D Homei
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D Homei
ParticipantI asked what kind of music to play and he said that it would just be music that fits with the movie.
My only additional advice (to the great tips already mentioned by others) would be to clarify what he means by that. Movies are WIDE open to interpretation, and this could be a huge opportunity or pitfall for your set. A Kung-Fu action movie could either have club bangers or traditional Chinese music. Either interpretation is “correct” but that doesn’t mean the crowd (or more importantly, your boss) sees it the same way.
ParticipantIf you haven’t played live yet, I would strongly suggest you spend every moment you have watching the crowd and learning to read it properly. It will be 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 times more useful than learning effects. There’s lots of posts abou that.
Most likely you’ll be so busy with the distractions of a live situation (requests, equipment issues, crowd reactions that force you to change your plan, etc.) that you won’t have time much time to stand around.
ParticipantHow did that musical history re-cap miss Kraftwerk?
In my unhumble opinion, they invented the entire synth-pop aesthetic, By 1978 they released “Man Machine.” a completely electronic album. And it wasn’t just the novelty of using electronics, Kraftwerk had a fully developed sound and signature style. This is particularly impressive since the 70’s were era when synths were used and seen as a novelty. (Anybody remember Hot Butter’s ‘Popcorn’?)January 6, 2013 at 4:43 am in reply to: OT but not really : How do you guys/girls handle relationships as a DJ #34514ParticipantI actually have no idea what your relationship is, so forgive me if I unintentionally offend you. But I think I could give you (and a lot of guys) some things to consider.
[SIZE=3]as i have had to put my focus on my relationship which really takes its toll.[/SIZE]
Sorry, this is never a good sign. When people talk about relationships in terms of “work” to do, its time to take a serious re-evaluation. You’re enjoying each others company, not serving a prison sentence. Think about what this woman means to you and why you’re turning down all the flirty girls at the club.
[SIZE=3]time required to be a good DJ . . . . I dont have as much time to really prepare a masterpiece set[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Work comes and goes, a good woman lasts forever. Back when I was designing websites for MTV Networks, I dumped a really good woman (beautiful, smart, sweet and caring) because I thought she was getting in the way of my career. I didn’t put it that way to her or myself – but that was what was really going on in my head psychologically. Hey, it was the 90s and I needed to make history with internet design. [/SIZE]
Man, was I a dumbass. Those “masterpiece” webpages I was so focused on now look old and dated, not even in my portfolio anymore. She remains beautiful person. (We’re still friends). It took me another 15 years to find woman as good as her.
[SIZE=3][SIZE=3]first being super suspicious of me possibly cheating[/SIZE][/SIZE]
Why does your girlfriend feel this way? Are you encouraging the flirting, if only subconsciously? Are you making DJing the “other woman” even if you’re not sleeping around? Your partner should share and respect your passions and interests in life. My wife is not a big music lover, but she encourages me to DJ because she sees how much it makes me happy.
I don’t know if you’re living together or what, but your post reminds me of another artist friend who was also getting similar pressure from his girlfriend. Turns out his art studio was in their loft. Bad idea. I’ll explain how I helped him realize this, but I have to digress a bit: Men and women are quite different in how they view a home.
Most guys think Saturday afternoon is for relaxing – sit on the couch, grab a beer, blast off a couple of farts and watch footall. Most women see it as time to clean up the house. Many a domestic conflict happens here. Why? For most women, if their home isn’t in order, then their life is out of order. Its an extention of their maternal, nuturing instinct. Guys on the other hand see the home as a comforting cave to relax after a hard week of hunting and killing in the outside world.
For some reason I think you might just be bringing your work into the relationship this way, even if you don’t physically live together. Think about it. When I told this to my artist friend, he went “A-HA” I’m sorry to indulge in gender stereotypes, but hopefully it helps.
I don’t know how old your GF is, but I assume she’s around your age (which you once said was 28) Generally, when women start pushing 30 they re-evaluate any significant relationship to see if it will lead towards marriage and a family. Guys are happy to wander around late into their 30s. Being a DJ is not exactly a profession that screams “husband material!”
