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The Anatomy of a Playlist
My question is this:
When you decide to make a new mix, what goes through your head? What makes you pick one song over another? How do you lay out your set, do you start slow and build up or do you start with something banging right off the bat?
it all depends on your style, and when you are spinning...
for me, i like a nice progressive set where it starts off light and as the set progresses i throw down harder and harder tracks
however, a later set, such as a closing set, i would start off with the same amount of energy that the previous dj had, and progress from harder to light
I think Barkmull is more referring to making a CD or demo tape than a club set.
Track selection is almost as important here as the mixing itself. You have to cater for as many different tastes as possible. If you are goint to be giving this to a club promoter, you want there to be something on the CD that he will like. Personally, I like to start off with some more progressive tunes, like Shockwav, and build it up to more banging stuff at the end. I try to stay away from too much cheese if possible, but indicate that you have some cheesey stuff in your collection, because a promoter may want you to play cheesey stuff if you get a job.
You also need to think about how the songs go together. If you have a rough idea of what songs you want in there, then you should try to order them so that the softer ones go first, and the harder ones go at the end. Do practice mixes before hand so that you know how you are going to mix them when it comes to recording.
another good thing, is to find the track your going to make the main piece. And put that one on. Then grab the other 10 or so tracks and start mixing them 1 by 1 to the main one. Then put them either before (lighter) or after ( harder) the main one. You should try to have the main one about 45 min into a 60 min mix.
That's just one of many ways, but will help you find 10-11 songs with the same bpm range and they will sort themselves.
Right on
Thanks guys...I appriciate all the great feedback!!
DJTJ was right in that I was making promo CD to give to some clubs here in town. I am having a hard time deciding what songs to put on the CD. DJTJ said:
| quote: |
| I try to stay away from too much cheese if possible, but indicate that you have some cheesey stuff in your collection, because a promoter may want you to play cheesey stuff if you get a job. |
everyone's got a different view on what is considered cheese... i mean, there's people saying tiesto is cheese? go figure 
Hmmm...Want Some Cheese, Try Future Breeze - Temple Of Dreams, Pussy Lovers - **** Licker LOL Maybe Aquagen - Hard To Say I'm Sorry. A Friend Of Mine Keeps Buying Cheesy Shit And Insists On Calling It Trance, He Can Get Quite Irritating Some Times.
Yeah, I'm talking real mainstream stuff, exactly like Ian van Dahl, Temple of Dreams, Alice Deejay 
, and to some degree, a lot of Ferry Corsten stuff and, yes, some Tiesto. It says more about you if you can pick your own tracks that you have found, rather than just regurgitating the stuff you hear on the radio every day.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJTJ Yeah, I'm talking real mainstream stuff, exactly like Ian van Dahl, Temple of Dreams, Alice Deejay , and to some degree, a lot of Ferry Corsten stuff and, yes, some Tiesto. It says more about you if you can pick your own tracks that you have found, rather than just regurgitating the stuff you hear on the radio every day. |
What pisses me right off is Djs on my local big radio station beat 106, hearing them spinning live at clubs, knoing i can do just as good as them if not better! Not fair!
Im goin into every club in glasgow tomorrow with demo cd's for them all.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Transa What pisses me right off is Djs on my local big radio station beat 106, hearing them spinning live at clubs, knoing i can do just as good as them if not better! Not fair! Im goin into every club in glasgow tomorrow with demo cd's for them all. |
Lol, hey Tj, get a big sharp stick, a metal club, and sum vinyl and meet me outside my local radio station this sat nite! (Lol,yeah i watched keenan and kel when i was a kid 
OK, I have my big stick. I'm going to need some help with my record box though, it's a bit heavy!
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJTJ I hear you! I just don't understand how some of these DJs get jobs, I really don't. Some DJs in my local clubs just can't beatmatch for shit, and I'm just like, restraining myself from going up to the booth and hitting him! "I should be doing that, I'm ten times better than you!" Trouble is, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And I don't know anyone. |
Bit of both really, but mostly it's CD's.
well, for me, when i sit down to make a cd (or a mix set, whichever), i first decide what genres of trance i want. for example, in my latest set i wanted to do more 'intense' sounding tracks...something like push - legacy (svenson & gielen mix) or rank 1 - awakening.....so, i go assemble a bunch of tracks that i think fit the genre of choice...then i start mixing a bunch of them together in no particular order...when i hear tracks that go together (not only by beats, but by mood/feeling), i start to get a tracklist going in my mind.....its all smooth sailing from there....i just mess around till i find a good set of tracks....
hope this helps someone...
My 2 cents
When I made my first set a while ago, I was just thinking about getting each of the songs to mix.
Now I am wiser.
Personally, a nice progressive set always hits the spot. I like to start off with a crowd-pleaser, but not a floor-filler (Read: cheesy but not banging). This creates interest when listening to a cd or smiles on the dancefloor. Then I let it drop down with a few lower intensity tracks and then do a nice 2-3 track buildup to the main piece. From there it is anyone's guess. You can either stay banging and mix track after track of floor-filling goodness or let it drop again and build it back up (depending on the length of the set). Just my opinion, not speaking gospel.
Thanks!
Thanks The_Groove and tOast! Very helpful posts.
I started making mixes a while back, but I found that I was using songs that I liked at the moment. I did not pay much attention to beats/mood and I think that was my downfall.
Thanks all!
