How to know what to play next.... (noob alert)

[guiltyblade]

I usually come in with a plan of some sort, and if I need to deviate from it I can. I have playlist (basically crates) that are divided in to sounds/genres. So I have a dnb crate, trance, electro, house, prog, funk, top 40s. Obviously its reading the crowd, but its also playing what you like and making it awesome.

When looking for new music I do several things. I listen to podcast, show, satellite radio, whatever and write down the track I like and dl. I then listen to whatever else the artist may have if its a new artist to me. I screen tracks by basically fast forwarding to the drop and listen to the part that is actually going to get people to move. If im into the melody, bass line, vocals whatever I'll dl it. I try to waste as little time actually listening to full tracks for the first time, I screen and see if it grabs me, if it doesn't within like 10 seconds I don't dl it.

Its exactly as someone else said. Don't DL 8908690458049 things. I have a lot of tracks I just need to delete. They are garbage and somehow ended up on my comp. You don't want to sort through all that. Keep the killer tracks ditch the terrible ones, don't hold onto stuff thinking you may need it.

[mostapha]

less than an hour and my collection went down from 86 to 40 tracks...and still deleting...im expecting to keep less de 10 for now, i guess it takes a lot of time to build a decent collection so i'll just be patient...

also i would like to hear how some of you use different genres along your set...for example i like to play deep house but i can imagine it getting so boring after a while.

1 - Yes, it does. It takes for freaking ever. There's a reason vinyl was called black crack. The only ways digital music is different is that it's cheaper and you have to delay gratification a lot less 'cuz you can buy anywhere you have your laptop and internet.

2 - It's not hard. Listen for where genres slightly overlap…those are your transition points. Also, think about the development of genres in history…if you follow similar lines, it's easy to–for example–start out with R&B and end up playing jump up by the end of a marathon set…R&B -> Classic Hip Hop -> 2 step -> Funky House -> Deep House -> Progressive/classic Trance -> Acid -> nu Disco -> Electro -> modern Progressive House -> Breaks -> Trance -> Psy -> harder Breaks & Dubstep -> Goa -> D&B -> Jump up. It'd be an 8 hour set or so to give each genre its due…but that's happened before.

Also…it helps to realize that thanks to every music store, blog, and label having a resident hipster douche that likes to label and categorize everything…most genre labels nowadays are overly specific if not completely wrong.

My current "main" crate contains (according to beatport/juno/soundcloud) Breaks, Deep House, Electro House, Electronica, House, Indie Dance, Minimal, Progressive House, Tech House, Techno, and Trance. Yeah…it's not that varied. They all just kinda sound like different shades of the type of trance that I listened to when I was first getting into EDM, though it's not at all what most people would consider trance today.

Also, if you're liking the modern popular sound (SHM, Afrojack, etc.)…check out Acid House. They go really well together, and 303s seem to have been made to teach dirty dutch producers what music was supposed to sound like…but that's just me.

[DOWN|3E4T]

I'm currently in the process of doing a massive spring cleaning on my collection. While I'm at it I'm using the star rating to rate the song and giving each song an energy rating from 1-10 in the comment 2 field. 1 would be very chill and 10 would be certified banger. that should make things easier to pick out. Making sure everything is rated from the start of your DJ 'career' will only serve to help you in the future.

Here's one tip that I think a lot of newer DJ's ignore. Don't go torrenting a crap load of stuff. It's to easy to get out of hand and DL hundreds of tracks in a day. There's no way you can know your music doing it that way. If you're playing for an hour for friends you only really need 10-20 tracks depending on how long you play each track. If you had 40-50 songs to select from you'll find picking the next tune on the spot much easier.

I'm not saying to show up and stick to a strict playlist, but having narrowed down the selection is another learning process. DJ's don't just show up and play. They usually spend some time prepping before a gig, which is why you have a default playlist in traktor called preparation . Think of it the same way a vinyl DJ only brings along the tunes he really thinks he's going to play.

DJ'ing may technically be easier, but there's still just as much work involved.

Well said mate!

[nerve]

The first thing, as has already been pointed out - is listen to your tracks over and over again... and then over again! you can't listen to your tunes enough.

DO NOT TORRENT! not because its illegal, or because of the poor file quality, but because you end up with sooooo much shit you a) dont use, b) never listen to, and c) dont know what to do with. when i first made the transition to cdj's i was torrenting hundred of tunes a week, and playing/using maybe 15-20 of them at most.

one thing i never did was properly tag, rate, or comment my tracks. i wish i did, but by torrenting a heap from the get go i put myself on the back foot by overwhelming myself with so much material and didn't know what to do with it all.

When doing your tagging, it can be helpful adding comments describing the track - like if theres horns and guitars or a fat bass line then add it to the tag. This can help you with picking your next track..

If i were you i wouldn't rely on MIK for putting together your mixes at this point in your career, it's just giving you one more thing to worry about while not focusing on your fundamentals. While it is fairly accurate, its not that accurate. Your ears subconsciously know what sounds good and what doesn't, and you'll find some of your mixes will even be 'in key' as a result.

Good luck on your quest mate.

I couldn't put this in any better way. Many people who torrent get so overwhelmed with what they have that they just lose focus of what their intention of music was. This applies to almost anything. Its like giving a kid too many toys and watch how fast he/she gets bored with any new toy when new ones are ALWAYS around.

This happened to me with torrenting and purchasing music/games. I used to buy 10 vinyls a day only to realize I didn't need that much music. Same with gaming. Had a modded system only to realize I'd get so bored of the games I was playing in 10 minutes because I knew i had something else to play. Ultimately I come back to the one or two games I play on my PC.

[The Bong Squad]

load up all of your music on your ipod and listen to it all the time. Get to know your tracks and you will be able to connect the dots better when your mixing them.

Don't over listen to songs as they loose their feel and we found that if you have overplayed it on your ipod too much, when playing it live you will be fed up of it and won't have much emphusiasm compared to when you heard it the first few times.

To overcome this a week before the gig stop listening to your desired playlist and only listen to it again the night before to re assure you that you know the songs.

Works everytime for us

[Wickedsight]

So, I haven't read every post, so I might not add much, but here it goes:

When you see the crowd going nuts, just keep the same kind of music playing and keep the momentum going. If you see them getting bored, turn it up a notch to get them going again. If you see them getting tired, take it down a notch so they can take a breath and get a drink.

A great tip I read in these great forums is the following. If you're spinning, and you find two track that mix perfectly, put the name of the track you mixed in, in the comments section of the track you mixed it into (or vice versa, whichever works for you.) Now it's easy to find tracks that work great together.

Sometimes when you have a tough crowd it works when you spin a few well known tracks with familiar lyrics. People will often start singing, which gets them in a party mood. When you got them in the mood you can start spinning a few less known tracks.

Edit:

DO NOT TORRENT! not because its illegal, or because of the poor file quality, but because you end up with sooooo much shit you a) dont use, b) never listen to, and c) dont know what to do with. when i first made the transition to cdj's i was torrenting hundred of tunes a week, and playing/using maybe 15-20 of them at most.

This is some of the best advice. I am corrently working through the heap of crap I never spin and don't even like because of pretty much the same reason. I'm pretty sure you can spare $15 a month for 10 new tracks. Just buy tracks you really really like!

[illstep]

while i dont feel its necessary anymore for me, 'mixed in key' gave me great training. after i got it, i was basicly mixing harmonic transitions only. after some time i stopped caring about the key-label and found myself picking the tunes just by feel. i stopped even using mixed in key and feel like i have even better results now. maybe the tracks aren't pinpoint harmonic anymore, but the feel of them matches way better.

other than that +1 on experience.