Another thing to consider is that sometimes people just outgrow each other and their priorities shift. This is true of all ages, but especially in your 20s. Maybe she’s stuck in a dead-end job and she’s really jealous of your success. Maybe she’s a high-powered executive who finds the idea of a DJ boyfriend glamourous and exciting, but the thrill is wearing off. I don’t know.
Hope this helps you (and other DJs in relationships) out. I’m a happily married man now.
January 6, 2013 at 3:18 am in reply to: In the mix, how much of a song is enough or too much? #34513ParticipantI noticed this trend of cutting things off in the middle of the song when I lived in LA a few years ago. It drove me crazy, but my friends (animation people, not clubbers) didn’t seem to mind it. Their eyes lit up when they recognized each new song. To me it was sloppy, unmusical mixing.
These were pretty big lounges in neighborhoods near the beach, not some funky dive bar in a bohemian neighborhood. rjwhite41 may be on to something about generational shifts here, seems to be a web-surfing / adhd approach to dancing.
January 5, 2013 at 6:47 am in reply to: When to bring a new track in without visual and you've lost count? #34498Participant99.9% of EDM has a 4 bar structure, with some sort of music flourish at the end to lead into the next phrase. So you’re pretty safe assuming phrases of 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and so on. Get in the habit of cueing your upcoming mix on one of these “action” points in the song, and you’ll generally be safe. Back in my vinyl days, I could mix two songs I never heard before using this technique.
That said, it sounds like you’re not really listening to your music. You want to do mixes that happen on interesting moments in the song, not because its measure 16.
Participant+1 Hee Won Jung, who once again give me (and many others) a refreshing kick in the ass!
I’m guilty myself spending too much time pressing QWERTY keys on this forum instead of the play button. It takes a full hour of mixing for me to really get into the “zone” as a DJ, while forum posts only take a few minutes. But once I’m in that zone, the insights from self-experimentation are far more substantial. Many questions just disappear or become irrelevant. You focus on the music and not the technicalities.
However, the temptations not to practice are one of the inherent drawbacks of digital DJing: its much easier to get sidetracked with MP3 tagging, file organization, online music searches and forum Q&A. It all seems so efficient. In the vinyl days, you had few options besides slapping your wax down and playing!
December 14, 2012 at 2:48 am in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33617ParticipantGood lord I probably rambled on there!!
@Shuga*Foot: Thanks for the tips and encouragement regarding online. I remember waiting for Depeche Mode’s 2nd album to come out!
@Ess Jay: Thanks, will do. I’ll let you all know when I get my stream-based show up and running.
@Hee Won Jung: I’ve enjoyed having you as a devil’s advocate.I’m trying to take advantage of the holiday break to create a bunch of shows. I hope to have some extras so I can keep updating regularly when I get busy with work. My favorite station is playing crap today. Time to get my stuff out there!
December 13, 2012 at 5:09 am in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33567Participant@rjWhite41: Thanks for the good wishes. I think you’ve summed up my intentions pretty well, I am aiming for people who listen more than dance. But, I think you’re being a bit hard on Hee Won Jung. BTW, I love spinning for people who get drunk and dance, as well, I did it two weeks ago, and it was great.
Seems like there’s two issues here:
1) DJing after age 35,
2) Transcending the gimmicky nature of the internet.On point #1:
I meant “Mr. Creepy Old Guy” as a self-depreciating joke, not because I thought you were taking shots at my age. Yes, I’m in my mid-forties. I don’t want to limit myself because of my age. I’ve heard there’s a DJ here in HK who’s 60, looks like a Kung-Fu master, and spins amazing techno!But I’m realistic. The opportunities to DJ where crowds go crazy all night to bangers will become less and less, especially as I head towards my 50s. When I turned 30, I noticed a huge shift in the role of music at parties. Instead of complimenting my music then dancing, friends would compliment the music, and then get some wine and cheese. 🙁
No matter how crazy good I am as a DJ (and I’m confident I can rock/destroy right now) promoters and crowds would just rather have a cocky young guy on the decks than an older guy who’s happy with his wife and day job.
