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DON'T KNOW WHAT TO PLAY NEXT? – 5 tips to keep the crowd engaged!
We have all heard of writers block, but did you know DJ’s get it too? We all suffer from it, especially in longer sets. That moment when your mind goes blank and you don’t quite know what to play next. Fear not, here’s 5 top tips from Jamie Hartley, a resident DJ for over 10 years on what to do…
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thank you so much for the 2 songs to 1 rule it is really helpful… 💜
thanks 🙂
Muy bueno Jamie!!
Rules 3 and 5 are my musts whenever I play…though sometimes I might do a 3 for 1 strategy if the crowd is on the less open minded side
Wait, so i can't plan my set? From beginning to end?
What in the camelphat was that remix drop! Amazing
Love the 2 to 1. I usually just play my music that i like but i am not really elitist and i like quite a few popular songs ")
Tip #5🔥thanks
Also when people eating you guys turn the friggin volume lower.
I ask the dj can you.put some blues or slow song? He friggin have no clue . Many indians have 10k$ and buys speakers and he thinks hes a dj. 😂😂😂
You know people doesn't always really like these continuous translations. And also people like slow songs to dance with the partners. I went to few parties and almost all guest didn't like these trash dj s from this era. A full rubbish.
Thank you brotha !!!🎉🎉
Tip n5 🔥💎
God I just love all of this so much my problem is I get frustrated when I fuck up sometimes because I’m picking djing up EXTREMELY FAST so I wanna be perfect like subtronics etc but it just doesn’t work like that I want to change the game !
Last tip is very good
Jeez as a beginner watching the first tip i thought i was pretty good starting out but i now know i have a long way to go
2 for them 1 for me🎉🥳🥳🥳💃💃
Hi may name is Dan I am a dj
Tip 5😊, thanks for that 😮
Thank you very much! Really great tips!
As a dj who doesn't like to play pop trash, I'd like to share few insights of my own playing in a local venue for a generic crowd:
Start with a good track crowd can recognize. The crowd accepts/rejects you based on the first 4-5 tracks, if you hit it off, then you can play something you actually like. I've made the mistake starting with my beloved underground'ish tracks and there was an instant disconnect. Hard to recover.
Keep the girls. As much as you like your non-mainstream vocal-less bangers, you have to mix in some popsy accapella ~every 3rd track. As long as they hear vocals they can recognize, you can play literally anything as the instrumental. If you fail to keep the girls in, dudes will be gone too.
When picking the next song, prelisten its "drop". It needs to feel equivalent or more energetic to the current track. I used to prelisten the beginning only and faced underwhelming transitions more than once. If the "drop" part of the next track boosts the energy, worst case you can bang it in basically anywhere without doing shit and party will go on.
Clean your messy clusterf*** of a library! If you have any doubts about a track, delete it. Its the worst time to go through a bunch of crap on stage and then be forced to pick "whatever" because the current track is ending. There are djs who don't even know what they have and if thats your case, don't expect smooth mixing or correct build-up. Most likely you wont find correct tracks in time.
I also had friends who wanted to play B2B with me and they just threw whatever tracks on the flash drive with no preparation. No cue points, not even analysed, just a bunch of different shit at one place. Luckily I found out about this situation 20min before the gig, so there was still some time to sort it out.
Last mistake – being burnt out before the gig, *over*preparing. More than once I tried too hard (ADHD) to prepare and started to hate everything I have in my library. Frustration led to not getting good sleep and the gig was a disaster. I was tired & pissed off and I just didnt have the right energy to be on stage. Let's just say – Crowd is much more sensitive to your vibe than transitions.
That 2 for them, 1 for you rule… Hell yes. That's awesome. There's so much good music in the genres I spin, but the problem is that I have been into those genres for so long (over 30 years for some) that I know a TON of obscure tracks that younger people don't know, but I feel like they would really appreciate. Like when I am spinning house, I love to work in a little from Scott Henry's "the gift" from the late 90s, and every time I'll have someone asking me "what the hell was that? I love it", so I feel like if I follow this rule, I might be able to educate some of the younger crowd. Like slipping in a Richard "Humpty" Vission track with some Bad Boy Bill on my throwback Thursday sets because plenty of the younger crowd know BBB, but not Humpty, despite the two of them having done some truly historic sets with 4 turntables.
Great video
I find myself doing curveballs while practicing a lot, so that would be my favorite tip. Didn't know these were called curveballs xD Love your videos bro, thanks for educating us!