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"Programming" your set (pg. 2)
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| delusional |
| That makes sense =] |
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| Zild |
| Just use your common sense. If you see that the floor is empty don't bang it out. If you play a certain type of sound and everyone stops dancing take note. Things of that nature. |
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| DJ Blitzkrieg |
| Every DJ uses some grouping of tracks together that he knows makes great transitions. It doesn't mean you can't still read the crowd. If you know your songs well enough you can be more flexible with the programming and not just stick with one particular track listing. |
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| Stylz |
| Seriously, who cares if you program or not? Only you would know that. As long as you move the crowds, who cares. Sheesh. |
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| nefardec |
| quote: | Originally posted by orTofønChiLd
How do you do that? |
programming doesn't necessarily mean make a tracklist before hand
it means know what kinds of tracks you want to play when
there are a lot of ways to go about this. marcel dettman said in an interview for instance that he likes to pick target tracks and work towards those throughout the night.
a lot of deejays will pre-select the first few tracks just to make it less stressful beginning at a big gig. |
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| orTofønChiLd |
| quote: | Originally posted by nefardec
programming doesn't necessarily mean make a tracklist before hand
it means know what kinds of tracks you want to play when
there are a lot of ways to go about this. marcel dettman said in an interview for instance that he likes to pick target tracks and work towards those throughout the night.
a lot of deejays will pre-select the first few tracks just to make it less stressful beginning at a big gig. |
yeah thats true, i get like that sometimes |
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| Nemesis44 |
Hey folks, before we start to muddle the concept too much.
Set programming isn’t something that is limited to prior the event. Whether you do it on the fly or 6 days in advance it is still programming a set.
Just as mentioned before, I tend to have a number of tracks that I want to play at some point in the set as they might be big at the moment, I have just acquired them or I have made it myself and want to test it on the dance floor.
As far as I am concerned, a DJ worth anything should be reading the crowd and should know what type of track to play at a particular point in the night depending on what the dance floor is doing. Sadly with the event of Ableton a lot of ready made sets are being performed and this is having a somewhat negative effect and as a result has reduced the amount of DJs out there who are able to deliver a good performance based on the demands that the clubbers are dictating.
When you play out you can not afford to neglect this as you will be confined to the DJ list where the club may just as well have played your Demo CD instead. This skill is crucial if you are a warm up DJ where reading the crowd is so much more important than if you are the headline act.
In my opinion, being a good warm up DJ is ten times harder than headlining and requires you to show solid musical knowledge, good technical skills, respect for the time slot and the ability to take advantage of the mood on the dance floor. I usually refer to this last skill as Dance Psychology.
So what is reading the crowd?
It consists of identifying various groups of people on the floor, finding out who your motors are i.e. the people that will dance no matter what. Interact with them even if it just a smile or the amazing pointing finger game, acknowledge them if they react to a particular track that you play, again with a smile or gesture that isn’t too over the top. Check to see what the rest of the floor does with this.
Are you alienating the females by your choice of music, remember a large amount of females like some vocal content, simple rule, if you can make the ladies dance, everyone will dance.
Don’t be afraid to dance a bit yourself, bob your head or whatever but show people that you are into what you are doing and that you feel confident doing it. When you are about to drop a new tune, just before the changeover look up with an expectant look on your face and grin your ass off just as you whack in a new pumping bassline. Show the clubbers that you are the man/woman that is catering to their needs and want to massage their frazzled synapses and send them on a journey of dance heaven.
I’m not saying act like an arse behind the decks, but be a presence that people can relate to. And no this doesn’t mean you can do your Jesus Pose.
Avoid massive breakdowns early in the evening.
Remember that your audience has other needs too like using the bathroom, so don’t be too alarmed if you see people disappear from time to time.
Ignore the trainspotting retards who think they can do the job better than you, 99 times out of a hundred they have never played in a club and would be so overwhelmed by the experience that it would turn out to be a horrible event for all involved.
For early sets focus on beats and bass, stuff that funks basically. If people are not dancing because it’s too early for them, check to see if they are bobbing their heads or tapping their feet, people might need a few drinks to get comfortable or for the drugs to take effect ( Probably not talked about very often but an inevitable truth in the dance industry).
So why do big name headliners play pre-programmed sets?
Their scenario is slightly different. Firstly, they should have had the pleasure of having one or two good warm up DJs setting the mood well. Second, these people are actually the main attraction so people are stoked about hearing what they have to play and will be a lot more forgiving about any tune selection and the chances are that they play a lot of tracks people will not be familiar with (Unless they have seen them recently). They also have a lot of experience and actually know more or less what will actually work at peak times. Playing a headlining set is a lot easier than warming up.