And the feeling goes both ways. Now that I’ve become settled in my personal life, I see how much clubs and lounges are filled with people who are still finding their way. If you’re not going to a club to get laid, get high or get attention – seems to me there’s not much left except music.
I wanted to be married and settled down at 35, and it took me 10 hard years and relocating to Asia to just find it. So I’m a little uneasy to return to the bar/lounge world. Plus, even though my tastes are mellow, I still like the bangers, too. Still, I’ll try lounges before judging.
Not sure what the path is for older DJ’s – seems like each has to find their own way. In my early 20s I couldn’t even imagine I’d still be into EDM in my 40s. I thought I’d be sipping brandy listening to Vivaldi wearing a smoking jacket or something. Phil seems to have found his lounge paradise in Southern Spain, D-Jam seems happy blogging, DJ Stone Crazy seems happy rocking clubs regularly. Maybe my path is a radio show.
On point #2: (and God this is turning into a long post)
I agree music is definitely a social form of engagement. I think I’m aiming for a more quiet form of social engagement. The internet is really the most practical way to do this, but the medium rewards the superficial.I’m thinking of many of my animation colleagues who are great illustrators. They can spend huge chunks of their time on:
1) Their masterpieces.
2) Convincing galleries to showcase their masterpieces for a very narrow group of people.
3) Creating a web presence to get their work noticed.But #3 takes away from #1 because they have to fill their blog with regular updates and that means rough sketches instead of polished illustrations. I think the solutions around this dilemma have been discussed plenty – Shuga*Foot has great suggestions in particular. (mashable.com is great.)
But whenever I feel like ranting like a crotchety old man about the internet, I realize I was able to relocate to Asia and find my wonderful wife through the internet. And listen to great music all day long. The web is amazing for finding your niche interests. Hopefully, I’ll be one of those people reaching web listeners listening to music at work or study. I think there’s lots of people out there.
December 12, 2012 at 4:12 am in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33495ParticipantMashable.com has a lot of useful information.
Listen to In the Air with Morgan Page, In the Chamber with Revolvr, The Lazy Rich Show, and Burn the Fire Radio with Cold Blank…
Thanks for both these tips, I’ll check them out.
If the song that is on right at that moment im not interested in I wont stay on that online radio station. We live in the age of NOW and if we dont like something we change it NOW.
I’m not targeting this type of person, and practically speaking there’s no targeting except lucking into the .001% thing somebody wants exactly at that moment. I’m not sure what I can do to fight internet-driven cultural ADD, that’s a whole ‘notha conversation. Perhaps paying attention for extended periods of time is a generational thing.
But I really, really, really love internet radio and its poor cousin, online mix streams. There’s just something about having somebody put on a quality selection of music that pleases and surprises you. And thanks to online, I can completely avoid bad commercial music. This really helps me focus when I’m doing some challenging work (In my case, tricky 3D computer animation). It helped me get through grad school. I would put on KCRW and/or ETN.fm listen to it for 6-12 hours straight. It helps me write, too. I can’t be alone in this.
Unless you can do, SOMETHING to get the word out to the masses {emphasis mine}, i fear that you will be putting in a huge amount of effort with very little to show for it.
Again, I’m not trying to reach the masses, just enough people to know I’m not braying at the moon like a coyote in the desert. Hopefully, this will be a my decent circle of friends both online and off. If it helps get the occasional local gig, even better. Especially if I don’t have to lurk around the clubs like Mr. Creepy Old Guy.
Hopefully, once I get into the groove of posting, making a good 1hr show will only take an evening/afternoon of my time. This seems like a appropriate amount of time for any hobby people take seriously. And I believe having a hobby is a healthy thing. Compared to the effort needed for animation projects, its pretty small. My real enemy is my busy professional work schedule. But we’ll see.
BTW, I know I can’t keep up on North American slang out here in Hong Kong, but do people still use WORD! (?) I thought that went out in the 90s.
December 11, 2012 at 9:42 am in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33440ParticipantAlready modified out my “F-Word” sorry.
And just to make sure . . . “Full of Piss and Vinegar” is actually meant as a compliment and not to be harsh.
