Heya Moonshine,

I'm in the process of writing some stuff that may help. I will post it here quite soon.
In the mean time keep beatmatching as this needs to get quick to perform certain tricks. You can never really practice this skill enough.

cheers
Nem

___________________
https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

quote:

Originally posted by dartman do you dj in public? i would say that the next step is to play for people. you can play all day and night in your bedroom and get to be the slickest mixing bedroom dj in the world but at some point you've gotta play out and learn how interact with a crowd. you'll learn alot about when to play what songs and how to make your set flow by playing for people and seeing there reactions. being about to pick songs on the fly, and controlling a crowd is an awesome feeling. i've only played out three times but its amazing. the place i play is on the smaller side so theres not too much pressure but when the people roll in, ya gotta make them dance.

well at the moment i have a frend who's a moblile dj amd i work with him sometimes. we usually play at weddings nd stuff, yeh i know that sucks, but thats the best i can do right now. i was thinking about staying in the bedroom until im confident enough to play at parties where u have to make the transistions/mixes, lets suppose a club for eg. the first thing im going to do is make demo's and move on from there. but until then, ill just keep practicing. thanks for ur opinions.

Hey Moonshine,

It's cool that you play out, but I think you should try and play out more. Don't lock yourself away and think that you are not good enough. You might find thatyou get stuck in that trap of thinking that you never are.

Also, the most important skill (In my opinion) as a DJ has got nothing to do with technical skills but your ability to read the crowd. This can only be done when DJing for people so get going and don't be put off by thinking that you are not ready. You learn so much about it when you hear different types of noise etc and have all the factors thrown in.
Some of the best party rocking DJs I have ever seen can't beat match to save their lives but they know when to play that tune to get everyone going crazy. Although not a trance DJ, Kool Herc is a good example. Mixes ruff as hell but destroys the place with the tunes he drops.

You also get to see other DJs play and that's when you really start learning.

Go for it I say

Nem

___________________
https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

After you have practiced beatmatching, Phrase matching, gain structure, set composition, track order, etc.. then it is in my opinion best to dj just for some friends. Throw a small listening party or dj at a friends birthday party. Usually your friends are going to be a lot less harsh on you then people at a club or people you don't know. Of course they will poke fun at you if you mess up, but they are friends.

thanks. but another thing i dont understand, is it neccessary to always play underground music or does it always have to be commercial, and when i talk about commercial, i mean like do the superstar dj's play commercial tracks? once again thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by dj_moonshine thanks. but another thing i dont understand, is it neccessary to always play underground music or does it always have to be commercial, and when i talk about commercial, i mean like do the superstar dj's play commercial tracks? once again thanks.

In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter all that much. A lot of people may disagree with me. But everyone has different opinions on what commercial tracks and cheesy tracks are, so there's no use in trying to cater to that aspect of it. It's just like trying to cater to everyone's musical tastes, all at the same time.

You should play what you like, and like what you play. But don't play only big-name tracks -- poke around in The Land of the White Label too, as there are usually very many undiscovered floorfillers. Don't limit your collection to the massive tunes you hear in DJ sets -- explore the artists and genres you don't know yet. You may find something you like.

quote:

Originally posted by brian In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter all that much. A lot of people may disagree with me. But everyone has different opinions on what commercial tracks and cheesy tracks are, so there's no use in trying to cater to that aspect of it. It's just like trying to cater to everyone's musical tastes, all at the same time. You should play what you like, and like what you play. But don't play only big-name tracks -- poke around in The Land of the White Label too, as there are usually very many undiscovered floorfillers. Don't limit your collection to the massive tunes you hear in DJ sets -- explore the artists and genres you don't know yet. You may find something you like.

All so true.

Nem

___________________
https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

yeah, you should def. play tracks that you love, and that you want to play. thats how you create your own style. it should come with out too much thought. you know the songs that you love. i know that when i'm playing and getting really into i'm like "oh, this song would go so nice right now....etc" sometimes i work myself into a wall but then you improvise and try new stuff.
about being "ready to play out" if you can match songs in your bedroom without too much trouble, and your almost getting alittle bored with playing alone, its time to play out. play at parties if your feeling confident to play in clubs yet. or find a small club and try to work your way in there. if you land a gig in a club your probably gonna be the opener so its not too much pressure. i can see how playing parties can be a bit nerve racking but almost all of the house parties i've been to have had really crappy djs. one party had three pretty good guys but that was the exception. if your playing good tunes, and people are dancing then they will overlook some minor trainwrecking. and if you get stuck in a mix at a party just cut it. fuck it, who cares? u r playing at a party, everybody messes up, your human. most of the people probably arent even listening to the mix anyways.
and if you really think that your not ready to play for people then make some cds, or try to make one really good one. no dropped beats, perfect. make a bunch of copies of it, label them up, and give them out to people.

quote:

Originally posted by dartman yeah, you should def. play tracks that you love, and that you want to play. thats how you create your own style. it should come with out too much thought. you know the songs that you love. i know that when i'm playing and getting really into i'm like "oh, this song would go so nice right now....etc" sometimes i work myself into a wall but then you improvise and try new stuff. about being "ready to play out" if you can match songs in your bedroom without too much trouble, and your almost getting alittle bored with playing alone, its time to play out. play at parties if your feeling confident to play in clubs yet. or find a small club and try to work your way in there. if you land a gig in a club your probably gonna be the opener so its not too much pressure. i can see how playing parties can be a bit nerve racking but almost all of the house parties i've been to have had really crappy djs. one party had three pretty good guys but that was the exception. if your playing good tunes, and people are dancing then they will overlook some minor trainwrecking. and if you get stuck in a mix at a party just cut it. fuck it, who cares? u r playing at a party, everybody messes up, your human. most of the people probably arent even listening to the mix anyways. and if you really think that your not ready to play for people then make some cds, or try to make one really good one. no dropped beats, perfect. make a bunch of copies of it, label them up, and give them out to people.

yes i like the idea of making cd's, ive had plans on making one sice long time ago but just dont get the time these days.