Going to play some music at friend's b-day party. Tune selection?

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-- Going to play some music at friend's b-day party. Tune selection?

Posted by eulerfx on May-28-2004 01:07:

Going to play some music at friend's b-day party. Tune selection?

I'm going to be using Virtual DJ on the computer, which will be hooked up to a pretty powerful sound system. Anyway, I was thinking of playing a little trance set. Since not everybody is a huge trance fan I was curious as to what a good set would be. Would a set of anthems be overkill? Like for example:

Taste Xperience - Tantrix
SS vs. SB - 3rd Earth
AVB - Communication
Lost Tribe - Gamemaster
BT - Dreaming
Cass & Slide - Perception
Amoeba Assassin - Piledriver (Grayed out Summer)
SS - Seven Cities (V-One)
Salt Tank - Eugina
SS - Solarcoaster (Airbase Mix)
DJ Tiesto - Lethal Industry (Svenson & Gielen Mix)
DJ Tiesto - Suburban Train

Or should I play something with more enerhy and bass, like house???

There is so much to choose from!

Posted by ESMdjm600 on May-28-2004 02:05:

eh... i guess u can try and do a planned set to look kinda cool, but thats not exactly full proof if ur tryin to win the crowd over. if i was u, soon as i walked in, take a real good look at the crowd, that should give u some sort of an idea as to where to start, or whether or not u should even start at all and then take it from there

Posted by Spuds6s on May-28-2004 02:30:

Lemme tell you whats gonna happen...you're gonna drop the "needle" on Tantrix, and 15 seconds later, some kid in an oversized Pistons jersey is gonna walk up to you and be like "Yo man, play some reggae, WASSUP!?" You choose the course of action:

A. Look up at him, look back down at the computer and ignore him, keep playing what you like.
B. Look up at him, get scared, play what he wants to hear immediately.
C. Punch him in the testicles to make an example out of him, and keep playing what you like.

Outcome A: His attitudes probably reflect the general attitude of those attending, in which case, you will piss people off and they will leave to go play beer pong instead.

Outcome B: People will stay and listen, but you will have the feeling of bowing down to some punk ass who thinks hes 50-Cent.

Outcome C: 50-Cent and his friends are waiting for you in the parking lot as youre packing up, and nobody listens to your set.

You make the decision. I've dealt with this bullshit plenty, and I don't advise Option C, unless you're a second degree black belt, like me

Posted by eulerfx on May-28-2004 03:10:

Its not as bad as you may think. These are my really close friends and some are huge fans of trance, though the more 'cheesy' side.

I don't really have any DJ experience, so I can't really read the crowd and tell what they want to hear, unless the yell at me and tell me to play something.

I guess I'll just try. Maybe I'll just play what they want and a trance tune here and there. "Lethal Industry" should definatly get them going...

Posted by stevebutabi on May-28-2004 03:40:

christ that's a lot of anthems!

if i were you i'd play some funky house... if you play tracks with a nice bassline, people will dance!

Posted by Freak on May-28-2004 10:02:

Stuff with strong female vocals and a good B line

Also known as 'dolls house'

Play for the women and the men will follow like sheep

Posted by Endo on May-28-2004 16:18:

quote:
Originally posted by Freak

Play for the women and the men will follow like sheep

Best quote ever... so true

Posted by D Dubya on May-28-2004 16:21:

I saw a great example of what you're talking about last night Freak. The DJ was just striking out with his tracklist, but then he put on some girl music, the girls all rushed the floor to dance and of course the guys were following like a pack of wild dogs. So true, so true.

Posted by eulerfx on May-28-2004 16:28:

So give me some examples of what you consider funky house?

like this:

Daft Punk - One More Time
Azzido Da Bass - Doom's Night
PPK - I Need Rhythm
Thick Dick - Orgasm

?? In worst case scenario I'll just play "What is Love" by Haddaway and everyone will go crazy.

Posted by subtledreamer on May-28-2004 16:31:

quote:
Originally posted by Dirk W.
I saw a great example of what you're talking about last night Freak. The DJ was just striking out with his tracklist, but then he put on some girl music, the girls all rushed the floor to dance and of course the guys were following like a pack of wild dogs. So true, so true.

NICE.
it's like that all over the place, even high school dances

Posted by Freak on May-28-2004 16:36:

It was one of the first things i learnt years ago as a young dj, and its still true today.

