IN all honesty I kinda like to hear a dj mess up a beat match or fuck up a transition as it shows he is doing the mxining himself, lets be honest Were all human & we all make mistakes, minimising them & learning from them is the key!

exactly i agree, even AM use to mess up ..and you know what i use to love that about him because he was a true mixer with his creativness. no pre mixed BS or auto sync BS

I do most nights and I make a note in my head to improve next time.

lol funney story, after we closed last sat some of my dj friends and myself were messin around goofin off. And i was just throwin tracks on and i threw one on and when i was about to mix it in i decided to go a different route and ended up trainwrecking for a few, and my boy came running up laughin cause apparently JUUUST as i was doin this a DJ from another club came in and heard it and started kinda talkin shit. So i mixed a few more tracks and went to sey hey to him (i knew him but hes never heard me spin) and he was like ya i wanted to hear what you sounded like and thought you sucked but all your mixes since them have been flawless so i guess it was just the worst case of timing in the world lol

I think there's a difference between 1) a good mix 2) a not so great mix 3) whoa buddy stop drinkin that was bad mix

If you are referring to #3, it might happen a few times a month, keeping in mind, that I dj 2x a week....but if its #2, there's probably 2 or 3 of those a night when I am not REALLY happy...I don't play a set, so its not like I practice and do the same mixes over and over again, so it can lead to a few not so great mixes...sometimes its more about progamming

Funny how you remember the bad mixes more then the good...

+1

sometimes i mess up, but its never a trainwreck. i got beatmatching down pretty good.

sometimes i drop tunes im when i want the intro and my drops can suck sometimes.

i try not to use too much effects in the club. so no mess ups with loops and stuff.

i dont fuck up too often but the one fuckup i do too much (2 or 3 times a night and ive been called out on it) comes from not paying attn to the bars in my intros. Mixing in and thinking the lyrics are on the next beat, dropping out and finding out i got 8 more bars of intro.......thanks 8th wonder

No matter how good I've done a mix, I can always find a flaw. To the untrained ear it goes right over their head. But to me it sticks out like a sore thumb. It will hardly ever be a huge train wreck, but maybe off beat for a sec or two until I correct it.

i dont really trainwreck i do some dumb ish like throw the line faders all the down by mistke with the headphone wires or hit the tonearm. like just some really dumb ish all the time. or load a track to a side thats already playing. i;ve done this many many times before. LMAO esp when i first got serato. hahhaha

anybody ever do that one?!

i used to but i have a habit of keeping my hand on my crossfader all the time so i just load into the opposite deck of my crossfader...hasnt done me wrong since.

i usually listen back to my sets and there's probally 2-4 transitions or scratches over the course of 3 hours that flat out suck. What's important is that you hide that screw up as best u can, laugh a little, and keep mixing and doing you. I've listened to a number of DJ AM sets and he has the same amount of screw ups over the same period of time BUT he recovers from them quickly and no one in the club notices.

The nice part about being in the club is as long as the mistake lasts less than 10 seconds its like it never happened. Like others have also said, i'd perfer to see a DJ be creative and make a mistake or 2 than play a pre recorded set.

Honestly, it's rare for me to fuck up and I never really trainwreck. I think those of us who have done it for a long time and spin regular club stuff on a regular basis know that it all becomes second nature.

I do however make silly mistakes on accident like restarting the track by hitting the wrong cue point. Very rare nowadays cause I'm more careful when it comes to certain stuff.

But, I remember the first time I thought I had the echo set and it wasn't. lol

But, you learn from your mistakes. The silly mistakes are usually from learning something new. But, beatmatching and all that is basically well engraved in my system.

The mistakes I was talking about are more of levels not being lined up properly but I think I probally have maybe 1 trainwreck every other set which being that i've only been in the game for 2 years isnt that big of an issue.

As sixxx said, as long as you learn from your mistakes its all good.

Sometimes i'll drop the wrong version of a track... like i'll intend to go from the inst to the main and than i'll mix in the inst again! lol.

hmmmmmm........my mistake is not technical it's more timing. becoming an expert at programing music is what i'm all about. The technicality of it is like riding a bike

No one talks much about volume control, but it affects the crowd as much as a bad mix...

couple times a night, but im new....and i feel like most of it comes from when people are trying to talk to you the whole damn night or request a song right when youre working a transition

2-3 times a night.
Main one is usually hitting the wrong cue on the naopad and sending the playing track back to the first beat.

Loading a song into a playing deck definitely is my weak sauce. When I was on strictly cd's I would eject the wrong table. Now that I'm on Serato it's more of a hitting the wrong deck hotkey. Ive started to learn to look at the crossfader or volume fader before doing anything. This helps in making sure I'm doing it right.

autogain....

the formula for how many times i fuck up is if x=% of crowd i'm feeling. y=# of beers I've had and z=my pay:

x+y-z=3

When i fuck up, its usually someone in my ear ignoring the fact that I need to mix in the next record. When I say fuck up. I'm talking, I was planning to hit a certain break and the person that wanted a birthday shout out so bad that they needed my un-divided attention so I end up slamming the song in cause the previous song ended or something.

