"Get into a music scene"

[wrong chris]

i've been into the dance music scene for almost 13 years now, got into it when i was twelve years old... and still it's almost impossible keeping track of all the artists out there especially nowadays with the internet - artists don't need to be signed to labels to have their music accessed by the masses, so there is sooo much new music available it's crazy. keeping up with it is a job in itself!

my only tips are:
scan the blogs and music stores frequently, listen to lots of dj's mixtapes and you will start to recognize the names of artists that create music you like. more often than not you will remember the names of artists that make music you REALLY like, and you will probably forget the names of artists that are just making mediocre music - you will also remember the names of artists that are making bad music which helps you avoid them to save yourself time when you are searching out new sounds.

another thing to remember is a lot of dance music artists will put out AMAZING work when they are first trying to get their foot in the door, but once they've done that they get really lazy and start producing shitty music. So never get stuck listening to one label or one artist because more often than not they will only put out good work for a year or so before making mediocre productions.

[jannick]

duerr thanks a lot for your post!

Atm I recognize my favorites by cover this helps me most. This genre is like a huge jungle with no end Atm I'm really excited running through it and discovering it

[wrong chris]

^keeping an organized music folder really helps too... and for me I have a bad memory so I also keep a notepad with the names of artists and names of songs in my music folder that stood out the most so that I can remember to use them in my sets.

cheers!

[jannick]

^keeping an organized music folder really helps too... and for me I have a bad memory so I also keep a notepad with the names of artists and names of songs in my music folder that stood out the most so that I can remember to use them in my sets.

cheers!

Ya I keep tagging every track I add. I also invented my own sub genres to distinguish the tracks more suficient

[Cell.Phone]

Did someone order the funny videos with a side of chuckles? Oh, you did? Okay, we've got your order right here. It includes a stupid teenage biker, a chair with a sunny disposition, a bunny Mozart and an uber-realistic war simulation. Mmmm. Good stuff.

[Jester]

Once you accept that you are NEVER gonna have all the latest + best tunes around, you will be able to relax with your playing and just spin what you got, well. I know prog guys that wont play anything produced after 1999, but what they do play is amazing. I know Psy guys that only play tracks from 2 or three labels and have their selections pretty much perfect. And i know house/trance guys that wont play anything older than 3 months. Personally i like to keep up with whats happening, but have about a 15 year range of tracks in the armoury

[iOskar]

Anyone got some nice blogs to recommend? For minimal / tech house etc.

[mpetersen3]

I think that my dj sets are more fun and creative since I have stopped thinking about playing what is right and started playing what I felt. Sure sometimes you need to curb your vision to the crowd, but if it isn't your own then why bother? One of my favorite things is to use the breakdown of a song to drop into a classic that isn't necessarily in genre with what I am doing, but has resonance with the crowd. And I don't mean Don't Stop Believing.

Djs who play exactly what the crowd expects are boring.

[wrong chris]

I think that my dj sets are more fun and creative since I have stopped thinking about playing what is right and started playing what I felt. Sure sometimes you need to curb your vision to the crowd, but if it isn't your own then why bother? One of my favorite things is to use the breakdown of a song to drop into a classic that isn't necessarily in genre with what I am doing, but has resonance with the crowd. And I don't mean Don't Stop Believing.

Djs who play exactly what the crowd expects are boring.

yeah multi-genre mixing for the win. maybe it's my ADD but i have a really hard time listening to an hour or two of music that sounds the same from start to finish, which is how a lot of djs approach mixing because they think that's how it's supposed to be done. borrrriiiinnnngggg zzzzzzzzz *snooze button*

[mpetersen3]

these days I find myself going between techno, house and electro a lot, and to me those genres are really tight, i just had an idea pop into my head to use an acappella of "I feel pretty" over a techno track, however key shift it down like crazy, and throw some effects on top, maybe just let a verse play out during a breakdown.

I also realized that I don't have a consistent system for remembering ideas that come to mind, that is why I decided to post them all here. jk I think from now on I will use a notepad, but it might be a cool feature for the blog on making a consistent organized system for recording ideas for later, as I am sure that collectively DJTT loses a lot of these based on that we are too wasted/busy to remember. Shit ideas pass through me like a train station.