I have recently been booked as the DJ for a middleschool dance at my school (the school is all grades, I'm a senior myself)in two weeks. I've done limited mixing and recording using Traktor that i've enjoyed, and I'm getting paid decently for such an event ($150), which has been my motivation to do this event. I don't yet own decks (savings for CDJ200's and a VMC 002), so I will be using the schools equipment, which is apparently not very good. I know it's CD based (guessing a 2-in-one player).
My question to you all is about music selection and actual mixing techniques. I'm a novice at beatmatching, but the crowd I'll be playing to won't know anything about EDM, so i'll mainly stay to quick cuts. As far as track selection goes, I'll obviously stick to Top 40 EDM (in Belgium it's pretty much all electro/house), throw in some classics like kernkraft and sandstorm. For the "punks" i'll probably play some overrated rock tunes (Seven Nation Army etc), but I run into a bit of a jam involving the rap-lovers, who i'm sure will be in abundance. I have very limited knowledge in rap/hip-hop/rnb, and to be honest, I hate playing it. I have significantly more tolerance for more electro oriented rnb (Sexyback, The Way I Are). These types of songs also don't contrast as badly with the other EDM i'll play. I'm curious to know if you all have any suggestions for similar electro/rnb songs such as the two previously mentioned, and any general tips about first time playing out, playing for a middle school crowd, ways to avoid blowing speakers and so forth. Thank you all.

have you ever used turntables or cdjs?

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Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On OOKA-OOKA ME NACHOS ME PRESS KEYS ON COMPUTER GOOD

No I have not. However, I will demo the player before the actual dance.

just get top 50 of radio/mtv etc, try just to find a good start point of song and you are done.
try to know a little bit songs you're gonna play, and it will be fine. if you dont know how to beat match, dont try to keep song more thant 2 sec together.

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Do I risk actually damaging the speakers if the tracks aren't properly EQed (not talking about distortion, but physical damage)?

I don't think your going to have to worry about "eqing" the tracks if your just doing cuts.

As far as the rap thugs go, a quick review of the playlist of a ghetto tunes station will solve the issue of what to play. As it's a middle school, you'll need to be aware of avoid explicit lyrics and such in this department.

look around for a few good remixes of some of the more popular ghetto tracks. a good number of the more popular ghetto tracks have been remixed in house format. those are a great bridge between the house heads and the ghetto kiddies. these usually go down pretty well with the crowds...

oh how i wish the top40 here was electro/house. top40 here in the states is a f'cking joke, it's not even music, just commercially-pushed noise.

whatever the case, keep it clean and simple and realize with this sort of crowd playing whats popular and "in" will buy you more points than anything else.

spend a little time observing the "mixing" format of a radio station. it will help you understand how to keep the flow between tracks without actually mixing in/out of them. boring and elementary, yes, but none the less takes a little understanding.

There was a thread a couple days back about suggestions for edm inspired rnb tracks, and there is a nice mix of ayo technology in the producers forum. Also, try T.I - What you know.

Thanks alot for the help guys. My concern with the EQ's is associated with a few songs (such as the very bass heavy version i have of Kernkraft 400), but apart from that i wouldn't mess with EQ's much.

And yeah, I'm actually from the states, just living here in Belgium, but I fully agree with you that hit music in the US is terrible.

For burning CD's, is there any program that I should use or any particular speeds that I should select for "optimum" quality or anything?

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Originally posted by ultimate7 For burning CD's, is there any program that I should use or any particular speeds that I should select for "optimum" quality or anything?

Since no one else bothered responding... well cds are digital so in terms of quality so long as there are no errors (which shouldn't be too hard) everything is good quality.

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Check out my Goa and psy Trance mixes!

myspace.com/flosstradamus

i saw these guys at lollapalooza... they put on a pretty good show mixing all sorts of mash ups.

listen to "act a fool." it's delightfully cheesy, and should please nearly everyone. (so, download it if you're so inclined)

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huh?