Etiquette for a newer DJ

[spacehxc]

Hey everyone, been DJ'ing for about two years now and just started playing out. I've had three shows now, all of which I was the only DJ for about 4 1/2 hours straight. My question is what is the etiquette for DJ'ing extended periods of time like this? Should I be taking breaks, or putting on a long track to take a break? What I've been doing is basically actively DJ'ing the entire time, making sure the mix was interesting and that I wasn't just fading songs in and out one right after the other.

So how would you approach long form gigs like this?

Thanks as usual, this is the most helpful forum I have ever used

[fullenglishpint]

Sure, mix well every time and make it interesting, that's great!

Just make sure you control the energy a bit, I think there were a couple of blog articles about this last year. Basically, just don't come in hard with all the bangers too early on, and don't keep up a massive energy level for 4.5 hours straight. build in a few drinks breaks where everyone can calm down for a few minutes, then gradually build it up again. You don't want everyone to burn out at 11.30.

Unless everyone's on drugs, then all bets are off.

DRUGS ARE BAD, KIDS!

[Eliot Han]

check out this post done earlier on djtt ... may help you out http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/07/2...a-dance-floor/

[fullenglishpint]

hehe yeh that was it. Blimey, that was before I even joined the forum!

[spacehxc]

Awesome thanks for the link, was actually going through the archives myself

[photojojo]

I would say yes, you need take breaks in a 4 1/2 hour set. A nice long song or short 15 minute pre made mix that gives you enough time to go to the bathroom would be good. I wouldn't do that more than twice in that time though and probably just once unless it was really needed.

[TwistedPanda]

This is one thing I wish Traktor had that DJay by Algoriddim does have. In DJay you can set a playlist, tell it to only do a certain amount of time of each song and randomly pick the next ones. If I was doing a house party or something, I'd run Automix for 15 minutes or so and walk away.

As an added bonus, after 15 minutes of the software trainwrecking every transition, I looked even better afterwards and people realized it wasn't the computer doing everything! :-)

[chrisw]

even as a new DJ alot of expierenced DJ's have to respect for a clubs gear, I would say be respectful of turntable and club gear

[photojojo]

You can create a playlist and Traktor will cruise through it. I'm not sure really why you would need it to be random, just put the songs in random order when you load it.

[wrong chris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45rIRGX-ZJY