Playing for 2 hours +

[jimdrake]

Playing for 2 hours +

Hey guys,

I wonder how you all deal with playing longer sets of over 2 hours?

Generally if I try to make a playlist then I get to an hour and then I’m stuck. Then i just start adding filler tracks every other song to make time. I also get stuck into the problem that “shit i already played a song by X so I can’t play another one by X for at least an hour”. You can tell the filler tracks cos the vibe does die a bit.

Any tips on how to deal with this?

Here is an example of how I feel like organising a 3 hour set starting at 3am:

Start with Swedish House Mafia ‘One’ including the intro bit. Seems to punctuate from the previous DJ well and sets the vibe quite well. Then basically I want to run an hour with this but can’t go too far hardcore house because it’s too confusing for the crowd and boring for me. But don’t want to go too more pop because the crown have already been listening to that 2-3 hours ago and again too boring for me.

Then I want to do an hour quite well summed up by Dizee Rascal ‘Bonkers’. Something where the synth stuff is getting quite aggressive but it’s still pop.

Then I want to do an hour of Skrillex but if course don’t actually want to play Skrillex for an hour.

Then an hour spare of ? Getting into DnB means a whole new search of music for me.

Any tips?

I don’t even know how I would deal with playing a whole club night of 6-8 hours. Maybe could do an hour of real pop-pop, and a (friendly?) hiphop hour. But still feel like clutching at straws a bit. Maybe put on a deadmau5 mix for an hour in the middle and go have a nap?

[fullenglishpint]

Maybe it’s just me, but I never plan my sets fully beforehand. I’ll have an idea what I’m going to play, but I just try and feel what people are enjoying. There are a couple of articles on the blog from a while back about maintaining the energy throughout a long set which I’d recommend you read, but my personal advice would be to avoid planning things out in hour blocks. A full hour of skrillex style music will tire people out, but a couple of songs in the right place can go really well. Give people a break (maybe a few slightly more laid back songs, obviously not chill out but I’m sure you can work out what I mean) every now and again, time to go for a drink/cigarette etc so they don’t flake out too early.

[basspenetrator]

@fullenglishpint

Maybe it’s just me, but I never plan my sets fully beforehand. I’ll have an idea what I’m going to play, but I just try and feel what people are enjoying. There are a couple of articles on the blog from a while back about maintaining the energy throughout a long set which I’d recommend you read, but my personal advice would be to avoid planning things out in hour blocks. A full hour of skrillex style music will tire people out, but a couple of songs in the right place can go really well. Give people a break (maybe a few slightly more laid back songs, obviously not chill out but I’m sure you can work out what I mean) every now and again, time to go for a drink/cigarette etc so they don’t flake out too early.

+1

there are a lot of post about planning a set vs being spontaneous..
digitialdjtips also had at least two articles about this

[jimdrake]

Hi,

Yeah, I understand spontaneous vs planned.

But I think I still need some playlists otherwise I get lost, I can still stray from the list and do my thing if inspiration comes, but if not I have a comfort zone.

Also me thinking in hour blocks is just trying to organise myself which is maybe one of my faults. If I look at the time and think “shit what do I do for 2 more hours?!” then I’m already in bad vibe territory. If I think that I can keep where I am for another 40 mins THEN drop XYZ then I feel safer.

ALSO if I don’t think like this then I will just play everything I like straight away and be done in an hour and then really want to drop XYZ but can’t because I have already played it!

Would like to know the links to those articles if you can remember.

Agreed an hour of Skrillex is too much, but to me it seems better to ramp up through a section rather than play Skrillex when someone asks for it then Rihanna then Eminem then deadmau5 then want to play the same Skrillex track later because this is all a bit too random for my taste.

[Afterhour_Ali]

Consider longer sets as taking your audience on a journey! You don’t need to play filler tracks if you have more good tracks.
You looking at the time makes me think you’re not comfortable with the situation. The fear about messing up is the single biggest obstacle you need to overcome. Being in the comfort-zone will make a lot things easier and more enjoyable for now.

