I spin at my spot from 9pm to 2am. Its exhausting, no restroom breaks...just 5 hours of mixing music non stop. At about 12am im done and just do basic mixing. I got use to these 2-3 hours gigs. I can't blast them with back to back hot tracks i got to be smart. How do you do it?

Record a couple of 1 hour mixes at home, not the prime time stuff, but good enough to keep the crowd boppin their heads. Play the mixes the first hour or so. Come 10 or 11:00, start spinnin the newer or more popular stuff.

coke



j/k :D

i drinked an AMP energy drink, it just made me twitch and more nervous (im saying MORE nervous because the waiters tatas were on my way and im in the middle of a relationship)
:S

are you seriously telling me that with all the music that's been around for decades, you can't spin for 5 hours straight?
find a new line of work buddy...LOL

I'm such as a ball buster (no homo. no misquote)

5 hours really isn't that hard to fill. But if you need to fit some bathroom breaks in there just record some short 30 minute mixes and play them during the night when you need a break. It also helps if you interact with your customers. Get to know the regulars and the barstaff. Have fun with the gig. Don't be a jukebox all night.

:D

Its not that i CANT do it, its just that im use to 2-3 hour gigs..and i want to know how yall manage to keep it fresh in the 4th 5th hour>

just play whatever tracks in the beg dont really get too crazy

First and foermost "manup"
For the last 3years i've been playin from 8 to 2 am every saturday, what works for me is give the crowd your all and they will give you that same energy back in the 4th and 5th hour.

Any gig around my way is five hours. The first hour or two, I just play longer mixes (and some "megamixes" or medleys) until there are some people ready to dance. if you need to go to the bathroom, just put on a song that you know can run for five minutes and get back as quickly as possible.

GREAT idea! I will keep a coke bottle next to me to piss in. ;D

i usually spin some classic rock from 9 to 9:30, from 9:30 to 10:00 some 80's but not the boring ones, this is while theres only few heds in the club, at 10 i start playing some top 40's music til 11, i start playing some commercial hip hop, at 12ish i start playing some club bangers and at 12:30 is when i lay my killa set lol, a mix from some commercial reggae with reggaeton, some fast hip hop and 2 or 3 electronica songs like if you play sexy bitch in the club at 1:30 the crowd goes wild,some b-more tracks, at 2 i start my classic dancehall set, at 2:30 some house and go back with classic hip hop with 2 or 3 old schools, and from there i play for me, lol fuck the crowd, i play anything hot and at that time everyone that hadnt go home is drunk so they'll love the music no matter what lol

For a year or so, I was doing 10pm-4am at 1015 San Francisco, HipHop/Top40/Club sets.... It can be tedious. You just have to read the crowd and keep playing, taking them up and down. I usually would throw on a long enough track and put it on Internal mode while I went to the restroom. Either that or if one of your DJ homies is in the booth with ya, They can mix into the next track. With as much music as is available out there, It should be fairly simple/ You should know what times what crowds come in and out, what music works at certain times. usualt after 2am, I used to go into robot mode, playing 2-3 verses and just play hits. Depends on the venue...

Im not complaining about the 5hour gig, its just that im not use to them. YEAH THANKS dj_craigmac ill make sure to ""manup""

LOL - Dont sweat it dude. Just do what you do best. For my 6 hour sets, I'd start slowly, playing 90's hiphop jams, and slowly start working in more current music. By midnight, You play heaters from all eras, new shit that is hot on radio and flipping it back and forth. by 2 am, You can probably replay stuff (if necessary), but definitely play good classics and a good selection.

thanks Audio1. Yeah i think im doing alright playing classics for an 18year old playing for 21 and up
:D

Definitely look at your crowd. You def know what they like and what goes off, so use that valuable info to your advantage. Sometimes its the random cuts or them old school gems that get people jumping around.

hey djchope, you've been on here long enough to know that we're just bustin on ya (no money shot) but definitely take Audio 1's advice and make sure you read the crowd, don't stare at your screen all night

serato should develp an option that displays a webcam image behind the waveforms so you can stare at both at once

