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Mixing under the influence
I came back home not sober yesterday night and decided to record a mix to see how I would sound. I listened to it this morning and found that my mixing wasnt as good but that my mix was better in terms of flow and going crazy with my KP2.
What are your experiences with doing this? Would you compromise a bit of slipped beat in a live performance in exchange for better flow/track selection. Im not talking about having a few drinks to relax before mixing, but getting on totally wasted off your face.
yea i find when i'm drunk i tend to be a lot more adventurous and go nuts behind the decks, my mixing isnt usually as tight, but its probably because im doing more.
I usually mix in a club after a few beers, not too many, but just enough to get me right into the groove, plus a few off beats in a club isn't that noticeable and people prefer you trying extra things.
Once i played a gig, was so wasted, dunno how many i had to drink but it was LOADS, i was going off behind the decks, but fuck i could barely beatmatch let alone hear the music LOL.
Well I don't drink much at all just because I don't really care for the feeling alcohol gives me, but I'd say pretty much before any gig, and certainly during practice I'm liable to roll one up before I get on down...
As far as how smoking affects my skills I'd say I'm in general more sensitive to when a beat is off, but less likely to find myeslf going off into too adventurous of territory.
Oddly enough, when I'm a little stoned I generally use more progresive trance/breaks rather than epic trance anthems...
Just something I noticed, my 2 cents, Cheers,
RJT
This one time, at band camp.................
Anyways, I had a few mates around one night.. drinking, having a laugh, while one of us was mixing. We were going for 2 hour sets each. So one of my buddies that came down from Edmonton, was up first, so DannyO and I were chillin have a laugh and drinking (Boddingtons). So my buddy finishes up spinning, and DannyO is up next quit drunk if I remember right.. spinning one hell of a set. I can't remember the beatmatching of it though. Meanwhile I was still drinking, and ate a small amount of hash, about 45mins before I was to hit the decks.. I was going MAD to DannyO's set.. just fucking off my tits.. DannyO finishes up and I hit the decks last, and probably least on this occasion. Stoned and TRASHED out my mind. Trying to spin.. God, all I have to say is that the flow of my set was fucking interesting, the tracks I was pulling out, well I really had NO idea. I was putting records back in the wrong sleeves, or not putting them away at all, I don't really think I knew what the turntables were, let alone the mixer, but somehow I did spin an OK set.
So my experience being completely trashed behind the decks, fucking fun, but no way I would want to do what I did, at a Club gig... 
this past fall I was playing out and figured I would be ok to drop a pill before I played the second half of my set. It hit me right before I had to go back on and I was just floored to the point where I knew I wasn't up to the task. My friend spun my hour for me til I was settled down then i went on for my second hour and was fine. I don't think I could have spun during the initital come up though. My hands were wayy to shakey and my head was not clear.
In terms of drinking, unless I'm obliterated, I can spin fine. It actually relaxes me to have a drink or two in me when I play.
HAHA, OH man that was a crazy night, off the wall carnage on the decks, yea me both span wicked sets, but we both had times where we messed up abit, plus it didn't help when you both scared the shit out of me somehow cos I was so twisted on uh hum influence, but good times for sure.
My personal experience is when I'm smashed I play around a hellava lot more and done some awesome shit, but because of not paying that much attention to beatmatching, it suffers abit, as for playing when stoned, its loads of fun due to how well I can hear everything, but I get lost easy, anyway, I wouldn't get stoned or super smashed when playing in a club, I have played out afew times and be hammered, some turned out good, some turned out not so good, I like to stick to a limit of 3 for the first few hours, then about an hour before the end, start chuggin them back.
I dont even mix when im drunk, I just drift away and start talking to people and forget that im behind the decks, either that or i just lay down on my bed listen to my tracks.
alcohol is a no-no for me and decks.
pills on the other hand, fuck yes. give it an hour after coming up and i can mix anything into anything, or at least i think i can 
Is this one of those drunk threads? 
I don't drink too much when i'm playing out. First of all: drunk dj's don't make a very good impression, and second: your sets are not any better. You just think they are.
A couple of drinks can definately help you feel more relaxed though, and that might just improve your mixing...
Anyway, spinning drunk sure guarantees surprising results.... 
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| Originally posted by tu_face alcohol is a no-no for me and decks. pills on the other hand, fuck yes. give it an hour after coming up and i can mix anything into anything, or at least i think i can |
I leave off the substances when I work. I find that it turns you into a selfish arsehole who usually is self absorbed and self indulgent to the max.