Its a bit of US slang for youthful enthusiasm and being full of energy. Hopefully that was clear in the full context of my post.December 11, 2012 at 7:32 am in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33424ParticipantSorry if i came off as aggressive that wasnt my intention…I know i can get a little forceful with my posts lol.
That’s fine. It’s just you being young, and full of piss & vinegar. I wouldn’t survive as a teacher if I didn’t secretly love it, although I sometimes bear the brunt of it. BTW, I’m not 20 yrs older than you . . . not quite 😮
How would I build his audience?
@Suga*Foot: Super big thanks, more on that in a moment.
Anyway, I do actually have an existing reputation to build on, but maybe not the way a young whippersnapper like Hee Won Jung :p might think of: my network of creative professionals. The road to my MTV animation gig started when I talked about Jill Scott with a woman who eventually became a VP of promos. I’ve got about 20 years of conversations like that. In all my years playing music at work (pre-iPod era) I never once had anybody complain about my song choices, even when the offices were rife with bitter office politics.
So I’m hoping my network of friends might think something like: “I remember Mike, he was that cool guy I worked with and he always talked about dance music. He’s got a show? I’ll bet he’s got some good music I could listen to while I’m filling out these boring f***ing reports.”
This might be an admittedly romantic idea for the show. It’ll probably take a long, long time to even get my colleagues to tune in once. By that time, there should be several shows posted. Then they can realize I’ve got some good stuff for them. If I get just enough responses to I know I’m not howling at the moon like a coyote in the desert, I’ll consider it a success. And it’ll give me an outlet for my DJing.
I’m generally intending to follow the super helpful advice Shuga*Foot has outlined. Although 1% is a depressing metric, it’s good to know what I’m up against. And I need to focus on specialty sites more, too. This thread, and DDJT in general, is a great example of reaching people who share similar interests.
But to bring things back to my original question a bit: I’m still trying to get my head around the inverse logic of social media. It really seems to reward garbage over substance and content. There’s some weird voodoo going on, even if you’re doing all the proper (and hard) work. Right now FB seems like ‘up’ is ‘down’ and ‘down’ is ‘up.’
For example: one of my FB friends actually does something everybody has fantasized about: He never settled down and travels all over the world. He’s also a very bright artist. Needless to say, his FB feed is filled with amazing photos from exotic locales every month. But even he was getting tired of FB apathy. So he tested with a simple 2 word post: “Carrot Cake.” THAT bit of nonsense got more response than all his worldly exotic travels. He decided to quit posting on FB after that.
Although I’m starting to figure it out, how you phrase things and the manner you present and/or ask for a call to action in your posts really seems to matter. I’d love to hear more about these subtleties of posting, although I suppose it’s the million dollar question.
I see some people try to start a discussion but really, they’re just showing off how smart they are. Other people are inexplicably popular: they post “Wazzzup with Ketchup?” and get 20 enthusiastic replies. Other discussions just dissolve into shouting matches and scare people away. I have one friend who can’t realize his posts are clingy pleas for sympathy, and he’s scaring people off. God knows what I’m doing wrong.
@Shuga*Foot: If you have some good suggestions for further reading, articles and/or research I’m all ears. There’s a mountain advice out there that’s little more than glorified ponzi/pyramid schemes. Unlike music, I don’t know where to dig for the gems on this matter.
December 10, 2012 at 8:23 pm in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33385ParticipantFacebook/Twitter/Myspace etc. is a cop out
Ouch!! I actually agree with many of your points, and the general gist of your argument. I can actually see how many DJ’s would hide online for fear of playing out. HOWEVERRRRR . . . . I think you’re making the wrong assumptions about me. And being a bit too harsh. I just played in public two weeks ago and rocked the crowd for two hours solid. I am not copping out.
…if you just post shit about your mixes, or what events you are doing…then you becoming apart of the other 95% of bullshit random crap that people dont even bother to look at on facebook.
I think if you re-read my post you’ll see I’m quite concerned about not adding useless crap to the internet.
