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Recording your promo mix...would this be wrong? (pg. 3)
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| JRB |
My take on the demo thing is this:
I look at it as a sales pitch, it's selling yourself, so your going to want it to be as good as it can be. what if you were tired or something and you were a bit off on your mixing. you sure wouldn't say "oh well, this is my demo and thats that" you would delete and do it again at a later time. Now, I don't believe in just straight computer on a program like Tracktor; However, If you were recording your demo and you had a spot that was just off a bit and you stopped, went back to the last track, started again and finshed it out. Then went into Protools, connected the two good parts and called it good. I don't see how that would be so bad. as long as you can back it up with the skills when it counts. The club system will be a lot different than listening to a CD in your home anyway. |
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| Dirk W. |
Just to give yall a quick rundown....
demo = demonstration, a demonstration of your talent
This is not something that should be practiced or edited if you want it to be in the true form. I don't rehearse, plan or redo my sets when I record them. I just let them flow. If they suck, they suck. But it is a demonstration of what I can do. As I get better, my sets get better. I'm not worried about them sounding perfect.
Now I am not anyone of authority that has a say as to what is right or what is wrong. This is my opinion. It just so happens that my opinion is always right.... |
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| skytribe |
| quote: | Originally posted by jdat
Stop lying to yourselves; Just do it whatever way you prefer.
Some people say " It's cheating " if you do it digitally;
But playing the same set 20 times till you get it right how is that not the exact same thing ( cheating )? |
Because one is cheating.
The other is what's known as 'practicing.'
Bottom line, there is no point whatsoever in falsifying your demo CD. If you can't mix a 45 minute demo (I don't know many promoters who want to hear anything much longer than that) without any mistakes, then you're screwed if you go up in front of a crowd.
Why?
Because in your bedroom, you're in control; you have everything set exactly the way you like it. In a club setting, there's flashing lights, girls showing you their , idiot ginos bothering you with requests, people bumping into your decks, malfunctioning sound systems... the list goes on. If you can't do it by yourself when you're in control of the situation, you don't have much hope in front of a crowd.
Accordingly, record your demo CD. If you screw up, then go back to the drawing board. Figure out where you made the mistake, and why. Is it because you know you have only one record left to mix, and you get sloppy? Is it nervousness? Something else?
A DJ is, above all other things, a performer. It may not be fair, but all performers must have one thing in common: no matter what else is going on, you have to be able to walk out onstage (into the booth, whatever), and perform at the absolute top level of your skills, every single time. If you have to rely on re-editing your set after the fact, then you are quite simply not ready to perform. You can't count on editing your demo, and then suddenly being able to pull it out of your ass when someone hires you and is paying you money to do a job. That's leaving aside the very realy question of the ravers/clubgoers, who will be expecting a certain degree of skill.
At the end of the day, who would you hire? Someone who sends you a demo, and can then walk into your club and lay down an equally smokin set, or someone who had to go back and edit out the mistakes, and loses you a lot of money? |
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| TempesTrip |
I have a few cds i am very proud of the latest is the last one i recorded live just for a demo cd to give around. I did try it about 8 times but i finally did get it right and i nkow in the end that i can reproduce this in a real time club enviorment. I say practice practice. Who knows what you will do in a real situation if you haven't built those skills to back up your demo.
Ps my demo is in my sig. l8z tempest |
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| rainbow_marble |
| hack the promo mix, then when you cant do it on the decks, make up an excuse!:clown: |
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| KB2 |
This is my "8th" "take" on making a demo mix- read and learn!
AA- You should be prepared to produce quality demos as well as live performances. If you can't produce any of them, especially a live performace, then you should not even be making a demo to hand out to a club because you are not ready for a live gig. Do we all agree?
BB- With that said, go ahead and make a demo whether it be live or pc. The bottom line is that it goes beyond cheating or not. That is not the reality of things. The reality has several folds-or has several meanings which many of you hit on.
If you are making a cd demo and self promoting yourself that means-
1- you are not at the level of a super star or not satisfied with your current residency.
2- the club manager or the one hiring for a gig, knows that or else he would be talking to you personally or to your manager and not listening to your demo!
3- what is on your demo set is somewhat of a direct refection of your live set. Why? and why not?-
4- you should practice before both a demo and a live set.
A- considering #1 if you do not practice before a live set, you are a dumb ass. Even the hottest dj will practice mixes either that day or day before just to warm up. What do you think MJ did before game time?
