this is the biggest problem i have being a dj.

how can i handle too many tracks and memorize them all?

i mean when youre playing a live set and deciding what song to play next, what do you play? you got so many tracks. i know you should play whatever flows the best, but too many things flow well. too many options isnt really a good thing because it confuses you. what do you think in this kind of cases. i try to think of what to play after i play the second song. what should i think?

another problem which is the biggest one is what to get. i like chill/progressive/uplifiting/tech u name it. the biggest problem is what to purchase. i buy so much (money isnt an issue for now, thank goodness) but having too much is definetely hurtful. i dont know what songs to use and what not. i like most of the tracks i have, and i burn some if i like them a bit so in case i would use/need them. what is your suggestion about that?

third and maybe worst is not knowing everything. i have all these tracks i have burned but dont know them by names. some i dont even know how they sound but are burned. the reason i have burned these songs is because ive listened to them before and liked them, but just dont know them. how do you guys memorize songs by name and sound? do you just study it like school work?

im sorry these might be dumb questions, but these things are the ones that bother me the most.

is there any program that is like a search engine. for example, i can type in song name and title and style, and whenever i want a specific style, i search the database i created?

thanks in advance

I think you're just thinking it waaay too much. When I play I don't really think what I play, I pretty much go by instinct... Of course I think about some tracks I want to play beforehand - nobody goes to a gig with all their records, now do they

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Well I quickly scan my tracks noting which ones are compatible by key and bpm, then I make my decision out of the compatible tracks based on what I feel like hearing next.

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I have never had a gig before but personally I would choose the tracks before going to the gig.

Ya i had that problem too when i just started out.
what i did was put the newly downloaded songs on my mp3 player(no ipod at that time) and listen to em when i had the time.

When your playing out you shouldn't realy take songs you don't know that well with you, since that'll cause some complication. You should have a genral idea of what your gonna play but that doesn't mean yyou should have a set pre planned. What would help you alot too is to start mixing harmonically that is if you got the basics down and feel up to it.

With your genre problew it's better to not switch from genres back to back that quickly you should try to ease your crowd into it. this deppends on set time for example 2 hours won't be enough to go from minimal to house to trance to techno. but for example if you had alot of time you could do something like:
deep house>electro house>prog house>prog trance>trance>tech trance>tech.

But this is just a genral guide not a rule good music is good music play according to your instincs and to the crowd. the line between genres now are kinda blured like carl cox drops some tribal in his sets and tiesto some prog, so just play what you feel is right at that time.

Hope this helps

Peace,
soliman

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Originally posted by InMyPlace** Dancing is like invisible art. You're constantly creating masterpieces, each different, but each with a recognizable pattern. As quick as they're created, they disappear, forever. You may think you see the same thing twice, but each move comes with a different beat, a differetn emotion, a new burst... of life.

quote:

Originally posted by Soliman With your genre problew it's better to not switch from genres back to back that quickly you should try to ease your crowd into it. this deppends on set time for example 2 hours won't be enough to go from minimal to house to trance to techno. but for example if you had alot of time you could do something like: deep house>electro house>prog house>prog trance>trance>tech trance>tech. But this is just a genral guide not a rule good music is good music play according to your instincs and to the crowd. the line between genres now are kinda blured like carl cox drops some tribal in his sets and tiesto some prog, so just play what you feel is right at that time. Hope this helps Peace, soliman

yeh thats the classic 'build up' set, start with some proggy, then ease it up to trance, and then at the end play some tech or hard trance.

i like the way PvD, switches genres through a set, one minute hes playing trance, then drifts into proggy stuff, then maybe some techno, and then he will shift into a different gear and play some harder stuff, things like tiesto and armin cant pull off, cos pvd makes it sound so original....

but its dj's like carl cox who exel at this cos his style is right across the board

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while im deciding what records i want to bring out with me for the night i organize them into different sections in my bag.

- Warmup records
- Records to pull them onto the floor
- New choons
- Big anthemns

at the minute im stuck DJin at commercial venues so the above formula works wonders for me. i dont actually mix harmonically (sorry nem ) but i still mix competently. organizing my records into different "pools" rather than genre helps me locate tracks alot easier so depending on what the current mood of the crowd is i know which pool of records to choose from.

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Last edited by Basstard on Jan-08-2006 at 03:02

quote:

Originally posted by stefanoc i mean when youre playing a live set and deciding what song to play next, what do you play? you got so many tracks. i know you should play whatever flows the best, but too many things flow well. too many options isnt really a good thing because it confuses you. what do you think in this kind of cases. i try to think of what to play after i play the second song. what should i think?

I dunno... my advice is to keep practising and it'll just come naturally after a while... plan ur first few tracks and it just comes after that

quote:

another problem which is the biggest one is what to get. i like chill/progressive/uplifiting/tech u name it. the biggest problem is what to purchase. i buy so much (money isnt an issue for now, thank goodness) but having too much is definetely hurtful. i dont know what songs to use and what not. i like most of the tracks i have, and i burn some if i like them a bit so in case i would use/need them. what is your suggestion about that?

