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What do you do just before your set?


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So I've been wondering what you guys actually do when your about to mix in a club.

Scenario 1: So you're following a fellow DJ, what do you do to set up? Do go behind the decks and hang out for the 5 mins before you start or what?

Scenario 2: You're first up what are some of the things you check for at the club? What sort of tests(if any) do you run on the equipment?

This is assuming you know all about the equipment you're using and it's all set up and all you have to do is go and work your magic.

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When i'm first on i check that everything switches on, test the speakers are working fine and pump out a few tunes whilst checking other things. i always make sure the CDJ's are working correctly and make sure the buttons aren't fucked, if they are fucked, its something good to know and can adapt your set to it if need be.

if i'm playing after someone, i usually rock up at least half an hour before i play. i get up to the booth about 5 minutes before i have to play. i usually chill out in the VIP area or on a chair nearby and suss out whats playing, the vibe or the place and the crowd.

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When I'm kicking things off I get down early and make sure everything is working. It sucks when nothing's working and you have no time to sort anything out (if you have to). Depending on the venue you'll unlikely have to worry about this. The clubs usually have everything ready to go, the pubs you'll have to set some stuff up.

If I'm following after a DJ I make sure my USB's are plugged in but I don't go in selecting tunes or anything. I try to stay out of his / her way but I hang around in there having a chat and what not. Once they're finished and on their last track I flick through my library and get my set started. Regardless what time I'm playing, I'm usually in the venue pretty early being friendly with everyone

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Whether it's scenario 1 or 2 I always show up before the gig kicks off, you never know if someone else is gonna show up late and the promoter needs you to go on early or go for longer/shorter etc.

Scenario 1: So you're following a fellow DJ, what do you do to set up? Do go behind the decks and hang out for the 5 mins before you start or what?

Answer: have my music and headphones ready to go without getting in the way of the current DJ, get a feel for what he/she is playing and see if I can match it from what I already have planned, if it's nothing compared to what I have planned and can't beat match it I'll try and use some of the filter effects to delay the track out as close to the end as I can unless I'm told otherwise. Hanging in the dj booth is usually good to do, always good to meet people that way, that's actually how labrat and I met.

Scenario 2: You're first up what are some of the things you check for at the club? What sort of tests(if any) do you run on the equipment?

Answer: make sure you (if you don't already) know how the equipment works as each club is different with what they use, get a feel for the setup and if the club hasn't opened yet then it's usually fine to adjust your track EQ's accordingly

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much the same as has already been set

i do most openings so my night is as follows

get there 30mins+ before venue opens

spend 5 minutes chatting to the security guys (always always a good idea)

walk into venue drop my shit in booth and quickly switch everything on to make sure it turns on and nothing seems immediately out of the ordinary.

spend 5 minutes chatting to the bar staff, sorting bottled water, mother/redbull and my drink cards (i generally dont drink during my set but love to hit it hard afterwards). Again, chatting tot he staff is a good idea as theyll be the one pouring you doubles at 1am. Checking the booth quickly first also allows you to contact the duty manager etc if your having any issues (missing equipment, house system isnt connected as it should be etc) straight off the bat, saves making you do extra trips

once this is done, ill generally go to the bathroom quickly, then head back to the booth

from here ill start playing some tracks, getting the speaker volume set up (field test-basically walk around the venue), check that all the speakers are working (occasionally they drop out and its much nicer to know in the beginning-security guard gets stationed under the speaker, everybody steers clear of him and nobody notices there is no sound coming out of that speaker. gets us through the night)

ill generally start start my set with whatever song the bar staff is dying to hear (just been on their mind, in their head etc) and then move on from there

if im rocking up after someone im there early (at least halfa) just to check vibe etc see how busy the club is, if its not a uni night ill guage the general demographic and drunkness of the crowd (sounds silly but sometimes you can start playing bangers at midnight to a still semi sober older crowd and just loose a floor instantly when 90's funk house remixes would have done just fine)

when im in the booth i steer clear of the dj until about 10 minutes to my set time (ours arnt proper booths so they are loud as hell so not much talking takes place) ask him if hes had any issues, what the floor has been like, what sort of stuff he played earlier and basically if there is anything else i should know. when its tim eto set up i make sure he is free and clear into one cdj then set up all my stuff on the opposite side, check that usbs work etc (normally in a 3rd cdj incase something goes wrong and he has to mix another couple of tracks) and then when everything is working we take out his headphones put mine in and i officially have the floor.

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I don't do CDs. I take 4 USB's and sometimes my laptop. If the USB's fair I can hook up traktor. Rekordbox is more stable for me than traktor though haha

I take 4 USB's, 2 SD Cards, my computer (which i do the same thing as labrat except mine gets set up for every set just in case) and have 2 cds which contain a mix each for super emergency backup. I generally update the usbs as needed and the sd cards once a month. rekordbox playlists drag easily into traktor so no real issues there.

i never link cdj's unless i have to as the ethernet ports go more often than the cue buttons

i know it sounds psycho but dead silence in a club is really the worst feeling in the world and ive seen a couple of guys like myself fired for such things.

the only thing i cant cater for is a power outage however i know the clubs i play in have a backup generator with about a 15 second kick on that the cdjs and monitor speakers are connected to. worst case scenario the lights go out and i can turn monitors around while everything resets but im pretty sure the new fire codes in nsw state everyone has to keave the venue in event of power outage

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