I get that one a lot, people just won't give me the little bit of time it takes to get the next track mixed and I lose my concentration and miss the mix entirely.

Truthfully once or twice a night. More often than not, it's the most minute thing that most people wouldn't notice.

I hate the talking thing while I'm trying to mix, most of my screw ups stem from someone talking to me and causing me to miss my cue, so I end up with a bar or two of intro on incoming track. Not life threatening but man that really aggravates me.

I occasionally put sneakers in the dryer (again not paying attention), or didn't fully listen to a track or edit before I play, so it comes out less than desirable.

Then again, sometimes I just plain out screw up for no apparent reason.

House DJ's should NEVER fuck up. Just sayin.

agreed. mixing style is less strenuous and active.

Hip-hop and open format DJ's have so much more room for error. Especially when you try new things and take risk.

instead of 125-140 bpm all night 16/32 bar mixing effects tweaking. etc. i agree meng.

house songs can rock for longer periods too without being monotonous. house djs should rarely F up.

house is fun though

it happens to me when im trying new stuff out or when i decide to do risky stuff

yep, I just found a few old serato recordings of partial live sets.
A live recording can be brutally honest, once you go back and pick it apart...
(but it's also a great way to improve for next time)

so yeah, nobody's perfect... (or are you?)

I did that at a Dj competition. I was nervous as hell, quickl hit command+z but still just wanted the ground to swallow me up. Really embarassing and the crowd DID notice it. Yes, I lost the semi-finale. Still pissed at myself.

Anyone who says they haven't had a fuck up, no matter the format, is lying. It's all in how you react to it.

The other djs in the crowd will notice. The other people, probably won't.

its all about how quick you bounce back.......

It's funny that just Wednesday I was playing music in Spanish and some girl distracted me (asking for a request) and I pushed cue 1 by mistake which started the song again. But, the song was on beat and it's one of those songs that originally has an intro so, it didn't seem like I made a mistake at all. I don't even think another DJ would have noticed either because I didn't cut off any words or anything. ANYWAY..... I echo out and threw the next song in before the lyrics started again.

Yay for years of experience. lol

When serato first came out i used to make mistakes with the cue buttons on my laptop, accidentally restarting the track. But now most of my mistakes come from playing brand new tracks for the first time and not completely knowing the song structure. Most hip-hop and r&b songs have similar patterns, but if youve never practiced with the song before you may not know the proper ins and outs of it. There are also times where I forget that a chorus may not be 8 bars, but sometimes 6 or 12 bars and that can mess up a mix too.

I do that one a lot too, I'll finish work and be DJing in a few hours so I'll quickly check DJ city. Find something I really like and want to play that night and don't listen to the song more than once before I play it out.

the worst is dropping your next song on to the deck already playing. done that a couple times. just lack of attention maybe a couple shots who knows. also pushing cue point button 1 and it restarts the song playing and it just goes to the beginning of the song. i quickly scroll over a part of the waveform and drop it somewhere i think would be good.

I try new things all the time at mobile gigs. Sometimes they work... other times they don't. I have great sets (4-5 songs) that I've practiced, but when I venture from the norm - it's a gamble. I have the benefit of drunk bridesmaids and party goers that have probably never heard good mixing before, so when I do screw up once or twice it goes unnoticed. I'm (and my wife) are my worst critics! Sounds like some of you club guys have very discerning ears listening to your sets. No pressure or nothing...

I heard a Chicago "MixMaster" DJ screw up several times in a club back in college. he recovered and rocked the dance floor the rest of the night, but it was a rough start.

You know what has got me in trouble? The damn reverse switches on the 57. lmao!!!!!

AKIEM already suggested I do what he did... shave them suckers so they are hard to get to. Stupid things. Why were they designed on the main face plate (vs the front)? :P

On AVERAGE average....2-3 slightly rough mixes/transitions, whether it's beat over beat or just dropping it in with perfect timing. It's where a DJ or critic MIGHT notice each one, but only if he's focused right on what I'm doing. I'd say 1 out of 25-30 events, I make a mistake that even the crowd notices, but they usually don't care much. This is like pressing the wrong cue button so it jumps to the wrong part of the song.

Cue buttons on the 57 have messed me up as they are hard to see at night and I rely on my touch to know which one I am about to press.

