Hi, I’ve just started DJing and for my first show I’m planning on writing down the order of songs I’m going to play in a long list, putting songs that I know go well together next to each other and writing little tips about where to change songs and mix. Does anyone else do this? Does this make me a “fake” DJ, just running through things on stage that I’ve already rehearsed? One side of me says that every rock band practices before they play live but the other side of me says that DJing should be more spontaneous. Note: I still drop in samples and effects live whenever I feel like it, the only thing I write down is the order of the songs.
Genuinely wondering, not trying to start an argument here.
I think it’s ok to do this. big names do this all the time, take porter robinson as an example, he plays the same set almost in every show.
About the transitions(where to change songs) you can do this on traktor, adding Fade out markers on the current song and Fade in markers on the song you want to mix in.
no biggie when youre just starting out. i used to do that but i usually end up playing the first 2 songs then going a totally different direction. be able to adapt to the crowd
It’s not the worst idea but you gotta be flexible… reading a crowd is one of the most important skills a DJ can have and a preprepared set is going to struggle with that.
Big guys might play the same set all the time, but the crowd are there to see them, they know what there fans like. We’re not at that level.
having tips witten down about individual songs is a great idea so keep that up. planning a set is fine if the set works and by that i mean if your plan is to go from song A to song B but song B is fairly different from song A and you can see the crowd is loving song A, then you shouldnt mix into a song that is too different. that being said, if it looks like your next cued up song will be a hit, go all for it. my best recommendation would be to right down the style of songs you wanna play in a set then get a list of those songs in no particular order. from there play them as you see fit. its like a looser version of planning a set
In my opinion, if you need to do this for your WHOLE set, then you really aren’t ready to be playing out yet I’d say. I usually have my first two or three tracks figured out before hand just to get me in the groove, but after that it’s all by feel. And if you haven’t learned how to “feel” it yet, get back to the bedroom and just keep playing and digging for tunes until you do develop that feel.
For me, it wasn’t really a question of whether or not I “should” do this – I HAD to do it to be able to put out a decent set. It’s kind of a gamble, because if the crowd doesn’t like what you’ve planned out for the evening you’re not gonna be able to adapt. But for most people who are just starting, that’s just the way it has to be in the beginning. Flexibility will come from experience.
I started off doing this, but every time I do a show I create a different set. Now I have 10 or so different playlists, and I don’t have stick to them as closely as I used to, sometimes switching between them or throwing in other songs that seem to fit the crowd’s taste.
Just as a tip, something I do all the time, adjust your deck headers so that they will display the comment field of the ID3 tag. I leave all sorts of notes in the comment field to help me mix any given track with other specific tracks.
i really have no plan of action except beating the brakes off the place im mixing at haha. probably why i dont do alot of live remixing but i do tend to work in things ive planned out in practice if that makes sense. but as they say, to each their own
by the way: if you are on traktor, you dont have to write the order down. put the tracks in one playlist, right-click the header to make the “mix” colum visible, there you can write in the numbers and arrange how you like it
I agree. There’s nothing wrong with doing this. It’s not cheating if you choose to be doing the same thing as an iPod or make yourself that easily replaceable. Makes the chances for good DJ’s to get your gig better!
While there is really no right answer to this question, I think there is really something to be said for DJ’s who DO NOT do it, as I find their sets much more creative. I’d rather hear creativity with minor hiccups than washed out re-used setlist with perfect mixing.