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Creating a Set
What kind of process do you guys use to create a set?
I use CDJs so first I download albums, pick the best two or three tracks, work out the BPMs and see where I can fit them in with other tracks, working the BPMs up. This is time consuming though, it's like doing a jigsaw puzzle and I feel it should be more of a spontaneous thing. Does anyone else do it differently. Does it take you a long time to work a set out or do you do it as you go along?
it really depends. a lot of times if your playing out you go with what brings more energy to the crowd and 'work the crowd' but if your just spinning in your room to record a promo or maybe a mix album then you may be aiming for something else. for example, for my electro promo (you can check it out in the dj promotion forum) i started with a general out line of my intent which is to create a nice set that works it's way from normal dance energy to a peak and then slows down a bit towards the end, you dont necesarily have to always follow a given guideline. remember, you're the dj, get creative man. try building down from faster tracks...jump around a bit, mix and match see what works best to get a rise out of your friends or if you play out, out of the crowd. good luck man
I try picking tracks with the same keys (or not that far apart) and BPMs that are close to each other.
Then after all of this put them in a way so that it creates the right 'flow'.
i make mixes primarily for myself, so i just work out the best key order for all my tunes and just run with it. keymatching & tunes i love > flow.
I don't mix with keys specifically, but a lot of times my tunes are in the same key. I just build my sets from a small, calm, to a roar.
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| Originally posted by Allied Nations I don't mix with keys specifically, but a lot of times my tunes are in the same key. I just build my sets from a small, calm, to a roar. |
to plan out a successful set, u need to know ahead of time what kind of set you are planning on doing and keep it on that type of music, unless if u plan on later on either slowin down mood or speeding things up (but mixing back and forth too much throughout a single set, from different types of trance, for example, might sound unpleasurable to listeners, though there are always exceptions if done smoothly once ur a pro)...and picking and choosing specific songs ahead of time, I guess to some, could be the key to their idea of creating perfect mixes...but personally i think one must feel the music and on the spot, feel what song would "hit the spot" next..., also depending on the mood of the crowd (if you hooked em and ur already blowin the roof away with high energy music, transition into a similar energy-packed tune rather than blending into a mellower track "just cuzz u think its a good song")
and as far as harmonic mixing...some chart out tables of the keys of each song, and to them it really helps...but at the end of the day, just like using ears to match beats, rather than relying on bpm counters, u gotta trust ur ears for harmonic mixing too and eventually develop a natural hunch of what song will fit in well up next that sounds to be around the same key as the current track
i'm always hearing music in my head... it's like my brain/imagination is always playing/creating/mixing music...
i basically try to be as receptive as i can toward ideas, and try to create opportunities for ideas to be conceived in and outside of my normal thought style. (i don't know if that make sense or not...)
then when i have a chance, i mix it all up at home and see how it comes out... and tweak as a go along...
I just do it on the fly. If it is a promo set then I'll go back and listen to it and see if maybe I want to take out some tracks and try different ones or maybe pitch the tracks in Ableton to make them blend better etc...
Ha! I like to start off with some random song and build on from there. It's more fun for me that way, than having a preplanned set and knowing what track I'm going to play next.
It's all about the build.
comin' up with a good set takes lots of work, esp. if it's a promo or somthing that's gonna be listened to more than once.
when you play live in a club or somthing you can make more mistakes in the way that you play your tracks, but when you have it recorded and then you listen to it overtime you soon come to realize all the mistakes that were made in regards to mixing/track selection...
For me it's all about the track selection. If I don't love and I mean love each and every track, then I won't put it in my set. Also as a rule of thumb never use a filler unless it's absolutely necessary.
all of my songs are categorized under key, bpm and energy level. i will typically start off with mellow tracks and build from there. of course it totally depends on which dj you are folling and which dj is following you. it is considerate to the dj following you if you set him/her up properly. It's also a good idea to arrive early so that you don't end up playing a track that the previous dj played within the last hour. the one thing that i always make sure of is that i mix harmonically, otherwise it just sounds like ass. Unless, of course you decide to just drop a track in without mixing the melodic parts.
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| Originally posted by stevieboy32808 For me it's all about the track selection. If I don't love and I mean love each and every track, then I won't put it in my set. Also as a rule of thumb never use a filler unless it's absolutely necessary. |
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| Originally posted by X-scream agreed to some extent.. I don't think you need to love each and every track to death, it just needs to be good tracks another thing that will making a set better is obviously: know your collection and try to remember things like intesity level, atmosphere, what feelings does this track create, etc. If you don't know what tools you're dealing with your sets will be crap |
Someone mentioned what they do after recording a set in terms of adjustments. I'd love to be able to fix small things that are fixable if I could, what are the best softwares to do this?
| quote: |
| Originally posted by stevieboy32808 For me it's all about the track selection. If I don't love and I mean love each and every track, then I won't put it in my set. Also as a rule of thumb never use a filler unless it's absolutely necessary. |
i make a set by comparing rhythms and basslines
as with some tracks u just have to play them early in the set and some other tracks are fillers and then u got the late tracks
its about the flow, dont wana be straight in there with the banging tunes then it gets weak towards the end?
and i always end with a 'feel good' type tune just to mark it off like
i dunno
| quote: |
| Originally posted by sr126 i'm always hearing music in my head... it's like my brain/imagination is always playing/creating/mixing music... i basically try to be as receptive as i can toward ideas, and try to create opportunities for ideas to be conceived in and outside of my normal thought style. (i don't know if that make sense or not...) then when i have a chance, i mix it all up at home and see how it comes out... and tweak as a go along... |
I just wing it...when recording Ill do a test run and add or remove the few that didnt feel right.
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| Originally posted by idoru It's all about the build. |
I just pick up a track to start with and wing it from there. Doesn't always work very well, because I would often find that I'm running out of fitting tracks.
re: winging it from a random track
that will 'fly' when you're practicing
but i think you'll mostly get lackluster sets that way
i'm not saying to make a tracklist, but generally when I buy music I have it my head where I would play it in a set and I have a general desire to play my new music as well
It is hit or miss, I just dont like to be tied to the same tracks and playing the same tracks all week to get ready for it. It just gets old.
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