Yup... took those out after the first gig. Covered the holes up with electrical tape and replaced the face plate.

the 57 in itself without proper lighting is a train wreck waiting to happen but so far so good. dropping a bad cue point or triggering the sp on the wrong button...crowd barely noticed once there all liquored up. after all these years i'm so over the being hard on myself because i'm human and not a super robot dj who never messes up. sometimes i just like to get in my groove and enjoy what i'm doing.

the 57 buttons was always in my way pushing on a accident. now the 62 fits the bill better.

This (+1) is right on point! I was doing an open deck set late last yr, and just off beat left, right, and center. But the GM comes up and says that was a really good set. Still kinda wished i kept my mouth shut and said "Thanks!" But me being all super critical of my mixing I opened my mouth and said, "I appreciate the compliment, but to be honest, that was probably one of the worst sets I've done"....should've kept the mouth shut... But down the road a bit, a few shows there and I think I got more of his trust and have shown that i can mess up, be honest bout it, and learn from it and improve. Which is why have done a few corporate parties there.




This +2! I've heard too many dj's not set the song gain to the right level (either too quite or too loud), instantly kills the floor.




This is why i put "Locked Decks" on. Pisses some of the other dj's off, but keeps me from messin up a killer set. Then once they've messed up a couple of times, next time I see them playing out, they let me know that they got the "Locked Decks" on as well, and usually get a thanks right after...




which is why i bought the KB cover and a set of the Dicers. Learned with both so that if one goes MIA or breaks then i do have a backup that i am comfortable with so i can keep the show going with minimal hicups. And knowing where u are in the song without needing to look at the screen all the time....yeah I went there, but, well we've all been on that merry-go-round before, no need to flame (nh, nm)...

for me a fuckup is something as small as having the vocals bleed in before I drop the next song. Or a sloppy scratch which 99% of punters wouldn't notice. But if i've had a few beers it could be something like loading a song into the wrong deck. It really depends on how rushed I am. If I'm going really fast sometimes I do stupid shit like leave the echo on or load up the wrong cue point

62 knobs on a dark DJ booth
- bass knob is all the way down
- filter is all the way to the left

FEATURE REQUEST: make LED knobs on the the next mixer release?

i removed all my reverse buttons so this would not happen again.

ay
having a track that ends to fast. It's supposed to be a 4 min track but it ends in 30 seconds and I got to hurry and find the next song or find the correct song and mix it in like I meant to start it over. yep

generally happens when i don't know the material well enough to be playing it out. but i do anyway, because i could play the same set and get everyting right, but no one really cares.

if i play an hr guest set and its a big event, ala opening for an touring dj/producer, i step my game up and plan things out. other than that its just freestylin.

ay
it will be tracks that I never played before or just downloaded that I thought finished but never did.
yep

how about playing that mp3 that missed the quality control check and you get either a loud audio pop or the song just ends abruptly without any notice.

ay
A song that's waveform colors are white and pink.
yep

honestly i have one train wreck every 6 or 8 times i spin... where i go. wow i hope noone noticed that lol

i might be off by a smidge here and there. the onyl time i mess up is when im trying something new in front of everyone...

Every gig I do I mess up 2-3 times that night but no one notice unless there's a Dj at the party. But Every single Dj out there will mess up at least once Everytime they spin.

practice makes perfect...
-but it seems that there are always variables that can occur and foul things up - whether it's dust accumulating on the needle and screwing up your tracking signal and you have to jump to INT mode, or some drunk club-goer that distracts you just long enough that your song almost runs out, murphey's law likes to come into play.

that being said, even if a DJ plays a seamless set with no technical errors, if their selection is way off - it can be an even worse mistake that a botched transition!

i dont mind listening to a few fuck ups - it means the person is willing to take risks - makes for a more interesting set. I would much rather listen to that than a boring ass set with no fuck ups. And I think that can be said for the public too.

I thought about removing them - but I let other cats use my mixer for shows so I dindt want to do that.



I usually make a mistake per nite, early.
The bigger the crowd the less mistakes... hmm wonder why?

My most common used to be loading the song in the wrong deck so now I spend most of my night double & triple checking the deck I am loading the next song in is not the playing deck.

But heres one that almost happened to me recently I was doing my debut night at a place I have been trying to get into for years. They have a Deneon 500 not one of my most commonly seen mixers, anyway I had the song playing out and allready had the next song in cue. I checked the level meters and seen the next song had to be adjusted so I turned what I though was the input gain but it was the input select. I was baffled but didnt want to start turning knobs franticaly, the song playing was about to end & I still couldnt get sound from the cued song, with that I was already signed off to face my biggest nightmare, silence on the dancefloor.
At a last minute attempt I noticed the input select & was able to get a signal. Mixed in the next song. Needless to say since then I now also double check that the knob I am twisitng for gain is the input gain.

another thing I hate is when the other DJ gets fog machine happy and the fall out gets on the control vinyl and ends forming a thin layer of goo between your needle and your vinyl. Or worse when the fog machine fall out makes your record so damn slippery scratching and cueing are almost impossible

being a hampster style dj, i'll occasionally forget to recenter the fader and drop into silence :D .. feels good man. and that occasional is usually on a fierce drop too ;\ atleast "I" got witness it in the cue... LOOL

I also beat juggle reversed, sometimes i regret not starting normal. it makes learning new techniques a bit troubling and also teaching them to others; being the majority do have the fader in its intended form.

