DJing styles

[Bunford]

Agreed on Ableton.

However, the Knife Party set I referred to were on Pioneer CDJ 2000s and I use the S4 and Traktor Pro 2.6.

[ImNotDedYet]

I saw I think David Morales on boilerroom and he rarely used his phones as well which made me wonder what the hell was happening with his mix and the CDJ's he was using.

I think when you're a bigger name, a headliner, a "superstar" DJ, you can go ahead and have a pre-determined set and not think twice about it. People are there to see you, and they're so amped they're going to dance to pretty much anything you throw out there as long as you stay in the expected genre(s).

I've done all the styles you mentioned, but I find I enjoy myself the most winging it. I only screw around at home, but that's more accurate to how I'd DJ an actual gig and how I DJ'd back in the day. You have to read the room and adjust accordingly in a gig setting. Big name DJ superstars don't have to worry about that as much. Anyway, I feel too constrained having a set playlist anymore. If anything, I'll throw 2 - 3 times the number of songs I might play into a playlist and wing it from there. I've also gone from cue pointing the hell out of my songs to just going off of where I see the drop and breaks of the incoming song. I may transition on one of those or 32/64 beats in from the start of the break. Just depends. So, you likely won't hear any set be the exact same from me, and I like it that way. It went from feeling too mechanical to very free adaptable. I get more into the music I'm playing more that way, but each person should do whatever feels best for them and whatever gets them jacked up for the music. Some big DJ once said if you're enjoying the hell out of your DJing, it will come across in the mix. And if you're not, that too will come across in the mix.

[Erik Mitchell]

I plug in my iPod, get drunk, and the party goes off

No but seriously I play on CDJ's right now. I key my tracks in advance and have a general understanding of the vibe of my tracks (deep, loopy, emotional, raw as fuck, etc...).

I hope to someday incorporate Maschine & Ableton Live for performance... Someday...

[dripstep]

A dj without headphones is like a sunset without the sun.

[Cook]

I dont play bog standard nights anymore, i play events where people know what music to expect , ive got a basic 'set' planned and ordered out, and pending on the crowd makes me vary away from it.


Never play the same set twice though.

[amadeus]

At home, switch the decks and mixer on, play a record, select next one and repeat.

At the club, pack a bag of wax, wack ma headphones n needles in, dependant on time im playing will decide what kind of records i pack, from the deep stuff to the raw stuff, then play them.

The only things I really plan are podcasts, and even then I'll select a few more records than I need and go from there, so its never set in stone.

[mikevad]

I think a lot of the ability to jam and improvise requires the right amount of preparation (without over preparing). Whenever I've just winged it with songs that I like, but haven't had cue points or know what key they're in, my mixes sound pretty bad, and I had to stick to the more basic techniques and there really hasn't been much flow to the sound. But when I've prepared by prehotcueing tracks, making playlists that group tracks by a certain vibe/energy level, grouped by key, I can follow the vibe of the crowd and I'm really forced to follow a preplanned sequence of songs or energy levels. It's also nice to have a couple of mix combos (fills, mashups etc) that can kind of be like checkpoints, in that you can meander on your way to and from.

[Timbo21]

I saw I think David Morales on boilerroom and he rarely used his phones as well which made me wonder what the hell was happening with his mix and the CDJ's he was using.

I think when you're a bigger name, a headliner, a "superstar" DJ, you can go ahead and have a pre-determined set and not think twice about it. People are there to see you, and they're so amped they're going to dance to pretty much anything you throw out there as long as you stay in the expected genre(s).

Yes, agree.

I remember hearing Morales at Ministry of Sound in the early 90's. Back then all the American garage guys were getting payed big money to come over and DJin the UK, and bigger money to do the remixes on UK artists. I found their sets boring. Played their remixes and didn't understand the vibe that was in the UK, IMO. They played some great garage, but just didn't build it enough. The English DJ's knew how to build it so that it was just kicking off for a good few hours in the peak sets. The Yanks just came along and played their thing, and people went 'wow' it's David Morales. We knew they were just coming over and creaming the money, and it came across in their sets. Yes, the likes of Morales did some great remixes, but give me a UK DJ any day (back then anyway).

If you know your tracks inside out and you're using sync then I guess no headphones works, but for me quickly going through the preview player on Traktor really shows me what is the right track to play next is whilst hearing it alongside what's already playing.