Do you prefer making mixes with a slower BPM at the beginning and then gradually raise it up toward the end? Or do you shift cross over between genres and change the BPM?
Do you prefer a mix to be made with a wide variety of EDM genres in one?
(ie, techno, trance, house, DnB, Brostep, etc..)
For a good live track list, would you play all sorts of styles... for example, if you play trance, would you prefer to play euphoric, anthem, progressive, classic/acid trance all in one gig?
How do you make a good track list anyway? Do you start off a little chill and build up the BPM throughout, or do you suggest something different? Do you start off with euphoric/uplifting at the beginning, and then hard stuff toward the end?
kosmotika
I always keep the style/tempo the same, perhaps gradually change the mood of the songs as they go though. I usually end with something very melodic and perhaps even sad sounding in a way.
What I prefer to do is take a song with a built in intro and then the song will set the tone; for example...
Then follow it up with a track in the same style
Usually the melodies of the first couple tracks I choose dictate what kind of mood the next few tracks will have; so far this is a very 'NRG' style trance set with an upbeat floaty feeling, so let's continue down that path...
And so on and so forth, this is how I like to build my sets.
SYSTEM-J
Depends on the set. A DJ who can only build a set in one way is a very limited DJ. When playing live there's a whole gamut of considerations about the context of the night - what came before and what will follow, what time of night it is, the length of the set and so forth. You wouldn't structure a warm-up set the same way as a closing set.
When mixing at home you can do whatever you feel like doing. I've tried lots of different structures over the years. Some of my mixes were just showcases of one small sound, others were deliberately eclectic. A lot of my recent mixes were made specifically for running and I tried to keep the tempo and energy pretty high right from the start, which removes your usual headroom of set-building by simply increasing tempo and energy.
planetaryplayer
when i make mixes i aim for a minimum of three hours, and almost always ease into things. i usually mix records with friends before a show as pre party rituals- starting with slower songs (BPM) wise and going towards faster stuff at the end. but bpm doesn't really say much.. i have plenty of 120 jams that are straight fire and then 130 songs that seem slow.
my most common method which my friends and i enjoy most is the slow incline of energy within the set. ill demonstrate a vague example of three tracks;
point a:
point b:
point c:
with songs in-between each point to kind of bridge them together, from estimation id probably put 15-18 songs between point a and c in my usual sets. if i go long id stretch it out a bit more, but also add peaks and valleys too so people can have breathers.
when going out though and as the night gets late i need some really banging music to keep me there otherwise i go for the bed
Mr Game+Watch
I tend to like starting off slow with BPM, either ambient/downtempo with cut fades or ~110 BPM nu-disco type stuff, and then move further up tempo. I also love combining genres, too... when I'm playing at my friend's parties my favorite thing is doing 'marathon' 4+ hour sets, where I can get a variety of music in there.
