I'd like to ask what are people's opinions on set programming, which is (IMO) by far the most difficult aspect of DJ'ing.

Namely, what have you found, in your experience, to work best? (A) - Start off slow, with a progressive sound, then work it up to some uplifting/hard trance?

Or to (B) - start off nice and hard, with lots of energy, then after a peak track, slowly bring down the pace until you finish off with something calm (i.e. the reverse of the above).

In the case of (A), I foresee difficulty in the fact that people might get bored with you initially. Even though the energy will be brought up, perhaps it is a little risky?

In the case of (B), the advantage is that you start off strong, which is good, as first impressions are very important. However I think there is even bigger risk here because as soon as you let down the energy, people will get bored of you a la (A).

Or can these two be mixed? Start off with one or two strong tracks, in order to "ensnare" the crowd, then bring down the pace, working up to a peak, then continuing with the energy until you finish the set? Or bring down the peak after a while, and finish off calm.

Of course, this is considering a 1 or 2 hour set. In a longer set you'll have to do this several times I'm assuming.

I know that in the end "it's up to you blah blah blah" and I anticipate a lot of those responses, but right now I'm rather interested in *your* opinions.

it all depends on your timeslot and the club/crowd you'll be playing for...

Well, since I've been working on my demo CD for a couple of weeks now, lets put this in perspective of a demo CD. Using "tranceport" as an excellent example, it starts off hard, goes soft quickly, then builds and builds until the end, where it finishes off very hard.

This is how I'm trying to program my CD at the moment. Figuring out which tracks has the energy and selecting the correct tempos becomes the next major obstacle.

i usually try to start off with an emotional, yet upbeat track
then play maybe 3 'emotional' epic tracks that are very upbeat

from there ill bring the energy down for a few tracks, then bring it back up with some epic trance...then bring it down again...
and finally bring it back up with some uplifting trance

it all depends on how long your set is
if you have an hour, you don't have a lot to work with and you should only have maybe 1 or 2 filler tracks in there

however if you have a 3 hour set then the sky is the limit

off course it's all up to you and you know it

but I think you have to not forget a couple extra factors :
the mood of the crowd at the time you start mixing
the style which you want to play
and what style you want to be remembered for ( if you see any importance in that )

it really depends on the day, but personnaly I love to start out with a wicked track just to get everyone excited then keep that pace than a third way through the mix put some kind of pause on that using some slower tracks ... a few tracks .. like one two maybe three .. and then build up again until two thirds of the mix and there rip it big time till the end of the set playing the most smashing things ....

all this depends on your style and how much you're alert to the crowd and doing an effort to make them move

it's also good to clearly define differences between :
filler tracks
anthems or crowd pleasers
and slow them down type

and to conclude don't forget it's your call! you do what you want to do

and please ...... don't limit yourself .... feel free to experiment

Well, I'll try to give you my opinion as best as I can explain it without typing all night! First off, there are two types of sets that I design. The warm-up set and the demo/main set.

The warm-up set:

Whether I am spinning this as the first dj of the night, or I am submitting a demo to get myself into a club for the first time, this is a very important set to learn. To me, it doesn't matter if you have tracks that can rock the dance floor if you can't warm to crowd to start dancing in the first place. This is the goal of the first dj of the night (or the first hour or so if you are the only dj of the night). For a cd, I start this out by having a decent and semi-familiar track that has a good beat and doesn't have too many breaks. I hate it when I go to a club for a peticular dj and the first several tracks are very slow or have lots of breaks. I'm excited and I want to dance, so even if the tracks aren't bomb droppers, I can still my heart out to something with a steady beat that I may be familiar with. I slow the second song down just a touch and then from the third track on I keep building up and up until I hit about 2/3 of the way through my set. Then I put on a track that is really good, but gives the crowd a little break from dancing as hard as they were. Then I pump it up to the highest peak of the night (so far) and then dip down just a touch for the second to last track that I play. The last track should be good and upbeat so that the next/main dj can use your set to hype up the crowd for himself. If I was hired as a headliner, I would be very pissed if the dj before me was playing nothing other than bomb tracks! It kills the whole effect of the headliner!

Demo/Main sets:

This type of set needs to have the same type of odering as the warm-up set, though it needs to start off at the highpoint of the last set. You don't want to lose the energy that the last dj just built up for you! Start with tracks that rock, though aren't the best you have in your music box. I perfer starting with something that is very good that not too many people have heard before. This way they stick around to hear what is coming next. Otherwise they might say, hey I've heard this track too much, let's see what the other room is spinning. etc. The last track should be long, hard and fucking increadible. One of my favorite tracks to play last is Lost Witness - 7 colours. Give them something to remember you by.

Demo construction:

When I make a demo, It usually just comes to me which tracks I should be putting together. I'll go through all of the music that I have and depending on what type of mood I'm in, I'll start a new directory on my HD and copy good potentials into it. Once I have about 12-15 songs, I listen to them and try to order them as per above. I usually don't have too much of a problem choosing the first or last track, those have to have a good begining that isn't just 30 secs of bass beat etc. and the ending of the last track cannot do that either. Then I spin the set, listen to it, and usually will switch out 2-4 tracks and change up the order slightly. I specifically listen to the tracks inorder to determine if the order that I have them in is correct, ie that each track will mix great into the next one. I listen for common instruments, the same key, long intros to songs that are going to be after a track that has a busy ending etc.

