read the crowd or prepare your set ???

[JesC]

Its hard to prepare a set, especially if its longer than 2 or 3 hrs. What I usually do is have play list of my tracks like my New Wave I broke it down into 3 groups 110 - 135BPM (10hrs), 136 - 155BPM(8Hrs), 156 - +200BPM(10hrs). Yeah its preselected music but I have alot of choices of tracks that I can play.

[Sheph]

it is important for a DJ to play what the crowd wants to hear, not what the DJ wants to hear. Some DJs are lucky enough to get both at a venue, but it still boils down to the fact that if the crowd doesn't want to hear what the DJ thinks is awsome, then the DJ will end up masturbating (playing with himself, for himself!).

On the flip-side, it's important that a DJ be more than a biological iPod. if a DJ does not add any sort of personality to the booth, then what's the point?

I've found that it's best to prepare pre-determined sequences of a few tracks instead of an entire set. This allows a DJ to play to the crowd, and then when there is confirmation that the audience is enjoying the present genre, the DJ may have a more intricate, tightly organized routine that fits well at the time and demonstrates his/her exhibitionist skills that iPods just don't have yet.

turntablists use this organization when hired to DJ for extended periods of time. Juggling and scratching is generally only cool for 10 minutes at a time or so. any more than that and the audience (and DJ) will likely be overwhelmed. being able to play without concern for the ultimate buildup and sequenced breakdowns is just as important as occasionally doing so.

s.

[wrong chris]

it is important for a DJ to play what the crowd wants to hear, not what the DJ wants to hear. .

i disagree... the DJ needs to play what he wants to hear, he has to trust his own instincts. If what he wants to hear is what an audience wants to hear then he is a good dj. It does not make him any better of a dj to be able to detect wether or not the crowd likes what he is playing or not, he should already know what will/won't work instinctively.

If it ever gets to the point where a DJ has to second guess his own instincts, he's already fighting a losing battle in my opinion.

Take guys like Mike Relm, Coldcut, Z-trip ... when you attend their shows you can tell that an immense deal of preperation goes into their sets prior to performance. The audiences they attract are not paying "crowd readers", they're paying guys who trusted their own instincts and play what THEY(the dj) wants to play.

I think the minute a DJ feels the need to start compromising their own taste and artistic vision to please a particular crowd based on some nuances they're picking up from the dance floor is the moment they're DJing badly.

If a DJs instincts/personal taste sucks, then they suck. simple as that. They can modify their set all they want but the proof is in the pudding, if they can't trust their own vision then what else do they have to offer?

[Kaon]

id say both are impotant
(the answer is always both)

[midifidler]

There is no way anyone could argue for one or the other, it has to be both.

Duer you say the DJ has all ready lost if he has to change from his plan because he thinks the crowd is not feeling it, it does not just need to be about playing a track that bombs, its about playing tracks that make people go spastic or setting up to do that in one of the next tracks.

DJing is not some right choice / wrong choice situation, and you are always going to be wrong sometimes so you need to be able deal with not being bang on.

Whenever I'm playing a house party I go purely with the flow, that gives me a chance to practice that element of DJing in a live situation without any real risk as you would have to really fuck up DJing a house party for it to have implications for your career, then for club gigs I plan what I want to play and see if it works.

Generally at a club gig people have expectations so its easy to find a common ground between your creative expression as a DJ and what people want to here.

[MisterMoleyMole]

Good discussion.

The reason i think i asked was due to seeing B33sons winning dj comp set on you tube and seeing all that 4 deck action going on. Surely there is no way that is improvised its got to be pre prepared. How can you just keep playing so many tracks over each other and by chance get iot sooooo right ... its a frikkin amazin set

[nemo]

Of course that set could be improvised. When recording a set, I know what tracks I am going to use, but not in what order, or how to mix them, I just go with the flow. Then with enough experience and training, 4 decks becomes like just any other thing while mixing

Sometimes 80% of the tracks that I intended to play, do not even get played haha Recording improvised sets is a good practice as well.

(and I have not seen the vid we are talig about, im making assumptions on my own experience!)

[MisterMoleyMole]

(and I have not seen the vid we are talig about, im making assumptions on my own experience!)

Well you need to its bloody brilliant!!! Well i thinkso anyway!

Do a search for any of his posts and the link is at the bottom of his sig

[djalexlaine]

just a few things after reading this:
1: dj notation is never a replacement for knowing your tracks backwards and forwards. just as the camelot system is never a replacement for knowing key harmonics. when are people going to start putting in effort to learn the real skills and knowledge that a DJ needs. camelot is a cheap replacement for knowing basic music theory.
2: just as in sports, you need to put the same amount of energy and effort into your preparation as you do your performance, 100%. last time i played, it was an hour and a half set and i spent almost 3 hours going through music preparing a crate to use. but i was 100% willing to throw the entire crate away to go where i needed to. this doesnt just apply to creating a setlist and such. it means putting effort into learning the key concepts of music: keys, harmonics, structure, beatmatching. we need to stop being lazy and start learning the trade and the skills necessary for it.
3: if i booked a dj that only played what he wanted, i would never book them again. i paid them to facilitate the party, not play for themselves. a DJ worth his money is going to find things that he enjoys and that works for the crowd. there is a difference between second guessing and evaluating where you are going and what you are doing. the latter is key for a DJ. i played a festival once where i wanted to start progressive and go into some really hard and heavy electro. i was about 2-3 songs into the electro and realized that it was not working. people were leaving. i very quickly switched gears into vandalism type stuff and the party started rolling again. i kept that sound for the rest of the night. it takes humility to look at what is being played and say, this isnt working, and switch gears.
remember that integrity and humility go as far if not further then professionalism in this business.

[Kaon]

just a few things after reading this:
1: dj notation is never a replacement for knowing your tracks backwards and forwards. just as the camelot system is never a replacement for knowing key harmonics. when are people going to start putting in effort to learn the real skills and knowledge that a DJ needs. camelot is a cheap replacement for knowing basic music theory.
2: just as in sports, you need to put the same amount of energy and effort into your preparation as you do your performance, 100%. last time i played, it was an hour and a half set and i spent almost 3 hours going through music preparing a crate to use. but i was 100% willing to throw the entire crate away to go where i needed to. this doesnt just apply to creating a setlist and such. it means putting effort into learning the key concepts of music: keys, harmonics, structure, beatmatching. we need to stop being lazy and start learning the trade and the skills necessary for it.
3: if i booked a dj that only played what he wanted, i would never book them again. i paid them to facilitate the party, not play for themselves. a DJ worth his money is going to find things that he enjoys and that works for the crowd. there is a difference between second guessing and evaluating where you are going and what you are doing. the latter is key for a DJ. i played a festival once where i wanted to start progressive and go into some really hard and heavy electro. i was about 2-3 songs into the electro and realized that it was not working. people were leaving. i very quickly switched gears into vandalism type stuff and the party started rolling again. i kept that sound for the rest of the night. it takes humility to look at what is being played and say, this isnt working, and switch gears.
remember that integrity and humility go as far if not further then professionalism in this business.

i dont use the camelot either because i consider it important to learn the hard way, but i wouldnt say it was cheap, not everyone is a natural musician, nor does everyone know musical theory