Don't overthink.

[Bassline Brine]

Seriously.

Just as a public service notice.

Don't over-think spinning out. Do it from your soul; from your gut.

I've spent a long time here. Learned the ropes from being an avid music listener to actually playing out and getting gigs.

This is my advice to the person in my shoes, coming from loving the music, getting fed up with shitty DJ's you are seeing play out, and taking the next step in learning the trade yourself and having an absolute blast and loving sharing the tunes you love with people.

Don't over-think things. When creating a set, make a set that YOU yourself would want to listen to. Trust in yourself.

Personally I use iTunes for my music management. When I'm playing any given gig, I sit down and go through my music downloading sites for whatever I may be playing. Put a huge bin together of all the stuff that suites my fancy. Then I go through and listen to it all individually. Oftentimes I'll look the full song up on youtube while checking my crate to make sure I like the full thing, not just like the little sample bit. I cut a LOT of tracks this way.

The other trick? This is a LONG-TERM thing. BUY FULL ALBUMS NOT JUST SINGLES.

That album the one track you LOVE is on? The other tracks on it most likely are perfect down the road. Buy the FULL album and even if you just use the one track NOW, the others will be there later.

When going through my best sets, I often bring up a lot of stuff I've picked up recently. I'll either go through recent sets I've played out... but at least once a month or so I'll go through my WHOLE collection of a certain genre (I spin breaks primarily for instance) and listen through all the tracks I have. Build up and drop at least. Then I add EVERYTHING that fits the mood that I might spin.

I use Serato personally, but I imagine the same with Traktor plus the added fact of gridding absolutely everything (BORING). But when I buy my music, I immediately run it through Serato to analyze it. Then I run it through Mixed in Key afterward. I have the BPM analyzed by Serato, and the Key with MiK.

When planning sets I usually make sure I have 10 tracks at least to choose between of any given key.

When I'm actually spinning, I play sort the playlist via the comment tag, where I have all the key's put in. I also make notes on specific tracks if they stand out to me. Such as:

Adrum Drum (Original Mix) - Savage Skulls 4A **** HUGE BUILD UPS
Twisted Metal (Keith Mackenzie vs Dj Fixx Remix) Baymont Bross, Ray'NPro 8A ***** Bass Heavy

I usually go from like 1A then up until 12A, then back down to 1A. And just with that selection, and the notes I make, it allows me to limit what I want to play next and I have a good selection to what I'm feeling with the crowd.

That's my advice for the night. Take note, think about it, and do what you feel works for you best

[0Notice]

Lovely advice.

[deevey]

I Agree with just about everything, with the exception of buying full albums, I have a bazillion albums that I have bought over the past 20 odd years with perhaps 2 good tracks on them and the rest total garbage (and that have not improved with age), On Occasion I'll buy an album but I'd preview about 10 times before deciding to buy the entire thing if its worthwhile e.g. on iTunes 13 tracks out of 20 that I for 100% sure will play at some point in the future.

If its a digital single release I would perhaps buy 2 versions of a track, one more chilled for earlier in the night and one stomper - definitely not the entire release.

Also for me personally I think there's a little over-preparation going on with your track analysis, but everyone has their own methodology.

Don't over-think things. When creating a set, make a set that YOU yourself would want to listen to. Trust in yourself.

Careful now: Creating a set is a term I feel too widely abused by many newcomers who seem to think that its programming the exact cue points and transitions they will perform exactly on the night as opposed to the selection of "records" they bring to a gig.

I try to narrow the list down as far as I can e.g. 70/100 tracks and allow for building up/down if its 2 hour gig. All the best gigs I've played have been based on letting the atmosphere choose the tracks for me once thats done

[0Notice]

I try to narrow the list down as far as I can e.g. 70/100 tracks and allow for building up/down if its 2 hour gig. All the best gigs I've played have been based on letting the atmosphere choose the tracks for me once thats done

More good thoughts.

[narrah]

Ive moved away from using MIK, I find that my sets are more dynamic without using this tool. each to their own i guess, i just found it was closing of too many doors for me.

[Emery]

I feel the same way about MIK. I only tend to use keys when planning a mix to record. When I play out I go by the mood, and cue up in my cans to make sure the next track sounds good. Its all personal, but I found to really appreciate the extra time saved from not worrying about key. Who knows, maybe next year I'll go back to harmonic mixing again. My favorite part about DJing is the unpredictability and the freedom.

[whiskeyflip]

well put, Big C.

[rdale]

I've become super choosy about purchasing, and currently only take the full release if it is a better or same deal as taking the full package. I like buying full albums if... it is a release were I actually like the songs even though they don't fit into my style or set, singles I skip the aside or bside if I think one stinks and remixes I choose the one I want or pick up unless I just really want to listen to 35 minutes of the Mighty Dub Cats taking me on a magic carpet ride 5 ways. I've picked up a bunch of 140 breakbeat buying full albums that I finally have enough to do something with, but the other tracks are at least worth a listen while doing something else.

[spadenation]

ya i try to get the album sometimes. but only if its got at leased 75 % of stuff i like. if its less than that its not worth it.

but anyways. about using iTunes or other software to manage your music.... lets face it Traktors, Abletons or Seratos music browsing sucks.... bad i mean really bad.
its a freakin pain in the ass to get all your cover art and song titles right in the DJ software. and forget about organizing them. i hate it. when you browse through your library cover art, organizations by genre, artists, albums, bpm, are all essential to make sense of your music library.

So in my opinion, forget it why use The DJ softwares browser when you can just drag and drop from your regular music browser (such as iTunes) right into Traktors or Seratos decks?

i just move the DJ software to the bottom of my screen and then share the rest with iTunes on the top. plain and simple.

[antifmradio]

CRAP!!!
i went to vote on this thread (EXCELLENT) and i misclicked
im sorry, i ended up voting it only 1 star instead