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Playing on a club system for the first time (Merged) (pg. 3)
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| zizack |
| I have my first club gig coming up, and I'm getting a little paranoid about the transition from split/cue beatmatching to one ear beathmatching. I've been spinning for over a year, and can solidly beatmatch using the split cue function. I've ed around every once in awhile with one ear on, one ear off, and have had some trouble getting perfect beatmatches..granted its been in my bedroom on weak speakers. When i get in the club, is it gonna be impossible to make the transition if it requires it? i mean, I'm assuming the monitors will be consirably louder than my bedroom's? Something to worry about, or is it a pretty easy transition? |
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| Inertia |
| i'm a split cue man myself, but recent situations have obligated me to learn to monitor with one ear. i'll pitch the record as best i can, and then monitor with one ear, cue up my record and release it, then, i set both channels to CUE ON to see what they sound like both at once, normally have to give the record a lil' nudge or a gentle touch of the platter dots to get my stuff spot on, and things go fine from there. it's really a matter of getting used to it, as it's not that different from split cue mixing. |
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| zizack |
| sorry, when I say split cue, I mean both channels in both cuts...not one in each... |
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| ShivaStudios |
Congrats on your first "real" gig... Please post your thoughts afterwards...
My apologies if anything mentioned is repeated...
Loudness - This will be the first thing you notice... The sound is much louder than on some small house system... Also, believe it or not, smaller systems pick up even the smallest mistake.. But don't get too confident... If you up good, a bigger system will exploit it even more...
Layout - I always make an effort to get the layout of the mixer and dex before I play... If the club is a local one, hit it up on your off night and check it out... If not, show up early enough to listen to the system and check out the layout... Step up early enough to ask questions, if need be..
Chemical Intake - Whether you drink alcohol or partake in other substances before you play.. Know your limit!!!!... If it takes you a couple drinks to get to the point where you fell at one with everything... Then assure your intake is the same when you play... Nothing worse than being sloppy because you're too ed up to play...
Read the crowd!!! - There will always be a handful of people that are completely in sync with you... Play to thier content... Don't try to please everybody at once... It won't happen... Read what they're digging and program appropriately... This way, you will always have at least your core crowd on the floor...
Which leads to my last suggestion...
Track selection vs Technical Skill - I've seen many a dj (myself included) get overwhelmed with being technically precise... If you up your mix, play it off... Most don't even notice... If you start showing that your pissed off, the crowd will key up on this... It's definately a crowd mood killer... Your best bet is to keep pulling records that you know rock... If your playing a bigger venue then you obviously have enough skill to pull off a bad mix... Just drop that next track and let it rip... |
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| FirstBorn |
| quote: | Originally posted by ShivaStudios
Congrats on your first "real" gig... Please post your thoughts afterwards... |
I will do, and thanks for the good advice! :D
I now have just under three weeks to go before the gig and I'm less nervous than I was. I'm really looking forward to it - raring to go basically.
I've worked hard on headphone mixing so if I have to, I can mix a whole set without removing headphones (although I obviously know I'll need to in order to get an accurate reflection of the sound on the floor). As mentioned in previous posts, my big worry has been speaker delay between floor and booth but I've been reassured that the monitoring at the venue is first class and I'm now much more confident about headphone mixing (always used to mix off speakers).
I'm very lucky in that this first club gig for me will be one where I'm supported by a big group of friends who know me from regular clubbing nights at the venue. While I'm still getting mild butterflies just thinking about the gig, I'm excited rather than apprehensive about it and much of that's due to the great advice and kind wishes that've been posted here. Thank you! :) |
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| BryZe |
I have been mixing for about 6 months now. What I find is that when you have the volume cranked on the speakers your beats can be slightly off and still sound good. The only thing I was worried about was a correct beat match and the gains.
Someone let me know if this sounds right....
Knock your self out and have a good time!!!!! |
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| stevebutabi |
| quote: | | Also, contrary to what some might claim, I think a DJ is both a musician and a performer. Display warmth towards your crowd, show them you are here for them, display confidence but not arrogance (I tend to bow down to complimenting clubbers ). |
that is sooooooo important |
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| roosh |
| quote: | Originally posted by zizack
sorry, when I say split cue, I mean both channels in both cuts...not one in each... |
My mixer has split cue but I rarely use it anymore because I think it's more of a short-cut that sidesteps the long process of training your ear to match beats accurately.... kinda like training wheels for a bike. If you assume your mixer has no split cue, you will improve much faster because you are not depending on it.
