Best tip was about engaging with the crowd, when I first started DJing, I was so focused on getting transitions to be perfect or keeping in line with my playlist, that I usually never got complimented!
I have my first show tomorrow and I recorded myself earlier to get an idea of what I would look like. It was not pretty lol. I was hunched over the decks and never looked up once. Going to make sure to keep visually checking in with the crowd.
The worst part about understanding song structure is once it becomes second nature, wrestling with your brain about wanting to mix now vs. waiting for the right time to mix. All great points ... good stuff!
yes, this is most true... if I won the lotto jackpot in my country, I would definitely ask him to DJ my wedding, or just simply MC it and give him the night off
Well this just showed that he never stay in his comfort zone. He doesn't afraid to share what he have as a DJ and keeps explore any possibilities for new gigs. He keep trying from new sets, songs, genre, to even different software. Even trying every combination of every sets can provide.
An additional point for "Don't redline", if you aim generally for +3db when you're playing it will allow you enough headroom to crank up the quieter tracks that may have been mastered either badly or quieter without edging into the red.
Lodi ung channel mo lang talaga ang pinaka maraming info para sa mga bagong DJ! I love how you are more about helping those starting out, rather than showcasing your gigs, talent, etc. Kaya LODI kita eh!
Picking when to mix songs is honestly the key to making sets flow so much better. I've seen many DJs I even work alongside just pick halfway through a verse or 3 beats before the end of a chorus to just drop and start and brand new song. That small change of lining up sections and right phrasing makes the difference
NIce point. But you have to make sure that the next track you drop in this type of mixing is a catchy tune or a very popular one. You don't wanna clear the dancefloor with some tracks that aren't top if you know what I mean. Like drop it on the hook for example.
You'r the master and this is spot on advice for beginners, I've seen the occasional pro try something out on the night without prep and lose the floor. I think your tip about over doing it on your first gig with a crowd was a really good one, bedroom mixers don't realise how different working a crowded dance floor is to doing mixups in your bedroom, like you said, your mixing and scratching might be amazing but without the right music and atmosphere which you create your set will be toast.
As a sound engineer I (used to) work at festivals and clubs. To all newbies! please listen to this Guy! It drives me nuts when dj’s redline and/or play crappy quality files. Please do the right thing and buy the music you play and buy only WAV. or aiff. that way you support the artist, you will sound good, not destroy the crowd ears and you won’t look/sound like an amateur.
DJ Carlo Atendido I agree with the statement but where can I find a song or an edit or bootleg or ID when you can’t find it on Apple Music or other places to get music?
justanotherguy Beatport, junodownload, traxsource. To name a few. Always check if you can buy WAV. Or aiff. Try to stay away from mp3. Also check the bandcamp of you favo artists. Sometimes they give tracks away for free.
Redlining was definitely my favorite tip, I honestly rarely even think about it when I mix half the time. I just know that red light = bad so avoid, but not the actual effects of it
Much like a DJ set begins with prep, the event begins with a sound check which will involve gain staging. Good gain staging will not only minimise clipping, but it will also grant you headroom and finer control over your levels.
I love this I'm still a noob I've done weddings and pool parties but I am never too arrogant to know that I need to always learn! This video is exactly what I needed thank you!
For Mistake #2: If you have time to spare and don't wanna calculate bars so that the breaks align perfectly.. you could simply hold the jog wheel of the second track around the break and when the break of the first song hits you immediately release the second break, then use the EQ to your advantage Personally, I find it as a good technique as I am more of a "visual memory person" and I only know the structure of songs by the visual, not by the actual number of bars each phrase has. What do you guys think of this method?
That's a great method too, but doesn't apply to each songs... and it's also kinda lazy. I do it if I don't have an extended version. If you have an extended mix, it would be better to mix it. If you know your songs, you don't need any visual aids. You would already know its structure, and thus don't have to know any actual number of bars etc.
many djs are introverts so hiding behind the decks and computer is kind of comforting but its always a good idea to try and loosen up and react to the crowd but as with all things its a balance .Some djs seem to put on a mix of their productions and then jump around throwing cake and party poppers at the crowd others are very focused on their juggling and scratching and forget that there are people there.I tend to be a hider especially if things get busy but if the crowd is friendly then i might come out of my shell ...a bit.
