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-- finding the inspiration...
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finding the inspiration...
alright, so here's the deal... last October i purchased 2 CDJ-800s and a DJM-500 mixer as a birthday present to myself. at first i was really excited and i burned a bunch of CDs, but i only played around on them maybe once or twice a week on average. then probably sometime in November/December i just got ultra-lazy and haven't really touched them since then, except for a few nights here and there.
my full-time job has been insane lately so i usually work 45-50 hours a week and usually by the time i get home (around 7 or 8pm) i just don't want to do anything, and my weekends are always reserved for chill time with my boyfriend since i don't see him all week. i mean i think i've been reasonably busy these last few months but i wonder if i'm just making excuses for myself.
i keep buying new tracks off all the digital download sites so i've got plenty of new music, but i still feel like i can never keep up. i understand the concept of beatmatching but i'm still not great at it. i understand how to use my equipment but i'm still not totally comfortable with it.
Rob (DJ RJT - my boyfriend, for any of you who haven't picked up on that yet, heh) has really been pushing me lately, telling me i can't let my talents go to waste... and i REALLY want to get better at DJing, i just never seem to find the time or the inspiration to get on my decks to practice! i don't have dreams of being some hot-shot superstar DJ, i just want to be able to spin for myself and my friends, and play sets with Rob.
have any of you gone through the same thing?
i know that only time and practice will help me to improve my skills and learn more, but what can i do to get past this block that i have as a beginner?
thanks in advance for any input. 
we all have periods like that lucid. what works for me is when i go out to watch a good DJ and see him destroy the place. i keep telling myself this is what i want to do and the next day i'll go and record a set. what helps me to sustain the passion is when i pass out mixes and always get positive feedback on them. helps my confidence alot.
from listening to rob's sets its clear he can teach you a lot and he's right - if you have talent dont waste it. it can be frustrating if u are fukin up your mixes but for each one u do mess up, its experience earned. you'll be better the next time. i still listen to some of my old mixes from 6 years ago to remind myself how far ive come. i used to be terrible, then i was better than tiesto, and now im pretty good.
keep at it babe, god knows there aint enuff female DJs in the scene
edit: who the fuck edited my sig? 
I know exactly how you feel Lucid. I've forked so much cash for my DJ stuff, and I've only scratched the surface of it. I have never DJed anywhere, even though in high school I tried to get to DJ at a few school dances since they were allowing some students to bring in their DJ equipment and DJ at the dances instead of hiring a DJ from some DJ company. Thing is, most of the students were into hip hop, pop and r&b, not trance, or house, or any other form of EDM (mostly do trance). I bought some TTXs in 2003, but I sold them last year and saved up for some new TTs. Bought some Technics, only to discover I wasn't really happy with them because I couldn't afford vinyl, I was spinning the same tracks just on some fancier and better made TTs. So I took those back and got some money out of a credit union account I never used and bought some CDJ 1000s last summer.
I don' use them that much, and many times I think "wow that was a waste of money..i'm not getting anywhere with this hobby!" but I think now I'm a little more confident in my mixing ability, considering I try to memorize songs in my head so I know the various points in the songs where I can begin the next track, and so I can think what other tracks go with each other. I almost gave up completely a few times. One time was when I was at Elevation's house (your probably know him), he lives like 5 minutes from me. I was mixing at his place, and he told me I wasn't mixing right. I felt like crap, because I was so confident in myself and my mixing abilities. So after that I plugged away at them, mixing over and over and over, until I came to the point where I could control the records and better understand them and how to mix. My other point of frusturation was last year when I got tired of playing the same tracks and bought those Techs, and kept feeling mad because I spent all this money on vinyl, only to discover I didn't have much $$ for the songs I wanted, had to wait forever to get the songs I wanted, and was sick of cleaning the records etc. So now I think i'm pretty content with my purchase, maybe not content with my skills, but the biggest thing is encouragement, and if Rob encourages you, thats the best thing for ya. Motivation is important, motivation doesn't just come from the inside, rather other people can help you to become motivated as wel.
