just wondering what people prefer when they play out between preparing a set , or just winging it. on one hand you have a set you can practice and get to sound how you want, but is rigid and allows for minimal crowd interaction, and on the other hand you can try to go solely from the feel of the crowd, but have to constantly worry about finding the next track. I’ve tried both approaches but often wonder if other people struggle with this decision when they do shows.
i tend to have some sort of structure in my sets, but of course it all depends on what the crowd wants, i usually work with maybe a few songs that go well to start, then wing it, and of course work off knowing which tracks work well together etc
Some people prefer following a recipe to a T. Having all the items at hand, mostly measured out to specific amounts, and just following the plan. I like to call these people “bakers”.
Some people have an idea of what to make and how to make it, but like to improvise a bit with the timing and exact amounts. These people enjoy mixing things up a bit and going with what they know naturally. I like to call these people “chefs”.
When you go out for a meal, it really depends on the time and the venue if you want something that a baker would make, or a chef. Both can make excellent food, and it’s often quite different. Sometimes it’s absolute crap as well.
Sometimes the baker ends up just going off the recipe and going with what they feel might work better. Sometimes a chef needs to follow a recipe to get something correct.
It depends what kind of set you’re playing. If you’re a bug name guy who people have gone to see specifically, then you could have a pretty locked down set that you know people will dig.
Personally most of my gigs are for 5-6 hours in a bar/club so there’s no way I could prepare a set even if I wanted to. I much prefer vibing off the crowd. And the panic of finding the next tune can result in some inspired last minute song choices.
I go into any set with at least an idea of what I’ll be doing, perhaps some mini-sets in mind, but never anything completely planned. To me the two biggest things in DJing are track selection and reading a crowd, which go completely hand-in-hand with each other. If you plan your set completely rigid, and the crowd doesn’t dig it, what are you going to do? So, on a personal note, you’ll never hear a completely planned live set from me… Ever…
I always go into a set with 5 MP3 discs (always have other back ups incase one shats itself). But these MP3 discs have all the tracks i will need for that night warm up tracks, main set tracks, inbetween tracks and classics (all organised but i won’t go into that).
I never have a clue what set i will play, i wing it 100% of the time, Longs i have my discs i will survive as i know the crowds i play to and what they like at my residencies so makes it easier.
I’m over prepared for everything that I do, I have a backup mix recorded onto a CD incase my laptop goes down, I take a midi keyboard just incase one of my controllers goes down, I have the bmp, key and cue points set for EVERY track i’m going to be using.
I dont think i’d be able to go in with no preparation i’m not experienced enough yet.
I guess at some point i’m going to get asked to do a gig and not have the time to prepare, but i’ll always try and be organised its just in my nature to be really organised with everything that I do
I see your point but don’t think it’s the best analogy. if you have a cook who is cooking a steak one bite at a time, then that is different though. The reason I say this is that planning an entire set IS like cooking by a recipe. What you put out is what they get. A good DJ is unlike a cook though. He can and should completely change directions if the patrons aren’t feeling it. A large part is reading the crowd. That’s why planning all the way through is just a bad idea, and a waste of pay on a promoters part.
