How throw a good DJ set in an event?

Steps

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   Do it your way:
   
   
   
   • A club may say you have to play what they want like, or play this style of music or what not, which is fine, but you have to make the set your own and do it your way! Make it all you, whether it be playing remixed edited or mashed versions of what they want or throw a couple of tracks YOU wannna play. You should put your DJ whateveryournamemaybe trademark on it.
   
   
   
   


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   Don’t drop the pop:
   
   
   
   • So the hottest single of the moment may be something like Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface” and what does that mean? Every other DJ that plays anything remotely similar will drop the track. So if every other DJ’s going to play it, you don’t have to play something else exactly, just drop a remix or a mash up, or remix it live. Maybe make a few edits of the most popular songs before you go and drop those. They know the track, they may love the track, and even if it’s a remix they will still dance to it, and continuing on from before, you can put your trademark on it.
   
   
   
   


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   Attack ‘em with classics:
   
   
   
   • Dropping old school joints is a great way to get the party buckwild, but if you ain’t an entirely old school DJ, keep them to a real minimum so they’re more appreciated, and just because you think a track is a classic that doesn’t mean it, you’ll know how classic a track is by how the people react, if the club explodes to the track you drop, then you got a classic, if things stay the same, it’s just old and lame. Also, Classic tracks break apart sets and stop becoming too “everything is new which is getting a tad boring” kind of mixes. And remember it’s not all about the most popular tracks, like YMCA, Black or White or Blue, people do remember a lot of other tracks too, So find your own classic tracks that get the club really going but other DJs don’t really drop, put your Trademark on it!
   
   
   
   


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   It’s not all about the crossfader, decks also have effects:
   
   
   
   • If you spend $2500 on a quality set up and only cut from track to track with the crossfader and just beatmix, that’s just being average and maybe lazy. All turntables and mixers have at least 1 effect. Even the most basic setups nowadays have at least three. You have effects, so use them. You can get echo effects, loop buttons, sample record buttons etc., so learn how to add them to your mixes and sets. All mixers have the equalizer knobs, so you can use these for things like cutting off the bass or removing everything except basically the lyrics. Experiment with every button on your mixer, even the play/pause button can be used for things, and in the end however you choose to use these it will be all you, and like i’ve said, you’re putting your trademark on it!
   
   
   
   


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   Become a ninja!
   
   
   
   • Surprise the crowd, it will keep them entertained. Don’t do blatantly obvious mixing between tracks, e.g. don’t start mixing into another track if both are clearly audible and people can tell, cut some sound out of one track and slowly bring up the rest of it, like cut the bass and just leave the drums and slowly bring the bass up. Some tracks like Mickey Slim’s remix of “Jump Around” change dramatically, so use that to your advantage. if the song slows down, mix a couple of slow tracks between it and then bring it back to where it was. Suspense works well too, but don’t keep a track too long. Megamixing is good too, if you want to throw as many songs in as possible, hit them with short plays of joints. Just play around with what you have, and overall you have to put YOUR trademark on it!
   
   
   
   


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   Pace! Pace! Pace!
   
   
   
   • If your set is going fast, keep it that way and only slow down if you want people to chill for a second. If you’re speeding up, make it gradual, or surprising, not just some blatant full speed up half way through a 90 bpm track to 125bpm so you can mix it into a house record. A good idea is to loop a standout line in the song and then slowly speed it up and mix to the next record. Don’t confuse people, when it comes to changing speeds it’s mainly faster, not slower, and always gradual, or surprising.
   
   
   • The crowd is like a book you shouldn’t put down.
   
   
   
   


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   Keep watching the skies, a.k.a the crowd. Watch the crowd, see their reaction to certain songs for future reference. See if people are leaving the dance floor so you’ll know that you have to bring them back.


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   You’re the king, so act like it!
   
   
   
   • Being able to control the music playing in a club and having control over so many people in the club; it gives you king status, and being the king you have to act like it. How? You ask? Easy! Read the crowd, so read them, study them, and take control of them with your music. Use your ninja techniques to surprise, effects to help that, help get the crowd wild and hyped (if the alcohol and drugs aren’t already). Try and keep everybody happy, and in the moment. If you’re a king, you have followers and maybe even people who worship you (in a sense), so let them follow, and let them worship. You give them the music fix they need and they look up to you, take their energy and vibes and channel it into your mixes, sets and your mind and body, feed off it and be receptive so they get lost in the moment, you will too and everything will go a lot smoother.
   
   
   
   


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   There’s a crowd out there dude! You can already see them, so say something:
   
   
   
   • It’s not all mixing tracks, you have to throw your entire self into the mix. Use hand guestures to lead the crowd, you’re the king, the god of the club (at present time), you are the leader so make them follow. A few hand waving movements go a long way, hand claps, fists in the air, whatever you can use your whole self to get the crowd going alongside your music. It’s also good to be able to MC on stage and just shout out and get the crowd hype and lead em, a few “Say Ho’s” or “just screeeeeam” shouts will let you know the crowd is listening to you and tell the crowd you’re in tune with them. Just be yourself, and don’t forget that Trademark!
   
   
   
   


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    Put Your Trademark on it!
    
    
    
    • Be yourself, just be you, don’t be anyone else, or try to be. If you Look up to Carl Cox, don’t try and be the next Carl Cox because you’re not him, you’re you, so be you! If you enter a DJ comp has 14 DJs who all play variations of House, and You Play Oldschool dream and psytrance you never really know what could happend and being different will make you stand out! That’s one thing I couldn’t stress enough. With thousands of people wanting to become DJs the best way to get play, is to stand out, be different, but still adhere to what promoters and club owners want. Everyone can play electrohouse, but if you decide to play both electrohouse and hiphop beats it may take you a step further, especially because of your willingness to go outside the box and play more than just one style, which can get pretty monotonous. The Charts have a whole range of different genresand songs in them which means peoples’ tastes are varied, so don’t just stick to one thing, branch out a bit. But if it’s not you, thats fine because in the end all you have to do is just be you, the DJ, not DJ Iwannabethenextcarlcox. That won’t make you stand out much at all, will it?