How organized are you with your sets?

[Toastmaster]

this system does take me some time to prep but it works very well for me when i'm currently practicing live. i can play tracks completely on the fly and will be able to work with crowd reaction while still feeling very comfortable since i have many helpful tools and notes in place.

Kudos to your amazing organization. Had I the time, and were I a more full-time DJ, I would definitely get this organized with library settings. Perhaps I can try and squeeze out some time of my busy weekends and do this on Sundays.

[shr3dder]

Completely wing it myself. Never been one for too much pre-planning, takes the fun out of it.

I have a playlist or two usually (some newer stuff, stuff I want to try fit in) and a well tagged library (key, bpm and genre) that's it, I treat it like when I played records, I can just take more with me. I use the "Preparation List" playlist a lot each gig, kinda like throwing the records in a pile.

Never been one for intensity levels or notes on tracks, I just don't see the point personally.

[squidot]

Kudos to your amazing organization. Had I the time, and were I a more full-time DJ, I would definitely get this organized with library settings. Perhaps I can try and squeeze out some time of my busy weekends and do this on Sundays.

i know there's just not enough time in the day for most of us, but if you can find a little to get a workflow that helps you it will pay off in the long run i think. the good thing is you can implement it into your method slowly while you still continue to dj the way you normally do. that's what i've been doing with traktor cause if i had to only prep and never play it would make me crazy. that's part of the reason i moved away from ableton. or you could try and do these things while you are playing at home, but i find that i get a bit sloppy when doing that so i keep the two separate.

i also just picked up a maschine and i'm now trying to balance time into learning that and making some beats as well.

[squidot]

Completely wing it myself. Never been one for too much pre-planning, takes the fun out of it.

i get that, but prepping a track doesn't really take me that long, usually just a few minutes each. sometimes if i just feel like listening to the whole track it takes a little longer. for me, my fun gets killed when i make the wrong choice and i'd rather be a bit more prepared but still able to play a set and completely wing it...just with some assistance.

Never been one for intensity levels or notes on tracks, I just don't see the point personally.

i guess it just depends on what type of music you play and what you prefer. i have a vast library with many genres/vibes and a bad memory so for me to be able to narrow my track selections down based on these elements quickly is amazing for me. where you stop your prep work is personal to your preferences and workflow. you are keying your tracks and making sure your library is tagged properly so it's all part of the same process.

[shr3dder]

i get that, but prepping a track doesn't really take me that long, usually just a few minutes each. sometimes if i just feel like listening to the whole track it takes a little longer. for me, my fun gets killed when i make the wrong choice and i'd rather be a bit more prepared but still able to play a set and completely wing it...just with some assistance.


i guess it just depends on what type of music you play and what you prefer. i have a vast library with many genres/vibes and a bad memory so for me to be able to narrow my track selections down based on these elements quickly is amazing for me. where you stop your prep work is personal to your preferences and workflow. you are keying your tracks and making sure your library is tagged properly so it's all part of the same process.

I tend to play tech house/minimal or Boys Noize style electro, but I have done quite a few commercial house/top 40 gigs but that's a whole different library that I keep separate I can't see how genre makes much difference. It's definitely a case of personal preference, I think a lot of it comes from being from a vinyl background, the idea of extensive prep seems excessive, I try to just "know" what's in my library. I've been key marking records long before I discovered Traktor, so if anything that's become way way easier.
Its a pretty rigid screening process to get in the library in the first place, so with the combination of knowing the tunes and the key being tagged usually gives me a damn good idea of what'll work and what won't, and generally the waveform will tell me about any breakdowns etc. I may have forgotten were there, "needle search" is also an incredibly useful function for those moments where you just aren't sure.

[shookstar]

Completely wing it myself. Never been one for too much pre-planning, takes the fun out of it.

I have a playlist or two usually (some newer stuff, stuff I want to try fit in) and a well tagged library (key, bpm and genre) that's it, I treat it like when I played records, I can just take more with me. I use the "Preparation List" playlist a lot each gig, kinda like throwing the records in a pile.

Actually agree with this, although I was never apart of the vinyl tradition. I can see where the pile of vinyls idea comes into play with a set playlist. I got a slew of tracks I have capabilities to play, to say I remember every second of every song would be crazy, but then again that is why I have a cue button.

[squidot]

I tend to play tech house/minimal or Boys Noize style electro, but I have done quite a few commercial house/top 40 gigs but that's a whole different library that I keep separate I can't see how it makes much difference. It's definitely a case of personal preference, I think a lot of it comes from being from a vinyl background, the idea of extensive prep seems excessive, I try to just "know" what's in my library. I've been key marking records long before I discovered Traktor, so if anything that's become way way easier.
Its a pretty rigid screening process to get in the library in the first place, so with the combination of knowing the tunes and the key being tagged usually gives me a damn good idea of what'll work and what won't, and generally the waveform will tell me about any breakdowns etc. I may have forgotten were there, "needle search" is also an incredibly useful function for those moments where you just aren't sure.

i hear ya. for me, i would rather put in a little more time prepping up front to make it consistently easier on myself later while still allowing me freedom to play on the fly. i don't always worry about reading my notes either as they are just guidelines that can be used. the most important factors i always look at are the key, bpms and usually energy level.

[Vandalus]

I listen to all of my new tracks and assign them a rating on the 1-5 star scale: 1 star = early mood tracks / these are great for a warmup set. 3 star = great middle of the road tracks, can play all night/day with these. 60% or so are in this classification probably, if not more. 5 stars = massive peak time tracks. I try to be judicious about using the 5*. I use 2* and 4* as placeholders for those tracks that I feel can go both ways, i.e., can be an early track, but also can also hold its own in the middle of the night, maybe for when it seems like a break is needed. same with the 4*, can use to go big, but can also be perfectly fine in the middle of a set. I tend to try not to use 2 & 4* too often. These are my guidelines - its less about tempo and more about the energy of the track.

I have folders based on genre, although I do make cross-over folders, i.e. when a track can go between house/tech-house I have a folder for that, same with tech-house/techno. Within that, I tend to organize by my star structure. I also make comments about the energy and feel of the track (e.g., "tribal and groovy with long break"), note if a certain element that is prominent, or if it has a break/intro/outro that is unique that needs my attention. Lastly, if the track has been played out by a DJ I know, then I tend to include that information. For example, "Bonaroo" to me means that Sasha & Digweed played it at Bonaroo in 2007. I know that set like the back of my hand since I've listened to it like 50 times, so if I don't immediately recognize the name, that triggers my memory. I also have all my tracks key'd, so that's another organizational tool at times.

[Patch]

I'm always interested to see some people arrange their library by date/year of release. To me, that is not something I really consider when programming a set.

Now - if you're programming an 80's set or a 90's Hip-Hop set, you're gonna want to know the release date/year. But most of the time, for me at least, the date is completely irrelevant...

For me, it's Key, BPM, Artist, Title, Genre (maybe even Sub-Genre), Energy (still trying to work this out, actually! The star rating can be little restrictive...), Notes/Comments.

Your organisational technique HAS to evolve over time. It's one of the time consuming elements of being a DJ that REALLY pays off.

I am REALLY considering starting to use iTunes for my library, and setting up a whole bunch of smart playlists... I know that time spent doing that will REALLY pay off!

[3heads]

Energy (still trying to work this out, actually! The star rating can be little restrictive...)

I tried the star-rating thingy at some point, but it didn't work for me. I realized that estimating the energy level of a track is highly dependent on the context you play it in, so I gave up on that.