I think camelot is an incredibly useful tool. I am a musician. But even dating back to when I played vinyl, I tapped out my BPMs and sharpied them on the sleeve. I can tell, by audio, and memory pretty well 90% of the time that information, but it was always helpful to have that information visually and easily available. Especially now, when I’ve got 50k+ songs in my library, I think it’s just ridiculous to expect me to remember the key, bpm, etc of every one of those off the top of my head. By using camelot, I get to sort by key, and go “oh shit! that song WOULD make a good mix, here we go, let’s try it!” I’ll never turn down more “tools” to make my job easier. I mean, if we weren’t all about new tools, I doubt any of us would be digital DJs.
We’d still be playin’ it the natural way with slip cueing with no headphone monitor on the mixer.
I have a few “set mixes” that sit in my arsenal. They sound great, and they get used sometimes. But only in the situation where they’ll work for the floor. I think of “reading the crowd” akin to a game of chess. I think 3 moves ahead, if all goes to plan then I can stay on that path, but if they counter with something and throw me off, the plan changes (albeit still a 3 song plan). Thanks to that tactic, very rarely am I stuck staring at a dancefloor going “f*ck…what do i play?” (although after 13 years, I can tell you it’s happened a few times! lol)
you dont need music theory to know that a minor and d minor are harmonic keys. its not difficult to memorize those. basic music structure is extremely easy to understand. google it, im sure you can find something on it. musictheory.net is an amazing site to start learning. if you are going to play music professionally, you should know some basic theory.
That is music theory, though. I don’t think, to be an adequate DJ, that you need music theory. But to be a good, even exceptional DJ, I think you need to have some sort of understanding of how theory works.
ya fair enough, but you’re probably not hiring guys like Z-Trip or Mike Relm are you?
see those kind of DJs can play what they want without making compromises and since what they want is what the audience wants, it works for everybody. They can instinctively play what they want and it coincides with what the crowd wants to hear because these djs put themselves into the shoes of the crowd. They’re also the kind of DJs who are making the biggest splashes in the scene and have the most dedicated fan base.
Sure if you’ve got some asshole who can’t mix his way out of a betty crocker box playing only what he wants without feeling the crowd out then that’s gonna ruin a show- so cats like that really have no choice but to adapt to a crowds displeasure or chance never getting booked again.
But the guys who have a strong vision(who are doing something more unique than just mixing track A to track B) can get away with playing what they want since their own unique vision is what captivates and brings out an audience.
i hate prepared sets. How can you prepare a set unless you have a weekly full-night residency and know your audience in and out?
It’s like other peeps said: know your music very well, AND read the crowd, then decide what tracks you have to play in what order to get them groovin’ !
I never prepare my sets, i go in a few hours in advance, read the atmosphere, and decide what 2 or 3 tracks i am going to start with, and from then on it’s free-flow. Of course i make sure that both I and the promoter are clear about the style of music that i play.
I often think in “builds” when DJ’ing, a block of about 5 to 10 records, where i build up to a climax and then build down again for the next block of records. Can’t peak all the time can’t you?
i played a lot of techno back in the days (think classic stuff, R&S, detroit stuff) but even in techno you do your build ups and downs, also checked Jeff Mills plenty of times live (love how he worked the 909 into his sets and while it’s definately full on, there are also little dips and peaks… otherwise people simply walk away getting hammered…
and while it’s definately full on, there are also little dips and peaks… otherwise people simply walk away getting hammered…