A time or two my hand has hit the channel swap button or the reverse channel fader buttons on the 57...that kinda sux...took me a lil too long to figure out the first time it happened.....channel fader was turned almost all the way up and the level coming out was real low..i was like wtf?!

Not specifically DJ (dance floor) related, but I hate setting up sound systems for wedding ceremonies. Either the preacher forgets to turn on the wireless mic, the bride gives me the wrong into song, or the mic picks up the wind noise so bad that you can't hear anything anyways. Not skill related stuff, but it anything goes wrong during the ceremony, you bet your britches I'm going to hear about it at the reception! It's always so nerve racking - nobody plans these things out very well and no single sound system can accommodate all environmental variables.

The trend right now is to do the beatmatching by ear. but use software like Mixed in Key to help you get the keys right. I do the opposite--I might sync BPMs, but I mix key by ear. That's part of being a former musician, I guess.

Sometimes I fuck up and forget that the part I'm actually mixing into does something weird with the key (like a modulation or something) and it sounds so wack that everyone in the club drops their beverage. What a mess.

Are we back to that again... seriously! :)

Well, once I saw that half the guys in town were using MiK, I stopped feeling bad about using autotempo. And I don't freaking bother with MiK, 99% of the time I don't need it.

And you know what's funny? The #1 question I get asked by the next DJ is not "what tempo you at" but "what key is that in?" I'm like "hell if I know dude, but lemme listen and I'll tell you if it works."

:D

Lol yea this is one of the reasons why I carry 3 pairs of vinyl with me at a time. And two sets of carts with back up stylii. It's always some bs when your in certain spots

And if all else fails, there's always INT mode, lol.

Yes sir... had to rely on that once or twice. Not much fun trying to mix everything with a mouse!

For the most part my mixes are pretty smooth, I turned on the lock playing deck feature because I too have been victim of dropping the next track too early.

Also w/ the doofy apple track pads I can't count how many time's I'd be scrolling, and all of a sudden I accidentally dragged a track on to the playing deck.

It's always little shit like forgetting to turn the bass eq up when you finish the transition, sometimes when I'm touching the platter I will touch the record by accident and fuck up the mix royally... Trying to use the loop roll feature on the dicer during a transition track... When you let a bunch of dust accumulate on the stylus, and get the garbled satan noise lol...

Can't forget about being drunk/dicking around and realizing you've got 15 seconds until the song ends... That's always fun.

I accidentally turned off the turntable on Saturday whilst doing a juggle i hit the knob all I heard was the music slowing down. I was like WTF but I caught it before the music completely turned off

I left the high EQ on my left channel at -6 dB for half my set. Fortunately I was playing deep house so it didn't matter. :D

This can be a cool effect though.

Yeah, amazing how many F-ups you can hide these days simply by pretending you did it on purpose.

man, all the DJ trickery known to man originated from somebody 'fucking up'.

Truth.

I accidentally unplugged a CDJ the other night. The promoter ran into the booth kicking and screaming. Was still talking about it the next week.

i have no mistakes... im perfect.......... oh yes.... i remember. Last night people ran out the club last night because the was no music playing and all you can hear was a loud beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep sound!

fuckin promoters. I was doing a party once with a homie and he accidently turned off the pio 707 (power button in the front) when switching headphones. Promoter came up to us all SMH at us even tho the party was and stayed poppin. He brought it up again bout 2 weeks later. What is up with that shit. promoters taking themselves too seriously and thinking they're your superior.

Ummm yea....FUCK PROMOTERS! ....I'm done

I have my lpd8 sideways and the top two knobs mapped to filters. I sometimes turn wrong one. Ended up taking them all off xcept the two i use

Actually DJ Nyce was there he thought I did it on purpose his quotes exactly where "ok that was different but kool"

I totally did it by accident

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.

I don't normally train wreck as beat matching is second nature to me. Once I had too many drinks and I loaded a track onto the deck that was playing already.

At times on my rane 62 I will leave the lpf or hpf engaged and sometimes the echo effect will be left on from the previous transition. But I catch that within seconds so noone ever really notices lol.

Not really a trainwreck, more of a technical issue. My needle just died on the spot pretty much one time and I had no extra needles to replace it with. Eventually I got it to work but took about a solid minute to 2 minutes to fix. Next day I bought 12 shure n44-7's lol. Lesson learned!

I did that a lot when I first got my 62 back in 2012