Anyway, that is approx. what I do. It would take a long time to list examples, and forever and a half to type it all, so I'll leave it at that. I'd be more than happy to send you my sets over icq though, with setlists so that you can listen to them if you would like.

ICQ # 218587 (dj flesch)

well said that is exactly what i do except for a few minor changes but i think u said it all and answered his question.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Flesch Well, I'll try to give you my opinion as best as I can explain it without typing all night! First off, there are two types of sets that I design. The warm-up set and the demo/main set. The warm-up set: Whether I am spinning this as the first dj of the night, or I am submitting a demo to get myself into a club for the first time, this is a very important set to learn. To me, it doesn't matter if you have tracks that can rock the dance floor if you can't warm to crowd to start dancing in the first place. This is the goal of the first dj of the night (or the first hour or so if you are the only dj of the night). For a cd, I start this out by having a decent and semi-familiar track that has a good beat and doesn't have too many breaks. I hate it when I go to a club for a peticular dj and the first several tracks are very slow or have lots of breaks. I'm excited and I want to dance, so even if the tracks aren't bomb droppers, I can still my heart out to something with a steady beat that I may be familiar with. I slow the second song down just a touch and then from the third track on I keep building up and up until I hit about 2/3 of the way through my set. Then I put on a track that is really good, but gives the crowd a little break from dancing as hard as they were. Then I pump it up to the highest peak of the night (so far) and then dip down just a touch for the second to last track that I play. The last track should be good and upbeat so that the next/main dj can use your set to hype up the crowd for himself. If I was hired as a headliner, I would be very pissed if the dj before me was playing nothing other than bomb tracks! It kills the whole effect of the headliner! Demo/Main sets: This type of set needs to have the same type of odering as the warm-up set, though it needs to start off at the highpoint of the last set. You don't want to lose the energy that the last dj just built up for you! Start with tracks that rock, though aren't the best you have in your music box. I perfer starting with something that is very good that not too many people have heard before. This way they stick around to hear what is coming next. Otherwise they might say, hey I've heard this track too much, let's see what the other room is spinning. etc. The last track should be long, hard and fucking increadible. One of my favorite tracks to play last is Lost Witness - 7 colours. Give them something to remember you by. Demo construction: When I make a demo, It usually just comes to me which tracks I should be putting together. I'll go through all of the music that I have and depending on what type of mood I'm in, I'll start a new directory on my HD and copy good potentials into it. Once I have about 12-15 songs, I listen to them and try to order them as per above. I usually don't have too much of a problem choosing the first or last track, those have to have a good begining that isn't just 30 secs of bass beat etc. and the ending of the last track cannot do that either. Then I spin the set, listen to it, and usually will switch out 2-4 tracks and change up the order slightly. I specifically listen to the tracks inorder to determine if the order that I have them in is correct, ie that each track will mix great into the next one. I listen for common instruments, the same key, long intros to songs that are going to be after a track that has a busy ending etc. Anyway, that is approx. what I do. It would take a long time to list examples, and forever and a half to type it all, so I'll leave it at that. I'd be more than happy to send you my sets over icq though, with setlists so that you can listen to them if you would like. ICQ # 218587 (dj flesch)

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TempesTrip/Jeremy K

Disclaimer: My opinions are my own, and if you can't say anything intelligent without bashing my character, my parentage, or my sexuality, then shut up and sit down. I will ignore you until you can come up with a decent rebuttal or an insightful comment. I am merely stating how I see it to be with as much respect and thought as possible. I expect the same from you. Tempest

TempesTrip/Jeremy K

and if you're the last dj of the night... if the headliner isn't

then take the warm up set and reverse it

parties here used to have the headliners at like 2 am or so, then they have a dj or 2 to finish off the night

however, if the crowd is still going strong, then abort the reversed warm up and continue with the main set energy

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Tony Morello Dot Com
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Set programming is hard to learn I think. You have it or you don't, you can improve by practise but it is harder to make quick improvements.

A set cannot be pre-programmed, you cannot go in saying "I will play soft and end hard" unless you know for certain what the crowd will be like and how the other DJ's will play.

But I always like to build my sets. I enjoy starting with an emotional sounding track, fave at the moment is Transa - Marcato, wicked track and is so different to other tunes that it stands out. Then I like to build it unil a peak at the end.

But this would be for a main set, a warm-up set and a closing set are totally different. The closing set can vary, most like to slowly bring it to a euphoric end, but I have been to nights where the closing DJ has went for it and created total bedlam at the end of night. People were buzzing after those nights, the atmosphere at the end was superb. But it wouldn't always work, depends on the crowd and atmosphere of the night really!

Wow there is a lot of feedback here! It'll take a while for me to absorb it all, but I'm just giving a shout out now so that you don' think I'm dead or anything. Keep going with the different opinions, it's really enlightening!