My question is this:

When you decide to make a new mix, what goes through your head? What makes you pick one song over another? How do you lay out your set, do you start slow and build up or do you start with something banging right off the bat?

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Ronald said nothing. He flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.

it all depends on your style, and when you are spinning...

for me, i like a nice progressive set where it starts off light and as the set progresses i throw down harder and harder tracks

however, a later set, such as a closing set, i would start off with the same amount of energy that the previous dj had, and progress from harder to light

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I think Barkmull is more referring to making a CD or demo tape than a club set.

Track selection is almost as important here as the mixing itself. You have to cater for as many different tastes as possible. If you are goint to be giving this to a club promoter, you want there to be something on the CD that he will like. Personally, I like to start off with some more progressive tunes, like Shockwav, and build it up to more banging stuff at the end. I try to stay away from too much cheese if possible, but indicate that you have some cheesey stuff in your collection, because a promoter may want you to play cheesey stuff if you get a job.

You also need to think about how the songs go together. If you have a rough idea of what songs you want in there, then you should try to order them so that the softer ones go first, and the harder ones go at the end. Do practice mixes before hand so that you know how you are going to mix them when it comes to recording.

another good thing, is to find the track your going to make the main piece. And put that one on. Then grab the other 10 or so tracks and start mixing them 1 by 1 to the main one. Then put them either before (lighter) or after ( harder) the main one. You should try to have the main one about 45 min into a 60 min mix.

That's just one of many ways, but will help you find 10-11 songs with the same bpm range and they will sort themselves.

Thanks guys...I appriciate all the great feedback!!

DJTJ was right in that I was making promo CD to give to some clubs here in town. I am having a hard time deciding what songs to put on the CD. DJTJ said:

quote:

I try to stay away from too much cheese if possible, but indicate that you have some cheesey stuff in your collection, because a promoter may want you to play cheesey stuff if you get a job.

What would be considered "cheesy"? Are we talking cheesy trance like Ian Van Dahl (don't flame me if you disagree...=) or non-trance top 40 stuff? Do you have any examples of what you consider "cheesy".

Thanks again all...!

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Ronald said nothing. He flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse, and rode madly off in all directions.

everyone's got a different view on what is considered cheese... i mean, there's people saying tiesto is cheese? go figure

Hmmm...Want Some Cheese, Try Future Breeze - Temple Of Dreams, Pussy Lovers - **** Licker LOL Maybe Aquagen - Hard To Say I'm Sorry. A Friend Of Mine Keeps Buying Cheesy Shit And Insists On Calling It Trance, He Can Get Quite Irritating Some Times.

Yeah, I'm talking real mainstream stuff, exactly like Ian van Dahl, Temple of Dreams, Alice Deejay , and to some degree, a lot of Ferry Corsten stuff and, yes, some Tiesto. It says more about you if you can pick your own tracks that you have found, rather than just regurgitating the stuff you hear on the radio every day.

quote:

Originally posted by DJTJ Yeah, I'm talking real mainstream stuff, exactly like Ian van Dahl, Temple of Dreams, Alice Deejay , and to some degree, a lot of Ferry Corsten stuff and, yes, some Tiesto. It says more about you if you can pick your own tracks that you have found, rather than just regurgitating the stuff you hear on the radio every day.

Hey, I'm With You. I Love It When I Discover An Awesome Track Myself And Then I Get To Spin It In Front Of A Crowd, Spinning Stuff You Will Probably Listen To When You Turn On Your Radio Sux. I Would Also Agree With You That Some Ferry Corsten And Tiesto Trax Contain A Small Amount Of Cheese

What pisses me right off is Djs on my local big radio station beat 106, hearing them spinning live at clubs, knoing i can do just as good as them if not better! Not fair!

Im goin into every club in glasgow tomorrow with demo cd's for them all.

quote:

Originally posted by Transa What pisses me right off is Djs on my local big radio station beat 106, hearing them spinning live at clubs, knoing i can do just as good as them if not better! Not fair! Im goin into every club in glasgow tomorrow with demo cd's for them all.

I hear you! I just don't understand how some of these DJs get jobs, I really don't. Some DJs in my local clubs just can't beatmatch for shit, and I'm just like, restraining myself from going up to the booth and hitting him! "I should be doing that, I'm ten times better than you!" Trouble is, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And I don't know anyone.

Lol, hey Tj, get a big sharp stick, a metal club, and sum vinyl and meet me outside my local radio station this sat nite! (Lol,yeah i watched keenan and kel when i was a kid