It seems to me that you’re playing at Top 40-clubs. Am I right? People tend to loose interest quickly in these when you don’t play tracks which they recognize. So why not dig out some classics they wouldn’t expect?

Also why not go to a club where similar music is played and see what the DJs there do for a full evening? I used to wonder how that works in Indie-clubs until I was there for a few evenings.
You could also look at Serato DJ Playlists for hints on songs you can play but going to a club to catch the mood is a more valuable experience in my opinion.

If you already played a track there a ways of brinking it back like a remix or mashing it up with some other songs. Having certain songs or parts of it re-appear every now and then during sets is actually one of my favourite parts.

Have some crates sorted by criteria like mood or genre. Then determine which track to play according to the situation. Don’t freak out when you empty the dancefloor! It happens every now and then. Also keep in mind the time-line of a dancefloor!

Here are some Digital DJ Tips-links which may help you:

• 6 Reasons Why Not To Plan Your DJ Sets
• How To Read A Crowd (And What Happens If You Don’t)
• 7 Set Planning Secrets Of Professional DJs
• 5 Times When You Should Plan Your DJ Sets

[AdamPollard55]

you can’t really plan a 6 hour set. I played a few 4 to 6 hour sets (when other djs canceled and the night kept going past closing time, or when Im just the only person booked cause its a small night)

I find it a bit strange you run out of tracks. I love enough music to keep djing for days. to play those really long sets I just my megaplaylists from iTunes, where I have say, ‘dubstep’ or ‘everything around128 bpm’ playlists that I chuck any track in iTunes that I like. just play to the vibe at the time, with such a long set, the room usually changes a lot so you have to just feel it out. you have be the warm up guy, then the peak time guy, then the closing set guy, all in one set. i loved those long sets at the smaller nights cause it taught me an awful lot about djing and gave me practise at all the different kinds of djing.

side-note: never play ‘filler’. differentiate peak time floor fillers from the more chilled rollers, but filler is a waste of everyone’s time. unless by ‘filler’ you mean the more chilled stuff lol

[AdamPollard55]

Consider longer sets as taking your audience on a journey! You don’t need to play filler tracks if you have more good tracks.
You looking at the time makes me think you’re not comfortable with the situation. The fear about messing up is the single biggest obstacle you need to overcome. Being in the comfort-zone will make a lot things easier and more enjoyable for now.

It seems to me that you’re playing at Top 40-clubs. Am I right? People tend to loose interest quickly in these when you don’t play tracks which they recognize. So why not dig out some classics they wouldn’t expect?

Also why not go to a club where similar music is played and see what the DJs there do for a full evening? I used to wonder how that works in Indie-clubs until I was there for a few evenings.
You could also look at Serato DJ Playlists for hints on songs you can play but going to a club to catch the mood is a more valuable experience in my opinion.

If you already played a track there a ways of brinking it back like a remix or mashing it up with some other songs. Having certain songs or parts of it re-appear every now and then during sets is actually one of my favourite parts.

Have some crates sorted by criteria like mood or genre. Then determine which track to play according to the situation. Don’t freak out when you empty the dancefloor! It happens every now and then. Also keep in mind the time-line of a dancefloor!

Here are some Digital DJ Tips-links which may help you:

• 6 Reasons Why Not To Plan Your DJ Sets
• How To Read A Crowd (And What Happens If You Don’t)
• 7 Set Planning Secrets Of Professional DJs
• 5 Times When You Should Plan Your DJ Sets

this. is really important when dealign with long sets. because a long set almost guarantees it’ll happen. just remember that an empty dance floor doesn’t necessarily mean you are being a bad dj, it just happens. people can still enjoy your tracks by chillin at the bar talking to their friends.

[EchePalante]

@jimdrake

Hey guys,

I wonder how you all deal with playing longer sets of over 2 hours?

