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When do you think your ready?

So theres a friends birthday coming up. He asked me to sort the Dj for him and I got him in contact with another Dj I know. Basically i dont think im ready to do it and that was all that was stopping me offering my own services for the night.
So basically have i had something every dj gets where they are afraid to dj for the first time?
or am I being smart and realise that i've been at this for too short a time and need more practice?

When did you know you were ready to do your first set?

Best advice, is just to go outhere and do it. You can practice in your bedroom or wherever it is you practice all you want, but you won't know if your ready until you have a crowd in front of you. Self confidence is the key, if you can bring that with you everything else is easy. Don't worry so much about having the perfect Tiesto type mix. That comes within time. If your guests are happy that's all that matters. And of course most important, that you're having fun and happy too.

*I have zero qualification to answer this*

that being said, I would say a DJ is ready when they can hit their mixes pretty consistently in the bedroom. bedroom is a comfortable controlled environment compared to what you would experience outside. if you are having a hard time in the bedroom, i don't know how it would get better with the added pressures and other obstacles unless you are a person who needs pressure to succeed.

it would probably be good to start small instead of djing an entire event or talk to your friend and see if you can dj, but let him know you may not be the best.

hope this helps

You have to start somewhere, and trust me, the pressure you will feel at a local birthday party is nothing like the pressure you could be feeling playing in front of 100 people in a club, or 400+ people at a school prom! Google some articles for managing stage fright using the search terms "performance anxiety."

If you're worried about your beatmatching for a birthday party, don't be. Just have a binder (or hard drive) full of Ke$ha and Black Eyed Peas tracks, and you can pretty much auto-win that gig.

If this isn't a top40 birthday party (say your mate asked you to spin some minimal gansta booty house,) then you can try to get one of your DJ friends with more experience to help you out. Get a tag-team set going, where you play two tracks and then the other guy plays two tracks or however you set it up. That way you won't feel as much pressure because you will have someone there to back you up, cover the decks during a piss break, and someone to bounce ideas off of.

Re: When do you think your ready?

quote:

Originally posted by Philanthropist So theres a friends birthday coming up. He asked me to sort the Dj for him and I got him in contact with another Dj I know. Basically i dont think im ready to do it and that was all that was stopping me offering my own services for the night. So basically have i had something every dj gets where they are afraid to dj for the first time? or am I being smart and realise that i've been at this for too short a time and need more practice? When did you know you were ready to do your first set?

I think you've done the right thing. If you don't feel you're ready yet, there's no point in putting yourself under too much pressure and making a balls of it. But that said, you're going to have to get stuck in at some point.

DJing's a weird thing, as it's both a profession and a hobby. Actually loads of things fall into this category but I think DJing can be one of the most misunderstood. As such, it depends on your 'customer' - if they're expecting a really professional job and you don't think you can deliver that, don't pretend.

But house parties are so much more laid back that they can be a perfect chance to have a go at playing out.


How do you know when you're ready? Good question. I'm not sure if I was really 'ready' the first few times I played out. 13 years in and I'm still learning.

I think there are different levels of readiness though: being ready to throw in a few mixes at a house party alongside some other DJs is completely different from being ready to DJ a 4 hour school ball or something. And there are several sides to it - beatmatching ability (which, as has been mentioned, might not be necessary for a cheese gig), knowing you can pick the right stuff to play, knowing how to handle people asking for requests (which might not be necessary if your first gig's in a club), etc. Knowing how to set up the kit or adapting to equipment you haven't used before could also come into it.

Just imagine yourself doing that gig and see if you can picture yourself doing it well. And be optimistic with that - you are your own biggest critic, making a few mistakes is fine as long as you cope with them and at some events no one's going to mind if you make some really big mistakes! I managed to blow up an amp at my first gig and I still considered it a success!

Cheers for the replies. The main issue for me wasn't even about beat matching, I think i'm doing quite well with that and i can transition between songs smoothly aswell.
Firstly I have to get myself more gear to consider a party. My Cd collection needs serious work and effort from myself over the next few weeks to get it up to speed and I plan on trying to record my first mix this week so I can get pointers and advice.
I would happily do the party if it was a month or two down the line but 3 weeks isn't realistically enough time to organise what needs to be done.
I think when the chance comes i'l be able to handle the nerves. I've done stuff like public speaking before so it won't be a complete shock to the system. Dealing with a mistake will be interesting though.

The best thing to do IMO in regards to making a mistake live is to just get that new track on ASAP. If you are starting to trainwreck, for instance, instead of fidgeting with the pitch panicking about the mix, just get the other track in. Chances are that most people won't even be listening for your beatmatching (unless your house party is full of fellow TAs! We're harsh on each other )

Just don't panic, whatever you do. Calm down, get the new track in, and re-coup your composure. We've all been there...

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