Why do you want so hard to aumotate/analize everything mate? Music is Math but it’s a lot too. There are lots of elements that can make a track more energetic, but no present software will categorize it for you. Stop thinking so much and learn your tracks.
I do “know” my tracks for the most part. I didnt come here trying to threaten the concept of creativity of DJ’ing but rather to present a simple question, which if explained could help alot of people. To me the most important part of a set is its structure, essentially DJ’ing is one huge example of cueing, one track flows into the next. The way I see it, as DJ’s, our job is to utilize this queue as effectively as possible by subtely making changes in things such as speed and emotion. DJ’ing is sound engineering in a way.
We use mathematical tools all the time to DJ, whether its to measure the speed of a song and utilize that to our advantage, or to use the pitch of a song to our advantage. All of these are broken down into numbers and characters.
The one intangible, to me, is intensity/energy. Arguably one of the most important aspects of creating a set. Being a baseball fan I was always taught that there are intangibles in the game, certain players behave in certain citations and certain occurrences happen without any mathematical explanation or reasoning. For any baseball fans here, sabermetrics proves that wrong, that what people write off as an intangible can be mathematically proven or disproven.
I sincerely didnt mean to grind anyones gears, nor did I mean to attempt to take the creativity out of DJ’ing. I just wanted to know everyones views of what exactly makes one track more intense or energetic than another, what qualities?
Perhaps if we can establish these qualities we can find even more effective and efficient ways to organize tracks and build even stronger sets.
This is getting deep.
I am not surprised that most people commenting spin trance.
I dont get the “Duuuuuuuude” picture ( im guessing in reference to me? ), i thought i was asking a pretty poignant question.
i think contrast plays a big role.
you can have a really chugging fast tempo track without much bass and transition to a track thats half the tempo but has heavy bass and the results you get out of the energy level can strong.
its just a matter of holding peoples attention by making choices that feel right but arent exactly what people expect. predictable is boring.
Like some one else mentioned, a lot of a tracks “energy” come from the higher frequencies really. Your hi-hats, shakers, synths and so on.
Examples would be deep house, where the high frequencies are very ‘sparse’ and there’s not much push, where as in some techno ala Dubfire and Paul Ritch they have a lot of 16th hats “pushing” the track with a lot of swing and use a lot of white noise to devastating effect.
But a lot of it is context as well. When organizing music you really have to stop and think how it will work on the dancefloor. Some tracks just kill it in the clubs, but at home when listening to it by itself it might be really boring.
Plus you can’t forget to add how you program your sets into this equation as well, with where you start, how you end and you got from the start to the end all will have an effect on how the tunes move the floor.
Interesting topic! I personally think the energy of a track is your own perception, we all have slightly different ideas what our most energetic tracks are. It might be the drum pattern in a track or the build up in another or the bass in another.
A track might sound nothing in the bedroom but have the most amazing build up in a club and as part of your set provide the energy you need.
That is where a good Dj comes in handy, one that knows his/her tunes inside out and knows how to make them work for a crowd.
I dont think this can be mimicked by software or explained by mathemathics or anything else.
Everyone has slightly different ideas and gets different feelings from music.Thats why it’s so amazing!
It’s how you use it as a Dj that matters and seperates you from others.
Try Beatunes
If you do make sure to make small changes to your library and scour beatunes preferences to make sure the software isn’t set to do anything to permanently change a song tag or do something you don’t want done.
There is no single simple answer to your question… it is like trying to define what art is… good luck!..
And music is both feeling AND math / physics :eek:
The energy level in a tune can be influenced by a multitude of factors.. here are a few:
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Aural complexity - for example, a minimal tune vs. and electro tune. If you looked at each on a spectrum analyzer you’d ‘see’ the diference
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Composition - how does the tune develop? Does it create and relieve tension, does it build anticipation, does it engage the listener, or is it background?
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Familiarity - “people don’t know what they like, they like what they know” nuff said
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Dynamic range - does the track peg the VU meters or does it have some movement.. (loudness wars)
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BPM - Obviously this can affect energy levels if all other aspects are a constant
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Minor vs. Major Scales - Dark vs. Light.
The following relates to how you format your set:
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Do you play the whole night?.. if so you have every opportunity to build the energy level… you have the ability to use the above 6 items to build and relieve tension.. if you are able to read your crowd and do this right, you can amplify the perceived energy level within any given tune of your set.
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What does the crowd want to hear and how can you tease them before finally giving them what they desire?
Agreeing with most posts above, really depends.
Here’s this bomb though, 101 BPM and much higher energy than a lot of the songs I have near 120-130 range.
Yo guys, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yeah? 