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pre planned sets?
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sukia
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
19
Posts :
25
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 06:15
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it is normal or alot of people play with pre planned sets (i dont use it for play ) but this 31 i was invited to play in party here in asia ......when i finush and came the other dj i was impress he have a track list with all time in time out time of the cue and even pitch
i dont what more cut be inside that list ..my frist time i saw that.....so my question is a lot of people do that ??? for me lose the fun of playing |
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Krell
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
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1114
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 06:46
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I usually do it.
If you dont like to do it that way, and you dont find it fun, then by all means do your djing your own way 
For me, its more fun to spend a lot of time with the music, finding the perfect tracks for whatever set I want to create.
My brain is very strong in regards to analytical intuition, and I find most of the answers I am looking for inside myself, and not from my surroundings - Therefore, that method of working is natural for me, whilst being unnatural for others.
That is, making a plan and trying to execute that plan to perfection - thats my "thing", keep in mind, a good plan is flexible, meaning, for me Im not LOCKED to a certain tracklist - I just have a list I follow, but I can choose to not follow it at any time.
So, I will have a list of tracks, with different kinds of information.
For a 15 track dj set (1½ hour), I will have listened thru somewhere between 200-300 full CD releases. This means that about 5-7% of the music I hear makes it into the set.
However, I dont rely 100% on what is preplanned, I usually have between 15-30 tracks on the side ready to use. They will usually be older tracks, from older "track pools", again they are selected from between 200-600 cd releases. This actually means, that when I spin a 1½ our DJ set, the material going into the set is the very best stuff, specially selected from up to 900 CD releases !! I dont think many DJs, who dont prepare their sets, are able to come even near to that level of quality control - for a 1½ hour dj set. Its simply mindboggling!
So, its a lot of work, its definately NOT something I do to make DJing easier. I mean, preparing a 1½ hour dj set, writing down all those notes, finding the perfect flow etc, experimenting with it will take me everything from 16 - 48 hours alone, and thats not counting the time I spent listening through shitloads of releases to find those 15-30 wonderful tracks I want to use.
Its something I do to create an even better experience for both the audience and myself, since I love to make plans and carry them out (thats also why I love organizing parties as well as contributing to our online communities).
One of the first things I learned, as a DJ, was the preparation was EVERYTHING. However, writing down a list of tracks to spin at a party is not the only thing you need in your preparation.
You need
- To know the music
- To be skilled in regards to mixing
- To know different kinds of equipment + new stuff
- To be awake and ready, with enough energy when it counts
- To be able to disconnect yourself, and emerge yourself in music, even if you are perhaps nervous when playing (shy people like me usually dont even like to be on stage)
+ lots of other stuff.
If I feel, during a planned set, that I want to hear something else, or the moment requires it - or perhaps its something more mundane, like the dj before me needs to go have a shit or is lost somewhere hehe, then I will need to just choose the tracks, on the fly, then and there. Thats no problem either, but I really enjoy it more when I make the plan, since for me it gets to be so much better that way - More efficient, more perfect
I think its sad, that almost every topic like this, ends up with lame comments like "true djs choose tracks no the fly" "true djs are spontaneus", which are all comments coming from people who really do not understand the differences in how peoples brains work, in other words, non empathic and narrowminded people, who would rather turn a DJ into a "Copy Paste" commodity, with "this is right for a dj" and "this is wrong for a dj".
The truth is, the only rule there is in Djing goes like this; "Whatever works works". Of course, Djs should react to what happens "in the moment", else it could just be a precorded set playing, but you can react to what is "in the moment", also when you have a list of tracks you want to play.
However, I truely do not think that many people understand how other people think, and what they are capable of.
Intuition, in regards to a person such as myself, is to be able to know what tracks will work, and how they will work, before I even play them, before I am at a party. People who do dont have such strong analytical and theoretical intuition will often not understand this, since they dont think that way, and themselves need to rely solely on what is in the here and now - While I, as a person, am thinking way ahead - yes, I know stuff, intuitively, before it happens - not because I can tell the future, but because I can predict much of it through analysis.
My ideal, as a dj, is to combine the best of all worlds. The best "on the fly" track selection skills with the best set preplanning skills.
