I feel your pain man... One of my first gigs I had a similar situation. I wasnt really familiar with the venue's equipment (yeah it was crap) so I felt like I spent the first 30mins of the mix learning how to spin all over again. At that time I started getting nervous and frustrated so my skills suffered. Best advise I can give is find out what equipment the venue is using so you can go in there with a general idea of the layout. Or even get their early if possible and just play around a bit. Then your head will be in the right place when the party starts.

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Originally posted by WeasiL Or even get their early if possible and just play around a bit. Then your head will be in the right place when the party starts.

i have to echo this advice. if i am playing a new venue for the first time, talk to the manager and try to come in in the afternoon/early evening before anyone is there and mess around for a bit so you can get a feel for what you will be dealing with. it takes ALOT of the stress of the night off, and your mixing wont suffer

razzi

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Originally posted by DJ Dinz after that the 2nd song was AGE OF LOVE (cosmic Gate remix)... another messy beat *still cant concentrate*... Then u know what.... I PRESS THE WRONG CUE BUTTON! n it stop the song that is PLAYING...n the crowd are yelling.... n i feel like fainting.. I feel like "SHIT THIS WILL BE MY LAST GIG IN MY LIFE... no one will book me anymore"

yea i did that before too. that's why i dun like CDJs...hard to figure out which one is playing sometime.

but yea..try get in before u play, it does help. it also helps to realize that when u do make a mistake beatmaching/mixing wise...99% of the people don't know u did...so it's all good.

They say you never really learn to DJ well until you play out in front of people. You just had a crash course, and you also learn alot really quick which is good. To answer your question, your past your first gig now, so everything will only get better, and easier to do, and will start to feel more natural. Everyone is always scared shitless for their first gig, and the nerves sometimes get the best of you.

Last edited by KiNeTiC ENeRgY on Oct-07-2004 at 20:17

fuck ups are inevitable, you will get used to them. just don't do them a lot :P.



my one friend had been djin at this large club/bar and one night somehow fucked up and ended up going from track to track live on a cd.....he was searching for a song....haha.


all he did was get on the mic after a second and said, "You all thought I fucked up didn't ya.....well I did"




some funny shit. just shake it off man.

I love these kind of posts cos it makes people like me realise that I'm not the only stupid arse in the business.

For my two cents, I accidentally cued up the B side of a record and didn't realise. So half way through mixing it in I realised that I had never heard this song before. No probs? Well, the beat mix was OK but cos I had never played that track before there was a whole crapload of dust in the grooves and about halfway through the track the sound strated muffling. i had to lift the needle off the track, blow it and put it back. Kockhead!

Anyway, we learn from our mistakes. Now I clean all my records on both sides before playing.

have a few beers (a few, not 10!) it helps me get into it.

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OK I've never done a live gig, only played in front of a few friends but what I would do personally is know what 2 tracks you're going to start off with and know how much you'll have to adjust the pitch for the 2nd track, that way you'll start off with a good mix and be more confident and hopefully it will make the rest of the mix go smoother. Of couse that isn't guaranteed to work so I guess the best advice is to just practice, practice, practice.

Haha, sounds funny.

I've noticed that a lot of DJs get up behind the guy thats playing before them and really work the crowd... fisting the air, clapping, all that shit. I reckon thats a good way to get over your stage fright. It's kind of saying... 'yeah I'm up next, and I'm fuckin pumped!!'

Guess it comes down to personality though and what you feel like doing. hehe... try whacking off first, maybe that will help your nerves.

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Originally posted by ionized try whacking off first, maybe that will help your nerves.

Well then I must have worked out enough nervousness for the rest of my life

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Originally posted by Frisco Well then I must have worked out enough nervousness for the rest of my life

*insert slapping noise*