Questions from a complete newb

[DJ Lynn]

Hey everyone!
A complete newb is here, my name is Anthony and I just started to dive into the world of mixes and electronic music. I got myself a little "Numark Party Mix" just to see if its for me and so far so good!
A little bit about me, I'm a musician, been studying composition for the past 4 years along with Piano and vocals until a recent injury had made me consider other possible streams of income.


I actually managed to talk to a friend who holds a small neighborhood bar in town so that I could play a set there, but he requested that I would send him an example of my music, I am completely clueless about it and so I wanted to ask -
What music would sound best in such a venue ?
how should I build up my set in the first place (I figured start with hip hop and slowly ramp up to 126 bpm, bear in mind that they play a lot of indie and other electronic artists like Alt J, Massive Attack and such) and am I supposed to send him the whole set or just an example?

I'm more than willing to learn and take any recommendations so feel free to share anything that might have even the slightest value!

Peace

[Stephen Nawlins]

First of all Welcome to the DJ World.

1. I would say first you'll have to determine what you exactly wanna do:

You first say you freshly started diving into Electronic Music, the you talk about HipHop, etc...

2. Give yourself time before first public Gig, your Reputation can be ruined before your DJ carreer really started....Always Remember "Rome wasn't built in a Day".

3. Talk to the Patron of the Bar and ask him what he expects you to Play as a DJ, then you can decide yourself if you're able to provide and fulfill his expectations. But don't Forget to stay true to yourself, don't say you can do it if you have no clue 'bout Music Genre for example.

4. Try to find another DJ playing similar style make friend and spend a few Gigs next to him/her taking his/her advices. It's good to ask in this Forum but practical Experience is better, maybe this DJ will let you make a 20min Set in between his.

5. Never get the Money as Motivation in the beginning of your carreer...those doing this never last Long.

6. Try to get something alse than a Numark Party Mix as Controller. Sorry but nobody is taking a Dj serious, who Shows up with this, might be good to Train skills at Home...but in a Venue try to get something else (With the flood of the Controller Technology you find seriously good second Hand products on Ebay, Craig's List, etc...)

7. Good Luck, you will Need it in that Shark Tank

[DJ Lynn]

Thanks for the reply Stephen!
Are there any books/videos your recommend that I can learn from?

Also, what do you send to the Patron as an example? a mix? a short set?

[ragverp]

send a 1 hour set as you wood play it in this venue.

[Jester]

30 minutes. 2017 attention spans. Also, practise. A lot.

[astromech]

Where are you based?

If you know the bar, you'll know the music policy. Build a set up of that sort of stuff then record it. 30 minutes max. Being aware of tempo = energy is a good start, but don't fall into the trap of thinking it's the only thing. To make it easier on yourself, maybe try to keep the tempo range narrower.