Really need some input!

Hi all, I'm a long time reader, first time poster.

For a long time I've casually been DJ'ing in my bedroom, and playing at the occasional house party. Today though, I got an offer that might give me a lot of publicity. I got invited to cover for a band that usually closes a tv-show by playing for about a minute. This is a tv-show I've never heard of, on a local channel, which probably gets no more than 100 viewers. I do however want to leave a good impression.

I own a Hercules DJ Console MK1, which is a piece of crap, but has all I need to do some simple mixes. I could also borrow a BCD3000 from a friend. So not the best options for a moment which could give me some nice publicity.

The music I want to play is some nice deep loungy house.

Now how can I leave a good impression in 1 minute with the tools I have at hand?

Firstly,

Unless you have time to practise, forget about using new kit. Under the pressure you'll be far happier with a setup you know and trust.

Secondly, just go with your gut. The most important decisions you make, are what tunes you play.

As for what to do in 1 minute.. you could either go down the scratching or beat juggling route, which can look impressive.

P.P.S. Great that you got this slot, make sure you get some contact details of people at the tv show when you go..

They told me, if I do well, I might get a spot in a live show where I can play for 2 hours. So I really do have a reason to do well.

Might have to see if its possible to do a small juggling routine with my Macbook Pro keyboard, that would be the most impressive thing I could do. The thing is, I've never juggled. Luckily I have all day tomorrow to come up with something.

If you had a good chunk of time I would say go on down to guitar center, and pick up a nanopad or an lpd8. Can work up a real easy routine on either of those, you can use it even if you have a 2k dollar setup, and it wont break the bank.

Then keep it simple.. Get a instrumental/dub track and fine some lyrics that work well over the top, or just something people know well, so they'll instantly realise its not the actual track, but you doing it! Famous quotes, adverts, comedy sketches, or lines from movies can work really well.

Once you have your material, make up some short edits and get them setup in traktor with hot cues assigned, then just play about.. freeform!

And you could of course, drop a vocal at the end, something along the lines of 'you've been listening to dj ...'

You could just try to mimic one of Ean's routines, if you don't have much time

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sine143

If you had a good chunk of time I would say go on down to guitar center, and pick up a nanopad or an lpd8. Can work up a real easy routine on either of those, you can use it even if you have a 2k dollar setup, and it wont break the bank.

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Nanopad is not a bad idea at all! A friend of mine has one he doesn't ever use, so maybe I can pick his up! Would at least give me some more options.

yeah, and I mean... making the jump from keyboard to nanopad isnt that big a deal, it just feels better, and looks a bit more professional.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wickedsight

The music I want to play is some nice deep loungy house.

Now how can I leave a good impression in 1 minute

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Id leave the trickery alone. 1 Minute of cramped skills might be overkill.

Let the music do the talking. The choice of tracks to mix might be more important

He said he might play some "deep Loungy house" so working off that, if thats what hes expected to play i would lean towards blending some of the great cool remixes of classic Ella Fitzgerald / James Brown / Billie Holiday / Aretha franklin tracks maybe with classic funky beats to join them up.

Something classy but with a contemporary feel.

Maybe 17 Daft Punk songs mashed together in 1 minute might be better !!!