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| Originally posted by Basstard we all have periods like that lucid. what works for me is when i go out to watch a good DJ and see him destroy the place. i keep telling myself this is what i want to do and the next day i'll go and record a set. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Spirit5 but the biggest thing is encouragement, and if Rob encourages you, thats the best thing for ya. Motivation is important, motivation doesn't just come from the inside, rather other people can help you to become motivated as wel. |
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| Originally posted by l?id see, this happens to me ALL the time. every time i am out to see a DJ, whether it's a big-name down in Chicago or Rob spinning a house party, i always get that urge to spin... it's pretty much guaranteed that anytime Rob is spinning, i'll be standing there thinking "god DAMN do i want to be able to do that" or "god DAMN i wish i was up there throwin' down the tunes with him" - but by the time i get home, i just get lazy and i forget how bad that urge was at first. |
One thing that keeps me motivated is constantly recording myself. I record almost EVERY time I spin and then both burn it to disc and put it on my mp3 player.
I spend alot of time in the car and at the gym, so almost every time I'm listening to music, it's my mixes. It does two things for me:
1. It gives me constant feedback on where I need to improve and what I am doing right. Listening to your own mistakes OVER AND OVER AND OVER again can get old but, it's also a fantastic motivator to get better.
2. It forces me to continue mixing, lol. I seriously listen to my mixes so much that I get sick of them pretty fast and have to constantly record new ones.
One other thing that I do quite a bit is go back through my records; I've got a little over 400 now and I'm starting to get to the point where I can flip thru them and find at least 13 tracks that make me go "Oh shit, I forgot about this track!! PWN!!" and then I mix them all together.
I think mixing at home by yourself sucks but you just have to force yourself until you learn. I used to go weeks without touching my gear. Actually I can't remember the last time I touched my left deck. I just use the other one and the mixer to practice scratches at home and I leave the mixing for gigs. It's tough to find inspiration to practice, but you do have to force yourself in the beginning.
The practice/learning phase is probably the least inspiring, but once you got it down it will feel like thearapy. When I get off work I crack a beer, turn on the "mood lighting", smoke a bowl and run about 2 hours just messing around with my tracks. You gotta set the mood IMO. I used to spin clubs but stopped for a while....I dont care if I ever spin at a club again. Id rather be with a small group of friends in a chill setting.
You guys are all crazy! Getting on the decks is the best part of my day! I love coming home tired and throwing em down for a good hour or two!
As was mentioned, record all ur mixes.. gives you something to check yourself with and allows you to set goals...
I want to see a lucid promo mix in the promotion forum soon!
we might just have EDM's answer to sonny and cher 
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| Originally posted by Basstard we might just have EDM's answer to sonny and cher |
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| Originally posted by Allied Nations I want to see a lucid promo mix in the promotion forum soon! |
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| Originally posted by l�cid i've put together a couple mixes with Mixmeister, but i only shared them with the MWTAs... i didn't want to put them in DJ Promotion because i didn't want to be labeled as a "PC DJ"... of course this was before i got my decks, and now that i have my decks, Mixmeister seems like such a joke. |
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| Originally posted by Spirit5 Actually MixMeister can be cool to learning your tunes. I know that now that i've had that program for 5 years, I've learned alot about the high and low points in tunes via the wave graph, which is quite detailed compared to the one on the CDJ 1000. But now I can almost do it in my head, without the wave graph. The hardest thing on MixMeister is getting a good mix, it seems much easier with CDJs and a mixer than having to basically do trial and error with MixMeister, and having to keep redoing things, tweaking the hell out of things, so you can get a half way decent mix. |
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| Originally posted by l�cid yea Mixmeister has definitely taught me a lot about wave forms, programming, and harmonic mixing. but when it comes to doing the actual transitions in that program, you're really limited to doing just a basic mix and nothing more. |
i have the same problem. my university is crazy. loads of classes all day and then i should do some fucking annoying "homework" and study for exams, so my spare time is pretty limited and much of that i'd like to spend with my girlfriend naturally and my other hobby (computers) take a lot of time too, so i can't find time to mix nearly as much as i'd like. so i pretty much suck at mixing, but there's really nothing i can do about it atm. just gotta wait till uni's over i guess. then i'll have much more spare time.
i'm motivated to mix, but i don't want to start mixing if i don't have enough time to do it (i like to mix at least a couple of our straight). so pretty much time is my only problem.
god damn time, there's never enough of it, never
You need to perserve and push yourself more and more everyday. I'm not playing out anywhere at the moment, but if you ultimately tap into that passion on a daily basis and throw enough shit on the wall that comes from your passion, something will eventually stick. As far as learning the basics go, I don't know what else to tell you except stick with it if buying new tracks isn't helping. Its an uphill battle, but perserve and you'll make something of it! Good luck!
Max
sorry, i have no idea how you feel. the only thing that stops me from mixing is working, eating, sleeping, and quiet hours. 
