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thinkin ahead
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| dukes |
so when it comes to playin a set how many songs ahead are you thinkin?
like snooker players think many shots ahead of the one they are curantly playin. do any of you think far ahead in your sets.
i find i tend to have an idea of what i want the style(cheariness) to do in 2 songs time but i wing it for song choice. |
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| dknylady |
well i'm sure that depends on the dj's individual style, but for me, i do think ahead.
like when i spin for my online radio show , before hand i go through my crates and take out a bunch of records that i'm in the mood to play (and lots of new ones i just got too, that i'm dying to play) then i roughly arrange them so they are easier for me to see. like i sometimes will take all these records out of my crates. they're in a rough order, yeah, but not in perfect order, so that part i do just wing it. often i will look through the crates again and again during the show.
when i spin at a club or a party though i do also go through my crates (i'm not dragging 300 records with me) cuz i am in nj and it's really hard to get away with hard trance, i tend to choose records that are classics, that are more melodic, and ones i know will appeal to the crowd, who are used to the more commercial crap |
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| Vero |
| im never more than 2 or 3 tracks ahead. usually i just pick one to drop out of the one im currently playing. soemtimes i will think of a song i really want to play, and pick out 1 or 2 records to make the transition to that song. |
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| seven.dj |
I think thinking ahead can plan your set better just like planning ahead in life, a game of chess etc.
If i were to make a cd I would def spend a while figuring out exactly what song should be played after what song. Its my belief that that is what distinguishes a DJ from the rest of the crowd... the amount of effort he puts into his tracklist and etc.
I'm not saying that not doing that produces an ill, bounced around set. I know many people who can really just pick out a song that would seem like it just belongs right after the track played before... they just hear things like that. As it goes for me, my mind just bounces all over the place and I always want to hear something different. So when it comes to putting together a set, I'll grab the trakcs that I want to hear first, then think about the way i want to put them in order. If you think of the style first, you will have a better track selection the way I see it. Dropping a funkier, off-genre track that just seems to fit in while winging it always takes people on a trip though I think.
I think its all about imagination and how well your mind flows. I know personally if I want a solid set, I gotta plan it a lot better. Good lord I've mixed some live that just def did NOT wanna mix haha. So in my case its better to pick a bunch of recs and work around those, that way in least my songs have a basic ground feeling to em. hope this helps
Matt |
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| Nemesis44 |
You have to plan ahead... When I play I know what I want to be playing in the last hour or so which is by my own defintion stuff that I like and that will get a good response and will ultimately get people comming away from the night thinking 'Damn that guys was good!' or 'I just had the best night of my life'.
People will always remember the last records that you played so keep your good ones for your climax.
The rest all comes down to planning the most suitable route to get there. Basically you have to get people to a point where they will respond to your final selection the way you want them to. Play with their emotions... tease them but try and get them to a point where they actually want you to play those big tunes.
It's always worth knowing about 5 or 6 tracks ahead as you never know what will happen. You can always tell an un proffessional DJ when he takes a track off the deck and spends the next couple of minutes looking for something to play time after time(No disrespect meant to anyone). It shows he doesn't know his records and has no clue about what he wants to do with the dancefloor at the end of his set.
This isn't to say that you shouldn't be flexible enough to change if you see a change in the behaviour of the dancefloor.
Cheers
Nem |
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| benoitfan |
well I usually think 4 tracks in advance (the incoming track already on the deck and more 3 "waiting") but sometimes when I want to play a specific track that I know that it must be build up differently (too hard, too melodic, too slow, too fast), I can organize 5 or 6 tracks just for that one to be dropped in the right mood. Depends on your style as well, in progressive for instance I think you can be just 1 or 2 tracks ahead, while techno maybe more (faster transitions etc..)
Cheers! ;) |
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| davidderail |
| don't think ahead. that will just you up in the long run. I only think about what I'm playing and MAYBE what's going next. try to match your sounds, or at least tempo, as you begin a new mix. |
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| razzi |
i rarely plan ahead when im spinnin a set. before i go, i think of what style ill be playing, and then put my vinyl in my crate and off i go. many times i do plan the last track in my set though, since that has the biggest impact... so i leave it off to one side until i drop it in with 5 minutes to go.
not planning in a live set allows alot more flexibility. you can test the crowd and their reactions etc etc, and then build and create an amazing set right there. sure it does present a situation where one could fault, but imo if you know your tracks, if you know the style, and how to read a crowd.. thats all you need. |
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