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avoiding the big records
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| Johwa |
Hello everybody! (hi doctor nick...)
So this is my first post on these boards, neat. Anyway, just had a question for those of you who spin trance. When you play out, do you guys tend to keep away from playing the huge mega hits that Tiesto, Armin, etc play (Motorcycle - As the Rush Comes or Southern Sun come to my mind), or do you maybe throw one or two on in a night, depending on the crowd?
I'm starting to pick up some trance records again, moving from deep house / progressive house to trance (I like the energy of trance), but have been slightly frustrated by the local record shops' trance selection...they all seem to be either tracks that Armin, Ferry, and Tiesto are playing to death, or (to my ears) fairly poorly produced/boring records. Do any of you guys run into this problem? Or is this just one of the realities of spinning a genre that (IMO more than any other form of EDM) is dominated by big-name famous DJs? I guess my local records store could just have bad trance stock (it does)...going to check out some online ones tonight. Anyhows...I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's thoughts/experiences.
PLUR yo! (jk ^^) |
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| [Chriz] |
well i prefer to stay away from the big ones....but occasionally i'd drop a big tune or two....
anyhow, getting records in singapore is a pain....like you mentioned.. they tend to bring in tunes by the top jocks and charge astronomical prices for them..so i now buy my stuff online...chemical and juno being my fave choices... |
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| Omega_Blue |
| check out juno.co.uk it's user friendly and they have tons of samples for you to pick and prod at. |
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| A.J. |
I really like listening to older trance tracks from labels like Platipus etc
You should have a listen to the J00F label too, it's good stuff. |
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| Nemesis44 |
I don't really think of it in that way. If a track is big so be it. It's probably big because a lot of people like it thus it means it's something they want to hear.
But DJing goes a lot deeper than that, you could example play a big track and have nobody respond to it simply because you dropped it at the wrong time.
Shouldn't really think it terms of is the track big or not but if you like it and does it work with what you do. People get just as bored with an up it's own arse set that's too clever for it's own good with obscure that no one wants to hear as they do with wall to wall anthems.
Find the tunes that bring out the best in your DJing and personality.
Cheers
Nem |
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| basd |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nemesis44
I don't really think of it in that way. If a track is big so be it. It's probably big because a lot of people like it thus it means it's something they want to hear.
But DJing goes a lot deeper than that, you could example play a big track and have nobody respond to it simply because you dropped it at the wrong time.
Shouldn't really think it terms of is the track big or not but if you like it and does it work with what you do. People get just as bored with an up it's own arse set that's too clever for it's own good with obscure that no one wants to hear as they do with wall to wall anthems.
Find the tunes that bring out the best in your DJing and personality.
Cheers
Nem |
Probably the best advice you're going to get, sums my opinion up pretty much as well. Maybe it's not yet of much use to you, but it will come. It's all really a matter of finding your own balance between anthems and less known stuff.
Pay attention to one aspect though: most of the time, the less known tracks you're playing are the ones that define you as a DJ, and separate you from the rest of the DJing world. Everyone plays anthems, and while you should probably play some of those as well to please the crowd (also depends on the venue you're playing at, something that Nem didn't address I think), you will never become unique through them because everyone else is playing them as well (unless you're a big DJ getting future anthems upfront). It's those less known tracks, or favourites from the past everyone else has forgotten about that separate your set from the bunch. Do not just use them as fillers between two anthems, but try and give your set an unique twist with them. |
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| Exodus17 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Johwa
slightly frustrated by the local record shops' trance selection...they all seem to be either tracks that Armin, Ferry, and Tiesto are playing to death, or (to my ears) fairly poorly produced/boring records. |
+1
imo it really depends on where you shop for records
ive got 3 shops in my area that i hit up on a regular basis and i can definately relate to your situation... heres how i sum em up... **WARNING, LONG READ, BUT USEFULL INFO IF YOURE NEW TO SPINNING AND YOU DONT KNOW WHERE TO SHOP LOCALLY**
"Tower Records"-
theyre a pretty big store, very commercial, mainly just a big music store with a LARGE selection in music in various formats unlike alot of places like general electronics stores(ex Best Buy) which have mainly pop culture and some imports all on cd. With places like these, you usually only find big name stuff as theyre a big corporation and their concern is making money and that often means strictly big name stuff, sometimes you can find good tunes but it takes alot of digging through a vinyl section dominated by rap, hiphop, cheese, and radio dance tunes that somehow maintain their popuarity - also, big stores like these have all their records wraped in plastic and no decks to sample tunes
"Bills Records"-