The thing is that the booth is next to lounge area (couches and the bar) so i have no idea what the people in the other rooms (bowling lanes,pool hall,vip room,dining area) are doing, that is a small problem..but ill make sure to take a buddy of mine and tell me whats going on.

im not bitching about my gig im just saying. I mean shit i can do it..its just new to me

5 hours it's easy. Always start mellow. I don't know of any 5 hour gig where it's packed for the full 5 hours. Usually you start slow, then as the crowd comes in you start getting into as they get into what you're playing. It's a give and take type situation.

heres what the people are doing in these rooms:

bowling lanes: bowling
pool hall: playing pool
VIP: drinking and doing coke
Dining area: eating??

Just focus on the area you CAN see which hopefully is the area with the dance floor, if you play the right shit this is where they should end up

chope i was just joking about the "manup" comment

+10000

also....

Be prepared for the tracks you would play at peak hour to be requested at 10 because the person is leaving and they want to hear it now... lol...

hahaha ok dj_craigmac its all good then :D

Thanks for the advice guys

I've done 6 hour gigs on the regular, I basically smoke 2 joints before the set, play old school r&b for the first 2 hours, then I take a bathroom break, smoke another 2 joints, then I start playing more current crap for the next 2 hours, still mixing in some old school stuff, then I take another break, smoke 2 joints, and start hitting them with some current stuff, reggae, old school all mixed in for the next two hours, then I take my final bathroom break, piss, and smoke 2 joints and hit them with heaters and classics for the last 2 hours.

It sucks though, most places don't like the stipulation in my rider that says I require a qp of dro for every show lol

someone's been taking Sublimes advice!

for deejay the have been around more the 10 year it' ll not be a problem there is alot of music in the last 3 decades..just manage to have fun & play a litbit of everything..time will fly!!!

p.s: just get to know you music library. peace!!

the important thing is to entertain yourself, b/c if your bored, so is your crowd!

thats why serato included pong in SL

Last month my library went from 15,000 to 30,000 ( don't panic, the music is all legal and good quality). Im still getting use to it and talk about building overviews, i also need to organize it well.

10-4 is the norm here. Weed, 90's hip hop, and monster energy drinks get you through the night lol.

(no serato ready craigslist HD)

Definitely a good energy drink or 2 throughout the night will get you thru. I used to bring 2 Energy Drinks and some apples or something, So I wouldnt fall asleep. LOL Must be funny watching a DJ eat an apple while DJing. LOL

were they 'macintosh' apples?

I seen a DJ order chinese food to the bar once. THat shit was fuuuunny.

my 5hr gig routine goes like this

arrive about an hour early
take my sweet time setting up
eat a salad to fill me up and not get the shits
start music
take a few walks around the club to make sure it sounded okay in each room/area
mess around on the tables, practice, play stuff I normally wouldn't
ease into the popular ish
11:00 -- shot
11:30 -- chug redbull
12:00 -- shot
rest of the rest 110% spinnin and havin a blast

sounds about right...

Dang DJ Prinvale' sounds like a plan!
Im going to start doing that :D

I never thought Serato Forum DJ's were going to be my mentors
...soo automixing, when do i start doing that?

not until you master the jesus pose

my 5hr gig routine goes like this

arrive about an 30 miuntes early
take my sweet ass time setting up
start music, check videos
take a few walks around the club to make sure it sounded okay in each room/area
mess around on the tables, practice, play stuff I normally wouldn't
locate & run game on hot chicks
ease into the popular ish
11:00 -- 2 shots & Beers
11:30 -- 2 more shots & chug redbull
12:00 -- 2 more shots & beer
12:30 - locate hot chicks and take shots with hot chics
1:00 - play bangers anything older, made before 95.
1:35 - bring crowd back down with old school bangers slower girlie shit doc box & b fresh, Xscape, bla bla bla
1:45 - lights come on, tell everyone to grab a mix cd before they leave. find hot chicks to carry out your gear, drink more shots, make chics carry you and your shit out.

2:30 ease into popular hot chicks

Repeat 3 times a week.

