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How old is too old?

whenever I spin, I always feel as if I need to play only the newest records I have and kind of ingore the 'older' ones that I've had for around 6 months or so. Is this a good idea or does it even matter really?. I would expect that more commercial vocal tracks would have a much shorter shelf life than others but when is it time to retire one of your records? 6 months, 1 year, 2 years?? So when is a track considered old or does it even really matter as long as your set sounds good? Thanks for your help!

my thoughts are after 6 months, you put them away, maybe a little longer, but you can bring them back after about 2 years (if they good)every once in a while.

I think you guys have it all wrong. It's not how new it is, it's how much people have heard it. It can be a song from years ago, but if it was almost never played, even then, it will be just as good as a new record. People have gotten so caught up in thinking that only the newest records matter, that they skip over a lot of really good older stuff.

It's not just technical skill and track selection that makes a DJ, it's also digging skill. At least thats what makes a true DJ.

I agree, 6 months & 2 years is about right... right now the last track that you should be thinking about playing is probably ATRC, its been so over played, your bound to hear boo's instead of people singing along with the track.

And if your gonna play old tracks, dont play too many.

Your the Dj, you decide when the record is too old!

It's like saying "help me contruct this tracklist", you make the decisions in this game. Make them wise.

Nothing is too old appearantly...
Whenever I go out to some small party the same old songs are always played together with some of the new cheesy tracks.

For example, this iiiiiiiiiis controooooooool, englia etc with stuff like traffic and jan wayne etc

It's more or less the same thing in discotheques, although it's better there.

How can a record be old ... i'mean trance is timeless i guess ... it's how it sounds it's how the crowed will react .. i'm mean everybody is getting sick of motorcycle but in year or so you can drop it anywhere you want and the crowd wil go insane

Re: How old is too old?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Joshua H whenever I spin, I always feel as if I need to play only the newest records I have and kind of ingore the 'older' ones that I've had for around 6 months or so. Is this a good idea or does it even matter really?. I would expect that more commercial vocal tracks would have a much shorter shelf life than others but when is it time to retire one of your records? 6 months, 1 year, 2 years?? So when is a track considered old or does it even really matter as long as your set sounds good? Thanks for your help!

Sounds a little like you are feeling the pressure from other DJs. What you have to realise is that most of the people on the dancefloor are not nearly as fussy or as clued up as DJs are.

The other thing to remember is that you can virtually play anything for a crowd but the real art is knowing when to play it. A lot of clubs that I play in have so many different DJs passing through that it's hard to say that anything has been over played unless it's by one of the residents. Besides when people go out they expect to hear somethings that they know. They will react better to it. You just need to break it up with stuff they don't know.
'As the rush comes' is still on Armin's playlist (perhaps not top 10). Why shouldn't it be on your's if you think it would work.

What I would say to you is this.
If you are playing a track for the sake of it being new then the chances are that you are forcing yourself to enjoy it. Play what you enjoy playing and also where your instinct tells you to go when reading a crowd. If you look as if you are having fun as a DJ then people will respond to it.

I started my new years eve set with Ferry's version of Adagio this year... the place went mad. A few songs into it and I dropped Armin's version of 'As the rush comes' and the place went into orbit. After that I was able to play anything I wanted. Admittedly people are more up for a good party on occassions like this but the principle is still there.

What you should be thinking more in terms of is, 'Is this good music or not?'. If the answer is yes then play it if you feel to.

Also the chances are that if you are not on a good mailing list, whatever you are playing is by the industries standard 'old'. Just remember that most people don't get to see a big name play every weekend so they will probably not come into contact with those tracks anyways. Most clubbers are not 'TA's' and most clubbers buy compilations about a year after we have been caning those tracks and they still like them.

I wouldn't think too much about it.

Cheers
Nem

Dood this is why you go for the sound of the underground man, if your only playing songs that people know and will realise are six months old thats not the way to do it. Look for those gems that are just yours, i dont mean just play old records but mix em with your stuff so that the people know its you. And wil want to come back for more

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Mil0 Dood this is why you go for the sound of the underground man, if your only playing songs that people know and will realise are six months old thats not the way to do it. Look for those gems that are just yours, i dont mean just play old records but mix em with your stuff so that the people know its you. And wil want to come back for more

Milo makes a good point here.

Really you should be trying to work on 'your' sound more than anything. Develop something that people will recognise you for and try to be original.
It is actually possible to be original even if you play known tracks as it's all to do with how you play them and what you play them with.

The main thing is to make people have a good time listening to you... This doesn't mean you have to sell out and play wall to wall anthems or disapear up your own ass with underground cack. Sometimes underground remains underground because it's crap. Don't get me wrong, I know there is good underground too. Just think about how you do what you do and provide underground with the odd anthem.

The main thing is good music and good flow. If you can make a night flow then you will create a good atmosphere.

