology

Fluxdeep, post: 6710 wrote: Welcome back 🙂

I’ve done some rock sets now and it’s great fun! To begin with, what kind of rock do you have in mind? Rock classics, indie, post-punk, softer, harder?

Most rock sets i do are “designed” for a specific public, since in my area people who are into stuff like Arcade Fire, The Killers, Muse, Editors and so on couldn’t care less about Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Motörhead, Deep Purple and others; and of course, probably people that are into Slipknot, System Of A Down, Devildriver or Marilyn Manson are another different tribe;

So my first advise would be to make sure that you understand the mind of the people there; rock fans (I am definitely one) tend to be tolerant until a point, but they only will really enjoy the music if you are spinning tunes from the bands that they know the lyrics inside out, went several times to seem them live, bought the t-shirts and so on. Also (remember I can only comment based on my own reality and environment) i would advise you not to try to blend too much different styles in a 3 or 4 hours gig; if you do, probably most people will get to enjoy several songs, but also probably most people will not enjoy the night as a whole; so choose and commit, and then build a set as dynamic and intense as you can.

On mixing, forget the “latest Rihanna hit at 128 BPM in A flat over 2 and a half minutes” followed by pitch pitch pitch “latest J-LO hit at 129 BPM in E flat over 2 and half minutes” followed by some flanger effect and so on. Rock fans want to ear the music they love, and they couldn’t care less about if it’s mixed or not. For a quick example, do you know the Rage Against The Machine anthem “Killing In The Name”? The thing about that tune is the last 6 notes (2 groups of 3, i think it’s called triplets?); it’s out of question for a fan not to ear them because the DJ changed the music; it would just ruin the vibe of the music. The usual way of mixing doesn’t apply here, one cannot just trim away pieces of the music, if they are meaningful for the fans; Muse didn’t composed “Hysteria” so that the last minute is just some basic rhythm to facilitate mixing; and that last riff IS important, and Muse fans DO want to ear it. I always have this in mind, I think it really helps.

So i guess the fun thing here is to find a way to combine/blend/mix tunes without removing any significant part, and yet having fun while doing it. Most times in my rock sets i spent hours and hours looking for tunes that somehow work well together; it’s not a matter of Key or BPM, it’s a matter of musical affinity; try this for example: spin The Killers “Somebody told me” followed by The Hives “Tick Tick Boom”. Nevermind the BPM, just place cue marks so that you can start the second song in the exact moment, just about when the Killers one is finishing. Of course this is just my opinion, but i do think that it works well. After Tick Tick Boom, try to use “Rock and roll debaser” (Oasis vs Pixies Mashup), for example. Once again, I like it. With practice, you will not need the cue marks anymore, but it’s a great help in the beggining, since they speed up the memorizing process.

Of course there are a ton of rock tunes waiting to be mixed; for example, try the +-80 BPM range: spin Empty Room By Arcade Fire, a bit before the fade out of the music at the end beatmatch and start 2012 by Gossip (crossfade into it, and just let the previous tune fade out and stop; then, when 2012 comes to an abrupt end, start Boycott Everything by Bonaparte, once again beatmatched for better effect. This are all just suggestions, based on stuff I did before, and people around liked it.

Now if you have a crowd that are not into this kind of more recent, hyped bands, but yet prefer older stuff, you may always use tunes that mix well; Try for instance to mix Walk This Way By Aerosmith/Run DMC with Butterfly by Crazy Town with Sure Shot by Beastie Boys With Body movin’ (Fatboy Slim remix of Beastie Boys). After, maybe Looser by Beck or Give It Away Now By Red Hot Chili Peppers? All this tunes mix really well, so well that you can do live mashups of the tunes. And if you spent your time studying the natural compatibility between songs and marking cue points, you can do some really cool and creative stuff.

Another thing is that you can successfully blend rock with electronic music (even very danceable tunes) depending on the tunes you choose; It’s not that hard to mix different styles (both old and new stuff) like The Bloody Beetroots, Waxdolls, The Whip, Pixies, Dead Rock Machine, all that ultra cool Madchester anthems (love them!), Chicks On Speed, The Wombats, old Placebo stuff, Two Door Cinema, really old Sonic Youth, Trash Fashion and so on…. I’ll bet that with these kind of music you can at any time drop “I Like the Way” By The BodyRockers and most people will honestly enjoy it. Have you ever seen a floor where half the people are dancing and the other half are almost head banging? That’s just an amazing thing to watch!

In the meanwhile, I of course got carried away with this and ended up with a a giant post, sorry 🙂 Anyway, if i can in any way help you with your rock set, just let me know, i’ll be more than happy to help 🙂

This is Great Writing; however I have to take Exeption to your Belief (or Opinion) that Bands such as Black Sabbath; Led Zepplin; and Deep Purple should be Dismissed;
You are talking about Bands that appeared after the 1980’s began;
Are you not Aware of the Plethora of Pubs that are Packed all over the Country (UK) Every Night of the Week with Bands playing Music from the 70’s;
Admittedly we are talking about DJ’ing here; but my Uncles and Aunts are out Every Week now their Children have grown up; and are Re-living their Youth through the Music that is Dear to their Heart;
When Mike (Original OP) mentioned the words ‘Rock Music’ I Understood him to Mean ‘Rock Music’; as Described in the Following Article from WIKI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music
I didn’t think he was talking about Indie/Mainstream/Contemporary/Metal; etc; which seems to me to be Subjects that you are Touching On;
If you Feel that DJ’ing is for people ‘Under’ the Age of 50 and 60 then you are Dismissing a Large % of The Market