How much of DJing is preparation and how much of it is improvisation?
I’ve been trying to teach myself DJing for about 6 months and I think I’ve gotten confused on something. Do DJs typically come up with ways to mix songs together totally on the spot, with no rehearsal at all? Or is it more of something that you sit with at home, trying out different ways to mix songs until you find one way that works and then doing that live? Basically, is DJing totally improvised or is it just running through mixes you practiced at home?
A little of both. You should be at home practicing and learning your tracks, but you shouldn’t be going out and redoing the exact same transitions you were doing at home. The more you learn and know your tracks, the more you can improvise and play in the moment.
A healthy mix of both. I’d say about I do about 90% improv…but the planning (playing through playlists at home) is what gives me the ability to improvise.
All of my “improve” is the net sum of all the practice and previous improve that I have done. Where I am today is a direct reflection of the net sum of my experiences and my reflections upon those experiences.
For “touring” DJs…their sets tend to be mostly canned. There will be some improv…but it is limited. This is because even in the face of “everything going wrong” these performers still have to deliver a “good for them” set. The pressure to be “good” forces them to be conservative in their approach to their sets…and that means “practice until you can not get it wrong” (as opposed to the beginners mantra of “practice until you can get it right”).
I tend to vary song selection based on a “theme” (I may pick it, the venue or client may pick it). Even is unannounced, I will tend to play using a theme just to help me find the next song. What I do NOT experiment with are the techniques I use while mixing. The technical side of things are ROCK SOLID long before they ever see the light of day. As a result my mixing tends to be “conservative.”
In the end, it comes down to this basic question: how much will one really bad night hurt your reputation? The more you have to lose, the more you should err on the side of “fully rehearsed.”
The best transitions are the ones that have been rehearsed. Hands down. No one can take a bunch of music, completely unfamiliar with it, and put together a stellar mix. Knowing your music helps a lot, and it’s certainly possible to put together a very good mix - but still, don’t be afraid to bring your transitions from home to the club.
But just remember that reading the crowd is as important, if not more important, than the way you mix the music together. So most of the time you have to have a healthy combination of rehearsed material and improvisation.
What it really comes down to, though, is the type of events you are doing.
I tend to practice for scenerios that would catch me off guard when DJing live. For example: when practicing i will throw in 2 songs that usually dont mash and try to either make them match up or work on how to easily transistion out of the disaster…Basically training my self for the unexpected
But when i DJ live, i tend to improvise more, which makes my mixes more creative
I practice two ways, free form where I choose songs that I want to hear next, and structured where I’m preparing a mix, programming and deciding the transitions, then practice the set until it is what I want to hear, then usually record it as a mix tape. Both have advantages and I’m not afraid in practice to rewind a mistake and start again, to see if transitioning at another spot or with a different next tune would work better. I’ve been messing with mixing using the eq and filter more lately, in my free form practice, in a structured mix and infront of an audience I would never mess with that technique as much, for fear of repetition. I no longer play live, but when I did, my set was already preplanned somewhat by the records in the crate, but I would never chose to program the set song by song, the mixing was a product of practice, but I may do something differently, either by a happy mistake or a choice.
what do you mean by peparation? If you mean preparing set lists……that sucks and takes away basically all of the magic of what DJs do (responding to the crowd in a way that most bands can’t).
If you mean knowing your setup and your tracks from a lot of critical listening and practice (not rehearsal) then there’s a lot of that…less as you get better.
He was talking about DJing with Live, back when he was one of the first to rely on it that way. He was still pretty far off from just playing a set list, but it seemed like he went too far in that planned direction…and ended up giving it up after a while.
Finding that balance is one of the things you have to do for yourself. But if you find yourself “performing” and not making real, significant choices during a set and/or not responding to your crowd or your own mood……you’re probably doing it wrong. OTOH, if your sets are a disjointed mess and don’t seem to go anywhere when you go back and listen to them……you’re probably doing it wrong.
It will come natural as you progress. When I get home from work and pull the dust covers off, I almost never intentionaly mix the same songs twice. It’s 100% based on the next track I want to hear at the time.(Assuming they are within bpm range) If it sounds out of key, I grab a new song or find a way to transition without too much clashing. I don’t practice particular mixes unless there is something about it that I really like, then I’ll set cue points and start playing around with cue hopping and write the names of those tracks down to mess with later when I have some fresh ears. This only works when you know your tracks and how to work with different song structures and patterns. Practice, practice, practice.
I don’t waste time making a to b sets anymore because the vibe and atmosphere of the room decides the next track, not your list.
If Sasha says it, it must be true hahaha! Sorry for going OT OP!
I tend to do a lot of prep, but never play planned sets. I played one once, and I ended up changing out half of the tracks anyway, I just like to remember what mixes well with what, and I use the comment section for that in Traktor.
DJing to me, is a lot like cooking. You start off with the same basic ingredients, and it’s the skill and time spent knowing exactly what to do with these things that makes or breaks the end result. Some people can make some fantastic things happen, while others are a lot more basic. And it really depends on what you are into as well.
Personally, I try and listen to all of my songs as much as possible. I drive a lot, so it gives me a really good feel for my tracks. When I’m home and have time to mix? I just practice between these songs. Sometimes I’ll find a couple that work really well together, and mark it down.
But overall, I’d say most of my playing is off the cuff. I usually have an idea of where I want to go, and just try and pick songs from there.
Something I have been working on is trying to keep things a bit more “low-key” for opener style sets. Not always can I turn to some of the big tunes, and making sure that I don’t bring up the energy in a mix is something that I have to focus a bit more on personally. I hate the sets people play that are just straight bangers, so trying hard to play sets that I personally would enjoy hearing back.
People DJ different ways. Some of my buddies used to show up at the club with 200 records - and spend the whole night rifling through them. In the end, they usually played a good set and everyone was happy.
I am the opposite and have been counting my beats and marking harmonic keys for 20 years. I come extremely prepared and have all my intros, outros, loops etc prepared and ready to go. IMO, being prepared actually frees you up to be more creative - as you dont have to worry about where a certain song is or whether you have all your tools ready go to…you just have to get up in the booth and move the dancefloor.
Inspiration cannot take place without preparation.
What I like to do when mixing on the fly in traktor is, first look at the length of time of the new track compared to the one your playing. For instance, say both tracks are playing at 128bpm. The 32 beat intro of 3 minute track A would appear just as long as the 64 beat intro of a 6 minute track B on the waveforms. So going by the length of time of the track alone, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of how long each part of the song is just by eyeballing it.
Another thing that I like to do to make tight mixes on the fly is use the looping features to measure beats. I’ll hit a button that drops are 32 beat loop. Then I will turn the jog back ever so slightly and jump 32 beats down to the end of the loop. Hit the the 32 beat loop button twice to drop another 32 count loop, and turn the jog back to quickly and easily measure out 64 beats. At that point you will know exactly where you need to cue to. Each style of music has it’s own pattern, and if you play enough of a certain style music, then youre going to know what needs to happen and when. This especialy helps when mixing two songs of different genres. I happen to love mixing bluegrass with drum and bass, and rock with dubstep.
i personally have like “sets” of songs that go well together and then play em to whatever fits the mood and then use my C & D decks + midi fighter to change things up for whats playing live
I prep 90% of the time. In fact everyday at work I plan sets and run ideas throught VDJ at work then come home and play out that set recording it and then listening to it. Then I give out that mix to people who are not biased in their opinions towards me
Then at gigs I will improve at least 3 or 4 transistions and then bring it back to the original set list.