Generally if I try to make a playlist then I get to an hour and then I’m stuck. Then i just start adding filler tracks every other song to make time. I also get stuck into the problem that “shit i already played a song by X so I can’t play another one by X for at least an hour”. You can tell the filler tracks cos the vibe does die a bit.

Any tips on how to deal with this?

Here is an example of how I feel like organising a 3 hour set starting at 3am:

Start with Swedish House Mafia ‘One’ including the intro bit. Seems to punctuate from the previous DJ well and sets the vibe quite well. Then basically I want to run an hour with this but can’t go too far hardcore house because it’s too confusing for the crowd and boring for me. But don’t want to go too more pop because the crown have already been listening to that 2-3 hours ago and again too boring for me.

Then I want to do an hour quite well summed up by Dizee Rascal ‘Bonkers’. Something where the synth stuff is getting quite aggressive but it’s still pop.

Then I want to do an hour of Skrillex but if course don’t actually want to play Skrillex for an hour.

Then an hour spare of ? Getting into DnB means a whole new search of music for me.

Any tips?

I don’t even know how I would deal with playing a whole club night of 6-8 hours. Maybe could do an hour of real pop-pop, and a (friendly?) hiphop hour. But still feel like clutching at straws a bit. Maybe put on a deadmau5 mix for an hour in the middle and go have a nap?

I find some mixes (ranges from 30min to 1hr mixes) on youtube and stuff of progressive house and hip-hop, play those for the first half of the party when people are still arriving. Then i start to mix and really Dj the playlists i make pre-party.

[jimdrake]

Hey all, thanks for the tips!

Consider longer sets as taking your audience on a journey!

This is my goal/aim.

You don’t need to play filler tracks if you have more good tracks.

True!

I am the type of person who buys an album and listens it to on loop in the car for a couple of weeks before searching out something new.

This means that my brain is normally full at any given time by only two or three artists.

You looking at the time makes me think you’re not comfortable with the situation. The fear about messing up is the single biggest obstacle you need to overcome. Being in the comfort-zone will make a lot things easier and more enjoyable for now.

I don’t have a problem with messing up technically (as in messing up a beat match or something), just that I am counting bad song choice as messing up.

It seems to me that you’re playing at Top 40-clubs. Am I right? People tend to loose interest quickly in these when you don’t play tracks which they recognize.

Kind of. I’m not really sure what top 40s is any more. Is skrillex number 1? Or is it abba?

It’s in an ‘exclusive’ area in the alps where the people are either the ‘hyper rich’ type or the staff working in the bars and hotels and schools or people on holiday (not so many this year).

I think everyone has their fill of the pop-pop stuff, there are enough guys to play that stuff. I think the clientelle are up for some more forward-thinking stuff, just have to be a bit delicate about it cos i’m not at the stage where i can say no to a gig.

To give you an idea there is someone here who i worked a bit for who had a very big name dj who you know play at their birthday party. I guess i would call their stuff pop (but is it top 40?) but from what i understand his set at their party was not very ‘family friendly’.

Also, i think if i feed the ‘request fest’ and play the classics (always asking for ac/dc!) then i don’t have a market out of this small area. If i practice the stuff i am more happy doing then maybe i can work my way into the nearby cities (40-90 mins drive) where real electronic music scenes exist.

[quote]So why not dig out some classics they wouldn’t expect?

Also why not go to a club where similar music is played and see what the DJs there do for a full evening? I used to wonder how that works in Indie-clubs until I was there for a few evenings.
You could also look at Serato DJ Playlists for hints on songs you can play but going to a club to catch the mood is a more valuable experience in my opinion.

If you already played a track there a ways of brinking it back like a remix or mashing it up with some other songs. Having certain songs or parts of it re-appear every now and then during sets is actually one of my favourite parts.

Have some crates sorted by criteria like mood or genre. Then determine which track to play according to the situation. Don’t freak out when you empty the dancefloor! It happens every now and then. Also keep in mind the time-line of a dancefloor!

