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I have to say I agree with you and that's exactly why I don't call myself a DJ. I myself would like to get some real experience in front of an audience a real audience not just a house party with my friends. I don't think its fair to say all bedroom "DJ's" are crap tho I'm sure there are many talented ones out there that could even get you to dance but just don't have the resources or the confidence to step up and start doing gigs.
I've only been doing this for about a year and a half and have totalled maybe 5 events that I'd consider gigs.
My first one was after about 7 months and it was really all about seeing what it felt like to be in the gig situation rather than simply in the bedroom dj-ing for myself. The other 4 have all come in the last 2 months because after that first one, I realized how unprepared I was and how I was not doing it for the right reasons. Since then I've just been playing for myself, my roommate, my family, and my friends. Now I just want to share some of the awesome music that I've been looking up.
Also one of the main reasons I started dj-ing and wanted gigs was because, well, music at parties here sucks in my opinion. Hell someone just throws on pandora and people are satisfied with that and that pisses me off, it kills the groove of a party so I took the mantle upon myself to slowly and surely make sure that people understand the value of good music at a party. I live on a college campus so it's been a slow process but slowly and surely pandora and itunes are being shelved and emphasis is actually being placed on song selection.
I'll tell you exactly why. I'm a producer turned DJ, I've been producing since I was 16, and never released anything to anyone but my friends till I was 18. I've been a DJ for under a year, and I've got gigs lined up (and have played some): Why?
Well, quite simply: DJing is a live art, and the only way to get better at something that is a live art (after you've got the basics down), is to play live.
:)
You see i think this is quite a uneducated quote. Why is a DJ not a DJ unless he performs in front of a crowd? As i have said i have quite a few DJ friends that never have and never will play out but they are a lot better than people i regularly gig out with!Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ Nada
I do agree with you when you say about getting into DJ'n and getting a gig it helps you improve quicker. Heck i was the same at one point, i thought i was quite good until i got my first few gigs and i soon snapped into shape.
But looking at a crowd and knowing what gets the crowd going is a simple skill, but you also need to know how to mix it aswel as play it to them! People say a crowd ain't gonna bother if you trainwreck a mix. But iv seen people trainwrecking and people standing lookin as though to say 'why are you hurting my ears with that noise'.
But as i said before also, im 100% for new DJ's to gain experience i just think maybe they should take time like Jason and myself did and probably many, many others on this forum.
The instant gratification generation -
1. Buy the new MBP
2. Open an iTunes account
3. Buy lots of Tiesto, Deadr@, et al
4. Sign up with Limewire (AND brag about it)
5. Get a 'cracked' version of Traktor (AND brag about it)
6. Choose a moniker
7. Start looking for gigs
8. Steal Guetta's line - "Fuck Me I'm Famous"
We started DJ'ing around 8 months ago and on Tuesday we played to a club of around 800 people and they all loved it!
We started of playing at small house parties of around 10 people and built up a knowledge of how to keep the crowd entertained and get as much feedback as possible.
My biggest asset is facebook, as all the events I play at are put up on facebook and I always ask for any song requests so I can build up an idea of what music genres people are wanting to listen to.
Just practice, practice, practice!!! :)
I practice extensively on vinyl so when I go onto my controller ism setup its much easier and I have time to focus on FX, loops etc etc :)
This is the biggest part for me. Some days I don't even get to practicing because I get stuck just listening to new tunes. That's how I became interested in djing in the first place... wanting to be the "selector of music".Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Cerna
I'm bloody awful for doing this ... I've been having to take myself upstairs, turn the internet connection off so that I can actually play through a few new tunes rather than rummaging for new stuff all the time ...Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ NiteFlite
Maybe there's two ways to look at this. Some DJ's are playing for themselves, and some DJ's play for the crowd.
The DJ that plays for himself probably doesn't take requests. He probably specializes in a certian sub-genre of music (like 80's funk or Jungle) because that's what he likes listening to. This DJ probably started the addiction in the bedroom, and is perfectly content to keep his mix inside the headphones. His mix is based off what sounds good to him, and probably consists of smooth beatmatched harmonic crossfades.
The crowd-centric DJ probably plays a wide variety of music, because different people like different things. This DJ always takes requests. (Yeah right, 85% of requests suck.) This DJ will mix in the bedroom, but then immediately burn the mix onto a CD and give it to the first person he comes across. His mix is based off the question "Will it make the girls dance?" This DJ is also far more likely to "sell out" and play crappy top 40 music. His mixing style is a lot more flashy and look-at-me!!
So there it is, you can probably relate to one of these. I should probably add a few more categories, the "I wanna get girls" douchebags, Pauly D "I bought all the right gear, now I'm a DJ" types, and "I don't know how to mix at all, but I have 50,000 songs" wedding DJs. But anyway... I forget where I was going with this...