DJing for the first time...

Dwight Yorke

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!
Right, my student union (Goldsmiths College) sent out a message on facebook basically asking for people to do DJ sets at the weekly club night. I'd put together two things on Audacity for my blog and sent them the link. They've booked me in for next wednesday for a 90 minute slot. Now, I've never DJed properly in my life, so basically any tips/hints/things to remember would be appreciated!
 

mos dan

fact music
but you are dwight yorke!! how could this possibly go wrong?

(sorry i am the only person i know/on dissensus/in the world who doesn't dj, i can't help)
 

STN

sou'wester
You're probably smarter than me, but I'll warn you anyway: don't get totally fucked before you go on.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
1) Email them and sort out what the gear is (are you intending to play records, cds or laptop?).

2) Find out who else is on and what time your slot is.

3) Think about at least 3 sets:

a) empty room or people sitting down and talking (i.e. you are warm up or the night is a disaster)
b) a reasonable amount of people dancing
c) going off.

4) Take your own headphones but not ones that cost 200 quid.

5) make sure you hassle at least a couple of mates to come along (but the more the better).

6) Make sure someone can show you how to work the mixer, if you are using it - that always confuses the fuck out of me.

7) Remember to smile.
 

computer_rock

Well-known member
I can only speak for myself but the thing that you'll probably have trouble with is actually being able to hear what the fucks going on.

A large room with really loud music is a completely different acoustic environment to your bedroom, and getting used to and adapting to this fact is actually quite tricky. It sounds obvious but what will probably help is spending some time fiddling with the levels in your headphones and the monitor speaker (if there is one) until you're happy with what you're hearing. Again quite obviously you'll have to do on the fly (ie when you're up there) so it's something you can't really prepare for, however making sure you have headphones cups with complete ear coverage will probably help you out a bit.

Good luck!
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
"You're probably smarter than me, but I'll warn you anyway: don't get totally fucked before you go on."
He meant to say "do get totally fucked before you go on". That way if it all goes wrong then at least you won't remember it.
And do what John said and see what set up they've got up so you don't end up trying to play records on a cd player. For the first night you should be able to get all your mates to come along, don't take no for an answer. You can't apply that kind of pressure or emotional blackmail every time so milk it for all it's worth on this occasion.
Best of luck, you've probably already thought more about it than anyone else who blagged a slot and so you've got a huge head start.

Oh yeah, and don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm talking about.
 

nomos

Administrator
i often ask about the mixer ahead of time so i can find a pic online and see how the cueing is supposed to work. besides trainwrecking that's usually my biggest worry. and don't be afraid to ask the previous dj questions about the mixer if need be.

as with everything else in life, my basic strategy is to overplan the whole thing. i've also had to accept that i'll never be a great beat matcher (which is overrated anyway imo :D).
 

tom lea

Well-known member
i warmed up @ nail the cross at goldsmiths last year and couldnt hear much from behind the decks - if that's the case with you then just complain to the organiser furiously with maximum gesticulation, and that way the crowd know that any bad mixes arent yr fault. even if they are.
 

computer_rock

Well-known member
Oh yeah and if you can't hear anything from the monitors and/or everything sounds like shit try and find the split cue function on the mixer (if there is one) and retreat back into your headphones, just don't forget you're playing to a room full of people (if you haven't cleared the floor already lol)
 

john eden

male pale and stale
oh yeah, figuring out how the cue works is always a pain in the arse. good advice.

I always thought that was just me... :slanted:

I suppose some good advice is to be enthusiastic and professional with the organisers cos they might ask you back if you're not all moody and diva-ish.

There's a "dj disasters thread" somewhere on here as well which might be worth a look...
 

don_quixote

Trent End
if no one is dancing play 'out of space'

if no one is dancing play 'don't stop the beat'

if no one is dancing play 'we are your friends'
 

tom lea

Well-known member
Oh yeah and if you can't hear anything from the monitors and/or everything sounds like shit try and find the split cue function on the mixer (if there is one) and retreat back into your headphones, just don't forget you're playing to a room full of people (if you haven't cleared the floor already lol)
yeah but if you put both headphones on then you're at risk of doing something stupid like mixing w/ the crossfader all the way to one side. i did this twice at the egg recently. but it was about 5am and i'd been doing whatever since 9 so it's probably allowed.
 

STN

sou'wester
If girls start dancing, try to keep them. A dancing girl is worth three dancing boys in terms of critical mass. Or something.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
when i first started i would always bring way too much material and then end up confusing myself flipping through the CD books and crates. and even recently i would cram too much into my live sets. what I've learned is to edit edit edit -- a main to the point program, and also prepared for the other situations that John mentioned.

also might be good to have a funny song in case a fight breaks out?
 
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