I made it out of the bedroom!
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  1. #1
    Tech Convert
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    Default I made it out of the bedroom!

    Hey guys,

    First post here but I've been following this site forever now. At the beginning of the week I won a local mix contest and now I have an opening spot in the biggest club in the city.

    Very nervous.

    I have a few questions for any veterans out there because the promoter I'm dealing with is incredibly vague and really won't answer my questions. First off, I have no idea how a PA system in a club works because I've been djing on my one KRK 5'' for a few years now. So what cables am I going to need to bring to this club? I'm using Tratkor, my macbook, a Kontrol S4, and a midi fighter 3D so obviously I know what's needed to hook those up but will I need anything for their speakers, or will they have that sort of thing?

    Also I'm only playing for an hour which I'm pretty excited about because I have the opportunity to pre plan a kick ass set. However I've been reading that this is a very bad idea? Keep in mind I'm not some veteran playing for 3 hours, this is my first show and it's only an hour so I want to make a good impression.

    Thoughts?

    Thanks in advance guys!

    Martzehhh

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard
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    I don't think I can help with much here, but congratulations, nicely done brother. I'm pretty jelly. You should post your remix up here so we can check it out. Good luck!
    "My friend's cat's hairdresser's botanist told me so." -Newg

  3. #3
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    Promoters are usually a pain in the arse! The club will have all of its own stuff already.. Just make sure you take everything you use to connect your kit to your laptop. What are you currently using to connect your speakers to the mixer/controller your coming out of?

    If you were playing out in a club I'd say play live but since this is a competition you want to showcase your skills and technical ability so definitely 110% make a killer set! Remember to use as much of the software as possible but don't over do the loops and effects.. Best of luck!
    Played Digital, Newcastle (DJ MAG 11th Best Club in the World) - Played Ministry of Sound Superclub, London
    www.facebook.com/leroyallenmusic
    www.soundcloud.com/leroyallenmusic
    www.mixcloud.com/leroyallenmusic

  4. #4
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    Firstly... Stop.... Breathe....Calm Down

    Ok, well done on getting the set. Its always the most exciting thing for a bedroom DJ moving on to a Club.

    But make sure your not too overexcited, even though you've said yourself your not a veteran acting as professional as you can be goes a long long way.

    Promoters are generally too busy or not bothered about communicating with Djs anyway so dont feel like you are being ignored and they probably know nothing about the PA system anyway... If your using a S4 then you will probably only need a RCA cable to plug into the mixer at the club... normally the club will have some cdjs and a mixer already set up into the PA system, so just plug into a spare channel and your good to go. It does really help to go have a look before the gig, maybe one quite night jsut so you can see the booth and the space you will have. Remmeber your only one of potentialy a few djs so you have to think bout how easy it will be to pack up while the others are playing.

    You said this is the biggest club in your area so id be suprised if they didnt have the PA already connected, heck there might even be a sound engineer to help you set up. Turn up atleast a hour before the night kicks off... that way you can make sure your plugged in and ready to go and also introduce yourself to the club owner and the promoters, maybe even a soundcheck.

    On to set lists:

    Everyone has their personal opinions about pre planned sets, there isnt a good or bad in either. I think its great to have a idea of what songs you would like to play during your set, but i wouldnt neccesarily have the whole hour's set planned out. You never know what might happen, what if the crowd reacts different to how you had planned, or the promoters are impressed and ask you to stay on for a extra half hour (it does happen) and you panic because youve already played your 'planned set'

    Id create a playlist and pick the tunes you want to play, then from now untill the gig just keep mixing them in different ways and orders so your not planning but your used to all the songs and are confindent of mixing in between all of them. Also remember you are the warm up Dj, dont go in playin absolute bangin tracks, the best of the best, because your job is to get the dancefloor nice and warm ready for the headline dj. That dosent mean you cant play any big songs, but be wary. This has been coverd on other threads before.

    Lastly i remember how nerve racking it can be but Djing is supposed to be fun right? Enjoy yourself and relax, get some friends to come with you nice and early so you have that comfort. Its ok to have a beer before your set but dont get Drunk!!!! And most importantly Have FUN.

    I hope this helps even a little matey.... Let us know how you get one!!

    Best of Luck
    Technics 1210 mk2 Pair, Pioneer DJM600, Traktor Kontrol x1, NI Audio 6, NI Maschine Mikro MK2, MacBook 2009, iPad 2 with Traktor DJ, Pioneer HDJ-500, Shure M447's

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeroyAllenMusic View Post
    Promoters are usually a pain in the arse! The club will have all of its own stuff already.. Just make sure you take everything you use to connect your kit to your laptop. What are you currently using to connect your speakers to the mixer/controller your coming out of?

    If you were playing out in a club I'd say play live but since this is a competition you want to showcase your skills and technical ability so definitely 110% make a killer set! Remember to use as much of the software as possible but don't over do the loops and effects.. Best of luck!
    OP stated he has one the local mix competition and the prize is the hour set....


    unless im mistaken!
    Technics 1210 mk2 Pair, Pioneer DJM600, Traktor Kontrol x1, NI Audio 6, NI Maschine Mikro MK2, MacBook 2009, iPad 2 with Traktor DJ, Pioneer HDJ-500, Shure M447's

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by city_boy07 View Post
    OP stated he has one the local mix competition and the prize is the hour set....


    unless im mistaken!
    Yes, I mis-read! my mistake.. yeah, dont play huge tracks and I wouldnt pre-plan anything, like City_Boy said have a good selection of tracks and make sure you know them well! youve already won so there is nothing to fret about, the most important thing to do now is read the crowd and have fun playing some music!
    Played Digital, Newcastle (DJ MAG 11th Best Club in the World) - Played Ministry of Sound Superclub, London
    www.facebook.com/leroyallenmusic
    www.soundcloud.com/leroyallenmusic
    www.mixcloud.com/leroyallenmusic

  7. #7
    Über Tech Guru Ed Paris's Avatar
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    The best would be to go to the venue and check out what they have. i guess they´ll have a mixer. so the only thing you´d need to bring as well would be a rca cable to connect your s4 to one of the mixers inputs. and while you are there check out how big the booth is. some booths are designed to give controller djs a little headache spacewise.
    I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

  8. #8
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    Congrats. Also don't get disheartened like I did if no one is there or the people that are aren't dancing. Remember, you are only warming up.

  9. #9
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    Goodluck dude, I go to UofG. From what I know most of the clubs here have djm 900's and Cdj-2000 Nexus. So you'll be fine just running your S4 into one of the channels on the mixer. Make sure you have some sort of back up as well just incase your computer dies or something. Kill it!

  10. #10
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    Thanks for the great replies guys I wasn't expecting such great feedback.

    I can understand the no massive tracks but you guys don't think I should play any bangers to get people moving? The set I'm playing is electro/progressive so by nature they are pretty high energy.

    The input/output I've been using at home is just an RCA cable so you think that's what they will use in the club? Last question (although I have too many) is will I need to changed any of the audio settings in traktor? I'd imagine they would stay the same as long as I used the same ports.

    Thanks a ton for the feedback guys ill definitely give you an update as to how it all went.

    On a side note, cooking. Do you mean you go to the university of Guelph? Because I'm playing in Guelph if so that's wild lol
    Last edited by Martzehhh; 04-03-2013 at 12:41 PM. Reason: Sp

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