Taken from a similar discussion on a different forum...

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Originally posted by idoru It all depends. At home when recording a demo I'll plan it out and mix it maybe two times before I record it. Or if I'm spinning randomly at home and have had an idea or two for some transitions during the day, then I'll do that. Spinning out is different. I'll play what works in that club at that time. Once in a while, if I have a certain flow going I might say to myself, "Hey, these next two or three tracks sounded great when I spun them the other night, let's try that!" and I've found that, as long as they fit with the flow I'd had going, then it will work. Outside of that, planning out an entire set for a club setting and praying to God that everybody likes it doesn't really work.

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Originally posted by Stu Cox Yeah "live" is one of the most ambiguous terms in DJing. Does it mean: Recorded in a club? Done on decks rather than arranged on PC software? Done on Ableton Live? Played on live instruments? (possibly in conjunction with Ableton, but not necessarily) Happening out at this very moment? (e.g. live radio) Or, as the original poster has used it to mean: Arranged on-the-fly as opposed to being pre-planned.

live means recorded in one go, just using deejay equipment, with no editing. basically not done in mixmeister or ableton arrangement view with post-editing, no retakes, etc

planning is another thing. a lot of deejays have some idea of what they want to play out regardless if it's an entire tracklist or just a vague idea about a vibe or some tracks they really want to test on a crowd.

whether or not it was played "in a club" doesn't really matter, since that definition is pretty vague anyways. if a set says "live @ X club, mm-dd-yyyy" it's live, and if it was recorded at a house party it's live too.

Yes, LIVE is pretty vague, but in this particular case, I think the poster was asking about mixing live at a party or infront of a crowd.

I think he says that because he says GO OUT THERE AND MIX LIVE. Meaning, actually playing somewhere infront of a crowd.

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Originally posted by Dj.neelzo Hey i got a question, do ya'll pre plan your sets or do you just go out there and mix live?

yeah as some1 put it, playing on-the-fly.. thts what i meant by live

Usually only do preplanned when I'm recording a demo otherwise do it on the fly

The best way is to know a general outline of how your set will go but other than that you just need to know your collection and be able to mix in any song that fits and that will get a good response from the crowd. Practice mixing with your entire collection and you'll have a dangerous arsenal.

if you wing it, not only will you enjoy yourself more (imo) but the likelihood that the set sounds stagnant will be less. Sometimes big shifts and chances pay big rewards and add character to a set. If you can mix on the fly successfully, you can play anywhere. As someone mentioned, it is always good to have track combos you know work for the big moments when pulling off that insane mix/mash are appropriate but work the people up for that slowly instead of just pounding them out left and right. A dancefloor will not constantly give you big pops, but if you spread them out over the night it will make your set more memorable without tiring out the floor.

IMO

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Originally posted by elFreak if you wing it, not only will you enjoy yourself more (imo) but the likelihood that the set sounds stagnant will be less. Sometimes big shifts and chances pay big rewards and add character to a set. If you can mix on the fly successfully, you can play anywhere. As someone mentioned, it is always good to have track combos you know work for the big moments when pulling off that insane mix/mash are appropriate but work the people up for that slowly instead of just pounding them out left and right. A dancefloor will not constantly give you big pops, but if you spread them out over the night it will make your set more memorable without tiring out the floor. IMO

Depends what crowd you're playing dude. This advice works wonders for somewhere like Weekend Club I bet...but Pacha NYC probably wants big electro drops every 5 minutes and a 6 minute breakdown here and there for the punters. And those knobs playing huge festivals can play the exact same set for 4 months before anyone starts to notice...

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Originally posted by ******** Seplling don't demonstrate intelligence and educatoin - knowing does.

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Originally posted by Clovis Depends what crowd you're playing dude. This advice works wonders for somewhere like Weekend Club I bet...but Clovis probably wants big electro drops every 5 minutes and a 6 minute breakdown here and there for the punters. And those knobs playing huge festivals can play the exact same set for 4 months before anyone starts to notice...

fixed!!

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

yeah but i'm talking about a smart audience that never uses the words bro.

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Le Freak - Set Archive

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

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Originally posted by elFreak yeah but i'm talking about a smart audience that never uses the words bro.

Which 90% of most DJs will never play to anyway Fringe dance music for fringe folks played by fringe DJs...elitist cliques...so hot right now

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quote:

Originally posted by ******** Seplling don't demonstrate intelligence and educatoin - knowing does.