Rave Playlist HELP

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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1

Rave Playlist HELP

I am a high school sophomore and I double as a mobile DJ playing mainly pop songs back to back. It requires almost no skill but its a good side job. At the last dance I did I got a lot of requests for basshunter (the only techno they’ve heard). The buzz in the hallways of our school is that kids want a rave.

So I’ve organized one.

Now I have to get ready to DJ.

I’ve watched many of Ean’s videos and I’m practicing no stop.

One place I’m stuck is the playlist. I have downloaded some collections of songs but I have no idea whats good and whats not. At this point I don’t even know the difference between house, trance and techno.

Anyway, I digress. What songs should I play do you guys have any suggestions. What songs are you’re essentials. I was thinking maybe some dance remixes of pop songs because that’s what these guys are familiar with.

Also, any tips for a noob like me?

Thanks so much:slight_smile:

2

go to raves. study the scene, study the music. listen to dj mixtapes and study the playlists to get familiar with the names of producers. practice for atleast a year in your bedroom or until you’re confident in your technical skills and musical knowledge. best tip i can give ya mate.

I don’t want to speak for everybody here, but I assume most of the people here at djtechtools do the DJ thing because it gives us the chance to play the music we like, not to play what everyone else is playing… but if you want to know what all the popular dance music songs are you can checkout Beatport and see whats on the Top 10 lists.

3

Start here: http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ this will give you a grasp on the different genre’s within electronic music…

Then head on over to http://allmusic.com and do a search for basshunter. They will give you a list of similar artist and artist that he was influenced by. That’ll get the snowball rollin.

4

Also a good spot is Pandora. Pop in basshunter to create a station and follow the producers that come up. Then pop those producers in to create a station and follow the onese that come up there. The rabbit hole is infinite and will only stop where you wish it to.

5

Alright, forgive me for stereotyping, but I’d say the kids at your highschool are looking for europop… not really rave music. Essientially, some cheeseball electronic music. If you showed up and played real techno, they probably wouldnt know what to do with themselves (and you better have a bumpin system for that).

If you are interested in finding things similar to basshunter, I recommend taking a look at the “clubland” compilation album series, as well as Clubland xtreme hardcore series. Not my type of music, but high school kids will be like “OMG this is awesome techno!!!”.

Since you are a self proclaimed “pop dj”, dont worry about the increase in skill stepping up to “techno” will take. most super mainstream stuff is essientially pop in a different setting.

EDIT

http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/

Is there any genre of music that guy actually likes? I swear I was reading “how many different ways can I say this genre is overplayed dumbed down pop bullshit”

6

I actually am interested in becoming better at mixing as this is something that interests me and I find fun.

Anyone now of a good spot to hear good djs in New York City.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far.

7

Dude, you are in the right place. I was just saying that for this gig, high school kids looking to rave, are really just looking for some candy bs.

Interest is where it all starts. Dunno if youve seen this vid, but this is pretty much what inspired me to learn digital djing.

8

I’ve got you covered man, I’m a senior in high school and I’ve done the same thing you are doing many times, I’m sure you have a ton of questions, so hit me up on facebook and i can help ya out

9

Damn, B33SON killlllled that, I need to work a little harder on my set!

11

Haha, No worries mate, thats exactly how I felt after watching that vid. According to the man himself, this 10 min mix took a couple weeks to hammer out. he usually uses 3 decks and a sampler, rather than full on insaneness!!!

The reason I brought it up is, Although the crowd at your hischool might want a rave (the misinformed highschool omg basshunter definition of it), I think if you get really dedicated to mixing, you could show up and play some dirty electro/nu disco and freaking rock the house. Just watching that vid of B33son makes me want to dance, and prior to seeing that vid in 2008, I was pretty much a Trance/DnB/funky breaks head, and that’s it.

+1 on soulwax/2 many djs. They do a majority of the production for Tiga as well, which is pretty pop oriented.