The best example of this I saw live was the legendary Dave Clarke. Mans a major introvert, will rarely look at the crowd or even crack a smile. However, he can move crowds the same. I tend not to be very flashy on my gigs plus a lot of stages are quite separate from the crowd.
@@GPS08 The mans serious about his music but he knows his shit and the crowd love him for it.Theres nothing wrong with a dj using his knowledge and skill and concentrating hard on his work .If this means he works they dance and he barely looks up from what he doing then so be it if it works for him and his crowd.There great communicators that will get the crowd moving by being a bit more of a showman like Norman Cooke who is also great but like everyone else all djs are all different and some might wonder what pills Dave Clarke had taken if he started waving his hands about and throwing stuff at his audience ..Like the song says .Just gice the dj a break
@@DanielleKingdjdinosaur - I never said there was something wrong. I was just giving a contrast of a very well known (legendary status imo) DJ such as Dave Clarke who doesn't engage with the crowd that much but still has crowds moving for hours and begging for more. I've seen him live, that's why I gave him as an example cos I experienced it. I've also seen Norman Cooke (Fatboy Slim) live at a festival in Portugal, can't remember if he went as Norman or Fatboy Slim. Technically, he's crap (at least that night he was), beatmatch off abrupt cuts etc... But the crowd was going crazy with the show, cos he's a good showman. He's the opposite of Dave Clarke.
@@GPS08 I never said it either.I was in full agreement with you.Norman is a showman and he has a very different style of mixing to Mr Clarke.Both have their merits and we can all have an off day..I would say in how i mix though not in music style im closer to the introverted concentration on the mix style as i can get lost in the flow as it were.I like both djs and like i said like people djs are all different thank god.
I create playlist or mini sets, but just enough to get me started. So maybe like 5 songs I have planned. It really helps with nerves and confidence. After I get that warm up in I'm ready to jam 😎
and in a club situation, don't get into a panic if you *do* late-mix now and again. there are ways of correcting it and covering it up (backspins, filter out, phasing and such). I've heard some really dodgy mixing back in the day from old-skool vinyl house DJs, but did it affect everyone's enjoyment of the party? not in the slightest :)
"Crowd rocking is why DJ gets hired in the first place" This resonates so much to me. At first I was always so disappointed to "not be able to show my cool techno transitions", or having to abandon a certain genre very quickly because crowd was not responsive. But then one understands that what matters is people dancing and having a good time. They won't remember techno transitions if they are not in the mood. Vibe check of the room is what makes a DJ and a crowd happy !
Mistake 2 needs to be taken into consideration, as I mix generally older happy hardcore some of the tracks have longer beats before the drop so its a case of fade mixing when mixing from new hardcore tracks to old due to how new ones are produced to around 3 to 4 minutes where as the older stuff is around 6 to 7 minutes
Nice informative video. Very well explained. If I may, as a dj with a bit of experience, the technique I use, since I am self taught, is to first listen where your next track is going to begin (first drop or bridge) and then start it when your current track has that remaining time. For example, if your incoming track has its first drop at around 1 minute, then start it 1 minute before your outgoing track ends. Obviously taking into account that it's music, so think phrases instead of just time.
imo ripping tracks off websides is fine for DJs who just get started, they will not perform on hi fi sound systems and you can barely hear the difference, i started like that and havent got a big gig till now since 2004, most of my lib is still ripped off songs from my Original Vinyl collection to mix with MP3, bcuz its just simply too expensive to buy all of them in high quality and since im mostly mixing with Vinyl you only have the presses that you purchased back then - most oldschool tracks dont have a good digital copy, you have to do that mostly yourself which not rly increases the quality of the Track, so this tip is very bad actually - i know this is based on modern DJing but we Oldschool guys dont have the Luxury to purchase a Hardtrance/Hardstyle track from the early 2k's with amazing quality online - it simply doasnt exist.
