little komodo
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little komodo
MemberReally nice selection of tunes in the mix that sound really well together. I haven’t listened to the whole mix yet but the first two transitions may need some work as they’re quite abrupt and not in time (the beat of each songs are quite a bit off). First one was better than the second as it was phrased a little better. That said, the third transition sounded almost perfect.
It sounds like you’re using a filter a lot in your transitions, which is fine but try to avoid using it too much 🙂
Thanks for the mix and tunes!February 20, 2013 at 4:45 pm in reply to: What do you absolutely need to know when starting to produce? #36965MemberDjDemonick, post: 36267, member: 3963 wrote: this wont help “build a song”, but when I started playing with production, I found it helps to put on a really nice pair of headphones, Listen to a track you’d like to emulate, find one specific sound (for instance a low detuned saw that is barely audible) and watch tutorials on how to make them. then once you understand how types of sounds are made, its easier to make them your own.
This is exactly what I did and to be honest I don’t know how much this actually works. I spent two years trying to emulate possibly some of the hardest sounds in the DnB scene (you can take a guess at who…) and all I got was a bunch of ‘ok’ sounds but they never reached the level where I thought I could really promote and expand on it. Imitation is a limiting way of learning – most of the time you never quite reach what you want to achieve.
I’m not discouraging this though, I definitely made some decent samples and sounds with this method that I could never quite harness. If you do take this route though: anything you think sounds good/decent/strange, SAVE IT AS ITS OWN SEPARATE .WAV FILE. I set up a file for all the strange synthesis I made when producing. Samples are stored by month and year. Resampling is one of the greatest methods for finding a unique sound and it takes a considerable amount of time to get something right. But after building up a collection of years of samples, I look back at them every once in a while (months or years later) and have another go at combining a few in the sampler, chuck em through a few fx chains and I finally get something that sounds sick. I think Noisia recommended this in an interview in about 2006, and to this day I think it’s some of the best advice I’ve ever been given.
MemberMoving to Melbourne this weekend, so excited! I’ll see some of you guys there hopefully. What are some good clubs to go to, any decent ‘underground’ ones in the CBD? I’ve heard the tech house scene here is pretty sick.
J-Duffin, where do you play in Perth?
Cheers Jshster, will do if I’m in need of some feedback 🙂
And ljstevens, I (like to) play dnb – it was actually my time in the UK that got me into the scene at a young age, haven’t looked back since! I’m also keen on the indie electronica/hip hop that is coming up all around Australia at the moment (doesn’t really fall under a genre yet!). Artists like Ta-ku, Shlohmo etc. In fact I don’t really ‘play’ anything just yet/ I’ve only recently moved from the bedroom dj stage in the last year and have been doing house parties only.
MemberDayvue, post: 36795, member: 837 wrote: I did it, it is possible. I also have two majors and am going to medical school next year, so I promise it can be done!
One of the most important things you can do is make connections at the beginning. Don’t sweat it if you don’t get a ton of gigs your first year; make connections and get to know people. Once they have more trust and know who you are, the gigs will come!
I was actually hoping that a response like this would come up, I’m in a similar boat ATM as I’m beginning undergraduate med this year and its finding time which I’m a bit uneasy about. Cheers for everyone’s input!
MemberDJ Skittles, post: 36542, member: 4032 wrote: Haha I’ve always wanted to have a Utah Salt Flats Rave….. would be so sick. Rave music in the middle of nowhere will 500 of your closest friends. True raving haha
In Australia there are ocassionally raves literally out in the middle of nowhere in the bush, no advertising is done and people find out via word of mouth – These things get seriously crazy!
MemberDJ Skittles, post: 36384, member: 4032 wrote: Hey, Im currently go to college and its not too bad. Obviously, its take a little bit of time getting down how to balance your time, but that happens for everyone. Most of things I DJ are at night, and I there isn’t much going on at night besides parties anyways!! I consider myself a pretty busy guy, and I still can fit in homework, DJing, and a social life, plus everything else I do.
Finding job opportunities in my town was pretty hard, because there are literally no clubs here. What I did was I became friends with people who put on some events for the university, and so when they needed a DJ they knew me! Also, in that way, people see you at that event, come up to you, and ask you to do their parties or anything like that. DJing at University is 100% about who you know, because I guarantee there will be 20 “other” DJ’s who are just as willing to do the parties. Something else I did, too, is I became friends with other DJ’s. What we did was start a little group. We pulled together our equipment, skills, and music and together we thrown down some pretty sick parties. Plus, everyone else has their own friend group, so there is always something going on we can do!
Sorry for typing so long, but my WHOLE experience DJing has been at University.
Where University are you going to?Cheers for the informative reply! I figured that it would require quite a bit of time so hopefully I’ll find a balance when I get there. The DJ group sounds like a good idea as well, will defs see if I can meet a few other DJs in melbourne.
i’m travelling interstate for university in Australia (to Melbourne Uni), so I’ll actually know no one when I get there but that should only be a short term issue to deal with!