Screw Facebook…Screw Mixcloud…Screw Soundcloud. Until you have enough exposure in your city as a legitimate DJ you are just one of the other hundreds of people on FB posting about the same stuff as everyone else. What have you done to make yourself more noticeable to others?
My idea is still evolving, but I intend to make my Mixcloud posts like a hybrid radio show / mixstream. One thing I like about radio is hearing a friendly voice coming over the air. It’s just comforting to hear a person out there who cares enough to tell you what’s going on. It’s a subtle difference, but my instinct tells me it’s an important one. That’s why radio has survived all sorts of media upheaval for almost 100 years.
Now maybe there’s somebody out there doing an EDM podcast like this already, but about 95% of the ones I’ve heard have 1) no VO at all 2) VO of tracklistings or plugs for upcoming gigs 3) Just sound like a bunch of bar drunks rambling on and on. KCRW online is a example of good, intelligent radio but they barely play EDM. Ibiza Sonica occasionally does this, but is mainly solid DJ mixes with no VO. If anybody has examples send ‘em my way.
I intend to start my shows briefly talking about why I find my music set interesting and then off with the mix. I’m not going to be slapping up DeepMix #346 and boring my audience with plugs for gigs and Facebook “likes”. I don’t know if I’ll be successful, I don’t even have any radio experience, but I’ll certainly try to put on a good show. And I hope when I put quality material out there it’ll get a better reaction than my personal FB stream – which seems to heavily favor crap.
when i go out there is ALWAYS people that come up and talk to me saying oh hey ur so and so friends with so and so I heard you guys destroyed it at so and so.. . .The Link above i speak about how i got my “success”….Go out and meet people…go dance with them get drunk with them….
I just have mellower goals than you do. There’s probably a generational thing happening, too. I’m (guessing) I’m at least 20 years older than you. I’ve already had all the DJ success you’re having now. I don’t need to “destroy it” any more. I don’t need to walk into a room and be the center of attention. I don’t drink either.
Don’t get me wrong, I still intend to be spinning out in public. But I’ll probably do early evening lounge stuff here and there. Your advice in that link is really good, but for me, the idea of staying out till 3AM every other night with people much much younger than me seems ridiculous. I did that in NYC 10 years ago and I reached a point where clubs stopped being adventurous and exciting, and started being sad and depressing.
I still like to go out and dance and have fun, but clubs are just not the focus of my lifestyle anymore. Cooling it at home with my gorgeous, amazing wife is my idea of a good night. But I still love dance music and continue to be fascinated by it. So doing things online seems like a good route. Besides it seems like everybody in clubs is checking FaceBook on their iPhones anyway.
ParticipantYeah, even iTunes has some pretty big gaps in 80’s dance. To me Blancmange is a pretty good indicator of a store’s 80s selection: a bit obscure, but not that obscure. Blancmange had a few UK Top10 synth-pop hits, and released several LP’s on a major-label.
On iTunes you can only find Blancmange tracks that show up on compilations. None of their albums or extended versions of their classic hits on iTunes.
My 80’s shopping is hopping between iTunes, Amazon, with Juno a distant 3rd. You can find tons of 80s stuff on dubious Russian grey-market MP3 sites, but the sound quality is crap, the files are clipped, and the overall hassle more than offsets the cheap price.
I’d love to hear other suggestions. Not sure if 70s dance is better. There’s more nostalgia for classic funk and disco.
December 10, 2012 at 9:29 am in reply to: If my FaceBook page is dead, am I doomed as an online DJ? #33340ParticipantHey guys, thanks for all the replies. Good to know I’m off to a decent start, and I should chill about Facebook. Just to be clear, my goal isn’t to get huge massive numbers of listeners to achieve fame so I can quit my day job. I’d just like to get a small group of people interested and tuning in.
I’m an expat, so I see this as a great way to reach out to all my friends back in the USA, and also pick up new ones along the way. Sort of like I’m the friendly DJ at a cool neighborhood bar, except it’s on the internet. I realize that even that takes a lot of work.
One thing underneath all of this is that social media seems to reward quantity over quality. This is why I find FB so frustrating. I’m not inclined to flood the internet with even more crap on my personal FB, and certainly not as a DJ.
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