how do you "practice" your skills

[rmcsherry19327]

Thanks guys this is all awesome stuff, once all these finals start to wrap up cant wait to spend some time trying all this stuff out.

[DjEryx]

Can't wait to hear ya. Make sure to record your mixes and post your favorites online. Then post the links on here so we can have a listen

[Max Jones]

I agree, there's no substitute for playing to a crowd, reading the dancers (or non-dancers) is the most important thing. I rarely mix completely on my own but when I do I like to do a little exercise to practice keeping energy up in a room and to force me to be inventive with my mixing and track selection.

I choose a song, Hip-Hop at about 92bpm is good, then I start mixing. The aim is to slowly speed up until I get back to 92 again.

so for example from 92 i'll mix in a song at 94, and nudge the pitch fader up slightly. Then i'll mix something at 97 and so on. changing genres is always the hardest thing. When you get to 110bpm Hip-Hop it's hard to make the transition straight to house, so this forces you to find strange transition songs at weird tempos. There aren't that many tunes at around 115 (on my harddrive at least)! It feels like a real achievement when you finally go full circle, and it's really good for gaining skills to keep your sets varied and fresh.

[xs2man]

To me the most important thing is to listen to your mixes away from the decks. If your in the car, on the bus / train, whatever, then chances are your properly listening. Then you hear what works and what doesn't.

When I'm mixing at home, its too easy to get caught up in it, and I'm also a monster on the decks, have seen me smoke 10 cigarettes and drink 8 beers in an 80 minute mix. By the end of it, you just need to chill out. So I just listen to the mix over the next day or so, repeatedly, before going back and hopefully having learned from the last mix what works and what doesn't.

[DjEryx]

To me the most important thing is to listen to your mixes away from the decks. If your in the car, on the bus / train, whatever, then chances are your properly listening. Then you hear what works and what doesn't.

When I'm mixing at home, its too easy to get caught up in it, and I'm also a monster on the decks, have seen me smoke 10 cigarettes and drink 8 beers in an 80 minute mix. By the end of it, you just need to chill out. So I just listen to the mix over the next day or so, repeatedly, before going back and hopefully having learned from the last mix what works and what doesn't.

Couldn't have said it any better myself!

[Daddykins]

The best way to sharpen your skills in my opinion; know your music! Listen to your tracks over and over till you know every part of the song. Once you know what and when a track is going to do something, you will be able to mix in different parts of your track flawlessly. Know your music is the most important part of djing, if you ask me.

+1

[DJ Sunshine]

That's not good... music should intoxicate you. Don't get into the habit of always being under the influence to DJ... it could become self-destructive.

I think what he means is that it's a lot easier to get into a good groove/feel the music when you're a bit loosened up. I'm the same way, and I figure if it sounds good to me when I've had a little bit to drink, it would sound good to a crowd under the same circumstances. I'm not as focused on the technical aspects/little annoying things and more focused on keeping the party in my head going. But you're right, everything in moderation