Staying busy
So, i’ve always wondered this and i just decided to post this since i saw the blog today. Do you feel that your not busy enough if you’re not scratching? Like if your scratching at a club/bar do you feel that theres some parts that your just not scratching and not doing doing anything besides toutching EQ
I don’t scratch, but I feel like I stay pretty busy so I’m not sure what you mean.
I mean - I guess thats how i asked the question. I ment a lot of people that scratch don’t scratch 24/7 so i was seeing what else did they do, do they fake being busy, or just take a breather.
i wonder this about most house djs using traktor and the sync function. in alot of vids in youtube i watch and local djs i see at clubs, once theyve mixed the two tracks, they spend most of the time pretending to slightly adjust the eqs, when in fact nothing is changing.
hell when i mix house and techno, i mix 2 tracks, then select the one i want after that, cue it, beatmatch it, maybe play with an effect or two on the one playing, and i still have to wait about for the right moment to mix. shit can get boring imo, i mean i love the music, but theres not much else to it than that
You’re a DJ!
Your job is to have fun helping other people have fun. There’s no reason not to just dance around and groove to your music. You don’t have to be doing something all the time. Just like a vocalist kinda just stands there or dances around or something while someone else is performing a solo.
If you’re bored…I think that means you’re playing shitty tracks.
Boy, Amen to that
Agree with this entirely!! If you are bored its got nothing to do with you not being busy enough. Time to change your music style or just understand that DJing perhaps isn’t for you!
hey
To be fair to the poster, we have never heard his music so its a touch harsh to just brand it as crappy! 
What’s maybe also possible is that its just a case of he’s so used to scratching and being busy with his hands that he then naturally feels fidjity otherwise. Kind of similar to smokers who, when they stop, need something to do with their hands because they’re so used to it that they feel something is missing.
But for me who doesn’t really scratch much, yeah in the past if I’ve done an odd crappy bar gig that’s dead and there is no atmosphere then I would maybe be a bit bored, but soon as i have some engagement and some atmosphere then I’m dancing about, joking with the staff, taking requests from the customers, looking through the lappy to decide what to play next or looking for ideas and some inspiration for things to note down and maybe play later.
But a lot of the time just people watching, reading the crowd and getting an idea of what they’re dancing too and what they’re not, or early in the night what they’re bobbing their head to, getting a little more animated to etc so I can get an idea of what’ll work later.
However it can also be said that DJing does take a certain type of person, outside of the obvious love for music obviously. A lot of times, your “outside” the party to a certain extent. Its alright thinking about the DJ as the centre of the show and getting all the girls etc, but like many jobs while the superstars get the red carpet anywhere they go, for the day-to-day working DJ grinding out their rent money its not always like that. Everyone is having fun and and getting drunk and (least for me) you can have a couple of drinks but need to stay on the ball enough to work properly. Even though your having fun and dancing about and stuff, you need to be happy in your own company and able to be the one standing at the side providing the party for other people. And obviously your working weekends and missing a lot of nights out, parties, events etc. In years gone past (lol too many years ago!! 
) I missed the majority of my friend’s 21st parties for example, apart from a rare one or two super important ones that I couldn’t miss and I managed to get my residencies covered for.
Its not for everyone. I know a lot of people who have worked with me as barstaff etc and who have tried their hand at it, but then they realise both the above and also how much background work there is keeping track of music and organising (and these days beatgridding and setting cue points, fixing tags etc lol) and basically homework and background work, and they drifted away after a few weeks/months.
k
Never once said his music was shit. All that was said is that he may be bored with what he’s playing. There is a difference.
+1. Quoted for truth!
edit:
Very interesting point. Never quite looked at it from this perspective, but you’re absolutely right.
[quote=“kevinmcdonough, post:8, topic:41796, username:kevinmcdonough”]
To be fair to the poster, we have never heard his music so its a touch harsh to just brand it as crappy!
[/quote]Perhaps my post was unclear. I don’t need to hear his music, and it doesn’t matter what my taste is. If he’s bored, he plays shitty (to him) tracks…or, like you said, DJing might not be for him.
heh…
(jk…lulz)
I mean all of you have GREAT points! I mean I have fun no matter what, even if i fist bump to my own songs. At some points of the night i feel like “this song already has a perfect breakdown so why should i mess with it” Like @kevinmcdonough said sometimes you just don’t move your hands.
" Originally Posted by mostapha
You’re a DJ!
Your job is to have fun helping other people have fun. There’s no reason not to just dance around and groove to your music. You don’t have to be doing something all the time. Just like a vocalist kinda just stands there or dances around or something while someone else is performing a solo.
If you’re bored…I think that means you’re playing shitty tracks."
Yeah, i guess your right! This thread wasn’t 100% for me, but i have learned so much.
Just have fun, you don’t have to be going crazy back there … and play better music (;
Don’t convince yourself that you have to be doing something all of the time. Sometimes (in fact, I’d say AT LEAST 90% of the time) it’s all about the right record at the right time.
I’ll try it next time 
It’s always about the right record at the right time. I’ve heard effects that added to the set, but I’ve never heard effects that were actually “necessary” unless the track sucked on its own.