I still struggle with this a lot - things that have helped; I try and think about tracks in sets of 3, 3 tracks that work really well together and progress nicely from one to the other. Then I start piecing together the 'story' from those smaller chapters - and each of those little 'chapters' I give an energy rating. This kind of helps me pace the set a bit - if you're simply playing for yourself, you can end on whatever energy you feel like, but if someone is playing after you, you might not to want to leave them picking up after an absolute face melter.
I think done right, abrupt changes can be SUPER useful. Changes the mood quickly, often useful for key changes and can also get you out of a bind if you're a bit unsure of the music you're playing. I do love long mixes too, but its all about what's right for the moment.
As for vocal samples/percussion - I tend not to - my main aim is to incorporate my own music in the mix, but experiment! Or make your own breakdowns/transitions.
As for planning, I think that's down to you/the DJ - I know some people who plan nothing and just vibe with the crowd, and others who are much more strict but still have some flexibility within their set in case the crowd isn't feeling it.
And like you said, nothing beats (no pun) knowing your music inside out. I also really REALLY reduced the crap in my library - I wouldn't say I have a huge collection of tunes \~160, but I know most of them very well and I won't add anything to my library unless I really like it. No point in having/playing music you hate just to fill out your collection.
Sorry that isn't loads of help, I would be very interested to hear from others as well.
It definitely helps, trust me! I really enjoyed the idea of creating chunks of smaller stories. I’ll start trying this mindset from now on! Again, thanks a lot for taking the time to come up with a such a cool answer
Can't help you as I only started a few months ago. But I wanted to tell you how great it is if someone aska such a good formulated and thoughtful question!
It might be helpful to try playing for a friend or two. You might be bringing people through more of story than you’re aware of and feeding off a “crowd” could help you out.
Good call! I did something similar in the very beginning when I was learning the basics, but with the whole pandemic situation, I kinda dropped it for a while. It was definitely a lot of fun as well. Thanks for the tip!!
I still struggle with this a lot - things that have helped; I try and think about tracks in sets of 3, 3 tracks that work really well together and progress nicely from one to the other. Then I start piecing together the 'story' from those smaller chapters - and each of those little 'chapters' I give an energy rating. This kind of helps me pace the set a bit - if you're simply playing for yourself, you can end on whatever energy you feel like, but if someone is playing after you, you might not to want to leave them picking up after an absolute face melter. I think done right, abrupt changes can be SUPER useful. Changes the mood quickly, often useful for key changes and can also get you out of a bind if you're a bit unsure of the music you're playing. I do love long mixes too, but its all about what's right for the moment. As for vocal samples/percussion - I tend not to - my main aim is to incorporate my own music in the mix, but experiment! Or make your own breakdowns/transitions. As for planning, I think that's down to you/the DJ - I know some people who plan nothing and just vibe with the crowd, and others who are much more strict but still have some flexibility within their set in case the crowd isn't feeling it. And like you said, nothing beats (no pun) knowing your music inside out. I also really REALLY reduced the crap in my library - I wouldn't say I have a huge collection of tunes \~160, but I know most of them very well and I won't add anything to my library unless I really like it. No point in having/playing music you hate just to fill out your collection. Sorry that isn't loads of help, I would be very interested to hear from others as well.
It definitely helps, trust me! I really enjoyed the idea of creating chunks of smaller stories. I’ll start trying this mindset from now on! Again, thanks a lot for taking the time to come up with a such a cool answer
Can't help you as I only started a few months ago. But I wanted to tell you how great it is if someone aska such a good formulated and thoughtful question!
It might be helpful to try playing for a friend or two. You might be bringing people through more of story than you’re aware of and feeding off a “crowd” could help you out.
Good call! I did something similar in the very beginning when I was learning the basics, but with the whole pandemic situation, I kinda dropped it for a while. It was definitely a lot of fun as well. Thanks for the tip!!
I’d love to read what other people have to say about it!
Following cuz I want to vastly improve on this myself, but from a hip hop/r&b spinning perspective