TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Music Discussion
-- Joel Mull On The Art Of The Opening Set
Pages (3): [1] 2 3 »

Joel Mull On The Art Of The Opening Set

Pretty interesting read.

http://www.beatportal.com/feed/item...r-by-joel-mull/

So for you openers out there....do you agree?

I think that is a loaded question as the people who would disagree would be the same ones that he talks about doing it wrong.

People do not come to see the opening dj usually.

Joel's the man. I agree on quite a few points of his. However, I thought most of that was pretty common knowledge amongst opening DJ's.

Saw him recently here in Minneapolis, and rocked the club proper. Although he was the main act of the evening, not an opener.

unfortunately i have seen more openers who try and make it about them above setting up the headliner that people came to see.

quote:

Originally posted by elFreak unfortunately i have seen more openers who try and make it about them above setting up the headliner that people came to see.

Actually, I withdraw my previous statement. I suppose I see a lot more of what you're describing, than what I had presumed as common knowledge.

I always chuckle a little when I see one of these. I don't remember who it was, but there was one a few months back that was pretty similar...talking about the art of the opening dj as if it's some sort of crazy exact science. I dunno maybe it just makes more sense to me?

That said, I agree with him 100% (especially on the longer sets part, how is the opener supposed to OPEN when their set is 10p-11.15p?). For the record, I love being an opener.

More here

Glasgow dj's have a horrible habit of being bad opening acts imo as they always tend to go for the glory.. Having said that we do have a couple of the best resident dj's i've seen who do sub culture (harri and domenic). Outside that I've yet to see a good warm up set apart from the night I get to play at now as the other two residents who i share with are superb (alan belshaw and paul ingram - both great dj's and good friends - that sounds slightly biased but they really know their stuff).

I visited cocoon frankfurt before I started dj'ing in clubs and it was a total education on how a night should go. I went for dinner with friends first of all around about 8pm to the cocoon restaurant, the club and restaurant had a few people and it and it slowly filled up to ambient music being played. People came in got drinks sat around and socialised, by the time the opener came on (toni rios) there was a nice crowd in and the dance floor filled up fairly quickly there after - he played for around 2 hours then handed over to hawtin who preceeded to destroy the place for 6-7 hours, at 7 in the morning just as we thought it was coming to an end rios came back on and brought it right back down again into some great mellow feel good house stuff. By that time I was fucked and decided to call it a night as did the rest of our crew.. The place was still half full when we left and the party continued...

That imo is the perfect night of clubbing and the best one I've ever had to this day. Sadly with the draconian licensing laws the glasgow city council employ (clubs close at 3pm) it will never be the same in this (un)fair city so there isn't really a great deal of scope for me as a warm up dj as I usually get an hour max..

Some very sound advice that a number of opening DJ's are very much in need of, and also is mainly just a bit of common sense when you actually reflect upon the advice given.

Any young, inexperienced DJ would do especially well to read this, since they generally start out as openers.

"Wearing a pirate scarf may or may not make you a better DJ"

wise words.

what about a large animal head?

Nothing to add. Good article.

quote:

Originally posted by elFreak what about a large animal head?

Once you put that on, your teeth turn yellow and you gain legions of easily-impressed fans.

Interesting stuff. I've never opened for anyone myself, but I'll take this into consideration if/when I do.

I almost think the photo captions provide more thorough advice.

quote:

2. Take it easy, no peaks The perfect warm up set shouldn�t have any peaks or large stand out moments. It should be consistent.

I can't say I agree with this. You need some peaks or mini-peaks here and there, especially if it's over an hour. You need to tease the crowd and draw it out which actually makes it better for the DJ after you. If you play a flat set for 1.5-2 hours it's going to get pretty boring and repetitive and chances are you will drain the crowd of any energy.

He's pretty spot on on a lot of aspects but not that point above.

quote:

The longer a set is, the more time you have to build a mood and slowly raise energy levels. Going from zero to booming in less than two hours is hard.

Um...no.

quote:

Originally posted by Fledz I can't say I agree with this. You need some peaks or mini-peaks here and there, especially if it's over an hour. You need to tease the crowd and draw it out which actually makes it better for the DJ after you. If you play a flat set for 1.5-2 hours it's going to get pretty boring and repetitive and chances are you will drain the crowd of any energy. He's pretty spot on on a lot of aspects but not that point above.

Indeed, I was about to say the same. Having the same beat plodding along for two hours would get a bit draining. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to play anything big, but mix it up a bit. Then there's the fact about the outro track. Some cunt djs won't mix into the opener's track so picking a track with a bunch of outro beats may not really mean anything save for random outro beats thumping around aimlessly until the headliner fader slams into his set.

Other than that I felt he was spot on.

Agree with most, but not all

Still a good read

Most importantly, like he was saying, you gotta warm up and slowly build to the headliner.

But, the hard part is to also add to the night. Of course it's bad when the opener is ripping it early in the night, but a lot of times opening djs can be extremely, and unnecessarily, boring.

The tough part is getting the right balance. Just playing minimal isn't always the right thing to do, even though it seems to be the safe route. But you can still throw down some really cool tracks that fit that opening vibe and get people movin. I think a lot of people who write these types of guides are just trying to get it through heads that you can't bang the room out and end up going overboard stressing that fact. Yes, it's really important, and there are a lot of idiots out there, but the opener can, and should, add something to the night and not bore people out of their minds. It's VERY tricky to do this; that's why very few people out there can do it so well.

It's all different with different acts, styles, environments...there is no one way to get the opening set done the right way. Regardless of what style you are opening for, and what environment you are in, if you are able to get people excited for what's to come, without pushing it, you're doing a great job.

Again, it's all about the balance and still being able to get people excited and not putting them to sleep. A good opening set can be the difference b/w a good night and a great night.

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated Um...no.

Um...yes. Not every set has to be an essential mix.

All of that should be fucking obvious.

quote:

Originally posted by Clovis All of that should be fucking obvious.

a dj's job is not only to play music domesticated..opening dj's are often there to make people drink (aka money for the club) something that is not done when everyone is raving their face off on a dance floor. You might say it is stupid, but the headliner you want to see needs to get paid somehow.

yeah it's pretty much right on

i open for myself every week lol

quote:

Originally posted by nefardec yeah it's pretty much right on i open for myself every week lol

I know the feeling. I would always have to open for myself since some asshat would be playing high tempo dirty electro music at like 9pm.

Nice read, I can attest that a lot of the DJs that open for the big names that whenever they spin here can learn a lot from that article. I remember this guy who was opening for Digweed played Gridlock, Coma, and about 3 or 4 other tunes from Transitions 3 within the last hour of his set (It was during his Transitions 3 Tour). Fucking idiot.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.