Funky house-(extracts from a chart of mine at the mo)

Peyton- higher place (eric kupper gospel mix)- (hedkandi)
JuniorJack- stupid disco (defected)
Stonebridge- Put em high (seamus Hajji mix) (hedkandi)
Shapeshifters-Lolas theme (nocturnal groove) (my copies are selling for 40 quid a time at the mo-crazy)
Thomas Bangalter/Dj falcon- Call on me (samples Steve winwood's 'Valerie' )(white)
Bobby Blanco/Mikki Moto- 3am (defected)
Paradise soul- Wake up (kinky vinyl)
Angel City - Touch me (phunk investigation mix) (Data records)
YCS feat. Reed- Release me (kinky vinyl)
Moloko- Cannot contain this (gus gus mix) (cant remember the label)
Dj Sharon O Love&3 elements- Fast Car (xtrafresh)

I have boxes of funky house- as its one of my fave styles to play

You know the classic funky house stuff- one more time is an instant floor filler- Its the emergency record!!

Posted by T:REBEL on May-28-2004 19:39:

Alice DJ and Ian Van Dahl!

J/K...why don't you ask the peeps that are gonna be there. Don't ask about tracks, ask about genre. I dunno.

Posted by pooley on May-29-2004 12:55:

I've to the same thing tonight. I'll go for trance/prog. Anoher dj will do some more commercial/retro set... so they can't wank at me!

Posted by Spuds6s on May-29-2004 16:04:

One of the tracks that the girls by me are a big fan of is Jessy - Look at me now (CJ Stone Remix). Also, I think that Benny Benasi track is big at the bars now, Satisfaction I think its called. One of my most requested house songs during basement parties is Amuka - Appreciate Me (Peter Rauhofer Remix). You can also try the Rauhofer remix of Britney Spears and Madonna - Me Against the Music. Thats kinda funky house.

Posted by pooley on May-29-2004 19:03:

Welcome to euhm a few months ago ! !

Posted by eulerfx on May-31-2004 16:41:

So it was last night. I played a variety of tracks. Hip-hop, trance, house. Though I noticed what really set people off more than anything was "Voodoo" by Aquilia. The song is too repetitive to listen to just straight out, but with huge speakers and a dance floor its really nice, especially since I didn't play the whole thing and mixed it into "Blood is Pumping" by Voodoo & Serano.

Posted by rafale on Jun-02-2004 04:08:

If they arent ppl who like trance music I doubt anyone's really gonna enjoy the music.

Like spud says, you have three options when someone approaches you. ahha

Posted by Spuds6s on Jun-02-2004 07:12:

quote:
Originally posted by pooley
Welcome to euhm a few months ago ! !

Yeah I remember hearing some of these songs in the bars a over the winter. I dont know if anyone else experiences this, but once people find some kind of mainstream they like, its hard for them to let it go. That Will I track stuck forever, Sandstorm, all this shit.

Posted by Nemesis44 on Jun-02-2004 10:51:

quote:
Originally posted by Freak
Stuff with strong female vocals and a good B line

Also known as 'dolls house'

Play for the women and the men will follow like sheep

Good advice.

You also need to think in terms of set progression. You can't just go and play trance.
The thing that most people seem to forget on this forum is that trance is often at the peek of the night. The climax if you like. Not something you start with.

As Freak says, play for the ladies and then work everyone into a few breaks tracks (Groove Armada - Superstylin' Breakz Mix 2 always works) sneak in some funky trance tunes but go back funky again if the crowd isn't ready for it. The art of DJing involves being able to tease people and make them want to hear what you have in your record box, not just throw it on take it or leave it.

The other thing to keep in mind is that if you haven't got a crowd infront of you that likes trance they are going to hate it whenever you play it. Take it as a DJ experience rather than a trance experience.

Use this to learn how people react to music and the different groups of people you will see on the dancefloor.
Keep in mind that you also have to be a people person as a DJ. If you can create a following that's a big big weapon to getting gigs at clubs.

See the bigger picture. Ok so you may end up playing some tracks you don't like but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Cheers
Nem

Posted by Nemesis44 on Jun-02-2004 10:54:

quote:
Originally posted by eulerfx
?? In worst case scenario I'll just play "What is Love" by Haddaway and everyone will go crazy.

Posted by Chris d(-_-)b on Jun-02-2004 15:11:

You'd better hope the people will like trance.

You can't force the music if the audience does not like it. I've had this dilemma many times. I wanted to play edm but the audience didn't want to listen. There are two ways handling this situation. You can either play something else or play nothing. When i started Dj:ing, i didn't have that much choice. Today, i go with the second option.

My point is that play music that pleases the crowd. In the end, you are playing for the crowd and not yourself. Occasionally you can slip in something of your own preference, but be carefull.