I rarely spin the same track twice in my dj sets, I dont rely on doing the same mixes from track to track again and again, also I spin very diverse genres. This is an evolution which has taken me more than 10 years to achieve now, going through stages where I both tried spinning completely locked tracklists or just completely choosing tracks as I went along.
Both methods have their benefits and drawbacks, therefore, for me, its about combining both methods to achieve something as close to perfection as possible. Also, what method is the best will often depend very much on the party and how professional the organizer is, or whether something unexpected happends, like a sudden lineup change.
Im usually getting very good feedback from the dj sets I play, so I must be doing something right
Also, Im by no means saying every dj who has a preplanned tracklist is even close to what I try to do. Actually, I know Djs who are very talented, who preplan their sets, but dont even use notes.
DJs are different from one another, think, spin and prepare differently. Every dj has at least some level of preparation (at the very least they need to know the tracks).
Its not the method that counts, but the effect it creates.
Whatever works works // definition is limitation
Thats all I need
- Krell Label DJ>
www.jesterrecords.ca |
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lokus
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
12
Posts :
684
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 09:45
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i usually plan my sets,
but not with cue points, pitching and so on.
and i dont go strict after the planned set. it depends on the people and on the situation.
the planning is for writing down some tracks i wanna play and dont want to forget
cheers
- last possible solution
- trick music
- ambivalent records
myspace.com/lokuz
ps: y trance?
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Dennis the menace
DevilsDennis Sparris McHilton
Started Topics :
128
Posts :
2899
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 09:52
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i never plan, you never know what will happen during the party or what time and for how long you will play. reading the dancefloor is the key imho
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Krell
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
1114
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 10:34
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Quote:
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On 2007-01-05 09:52, Dennis the menace wrote:
i never plan, you never know what will happen during the party or what time and for how long you will play. reading the dancefloor is the key imho
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Some people can play a planned set and still read the dancefloor - one doesnt exclude the other, if you dont mind doing the work that is, or if you perhaps even enjoy it ;-)
Just pointing it out to you, that some people can most likely read the floor before they see it.
Its called intuition, and when coupled with imagination, experience, vision and talent, its doable.
You can either take control of the floor, or let the floor take control of you... or, you can try to find a golden path in the middle of it.
For me, I let the music take control of me, and hope everybody is up for the journey. I find it easier to just put my faith in the music itself, and not the people there.
Im thinking, its this Introverted versus Extroverted thinking stuff.
While some kinds of people are talented at reading body language and communicating in the present, others are better at predicting reactions and planning ahead. Very generally speaking.
So, the optimum goal must be to try and unite the two things - so you get the best of both worlds. If you can.
If you cant, you will just have to choose, and focus on it, getting good at it. What we are essentially talking about is the djs ability to sense something right ? I mean, sense what music will be the better choice at a given point in time. If you have one sense that is weak, chances are you have others which are stronger, which means that there is not one correct way of approaching a given task, for 2 djs who are sensing the world around them in a different ways from one another.
- Krell
Label DJ>
www.jesterrecords.ca |
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Freeflow
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
60
Posts :
3709
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 12:02
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im with krell here.
the dancefloor just wants to dance!
so you make a wicked well planned set for people to dance to... going by your deep intution that this will swing and sway!
of course there are exceptions were you can change the order of the flow, just cause the feeling in the air tells you so....
but often if you preplan a set you are in controll of the feeling in the air! and have more time to focus on playfullness, like were to make wicked filtersweeps, add FX, make small breaks, merge tracks. ect ect..
planning is great, thats how most people succeed with most things here in life, thats why im at the bottom, im not a big planner! lol
of course you cant say that the other is better than other when it comes to things like this.
if you are a good dj i think you can go both ways.
ohh im just speaking as a music lover and not a dj!
