1st Gig Wisdom

[rvltion909]

So I may be having my 1st "official" gig in a week or so and Im stoked. A friend was nice enough to invite me to play an opening set a local club.

I just got a new lappy and (based on info from you guys) ran out and got an LPD8 (rather than a nanopad). I also splurged on Crane and Audio 4 DJ. My point? I got a lot of new gear I've not road tested.

Im hoping none of the dreaded horror stories dont occur some Im trying to run as many tests as I can think of. I thought there was an article some time ago about stress testing your setup but I was unable to find it.

I'll be (thanks to lots of info from the DJTT community) prepared with a backup set on CD and trying to apply the best DJ etiquette. I also may try to splurge on pro-quality CD duplication service for a promo and/or some business cards. Im trying to start playing out so Im going to have to promo myself (which I suck at)

Other than this...is there any wisdom you can impart on this green gigger and my opening night?

[manus]

When it comes to gear you haven't road tested just test test and test it to the max as you can in the house. play with it for hours on end to get it thoroughly broke in. Before I would play i would have it all set up and just press loads of random buttons whilst only I can here as sometimes (with mine anyway) when i do too much suddenly in the middle of a set out of nowhere it kinda glitches a split second and is fine for the rest of the set but is still something I dont want happening anytime.

Just be really familiar with what your using and if you have cd's with what you have planned or want to play in your set you should be alright. Just act fast if anything does happen slide in cd and act cool and if really nervous especially being a first gig dont try and fix the equipment this time unless you get it going perfect would be my advise incase it happens again and you wouldn't want that especially if your not to familiar with your new equipment.

Enjoy your night and hope all goes well

[jakeintox]

Sounds like you're pretty well-prepared. Just relax... and don't drink too much!

[Kupujte_Pytle]

Nah, i think you are pretty much set.

A4 DJ is stable audio interface. no harm to be done with crane either. so it all comes down to your midi controller. You have tested that, so your only pont in preparation might be

1)make sure you are ready to be switched (as you are opening, the plugging in hustle is out)

2) dont overdo it with. you are opening dj. keep energy low, volume bit low--- you know the stuf, you are frequent to theese boards.

so best of luck.

and report, how that went.

[First Touch]

dont overdo it with. you are opening dj. keep energy low, volume bit low

This.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen a new DJ playing huge club bangers at 9:00. Try to keep the energy and BPMs a bit lower.

[djalexlaine]

yep im gonna go x2 on what was said. you are the opener. open. keep the tempo low and remember not to do crazy tricks.
dont bother spending money on cds. business cards might be smart, but you wont get them in time. remember to chat with the bartenders, bouncers and promoters. thank them for the opportunity.
keep your drinking controlled. think of it this way, djing is work. you need to be sober enough to work properly.

[DigitalDJTips]

If clubbers ask about your music, get their email addresses and send them a quick "thank you" with a link to a mix on SoundCloud or something similar. That way you start to gather a ready-made list of people you can email when you pay again - anywhere.

Get just 5 or 6 emails from every gig and play once a week and you have a few hundred people within 12 months who you can keep happy with mixes etc and who will hopefully come to your gigs when you inform them of them.

The more aggressively you can collect these email addresses, the better for your career...

[Cook]

To get your name around, what i seen @ chase and status gig, they got a few fans/mates? to go round the que waiting to get in with one of those wristbands you get in clubs, the ones that you have to properly try to get it off, on it, it had a link for a free track & if you reffered 5 people to the link, you got another one.

I cant remember the site name ill try look it out for you but i thought it was a really good idea, wake up in the morning and you find a link on your wrist.


edit: Here you go, http://music-pin.com/
sure you have to pay for it though

[Kupujte_Pytle]

^^ last 3 posts.

SRSLY good ideas!!!

i was wondering recently how to grow my fanbase (i wasn't really working on it, to be fair). And i like the simple idea> Taking their email, and send an email immeadiately after show, to thank them and add their adrress to yer book.

I'm gonna try it!

[Phil Morse]

Even better, set up a Facebook page and get them to Like you there, you get access to their friends too. You can put a Soundcloud mix on a Facebook PAge easy enough as a bit of bait.