Not all big names do this, John 00 Flemming, Judge Jules, Eddie Halliwell, Scott Bond and so on still read and react according to the crowd.
What you may benefit from doing, rather than pre planning your set, at least get an idea of the direction that you would want to take it but do not limit yourself to that. Establish your key tracks i.e. things that make it personal to your style, things that people will know and things that are currently in demand. If you are opening up for Tiesto then don’t play Suburban Train in your set, even if he is not likely to play it either, the track would be too big too early and chances are he wouldn’t be too happy if he had decided he was going to play it.
If however he had been on before you and you were finishing the night, and he hadn’t played it you could get away with it.
Respect your time slot, don’t bang out anthems at the start of the night, keep away from big breakdowns and avoid tracks made by the headliner.
Think of the night like a big trance tune, warm up DJs are responsible for the intro and build up, headliner is the breakdown and closing DJ the outro.
I have probably rambled enough, but you get my point.
Cheers
Nem |
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| hitokiri |
| ^---- as always sir you experience is pearls of wisedom :toocool: |
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| Seppuku |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nemesis44
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Excellent post. |
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| Max Thomson |
| thanks nem, the dj wikipedia nails it! |
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| RichieV |
there are alot of things to consider
first you need to consider your job. You are a dj. Except for a few djs that can play what ever they want and people people don't care , you should understand your job.
I will talk about afterhour djing because club djing has a whole other bunch of things i just don't have time for.
First off, know your audience. If the people at a club love jungle, and you don't have jungle, don't take the job. Consider yourself a brand and don't ever do anything that is brand negative.
You should know who is before you , what music they play. You should know who is after you and the music they play. You should know your place in the mix depending on where the headliner is. If you are before the headliner, you are there to set up the headliner. If you are after, know that people will be tired, unless he sucked then this is a great opportunity to be better. It is only poor class before he plays
Before playing, you should know how drunk or high the crowd is. This sounds stupid but it will tell you how fast you can play, how much energy they have , and whether they want less melodic music. You should have a feeling of how much fun people are having.
As far as flow, you need to understand that it is not unlike any movie, or book symphony ..... Creating tension and release is universal and you should do the same properties. Unless you have never djed live , you should never have a premade set. That is not a dj. That is a cd and if i was the promoter, i would make sure you never ever played anywhere else.
As far as how to start, it really depends, there is something that most people don't think about and that is whether to stop or mix. All the djs will say mix to the previous dj. Understand that stopping a record to start again makes everyone look at the dj. This is a great marketing tool. If you go after the headliner, always stop. First off it is rude to assume you can tag with him and the biggest reason , it is the best time to start from scratch. everyone will be watching, it gives a sense of new start.
Now if you do follow a headliner , if he ends big, you start light. If you follow a boring dj. Stop the record. And let people know that things have changed, the dj changed and things are different. Let people know who you are. Every dj should have some sort of sound clip so people know. Mixing to a bad dj will make people think you are the bad dj. IF people are digging a dj, always mix. Use that energy for your set. Associate yourself with that dj because some people are so stupid, they will think it is you. Except for a headliner, never stop a mix if there is considerable momemtum. You should have enough material to mix from enough styles, bring the mix down and then start from there.
For flow, well like i said, just watch movies. It is the same principle. If the previous guy was boring and you should know because you should be gadging the crowd, then start off with an energetic anthem. Do not play another anthem after. You are just letting them know that they don't have to worry anymore. The next few mixes should not have breaks. Those kill energy. You should strategically plan so that your peaks are close to middle and at the end. If you are preceding a headliner, playing an anthem isn't the worst. Just keep your mix rhythmic and conservative. Don't try to impress the headliner because he probably was playing your music 6 months ago. Depending on your relationship with the headliner, it is sometimes a clever thing to play an old remix of his song to let people know he is coming soon. Never play a track the headliner made. Ever . This is the rudest thing you could do. Nobody will care except for the headliner and if you have a chance to open , you are there to market yourself. He will hate you for the fact that its just lame. As i said, remixes by different people, unless they are really new , are ok.
And don't play 2 songs from the same artist in a row. Unless you mix them extremely fast. I mean like 1 minute each max. Unless you are playing at the end of the night and people can barely walk, keep your breaks at a minimum. Bad djs play break after break after break,
This is so ADD. If you end big, end big but 1 song before your set time. The reason is that if the next dj wants to mix, people will think that is his track, and some people might think he was the dj. Remember, people are so ing high, they have no idea.
Always judge the dance floor by how many girls are dancing. Unless it is a gay club. If girls dance ,guys dance. That is really how simple it is. Once the girls start sitting down, the dance floor is going to disapear.
i could go on but i have to get back to work
this is really just common sense. |
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