DJ Bertie
I've only been djing gigs for a few months now. But at mostly every gig I get blown up with requests. People seriously can't let me do what I do, which ends up discouraging me (by thinking no one likes what I play).
I am curious what you all do when you're playing dance or rap, and someone requests something like the grateful dead/classic rock. I can definitely get most of my transitions good, but sometimes they're god awful. I don't believe that all of you seasoned djs (by seasoned I mean 10+ years) get your transitions right all the time either. But do you guys use samples a lot? Do you simply cut straight into the next song, or fade?
Thanks all
I am curious what you all do when you're playing dance or rap, and someone requests something like the grateful dead/classic rock. I can definitely get most of my transitions good, but sometimes they're god awful. I don't believe that all of you seasoned djs (by seasoned I mean 10+ years) get your transitions right all the time either. But do you guys use samples a lot? Do you simply cut straight into the next song, or fade?
Thanks all
geposted Sat 16 Feb 13 @ 10:06 am
groovindj
Requests are a good thing because you're learning what the crowd wants to hear. If you're getting loads of requests for a different type of music to what you're playing then you need to switch genres.
The important thing to remember is - you don't HAVE to mix. That's mainly a DJ thing. The average crowd doesn't give a damn, they just want to dance and have fun. There are all sorts of ways to move from one track (or genre) to another that don't involve beat mixing.
Don't be afraid of leaving a small gap in the music either. It gets their attention and also makes it easier to jump tempos.
As long as you keep the songs coming, you're doing fine. The main thing is to play what they want.
The important thing to remember is - you don't HAVE to mix. That's mainly a DJ thing. The average crowd doesn't give a damn, they just want to dance and have fun. There are all sorts of ways to move from one track (or genre) to another that don't involve beat mixing.
Don't be afraid of leaving a small gap in the music either. It gets their attention and also makes it easier to jump tempos.
As long as you keep the songs coming, you're doing fine. The main thing is to play what they want.
geposted Sat 16 Feb 13 @ 10:27 am
DJ Bertie
Thanks, that's good advice. The only thing I question is where you said don't be afraid to leave silence in between songs? I think there may be controversy with this. I've learned a bit from someone who's djd for for around 12 years and he told me to NEVER let the music completely stop. I can totally see how, if done right, it could attract attention. But it has not been a good thing every time I accidentally had let a song run out.
geposted Sat 16 Feb 13 @ 10:35 am
groovindj
There are some very well known songs that have periods of silence in them - a recent one being Gangnam Style.
As an example you could use that silence as a transition point, so you wait until it builds then drops out, and instead of letting it carry on into "opa gangnam style" and the main riff, you bring in "every day I'm shuffling" or "Barbra Streisand" instead.
One thing I do quite often is use a brake effect to stop the track, wait a second then bring in the next one.
As long as you're timing it to the music, people will just carry on dancing. By the time they've realised the track's stopped, the next one's up and running. At 120bpm a one beat gap is 0.5 seconds. Sometimes I leave a gap of three beats (i.e. stop two three four go).
As an example you could use that silence as a transition point, so you wait until it builds then drops out, and instead of letting it carry on into "opa gangnam style" and the main riff, you bring in "every day I'm shuffling" or "Barbra Streisand" instead.
One thing I do quite often is use a brake effect to stop the track, wait a second then bring in the next one.
As long as you're timing it to the music, people will just carry on dancing. By the time they've realised the track's stopped, the next one's up and running. At 120bpm a one beat gap is 0.5 seconds. Sometimes I leave a gap of three beats (i.e. stop two three four go).
geposted Sat 16 Feb 13 @ 11:08 am
DJ Bertie
Oh now I know what you mean. Thanks for the advice!
geposted Sat 16 Feb 13 @ 11:34 am
danielsr2006
Great advice groovin!! There is dj in my area that try's to beatmix every single track, and yet his dancefloor still clears in between certain "mixes". I think that sounds worse than the small silence...
geposted Wed 27 Feb 13 @ 7:06 am
DJ Bertie
That's def one method. Another is literally just using your ear and not even looking at the computer screen.
geposted Wed 27 Feb 13 @ 11:22 am
ewanh
Use effects, back spin, echo, delay etc to go into a track that won't match tempo or move to different style
geposted Sat 02 Mar 13 @ 3:40 pm