A DJ that moves and shows they are really into the music they are playing entices the crowd to get into it as well. A DJ that just stands there as if they are bored shows the crowd something else so they will be less likely to dance. Record everything you do(gigs and practice), listen to it repeatedly and critique your own mixes. It is how you learn.
sir,many Dj's remix songs and just kill the originality of it.They tend to forget that the most simplest of beats can rock the crowd if they are timed perfectly at the perfect eve.(You have taught a lot in your videos to tell this)
The redline is one of my pet hates with djs!! Hate seeing the red when I’m playing but some people don’t care and ruin good sound systems that you play on
you know that most Vinyl tracks from the pre loudness war required to be played in redline to sound actually good right? back then you could do that without damaging your ears or the systems.
Watching this makes me glad I dj lofi hip hop. You can get away with so much 😩😂. Thank you for the tips. Your videos have been informative lately even though I'm in a totally different music scene.
Thank you for pointing out mistake #1. Being a wedding and corporate event DJ for over 6 years I can say that playing the right music at the right time is what it all comes down to. Everything else is secondary.
@@markgriff9053 He's right. If you are buying music, you might as well get lossless files. If for some reason you can't use a lossless file, you can always transcode it to MP-3. But you can't go from MP-3 to lossless.
I am literally just starting and have no intention of djing professionally. What I'm struggling with is choosing the mix point of 2 tracks. That part was really helpful.
With regards to red lining and distortion, you need to learn the difference between volume controls and gain controls. They both adjust the loudness of the signal, so most people don't think there's much of a difference between them, but there is. Only gain controls can distort the signal, while volume controls can't. The reason for this is gain controls are on the input of a component and volume controls are on the output. If you have too much gain, that's what causes distortion and break up. That's how a guitar amp works. They have a gain control and a volume control. You increase the gain to get the desired amount of distortion. Once you have that, then you use the volume control to set the loudness. While excessive gain may sound good for a guitar, it doesn't for just about anything else. Every system is different, so the first thing you need to do is follow the signal chain from start to finish, and make note of all the "volume controls". After that, you determine which ones are really volume controls, and which ones are gain. At that point, you set your gain structure, making sure the signal isn't being overdriven with gain anywhere in the system. After that, of course, you use the volume controls to set how loud you want the music. Its also worth noting that you sometimes walk into a venue and have to trouble shoot an issue a system that you didn't set up. Always go back to isolating your gains, and start there. That's always how you are going to fix the problem. You will also be working with people that take care of the house system, so its usually a joint effort. Your night will go so much easier if you can show these people that you understand what the issues are. Be ready to show them "these are my gains. these are my volumes, etc...". Once they see you're competent, they stop treating you like a problem, and are much more willing to work with you.
about Ripping songs off RU-vid i things its best when your still a beginner that moment when you just bought your fist controller for example. Because its still early to spend money on thing you a'int sure of. best for when your still practicing only.
If you must rip from RU-vid, first learn how to use youtube-dl - it's way more powerful and hiqh quality than what you find on the internet. That usually spits out OPUS, which most software doesn't recognise, so you should convert it to MP3 or OGG as high quality as you can get (320kbps for mp3, 500kbps for ogg). You'll get a file equal in quality to a 192kbps mp3 generated from a lossless master.
I'd say ripping songs is ok if you just want to dj as a hobby/ to your friends for free but DON'T rip songs if you plan on getting paid/ playing in big venues with good sound systems. For example i've just started out and so far just want to keep this as a hobby so i don't see a point in paying for songs when there's no way i'll get that money back. If i wanted to try and play at a club of course i'd start paying for the songs i want to play.
Good point I did the same. The only issue I had was I had a bunch of Rip music with music from a music pool. So now you have to go to all your music and find what was ripped and what was downloaded from a record pool. Pain in the ass!!###
Ali3Nati0n xx only if you have spotify premium you get 320kbps, free on desktop is 160kbps and on mobile it even goes down to 96kbps. They advertise the premium account (320kbps) as high quality but although it sounds decent it by far high quality. Just pay for your tracks and buy WAV. or aiff.
