40+ year old DJ… first gig… any advice?

The Lounge General Discussion
#23

It’s great you enjoyed it. If you can get regular gigs without doing the whole promoting thing, and you enjoy the vibes the places you’d play, then go for it? Use it to test your productions on a big system, and who knows, you could be the first 40+ breakout DJ sensation and set a precedent :joy:

I was a DJ for nearly 15 years and got international bookings at some point whilst my production career was taking off. I stopped about 7 years ago. If you have any questions about DJing, I would be happy to help, even though you probably figured it all by now, it really isn’t that complicated :joy:

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#24

All the bases have pretty much been covered here. Knowing your tracks and audience are the most important. Try to show up a little early so you can get an idea as to what people are enjoying. Keep the flow of the music going, it wouldn’t be a good idea to go from Chicago House into Gabba. Also try as best you can to eliminate dead air when switching from the previous Dj. That’s most often when people lose a lot of the floor. One of the best things I did that pushed my sets to the next level was learning to mix in key. I’ve been playing since 2000, and came to realize that all those tracks that went so well together did so because they were in key. With records it was a little labor intensive, but since you’re using Traktor it’ll be a breeze. Not sure how well Traktor’s algorithms are these days, but I use “Mixed In Key” for this process. Also use it on samples to save me the hassle of having to manually tune my percussion.
Nerves are a big part of gigging, but if you can get your self hyped on the dance floor, enjoy others company, you can transition the nervousness into excitement. The nervousness always seeps away after the first transition (unless it’s a trainwreck), so just have fun and enjoy yourself. Eventually confidence rolls in and it won’t be a problem at all. Have fun!

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#25

I didn’t get my first “big” gig until I was 37…until then I’d only DJ’d sporadically at house parties and a lot of unusual events where the music wasn’t the focus and some small pub events.

If you like doing it I see no reason to not do it. And if you have connections use them. Whatever anyone wants to say…my primary job is in academia and it is just as much about who you know as the music industry is.

Don’t burn through songs too fast unless–unless its peak hour let people enjoy the groove and get into. Also, it gives you a break. Take the time to look up from the decks and scan the crowd/venue and have a drink of water

I don’t plan sets at all anymore, sorta. When I have gig coming up I get like 100-150 songs together and just practice playing them together. I’ll go back and look at the playlists my CDJs save and I might have like an “A” set of tracks (the ones I played more) and a “B” set of tracks and divide them up by play list that way.

I find any kind of planning at all useless except maybe some opening tracks, middle of the mix/peak tracks and some closing tracks.

While I do believe in keeping the groove going, don’t be afraid to surprise the audience once our twice with a big change up. Just make sure it is well done.

Harmonic mixing, yes, (super easy on Pioneer gear fwiw).

Finally, I always keep an extra USB or playlist for emergencies when I can’t get a crowd going. Its a collection of four to the floor pop remixes I’ve been collecting over the years. They aren’t hard to find, I’m not hoarding anything special. It has just been plain old digital crate digging to find them. But I’ve got a remix of Whitney Houston’s “Its Not Right, But Its OK” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that have both saved my ass a few times–people are there to have fun and dance.

Being a good DJ absolutely IS about your good taste in music but you’ve also got to balance that with what the crowd is going to like.

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#26

Opps…the only hard and fast rule I live by as a DJ–you aren’t ever too good to help carry equipment and set it up–this has probably taken me further than anything.

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#27

Reading all these replies is what I love about djing.

I agree with all the points and would often offer the same advice. I used to deliver djing workshops and had said most of the things mentioned above.

But

As I read through I’m thinking great advice but that’s not how I do it and that’s why djing is great. It’s an individual thing and one bit of advice I’d give that ive followed for over 25 years is be you because there’s a million of everybody else. Do what works for you, experiment and be confident in doing so. Also every gig is different so one set of rules that worked in one gig may not work next time. Be ready to be flexible.

Again this may be totally different for someone else and that’s fine.

