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Direction of Sets: Fun or Serious?

I'm just curious from DJs who DJ at clubs, what determines the direction of your mix ie. if it's going to be funky and fun, or a spacey and serious mix, like something more of a "journey" or "story" rather than just a good ole' time? I mean does it depend on the club or the audience, or your particular mood for the night? I guess I'm mostly into the serious stuff, putting together tunes to correspond to a particular feeling, story or image in my mind, or just this intuitive sense of progresssion, what tunes fit (whether it's title, or the elements in the track, keys..which i'm still working on doing). I'm still working at it, haha i've got a ways to go, but when i'm inspired, I seem to put together awesome sets, and now I'm finally getting around to recording some stuff, so I have time for improvement...to hear my mistakes. But I'm just wondering about all the factors of the night or while making a demo, and what are the things that determine the "mood" or "feel" of your mix?

Re: Direction of Sets: Fun or Serious?

quote:

Originally posted by Spirit5 I'm just curious from DJs who DJ at clubs, what determines the direction of your mix ie. if it's going to be funky and fun, or a spacey and serious mix, like something more of a "journey" or "story" rather than just a good ole' time? I mean does it depend on the club or the audience, or your particular mood for the night? I guess I'm mostly into the serious stuff, putting together tunes to correspond to a particular feeling, story or image in my mind, or just this intuitive sense of progresssion, what tunes fit (whether it's title, or the elements in the track, keys..which i'm still working on doing). I'm still working at it, haha i've got a ways to go, but when i'm inspired, I seem to put together awesome sets, and now I'm finally getting around to recording some stuff, so I have time for improvement...to hear my mistakes. But I'm just wondering about all the factors of the night or while making a demo, and what are the things that determine the "mood" or "feel" of your mix?

Good thread topic....

Its the same when i record a demo.. fun or serious and deep?

Some nights i just cant play those deeper more intense tracks and still keep the dancefloor going.. other nights all they want is the serious harder stuff, as opposed to the bouncier poppier stuff...

You just feel it, and let it play.. what will be will be..

Awesome topic man ::thumbsup::

For myself, it depends on my mood, generally I try and do a fun mix, I mean if your not having fun, whats the point, but you can have fun doing a very serious sounding mix, only time I do a serious mix is if I am doing a demo or want to make a CD or something, thats pretty hard for me right now as I don't have the tracks I want as I don't spin trance anymore, once I get more of the tracks I want, it will be very 50-50 on fun mixes vs deep powerful mixes.

It also really helps when your inspired, but for myself that seems pretty hard nowadays.

people in belfast dont take their music seriously so 99% of the time im playing light and bubbly vocal house

tech trance ftw tho

I didnt realize edm could be fun OR serious. I always thought all sets were fun. Does serious mean theres like a political message behind the music?

quote:

Originally posted by Protege I didnt realize edm could be fun OR serious. I always thought all sets were fun. Does serious mean theres like a political message behind the music?

Serious is like playing "deep" or "sophisticated" or
technically skilled" stuff or making set as a concept (like Sasha's Involver, that was quite serious, didn't see it as "funky" except maybe a lil bit at points) or as a story, or "journey" (as many trance DJs try to do) or trying to convey a message or "mood" during the mix (i.e dark to light, uplifting or hard, fast or slow etc), and or more seriously, as in playing stuff that isn't really "funky" or sounds fun or pop like. Some house music that is quite funky, or some light-hearted trance or techno etc.

Serious stuff would be a lot of deep progressive, more sophistacted trance stuff that isn't really "funky" (example would be Micro de Govia, his stuff isn't really "funky")some deeper house stuff(like Blue Six), or more intelligent techno (like Carl Craig)could also mean taking the set more seriously, playing serious sounding stuff, and in other points, just playing around with tracks, just playing fun stuff for the audience. Like some Carl Cox sets can be quite funky and fun, other times a bit more "serious". Same can be said for many other DJs out there. Sander K is another one, some times you find him playing really funky stuff, other times he plays deep progressive stuff. I'm basically curious about all the factors that come into play with this. Sometimes you might play a whole set of serious stuff, sometimes you might play a serious and a fun mix, and other times it's just all fun stuff. Either way, it's something to think about...

Basically I feel a serious mix can be fun, as DannyO was saying. But I'm more looking at track selection...on "mood" of the sets and what that is influenced by. I also know sometimes mixes are just made for fun, other times they are made more seriously, whether it's during a club night or making a demo or making a "professional" mix CD.

Mostly serious as it matches my personality, but I can get a little funky if my handlers allow me to. It always depends on the crowd, but at most I only get a little bit funky. I don't have a full on funk setting, it just isn't there.

Depends on the amound of ecstacy being consumed.

The serious stuff I usually use on recorded mixes. They appeal to me more when Im driving or just surfing the net. I havent seen a bar/club croud that they all could vibe to the "serious" suff in a long time. I have more fun changing it up....a lot more variety. I feel being able to change it up on the fly gives you a lot more freedom to feel out the croud your playing to. It seems the funkier stuff is enjoyed at the club/bar scene where the serious stuff is better at a rave type setup.

quote:

Originally posted by Zild Mostly serious as it matches my personality, but I can get a little funky if my handlers allow me to. It always depends on the crowd, but at most I only get a little bit funky. I don't have a full on funk setting, it just isn't there.

+juan

quote:

what determines the direction of your mix

alcohol

quote:

Originally posted by Basstard people in belfast dont take their music seriously so 99% of the time im playing light and bubbly vocal house tech trance ftw tho

winnar!!!

I don't even like funky stuff. Serious 100%


And yeah - tech trance FTW!

It depends on how people are dressed that night.

quote:

Originally posted by Purple It depends on how people are dressed that night.

How can u decide by lookin at the way they r dressed

quote:

Originally posted by Soliman How can u decide by lookin at the way they r dressed

You just know.

there's a few things you need to take into consideration.

1. how full the bar is and what the vibe is like

people like to party in a packed bar, it's almost science, fun stuff for a packed bar, period
people drink more when they're having fun, people buying drinks is good
if the bar isn't busy, people like to chill and talk with their friends, keep the music light and not overbearing, serious stuff works well, if people start trickling onto the dancefloor, pick it up

2. level of intoxication

i like to use my deeper and more serious stuff to warm up, leave the fun stuff for peak hours when everyone is intoxicated and grooving
this applies to drugs as well if booze isn't being served, but you also have to be careful to not kill anyone if you're playing to a known drug crowd, try to keep the BPMs at a reasonable level, this isn't a race, make sure to let them have a breather now and then, a chance to grab a swig of water, breakdowns work well

3. what your timeslot is

like i mentioned above, i like to warm up with some deep prog, headline with peak hour fun trance and house, and close with what the crowd wants, so it varies

4. the style of the night

above all, what is the music policy of the night
are they known for having a night of serious tunage, or is it a piss-up fun night


just a few things to consider... i'm stoned... time for another spliff

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