The sky is the limit chope, but definately read your crowd, If you cant connect or relate to em then the night ends up being work. And spinning records aint supposed to be work, its supposed to be fun.

When the lights come on, I usually tell people to make their way to the exit and remind em that the Baby mama's are waiting for em. COMEDY HOUR. Hahaha

doing that for 5 hours takes years of practice and is not a small feet

do some 7-8 hour gigs, then 5 will feel like nuthin

+1 million!!! i've done a 5 hour gig and then straight to a 8 hour gig... just standing that long sucks...

the longest one gig i remember started at 8 and ended at 9 the next morning...

^^^ and thats straight playin the music... no set up or take down included...

word i didn't even consider setup/breakdown, thats another couple of hours right there

My gig is 5 hours in theory but realistically I'm only really spinning for 3 hours unless a stag/hen/birthday party comes in early. If no one is there I'll play some stuff I want to hear work on a juggle or two and just have some me time. When I'm suitably warmed up I stick the ipod on or some breaks that I've brought recently and listen to them whilst reading a magasine and then play the night depending on who comes through the door. You get to know your crowd after a while and you know when a certain person walks in they want to hear Jay or Bounty or whoever.

On the off chance the club starts jumping from the time doors open I just play forgotten classics or brand new stuff. Again depending on who is in the club.

On my Saturdays, I play the regular 10pm-2am gig and THEN I play afterhours from 2:30-5am. That's 7 hours, sometimes more. 5 hours is nothing.

lol! one of my first non-mobile gigs was 8 hours @ a car show lol. my friday spot (up until the venue closed last month) was 10PM-4AM. thats weekly man, doing a 4-5 hour spot is cake now. you really get to know your music when you spin longer. about 5 years ago, i was at a spot from 9PM-7AM...PRE SERATO! imagine that. do a gig w/o scratch live for 5 hours and then complain :-)

You guys thrive on have SWIGABYTES of HD space, and a Quadrillion songs, and can't find 5 hours of consistant shit to play?

Man, listen....

I do an average 4-5 hour STICKAM show...WTF?

5 hours is nothing. i am use to 8 hours, it is nothing. alcohol, energy drink. and being young

Man, now I'm over 30 I find the longer gigs pretty tiring, especially as a hip hop DJ so I do loads of doubles and so on.

I get bored after like 2 hours on stickam. I need to see people partyin to get me psyched to do long ones. lol

^^^
+1

the only thing i can do is maybe an hour for me to make a mix tape so i dont have to listen to the radio

Yeah. I think I used to do 2 hours on stickam. I also need a crowd to get me past 2 hours. lol

Or, a good online audience. It's cool if there's a lot of feedback from the online peeps but sucks when they start asking "who was this and who was that".... and expect you to give them all the answers as you're busy mixing.

when I'm in the mood I can spin for hours on end by myself. It's great practice since you should be your own critic. I never get bored of it!

for me works the other way around - i used to play 5/6h gigs (even though would be just house with 5 to 8 minute tracks) and then when i relocated start playing this 3h30 gigs...

... considering everyone around here needs a few drinks to jump to the dance-floor to pretend they can dance, all i do is play some house-remixes of the shit they listen in the radio for 45min - play some oldies for 15min to get them going and interested, and then blast for 2h non stop with whatever made number-1

honestly, i don't know why they pay me to do the job - a monkey could do it

Man, you get in a ZONE.

To tell you the truth, 1 person can keep me focused...

Pre-set your music. and PRACTICE.

There are plenty of songs out there that will give you enough time to make a trip to the bathroom.

Or...Just DON'T GO! That will keep you on edge for the remainder of the evening. That way you will be more likely to play music to get the people hype and jumping while you're doing the pee-pee dance and blending in.

Nobody will notice you're doing it out of necessity.

hahahahah

exactly.

Hahah :))


lol


Another one... haha.

