dj nerves

[wonk_vitesse]

this has never been a problem really in the past, i mean it's generally not like playing an instrument but i've found that as my sets get more complicated and technical i just have a nightmare b4 the gig.

Bad beat mixing can be really embarassing somehow, i remember some poor bloke in a pub in Leeds sort of giving up coz it was all going wrong for him

Anyone else have the same problem? it's normally transferring yer skills from yer home setup to the gig that can cause mayhem.

 

[dsp13]

take the bad advice of the worlds worst (and most nervous) dj... get drunk before you play... then you can blame the alcohol for all your terrible mistakes ( ^_^ )/.

Seriously though... I am a terrible dj and I can't beatmix to save my life but I get MEGA nervous on the odd occasion where some fool gives me a gig but I really do find a few drinks before hand allow me to relax and enjoy myself more... getting stoned on the other hand makes it 10 times worse!!!

 

[wonk_vitesse]

cheers , yes a few drinks does help, on this occasion the mixer/dex/monitoring was so messed up that it really was just press start every few minutes at the end of the day if you've got the tunes and are in the right place at the right time it's all worthwhile.

 

[Blackdown]

i've always found mixing in my bedroom and trying to beatmix under a 12k watt rig quite different skills. i never find the latter easy.

 

[john eden]

I find that a combination not beatmixing, and going on before most people have arrived work well for me.

 

[matt b]

i find getting kicked off by 'the management' disperses nerves very quickly.

 

[john eden]

In terms of increasing nerves, I find that stepping backwards onto the power cable and disconnecting the mixer halfway through a tune helps immeasurably.

 

[owen]

i was always better when just slightly drunk. also i never, ever attempted beatmatching...
actually i have to do this for the first time in about a year next month somewhere vaguely fashionable. am a little scared i must say...am thinking of just playing 30s showtunes to make the job easier

 

[bassnation]

Anyone else have the same problem?

yeah, its basically why i stopped playing out. used to work myself up into a frenzy, end up drinking too much beer and just generally didn't enjoy the experience. i think i was ok at beatmatching and the technical side of things - never cleared the floor - but this didn't help to dispel the nerves.

plus my partner got sick of me being out all night on a saturday and then sleeping all sunday, which is fair enough. its a pity because i love playing people music they haven't heard, but i guess i'm just not cut out for that lifestyle. i was offered a slot this coming saturday but i said no, for the above reasons.

 

[droid]

Its a performance, so of course youll get nerves, just like any other discipline.

Ive done tons of gigs, but still get nervous beforehand - so much of DJng depends on confidence and being relaxed - nervousness can really screw you up.

Your first mix is the most important psychologically - be sure to make it nice and easy. Watch the DJ beforehand to figure out the mixer as well, and have at least some of your set arranged in advance, to give yourself time to settle in - it usually takes about 20-30 minutes or so before you start getting into it... Also - do what you can to check out the sound system beforehand, and make sure the monitors are a) there at all b) work and C) Nice and clear, even when the main system is on - a soundcheck will work wonders for all this.

This may not help the feeling in the pit of your stomach, but it should ensure that you dont let your nerves get the better of you.

i've always found mixing in my bedroom and trying to beatmix under a 12k watt rig quite different skills. i never find the latter easy.

Definitely, and Im beginning to think that this, and a combination of dodgy soundsystems, crap venues and slack promoters makes any kind of complex and technically risky beatmatching almost impossible. Time and time again Ive been foiled by shit monitors, where you just cant hear enough to do my mixes properly... this is why i pretty much gave up on multi-genre mixing in clubs, and why most Djs revert to 'bangin' tunes on the dancefloor - its often impossible to mix anything without a stomping kick, bassline or hi-hat giving you a clear bpm... thats one of the things that drove D+B down the road of shiteness IMO - producers making tunes that Djs could mix more easily...

 

[mms]

i've only had one realy bad time djing out and being consumed by nerves and technology.
in nottingham i djed at a club and just as i came on the engineer decided to remotely turn up the monitors - which meant i couldn't hear anything , headphones, nothing, this i could have got used to if the decks hadn't been a really weird model i wasn't used to and the needle started skimming over the record etc - several times - for no apparent reason - hi jinx indeed - i just gave up fraught with nerves and total humilation.
I'm not the most anally retentive dj in the world - i'm not brilliant at checking sound levels sometimes etc, but this was really really bad... luckilly it's the only time that's ever happened - i've just fell apart.. it was highly grim.

 

[mistersloane]

valium works to dispel pre-gig nerves every time. I wish I'd known about it years ago. ketamine also works to dispel nerves, but doesn't necessarily make for the best DJ set, though it entirely depends on the audience. But seriously, valium and one beer. Pukka.

