Do you plan your sets?

[CaptainMidnight]

I have playlist broken into BPMs in increments of 8 (ie 115bpm-123bpm) just liked I used to when I would play out with crates of vinyl.....


And I never plan out sets as I find it really boring.

[Era 7]

That cause these DJs do not know how to DJ. Throw em a request and they would not know what to do with it.

There is a lack of skill with todays DJ. Ask half of these kids to go on vinyl and do a transition. They would not know what to do. How to count bars. How to phrase a song for smooth transition or even how to beat match without looking at the screen.

This is due to software DJing. To much reliance on cue points. To much reliance on wave forms. To much reliance on auto BPM counters. So the basics go out the window and makes it difficult to free form a mix and go outside of your set. Also a lot of software DJs nowadays tend to not do open format, so they don't know or can't or don't want to read the crowd.

Software DJing is fine. I do it. I use the most hated software out there, VDJ. But one needs to learn the basics before even calling themselves a DJ. I wholeheartedly believe that EVERY DJ out there start off with vinyl and the basics before moving on to CD or worse software.

well i started on CDJs and got to spin on some TTs after a while. took a bit getting used to but can't say it was impossible.

[farhanashraf]

http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41707

ibtf

[Ed Paris]

ibtf

dude! what´s up with all this necroposting? are you on the hunt to stock up your comments? i don´t get it...

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

Pre planning is kinda lame improv all the way and improv mash ups for sure hardly ever will drop a mash up unless spinning top 40 then I don't care cheddar is cheddar and mash ups are cheddar lol. Trance and house ill do on the fly mashes but mostly just really long transitions 2 to 3 minutes. I have done entire 45minute sets never having less then 2 tracks playing and most the time 3. I have done break sets using 3 tracks the whole time. You have to be spot on beat matching tho to do these kind of things.


Sent from my jailbroken iPhone

[Karlos Santos]

Pre planning is kinda lame

Heres a good tip. Dont assume whats good for you is good for everyone.

Programmed sets have their place. They can be a great way of getting a great set down perfect.

I play a few sets each week that are totally improvised, based around a very very lose collection of playlists but ive also totally 100% winged it with no prior setlist, just open the laptop or cd wallet and play. Its great when it goes well but theres no-one that does it completely blind.
You have played all your tunes before, you know where they are. There is no such thing as a complete improv set unless you have picked up someone else bag of CDs by accident.

Also 45 minutes... thats not a set in my eyes. Its a slot.
A set is over an hour at least (just my opinion, nothing else).

[sarasin]

Playing at a festival or BIG GIG that caters to a certain style of music, I arrange a set before hand. A playlist. I choose new tracks that I know the crowd will like.

If I am just playing a club gig with a wide style of genres.....then you gotta play it by ear.

[racoon]

i tried often to do something planned but i never managed to to so.

In the end when i am playing for the dancefloor, the first few tracks are fired and i receive the first reactions from the dance floor they lead me to play tracks i didn't thought before ^^

which is usually the best way to do ;o) (IMHO)

[Manu]

do you

nope.

[Jay Wilde]

short answer: no.

long answer: nope. you should be comfortable enough previewing on the fly to be able to tell "is this going to work with the current record playing?" and "is this taking me the direction i want to go for the next while?"

if you cant figure that out on the fly, you arent a dj. (i mean that in all seriousness)