Recommendations/advice for a new DJ

rangrz said:
OP has a vagoo, not a penis. (and a very delicious one I might add)

As for why she needs help with genres...well, the scene she (we...I'm her technical guy/sound guy/organizer/etc) likes is one that trends towards house, hardcore, dubstep, dnb, etc. But OP has a bit of a fixation on twerk, moombah, hip-hop, as well as hipster shit.

So OP gets mehr that a room full of hipster lesbians and MDMA munching raver kids don't take well to a raunchy rasta voice spewing misogynistic nonsense over a bunch of sirens and whistles. But she also dislikes the actual people and environment that take well to it.

Here are some of her sets.
Dubstep
http://www.mixcloud.com/vladmirlenin/swag/
House
http://www.mixcloud.com/vladmirlenin/any-house-dawgs-in-da-house/
Moombahton
http://www.mixcloud.com/vladmirlenin/moombahton-hart-house/
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If you want to be really good you have to be flexible with ALL genres of music. Not just one because once you limit yourself to what you are comfortable with, it destroys all of your creativity and keeps you trapped inside that box. Most people cannot smoothly and beautifully transition from something in the 110bpms to something around 80s (example) because they are so fucking rigid and just try to go from song A to song B like every other mediocre DJ out there. A set without variation of tempos and genres gets sooo fucking boring and repetitive, as well as very predictable. The idea is to keep the crowd on edge throwing in stuff that they will least expect throughout the entire set. By doing so effectively, people will go fucking nuts during your set. It takes time and plenty of practice, but once you start getting the hang of it and keep going outside that comfort box you have created, experimentation becomes easier, smoother, and just plain better.

Fail to do so and you will be like every other "Beatport Top 100" DJ that just plays one hit, followed by another one, etc. etc...
 
^^ This is really good advice. I've heard some really clever drops in someone playing tech-house, techno and then BAM they put in a roots reggae classic as a cut and damn did the crowd shit their pants. A lot change up for beats too that might not be noticeable where good DJs have tracks that might not change tempo but the groove changes. Its all typical stuff, playing a breaks track that's basically a remix of a pop song in your set, changing the tempo and style in the last part of your set to match the next DJ, etc. etc.

"As a DJ you have to keep one foot on the dancefloor and one behind the decks." - How to Dj Right: The Art and Science Of Playing Records
 
There's literally hundreds of free Trap tracks on Soundcloud. Get some Hardstyle or Jumpstyle to go with it and it's the perfect party shit.



play the hardstyle to get people up and dancing and the trap as breaks in between, it's usually always 140-150 BPM so it's not too hard at all
 
Some genres are virtually impossible to even play by vinyl, e.g. Psytrance, since 99% of all releases are in CD or digital format.
 
jpgrdnr said:
^^ Discogs proves you wrong. There's some great stuff on vinyl there. Even 2013 releases.
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99% was an exaggeration, but the fact remains that so few Psytrance releases are released on vinyl that DJ's in practice don't have much other choice than to play CD's. It was different back in the 90's with Goa, but since the early 2000's there has been a drastical drop in vinyls. The drop has been much more drastic than in almost any other genre of electronic music. My guess would be that around 5-10 % of all new Psytrance releases gets released on vinyls.
 
Bagseed said:
you might be smart when it comes to science, but you obviously don't know shit about DJing. please gtfo.
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I dunno, depends on the scene you're in... all the big clubs and shows I go to; they spinning with a midi controller and a laptop. I only see vinyl at hipster shit and wack shows at a dive bar. (Which the owner is giving us the night to take over from the people who spin vinyl because for whatever reason, they don't seem to be able to draw a crowd in or hold the people who randomly wander in there for more than 15 minutes).
 
well, then I guess that the electronic music scene where you live is shit. spinning vinyl is art and it will live on. :)

btw, I can respect a DJ playing with CDs or computer, if he does it right, but many of them are just lazy Richie Hawtin wannabe fucktards. "Oh hey let's buy a bunch of tunes that sound pretty much the same on beatport. Loop that shit up in Traktor and use any sound effect every 60-90 seconds, as much "wouuuush" as possible". Seriously most of the Digital DJs play boring sets. Vinyl DJs at least try harder to be original.

This is what I'm talking about. For me, DJing is about a musical journey, not just about dancing to some groovy beats (both is the best obviously)
 
I actually happened to watch an interview with dieselboy on youtube today where he was talking about djs who use ableton to do the "heavy lifting" and basically he said if a dj is using ableton and all that he should be doing so much stuff that he has surpassed what is able to be done one regular gear.
 
what do you guys think about what the DJ is wearing? I like dressing up in general, cuz I have an interest in fashion. Most DJs I see tend to dress pretty non-descript. I want to be comfortable obviously, that's a top priority, but I also wanna look dope and kind of unique. Does an elaborate outfit detract from what the DJ is playing?

Just FYI, I usually go for something of a high fashion/avant garde look, but my residency is at a sketchy rasta bar in a hipster area of the city. Does this affect your opinions?
 
Who cares what the DJ is wearing? If people are standing around looking at the DJ they are doing it wrong. In fact, if people are just standing around looking at the DJ then it may be a sign that the DJ is no good.
 
Common sense applies I think for the venue you are working in. But its a good question now because if you take a look at the hipster dress code (I guess being anti-fashion?) its not really about wearing clothes for dancing. If you look at the Boiler Room crowds they are probably the worst dressed people. It always feels like the DJ and the crowd come from two different backgrounds in these Boiler Room situations. A t-shirt and a pair of jeans is pretty much the standard for DJs although in a lot of clubs there's the tendency to have new clothes so you give the appearance of money. Money and fashion and DJing go hand in hand.

It depends though. Higher end venues have a dress code, you can't wear jeans - to keep the street trash out (aka people with no money) or specific dress codes...Bal En Blanc in Montreal you have to dress all in white.

Compared to the old school NY warehouse idea of the weirder clothes the better, or the rave days where people dressed in basic baggy clothes or almost gym clothes so they could dance all night.
 
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