quote:

Originally posted by andreww1 Thank you so much for all the feedback guys. I really appreciate all the opinions. I love the music i play and i try and gather new tunes every day so i'm always playing tracks that i love at that moment. I'm never bored when I mix, although when doing a set which is longer then 1.5 hours i tend to struggle towards the end. I just can't get over the fact that last year I could mix a good set and thought I was making good progress and now I can't string one together. I don't think i've changed the way I mix so i can't work out why things are not coming together. A few comments said I should stop and start mixing again in a week or two... maybe this would be the best idea for me. Maybe I need to walk away from it for a little while, get my mind off it, and come back after I have regathered my strengths.

3-4 4hour gigs a week for the past 5 yrs... I would destroy if i only had to do 1.5 hrs!! I just hate splitting the $ with other djs i do all my gis solo.

I know practice makes perfect, but is it possible to never get it? Is it possible that it's just something I should enjoy doing at home not think about playing out?

I've always been very handy on computers so maybe it's time I invested in a small laptop and put traktor or something on it?

Thoughts? Anyone else use traktor? Why did you start using it?

I got into Traktor simply because I couldn't afford CDJ's so 3 months after I bought a DJM700 I got myself the S4.

I love the s4 however after a month or so I did get a bit careless simply because I didn't switch the sync button off leaving to perfect mixes everytime because I had so long to concentrate on Eq's. I've now always got the sync button off and it's so much more enjoyable, it's more challenging as well using the loop recorder and samples when nothing is automatically sync'd.

My beatmatching is now better than ever as well.

Stick with it, perhaps just do a little mix of your classic tracks and drop some massive tunes into it.

quote:

Originally posted by andreww1 I know practice makes perfect, but is it possible to never get it? Is it possible that it's just something I should enjoy doing at home not think about playing out? I've always been very handy on computers so maybe it's time I invested in a small laptop and put traktor or something on it? Thoughts? Anyone else use traktor? Why did you start using it?

i found out after a while that i found it boring to mix without a crowd. therefore home djeing was not an option anymore as it ruined my spirit, and since i didnt have any gigs i gave it up.

i also noticed that you dont want to play out before you are 100% ready? that will never happen. to be ready to play out you need experience which you only gain by playing out. everyone needs to start somewhere right and if you do a few fails early sets out no one will notice. get out there before you end up like me.

so do i, i need a crowd, part of the fun is moving the people to your own vibe, i also like to play on big systems for the loudness, at home you have to look at your levels or neighbours would complain.

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Originally posted by Senator Clay Davis i found out after a while that i found it boring to mix without a crowd. therefore home djeing was not an option anymore as it ruined my spirit, and since i didnt have any gigs i gave it up. i also noticed that you dont want to play out before you are 100% ready? that will never happen. to be ready to play out you need experience which you only gain by playing out. everyone needs to start somewhere right and if you do a few fails early sets out no one will notice. get out there before you end up like me.

Sadly this is quite true.

I rarely play on my own that much any more. Sometimes i get the urge to spin some tunes and it's then that I'll fire up the equipment and play around but probably only for around 2 hours.

Compare that to heading back to an after party at around 4am (clubs close at 3am in dublin) and then play through till around 10am-2pm afternoon. If there's no one there I lose interest very quickly. I might blame that on me not trying anything new perhaps..

Anyway if you're finding it difficult and think the answer is getting traktor and hitting the sync button then you have to ask yourself why you're dj'ing? Do you just want a fast route to playing out in front of crowds... or do you want to just be able to create a few mixes yourself for you and your mates?

The only thing I'll say about people skipping the whole vinyl/cdj's phase is I find it a little cringe worthy when a 'dj' rocks up to a club. His gear doesn't work or he's at a house party and some people ask him to play some tunes and the response is "Sorry I haven't got all my gear here and can't play on cdj's turntables"... for some reason I think it's important to be able to do the basics. You don't have to be a wizard on them, just be able to string together a few songs etc and beatmatch with a certain level of proficiency. Maybe i'm old fashioned.

I'm rambling. I'm stopping.

Actually I think you're right n3lly. Sometimes it's a bit boring to see a dj staring at a laptop screen rather then watching him at work on the decks. I think it does take away the essence, but I'm just trying to see what my options are.

I still love to dj by myself at home. I love the music and I love doing whatever I want at that particular time, however I feel like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back at the moment. As I first wrote, maybe it's just a phase I'm going through when I can't do things right. Maybe it will pass... I hope it will pass.

it wont pass before you start doing gigs.

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Originally posted by andreww1 Actually I think you're right n3lly. Sometimes it's a bit boring to see a dj staring at a laptop screen rather then watching him at work on the decks. I think it does take away the essence, but I'm just trying to see what my options are. I still love to dj by myself at home. I love the music and I love doing whatever I want at that particular time, however I feel like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back at the moment. As I first wrote, maybe it's just a phase I'm going through when I can't do things right. Maybe it will pass... I hope it will pass.

it will just let your mind have a break, i agree with the screen staring statement, the atmosphere is really cold thats why i prefer decks, you get easier into the music than if you've to type the name of the track, use the mouse a lot more and watching the waveform constantly, it's like tapping with your foot when you mix or not, i find that when i don't tap the kick isn't beatmatched at the first attempt while when i'm really following the rythm it is most times on beat you can do this while looking at the crowd and the people follow your own "slightly offbeat rythm" :P

learn to produce, its not nearly as hard as it once was. and it'll make you look at dj'ing from a totally new perspective!

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Originally posted by andreww1 Actually I think you're right n3lly. Sometimes it's a bit boring to see a dj staring at a laptop screen rather then watching him at work on the decks. I think it does take away the essence, but I'm just trying to see what my options are.

That's not what I was implying but anyway