Adding showmanship to your set
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  1. #1
    Tech Guru IznremiX's Avatar
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    Default Adding showmanship to your set

    How do you guys go about adding showmanship to your sets? I don’t mean the throwing cakes at the crowd type of showmanship, but rather showing the patrons what your doing and getting them hyped about it. When bands perform, the audience is interested to some degree in their performance, that doesn’t seem to be the case with most djs. Some don’t put on a performance at all (which is fine), but I’ve also seen some very talented DJs do some very crazy stuff behind the decks. Even though these guys often are good crowd rockers, the individuals attending usually have no visual of what the dj is doing (unlike someone playing the guitar or the drums, you typically can’t see the dj’s equipment and movements).

    Here are some examples of famous djs effectively displaying showmanship:

    I saw craze about a year ago and there were screens showing what he was doing on the decks, which I found to be really cool. I saw the same with a bigger, less skilled/technical dj and it made him look fairly bad as he really wasn’t doing anything.

    Another good display of showmanship imo is bass kleph. In his live maschine performances, he displays the drum pad to the crowd while drumming out beats (there are a few of recordings of them on youtube, definitely worth checking out)

    My friends and I are considering investing in some projectors and cameras, but I’m really interested in hearing what type of stuff others are doing.
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  2. #2
    Tech Guru the_bastet's Avatar
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    Simple things like grabbing the mic and hyping up the crowd, rocking out along with them, lifting up the turntable while the record is playing, tilting the mixer so the crowd can see the crissfader while i scratch.
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  3. #3
    DJTT Administrator del Ritmo padi_04's Avatar
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    (moderate) Dancing can go a long way. Make sure people see you are having fun, you are at a party after all.

  4. #4
    Tech Mentor P4ULSON's Avatar
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    quick mixing to hold the dance floor and turntablist tricks. Stay busy, dance, and Smile.

  5. #5
    Tech Guru dripstep's Avatar
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    I'm from the oldschool way of thinking. Its not about the DJ, its about you and your friends going out and having a good time, dancing to music you enjoy. Not having the DJ be the center of attention. Let your hands do the showmanship through that sweet music.
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  6. #6
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    Mic is good if you know how, cue scratching a well known song instead of cutting up the kick drum before your dropping it into the blend or all together (if you cutting is your style of mixing) adds a little more recognizable "flare", if I think people care or notice sometimes I will start scratching with my back turned completely and my arms behind me .......but not much of a show man so I rarely want to do it

  7. #7
    Tech Guru IznremiX's Avatar
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    good advice everyone

    Quote Originally Posted by dripstep View Post
    I'm from the oldschool way of thinking. Its not about the DJ, its about you and your friends going out and having a good time, dancing to music you enjoy. Not having the DJ be the center of attention. Let your hands do the showmanship through that sweet music.
    i definitely respect that with the way things are going though, there a lot of super star djs, and quite frankly very few of them really have any skill with respect to performing live. An ipod could do their job and they basically give the impression to fans that djing is nothing more than hitting play in my opinion its important that djs showcase skill; i think that it helps the art grow and allows good djs to receive the props that i think they deserve.
    Maschine Routine with live musicians
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  8. #8
    Tech Guru geminimech's Avatar
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    I think a lot of us are from an era (at least with respect to electronic DJ's, and I can't believe I'm saying that because I'm not even that old) where song selection, phrase and key matching were what set you apart. Maybe an ipod can do the phrase and key matching, but building energy with proper track selection it cannot.

    I can respect guys who mash buttons, but I think you're forgetting that once upon a time DJ's showcasing their skill wasn't just how well you can use all 6 effects slots of Traktor, cue jumping, and having it all come together tidily because you did it in Flux mode. It was about finding the best tracks at the time, and mixing/blending them seamlessly and as someone mentioned before, not being the center of attention, but allowing the audience to enjoy the music, not the routine. There has definitely been a branch off, and I'm okay with that, but I think it's unfair to say that the impression is that they are doing nothing more than hitting play.

    Again I can respect those who are properly able to utilize the technology at hand today, but I absolutely do not think that equates to those being the best and most talented DJ's period. Just a talented group of a different kind of DJ.
    Last edited by geminimech; 05-27-2013 at 09:44 PM.
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  9. #9
    Tech Guru IznremiX's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by geminimech View Post
    I think a lot of us are from an era (at least with respect to electronic DJ's, and I can't believe I'm saying that because I'm not even that old) where song selection, phrase and key matching were what set you apart. Maybe an ipod can do the phrase and key matching, but building energy with proper track selection it cannot.

    I can respect guys who mash buttons, but I think you're forgetting that once upon a time DJ's showcasing their skill wasn't just how well you can use all 6 effects slots of Traktor, cue jumping, and having it all come together tidily because you did it in Flux mode. It was about finding the best tracks at the time, and mixing/blending them seamlessly and as someone mentioned before, not being the center of attention, but allowing the audience to enjoy the music, not the routine. There has definitely been a branch off, and I'm okay with that, but I think it's unfair to say that the impression is that they are doing nothing more than hitting play.

    Again I can respect those who are properly able to utilize the technology at hand today, but I absolutely do not think that equates to those being the best and most talented DJ's period. Just a talented group of a different kind of DJ.
    I think I gave you the wrong impression friend, I still think track selection is the most important aspect of djing. For the most part, the guys who are super technical also have really good track selection because they've been at it for years if not decades. When I mentioned the ipod djs, I meant the guys who are playing the same 12 songs (which happen to be this weeks top 100) every set with very basic mixing . There are lots of guys who play amazing sets but don't do any crazy technical stuff (jamie jones being one of my favourites in terms of being the kind of dj who just has raw track selection).

    I suppose we have different opinions whether the dj being the centre of attention is a good thing or not but regardless, I appreciate your thoughtful input!
    Last edited by IznremiX; 05-27-2013 at 10:01 PM.
    Maschine Routine with live musicians
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  10. #10
    Tech Guru Era 7's Avatar
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    the thing is most people wouldn't have an idea what you are doing even if you showed them.

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