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-- Are trance sets supposed to have some "filler" tracks?


Posted by Dj Pluviose on Sep-22-2025 03:02:

Are trance sets supposed to have some "filler" tracks?

I've noticed some great trance sets will not always have "banger for every tune" on the tracklist. Is it to preserve the crowd/listener's energy and preserve the more high energy tracks for last?

In my mind, I'm not sure if djs do this because they want to warm up the crowd more for an epic later part of their set, or if they just simply have fillers in their set because that was the best they could do

By "fillers" I mean like, some mediocre/subpar tracks. They almost feel like the dj is just throwing some of them in there just to pass the time

For me, I've made my own mixes where every single tune on the mix is a banger, but it sometimes exhausts my mind since i dont get a chance to rest. it has to stay focused on every single tune intently. but that's just me. what do you guys think?


Posted by Mattsanity on Sep-22-2025 08:29:

I'm sure there's qualified DJ's who can speak on this.


Posted by Sykonee on Sep-22-2025 22:04:

A smart, transitional filler track will make the bangers stand out that much more. A set of just banger after banger waters down their effective bangerness.


Posted by SYSTEM-J on Sep-23-2025 11:33:

A good set needs variety, whatever the genre. Play too many tracks of the same ilk and it becomes boring, no matter how good they are individually. But that doesn't mean the tracks in between the bangers should be mediocre. When you go to a restaurant, the potatoes don't taste as good as the steak, but you still need them on the plate.


Posted by Dj Pluviose on Sep-26-2025 00:34:

I see, thanks for info guys. I had a feeling ya know, but the replies here pretty much confirmed it. So it seems to a good set is to allow some space for the avid listener to rest a bit and then throw in the defining bangers later.


Posted by Mattsanity on Oct-10-2025 23:19:

quote:
Originally posted by Sykonee
A smart, transitional filler track will make the bangers stand out that much more. A set of just banger after banger waters down their effective bangerness.


How do you define a banger and a filler? just curious.


Posted by Hyperborean on Oct-11-2025 15:22:

A banger bangs and a filler fills.


Posted by Sykonee on Oct-11-2025 22:22:

An easy example of a 'filler' track is Young American Primative's These Waves as it appears on the first Northern Exposure from Sasha & Diggers.

You got the early 'banger' (re: stand-out track) in FSOL's Cascade, and a little later, God Within's Raincry, but need something 'lesser' to bridge the gap between those two highlights. YAP's tune nicely serves that purpose, a track that keeps the momentum going without making a big fuss about its presence within the set.


Posted by ProgHouseFan on Oct-12-2025 08:50:

A great set can make the "filler" tracks seem like "bangers".


Posted by SYSTEM-J on Oct-15-2025 07:21:

Much as it pains me to quibble with my old writing buddy Sykonee, I don't think Northern Exposure CD1 is a great example because it's not a club set and it's really a bunch of mostly chilled out cuts edited together. It flows as it flows.

A better example of a quintessential filler track would be Smith & Selway's Move on GU:013. It's literally just a filtered tech house groove for five minutes and by far the most utilitarian cut on the whole compilation, but it's a perfect example of using a tool track to "level off" after playing two big mid-set climaxes (My Lexicon and Nothing Left) before building back up again to the disc's finale.


Posted by Sykonee on Oct-15-2025 22:53:

quote:
Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Much as it pains me to quibble with my old writing buddy Sykonee, I don't think Northern Exposure CD1 is a great example because it's not a club set and it's really a bunch of mostly chilled out cuts edited together. It flows as it flows.

A better example of a quintessential filler track would be Smith & Selway's Move on GU:013. It's literally just a filtered tech house groove for five minutes and by far the most utilitarian cut on the whole compilation, but it's a perfect example of using a tool track to "level off" after playing two big mid-set climaxes (My Lexicon and Nothing Left) before building back up again to the disc's finale.

By all means, quibble away.

Yeah, I figured there'd be better examples about the GU series, but I still have scant few of those, much less memorized in detail. NE was just the one that I had on my mind while browsing this thread.


Posted by LoveHate on Oct-28-2025 17:22:

I tried listening to a Steve Angello set from creamfields or something recently. it was just horrible. the transitions didn't make any sense. it was just drop after drop. I would not have been happy If I was in that crowed. Because he was jus playing like the main parts of every hit edm song and then transitioning to the next one. but like I said it didn't make any sense. Sometimes when you are only playing what you think the crowd wants to hear , you end up doing the opposite. trying to cram 50 songs and mashups into 1 hour is not good. It doesn't make you like a better dj in my opinion. You can do that in your bedroom or for a promo /internet mix ...

but when you are out in public the vibe is so much more important, and i think filler tracks help create that vibe.


Posted by Dj Pluviose on Oct-28-2025 18:34:

quote:
Originally posted by LoveHate
I tried listening to a Steve Angello set from creamfields or something recently. it was just horrible. the transitions didn't make any sense. it was just drop after drop. I would not have been happy If I was in that crowed. Because he was jus playing like the main parts of every hit edm song and then transitioning to the next one. but like I said it didn't make any sense. Sometimes when you are only playing what you think the crowd wants to hear , you end up doing the opposite. trying to cram 50 songs and mashups into 1 hour is not good. It doesn't make you like a better dj in my opinion. You can do that in your bedroom or for a promo /internet mix ...

but when you are out in public the vibe is so much more important, and i think filler tracks help create that vibe.


the problem is the short attention span of the average listeners, some of them actually enjoy that



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