Is freestyling even possible?

[Stewe]

rule number 1, know and love the music you play.

That rule #2

DJ rule #1 is: always look like you're doing something

[deathy]

DJ rule #1 is: always look like you're doing something

Oh, man, I totally missed that memo!

[Mojaxx]

If we're talking about judging when to drop tracks in, and so forth, that's one area where you should be using the overview waveforms in your software. You can judge quite easily when a breakdown is coming, or when the track kicks in.

Don't go looking for hard numbers (x bars), just as an indicator.

It's like when mixing on vinyl, you can judge from the grooves roughly where the breakdown is, where the outro starts, etc.

Combine that with listening to, and knowing, your tracks, and you can mix pretty much anything 'freestyle'.

[monogammee]

Like other people have mentioned I definitely find knowing your tracks in and out helps a lot not only in building transitions but most importantly for having a mental note of what other tracks it will go good together with.

Practice a lot without having any particular set in mind, just have fun with your tunes, the right combinations will come naturally.

Sometimes you get surprised how seemingly incompatible tracks might create something much more beautiful together. This is my favourite feeling in the world.

Also, don't force the music. What I mean by that, take your mood and vibe into consideration when practicing, play what comes more natural to you in the moment, believe me, your brain will make the right connections in the future when you are looking for that next perfect tune.

[Killing time]

i dont know if its ever been displayed visually, but here is what people are talking about when youre counting phrases.

Screen Shot 2014-09-27 at 9.59.58 AM.jpg

notice at the top i've cut up each individual part of the intro of the song by 8 bar divisions, while simultaneously adding up the number of bars in the song. obviously, this is only the start of two songs but the point being driven here is that most dance music is a simple 4 to the floor, with 8 bar divisions. the wave forms displayed can give you a visual aid to see that this truly is the case.

so its totally possible if you can get a groove for a song. when i get songs i usually just set up cue points as points of references to what i call "events" such as; break down, build up, hi hats, or intros. usually about 16 bars out as a loop so i can drop the phrase in first and then worry about beat matching.

[Killing time]

I never generalized. I'm saying that most dance music fallows this format. Emphasis on most.

[deathy]

Honestly, at this point, I am of the opinion that freestyling is easier. When I work from a setlist, I worry about hitting the right transition points and all this jazz, but when I freestyle, it's easier because I'm just choosing a transition, making it, and moving on.

I know I should probably do the same thing for a setlist, but when the songs are set in stone, then I start to have specific transitions planned, and yadda yadda yadda.

Maybe it's just my OCPD.

[TCMuc]

well i know my songs but i dont know when the vocals appear for example

I guess you have a wrong understanding what 'knowing your songs' means..

If you don't know when the vocals appear in a certain song, then you don't know that song.

Knowing at which point in a song something new will happen is based on three different things: understanding the basic rules about song structures (phrasing), knowing what to look out for (typically changes get introduced by some kind of transitional effects, e.g. risers, drum rolls, 'mini-breaks'), and, last but not least, actually knowing that particular song, especially the points where its structure may deviate from the 'normal' structure.

[JaF]

I have plenty of songs that have vocals even through the outro so I wouldn't put too much faith in knowing structure = knowing when vocals are going to be used, depends.

[deathy]

Knowing your specific tracks is certainly going to go a lot further for knowing what to do with them.