Ripping songs from RU-vid I learned the difference couple days ago and is killing me cuz i have alot of those but I understand if want to do this big i have to do it right
Redlining is I think the most important tip for new DJ’s especially if they don’t dabble in producing there own music. Made that mistake due to my own ignorance back in the day and seen it too many times. Great tip for new DJ’s 👍🏼
Correct bro. I remember when I overused effects, its more annoying than entertaining 😂😅. Great reminder and suggestions. The kind of music is what really the audience will look for👌🤟💗🇵🇭. BTW, is it a must to turn down the low pass filter of the exiting song as you transition to the next song? Many thanks 😊😊
0:05 absolutely right some people only use fx to mix which literally doesn't make sense they never use equalizer I personally love equalizer and loops for fx I usually use bliss/noise and echo and even u also do the same
Number 5 is a must . My only tip I can give out is Learn to Mix with your Gains. It Will Help with Not Over Powering the Next Mix and through the night the sound system won't be getting louder and louder. Just remember when you start playing out turn the gain right down increase your slider then turn your gain Slowly up. You will then find a comfortable Level where both tracks roll nicely together. You can't always go with Meters and what your Laptop says, Trust your Ears :)
or you simply learn the gain lvls of the different tracks you own, thats what ive done, some tracks i have to Duck up the knob till 45° to max to get a noticeable impact and other overmastered tracks like some acid techno from Asys i have to turn down less that half the Knob tho, but if you learn the seperate lvls of each track you recognize them instantly if you see the track name, trust me, takes time but you feel more confident. even on different systems, this way you dont have to adjust so much if you play on a different system.
I've mentioned several of these to other DJs in my area. I think they are starting to take notice. I will refer them to this video: it's a one-stop-shop! Good Stuff
I recorded myself djing at home and was horrified 😂 never looked up once, hover hands, did way too much and constantly touched my face. After that, I had a friend FaceTime me while I played and she talked to my while I did it and I felt so much calmer. Interaction is so important!
Hahahaha, very true! When you're DJing for a wall, you don't know what you're gonna be doing after the first few minutes. Having that human aspect in there makes it so SO much more fun!
Carlos thank you very much for the very detailed description for every of the 5 mistakes mentioned! It was so useful to visually see the right points in the song where it’s best to start song transitions! I confess I took a screenshot of that :) also, I subscribed to BPM supreme DJ pool a couple of months ago. However, it happens that many times they don’t have the songs that I am looking for, and this causes me to look for other options which could be mp3 song converters. As my goal would be to have good quality songs in my playlists (something that unfortunately cannot be achieved with mp3 converters) what do you usually do when you cannot find the song you’re looking for on BPM supreme? Are you subscribed to various DJ pools? Any recommendations would be greatly appeciated!🙏🏼
It really just depends on what music genres you play. For me I use beat port when I can’t find music on the record pool. You can find just about any edm song on beat port with great quality. IK you can use iTunes too but their files are only in MP3’s but they are high quality files. Best of luck
All these tips are great but the main two I would say is knowing your music and knowing your crowd. I been Djing for 30 years and I was at a party as a guest where a kid from this generation was playing old school music. He was doing ok but he played Black Sheep "The choice is yours" and man he transitioned out of the song at the "engine engine number 9 part". The crowd went ballistic. They wanted to hang him. LOL But he didn't know the song and didn't know that is the part everyone waits on so he cut it out because he had already played two verses and hooks of the song. Other thing is knowing the crowd. I always have a set playlist but I also have a playlist of bangers. I always did clubs and parties so I made sure to have the latest club banger or hit on my playlist that would go with the crowd and if the crowd was super hyped. I made sure I played what they liked so I went against my set playlist.
My top 5 pet hates with DJs 1) Being late and unprepared 2) Aux cord jockeys. No explanation required 3) Equipment snobs 4) Bangers in the opening slot 5) Redliners
Any sort of fidgeting DJing is annoying, I could outplay most DJs by instantly knowing what to play next using Vinyl or CD, now I've seen and purchased the Pioneer Rx2 I'm back interested again. Having all 3 setups and connected is perfect 👌
@@djcarlo Totally get it. People in the club are there to enjoy and have fun. They just want to listen to their favorite beats. Now you transition using a filter or effects or with a reverse spin, they don't really care.
