djepps
First off, hi everybody, I'm Steve and I'm new here. My interest in DJing began a few months after my wedding 4 years ago. We hired a family member who is a pro-DJ, he did our wedding, we gave him a few requests and told him if he didn't have any of them then we would provide him with the MP3s. Come the day of the wedding, he did a s**t job and didn't play any of our songs, he just played what he wanted. So that was a disaster.
So a few months later, I was looking at my Mac and saw Garageband. I never used it so I thought what the heck. I learned I could do pre-mixes with MP3s on it. My family and I like to throw house parties often (new years, christmas, halloween, backyard, you get the picture), so we've been using my Garageband premixes for all of our parties. Not only does it save us money, we are in control of the playlist. So it has two advantages.
I've gotten pretty good at premixing on Garageband, everything from pop, hip hop, 90s, 80s, new jack swing, R&B, you name it. As a matter of fact, we just had our most successful house party yet... I had a 3 hour main playlist, everybody danced for 2 hours straight, by the 3rd hour they were all danced out because I mixed so many hit songs one after the other.
However, I would like to upgrade and learn how to do this live. Unless I'm mistaken, this can't be done with Garageband. So I came across V-DJ 7 and downloaded the free version. I've been messing around with it, watching Youtube tutorials and reading some threads on here about how to work it.
So far, I must say, it's taking longer than usual for me to get the hang of it. From what I understand, you have to go thru all the songs in your library and set up Cue points BEFORE playing live, right or wrong? But if that's the case, doesn't that defeat the purpose of "reading" the crowd?
My challenge in doing a live mix would be finding the best part of Song A to blend with Song B. See, when I premix with Garageband, I have all the time in the world, I can thoroughly examine each track and figure out creative ways to blend. Maybe I'm missing something or perhaps you guys could give me some tips/advice?
So a few months later, I was looking at my Mac and saw Garageband. I never used it so I thought what the heck. I learned I could do pre-mixes with MP3s on it. My family and I like to throw house parties often (new years, christmas, halloween, backyard, you get the picture), so we've been using my Garageband premixes for all of our parties. Not only does it save us money, we are in control of the playlist. So it has two advantages.
I've gotten pretty good at premixing on Garageband, everything from pop, hip hop, 90s, 80s, new jack swing, R&B, you name it. As a matter of fact, we just had our most successful house party yet... I had a 3 hour main playlist, everybody danced for 2 hours straight, by the 3rd hour they were all danced out because I mixed so many hit songs one after the other.
However, I would like to upgrade and learn how to do this live. Unless I'm mistaken, this can't be done with Garageband. So I came across V-DJ 7 and downloaded the free version. I've been messing around with it, watching Youtube tutorials and reading some threads on here about how to work it.
So far, I must say, it's taking longer than usual for me to get the hang of it. From what I understand, you have to go thru all the songs in your library and set up Cue points BEFORE playing live, right or wrong? But if that's the case, doesn't that defeat the purpose of "reading" the crowd?
My challenge in doing a live mix would be finding the best part of Song A to blend with Song B. See, when I premix with Garageband, I have all the time in the world, I can thoroughly examine each track and figure out creative ways to blend. Maybe I'm missing something or perhaps you guys could give me some tips/advice?
Posted Sat 30 Aug 14 @ 1:14 am
groovindj
djepps wrote :
you have to go thru all the songs in your library and set up Cue points BEFORE playing live
No, you don't have to do that. You can just pick a track, load it and play it on the spot.
DJs who learned the "traditional" way can cue a track in seconds, instinctively.
It's easier now than it used to be, as we have the waveform visual to show us where the first beat is. With vinyl, you'd have to wind it round by hand and listen.
With practise, cueing on the spot becomes second nature. By all means set cue points if/when you need them, but they're essential to the job.
Yes, putting a mix together in Garageband/Ableton Live etc. gives you more time to pick out the good parts and get everything "just so", but it's a fixed thing.
It's not fluid like a live DJ who can change his/her mind about a track 30s or less before the previous one ends. They can also incorporate requests easily.
Posted Sat 30 Aug 14 @ 3:51 am