other DJs are the only people that can hear tiny slip ups, my first demo had a few tiny errors and it still got me gigs.

if the mix is good enough for you then chances are its good enough for everyone else.

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I got a demo of some chump I know through work, he plays tech house and uses ableton.

No lie everymix was a train wreck. How he fucked it so bad I honestly have no idea, but it was BAD.

I'll rip a sample and send it over for the ultimate lol.

turbo fail to be sure.

yet he is proud of it. retard.

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Nothing lasts, nothing lasts, everything is changing into something else. Nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong, everything is on track...

You know, William Blake said... uh, nothing is lost. Nothing is lost and I... I really believe that, we only move on...

As a long-time former promoter, my suggestion is that you don't mess up on your demo. I heard half a dozen demos every week. If I got a mix with a mess up or two on it I tossed it... in my opinion, if you were too lazy to record it, or not good enough to get it right on a demo - which you could do several takes at - I couldn't trust you live. I figured demos were the absolute best a dj could provide... if it has screw ups on it (audible ones), that isn't a good sign.

Some promoters may be less picky, but I had hundreds of people I could put on a roster for a party or in a club... I'd pick the best by demo, experience, or reputation.

Also... if you have trouble getting the demo spot on, start recording your live sessions at gigs. One way to get around making a promoter nervous was to hear an actual live mix. Accompany the mix with a flyer of the gig - otherwise I figured it was someone calling it a live mix because they couldn't get a decent demo.

Last suggestion - run it through SoundForge or whatever to get tracks level and a relatively decent sound. Make it fun to listen to.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray_Chappell Last suggestion - run it through SoundForge or whatever to get tracks level and a relatively decent sound. Make it fun to listen to.

Normalise all your tracks you wanna mix, then just set the gains the same. That way all you gotta worry about is EQ and the actual transition logistics anyways.

Levels are the hardest thing to get right anyways with compression and shit fucking dynamics left right and centre these days, so if you normalise all your tracks to like -3dB you don't need to keep an eye on the level meters.

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Nothing lasts, nothing lasts, everything is changing into something else. Nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong, everything is on track...

You know, William Blake said... uh, nothing is lost. Nothing is lost and I... I really believe that, we only move on...

quote:

Originally posted by Lunar Phase 7 Levels are the hardest thing to get right anyways with compression and shit fucking dynamics left right and centre these days, so if you normalise all your tracks to like -3dB you don't need to keep an eye on the level meters.

Not entirely true. In the majority of cases this is sufficient. But there are more and more tracks being released everyday which have not had any proper post processing.

When using your method you match the levels of the peaks. When mixing this way the average volume levels could be way different. This could still cause a dramatic increase/decrease in volume when mixing into your next track. Matching peaks is good, but a second check through your headset couldn't hurt.

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quote:

If less is more think about how much more more would be. -Frasier

if you fuck up the first time, start over. If you don't have time to do this, you certainly don't have all the time involved it takes to be a good dj. From digging to hustling, it consumes alot. If it doesn't you aren't investing enough into yourself to be anything decent imo.

pps...sets that are too planned tend to fail alot, have an idea what you want to convey but let it flow. Then nail the mixing, problem solved.

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Le Freak - Set Archive

Le Freak - A.D.D & Chimichurri [Techno/Tech House/Music to put on burritos.]*click bitches*

yea thats what i tend to to. i just redid the set 2 more times. 2nd time i messed up at the same exact transition which sucked balls.

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maybe its just not the right track man. Some tracks wont sound good together no matter what. Learn to gunsling and play on the fly and it will teach you how to mix in any situation. Planning all the time = bigger learning curve imo.

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Le Freak - Set Archive

Le Freak - A.D.D & Chimichurri [Techno/Tech House/Music to put on burritos.]*click bitches*

coming from the 2 promoters in this thread

if you fuck it up, start over

Ray Chappell said it best, i'm getting a bunch of demos a week, you must pass the cut in the first mix or 2 or i eject it and you wind up as roadside trash pickup (trust me, i've honestly crushed my share of dreams by tossing a cd out my window without a second thought, it's a business people)

it's the sad but true fact of semi-pro djing, you fill the cut or there's 100 willing djs frothing at the bit wanting your spot and they're much more willing to undercut you at the price

now, make me want to book you, as long as what you put on your demo, you can do live

edit: elfreak is onto it, if the transition doesn't work, it doesn't work

hell, i've replaced a track the day i went to record a pressed mix cd of mine, i didn't like the mix in the draft copy i recorded (always record your mixes and listen beforehand, you are your worst and best critic, if you don't like it, do it over, be happy and proud of what you put out and know that it's the best that you can do) so i grabbed a new track that i just got and slapped it in and it turned out great

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Last edited by Tony Morello on May-14-2008 at 12:10

Out and out trainwrecks, no...but keep in mind the style of music and how it's being played. Two of the best mix CDs I've ever heard had some bordeline fuckups (quickly corrected) and seemed constantly on the edge of falling apart - understandable, seeing as they were by Jeff Mills and Fumiya Tanaka, both of whom were playing live on 3 decks. Maybe not comparable to a bedroom-made demo, but read on...

I can only speak on the Techno tip, but as a promoter I'd sooner take a demo that had a couple of excusable blemishes, but sounded like the d.j. was capable of improvisation and taking some real chances, rather than just phoning in a perfectly dull set, planned to the most minute detail.

P.S.: Ableton sets generally bore the fuck out of me - I've heard only a few that didn't fall on the side of being waaay too linear and predictable. And if you edit your demos to hide mistakes, you'll most likely pay for it if/when you do end up getting a gig.

Last edited by PivotTechno on May-14-2008 at 19:51

Drunken clubbers wouldn't notice a minor slip-up...Some really drunk ones wouldn't notice a train wreck either. Personally i wouldn't care if it was only minor. Although its different when its a demo obviously....

no one noticed that i accidently lent on the reverse button on the cdj you can get away with alot playing out.

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