One thing I always loved was being part of a collective or dj crew. We had few of those over the years and would play together on 4 turntables and 2 mixers. Great way to combine styles and music tastes. These were some of my fav gigs. Older now though and no time to meet up and don’t want to be saying I’ll bring my ‘crew’ as my kids may slap me :wink:

As for practice in 25 yrs I still don’t have 2 tunes know mix perfect never mind practising entire sets. I did use to practice constantly but it was just djing, grabbing tracks mixing them. Mastering the mixer and turntable skills. May sound cocky but i never felt the need to practice a set as i feel i can just grab my music and mix it. Still today every gig is live and in the moment, I plan a few 100 tracks to bring then flick through and pick the next track and how I feel in that moment. Got to be ready to change direction at any moment, build upon what’s working and change what’s not. Actually was one time i practiced a set and that was when i stupidly entered the dmcs to make up numbers, i didnt win lol

Again though thats what works for me and everyone is different. When i was part of a team few guys used to practice routines, juggles and blends constantly and always perform them out exactly how they practiced them. I never had the patience and lacked their pinpoint technical skills. Thats why we worked great together, covering more styles and techniques.

When i took workshops we had DJs with many different goals and their paths would differ, some wanted to just play music they loved, some wanted to expand from production, others wanted to be a popular dj and seen it as a job and others just the idea of being a dj.

Answering your question where can i take it? I would say just enjoy it and let it take you wherever it does. Don’t over think, keep playing getting better, give your friend those sets and update them as you get better. Put mixes out there, stick some up here in this post? I know being older you have less time and energy to be putting gigs on, bringing mates and starting a vibe but thats what i loved about DJing when i started though i was obesssed with music and it was everything. I’m 45 now and couldn’t be arsed so only dj at gigs that involve me doing nothing but turning and playing music i like :slight_smile:

Lastly good luck and just keep enjoying it

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#28

Great advice and always be friendly with venue staff. A good attitude goes a long way in the business

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#29

My latest mix

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#30

btw…just want to say…so happy to see all the Elektronaut’s DJs coming out to say hello <3

#31

May as well add my last mix also :slight_smile: back when we had some sun did this mix

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#32

those are all some good points. you reminded me of my DJing days. granted, it was college radio and not usually parties. i never played a club. but i also never planned a set. it was more about knowing the music and just going with it for me. maybe a transition didn’t work as well as it could’ve. oh well. keeping things spontaneous and live was most of the fun for me. like, if you’re playing jungle and breakbeat stuff, it’s all likely going to flow pretty well. toss in some slower tempo stuff or something unexpected but with good energy to keep people on their toes. i played a house party way back then that was mostly CDs and 45s of old r&b and soul. people at the party probably would’ve been fine with whatever, but they really got into the stuff they hadn’t heard before. i didn’t plan the set. it was just a matter of dropping stuff when the moment seemed right, watching the crowd, etc. it was fun while it lasted. props to all of you who’ve been able to make it your career or have made money from it.

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#33

Are there particular settings/account types for Soundcloud that you need to upload mixes?
I’ve put a couple of remixes on SC and had them flagged for copyright (that I wasn’t really claiming ownership for in the first place…).

And… is it worth using Mixcloud as well as Soundcloud?

This is the next thing I want to start doing, then start blending in my own music. :sunglasses:

#34

I use mixcloud and soundcloud. Mixcloud i never get anything flagged but soundcloud can be tight on copyright. I usually make an intro and pick a more unheard of track to open with. Used to be you just made a 30 sec intro and that was it but its got a lot better now spotting multiple tracks in a mix. I rarely use soundcloud, maybe a mix or two a year so not sure of the best ways to get round the flagging these days apart from what i usually do

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#35

ive had a few short remixes flagged for issues on soundloud (prince and Leftfield, Nirvana and whigfield, a weird yellow submarine UKG thing i made) , but long mix sessions are typically ok though i dont typically have beatles in them.
i tag artists on soundcloud if theyre in the mix, if people listen then at least they can find the artist easily to purchase/look into their catalogue.

ive tried mixcloud (i think it was) but the export from traktor doesnt do cue points correctly so each track wasnt marked properly.
or it mightve been mixl8r, cant remember.

i may try live mixes with twitch/blastr radio soon.

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#36

:+1: This is what I’ll do.

I’ve been playing tonight at home, getting familiar with the Traktor controller I got recently… its first time I’ve properly worked with mixing 4 decks, and I can’t believe how much this journey has got me into dance music… especially techno and various sub-genres.

Having 4 decks loaded, with a bunch of hotcues/loops set up for each track, reminds me a lot of Dawless jamming too… it’s easy to jam them, and it’s great for getting creative/expressive with mixing on the fly.
My plan is to get this down a bit more, then record some 45-60min mixes to go on SoundCloud/Mixcloud.