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First time spinning out....need advice/help

well folks, tomorrow night will be my first time spinning in front of 2+ people and it will be at a bar/mini-club. I'm opening, and I put together a playlist last night....I've been spinning for a year and it's a breaks/dnb night so i'll be spinning pretty much all my proggy breaks vinyl with a few tech house/trance tracks to mix it up. I'm a lot more comfortable spinning breaks than 4/4 beats...so i'm pretty confident that there will be no big mistakes, but i'm still somewhat nervous....i have a dope 10 minute intro track so that will give me plenty of time to beatmatch the next track and give me time to get comfortable with the monitors and mixer. i'm not going to drink anything 2 hours before my set, so i don't have to abandon the tables for a minute or two....i'm going to drink beer (no more than 2) because i always drink beer whilST spinning...i'm going to bring my own headphones and needles.....flashlight....

anything i'm forgetting?
anyone want to share their first-time spinning out experience?

Ok here is something...

It's good that you planed your set, so you won't have to decide what to play next. I did the same thing on my first gig. But you must be ready to make changes in your set. I had to skip few track on my first gig, because i didn't have enough time to play all track that i have planed.

Don't panic if you fuckup/trainwreck your mix it happends to all of us that are just starting. If fuckup mix just move fader over and forget about it and consentrate on your next mix.

Don't drink to much or you woun't be able to notice when your track are not in sync.

This is maybe just me, but when i play in club mixing tracks is easyer for me.

Re: First time spinning out....need advice/help

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Lucas well folks, tomorrow night will be my first time spinning in front of 2+ people and it will be at a bar/mini-club. I'm opening, and I put together a playlist last night....I've been spinning for a year and it's a breaks/dnb night so i'll be spinning pretty much all my proggy breaks vinyl with a few tech house/trance tracks to mix it up. I'm a lot more comfortable spinning breaks than 4/4 beats...so i'm pretty confident that there will be no big mistakes, but i'm still somewhat nervous....i have a dope 10 minute intro track so that will give me plenty of time to beatmatch the next track and give me time to get comfortable with the monitors and mixer. i'm not going to drink anything 2 hours before my set, so i don't have to abandon the tables for a minute or two....i'm going to drink beer (no more than 2) because i always drink beer whilST spinning...i'm going to bring my own headphones and needles.....flashlight.... anything i'm forgetting? anyone want to share their first-time spinning out experience?

First thing to know is you will probably not have monitors, or a mixer that works properly, DONT take your own needles, you'll only be accused of trying to blag the venues ones when you go to take them at the end of the night or loose them..

Secondly, dont plan too much, over planning will just make you more nervous. Go in have a couple of beers(by this I dont mean get pissed) play a few tunes b4 the venue opens if possible, this way you will get used to the set up, as I said chances are you would have monitors and you'll probably be mixing through your headphones or something. Going by my experience thats usually the case with smaller venues.. Speak to the promoter, ask him what the set up is like..

At the end of the day because this is your first gig no one will expect you to be perfect(unless you have bullshitted your way into the gig, by telling them you are Sasha ) and you will be lucky if you do get it spot on. So dont think about it too much and most of all enjoy it.

Re: Re: First time spinning out....need advice/help

quote:

Originally posted by The Don First thing to know is you will probably not have monitors

I've never mixed w/my headphones before...

i just have split cue and never use it....hmmm...i hope it's not too hard to get used to.....is it?

I learned by using my left ear to hear my monitors (single-side monitoring?)

perhaps I should have checked out the setup last time i was there

oops....

Going by my own experience from when I started playing out, the best advice I can give is always prepare for the worst set up you can imagine. That way it can only be better, needles will jump, decks will be broken and mixers and monitors will be shit, especially when you start out.