Wow the redlining piece reminds me of my first gig. I was playing at a community event and was connecting to my amp via balanced XLR. Forgot to put the attenuator pad on the amp, meanwhile my gain is set at like 11:00 - let's just say it wasn't a pleasant noise :). Live and learn and always keep getting better :)
I bet he won't pin this!!! 2:27 1. dj city rocks 2.drop it like it's cold 3. DJ not BJ? 4. kodak flm 5. no problems and solutions 6. You found an easter egg in this video 7. my DJ secret 8. play this if you want grandmas to dance 9. play this if you want to dance with the grandmas 10. put your hands down 11. one two three sit 12. duck duck goose 13. this is a banger 14. this is a gang banger 15. bad and boogey 16. dj horns x 1000000 17. awkward moans 18. still not📯 19. why is this here 20. she never loved you 21. go home and f 22. I have alcoholism 23. just farted 24. STILL READING!? 25. call 9/11 so I can dance 26. kanyes secret collab with paris hilton 27. awkward dance time
i have always tried to avoid redlining and thats why i like warm ups.Its more laid back you can experiment and you dont follow some nut job trying to destroy every ones hearing.Even if i am on later i will bring things down by doing a gradual change in speed and volume on whats on and maybe an echo out and then give people a breather with a slow builder if i have a bit of time this works well because even later in the night a bit of a dip and then build up can be a good thing.
Thanx DJ Carlo, I enjoy your videos, very informative my friend, especially where I'm an up & coming/ learning Skratch DJ, much love & respect my ninja....... 👍👊💪🙏😎
I don't even care if the quality of ripped tunes is the same, even if it's better, if you want to be part of the music scene, support the artists that make djing possible. Buy their tunes. Without them we would all be playing our own tunes and nothing else. Support the scene. (edit - whichever scene you're into) Hope you guys are all well and good!
#3 so right! but its really hard to avoid it as a beginner. If he doesn't know how to mix well the songs. The solution tho.. is to practice at home on random songs, and not in a particular playlist? Or.. simply both?
Some people can’t afford to buy tracks so have no choice to rip but people go wrong by ripping to mp3, rip to wav then you don’t have any issue, also use audacity to clear up muddy tracks
In all fairness, I did mention that I started out with ripping too. Getting legit high quality tracks is totally worth it though once the gigs start coming in!
@@djcarlo definitely, I keep multiple folders one for rips and others for when I manage to buy the odd track. But I always make sure they are wav files. Also being a happy hardcore DJ myself it is harder to buy certain tracks online as companies like Apple and Spotify don’t supply the tracks I need so I have to try and go direct to the artist in which some cases is impossible or rip. As an example DJ gammer track into the future is not on any platform to buy so that would be a case of ripping unless I had vinyl
Redlining... sometimes it's bad music files. I have run across numerous files where the audio is too loud. Every file I use is quality checked. It takes awhile, but I ensure I have good quality audio. If you open a sound editor to look at the waveform of a song, and the sound wave is past 0db, there's a chance the audio will clip and distort. For me, most of my audio files are no more than -1.5db. The reason I do that is because if you have two songs playing at the same time, those waveforms add together (in a logarithmic sense) resulting in a louder waveform. So I give it some headroom so that it will sound clean.
I agree with your points however I will say I’ve gotten tons of “BAD FILES” from paid record pools like BPMsupreme. I’ve also gotten terrrible sounding songs that were great on small speakers but terrible on the real deal (and vice-versa). I’ve learned that you never know whether that song sounds great until you play it on a larger system. I highly advise renting a big set up from guitar center for cheap and test your files out that way.
I'm not a DJ but one tip for the introverts - just as for performing musicians it's important for the audience to see that you're getting off on the music. So, even if you're too shy to jump around, exaggerate your body movements so they can see you're having fun too.