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Dennis the menace
DevilsDennis Sparris McHilton
Started Topics :
128
Posts :
2899
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 12:35
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@ Freeflow, its possible to make wicked sets without planning in advance, as long as you stay couple of tracks ahead the one your'e playing
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Krell
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
1114
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 12:59
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Quote:
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On 2007-01-05 12:35, Dennis the menace wrote:
@ Freeflow, its possible to make wicked sets without planning in advance, as long as you stay couple of tracks ahead the one your'e playing
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Also true
- Krell
Label DJ>
www.jesterrecords.ca |
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Kaz
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
90
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2268
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 13:31
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There are many levels of planning and many of improvising. Famous improviser that has to be respected for his dancefloor skills: Richie Hawtin, playing with an average of an album a minute and looping the shit out of everything and just structuring it on the fly... this is not too rare in the techno scene, but he's an example most should recognize. Famous planner: DJ Shadow, organizes his mixes so they work not only on BPM flow and the such, but also that there'll be a harmonic progression with his music, very little room for improv, but then again, the improv is what made him come up with these combinations in the first place no?
I guess it's a matter of your technique and what you want to do. Then again, I'm no DJ, just pointing out that both ways can be done really friggin' well.
http://www.myspace.com/Hooloovoo222 |
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AbsolutZero(D.V.M.)
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
199
Posts :
3476
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 13:40
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AbsolutZero(D.V.M.)
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
199
Posts :
3476
Posted : Jan 5, 2007 13:42
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clown
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
97
Posts :
1777
Posted : Jan 6, 2007 03:26
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In my whole DJ career, i only pre-planed a set twice.. once was my first gig because i wanted to make sure everything would go perfectly (it was not the case) and the second time was at my first big booking (over 500 people listening) and i was really nervous about it so i decided to make a tracklist for my set..
the comments i got after my set were very surprising. PEople told me that i looked way too stressed out and that i was not into the music. It was almost as if i was disctracted by reality and too concerned about not missing my cue point that i was not even dancing as i usually do "on stage" !! I can't say it was my worst set (because the outcome was still decent) but i can say that i never did that again and i have not been happier !! 
I know alot of DJ's who plan there sets in advance. The only true disadvantage is that what if all the other dj's pre-plan there sets and then everyone plays the new Beckers track in there sets because it was planned to be there second track !! he he he h!!
have fun everyone !
"VA - REWIRED" OUT NOW !! (techtrance invasion) ---> http://forum.isratrance.com/viewtopic.php/topic/86303/forum/9
http://psy.techno.fm <------- Jester Records's Internet Radio channel
www.jesterrecords.ca |
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Krell
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
33
Posts :
1114
Posted : Jan 6, 2007 03:47
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Quote:
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On 2007-01-06 03:26, clown wrote:
I know alot of DJ's who plan there sets in advance. The only true disadvantage is that what if all the other dj's pre-plan there sets and then everyone plays the new Beckers track in there sets because it was planned to be there second track !! he he he h!!
have fun everyone !
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Haha, I have of heard that happening before actually
Something important when you make a plan, is not to let yourself be tied down by it.
Thats why, if your a DJ and you have your first gig, you should know how to mix music, without a dead set tracklist, so you will never let one method rule the way you as a DJ are able to perform.
Then again, you gotta try your best and experiment, you learned from your experience, that all this preplanning doesnt work for you.
If DJs share their tracklists and track pools before a party, they can make sure they dont spin the same tracks over and over... I have definately missed that at festivals, since often you hear the same killarrgh tunes over and over.
Still, everybody cant be the same, and you can expect everybody to be there, listening sharp to the music from beginning to end.
If a DJ ends with one track, and the next DJ begins with the same, thats downright nasty - If it was me, I would just be happy, and quickly explain the situation to the DJ before me and ask if I can make a beatmix, if I cant, I would just go to my second track, since that will flow nicely either way
If my tracklist is totally useless, then fuck it, go with the flow then and there
- Krell
Label DJ>
www.jesterrecords.ca |
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Shaqattack
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
71
Posts :
1381
Posted : Jan 6, 2007 15:05
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plan an outlay and see how it goes from there i guess....every once in a while u suddenly think of a track that will be an amazing follow up from where u are then go for it.....
depends on the mood of the party..sometimes u jes get a feeling that the track u planned in next jes wont click with the dance floor.... u make a change....
but hey nuthin wrong with pre planned sets and definitely nuhtin wrong with instant track selection...
but i will not beleive any dj who says he goes blank to party...he will defintely have some sort of back up or killllargh tracks jes in case things arent going really well or if things are going really well to shove it to another limit.....
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Kane
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
23
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1772
Posted : Jan 6, 2007 19:27
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Whatever it takes to play good music |
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