Maybe not in every case but between me and most of the Djs I know, this is the case

quote:

Originally posted by The Don Going by my own experience from when I started playing out, the best advice I can give is always prepare for the worst set up you can imagine. That way it can only be better, needles will jump, decks will be broken and mixers and monitors will be shit, especially when you start out. Maybe not in every case but between me and most of the Djs I know, this is the case

broken decks? how so...the tonearm? or perhaps it only spins at 33?

ahh.....the pitch could be broken....

okay......i'm about ready to leave...i'm a little bit nervous, but a few beers will take care of that....i practiced my set a little bit ago, and i did well.....no big problems.....made a few changes to the playlist...and i'm all set.

thanks fellas, i'll tell you what happened tomorrow

Let us know how it goes, good luck bro! We're with you!

I'm spinning for my first time at a party tomorrow...I'm planning on getting real messed up before I play so it should be interesting. The thing is though is that most people don't know shit about mixing, as long as I can manage not to create huge trainwrecks I should be ok...my main objective is to have fun anyway.

before i went to the club, i went to the lounge next door and drank a tall glass of moose drool(beer)in about 10 minutes, and then went back to my car to get my records and backpack. i arrived there worried about the mixer and monitors, and then i saw my mixer (pcv275) i was very happy with that....the faders and pitch weren't as smooth as mine, but it was alright. i turned the decks so pitch is at the back, the way i like it. i put a record on and they did a sound check...took that record off...got everything situated, and then put on my long intro track. now, this place was almost empty....the whole time i was spinning, there were only 5-10 people there including the club manager and 2 employees. i got a beer to sip on.....

there was one big speaker to the right that was the monitor....i had my headphones up all the way (for some reason, the club mixer headphone port wasn't nearly as loud as mine at home). The monitor was a little too loud for me to hear the other track in the headphones, even with it around my whole ear, and i have sony 7506s....so they turned it down a little. Oh yeah, and good thing i brought my own needles, cuz i needed them. So i cued up the next track, and let me tell you, it's a lot easier to beatmatch when the monitors are loud! my monitors at home are bookshelf speakers and i live in a complex, so i can't play very loud.

so i did my first transition, and it was perfect, and it's a lot easier to hear how your transition is going with nice monitors. that's when i got nervous, and my hands were shaking a bit... probably because i knew i wouldn't have as much time to beatmatch the next track...one thing that I needed to get used to, is that there wasn't as much light in the booth as at home, so it was hard to see on the record where the grooves change for cueing purposes...

so i kept throwing down tracks and the transitions were going great...of course making corrections here and there, but it was so much easier to make corrections with nice monitors (yes, i'm drilling this point home). i only expected to spin for an hour to an hour and a half...i spun for an hour and 45 mins....and i usually only do hour sets at home....my playlist ended, but i was comfortable enough to pick the next track to spin, and beatmatch in plenty of time.....i need to learn some tricks with breaks...i can do them with 4/4 beats, but not so much breaks....much of the time i spent standing there, waiting to do my transition....la de da....

near the end, i played 2 hard tracks in a row (a no-no for an opener)...i knew this beforehand, but i was running out of vinyl...i didn't bring all my records with me, only 1/3 crate. the next dj came up to the booth, and he said to play a couple more tracks...so I did and ended my set with a somewhat mellow track for him to start with.

so then it was DONE....i had a lot of fun....took my stuff back to my car, and then came back and chilled...

i received positive feedback from everyone who commented, and i know i definetly made a good impression

so this was a huge confidence booster....i still want to get comfortable mixing in my headphones though.....

so i hope this helps someone.....for first-timers, my advice, plan ahead, bring ALL your DJ equip and then some, and HAVE FUN.

Congratulations dude - really glad it went well for you!

nice one

I cacked my pants the first time i played in a club many moons ago.
the buzz never goes- it gets BETTER as you get more confident.

No1 tip for pros and amateurs: be prepared for any eventuality and be flexible.

Glad it went well- could have been a lot worse and in at the deep end so to speak.
Use this confidence to get better and play more

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