I’ve been producing techno/dub/ambient music for a few years now, and while I enjoy the process, some friends have been encouraging me to try my hand at playing DJ sets. Mostly because they say it’s a good way to get exposure and connect with the community. It’s hard to disagree with them, especially since I live in NYC and well, connecting with people through music is kind of the point, isn’t it? I also do enjoy making mixes and turning people on to new tunes.
The problem is I’m having trouble finding the proper motivation to get in to it. The thought of spending time and money on what is essentially playing other people’s tracks feels like a waste of energy. Shouldn’t I spend those moments recording my own music or practicing an instrument? There’s also the fact that I don’t like performing in front of a crowd in any capacity (totally nerve wracking) and I don’t want to be judged by a bunch of Buschwick hipsters because my deep cuts just aren’t deep enough for them. I’m also 40 and married. Do I want to stay up until 3:00am playing tracks for wasted club kids? Does NY need another DJ? Could I even land a gig??
This is the list of excuses that come to mind, and yet most producers I know seem to enjoy the process, and are having a blast playing parties. How do you feel about it?
you can just spin your own tracks if you want to not spin others’ tracks
you can mix other tracks with your tracks and create new moments every transition
you can bring drum machines or samplers and play them while spinning tracks
i’ll literally do just about anything tho for a gig as long as i’m getting paid to play with my stuff. i do a lot of “spotify DJ” parties and work with requests. i still make it interesting between tracks. i have 2 spotify accounts and use my computer and my phone as 2 of the inputs on my mixer
I’ve just started poking at it this week. I have a Xone PX5 mixer and Traktor Pro 3. I did a custom mapping to my MF Twister to use as a pair of decks.
I also just picked up an Intel NUC and 7” monitor (for other reasons). I just full screen Traktor in the small monitor and it’s really no different than a CDJ3000’s screens.
Super small setup that doesn’t have me staring at a laptop and I can beat match with it. Fuck beat/tempo sync DJing.
All of this is really just for personal enjoyment.
…i’m performing live elecronic and singing since almost 3 decades…never been a dj…
many people never get it, still callling me one, no matter how much i sing, twiddle knobs and hack into various hardware setups…
then i always say, nope, i’m a live act…i’m making records, i never deejay…
but from next year on, i don’t give a shit anymore and just take a stick with me to a gig…
and a mic…tired of setting up live gear rigs…not to mention to travel with it…done with that…
in essence, the content makes all the difference…is it ur very own shit or the shit of others that rocks the crowd/floor/venue while u enjoy the moment…
If you think it’s a waste of energy and just playing other peoples records don’t do it. Nothing worse than going to see someone force a dj set because they think they have to. Just as it’s terrible going to see a dj who thinks they have to play live to be more credible.
Do it because you love it and have a passion for it and for nothing else
…yeah, people can’t tell what u do…but they can tell how real u are with it…
i can smell dj’s that are only in the game for showing off, gaining social status and their egos instead of the music from miles away…
so go out and dj…but just play ur stuff and see where it takes u…
and if ur mixes suck on bigger systems, well, ur next mixes will defenitly translate already much much better…and don’t u worry about handling the decks and dj mixer…that comes easy within a few hours of training and is no big deal anyways, if u play ur very own material only…
Id recommend trying it just to see how many tracks have the same structure and totally predictable intro / break downs …it can help understand structure , similarities in chords / scales … help a little in how to approach mixing ( frequency wise )
Trying out your own tracks too.
I haven’t played in public - just make mixes at home and post on soundcloud. … it’s a good way to listen to new purchases and it’s also a bit like a puzzle game with a countdown to ensure tracks blend together and you quickly search through for something that will mix together. ( I never plan a track list … just find a track to start with and than panic to find something else to que up )
It is an interactive way to enjoy music. It’s many steps up from just loading a playlist.
It’s creative. It allows me to think of music and songs in different ways, mix them up in cool, funny, “wrong” and “right” ways.
It’s inspirational. A quick set before or in between a studio session opens up new creative ways to pursue with anything I am working on.
It’s an excellent way to test and A/B WIP. I like to take a track I am still working on, mix it with other similar songs, and see how it flows. I get great insight, sometimes even better insight that merely A/Bing the track against another track with a switch.
It’s a way to get a bit of a physical experience with music. Aside from manually selecting tracks and playing them, I get in a groove and like to shake my ass while I DJ. It’s an excellent alternative to listening to music while walking, doing a task, driving, etc.
It keeps me in touch with whatever is new out there. I get antsy when I play or listen to the same things all the time. With DJing, I get the incentive to find new music to play and enjoy.
It’s fun as hell. I can DJ for hours and have a great time, alone and with other people.
Last time I Dj’d, I got into a fight with 3 fuckers who tried to intimidate me when I was Djing. I showed them how it works here in Quebec when someone is fucking with you for no reasons.
I stopped the music, put my headphones on my deck, walked slowly to the tallest one and knocked him off. It didn’t go well for the other ones too. Don’t worry, usually I’m on the pacific side.
That was the last time I Dj’d professionally and the last time I got into a fight. That was 15 years ago.
If you’ve got enough of your own material you’re confident with for an hour to 2 set, and friends supporting, I’d say forget about searching and playing others’ music and find a setup for your stuff. U might regret it if you don;t try. But, if you deliver, you should eventually be paid for your time and gear investment!
In an attempt to be helpful, I searched your posts and see you have a DT. If finances allow, maybe get a second (or better an OT) and a dj mixer (Allen Heath!).
I enjoy it quite a bit, especially when using a real DJ mixer as opposed to a controller. I’m not a vinyl guy, as I’ve never had the funds nor space to have a big collection; always just used Traktor or Rekordbox but I really love using a nice DJ mixer. Used to have an Allen & Heath Xone 62 and then an A&H PX5, both of which are such nice mixers.
My main issue with it is how much time it takes to dig / find new music all the time, and I don’t really like playing the same old sets all the time, so I don’t do it too much these days. Prefer to play live sets when I can.
But yeah, DJing as an experience is so instructive to making any sort of club / dance music. You find out real quick how your tracks sound compared to other music when you play it in a set. Nothing better (or worse!)
i used to DJ. it was pretty fun when the party was poppin, it felt very dumb when no one was there. won a DJ contest and opened up a festival too. that was sick as hell.
my main ideal when it comes to DJing has always been unique track selection comes first. i got so intensely annoyed with DJs in the mid 2010s, every show i went to was guaranteed to have x-number of crowd pleasers that were played every single show, regardless of who was DJing. and that feels intensely lazy to me. i dont really care about any of the technical aspects of mixing or transitions and all that jazz. track selection over everything.
there is so much music released every single day that is as good, if not better than the crowd pleasers. but thats really more of a problem with touring DJs. but still, i think the main joy i got out of DJing was playing obscure bangers that got people going wild.
my peak DJ moment was opening up that festival at 10am at a pool stage rolling balls and pretty drunk red lining my homemade hardstyle DJ intro track into a Chief Keef hardstyle remix. the sound tech dude came up and asked “is it going to be this heavy the whole time.” what the fest 2015 was a party. both of these quotes from a local papers review are about me. ignore the old website formatting error, and it wasnt a remix but i did mashup photograph with some heavy bass track at the campsite set
valley DJ moment was playing at a juggalo gathering in eastern washington, was not aware that no one was there for music but hundreds of local djs were invited to play to nobody. then a thunderstorm happened.
nowadays i satisfy the DJ itch with my little soundcloud radio show, 10k Radio. finding tunes from artists with less than 10k followers on soundcloud. stopped live mixing tho, way easier to just plunk things in ableton.