For those of you who say you don't have time it is essential to realize that 30 minutes of practice every day is much better than 5 hours of practice every now and again.
Skip, I hate to break it to you, but you will never, for the rest of your life, have more free time than you have while you're in school. Enjoy it while you can!
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| Originally posted by Zild For those of you who say you don't have time it is essential to realize that 30 minutes of practice every day is much better than 5 hours of practice every now and again. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Trogdor Skip, I hate to break it to you, but you will never, for the rest of your life, have more free time than you have while you're in school. Enjoy it while you can! |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by skip i have to disagree on that one. on most unis the studying pace isn't really that fast/hard, but it's fucking crazy atm in our uni and this year especially. gonna be much easier next year though i've heard. but we'll see about that. now i'm spending more than 8 hours per day at uni and on top of that homework and exams. when i'm working, i'm gonna work 8h/day and the rest is spare time. and i'm not gonna have kids very soon most likely, so i might have much more time for myself after i graduate. though i might go study some more after i graduate and then i'm gonna be an old fart and gonna get kids and then they'll take all my spare time. oh well. at least i don't enough time to mix right now and that's a fact. and i'm pretty sure my life's gonna be a lot more relaxed after graduating. and btw, i love that avatar! |
i didnt read alot of the posts but heres my input that you might find interesting.
heres what you should think of. are you enjoying the dj you watching and wishing it was you just because hes throwing it down? everytime i watch a dj i get motivated. but whats really motivating you? is it the crowd cheering and dancing?
this is what motivates me everytime i see a dj. he drops sick tunes that i enjoy. he mixes tracks with simplicity. he controls the crowd not because hes behind the decks but he controls them because he has got a hold of them and hold of the music. i like to watch a dj who plays tracks and not let tracks play him (that means being on the top of his set and controlling it anyway he wishes). the only way a dj can connect with his crowd is by his music and mixing. alot of people connect with the dj instead of the music (for example you go see tiesto just to see him and whatever he plays is just something on the side). im not saying youre one of them.
heres what i suggest you do. if you go home and youre tired then you wont have fun mixing. ive tried it many times and its not good cause you cant feel the music if youre tired.
first i highly recommend you learn beatmatching asap. if you are in the mood to mix and you dont know how to beatmatch that problem would distract you and you would quickly get sick of mixing and would be discouraged to mix again.
when youre driving home put on a set of your favorite dj in your car and see how you feel. if that will cheer you up then go home and start doing your thing. or else if you come home after a party and still feel energetic give it a shot. drinking alcohol actually really helps me but im not recommending you to down a bottle.
good luck and remember to learn beatmatching. it might discourage you or annoy you in the beginning but trust me its all worth in the end. youll end up mixing 2 great tracks with each other so nicely that you will be amazed and keep trying to improve yourself. good luck
imma be the big bad **** of the thread an do some attacking.
yeah, i do think you're making excuses for yourself.
don't take this badly though. however, when i read that your weekends are for chilling with your BF, i was like, blah, that's that, these people with those weird things they call feelings and relationships, nothing breaks that. one of my friends DJing got killed cuz of his damn time consuming GF (which i have vowed to destroy for robbing me of a spin partner). then, i read your BF is RJT, ie. another DJ. im 100000% sure nothing sounds more romantic to him than spinning a vs. set with his girl. youll be a gazillion times sexier to him too, once you drop those seemless mixes
i mean, let's be serious, we all have our times when we neglect our significant others (i'm talking about our setups). but when we first got our gear, at least me and most of my friends were fucking ABUSING it. i remember when i learned how to loop and cut up loops on CDJs. id spin one track for like 15 mins just fucking with loops 
so, you gotta make a choice now. if you're too lazy to get of your ass and do some spinning, well, then maybe you're not cut out for this. it's not a bad thing. not everyone is meant to be a DJ. perhaps you have a lot of talent, but unless you're willing to put in the hours to make it flourish, it won't do you much good.
maybe reconsider. perhaps right now in your life you can't afford to have such a time consuming hobby.
in conclusion, as busy as anyone is, a couple of hours a week is all your beautiful decks/CDJs ask of you. everyone has at least 2 hours a week they spend on their ass watching TV, oversleeping, or procrastinating. hell, that time is better spent behind the decks! spinning can be anything you want to make it. get some chilled stuff for when you want the experience to chill you out. trust me it works. funky and danceable stuff makes spinning plain fun, and energetic stuff is great to get you riled up/release your built up energy. an hour behind the decks with the right records for the state of mind you are in is the best therapy out there.
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