All the guys I know and see who do this think they are the muts nuts but in all honesty the people on the dance floor often end up confused regardless of what their own state is.
Don't get me wrong, I love a party as much as the next TA but work out what side of the decks you are standing on and how proffesional you intend to be about the whole thing.
I read the crowd much better when I'm sober and maybe 1 or 2 drinks max.
The more hammered you get the more self centered you become.
The letting go and getting crazy comes with confidence anyways. You should see me even sober.
Cheers
Nem
| quote: |
| Originally posted by tu_face pills on the other hand, fuck yes. give it an hour after coming up and i can mix anything into anything, or at least i think i can |
I used to mix after a joint and do ok when I smoked daily. Now that I rarely touch it I cant match nearly as well as I used to. As far as being drunk...I get lost in my tunes its hopeless. I cant do anything if I take a pill either. Same effect as when Im drunk. The first and last time I tried that was new years eve 1999/2000. I took it when I was halfway through the set and toward the end I was a mess, I think I had 15min left when I had my friend start early. That was the last time I had a pill.
I can mix well when I'm stoned because I zone out and just pay attention to the mix instead of what is going on around me. I can mix if I've had a few drinks but there is definitely a point where my mixing and especially my scratching(which is my main selling point) really starts to suck if I get too drunk. I've never tried mixing after taking a tab, I stopped using E before I got all of my equipment.
well, i've found out that mixing drunk only comes with practice. i'd not try it in public unless you know what you're doing, or in front of a couple friends.
however, this one friend of mine, who is a hardcore drug user, has proven time and time again that he can mix, on anything really. on saturday for instance, at a real sketchy party we went to at some millionaire's amazing mansion, he spun whilst on a lot of booze, 2 pills, and ketamine. a couple of beats did slip, but it was more natural error than drug influence, plus he spins glitch/minimal techno, so it happens easily. whereas my other friends, has just about the same time or more spinning, can't spin for shit when on drugs. after a joint, yeah, but not much more.
me, i can't give personal testimony as i'm drug free.
I've been practicing learning how to scratch totally wasted. I've been getting better.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by djxtension your sets are not any better. You just think they are. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Nemesis44 The letting go and getting crazy comes with confidence |
replace drunk with buzzed and you got a deal.
I'll spin buzzed all teh time and be nuts on with everything. The alcohol lets go of any anxiety I have, and I am not drunk enough to start losing coordination. but there is a fine line ya have to walk and sometimes its tough.
heh, I remember being that selfish drunk guy nem was talking about, its soooo true. but I think Im outta that stage .
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Boomer187 replace drunk with buzzed and you got a deal. |
I cannot spin worth two shits when I'm drunk
i remember at a house party last year a mate of mine did a set after he'd dropped 5 pills in the past 8 hours. we caught some pictures of him and he looked so wasted it was scary. eyes on stalks. jaw so far out he could probably see the tip of it at all times. insane. he spun for about half an hour out of hard house. his set was supposed to be hard house too but he ended up playing someone elses records. dont know who. it was funky house anyway. the living room started to clear. wasnt looking good. he beatmatched it pretty quick actually but then we noticed it trainwrecking and he just wiped it across after about 30 seconds. one of the tenants comes downstairs presumably hearing the disaster upstairs. clueless expression on his face. he says 'what the hell is this?' and matey looks up at him. honestly - priceless look on his face that silently says: 'what?! did it sound bad?' as if he thought what he'd just mixed was golden. theres really cheesy funky house booming out of the PAs and he kind of realises suddenly whats playing and quickly takes the record off the platter. the one thats playing. big ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPING sound. by this point the only people left in the room are those sticking around for the funny photos. in total he managed about 10 minutes before someone else just did their set in his place.
hilarious but also a bit scary.
if you dont blow your head off on pills, mixing is very doable. i would say its easier because your eyesight is well good, your eyes are really open. you are wide awake and you notice every tiny detail in the sound. a mild trip is also an amazing frame of reference to be in whilst mixing. you can hear everything man. music just makes so much more sense in this frame of mind. but as with anything you can go too far and just lose the plot.
I find I mix better when Ive had a few joints 
I had such a wonderful time mixing with a head full of psilocybe cubensis mushrooms for a group of friends when they were all over tripping out at my house. I wasn't beatmatching 100% but I told them I was taking them on an audio journey (haha psytrance )
Anyways, I kept it fairly solid for about 40 minutes before I started losing all sense of time and one record kept running out before I mixed accross. Still very fun though.
shrooms and mixing? LOL, it probably sounded like correct mixing to you at the time...hahaha
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