Wow. I don't really know where to begin with this one, but I'll try to touch on a few points.

Dave, I'll say for instance that you are playing house music for a crowd. If the crowd is not feeling the music and want you to play hip-hop, how does that make you a shit dj? You must look at the venue and the type of musical preference that the people attending have. If you are playing house to a hip-hop crowd, that simply means that the audience does not like the style of music. That in no way dictates shitness on the part of the dj. Now, if a house dj spins at a place where dance music and especially house is dominant, then they should rock the place because of the music, unless of course their skills suck to begin with.

I do agree with you about picking your venues according to music. Why would you play a hip-hop night if you were a dance music dj? You wouldn't. You would want to play a gig that hosts dance music. Also being a house dj, there is no way I'd spin at a hip-hop gig. Then I'd have to buy a completely different set of music and spend more money on something that I don't like.

As far as reading the crowd goes, you have to do it. Maybe not to the bloated extent that people on this board say, but at least bring the energy level up and down according to the dance floor and crowd reaction. IMO, it's total bullshit to have to sweat bullets just to find that perfect song to play next. You must know your records and if they are all quality tunes and mix well together, you should have no problem.

Finally, to answer the original question, do not pre-plan live sets. You should already have a basic idea of what songs mix well together if you know your records like the back of your hand, so therefore, no pre-planning is really necessary. The only thing I would have set in stone is the first couple of tunes as well as what tracks you want as you peakers and the last couple of tunes. For a demo mix, then it's ok to pre-plan as you want the mix to be flawless and seamless. This is what I do.

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quote:

Originally posted by davepiazza If you play house ( which you said you did) than you should be able to rock ANY crowd playing your house music.

I don't think this is totally true. For instance, say I showed up to a club to see some big trance DJ and whilst waiting for them to come on the opener was playing a bunch of hip-hop. I can tell you right now I would be nowhere near the dance floor. No matter how good he thought the hip-hop he was playing was I sure as hell wouldn't dance to it b/c I don't like it in the first place. So you saying that a good DJ of a certain style should be able to get any crowd to dance to his music doesn't hold alot of water IMO. If you play Trance to a crowd who's showed up on hip-hop nite you will most likely crash and burn.

For alot of DJ's on here DJing is a job. If they don't spin they don't pay the bills but saying that a primarily house DJ that is spinning hip-hop for a gig is comprimising artistical integrity is stupid. You play what the venue dictates. If it's hip-hop nite and you're working it you play hip-hop. If you don't want to play hip-hop then you need to ask yourself what exactly you're doing working a hip-hop nite.

IMO, you can DJ every form of music and still be an artist. In fact, I have alot of respect for DJ's that do multiple genres. I think you need alot more skill to be able to spin multiple genres and do it successfully. I'm not saying that DJ's that spin solely one genre suck, but I have alot of repect for the DJ that can rock a club one nite with banging house or trance and then the next nite rock the same club with hip-hop.

I am in the middle of this argument. I agree with Freak's "appropriate music for appropriate crowd" stance and I agree with Dave's "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" stance.

Therefore, if you spin house or trance, then what the hell are you doing on hip-hop night. You will empty the dance floor very quickly. Spin on the trance/house night instead. If there is no market for trance, then either change your style or find something instead of DJ'ing.

I am not directing my comment at anyone.

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quote:

Originally posted by DJ Intrigue Wow. I don't really know where to begin with this one, but I'll try to touch on a few points. Dave, I'll say for instance that you are playing house music for a crowd. If the crowd is not feeling the music and want you to play hip-hop, how does that make you a shit dj? You must look at the venue and the type of musical preference that the people attending have. If you are playing house to a hip-hop crowd, that simply means that the audience does not like the style of music. That in no way dictates shitness on the part of the dj. Now, if a house dj spins at a place where dance music and especially house is dominant, then they should rock the place because of the music, unless of course their skills suck to begin with. I do agree with you about picking your venues according to music. Why would you play a hip-hop night if you were a dance music dj? You wouldn't. You would want to play a gig that hosts dance music. Also being a house dj, there is no way I'd spin at a hip-hop gig. Then I'd have to buy a completely different set of music and spend more money on something that I don't like. As far as reading the crowd goes, you have to do it. Maybe not to the bloated extent that people on this board say, but at least bring the energy level up and down according to the dance floor and crowd reaction. IMO, it's total bullshit to have to sweat bullets just to find that perfect song to play next. You must know your records and if they are all quality tunes and mix well together, you should have no problem. Finally, to answer the original question, do not pre-plan live sets. You should already have a basic idea of what songs mix well together if you know your records like the back of your hand, so therefore, no pre-planning is really necessary. The only thing I would have set in stone is the first couple of tunes as well as what tracks you want as you peakers and the last couple of tunes. For a demo mix, then it's ok to pre-plan as you want the mix to be flawless and seamless. This is what I do.

I agree 100%. However a few points I would like to stress.

1) AS you and I have mentioned selecting your gigs, knowing the venue, knwoing the crowd is just as vital as knowing your records. Obviously even if your Sasha and you book a gig for hip hop night in NYC your gonna fail. AS I said the true test the true test of ones excellence as a DJ comes when you play in front of a "friendly" crowd.
When money becomes a priority for you as a DJ you begin to pick any venue and as a result play what ever music is required that night.Thus money as the motivating factor for dj'ing not only harms your judegement in your venue selection but more importantly ( as mentioned before) harms your artistic intergrity.

2) In my definition of pre-planning this is not what noramly is thought of when people mention the term. In essence they are really refereing to planning the entire set reguardless of thedance floor. From my posts I clearly have said that understanding where to go with your mix based on the crowd is vital. However, I beleive you can program the mini elements of your mix. But than based on the crowd reaction you need to "peice togther" thsoe mini elements to rock the crowd.


THe most important point to make is this:

You can not 1) be on top of the music 2) buy all the new releases or 3) collect a diverse collection of tunes if your are into more than two genre.

UNLESS

a) you pick anthems for each genre
b) have a very limited collection for each genre
c) are in massive debt or have massive cash to finance this project.

THUS for new dj's its wise to tell them to narrow your musical style. Not only for integerity but also financially

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I usually have a plan for the first 2 or 3 records but after that it's by the seat of my pants.

But yeah, you can't just slam on any track, there has to be some sort of reasonable transition that is somewhat smooth. You are after all the DJ.

Prepicking an entire set would kind of take away the interaction with the crowd. You are there to share music with the crowd, not dictate to the crowd. Its gotta be a little give and take. Somehow I don't think you can guess what a vibe is going to be like all night long the afternoon before your set.

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