Basically, I began DJing on vinyl when I was about 17, then experiemented with early digital formats like MixMeister back in the early 2000s. Then when I was about 24, in 2004, I moved onto CDJs before finally moving on to Traktor a couple of years ago and in the last 6-12 moved onto Ableton and Reason.
In the past I’ve played live quite a bit and had regular nights etc, usually being able to play what I wanted rather than crowd requests etc so could play music I enjoy. However, in the past couple of months I seem to have completely lost interest.
I’m now finding myself barely using Traktor nor my VCI-100, LPD8 or my Launchpad. Instead, I’m finding myself producing a lot using Ableton and Reason and am now consider selling my entire DJing setup (and only a month or two ago I was considering switching to the Twitch for DJing!).
Anyone else hit this kind of ‘wall’ and what did you do? Any regrets etc?
I think everyone has these feelings at some point in there music life
if your not feeling the dj aspect of it take a step back and just concentrate on your production then in time you might want to start playing your own tracks out
This happens all the time I think.. I have come the other way, having sent most my time producing on ableton, reason etc (15 years) I Hit a wall 3 years ago and slowly found myself enjoying mixing more and more. Now I only mix really and my synths and are just collecting dust or have been loaned to mates for gigs.
I’m getting to that point now. When I give myself time for music, I mostly go straight to Ableton and start producing as opposed to opening up Traktor and having a mix.
i stopped having practice sessions a year ago, and i can still give a good set on the fly
i mostly make premade sets in ableton and tweak the effect knobs and play the bass
some frown on it, but the end result is a tighter sounding set which has been produced and mastered, and still i have control over the synth paramaters and all the elements
if someone gives requests, i can still acommodate them
so, if you see it as a wall, it will stop you. if you see it as a challenge (god that sounds so corny…) then you can defeat it
try combining production and djing in a different way
21 years ago I got burned out on music. Doing several nights a week with each night being at least 4-5 hours was just to much fro me so I quit. I spent maybe $200 on music that entire time. Take a break and do something different, but try and stay involved in the community somehow be that in production or promotions or whatever opportunities you have.
Yep going through that at the moment, started on vinyl late 80’s was playing out doing clubs bars in the early to mid 90’s then quit due to RL and work, bought a laptop and found everything new and shiny, started mixing again for a year or so, also started to learn production, missus bought me a guitar at xmas, I have found i get 100x more satisfaction from playing that guitar and learning than, i have ever done mixing, i put that down to a few things.. 1) pick up guitar play or try that simple, 2) i don’t play out anymore life is just too busy 3) I like to make my mixes are perfect as possible which means I really do have to be in the right frame of mind and select my tunes otherwise i fail and I hate failing when it comes to mixing..
so currently rl is in the way and the guitar lol, admittedly i really should do it for the joy, but then i pick up the guitar and try and learn a rockabilly chord pattern or something bluesy and i feel enlightened..
I think the other issue is i have always like house as my music of mixing choice, but i am an avaid buyer of blues jump blues r&b rockabilly 60’s & 70’s funk, i was a bboy back in the 80’s probably seeing a pattern, the guitar just feels so much more intune with what i have loved since a kid, the house and electronic music i picked up later, i just think I am now finally learning something a bit more intune with me.
p.s i know i sound like a fucking hippy,
p.p.s i am 40 this year rofl!
I’m in the point where I have a very hard time finding music that I love and stands out from the rest (lots of people are producing tracks, very few are writing music), besides from the fact that I have second to none time to practice nowadays. I’m listening to non-gig music I haven’t listened to in years mainly.
The odd thing is, I’m always mapping something, I find it somehow therapeutic.
Yep, had the same thing, but not with DJing, but with music production. Took a while, but I’m back at it, just not as intense as before. I kinda found the point where fun becomes work and try to avoid crossing it. Don’t sell your gear, because the day will come when you’ll miss it.
Your story is very much like mine. I sold my set up and have no regrets. I started getting into producing on reason and got my apc40 for ableton and traktor . My homies have decks I can always spin on I don’t miss it one bit. The thing that got me more into djing was the controllers and hybrid mixing. So for me, changing my whole set up is what got me back into the groove.
As with any type of hobbies or anything like that you will get to points where you get bored of it. I wouldn’t sell your stuff because generally, at least for me, I rediscover it a few months down the line and am glad I still have the stuff.
i few months ago i felt really empty DJing. I took a 2 week break, no EDM and NO mixing. I busted out my Beatles collection, some Aquabats and Gorillaz. Chilled with fiddy and just got out of the mixing. 2 weeks later i got a stack of new electro, fired up traktor and fell back in love. I say try the hiatus thing, worked for me
I’ve gone through a couple points similar, but with production. I usually get in the groove for a few months, then reach a wall. I’ve not had DJing equipment to work with otherwise, so I’ve always just taken time and either played video games or read books. But now? Hoping that I can do the bounce back and forth between DJing and Production work. Seems a lot more effective in the long run.
I’m still far from being a professional when it comes to djing & playing musical instruments…more of a hobbyist, but i think this situation is applicable to anyone.
in mid 2010 after my last rock mix recorded i find myself doesn’t enjoy mixing very much as i did in previous years. even to power up each of the cdjs, mixer & amp need much effort..they turned out to be expensive cd player for casual listening, same goes to my 1210mk2, basically a record player for the rest of the year..
In the meantime my love for synth keeps growing…i learn & research on what is the best synth to get & it must be useful for both live performance & also production. I just love the electronic sounds in electronic tracks, and it would be rewarding if i can play & create the same sounds myself rather than just play a track & apply effects to them. Now that i bought my 1st synth workstation, looks mint from the demo but in real life it’s not the easiest thing to program. I’m yet to get deeply involved in this synth, but holiday is coming soon & hopefully i’ll create something more meaningfull..
i’m just not finding stuff that inspires me that much anymore. i still enjoy mixing my favs from a long time ago, but i get bored w new stuff very rapidly
it’s not that it isnt well produced, it’s just so formulaic and derivative that most of the time it all sounds the same