It's all about flow my friends!!!!

Cheers
Nem

since the most important thing is not how new a track is, but how often people have heard it, how often are you playing to the same crowd? ever notice how touring acts can play the same things for a year, cos each crowd only hears them once? AVB is a perfect example, I'd say he's changed less than half the tracks he's played in the last 3-4 sets i've heard him play over about 18 months. If he was a weekly resident people would have gotten over it long ago, but we don't hear him that often.

quote:

Originally posted by tubby since the most important thing is not how new a track is, but how often people have heard it, how often are you playing to the same crowd? ever notice how touring acts can play the same things for a year, cos each crowd only hears them once? AVB is a perfect example, I'd say he's changed less than half the tracks he's played in the last 3-4 sets i've heard him play over about 18 months. If he was a weekly resident people would have gotten over it long ago, but we don't hear him that often.

Aye, that is true.. not to mention the fact that there are just some tracks that you would expect AvB to play. He definately has it easier than let's say a resident for example who has to keep reinventing himself every so often.
I also work freelance so perhaps have forgotten what a residency was like in those terms.

On the other hand if you are a resident then you do know your local crowd a lot better. It all evens out.

Cheers
Nem

a good record is a good record.

play what you like.

more pearls of wisdom from Nem

quote:

Originally posted by dukes more pearls of wisdom from Nem

More like stating the obvious...

Nem

I personally spend less than 1/4 of my money on "big name" tracks, and really try to listen through a lot of unknown stuff, in search of hidden gems.

One of the main reasons that I bought turntables in the first place was that I wanted to eventually bring my specific taste in trance to the local scene. There are a ton of talented local DJs in my hometown, but most of them don't spin the stuff that I personally enjoy.

I think that a good trance set needs to include some of the big anthem tracks, but it's also important to introduce people to tracks that they haven't heard before. I guess you have to play for the crowd, but I think it's also important to be at least partially selfish and play for yourself.

i play uk hard house, and since barely anyone spins it in the US, when i play out, most of the stuff i have people never heard. my method is i usually play one or two classics to get the crowds attention, then i mix it up with some newer tracks and a few of ny older faves that they probably never heard before anyway..i know i never heard anyone else spin them!

I�m the other way round, I couldn�t play an up-front set if some one paid me to. My wants list is crammed with old tunes, outnumbering the new(ish) ones to about 25 to 1.

Still, I am cultivating a damn fine record collection.

where i live club tracks are timeless, because 90% of clubbers here would have no idea of just about any trance track.

quote:

Originally posted by TwoPlow I think you guys have it all wrong. It's not how new it is, it's how much people have heard it. It can be a song from years ago, but if it was almost never played, even then, it will be just as good as a new record. People have gotten so caught up in thinking that only the newest records matter, that they skip over a lot of really good older stuff. It's not just technical skill and track selection that makes a DJ, it's also digging skill. At least thats what makes a true DJ.

\
well said. agreed.

I wish you guys would stop thinking that there are hard and fast rules to this.

It's about you as a DJ. Build it up right and you could drop the bloody 'Sound of Music' and people would still go nuts.
You could also have the best new tune in the world that no one has heard yet, but if you drop it at the wrong time it might go down like a sh!t sandwich.

Learn about dancefloor dynamics... will take you far further than the most credible tune ever could.

Cheers
Nem

Nem is abolsutely right.

And even if you were a slave to a rule like this of when is vinyl to old, why would you want to limit yourself?

Be different, be creative.

quote:

where i live club tracks are timeless, because 90% of clubbers here would have no idea of just about any trance track.

i couldn't agree more, and no matter how hard us tranceheads in the u.s.a. wish that trance was more popular, its not. so basically whatever i spin is mostly unheard of, only by the hardcore addicts like me! =D. i'm actually trying to get a radio show on my university's fm station. and because i live in nyc, that could end up getting pretty big because out of this whole metropolitan area, there is not ONE trance radio show. i'm looking to have one of the first.

quote:

Originally posted by trancinchink out of this whole metropolitan area, there is not ONE trance radio show. i'm looking to have one of the first.

I would say go for it. But it does surprise me that there isn't a single radio show that does trance.
Do it, who knows what you may start and where it will take you.

Good luck.
Nem

heh... believe it. there's one radio station that plays dance music but they play stuff like jennifer lopez remixes or lasgo. lol. plus, even in clubs, new york is all about house. not much trance goin on aroudn here unless big name djs come through. i think its prolly the same all in america because apparently the most popular music genre is COUNTRY! can u believe that crap? good ol' american patriotism. *laugh* funny story here: i was spinning some trance in my room, and one of my suitemates comes in and says, "yo wussup! i've listened to a lot of "techno" in my day. it seems to be really big with asians these days" lol... most americans call any sort of electronic music techno. whatever... stupid hicks. (u dont wanna hear me rant and rave about racism in america)

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