How do you keep the peak energy in your set going? How long should it go for?
I’m preparing for a gig I have on the 4th of January, and I did a practice set tonight. What I have happily become attuned to is my song selection, and being able to build the energy. But what I realized I have a problem with is keeping that energy going.
How do you keep the energy going when you transition banger to banger? I was mixing giant dance bangers and what I’ve been doing is mixing the next songs build up or some part before the drop right when the last songs drop ends. But with the song I’m mixing out of, there is usually some giant breakdown, which totally kills the energy. I tried mixing where the next songs drop started just as the last one ended, but it didn’t feel right. Maybe I was doing it weird. idk.
How long should that peak energy go for? I imagine there’s a general limit that a crowd can take.
What music is it, more specifically? Techno is easy to keep going. If you don’t want breakdowns to ruin the energy maybe it isn’t the right track choice?
Electro House, and Dance tracks. aka Swedish House Mafia, stuff you find on the Dance save Lives album put out by tiesto.
It really can’t be song selection. I’m would be trying to mix from one big dance song to another one, in a compatible key, same feel and stuff, but I can feel the energy just dropping out.
Bangers differ from genre to genre. A deep house banger sounds completely different than an electro banger. The problem with most modern “EDM” today is that there is a heavy emphasis on breakdowns for some reason. I personally cant stand it since it tends to lead your exact problem of killing a vibe that I try to create.
Depending on your equipment, you can create loop points and cue points so that you can avoid the breakdown or extend the break to your liking. For genre like electro house for instance, learning how to mix quickly is helpful as well.
As far as length of peaktime, theres all kinds of variables. How many people are actually dancing? Are there people there that are more into the music (i.e. is there someone there actively making an effort for people to stop standing in the bar?) How drunk/buzzed are they? Are you opening, closing, or prime time? What kind of music are you playing? How many rooms are there in that venue?
I come from a dnb background. Most peaktime lengths only last about 5 or 6 songs, but the energy is usually there all night.
It comes from practice, but moreso just experience. They say learning to read a crowd is the hardest skill you will learn. Ive been playing for 10+ years and some things still surprise me.
Personally I found when playing at a gig on a decent sound system the energy level drop isn’t as noticeable (unless it’s a breakdown obviously). I don’t know much about electro but with the tech/deep house I play there tends to be just a beat at the beginning and end of most tracks. Trying to keep the amount of time those sections are playing on their own to a minimum helps keep the energy going.
I think it is one of the more important tasks is to know when and how to let the energy break, banger after banger is not as much fun as tension and release. I don’t really follow your genre of music, but I do play a bunch of technical dnb that often has horrible breakdowns, love the drop, love the tune, but a minute and a half of churning noises with static isn’t really what I consider a good break down. I use loops of either the same track to carry the break down or another song. The real joy of the minimal tech sound is that it is fun to layer, so often the songs are dropping and breaking down around each other if I’m playing them phrased correctly, and I’m choosing tunes that I think the break down is actually effective to let the energy drop so that it can build again.
[QUOTE]I’m preparing for a gig I have on the 4th of January, and I did a practice set tonight. What I have happily become attuned to is my song selection, and being able to build the energy. But what I realized I have a problem with is keeping that energy going.
How long should that peak energy go for? I imagine there’s a general limit that a crowd can take.
[/QUOTE]
Be prepared to play anything not just what you prepared - reading the crowd is way more important than being able to mix bangers back to back, is there anyone else playing the gig as well ? .. what time is your set ?
It gives the crowd time to gather their breath, put their hands in the air and psych themselves up to go nuts at that buildup and first THUMP after the break, there is a reason for breakdowns its a fundamental part of the track. DJ’ing is as much about knowing when NOT to mix and to let the tunes do the talking.
IMHO its just horrible when a DJ plays 20 tracks an hour and refuses to play a long breakdown - wheres the room in the set for the quiet-time to allow for whoops, cheers and jesus posing.
^Agreed. It’s a delicate balance, however. You definitely shouldn’t be pumping out climax after climax, but when you feel the crowd’s got the energy, banging out for like 15 minutes straight can bring the evening to a whole new level. But as always, that comes down to proper crowdreading and building up.
Maybe I should clarify a bit, I’m playing a EDM set on at this small venue in my town. I am playing 9-10:30pm. No one else is playing that night, it is only me. So in my head, since people that are coming are expecting to hear EDM, all the doors are open. But I will have to be conscious about what kind of EDM they like the most.
How does tension and release work? Is building the tension a multi song thing? Is a release just a single drop, or is it multiple stringed together?
