[Stream] DJing Electronic Dance Music Live

Zapdos_Smithh

Canada2620 Posts

December 20 2010 04:09 GMT

Yo,

Tired after a day of work, feel like DJing a bit before hitting the books. I tried this another time (but didn't make a thread about it), and it seemed to work out pretty good. Quality wasn't half bad actually.

Anyway feel free to watch/listen/leave on in the background. Just going to play some random tracks for a bit.

http://www.livestream.com/rt24

or just click on Zapdos_Smithh in the user streams.

Chairman Ray

United States11903 Posts

December 20 2010 04:14 GMT

nice panel thingy

FragKrag

United States11549 Posts

December 20 2010 04:15 GMT

I wish you could use Ustream!

I like the mixes though

iGrok

United States5142 Posts

December 20 2010 04:49 GMT

this is pretty good

Zapdos_Smithh

Canada2620 Posts

December 20 2010 04:59 GMT

K I'm done now.

On December 20 2010 13:14 Chairman Ray wrote:
nice panel thingy

Thanks.

On December 20 2010 13:15 FragKrag wrote:
I wish you could use Ustream!

I like the mixes though

Does it make a difference? I'm questioning the quality but I think that's just my webcam and not livestream.

On December 20 2010 13:49 iGrok wrote:
this is pretty good

Thanks.

Cofo

United States1388 Posts

December 20 2010 05:40 GMT

I watched it; quite entertaining.

Quick question for the uninitiated though: What exactly was it that you were doing? I thought it sounded great, but didn't really understand what was going on. Could you give a quick overview for us DJ noobs?

Zapdos_Smithh

Canada2620 Posts

December 20 2010 06:20 GMT

On December 20 2010 14:40 Cofo wrote:
I watched it; quite entertaining.

Quick question for the uninitiated though: What exactly was it that you were doing? I thought it sounded great, but didn't really understand what was going on. Could you give a quick overview for us DJ noobs?

Sure thing.

First things first, DJing doesn't mean making music. DJing = playing music. I did not make any of those songs, I just play them.

What separates actual DJing from just throwing a couple songs on your itunes and letting it go through the playlist, is that I have more control over the music. I can control for the tempo/sound levels/pitch/time a song is entering or leaving, etc., rather than just letting a song play from start to finish. DJing is basically stringing together individual tracks to make one huge mix of music which is intended for others to listen to without having to attend to. A DJ focuses more on the overall experience for the listener of the set (the entire time I am playing) rather than each individual song. This is mainly done via song choice and transitions. Transitions is what keeps the music going. Song A doesn't just end, it slowly fades off with song B slowing coming in. Now that's just a basic way of mixing (which personally I think is the best because it's simple), however there are many ways of bringing songs in and out etc., but I tend to play it safe/standard because it's less risky for a mess-up.

Anyway, what you actually see me doing is:

- Throwing on song A and letting it play
- While this is happening, I am preparing song B, making sure the tempo is the exact same, the sound levels are almost the exact same, and the key note is relatively similar so the transition doesn't sound like hell (if it does then it means I messed up). I also find a time in song B that would be good to start bringing in (cueing up a certain part of the song). This is done by listening to song B in my headphones, while song A is playing in the speakers (what the audience/crowd/listener hears).
- When an appropriate time comes near the end of song A (this depends on when the DJ wants the track to end), I get ready to press play for the song B at a correct beat so that they are playing at the same time and tempo.
- Once that period comes, the "transition" occurs in which I use a cross-fader to allow both sides (side A and side B respectively playing song A and song B), to move to the middle slowly so that both songs are playing at the same time in which the audience can hear. I adjust for the levels of sounds (by using the low/mid-low/mid-hi/hi EQ panel which allows me to remove certain aspects of each track). At a basic level, this just involves killing the bass of the new song when coming in, then switching them so that song B now has it's bass full and song A lost it's bass..bass being "low" on the EQ panel. However that's just the basics, using the EQ panel to the fullest is really what makes a solid-sounding transition.
- When I am done fiddling with the EQ, I fully bring on song B and remove song A so that only B is playing.
- I repeat the process by looking for another song that is appropriate to put on after song B.

Another thing to note about DJing is energy levels. A good set is almost like a journey, you can't just play high energy music 24/7. There has to be down points and up points to make the up points really accentuated. Tonight, I was focusing less on that. I just felt like playing some music I like. Normally in my sets though (which you can hear in my quote for an example), I try to control for energy levels much more. One of my favourite energy patterns is high-low-mid-high-mid, spanning over the entire time I am playing respectively.

Is it a really difficult process or something absolutely amazing? Not really. There's a big wall of info to learn but once you get over it, it's simple to DJ. General media tends to view DJs as producers. Producers are the ones who actually make the music. While producers CAN dj, it doesn't mean that all DJs are producers. There's also a bit of a stigma imo against DJs in the fact that really anybody can be one. You can technically DJ by throwing songs on your ipod and letting them play, cuz that is what a DJ does, they play songs for others to listen to. Personally I don't believe that is actual DJIng, but to each is own. Why I like DJing is because I obviously love the music and I want to experience it more thoroughly, but also I simply find it much more pleasureable to listen to a set rather than just song to song on my ipod.

So yeah I hope that answers what I am doing.

Cofo

United States1388 Posts

December 20 2010 16:09 GMT

Wow, thanks for the thorough writeup! It makes a lot more sense now - cool stuff. Keep up the good work

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