mixing on the fly
does anyone here ever not use a set list? or does anyone ever find that randomely mixing songs in your library is a decent way to practice?
It’s the ONLY way to practice!
it should be the only way to practice, because guess what, tens of 1000’s of other dj’s have the exact same tracks as you have and 99% of them only choose tracks based on key and bpm, If you want to be individual and have an identity in djing you need to get away from formulas, that’s not to say you should try and use as many effects as squarepusher or aphex twin and make weird shit, but you should get a good knowlege of your tracks, and how they fit together without worrying about the key.
And yes you can mix a set without a playlist, that is what versus sets are about, atleast they used to be..
I rarely use a tracklist but I don’t picks random songs either.
never used a set list before… tho i’ve always had certain mini groups of tracks (like 2,3 or 4) that i know mix one into the other very well and i have specific ways of doing it. whether or not i would mix into the next tho would depend on whether or not it seemed the right track to play next given the feedback from the people there ofc. maybe you could play from a set list when just streaming online or something but not when you’ve got live people responding (or not) to what you are playing. if only ever using a fixed list u might as well go the whole hog and use mixmeister anyway 
same here..
might be interesting: Improvisation or Set list???
mixing on the fly all the time (even most of my mixtapes are on the fly and mostly without even knowing the tracks well). keeps you busy and concentrated and you learn to know your tracks better 
(1) listen to music and know your music inside and out
(2) try mixing randomly, you might find something that works (I do that sometimes just messing around and find somethings that work out really well)
(3) When you find something that works put a comment in the tracks that have the name of the tracks they transition well into so then when youre mixing if you cant think of another song to transition into then you have those there
This question gets asked on this forum all the time. Check out some of the responses to some of the other threads.
Using set list only for podcast, becouse want to share my favourits.
But mostly i’m mix on the fly…
well said!
i use 4 decks:
one for the song.
another for a beatmatched drum beat to that song.
so then when i filter out the song i still have a legit drum beat going…
then on another deck-i scratch vocals
and on the 4th deck i have the next song ready.
Agree with this 100%. I generally like to have a structure in my head of how my setlist is going to go. Like at what time I want to bring up the energy up, and when I want to have it a little bit more relaxed. And then I just pick songs that fit into that bpm and energy level.
The one thing I might have set in stone is if i’m planning on doing mashups on the fly, I might have a mini tracklist of 5-6 songs over which I’m going to play acapella’s over.
Mixing on the fly for hours is the thing that I enjoy the must, you get to known a lot your music.
I browse for new music on blogs, beatport etc. mix my findings on the fly to get to know the tracks. Then I often start making a playlist that I’ll be using for mixes that are going up on mixcloud. I’m still just a beginner, so I record myself a lot. If I play live (which isn’t often) I use my playlists as pointers if I’m in need
That being said, I often do check out the BPM and key. No reason not to.
The only time I use a set list is if I’m putting together a playlist of new music to listen to on my iphone. Aside from that, all my live mixes (actual gigs and just playing around) are on the fly. If people want to listen to pre-programmed music lists, they can save several hundred dollars and use their iPod that night instead of having to pay me.
Always 100% on the fly for me. Any gigs i’ve ever done i’ve always had a first song picked out, so that when i get up to the decks i don’t sit there for ever trying to figure out what to play first. Then i just feel the music and the energy and play what I think the crowd would like next. The only time I ever actually wrote a setlist down i nearly trainwrecked the whole thing. I wasn’t able to get into the mix and really feel the music because i felt like i was reading an outline or something. Music should always be from the heart!
I mix like that all the time, not even having grouped files, paired songs or safety-fallback-mixes.
That’s the only way I can roll, but ad-hoc mixing also get me into truble from time to time. Sometime I’d love to have a CD premixed and just not give a fuck.
sadly i actually know people who have premixes, and yea… pisses me off
Never…