Memberdefinitely enjoyed that. sick stuff mate
MemberNietzSKY, post: 35937, member: 4553 wrote: I can understand the opinion, though I have a pinch of a different one myself. As I’m working on create rave-themed shows in DC, there’s a difference between DJing as a job and art DJing. DC is overrun with house, and generally you’re not going to be playing hardstyle/ psy trance/ DnB during a house night (or, as is the case in DC, a house week year). While I’m funding 90% of all the gear and doing all booking/promotion, I’m still losing about 400 throwing this show (damn light-setups).
For me, I would rather play a free gig with an audience of 50 where I have full-and-complete artistic liberty, as oppose to playing a paid gig for 200 where I can only play top40 and house. I didn’t enter DJing because it’s notorious for paying well, I became a DJ because I love being behind decks and putting together audible jigsaw puzzles and mathematics. I’m also a bit not right in the head, considering I actually started building my kit during a period of homelessness.
Haha no your opinion is more valid than mine, I’ve got no experience in this sort of stuff. At the moment I’m struggling to find a residency in any club where I live (I’m moving hoping to fix this, it’s stressful!)
I’m a bit of a dnb head so I’m all support for rave music. I just see a lot of bagging for commercial top40 and house stuff, and while its not my taste either, it gets a bit tiring when people whinge about selling out. DJs have their reasons.
I get quite opinionated sometimes… So once again sorry if i come across as a bit of a tool heheMemberFirst of all: why would a DJ, who has established some kind of career in your city, consider playing out for a cheap price, let alone free? DJing is a tough gig, simply because it requires a lot of work and time (and stress!) to be that extra step better.
DJcRave, post: 35896, member: 3862 wrote: Everyone is all about money now and would just love to see it go back to love of the music.
Not to be rude or anything but try not to accuse/diss other DJs. These things always backfire sooner or later, and if you’re really keen in bringing back these warehouse raves then ultimately you’re going to need their support and help. They might be in it for the money for various reasons, because they enjoy what they’re playing, are struggling etc.
Apologies if I came off a bit hostile. If your passionate about the idea go for it! These sorts of things require independence, initiative, finding support and so on. Get a second job. Get onto flyers, social media and make sure you find and target the right audience.
January 21, 2013 at 8:43 am in reply to: What do you absolutely need to know when starting to produce? #35400MemberProducing a good track takes years of experience and learning, so if you’re starting out, don’t expect too much for a while.
I like to see producing as a 3 stage process: composition, mixing, mastering. So when you’re starting out, just focus on your composing and arranging. You might find that when you’re beginning you’ll be able to churn out tracks left right and centre and that’s a good thing! As the weeks/months go on they’ll start coming out slower as you realise there is so much to be improved.
The key is to keep improving and learning. Don’t get stuck on a loop for more than about 20 minutes when you’re still arranging your track. You’ll learn to eventually incorporate the mixing stage when composing, but make sure it doesn’t replace it!
The best time to start a new track is in the morning – I can’t remember why but it’s got something to do with the left/right parts of your brain and the creative one working better when you wake up haha 🙂
Keep your volumes out of the red, eq out lower frequencies when you’re not using them. Just basic mixing.
Set yourself deadlines as well, don’t get stuck in front of the screen for too long.
There’s so much to say so I won’t let myself ramble too much. Have funMemberSame boat as me! Haha I’d say go for the pioneer ddj sx, it will/should last you forever and a day. Tho jog wheels, the pads, it really is a fantastic controller and I probably won’t be buying anything for a while. You can use the mixer when producing, connect a phone/iPad to a channel and be able to run 5 decks if you want, and its professional look is a def bonus.
If you ever decide to expand to cdjs/vinyl, it’s also possible to hook them up to the controller as well. All bases covered imo. You could easily remix a track with the hot cue, roll and sampler functionsMemberthanks very much!
MemberThere’s no set formula for this stuff, but as a general rule for me I try not to mix the melodies of each song together. In a lot of edm there’s a break from the beat i.e. just pads, vocal acapellas etc. The easiest way to mix two songs together is to mix the intro of one song into the ‘break’ of the other. At the same bpm this should be relatively simple, especially if you’re mixing songs with simple 16/32 bar sections. Hope that makes sense!
MemberJay Nebra, post: 34554, member: 5445 wrote: Hey, for starters, I just googled what the Akiyama Sirion SC was and I would stay away from that.
-It’s not a well known brand which is sketchy in itself
-I have like an american version of that controller under a different branding (pyle pro) they call it Pyle Pro Pmidi-100 and I wouldn’t recommend it.Out of those options I would probably go with the mk4 but also look into the Numark Mixtrack Pro. That’s widely considered the best entry controller, wish I would’ve gotten that to start years ago.
Agreed. I got a lot out of the Mixtrack Pro for a good 2 years and its still going strong. IMO if you want to buy any of these controllers go for the mk4 just because you know more about it. but if you’re also open to something else, look into the Mixtrack pro as well
MemberYep… 5’5. unfortunately ehh
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