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| quote: | Originally posted by DJ_Shockwav
and practice practice practice
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However, practice only when you feel like it.
Don't force yourself to do it.
Mixing is supposed to be about enjoying yourself and the music, and having fun! Whenever you're in the mood, grab those headphones, turn on the decks, and off you go!
And when you have the not-so-good days, just say fuck it.
You don't have to practice every day. In fact, if you practice too much you'll hit a brick wall, and you'll be frustrated at an apparent lack of progress.
Don't take this shit seriously. Enjoy yourself and let time take its course. You will improve. However, even though routine day-to-day practice is unnecessary, in my view, I do believe that there are certain milestones that you need to strive for.
I'll give you a personal example. I got my TT's exactly a year ago, and have been practicing, on and off, for months. One day I got to a point where I could mix a set of 6-7 songs with reasonable precision and skill, nothing spectacular but quite OK. I always wanted to put out a "demo CD" to give out to club owners, and what I was trying to do was record a "perfect" mix, because I'm a perfectionist by nature and I thought that someday I'd be able to record a complete 12-track demo CD showcasing some great DJ skills that would impress the club owners.
The more I tried to reach perfection, however, the more frustrated I became, worried that this "goal point" appeared to be moving away from me, rather than toward me, as I had expected! I'd hit a brick wall, despite continuous practicing. For some reason, in my sets, the first 4-5 transitions would be okay (I'd plan them in advance), and then something would go wrong and I'd be upset beyond belief!
But then, one day, something happened. Two weeks ago, I said to myself: "To hell with it. I'll record a mixed CD, and if there are a few errors, so be it; everyone makes mistakes. But I will reach a certain milestone, by getting this thing done." And indeed, I recorded a CD -- there were some mistakes at the end, yes, but it was 75% good, with nice tracks -- and gave it out, to all my friends and different club owners.
The first reaction came from my friends; they said they were "impressed." But here's something interesting: When I came back home, after giving this CD to the owner of a club here in Baltimore, I -- just for the fun of it -- turned on my decks, and tried spinning just for the fun of it. It was evening time. To my surprise, I suddenly felt an incredible surge of self-confidence in my beatmatching skills; and indeed, I was now mixing perfectly!
Simply physically reaching a milestone -- completing a finished demo -- improved my confidence and hence my skills. Now, how's that?!
I think this story has a lesson to be drawn. Don't get too tied up in practicing. At some point you have to decide you need to progress, to move forward. And again, my advice: enjoy mixing and don't strain yourself...
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Download all my EuroHardTrance traxx & learn more about me ("Kompulsor"):
www.kompulsor.com
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but you will progress if you play a little everyday such as just mix like 3 songs a day don't if you don't want to but thats what i do and i can mix breaks with trance and this was with time progression 