Chances are youre nothing like Tiesto, and people arent going to stand around fist pumpin watching you DJ.
Youre more of a jukebox for the night, not a headlining superstar.
keep the beat and groove going, or introduce drop after drop after drop. (no buildups, this is a method of DJing, theres a name to it which I forget)
do 1 or 2 buildups in the beginning and end of your set at most.
You think your song selection is awsome, and it might be, but you cearly dont know when or where to play certain songs, so in a small club watch your High Frequencies, and play songs with stronger mids and lows.
Dont plan your set out in advance, once again youre NOT Tiesto. Prepare many small mixes of 2 - 3 songs, and sort of free style it. Feel it out.
Just be willing to learn and improve and itll really become easier to play live gigs.
i didnt read everything here and this might sound a bit strange and simple but hey
its electro house right so,
you want to avoid the song breakdown and the next song slow build? Simple
do what i have tried for other NYC events when the people start to just about get their drink on.
Start the mix much later in the song
and end the mix sooner… yes the songs would cut in and out faster but to avoid sounding like you are rushing through them,
do some loop sets in the REALLY REALLY good parts, and bring in some vocal / a capella here and there
Set them up ahead of time in a separate playlist (preparation list in Traktor)
Drop have a vocal in one song, and rip it OUT right at the peak of a song,
keep it on pause, while heading into your next track,
right when that song just starts to carry its peak, start up that vocal again.
To you, you have just transitioned through basically 3 songs but to the people listening
you just remixed something over 12 minutes long.
this works GREAT for me
the only down side is, you now need to prepare about 30 minutes of MORE tracks to carry your set longer
This guy sounds like a beginner so I wouldn’t overwhelm him with technical stuff.
If the song is good and the production is mixed down tight you can play your tracks straight through.
Breakdowns are essential (especially in electro house) let the track breath and let the dancefloor ebb and flow.
I think a beginner should practice, practice, practice mixing the tracks they love, getting to know the tracks very well.
On the night of your set play the tracks you like and keep an eye on the dancefloor. If the dancefloor is diggin’ the track, let it play out and have fun.
no worries mate.
You are right. That was a bit of an advanced reply i gave but hey, maybe the steps in the technique will stick in his head long enough that he will try it at home one time
All the things you mention are true, and crowds can only take so much. There is no finite amount of time they can go for, and you need to plan your sets with flexibility. If you’re almost through with your peak, and everyone is still loving it, you should have the ability to throw in some more tracks, or vice versa tone it down if they’re tried out.
Definitely sort of freestyle it like ST4R said, if you plan it exactly down to the second it’s no worse than prerecording the mix. You need to be flexible. If you’re recording a mix to promote yourself or throw in SC by all means, plan it out to be just the way you want it. Have like well rehearsed, 2-3 song, mixes where you throw in a few tricks and surprise people, but outside of that; crowd read, beatmatch, try not to mess up.
Crowd-reading is definitely the most important skill in this day and age as a DJ, anyone can throw together bangers and it simply doesn’t work in most cases.
Oof. I wouldn’t call myself a beginner. I’m conscious that I’m not Tiesto and that people aren’t going to go crazy for a couple of people DJing. I’m going to be judging their reactions to certain songs, and to play to those reactions.
Oh and I’m not planning anything ahead of time. All I’m going in with is my playlists that have been key analyzed, rated by energy level with the stars, and helpful cue points.
tension and release is when it builds up and then lets off, some times it is at a plateau and even outs in energy level, other times it is the part like a break down that drops the energy a lot, other times it builds just to go nuts. like the way in Steve Miller tunes the intro often has a big synth build up that smooths out into the rift. Dance music often does the same thing, having a build up that levels, or you can mix it so that the tunes play on this, letting the next tune drop into the breakdown, or finding the place to let a steady groove fill in behind a drop. Knowing your tracks and the way you want to build the energy with them is what I was talking about.
Track selection can keep energy to constantly rise. Combine your transitions with creative effect support that matches to track structure and keep energy running before the drop.
I don’t think you guys are understanding what he’s asking, he’s simply asking what techniques do you use for Electro House to keep the energy going? As in do you transition and simply completely skip the breakdowns and do quick transitions from drop to drop?
I’m interested in this as well, cause I can put down a set but I do tend to lose the energy as well. So it’s not about “track selection”, etc. Jus asking simply about your technique!
And ST4R, do you have any mixes up that I can hear “keep the beat and groove going, or introduce drop after drop after drop”, or do you simply just cut your cross fader over?
