Planning=cheating?
I’m new to dj’ing still and every mix ive recorded I have planned out as in picked tracks that fit well and put cue points where i thought the song would transition into the next the best. I thought that everyone did this until someone accused me of doing it all wrong. Do any of you do this before a party or anything?
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA to the person that said you were doing it all wrong !
There is no wrong or right way !!! As long as you rock the party !!
Prep away - I hate prepping i love to just play thats why i am still a bedroom hobby dj.
I think prepping is definately ok!
EDIT: I know one of the UK’s premier hardcore techno (Gabber) dj’s and he definately preps his sets … so go figure. The difference maybe though that he could also rock out still if he was caught unaware and had to play blind! but still you prepping is not something i see as an issue!
Planning isn’t cheating, and if it is, then the best DJ’s in the world are a bunch of cheaters cause they had the best plans, and look where it got them. Just because you have a plan doesn’t mean you can’t improvise and throw something crazy in, but at least you know that you have something that works ready to go. The accuser doesn’t know what they are talking about.
IS NOT REALLY CONSIDERING CHEATING i know famous dj that plan their gigs ahead im not gonna said name so ppl dont start bothering him but he’s in the top 5 djs in the world lol i laready said to much but yea there is nothing wrong with that ass long ass the ppla are having fun is cool…maybe is not the best idea cuz u never know how the ppl are going to react to the songs you are playing so the best advice JUST READ THE CROWDDD
I don’t think there’s any way I could’ve done a half-decent job on my first gig had I not planned beforehand, it just puts your mind at ease.
When I first got on and realised that I was basically in control of them, it just hit me, blood rushed to my head, and without the playlist I might’ve messed up real bad… but once I eased in, I ended up throwing in a few tracks I thought they’d like based on their previous reactions
Basically, it’s just a safetynet. You wouldn’t trapese between skyscrapers without one now would you 
But hey, that’s just my opinion
We have talked about this before and it was pretty much the concencus that its best to have a mixture of preplanned and on the fly mixing.
If you have a large collection of groups of 3 of 4 songs that you know go well together and then you can move in between these groups on the fly then you will be reaping the benfits of both pre-planned super tight high quality mixes and being able to redirect your set if need be to suit the dancefloor.
Its important that we be able to change our sets to suit the situation, as what you planned in your bedroom in your set and what it best for the dancefloor/crowd at that point in time can be two different things.
Thanks everyone. I dont plan on playing anywhere worth mentioning for a long long time, but if i get to play at any house parties I dont want to feel like i cheated my way into it.
I think if you go into a set without some kind of general plan of where your headed, you’ll find yourself in trouble. That doesn’t mean you have to decide exactly what tracks you’ll use and precisely when and how you’ll transition between them.
I just like to think ahead of time and get a general idea in my head.
Playing preset playlists is a brilliant idea for beginers - if will certainly help you perform alot better under pressure compared to if you wernt prepared at all and it will just generally help get your confidence up so you feel more confident about changing things up live.
So while what your doing i think is completely legitimate you should be aiming at being able to change the directions of your sets though the night. Just take your time and keep practicing, get yourself some mixing experience in front of people and it will all come eventually
Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance
yeah, i echo all the points made.
i think what the person was referring to is that a quality dj is able to read a crowd and know his/her tunes well enough to keep the energy going in the appropriate direction. and honestly, nothing teaches you this but experience.
that said, i think it’s best to plan recorded mixes since there is typically no crowd for feedback. a recorded can also be thought of as more of a representation of a live set.
and like Bento pointed out, having some of those planned bits can come in handy for a lot of things. i tend to fall back on tracks i am super familiar with during technical difficulties (which are inevitable when playing out). monitor crapping out? bet that i’m going to be mixing in some tunes that i know like the back of my hand, and know how to fit them together like a glove. or if you’re ever playing after someone who plays a style that is totally different than yours or at a BPM that is way different than yours…i’ve got some intro type bits to smoothly get into my stuff.
I’d just like to offer that while I feel this discussion offers some good insight, the mere fact that we are pushed to discuss it at all drives me absolutely frikkin’ batty. Let me explain. Having been a musician for 21 years and a dj for 12, and being of the type of mind to embrace all music and music creation as a completely limitless, fluid world of possibility, this ideology of having to catalog, judge, rate, and negatively compare one method of working with sound energy over another is an aggressive act of LIMITATION. I resent every word spoken that made a true sound explorer, humbly learning their craft, feel small, or like they had to doubt themselves or their own personal musical journey in any way. Respect to the explorer’s own way, whether plucking strings or twisting knobs, is due. Time will always tell whether someone is or can become a great musician or dj. It’s not for narrow minded, this is how it must be done, more righteous than thou set of naysayers to decide what is the right way to reach one’s goals, or to explore one’s craft.
I really don’t like ranting, but being a positive dj in what sometimes feels like and endless sea of ego soaked, competition frenzied, negative f^(%holes, really tries my faith in the dj world sometimes. I know the start of this thread was not a huge deal, but maybe I’ve just needed to get this off my chest for a while. At my age I have zero tolerance for that kind of attitude, and it’s always really sad for me when I hear friends of mine who don’t run in dj circles say that they have gotten the overriding impression through the years that most dj’s are a$$holes.
Exploring music by nature means there is no wrong way.
All due respect to the dj’s that do what they do purely for the love of music and for creation of the Positive. You are my heroes.
We may be Digital DJs but it is, and always will be, about the music.
Amen
Can I get a hallelujah
well…being a DJ for ten years in a scene that is pretty much unforgiving…we have had this chat a lot.
I have always maintained that if you are getting paid top dollar and its a HUGE headlining gig…do your freakin homework.
If you can deliver your set without fuckup and its well put together and the crowd enjoyed it…then you done you job damn well.
If you just playing your weekly club gig, I am sure you can get away with winging it and just choosing trax on the fly. You should know your trax well enough to do that at least.
I just feel that if you gonna be professional (or act professional) then you gotta deliver the goods and I for one will not really be that impressed if you came to my gig unprepared with your bag of CD and cans etc.
Trax selection…key…harmony…flow, can be much more utilized if you put a lil effort in before hand.
As a bare minimum for my Psytrance gigs, I will go through the latest trax I have and scan through them, listening for the type of phat bass sound I like.
I weed out all the trax that are not that potent and that i don;t like.
Then I have a bunch of tracks I know will be PHAT all the way through my set.
A simple playlist in WinAmp and a few minutes arranging the order…and there you go.
Done.
A bit of order in the chaos that is your music library does wonders.
Hallelujah
But remember, a professional piano player doesn’t get pro by looking at the music once. Practice, practice, scales, scales, more scales, practice, eat, rinse and repeat about 5k times, and you might be something. My point was all for the music, but a little homework and hard work never hurt anyone.
Agreed!
And one also needs to be able to accept that you might NOT make it BIG!
You could have 50 years experience in the guitar…built 5 of your own…and can play any style flawlessly. This does not guarrantee you will be the TOP dog! Nor Jimi Hendrix!
I mean aim for it sure. Its the journey that counts…not the destination.
If i am playing for two hours i will definitey work out some tracks but if your crowd is demanding you to go harder and you wont because " its not in my playlist" then you need a slap. You can practise 20 tracks ten times but still clear the floor because you forgot to use you EYES as well as your ears. Peace
Prior Planning & Preparation Prevents a Piss Poor Performance.