 

[droid]

valium works to dispel pre-gig nerves every time. I wish I'd known about it years ago. ketamine also works to dispel nerves, but doesn't necessarily make for the best DJ set, though it entirely depends on the audience. But seriously, valium and one beer. Pukka.

Jaysis! The guy wants to be relaxed - not comatose... Drugs/drink (apart from weed) dont really mix too well with DJng IMO (just say no kids)...

 

[bassnation]

Jaysis! The guy wants to be relaxed - not comatose... Drugs/drink (apart from weed) dont really mix too well with DJng IMO (just say no kids)...

well, to ensure it doesn't go too far the other way, you could always do a couple of microdots, maybe even a quick blast of dmt....

seems a bit much for a sunday afternoon slot at the local pub, but there you go

 

[droid]

well, to ensure it doesn't go too far the other way, you could always do a couple of microdots, maybe even a quick blast of dmt....

seems a bit much for a sunday afternoon slot at the local pub, but there you go

LOL... oh the stories I could tell...

 

[Canada J Soup]

The first couple of times I DJed in public I remember being so nervous that I felt physically ill all night, to the point of it being a relief when my set was done. I got less nervous the more I played out, until I was no longer all that fazed by going into a new space mostly full of people I didn't know. Then I stopped playing out for a few years and the last time I went into a reasonably large space all the old nerves were back. Beatmatching (even with a shitty monitor and a huge space) has never presented a problem, but I managed to mess up my EQing so badly (way too much bass) that the PA limiter kicker in and plunged the club into silence for a full minute.

I have a friend who is one of the most technically capable DJs I’ve ever seen (including the likes of Ben Simms and Derrick Carter). He can mix flawlessly on the shittiest of set ups in venues of any size and manages to do that thing where the records he plays actually sound better when he’s playing them. He never seems to get even the tiniest nervous, can pull off all the little tricks that make the crowd go 'woo' and will happily have a drink and chat with a young lady while mixing and EQing without any apparent attention. I sort of hate him for making it look so effortless. Thankfully he has 90% shitty taste in music, so I can at least feel superior about that.

 

[Canada J Soup]

One thing that just occured to me: the only people who are going to actually notice the occasional fuckup (as opposed to a trainwreck on every mix or, you know, causing the entire PA to shut down) will be other people who DJ. As long as the rest of the crowd is dancing who gives a shit about what they think?

 

[droid]

One thing that just occured to me: the only people who are going to actually notice the occasional fuckup (as opposed to a trainwreck on every mix or, you know, causing the entire PA to shut down) will be other people who DJ. As long as the rest of the crowd is dancing who gives a shit about what they think?

I think this is a bit of a myth myself - theres no reason to think the crowd wont notice fuck ups in the mix. Ive often thought about it, but I think thats a very bad attitude for a DJ to take... if you start thinking 'ah fuck it - the crowd wont notice', its the start of the slippery slope of low standards and contempt for the audience... you have to assume that everyone can hear what you hear...

In my experience people do notice bad mixes - and invariably its the bad ones that they remember when they see your name on a flyer...

 

[Edward]

Personally I never get nervous at gigs any more except when I turn up and the DJ is playing something totally opposite to me and the crowd are into it - ie. I've been booked for the wrong night. Sometimes happens to me with electroclash nights and I'll have a box full of Hijack and 2 Bad Mice and Mike Dunn and Nasty Crew records... that can be a bit nerve-wracking. (sp?)

I do find myself going to the toilet a couple of times just before I play though (TMI?)

My 2 top tips for not getting nervous:

1 - turn up exactly when you are due to play and you'll probably only have to hang around for 5 minutes, no time for nerves, you just have to get on with it.

2 - make sure that you have better records than anyone else. I don't mean you have to be a cocky git, just that if you don't believe you've got the best music in your bag, then what the hell are you doing being a DJ? Just knowing your tunes are better than the last guy's really takes away the nerves!

 

[Canada J Soup]

if you start thinking 'ah fuck it - the crowd wont notice', its the start of the slippery slope of low standards and contempt for the audience...

Well, you're right about that but that's not really what I was getting at. If the DJ doesn't give a shit at all or is completely unable to use the equipment then it's unlikely that the night will be all that enjoyable for anyone...but neither should the person behind the decks become so focused on what the trainspotters and other DJs are going to think that the majority of the crowd gets ignored.

In my experience people do notice bad mixes - and invariably its the bad ones that they remember when they see your name on a flyer..

True for the most part, but I think that most people will forgive the odd bad mix as long as the DJ is able to keep the room moving. Personally I'd rather see someone energetically playing quality music with the occasional fuckup than an impeccably mixed set of dull as dishwater tunes. I've heard Jeff Mills flub many a mix both live and in recorded sets, while John Digweed has built his career on segueing flawlessly from one boring record to another.