B- believe or not, mixing one or two songs will increase your mixing skills before gig time which, will better your overall mixing for that gig because its about getting use to the equipment, working the hand movements and training your brain. Just like pre-scratching before a live set- your hands get looser and function better. Practice no more than 5 hours before a set to stay fresh. Anything more than that, you will lose the touch and or forget your set. (It happens when your are nervous)
5-spending 5 hrs on a 45 minute set with 10 songs for a demo is fine. But that only means you will have to spend another 5 hrs for a different set of 10 songs- Don't you see a problem there? (means you are not ready)
6-What you may consider to be a flaw may not be considered in the eyes of the manager, much less the crowd. You are a dj, you analyze, non djs don't. (as much)
A- You could have a flawless mix but make some errors live. That's fine, why, because considering you are good enough for the gig, the errors will be minor and not apparent to anyone else but you.
7- Considering you understand #1 and A,B, you will make mistakes but the only ones that will notice is you and that dj standing over your shoulder wishing he was as hot as you. Why? Resident djs have nothing to prove but maintain or raise their level of performance. You with a demo, has something to prove and it better show on the mix and live!
8- End result- To a certain extent, if he is worth a manager or club promoter, he is going to want fabulous material because he is using you as a way of promoting his club. You don't promote a special guest dj unless you want to improve or maintain a certain status. If he likes what he hears, that means you are his meat puppet to promote his club. You get yours as well so it works both ways. Just make sure your live set is equal to or better than what is on the demo because that is all he wants.
BOTTOM LINE- LIKE EVERYONE STATED IN THE THREADS PRIOR AND IF YOU SKIP EVERYTHING AND JUST READ THIS ONE SENSE, THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD READ- If you can't match what is on your mix equally or better, than you should not be making demos to hand out to clubs! See above- AATHIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD READ- If you can't match what is on your mix equally or better, than you should not be making demos to hand out to clubs! See above- AA |
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| DJ Kandaio |
If you can't mix a demo CD in you home, how can you expect to do it perfectly in a club? So if a promoter gets a demo CD with a trainwreck on it, then that DJ shouldn't play in a club until they can do it right.
If you can't do a Demo CD perfectly, whatever, a few mistakes won't take away from it if you have some awesome mixes, good flow, and excellent track selection. If you have a really bad beatmatching problem, you should probably practice some more before going in front of a live audience...
So YES, it is cheating to edit it... |
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| skytribe |
| quote: | Originally posted by skytribe
Because one is cheating.
The other is what's known as 'practicing.'
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I finally thought of a better way to say this:
If you practice like hell and get your sets tight, you have improved your skills, and therefore your marketability and future income (because let's face it, that's what it boils down to).
If you edit your demos to make yourself sound better than you are, you're freezing your skills. |
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| tu_face |
without reading the entire thread, just the first few posts:
if you are sending a demo to a club that is done on PC and completely flawless, it isn't a true showcase of your talent on the decks. if you can't get it flawless with the decks then practice some more. you cant send in a demo that you have had 7 takes on 1 mix either, you don't get that chance in a club.
if you play on decks in the club, record the demo on decks. if you are going to use final scratch or whatever in the club, do the demo on that.
its like asking to taste a wine at a restaurant, and them giving you a completely different wine to sample before having the bottle |
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| Nemesis44 |
| quote: | Originally posted by stupidisco
just know that while you are using your "pro tools" to create that perfect mix, there is a dj out there that can do that on the wheels of steel.
feels ty huh? |
Agreed.
Most promoters are actually more interested in your tune selection and feel anyways. In the end it all comes down to who you know and not what you know so this would be a pretty pointless exercise in that respect, nothing stopping you from doing it for your own listening pleasure though.
Cheers
Nem |
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| DJ Kibon |
| quote: | Originally posted by dknylady
who told you that demos had to be 100% perfect? what a silly statement.
a demo is a showcase of your skills with spinning, not how great you are at splicing sound waves in a computer program.
yeah basically if they get a perfect demo they are gonna think 2 things:
1. you cheated or did something fake to make it perfect
2. you are a wonderful dj and they will expect you to spin perfect when you go live.
i never edit my mixes, or demos. i am also a perfectionist, i understand your problem. but i just am waiting for the day when i spin that perfect mix...;) |
I have to agree completely on this one.
I recently put together an exclusive demo for an upcoming event that I'm booked for (each ticket comes with a CD), and there are a couple of transitions I'm not entirely happy (basically the beats slip and there's an audible correction). That said, it shows that I'm human, and more importantly it also shows that I can hear a screw-up and fix it...
I'm a total perfectionist when it comes to recording demos (which is why I don't usually record them....), and I'm also quite critical of myself when I'm mixing, but I don't think that perfection is mandatory for demo material. |
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| Dirk W. |
| Kibon, I have heard the stuff you put out. It´s really good. And you´re right, a slightly flawed mix does show your human. Anyone can do a perfect mix on the computer using Acid or something like that. |
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