Just got back from my first set that was over an hour (it was 4 hours)… wow… Honestly I can’t stress how important experience is. Organization is key when doing 3+ hours of music. I don’t want to really talk about it, it was pretty standard and boring fare. I like the 1 hour sets much more. I like having a dancefloor. I hate being at a bar. But honestly - and I’m sorry if this incoherent, I am tired as fuck - anyone who asks “am I ready to DJ at a club” - yes, you are.
There is no substitute for experience. It will teach you time and again how much you need to improve as a DJ. It will show you how much depth your library lacks, how much your ear needs to be trained, how much your song selection needs to be honed. I know I am probably beating a dead horse, and most of you real experienced guys will laugh, but tonight was an experience I won’t forget. I can’t wait for the next event - because I can’t wait to get better.
Anyone who is a bedroom DJ and is “stuck in a rut” - get out! Go find a gig if you can and play. Even if you suck - you won’t get better in your bedroom. This was a brand new environment for me - I’ve played gigs, but never like this, and it was fun, disheartening, and motivating all at the same time. I realized how unprepared I was. I just thought this would be a good story for those of you who haven’t ventured out into the world of playing in front of people that aren’t your friends. Just do it. Don’t be afraid to suck. The only way to get better is to fail miserably. I’ve said it before - club goers having one bad night will fade in their memory - but for a DJ it will stick with them forever. It will teach you more than you could ever learn in the bedroom.
I’m really glad that you took this away from the experience instead of getting disheartened! Sounds like it went well in the end?
Couldn’t agree more about preparation, except for me prep just means buying loads of tunes every week and tagging them so they’re easy to find. It’s almost impossible to do any other sort of prep [like playlisting] for long sets as it almost always doesn’t go how you thought it would.
Anything less than 3 hours and I don’t feel completely unsatisfied … 3-4 hours to feel like I’ve done something worthwhile, any less and I’m feeling the job was half finished
When it comes to playing bars (pre-club/lounge style) rather than packed dance floors, I find playing defensively is almost always the key, don’t push the boundaries “too” far, keep peoples heads bobbing. You generally get watch peoples body language more & a chance to try some “not in your face” creativity & get a few “oh that sounds cool” looks.
And above all don’t offend thee who ask for really silly stuff, leave the ego at the door and put on the nice guy face and start coming up with stock excuses hehe
Experience is key, and sounds like you learned well from yours, best of luck with the next one.
I don’t really consider sets less than 2 hours worthwile and the longer the playtime the better. Only annoying thing is trying to find time for toilet breaks.
Bah!! 4hrs is nothing. I do 5hrs weekly at my club residency playing open format.
Welcome to DJing Frank!! That first all night set on your own is definitely an eye opener. You can do hour sets, but that is just fractional DJing. Those are easy compared to controlling an entire night.
I all seriousness, it is very easy to do an hour set. Specially if you don’t even take request. The true test of a DJ is to be able to take request, do open format, and be able to continually entertain a crowd in that 4hrs+ time frame. Resident DJs never get enough respect for the things we do. We also need to know how to open and/or close for headliners. Not many DJs can kill the night closing, after all the hits have been played by the headliner. What do you do for the next hour or two after that?
Frank112916 is dead on, when he said “go out there” If you can flow with the crowd, work in request, keep energy pumpin for an extended period, then you can call yourself a DJ. Otherwise, nothing personal, you should classify yourself as a bedroom DJ or an entertainer. Oh and you gotta get booed at least once in your career. If you can come back for that, then welcome to DJing my friend. After 10yrs in the game, I finally got booed last New Years Eve when Traktor froze on me mid set. Good thing I always carry a back up CD. So I just switched from laptop to mixing CDs the rest of the night. Had about 30secs+ dead air w/ “bboooosss” in the background.
I play open format as well and 4 hours is a standard set on Fridays for me, this saturday I’m playing 6 hours. Another place I play at I open or close for headliners and that shift is much trickier than playing the hits.
But bottom line ---- experience will teach you MUCH more than any practice sessions you will have at home. Preparation is KEY and like everything the more you do it, the easier it gets.
thanks for the support guys. And speaking of request: some girl kept requesting gaga all night, lol. She was dancing out of her tree, the only one in the bar dancing. It was pretty funny.
I hear ya! my first ever gig was 6 hours, i did 6 hours last night and got 8 tonight, i never really have a set list but i have folders for warm up, peak set etc… but every now and then it all goes to shit, last night was a 6th form party 250 guests that walked in going mental and bouncing around, dream gig! started at 9, into the peak set by 9.30, had to totally re-think the entire set on the fly, but ended up playing tracks that i had totally forgotten about, was some of the most fun ive had for a while! my head was spinning for 2 hours after though
Have been doing quite some all-nighters (together with someone else) for parties at my student association. It takes such different preparation than a short set most DJs probably do…you need have a very broad knowledge of your library otherwise you run out of music fairly quickly or bore the hell out of your public by constantly playing the same genre.
I tend to prefer shorter sets nowadays, when I’ve been DJing for more than 3 hours in a row I just feel the inspiration and creativity fading away…
I usually play 2 hour sets when practising, but I enjoy the 3-4 hour sets infront of a crowd. This amount of time really allows you to develop a musical space and take the listeners on an interesting journey. I find you can explore more musical ranges this way and create ups and downs rather than just banging it out for one hour.
I’ve been a bedroom dj for the last few years and jam out in my room for a few hours every other night. The main reason I have not yet tried to get a gig is because I wanted to not just be ok, but good at it because I know im going to get nervous as all hell. The one thing I really need to do is better organize my music as I would otherwise be nonstop searching for the right song. Next week im going to start checking out the St. Louis scene and just see what the other djs are doing and how my skills/music selection compare. Being as I have never set foot in a club or even watched a dj spin live before, I feel my style is definitely my own. Maybe it would even be something fresh for the regulars when I do land that gig. So do I ask for the club owner and talk to them? Say “hey, I can do dat right der! Gimme a job!” Lol I guess ill probably have to record a demo no?
I play at a popular sports bar in Baltimore every Saturday night, and the set usually ranges from 4 to 6 hours, depending on the events that they have booked. This was the first venue to give me a shot, and now I’m a resident there, and DJ for football games on Sundays as well. You learn a lot in a short amount of time when you’re out there gigging, and I have made leaps in terms of my techniques, my knowledge of DJing, and the depth of my library. The format is pretty open, but there’s an emphasis on top 40, dance, and hip-hop, given the crowd they draw.
Frank, I’m pumped you got the experience. I think that (especially at bars), people just want to enjoy themselves, drink a lot, and dance (if they get drunk enough). I usually build my sets until about 11:30pm - 12am, and then I start kicking people in the face with bangers until last call. But that’s just me.
I do 5hrs weekly at my club residency playing open format.
Good thing I always carry a back up CD. So I just switched from laptop to mixing CDs the rest of the night. Had about 30secs+ dead air w/ “bboooosss” in the background.