I play a range of trance but am usually booked to play to reflect a style of the night... if i can play as hard or as soft as i like it depends on the mood i'm in (usually prog :P:P), or i'll often start as hard as the dj before me and just build up from there... i'll also usually take 2-3 times the records i need so i can go either way if the crowd's not into what i'm playing...

quote:

third and maybe worst is not knowing everything. i have all these tracks i have burned but dont know them by names. some i dont even know how they sound but are burned. the reason i have burned these songs is because ive listened to them before and liked them, but just dont know them. how do you guys memorize songs by name and sound? do you just study it like school work?

hmmm... i don't know about this i guess u just train ur memory to remember them

quote:

im sorry these might be dumb questions, but these things are the ones that bother me the most. is there any program that is like a search engine. for example, i can type in song name and title and style, and whenever i want a specific style, i search the database i created? thanks in advance

have a look at www.discogs.com

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I dunno what I do but it ain't remember them all by name. More by the cover. Basicly what the cover looks like then which side is good (or fits). Can't be arsed with remembering the names (though for some I do).

But basicly when a songs on I'll just get an idea what I want to play next, then I just have to find the bugger lol.

Though I had a break for a year without my decks and records so now I've forgotten everything which is a bit shit.

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quote:

Originally posted by stefanoc this is the biggest problem i have being a dj. how can i handle too many tracks and memorize them all? 1) i mean when youre playing a live set and deciding what song to play next, what do you play? you got so many tracks. i know you should play whatever flows the best, but too many things flow well. too many options isnt really a good thing because it confuses you. what do you think in this kind of cases. i try to think of what to play after i play the second song. what should i think? 2) another problem which is the biggest one is what to get. i like chill/progressive/uplifiting/tech u name it. the biggest problem is what to purchase. i buy so much (money isnt an issue for now, thank goodness) but having too much is definetely hurtful. i dont know what songs to use and what not. i like most of the tracks i have, and i burn some if i like them a bit so in case i would use/need them. what is your suggestion about that? 3) third and maybe worst is not knowing everything. i have all these tracks i have burned but dont know them by names. some i dont even know how they sound but are burned. the reason i have burned these songs is because ive listened to them before and liked them, but just dont know them. how do you guys memorize songs by name and sound? do you just study it like school work?

1. You are over-thinking. Go by instinct. You should know what the tracks are like, after all you assumedly like them, so should know them anyway. Play whatever you think would go best and follows the trend you are tyring to set. Its really not that hard.

2.
Buy whatever you like. If you don't like a track, why buy it? And why not buy a bit of everything? Theres no point have a mono-style collection. After a while you may find your collection is starting to follow a bit of a trend towards one style, so you may want to narrow your focus to that style in partcular.

3.
Try listening to the tracks you don't know. Its really not that hard. Once you listen to a track a couple of times you should know what style and sort of sound it is. Try organising your tracks into genres/sounds if need be.

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quote:

Originally posted by stefanoc is there any program that is like a search engine. for example, i can type in song name and title and style, and whenever i want a specific style, i search the database i created?

www.pandora.com Is a music search engine you add a song name and it'll tell you about other sings with the same "sound"

But all of this shouldn't be reason not to et your hands dirty you should go to record stores and listen to everything you can get your hands on.

peace,
Soliman

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quote:

Originally posted by InMyPlace** Dancing is like invisible art. You're constantly creating masterpieces, each different, but each with a recognizable pattern. As quick as they're created, they disappear, forever. You may think you see the same thing twice, but each move comes with a different beat, a differetn emotion, a new burst... of life.

quote:

Originally posted by Basstard i dont actually mix harmonically (sorry nem ) but i still mix competently. organizing my records into different "pools" rather than genre helps me locate tracks alot easier so depending on what the current mood of the crowd is i know which pool of records to choose from.

LOL, we shall have to remedy that!


Back to original question.
To be honest, I don't bother that much about names these days unless it's something that I really like and I want to look out for the producer in the future.

The more you DJ the more you will develop a knack for knowing what tunes do and how they work with the others.

There is nothing wrong in having tunes from across the board but you do need to make sure you don't end up too eclectic. When it comes to playing for people you need to do what needs to be done within the realms of what you like to play and if there's a music policy, what it will allow you to do.

My advice to a younger DJ is to not get too many tracks a week/month as you will effectively loose tracks and although you will have some corkers there you will have too much to take onboard so you wont be able to place it in your memory and hence wont play it.
Only get the tunes you really need, it helps you absorb them better.

That is one of the down sides of downloading music is that you can get so much.

It's similar with producing, a lot guys will get plug in after plug in and in the end it will interupt the creative process. You need to limit yourself to the tools you need to do the job.

Take a step back for a while and re-discover what you like and then build on that.

Cheers
Nem

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