Michael M. Hughes
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Michael M. Hughes
ParticipantIf it’s in a pub, you might want to try playing non-dance music for a while to warm everyone up—you have non-dance music, too, I hope? Rock, alt-rock, reggae/dub, acid jazz, hiphop, older classics, etc. I have a 4+ hour gig tomorrow, and though it’s a dance-centric event, the warmup portion of the evening can take an hour or more, and I love having time to be more experimental. I like playing with my audience’s heads—I have been known to throw in tv theme songs, weird jingles, etc.
I also like to work thematically when possible, or play off things happening in the world. My gig tomorrow is for a local currency organization, so I’m playing songs related to money, including a dub version of Pink Floyd’s “Money” and ODB’s “I Got Your Money,” for instance. But in light of the deaths of Beastie Boy MCA, Go-Go legend Chuck Brown, and now (hard to believe) Donna Summer, you can bet your ass I’ll be playing tribute to them throughout the night.
ParticipantPhil Morse, post: 20089, member: 2 wrote: Thanks Jorn, that is an excellent broad overview of the responsibilities and limits you should clarify right at the start.
I will second that. Excellent advice.
ParticipantThere’s a fine balance between being a “crowd whore” and a great DJ playing great music. That’s why it’s an art. And it’s important to understand your crowd and to remain flexible, regardless of how you see yourself or what you feel is “correct” DJing. Because in the end, if people aren’t dancing or are bored, you’re not doing what you’re being paid to do.
The crowd at this party was not fully enjoying the younger DJ, regardless of his tight spinning and creativity. They weren’t being “educated”—they were being bored. A great DJ fits somewhere in-between the young guy and the old guy—creatively programming the sound and working the crowd. Working that middle-ground is a skill that takes a lot of practice in front of an audience to master.
ParticipantColtrane is always in my wedding dinner music lineup, especially “My Favorite Things.”
ParticipantSoft/slow music and ballads, yes. But I’d also some light contemporary pop on hand. I still think slow jazz might be a misfire for a college-aged crowd, so have some other stuff lined up as a backup. Jazz and ballads work great for a wedding dinner, but for a sorority dinner I’d want to keep the vibe a little higher.
ParticipantI’m running Lion with Traktor Pro 2 and it’s flawless. Traktor’s recent update has ironed out a few bugs, too, and everything seems to run more smoothly.
ParticipantIf this is a sorority, I’m assuming it’s young women. I don’t know if soft jazz would go over very well—make sure you have some contemporary top-40-ish stuff.
ParticipantAnd take Phil’s course when it’s released. Seriously, it’s like cramming a couple of years of learning into something you can watch in one day. I wish something like it had existed way back when I started.
ParticipantKeylock is a great feature. But don’t push it too far—over 6% or so it can really start to affect the quality of the sound.
ParticipantYou can slowly and imperceptibly (over the course of a few minutes) bump up the BPM of the currently playing song to match the incoming tune (and you can also lower the bmp of the incoming song… meeting somewhere in the middle). As long as the difference in BPM isn’t too much (I don’t go over 6%) you just use pitch lock and do your blend.
Definitely use the BPM readout on Traktor—that’s what it’s there for! Use it!
And remember, you don’t HAVE to do seamless beatmatching all night long. I really recommend Phil’s course (which will get you up to speed MUCH faster than the DJing for Dummies book), which demonstrates a number of transitions. You can simply fade a song into the next (with the right phrasing), cut in on the beat, do a spin-back, or even let a song fade out completely before starting the next. Focus on getting the right tracks in the right order and not just matching songs because they have similar BPMs.
ParticipantLew, you are the MAN. That’s exactly what it was. I have no idea why the tick is a headphone icon. Thanks, amigo!
ParticipantYep. Last wedding I played, someone came up and said, “The groom loves hip hop” (which they hadn’t told me when I met with them). Threw down a hip hop set that went on through the night’s end and the dance floor was packed the whole time.
ParticipantThanks, U31—great tune! I would probably mix that into Gnarls Barkley…. 🙂
September 20, 2011 at 2:22 pm in reply to: You have three days left to get our new video course at pre-launch prices #7651ParticipantLet me just say this course is FANTASTIC! I wish I’d had something this practical and informative when I was just starting out. And even though I’ve been DJing for a very long time, I picked up some great tips and tricks. Nice work, Phil! I’m going to recommend it widely.
ParticipantFirst, ask yourself if you really need to do that kind of transition. Do the 2 tracks really work together? That should be your focus. If they do, and you need to make the transition, you could do as U31 noted and just cut/drop. You could also use effects—for instance, the delay with a freeze on the final beat so that it echoes in a satisfying way and bring the moombaton in when it sounds right. Finally, there’s no harm in simply letting the electro tune end or fade and then bring in the slower track. Everything doesn’t have to be a smooth transition, and sometimes no transition at all is fine. No one’s going to give you a failing grade on your DJ report card if you just let a tune end, and sometimes it actually sounds quite good.
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