Well if it is a promotional CD then you have to keep in mind that you need to capture the listener's attention within the first few minutes. I don't think there's much time or purpose for "intro" tracks and warm-up stuff on a demo ... from experience, people usually fast-forwarded to the good stuff.
Promo or Live
I agree with skywarp, if you are making a promo, things are different. The goal is to impress your listener more than create a mood or "journey". In a live set you can afford to drop the beat and get into some airy stuff for a while. While still possible on a promo (not to say you shouldn't have breaks), airy beatless stuff gets tedious.
This is just my opinion, but I have listened to plenty of promos.
On the same token, don't just have beats. It is nice to have a few breaks here and there.
Last thing: Someone once told me that you shouldn't let your songs play out, get into the mix. This makes sense as whoever you give the CD to (if it is for promotion) doesn't want to hear the songs. He wants to hear your skills. This may apply more to radio DJs, as we have to take airbreaks (as I guess nightclub Djs do as well, anyway I digress), but I would assume that you should at least keep the thought in mind.
Re: Promo or Live
| quote: |
| Originally posted by The_Groove Someone once told me that you shouldn't let your songs play out, get into the mix. This makes sense as whoever you give the CD to (if it is for promotion) doesn't want to hear the songs. He wants to hear your skills. This may apply more to radio DJs, as we have to take airbreaks (as I guess nightclub Djs do as well, anyway I digress), but I would assume that you should at least keep the thought in mind. |
hey, do djs prepare their tracklist for a live event before they perform?
Some do, some don't.
I personally don't prepare a playlist. It's pointless.
First off, I spin trance and only trance and for me, it very much depends on what I am making the setlist for. If I am making a promo cd, I usually have about 12 tracks on an 80min cd. Whether the cd is for a promo or if I was to actually fullfill my dream and have a label sell it for me, I treat the set the same way for both. I try to pick out the cds that I have that I used to listen to all the time, like Kimble Collins - Generation Trance 2000 and really think about what made me love that cd so much. I believe that it's because it's upbeat and hard-hitting right from the begining! That's the way that I try to arrange my sets when I'm making a cd. The first couple of tracks will be "intro" tracks. For example some of the intro tracks I've used are Cj Stone - Shining Star, Armin Van Burren(rising star) - Clear Blue Moon, Chicane - Autumn Tactics and Miller and Floyd - Colours.
Some of these tracks are pretty intense for "intro" tracks, but you have to be able to grab the crowd's attention and make them dance! If a DJ switchup is about to come up and I'm making the descision of which room I want to dance in at a rave or a multi-room club, I will only stay for a couple of tracks before I make my descision. Also, if you are a more famous DJ, I'd be really excited and want to start dancing immediately once you started spining. If you drop some really slow tracks at the begining or ones that have a lot of breaks, the dancers stop during the breaks, yet they aren't tired yet! Wait until 3-4 tracks in to give them a 15-30 second break in the beat. This way they won't get bored and leave the room. Think back to the best parties and dj that you've attended. Do you remember the DJs that played pretty good tracks that were great to chill to, or do you remember the DJ's usually a little bit later in the night that started with upbeat tracks and moved quickly into hard-hitters.
There is also a great difference between hard-hitting tracks and epic trakcs. Hard hitting tracks don't even have to have that much "energy" in the track as long as the track is pretty decent, the beat doesn't stop and there are always several instruments playing.
Anyway, I've moved on from cd's to live sets without finishing what I have to say about cds. I gave examples of my intro tracks, from there I usually have a good, but mostly unheard-of track to keep the listener interested. Then I start brining it up quickly so that I hit my first peak at the 6th track (half way through the cd). Since you've been listening to the cd for almost 40 mins now, you deserve a peak, but this is not the most intense peak. I bring it down just slightly on tracks 7 and 8, then way up to the max on 9 and 10. From there I bring it down a bit on track 11 and then up again on the last track. I do the dip on the 11th track because then the listener thinks that the cd is winding down, when in reality, I've got another banging tune lined up. Some exapmles of the last track pairs that I've used include: B&J - Cream (great track, but not too intense) followd by Roland Klein - Nexus Point, and my favorite exit: Surreal - Always on my mind (lange vocal mix) followed by Lost Witness - 7 Colours (angelic mix).
I try to maintain the same type of composition for live sets, but it also depends if the DJ before me was spinning trance or if I have to get the crowd into it myself and also when in the night I'm spinning. If I am in the begining, then I usually don't bring the peaks quite as high very quickly. I play tracks that are still upbeats, but not to intense like Marc Aurel - running (dumonde mix) and Jose Amnesia - The Eternal. This way the crowd can get into the trance and I'm not waisting my floor-fillers like: Spacey & Vaughan - Earth, Rhythm of Life - You put me in heaven with your touch, Agenda - Heaven (lange mix), The Morrigan - Remember etc.
If I'm spinning a really long set (2-3h), then I will usually save those tracks and play them all in a row to never let the crowd stop! Sure there will be a lot of people that will need to take breaks often, but the floor will always be filled. And most importantly, the goal of every DJ should always be to get the crowd wondering who the DJ is! Because you will never get popular and spin as a headliner if no one remembers who you are. Even if they remember your set, if they don't remember your name. Remember, people love free shit. Give them copies of your demo cd, get glowsticks with your name and email printed on them and hell, even wear a shirt with your name on it! Just get your name branded onto the music that you spin.
BTW, you can listen to the sets that I've complied! Just click here
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