Setting up your set?? how you guys do it
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard
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    Default Setting up your set?? how you guys do it

    hi

    I'm just wondering how do you guys go about preparing songs for a gig, how do select tracks and "set the mood" that you want or the club. is there any tips or tricks that you guys use. i'm trying to figure out how to make that perfect ( or somewhat Perfect) line up of songs from beginning to end.

    thanks

  2. #2
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    it is all in the preparation. when i go in, i try to have been in the club on the same night before the gig. get an idea of what is being played and what to expect. if you are playing first, you have to be REALLY flexible. if you are playing after someone then watch and see what seems to be working and keep moving there. the key is having a bit of understanding of what the crowd wants before and being able to read the crowd while playing.
    for example, i throw house parties quite often. i know who is usually there and exactly what they love to hear. i always throw in something new, i tried some techy stuff the other week, which worked well. but always know the crowd.

  3. #3
    Retired DJTT Moderator DvlsAdvct's Avatar
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    There is a large chunk that is in the preparation, but as Alex said, there's a much larger part of this that is in the understanding of your music, your venue and your crowd. You can sit at home and put together the perfect 2 hour set, flawless mixes, effects, cue juggling, etc. etc. etc.. But you show up and every track you play just makes the crowd yawn and be bored. You need to be able to improv.

    If I'm planning a set, which is rare, I'll assume I'm going to be able to play 15-20 songs in an hour. I'll then pick out, for a 2 hour set, 50 songs I will want to play that night and figure out orders and substitutions. And I'll still have my whole collection behind me in Traktor, and then iTunes, in case things require a little more improv.

    But I prefer to go in blind and just let my gut take me in the direction I want to go.
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  4. #4
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    In general, know your music. Having things like pre-set cue points to remind you of important locations in a track, or having the key analyzed, are good things too.

    In preparation for a gig, I'll decide what general sort of stuff I want to play - for example, hiphop/top40 then electro house. I'll make a gig prep folder, put in any new tunes I want to try out, put in some classics that I know I'll probably play, and put in a bunch of electro house remixes of top 40 tunes. As far as tunes go, I'll play whatever I think the crowd digs and what I can enjoy, as far as flow, I keep every mix I've ever done stored in playlists, so I can always find a good transition song if I need it.

    Having said that most of it is just flying by the seat of your pants, and I really wouldn't have it any other way

  5. #5
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    Every time I prepare a list of songs, it always goes right out the window. Everything depends on the atmosphere, the amount of people, the type of people etc. and these things you can only figure out usually if your actually at the spot at the time. However I do have mini sets of 2-3 songs that I mix together, but never a full set. Thats probally just how I mix.
    So just feel the crowd, set a mood and rock out.
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  6. #6
    Tech Guru sarasin's Avatar
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    I get a bunch of new tracks, pick out my favs and make sure I have enough trax to cover the set.

    Then I Keycode them.

    Now I have a pool of trax I can mess with.

    The selection of trax i choose (my fav's) will be inline with the timeslot I play.
    This usually stays the same. I play a certain intensity that suits 2am to 5am.

    So I will choose trax that fit that criteria. I pretty much ONLY play that slot and only get booked to play that time.

    Suits me.

    But yeah....its not very flexible.
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  7. #7
    Tech Guru sarasin's Avatar
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    Oh....I also beatgrid them....and lay out 4 Cue Points in each track.

    Thats my flexibility....LOL.
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  8. #8
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    O i forgot to mention. If some event comes up where I want to be more prepared, I just make a playlist of potential songs I could play...fool around on them at home for abit to see what sounds right and then just play songs from that playlist. Great way to do less searching for songs and more organized.
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  9. #9

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    the way i see it, there are a few types of sets:



    type 1: rising tension until the midpoint in the night, where all hell breaks loose for a bit, but then gradually winds down. most often for long sets (2 hrs+)

    type 2: rising tension until the midpoint, where all hell breaks loose for a majority of the night and banger after banger is force fed into your ear canal until you weep for mercy. then at the end of the night maybe a few chill out tracks to signal that you are now free to change your pants.

    type 3: most common type i feel like: rising and falling tension throughout the set, playing with your emotions like a high class hooker. can be combined with other types.
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  10. #10
    Tech Guru Damien1138's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by djhipnotikk View Post
    the way i see it, there are a few types of sets:



    type 1: rising tension until the midpoint in the night, where all hell breaks loose for a bit, but then gradually winds down. most often for long sets (2 hrs+)

    type 2: rising tension until the midpoint, where all hell breaks loose for a majority of the night and banger after banger is force fed into your ear canal until you weep for mercy. then at the end of the night maybe a few chill out tracks to signal that you are now free to change your pants.

    type 3: most common type i feel like: rising and falling tension throughout the set, playing with your emotions like a high class hooker. can be combined with other types.
    Guess i'm a high class hooker
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