Here are some Digital DJ Tips-links which may help you:

• 6 Reasons Why Not To Plan Your DJ Sets
• How To Read A Crowd (And What Happens If You Don’t)
• 7 Set Planning Secrets Of Professional DJs
• 5 Times When You Should Plan Your DJ Sets
• [/quote]

[jimdrake]

@AdamPollard55

you can’t really plan a 6 hour set. I played a few 4 to 6 hour sets (when other djs canceled and the night kept going past closing time, or when Im just the only person booked cause its a small night)

I find it a bit strange you run out of tracks. I love enough music to keep djing for days. to play those really long sets I just my megaplaylists from iTunes, where I have say, ‘dubstep’ or ‘everything around128 bpm’ playlists that I chuck any track in iTunes that I like. just play to the vibe at the time, with such a long set, the room usually changes a lot so you have to just feel it out. you have be the warm up guy, then the peak time guy, then the closing set guy, all in one set. i loved those long sets at the smaller nights cause it taught me an awful lot about djing and gave me practise at all the different kinds of djing.

side-note: never play ‘filler’. differentiate peak time floor fillers from the more chilled rollers, but filler is a waste of everyone’s time. unless by ‘filler’ you mean the more chilled stuff lol

By filler i mean songs which i think fit the vibe and tempo but aren’t songs which i would choose otherwise.

[DJ_ATX]

@jimdrake

Hey guys,

I wonder how you all deal with playing longer sets of over 2 hours?

Generally if I try to make a playlist then I get to an hour and then I’m stuck. Then i just start adding filler tracks every other song to make time. I also get stuck into the problem that “shit i already played a song by X so I can’t play another one by X for at least an hour”. You can tell the filler tracks cos the vibe does die a bit.

Any tips on how to deal with this?

Here is an example of how I feel like organising a 3 hour set starting at 3am:

Start with Swedish House Mafia ‘One’ including the intro bit. Seems to punctuate from the previous DJ well and sets the vibe quite well. Then basically I want to run an hour with this but can’t go too far hardcore house because it’s too confusing for the crowd and boring for me. But don’t want to go too more pop because the crown have already been listening to that 2-3 hours ago and again too boring for me.

Then I want to do an hour quite well summed up by Dizee Rascal ‘Bonkers’. Something where the synth stuff is getting quite aggressive but it’s still pop.

Then I want to do an hour of Skrillex but if course don’t actually want to play Skrillex for an hour.

Then an hour spare of ? Getting into DnB means a whole new search of music for me.

Any tips?

I don’t even know how I would deal with playing a whole club night of 6-8 hours. Maybe could do an hour of real pop-pop, and a (friendly?) hiphop hour. But still feel like clutching at straws a bit. Maybe put on a deadmau5 mix for an hour in the middle and go have a nap?

All I ever play are 4-5hr. Be it mobile gigs or guest spots at clubs or my current residency.

The key is to know your library. Also planning sets is pretty much futile in what I do. Between flowing with the crowd AKA reading the crowd, which seems to be a lost art with the newer DJs, and taking request, you pretty much blow your set right there. I typically have a playlist/crate (depending on which software you use) of 9hrs worth of songs that I know will be good for the venue I am playing it. IF its an electro club it will be composed of electro/dubstep type music. At my residency, its open format, so I will have Top40, Dance Electro, 80’s hip-hop in there. Even though I will do 4-5hr sets, I have more than that so, again, I can free flow.

Never be afraid of playing old crowd favorites
I know a lot of DJs don’t like taking request. However, it is a good gauge of what the crowd is feeling that night. If I get a handful request for hip-hop, guess what, more than likely hip-hop is the flavor of the night. So I will thrown in a few and see how the crowd reacts.

Bottomline:
Learn and grow your library
Read the crowd and play accordingly
Don’t be afraid to entertain requests’