DJ/preforming guide - what do you want to see in it?

[the4thImpulse]

I have been asked by the great bartekko to make a djing guide and I have a few general questions planned already but I want to know what you would like to see in it, what are your questions?

[bartekko]

How and when choose songs.
How to use effects in a real-time situation so they don't seem out of place.
How to transition between songs.
What software/hardware. (as you have an apc40, I assume you use ableton live)
Is there any stress?
top 10 things I did wrong no one told me about

[Freewave]

I'll post what i posted to Triple when he was freaking out about his live dj gig.

"For dj'ing I will recommend to plan out your set in advance. Know where your mix in and mix out points are, what your bpm's are, if you have the capability (not sure what gear you are using) save your queue points as that's possible these days. Back in the day if I had a massive unfriendly 12" mix I would take out some of the mix in and mix out points, burn to cdr, and then I'd have a 32 count lead in and out on every track on that cd for easy mixing. It's really hard to mix 2 tracks that you don't know in their in entirety so practice, avoid forcing tracks that don't fit well or that you don't know well; but plan in advance, come prepped (write everything down in a notebook if you have to), and then just focus on that night of playing what you've done in your bedroom a couple times already before. Don't be flashy if you aren't feeling it or are getting to know the club equiptment.

Remember too that non-dj's (people in clubs) rarely notice the things that other dj's do. one mess up every 12 tracks or so won't be that bad unless they're absolute trainwrecks. Most won't even notice any missteps. If you've already got good track selections you are HALF the way there. And just remember to have fun with this, no matter what you do (but don't dj too drunk)."


The book "How to Dj Right" is a pretty good book for anyone who wants to sit down and read about dj'ing. anyone will pick up something from there.

[the4thImpulse]

How and when choose songs.
How to use effects in a real-time situation so they don't seem out of place.
How to transition between songs.
What software/hardware. (as you have an apc40, I assume you use ableton live)
Is there any stress?
top 10 things I did wrong no one told me about

added to the list of topics, How long would you like it? right now I estimate it will be about 4,000-5,000 words maybe longer...

[bartekko]

take as many words as you need

[Stars In Autumn]

Okay, so let's say you're transitioning between songs and you adjust the pitch of the next song to match the BPM of the current song. Do you play all the way through the song at the adjusted pitch or do you slowly set it back to it's original pitch? This question has bugged me for awhile.

[the4thImpulse]

Okay, so let's say you're transitioning between songs and you adjust the pitch of the next song to match the BPM of the current song. Do you play all the way through the song at the adjusted pitch or do you slowly set it back to it's original pitch? This question has bugged me for awhile.

I will include this.

The guide is sitting at 3,000 words right now. I will be finished by the end of the week no doubt, maybe sooner. Do you know of anyone who could edit it as I imagine it has some small mistakes (I was always terrible at english).

[bartekko]

The guide is sitting at 3,000 words right now. I will be finished by the end of the week no doubt, maybe sooner. Do you know of anyone who could edit it as I imagine it has some small mistakes (I was always terrible at english).

I can do this. This will also help me focus on reading it carefully.

[Freewave]

Okay, so let's say you're transitioning between songs and you adjust the pitch of the next song to match the BPM of the current song. Do you play all the way through the song at the adjusted pitch or do you slowly set it back to it's original pitch? This question has bugged me for awhile.

Generally you always want your bpm's to go up through your mix. If you have to raise the pitch of a track to get it to fit into the next transition keep it there unless you really made it ridiculously fast or slow. Slowing (-1 pitxh adj) a track sounds awful so its always best to go a little faster vs slower. If you have to adjust the speed do it slowly and after the first beat of a measure. It's not uncommon to see dj's have tracks and 2.0-3.0% above the standard speed throughout a set as they'll rarely lower it back to normal.

[Triple_B]

I'll post what i posted to Triple when he was freaking out about his live dj gig.

Nyaaa... Still freaking out about it. A lot. 27th of April.

How about for digital DJ's using laptops; what do we have for hardware as far as they go? And what can we do to optimize what we have?

[bread]

I'd like to know some basics for if a producer would play live. Let's say I have 10 tracks that I produced and I'm going to play then live at a club or whatever. I mean, I could just mix them beforehand and just press play. But what fun is that? Coming from someone that has never Djed before, I'd love to know some really basic stuff.
I can see what you would do for example if you are playing just mp3s. I'm guessing you would beatmatch and fade over from song to song seemlessly while adding effects and so on. But if you are acually playing your own songs it feels like you would have the resources to do so much more.

I might be way off here. But hopefully some of my questions will be answerd in your guide.

[the4thImpulse]

I'd like to know some basics for if a producer would play live. Let's say I have 10 tracks that I produced and I'm going to play then live at a club or whatever. I mean, I could just mix them beforehand and just press play. But what fun is that? Coming from someone that has never Djed before, I'd love to know some really basic stuff.
I can see what you would do for example if you are playing just mp3s. I'm guessing you would beatmatch and fade over from song to song seemlessly while adding effects and so on. But if you are acually playing your own songs it feels like you would have the resources to do so much more.

I might be way off here. But hopefully some of my questions will be answerd in your guide.

I do talk about going from producing to djing/playing your own stuff.

The guide is mostly finished now, just waiting on bartekko to respond

[bread]

I do talk about going from producing to djing/playing your own stuff.

The guide is mostly finished now, just waiting on bartekko to respond

Great! I can't wait to read it.

[Luxston]

EVERYTHING.