Right now I'm usually playing "9"-2:15 or so Fri & Sat at the same bar/dance club. I have easy access to the bathroom as long as I give myself a few minutes (and have the next track prepared just in case) so I'll focus on how I'm working over the course of five hours. This gig is only about a month old for me and pretty strict format, so this is what I've figured out so far:

Funk/oldies top 40 mixtape when I set my gear up on internal mode. Basically carry over from late dinner crowds and nothing too nuts. I play a mix or jump between a few until 10:15 or whenever I see fit or it's busy enough (or when the GM says "hey you about to get on?") then I start going all live.

From here, I keep playing the same style of music and some low energy top 40 mixed in--and new tracks and whatever I'm feeling, really--until all of the carryovers from the early evening start to wander out and more drunk girls come in.

By the time I have a few dedicated dancers (or feel that I should) I throw on a few bigger tunes--usually Lady Gaga or Pitbull or some shit--and start to bounce around the BPMs. I usually stay around one tempo for 30m before energy starts to wane. I usually use transition tracks but last night I just turned off the turntable and said "I think this slow shit is putting you to sleep" on the mic and baby scratched in some uptempo track for the ladies.

I couldn't really imagine playing an eight hour gig.

6 hours every night>>> it kills but u get used to it

...think of the money! Think of the money and start budgeting on what expensive piece of gear you'll buy next!

I always do 5-6 hour gigs. If the place is packed and it is really going down it is great!
BUT if it is a slow night it kills me! Especially in January it is going to be slow again!

5-6 hour gigs??? Yeah - it's called the average wedding. Gotta admit, the food is usually pretty good though.

BTW, not to mention the set up and take down time for mobile DJ's...add an hour or two to the night.

i have some of the fatigue mats that u find in the daycares that kids play on, they're light, easy to stuff in to the packed vehicle. And I got them in black so u can't see them unless u stand on them. Ive even sold a set or two to other dj's that come up to chat with me and they just can't believe they didn't think of it...15hrs sux, even with the most comfortable shoes in the world

^^^ +1
sometimes on long gigs I use the bank teller ones, (or even the rubber kitchen mats are better than nothing).

Esp when ur on concrete or another hard surface all day/nite

7 hour gig last night - average age was 55 - no hiphop, no top40, no house, even 70s funk and disco wasn't working (whiter than white crowd) - even 80s classics were lost on these guys...

The early part was easy - just playing jazz and downtempo, but once thy wanted to start dancing it became probably the hardest gig I've done. 80s rock, Motown, and 50s and early 60s rock n roll (chuck berry, Elvis, chubby checker) was all that really worked aside from a few other random songs...

55? Disco buddy, disco...

oh believe me, i tried the disco - it didn't work.

Did you try asking the crowd what they wanted? Concentrate on the dancers or fun-go'ers of the bunch.

yeap - predictably got many, many different answers. I got the gig through my agent and she usually gets the clients to give a request list so I can prep, but they forgot and I went in cold.

I got em tho - it just took some time.

my record day was 18 hours, and straight djing was 11 hours for a corporate party

damn - hope you got PAID for that...

unless its packed the whole time, i use mixes for 30 mins here or there. of course, i generally make the mixes myself, and know whats in them as far as genre. Its also some time to refresh, take requests, use bathroom, talk to some peeps and gauge what the crowd is into.

most of my gigs start at 1030 and end at 2, and i always try to fill that first 30 mins with a mix. of course if you do this at a club, dont bug/flirt the bartenders/cocktails and stand there like you are doing something dj related.

Just stand there like you're doing something DJ related?!? lol Heck, that's what I do at my regular job! :)

I can't see myself playing a mix at a function. (Except as an experiment), I just can't...

A fraternity party I was at back in college hired a big name DJ out of Chicago. [Wont' say who, but he's still on the air on Dance Factory Radio.] Shows up late, drunk, and throws in one of his mix tapes for an hour and walks out with $600. All the other warm up DJs busted their butts for peanuts and this tool gets all the fame.

Or he could be Peter Hook and probably get paid in the 5 figures to pretend to mix someone else's mix CD :-\

His reg rate was p;robably 1500.00, so he might have done a "compromise".

LOL Probably. They just used his name to bring in the crowd I guess.