Also when mixing in a song (assuming you do it realitively slowly), you can hear if it is slightly off or not, and can adjust it quickly before you bring it in completely. I mix for friends who come over and they can't tell. My decks have 0.1 increments so at least half the time I have to adjust while in the mix too.
Now if you go to a club and they have split cue, then use it to double-check your matching. It'll be like a bonus. |
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| FirstBorn |
OK – this gig happened on Friday night and a few people asked me to post my thoughts afterwards so here goes (sorry if this turns out to be a long post):
The quick response is that it went amazingly well! Just to remind you, I’d originally posted this thread because this was my first time playing on a big club system. I’d been booked to play the peak-time slot (3 – 4.30) at a big trance club and while I’ve had plenty of experience playing out at parties and bars, I’d never played on a sound system of this size and was a bit worried about the huge difference between small and big systems.
I was very nervous on the night itself. The club had one of its busiest nights for some time (over 700 people on the main floor) and I’d found out a couple of days before that they’d extended my set to two hours: I’d now be playing 3 – 5 am. The club has a very loyal, dedicated following who love trance and enjoy a particular sound, which can roughly be categorised as “fluffy” and “uplifting”. My own style is slightly different – more tough, pumping and bouncy – and I’d decided to stick to my own style to give the night something a bit different.
I was very lucky, however, in several ways. First, I was able to come to the club before it opened and have a look at the booth and the DJ rig. I wasn’t able to soundcheck because there’s a small theatre next door to the club and they had a performance that night. However, I got a good look at the mixer and booth, and also saw that I wouldn’t have any problems with monitoring (two big monitor speakers, one of each side of the booth, both crystal clear). Secondly, I was lucky that the mixer had a very good headphone mix facility, as I’d already decided this was the best way to avoid any problems with speaker delay.
I was also fortunate because I got to restart the night after a live PA. I was really pleased about this because it meant I could get away with starting in a slightly different style and not having to worry about following on from the previous DJ. I started with a track which fitted my own style perfectly, to see if the crowd would respond (they did, thank goodness).
The set itself went very, very well and I even managed a major mistake which no-one really noticed. I found mixing on a big system much easier as it was very forgiving on small glitches in beatmatching (I could use the mixer’s bass EQ to iron out any small mistakes). Other DJ’s in attendance said they noticed no beatmatching errors which was great because I was sure I’d made a few. I guess this shows how forgiving a club system can be on small mistakes. The major mistake I made (which I’ve never done before in my life… aargh!) was to take the needle of the wrong record (the one which was playing!) but managed to drop it back straight away, pretty much in the correct place. Talking to people afterwards, they’d simply thought the system cut out for a moment so I just about got away with it!
The crowd were a little difficult to read, only because the DJ booth was so high up, and the lighting guy was very fond of pumping the whole place full of dry ice and plunging the place into darkness save for a handful of lasers. However, the floor stayed full throughout and a few friends in the crowd told me later that people around them were full of good comments. I’d planned two huge peaks in the set with a big sideways step after the first peak and I’d wondered if the crowd would stick with me after this sideways step (they did, fortunately). I certainly found that a big crowd has a lot of momentum and because of this, they’re more difficult to throw off. It also helped that it was 3 – 5 am and many of the crowd were in an “advanced state of refeshment”. ;-)
I found the advice that people from this board gave me to be extremely useful. Thank you to everybody who offered suggestions, tips and advice, and also to those who simply said good luck. Through this advice, I learnt that playing on a big system is a very enjoyable experience, that you should trust what you’re hearing in your headphones above all else, and not to panic if things go wrong. The club’s owner/promoter and musical director were very happy with the set and I’ve been invited back in about 3 months time so I guess it’s mission accomplished.
If anyone’s interested, I’m happy to post a set list and thanks again to everybody for your good advice and kind wishes. I’d advise anyone in the position I was in to go for it – playing a big venue is a wonderful experience and I’ve now learnt not to be daunted by a big sound system. :) |
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| Fancy Pants |
| Wow i just read through this whole thread, which sort of chronicles you journey to the big night. I've been playing around with traktor for ~6 months and I'm starting to look into getting some turn tables. For me this was very educational, even though I didn't understand most of what everyone was talking about they all offered good insight into DJ'ing. Congratulations on the awesome outcome, keep up the solid work. |
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| Freak |
| quote: | | The major mistake I made (which I’ve never done before in my life… aargh!) was to take the needle of the wrong record (the one which was playing!) |
Every pro dj has done that at some point.....
not often tho lol
Glad it went well. |
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| cryo |
sounds like a good night all together Firstborn. :)
and i was just wondering what you played so maybe a little tracklist ? ;) |
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