Reason808

I wouldn’t let equipment issues throw you. I haven’t DJ’ed in clubs since the digital DJing revolution, so maybe what I say doesn’t matter. However, in my vinyl days, I got used to showing up in a club and taking whatever mixer they had. I’ve found that after a bit of confusion on the first one or two mixes, your natural beatmixing and song selection ability take over.

One of the biggest gigs of my life (I was the warm up DJ for BT) was on a mixer with no crossfader or sliders!! I discovered this after my first record was playing. Man that freaked me out, but I didn’t have time to complain or find another solution. My only option was to learn, and learn fast. Even so, after the initial confusion, I adjusted, and started enjoying the music everybody was really happy in the end.

reason808, post: 26420, member: 831 wrote: Reading your post reminds me of all the anxiety I’ve had and still get with every opportunity I’ve had in life. My advice is to tune out all the stuff that doesn’t matter.

About 100% percent of what you’re worrying about has NOTHING to do with your proven ability to please people with your DJing. Focus on that. Focus on how enjoyable it is. Focus on how much your friends want to see you play. Love and respect the techniques that make it possible.

The size of the room doesn’t matter, neither does the the status of the club or all perceptions about what “level” you’re at. Sounds like the only guy who thinks he isn’t good enough for this gig is you. Stop telling yourself that. You are.

When I started out as a graphic designer I could’ve driven myself crazy comparing myself to all the amazing work in design mags and award shows. I also worried about the fact that I didn’t have a design degree or a good computer, but I had to stop myself. Instead, I focused on what I loved about graphic design and always keeping my clients happy. A few years later I started designing at MTV networks. That was over ten years ago, and I still work with them.

Hmmm I see this problem ALL the time as a design teacher. Students immediately turn to Google to get their ideas, instead of thinking up their own. The instant ability to find answers is great for technical things, but it definitely is a powerful force against coming up with your own ideas.

I said this before somewhere else on these forums, and somebody gave me a lot of shit for it, but my experience DJing weddings and seriously uncool suburban and rural gigs really helped me when I eventually got to spinning at underground lounges in New York City.

There’s a big difference between mixing for your own pleasure and a real crowd that instantly reacts to what you do. If you’re starting out as a DJ sweating it out in front of a real crowd, even a lame one, gives you some serious DJ chops that’ll strengthen your skills no matter what: you’ll read crowds, plan your sets to get people hyped, manage people and requests, and handle various types of pressure.

You shouldn’t make yourself miserable, but look at this as an exercise. You probably didn’t like doing sit-ups and drills, but that helped you as a rugby player. This is kinda the same.

Also, there’s something really great about raising the energy level and happiness of a room no matter what the music. Don’t deny yourself that thrill.

I’m an American in Hong Kong. Based on what I know, your novelty and status as a foreigner (I’m assuming from your English you’re a Westerner) will be a bigger factor than the music you play. When I’ve been in the Mainland, (Shenzhen/Guangzhou) I got stared at quite a bit, and I was just walking around, not DJing.

My guess is that they will lump everything you play into “western” music. So this could be both good and bad, because you could get an incredible amount of freedom to play whatever you want. But they may be only familiar with the big western hits and you may be stuck playing those. Or your audience may react to your music as a novelty act.

However, I have to be honest: I have not actually DJ’ed in Hong Kong yet. Maybe somebody else would have better info. Hong Kong seems like New York in that people will dance all night and only stop at 10 am the next day. From what I hear, Shanghai/Beijing are like this too. I’ve heard grumblings from local DJs that club owners and audiences only like Western DJs, with clubs emptying out as soon a local DJ steps on the decks.

How all this plays out in Tier II cities is unclear. But my mainland visits convinced me the Chinese love to dance. People were even doing the cha cha in the streets! Personally I think it’d be a lot of fun to DJ in a Tier II city. People are ready to let loose.

Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. Don’t make the mistake I made. I had a small record contract about 10 years ago. I wasted a lot of time, money and energy worrying about the legalities and protecting myself in case of a “hypothetical” runaway success. I probably annoyed a lot of people, too.

Most dance singles, even underground hits, only sell about 500-1000 copies. Maybe things have changed in the last ten years, but I doubt its that much. When you factor in all the cuts publishers, labels, etc get, its not worth the money to take you to court. You’ll probably get a cease and desist letter at best.

You’re most likely to get ripped off by entering a bad contract where legalities are exploited by your manager, publisher, or record label. It’s better to get started on production and get your name and music out there. If your tracks eventually get some buzz, and you get label interest, then you should look at the legalities and get more careful about publishing.

If you look closely at the history of successful entertainers, even ones who come out of nowhere, they’ve usually been sweating it out with unknown work for many years. Thus the showbiz saying: “The overnight success 10 years in the making”

Although, legally, it’s possible for a stranger to exploit a a legal loophole and make millions off of your creative work, the chances of this happening for a first time producer are pretty much a fluke. Same for a PRO coming after you.

And what if that actually did happen? Let’s say Lady GAGA/Hollywood puts one of your tracks on her next album/film and you don’t make a cent. That’d open the doors to tons of opportunities to produce for other artists on favorable terms. You’ll be the guy who produced “that” song. Don’t let legalities hold you back.

I have a slightly different take on it. I wonder if this ADHD trend is caused by people just “skimming” their information in general, facebook, emails, blogs, text messages etc. It just seems like the general environment we live in penalizes paying attention to anything because A) we might be missing out on something else, and B) we’re just overwhelmed.

DJing might be a victim of this, like all forms of craftsmanship. I don’t like this, but that’s the reality. I try to actually read and listen to things, but I wonder if that’s because my media consumption habits were formed in the pre-internet era. Even so, I probably skim a lot more than I used to.

But I’ve noticed that pop/dance structures were changing long before the internet. I used to be a Hip-Hop DJ then got into EDM. When I went back to mix my hip-hop records after years of EDM, the 8 & 16 bar intros seemed incredibly short after 32/64/+ bar intros I’d gotten used to in EDM. I saw this less about commercialization than producing mixes to be DJ friendly: EDM DJs prefer long blends, and Hip-Hop DJs prefer rapid cuts.

With things being digital, it wouldn’t be surprising if the intros and breaks got really shortened again. I don’t follow current pop music because I can listen to really good online radio. I don’t know if that’s because I’m old or love music enough to go beyond skimming. My 19 yr old cousin liked my DJ mixes, but said they were “old school” I wonder if it was because of the long blends.