this place is a step down from the big corporation shops. places like bills are privately owned stores where the owner usualy works day in and day out jut hangin around meeting ppl, selling music... this kind of place is obviously privately owned as there isnt much of a register or apparent organisation of inventory(bills has no register actualy lol he just has a box where he keeps his money)...places like bills often have a noteable selection in dance music, often you'll find like 20 copies of the same record and chances are its not that great of a tune. there are however a few goldies just waiting to be found, it just takes digging... this kind of music store has a clue when selling vinyl because they have decks set up so you can sample a tune to see if you want it or not(bring your own headhones cus theirs either suck or they dont have any. usualy you wont find as much big name stuff here, this is the kind of store that has new big stuff, but nowhere near as much as they have more underground tracks, import vinyl, and whitelabel THIS KIND OF PLACE IS A GOLD MINE however ive noticed that hot tunes arent always in stock, this is more of a seasonal type store where good tunes come and go and its more of a matter of being there when good tunes are in
"Rec Shop"-
this one is one of my favs,another "seasonal Gold mine" - this kind of place is a True record store with vinyl as their primary product. This kind of place has a few CDs and other merch like battle DVDs, scratch DVDs, and other DJ related videos as well as shirts & such in stock but for the most part, going there means youre there for vinyl. there are definately decks at this type of place but more often than not either the decks are located behind the counter and you have whoevers at the counter play it for you(if youve ever seen human traffic, think the shop in there) or the decks are out in the store where customers can sample tunes and mix at will but usually headphones arent supplied or the ones they have are cheaper than dirt , This is a privately owned type of place and another plus to privately owned/run shops is that theyre willing to cut you a deal. Places like Tower records(big stores) sell by the price listed and if you have insuficcient funds then youre walking out either short of what you wanted or empty handed whereas the small places will sell if its reasonable - like sunday i went out and bought a $12 DnB import for 7 bucks and he just told me id owe the rest on the next visit/ at rec shop i got into a good conversation with the owner and when i was done he sold me 3 records which would've been $35 for $20... stuff like that is what makes private shops > big corporate general music stores, they know whats up
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its places like recshop and bills where you'll find better selection as far as not buying big name tunes that just make you sound like the next guy and the one before him and its usualy alittle more wallet friendly :cool:
when it comes to buying vinyl online, its a diff story, however i find that alot of online stores dont always have what youre looking for in stock = :mad: frustration plus their selection tends to be so huge that you try and listen to everything but by the time you finish youve forgotten that you were searching for purchases + when you do order online you have to wait however many days and pay the extra $ for S&H - dont get me wrong, online sites OWN... its just that its more money for an alredy expensive hobby
in the UK id suggest www.juno.co.uk i visit their site quite a bit to sample tunes - common tune sample lengh is around 1min
in the US id reccomend www.vitalvinyl.com theyre based in minnesota and theyve got a great selection as well as **FULL** tune samples from start to finish
hope its of some help to someone out there
-Gabe |
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| Chris d(-_-)b |
| When playing for a crowd people expect you to play what they like. Tunes like ATRC and Satellite grow old VERY fast, since they are heavily played by big names before their releases. Many less experienced(noob) Djs srew up by playing these big tunes thinking they will work well for the audience. However, i don't think any dj should select his/her playlist based on how popular the tunes are, but rather how well they fit to the occasion. One more thing; if you make a mixtape for promotional purpose, NEVER use newly released massive tunes in it, or you will loose all credability as far as the promoters are concerned. I know from experience that many promoters and partyorganisers highlight the track selection and originality of the the Djs over the ammount of new hits he plays. |
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| Tony Morello |
| don't think of it as playing records, think of it as telling a story |
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| Johwa |
| quote: | Originally posted by basd
most of the time, the less known tracks you're playing are the ones that define you as a DJ, and separate you from the rest of the DJing world. Everyone plays anthems, and while you should probably play some of those as well to please the crowd (also depends on the venue you're playing at, something that Nem didn't address I think), you will never become unique through them because everyone else is playing them as well |
Makes sense to me...this is where having a well stocked local record store would be nice (when I was in Portland I used to love picking stuff out at Platinum)...shopping online just doesn't have the same 'feel' for me. Anyway, this is kind of the essence of my question, as I guess I'm still searching for the "right" sound that's unique and interesting. Creating a unique sound is really what its all about isn't it? I mean, the whole reason that we spin is because there's a special set of music unique to us that we think others would enjoy, right? Enough rambling, I'll just finish by saying that there definitely seems to be some kind of art to picking records that match well with each other, and your own style, that I haven't picked up yet. Guess that means time to practice and buy some more records!! That's cool though... I can think of worse ways to spend my time (*cough*..working..*cough*) ^^ |
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| jupiterone |
| I hate playing the tracks that have been over played. The tracks that are so damn generic and commercial. Mainly the tracks from the less known producers and dj's kick more ass then those of huge name dj's. I cant stand adagio for strings. its been overplayed. 90% of tiesto tracks have been overplayed especially those form just be.... |
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| Psiweaver |
| Play what flows to you. Remember your taking the crowd on a journey with your set so make sure it has good flow to it and really builds up. Not just wall to wall anthems or anthems with filler. |
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