This is a blog about the art of mixing music live. We know there’s not that much to talk about when it comes to DJing, but we feel we have a unique perspective on the subject so why not write about it?
The Anatomy of a Perfect DJ Set is a series of posts that will explore the elements that make up an awesome DJ set. And not only will we explore these elements, but we’ll also give you tips on how you can apply these concepts to your own music.
Now, this isn’t going to be some boring blog post where you’ll read about how long you should wait before dropping in the bass or what EQ knobs to turn. You see, every DJ has their own style and technique; every DJ has their own way of doing things. The idea behind this blog post is to help you develop your own style and technique by learning from others who’ve already been there.
So if you’re having trouble with any aspect of mixing music live, then this blog post is for you!
It’s a scene that’s familiar to anyone who’s ever been to a DJ set. The music is pumping, the crowd is moving and the energy is high. A song ends and the DJ quickly switches to the next one, but there’s something wrong. The bassline doesn’t match up with the drums and suddenly everything sounds off. For just a split second, there’s an awkward silence as everyone in the room understands what just happened but doesn’t know what to do about it. But then, as if by magic, the problem resolves itself and the party continues on like nothing ever happened.
If you think this has never happened to you, I guarantee that it has. Unless you are one of the few people who can mix songs perfectly together on your first attempt every time (and if that’s you then I hate you), it happens to everyone at some point in their career as a DJ or performer. The fact is, live digital music performance is still in its infancy and the technology that we use to perform with is still very basic compared to what will be possible in another 10 years. When you consider how long music has been around for (and how much more advanced our tools are
It’s been a minute since my last post. In the last two months I’ve travelled to Istanbul, Berlin, Seattle, Portland and Miami. In addition to that, I’ve been working on a new music project with my friend and fellow DJ/producer Mr. Rogers. It’s called Hemlock and our first track “Lost” is out now on Beatport.
In this post I want to talk about my ideal DJ set. The components that go into it, what makes it special and how you can go about creating one of your own. A good DJ set should be like a good meal – at its best when every ingredient is carefully chosen and deliberately placed in the order of consumption.
The DJ set is not just a collection of tracks but an experience – one that should be thoughtfully crafted from start to finish so that each song or mix has purposeful intent in relation to the overall journey. “A journey” may sound cheesy but the art of mixing music is about taking people on a trip and the only way you can do that is by being intentional with your selection process and how you put it all together.
When putting together a DJ set there are three key things I consider: emotion, energy and momentum (and “EEM” for short
I remember the first time I heard of someone “DJing live.” I was in high school, and it was a hot summer day in San Francisco. Me and some friends were hanging out on the beach and one guy, let’s call him D, was telling us about this new music he had discovered called dubstep. I didn’t know what dubstep was at the time, but D described it as sounding like “a robot having sex with another robot.” As an impressionable teenager, this immediately piqued my interest.
So I went home and downloaded a bunch of songs from the Internet. The next weekend me and my friend T went to go hang out at D’s house and listen to his music collection. He had a bunch of CDs that he played for us through his laptop and home speakers. The best song we heard that day was a track called “Midnight Request Line” by Skream. To this day I still consider it one of my favorite songs of all time, dubstep or otherwise. It is so good that despite being released in 2005, it continues getting played at clubs frequented by people in their 20s today (and probably will for years to come).
After listening to some other tracks like Caspa’s “Back for
I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to be a DJ to play live electronic music.
There’s no equipment to learn, no special training required and it takes just a few minutes setup.
This is the art of live looping.
Live looping is the method of recording a song in parts, on the spot, and then playing them back together in real time.
It’s all done with one instrument (such as guitar) and sounds like you’re playing with a band.
Live looping can be performed solo or as part of a group. It’s used by artists in all genres from rock to folk, blues to jazz, hip-hop and electronic dance music, even classical.
Chapter 1: Introduction
For a long time, I’ve wanted to write about the art and science of DJing. It’s been on my mind for a while now, but I haven’t done it yet because it seems like an overwhelming topic to tackle. Because of this, I’ve been very much in the mindset that I’d rather teach myself first and then write about it after I feel qualified to do so. The problem is that nobody teaches themselves how to DJ and then goes back and writes about it; everyone just keeps DJing because they’re having fun and making music.
I had a similar problem when I wanted to learn how to play guitar. In my quest for knowledge, I discovered that everything online related to learning guitar was basically the same, except for some small differences here and there. Everything was either for total beginners or for advanced players who already knew the basics but wanted to improve their skills. There wasn’t anything useful out of those two extremes, so I had trouble finding information that helped me progress from the basics to intermediate level playing. That’s why I decided to write my own series of blog posts on how to play guitar, which can be found here:
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.
The latest single from Mixmag’s cover star.