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Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I don't think he literally means he has the next five tunes planned out at any given moment. I'd say it's more that he knows where he wants to be in half an hour's time, which I don't think is that unusual (although a lot of DJs certainly don't seem to give the slightest fuck about structuring their set).

I didn't take him literally. The point is he's envisioning where he's going before he gets there. I.e. I have a bomb I want to play and I need to map out the next phase of this set to drop it. I know how people are going to react before they do.

I've tried planning like that before playing a set and it never works out. It's much harder to do while playing because I'm so focused on the technical part of mixing and keeping my hands on the wheel. Vinyls are slippery af. So then I resort to playing how I feel. What can I say, I'm a noob. I guess it's like anything else. You gotta master the technical part of the craft (well, at least somewhat) and know how to use the equipment without worrying before you can focus your energy on the artistic part and start painting beautiful pictures.

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Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I don't get how you can play a set without any kind of larger picture in your head.

That's what separates the men from the boys, so to speak, doesn't it? I am curious as to whether the having of some extent of a larger picture in one's head has changed very much in DJs' experience between the vinyl-only days and today; i.e. the days when one had a record case full of familiar record sleeves and likely the DJ's own markings on them. I imagine it may have been rather common to easily remember what sleeve to pull up from the record case at what part of a lengthy set, or in a particular sequence of tracks.

I remember typical Sasha statements along the lines of often not knowing the names of versions/remixes of tracks he played back when it was all vinyl, and now, in today's digital times, having to become familiar with all the names and titles. (And then discovering he's no longer always the first to know brand new stuff in his field.)

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He is a very talented musician and an enthusiastic entertainer but he can't mix two beers together with a bucket and a funnel.

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Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I don't think he literally means he has the next five tunes planned out at any given moment. I'd say it's more that he knows where he wants to be in half an hour's time, which I don't think is that unusual (although a lot of DJs certainly don't seem to give the slightest fuck about structuring their set). If I'm playing soft at a given moment there'll always be the idea that I'll take things harder, or if I'm playing deep and dark there'll be the idea to lift things. And to do that I'm probably already thinking of tunes in a similar vibe or in a similar key that can do the job, and what they mix well with. I genuinely don't understand DJs who just seem to pull every tune out of the bag based on how they "feel" in a given moment. I don't get how you can play a set without any kind of larger picture in your head.

Key jumps have their place to go from dark to bright with shifts in energy. The tendancy for a lot of people to build by key has, in my opinion, lead to a lot of sets that are superbly mixed, but flat and plodding. The up and down old school rollercaoster > a set mixed and built like the story arcs we learned in grade 5.

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Freak Out Tóng Zhì

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Originally posted by Dykes_on_Jay Key jumps have their place to go from dark to bright with shifts in energy. The tendancy for a lot of people to build by key has, in my opinion, lead to a lot of sets that are superbly mixed, but flat and plodding. The up and down old school rollercaoster > a set mixed and built like the story arcs we learned in grade 5.

Key mixing is just another technique. It depends entirely on how you use it. You could mix an "up and down rollercoaster" in one single key, or you could completely flatline for two straight hours playing every key under the sun.

I have a pretty simple formula. If I'm going to mix out of key, I'll either make it a short transition or I'll mix drums on drums, bass on bass. If you're mixing techno, you can pretty much forget about it. If you're playing melodic music, you're going to sound like a joker without it. From my memories of your sets, you never played anything with much of a melody anyway.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

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Originally posted by OrangestO Yea, exactly. Every track has a role to play in flow and feel. Isn't it like the ingredients in your favorite entree or dessert? You might not like every ingredient on its own, but when you combine it with all the other ingredients, it serves a purpose to make the entire dish delicious.

Well that also serves to change the way you search for new music in a not insignificant way, too. 'Do I like this?' is the basic litmus test that most people- including DJ's- use when deciding to throw money at new music, and you can take it a step further to think in terms of 'do I like this enough to find some use for it,' but taking an even more multi-faceted approach that sets your actual musical preference to a distant secondary concern isn't one I'm accustomed to taking when shopping around.

It took me a few years after I started DJ'ing to start looking at music in terms of its functional side, when I realized that my sets just consisted of wall-to-wall bombs. I think a perfect example when I was playing techno and tech house was Klartraum. Nearly every track these guys released was a textbook example of something that was good enough, but more serviceable than anything else. Tight kick, heavy bass, and nothing too eventful, these tracks did a great job of just moving things along. I liked it well enough, but it was hard to forge a connection to something that just lacked any discernible personality. Going beyond that to playing stuff I don't particularly like but can envision a use for within a larger scheme just doesn't feel like a motivating way to spend the little time I have to trawl, even if it has value.

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He traded sands for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand. Afari, Tales

Interesting thread - one of the better topics I've read on here for a while.

A few thoughts:
1. Some 'pro Djs' appear to love or care for almost all the tracks they play, but they're not the norm and even still wouldn't agonise over track selection the way that amateurs do. Some names who come to mind who seem to be very selective: Dozzy, Move D, Patrick Russell, David Mancuso, DJ Sprinkles. On the whole I've found these djs to play less 'filler/functional' music and focus more on quality tunes.

2. Pro Djs who mix compilations would be very selective over tracks - Moodymann edited over 30 tracks for his DJ Kicks compilation, Joris Voorn would've agonised over the tracks on his Balance comp.

3. During the 80s, 90s and early 2000s DJs were playing more 'big sets' in terms of every track being good/big. As System J said, the Essential Mixes from the 90s are pretty consistently packed with big tunes. Have a look at Sasha and Digweed, Tiesto, PvD and Oakenfold sets up until early 2000s - big tunes after big tunes without a lot of filler.

4. Playing filler/functional tunes has probably increased over the last couple of decades with the rise of the internet and mp3 djing. Most vinyl djs will still be quite selective because they have to be, digital djs can pack whatever on a stick.

5. Because of the internet there is greater visibility over who is playing/has played what tracks, therefore djs are searching for lesser known tracks to sound more unique/fresh and are stitching these between bigger tracks.

6. Re key mixing: a rollercoaster set mixed perfectly in key still won't sound as rollercoasterish as one that isn't.

7. I also think crowds are more accepting of hearing average music these days and are content with hearing just a few 'big tunes/big moments' in a night, rather than hearing top quality tracks throughout.

This made Moody's DJ Kicks for me.

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Freak Out Tóng Zhì