LEARN HOW TO BECOME A DJ: Part 3 – What To Play As A DJ?
Whatever you damn want! Ha! If you want to mix Snoop Dogg into Skrillex into Panic Room, then you go, girl! The most beautiful thing about mixing is the expression that comes with it. When you are getting started, take the time to learn with tunes that you love.
But when it comes time to play to an audience, there are some other skills we need to talk about.
Track Selection
Track selection will make or break your DJ career. It’s as simple as that. You can be as technical, trick/effect orientated as you like, but if your audience isn’t in the groove, you’ll never go anywhere. So, let’s look at what makes a good song selection.
BPM & Key
These two elements dictate the technical side of what tunes work well together. A track at 95BPM isn’t going to mix with a track at 135 BPM. Key is less important but definitely something worth considering if you want buttery smooth mixes.
I try not to let keys dictate my sets, and here is why;
Not all sounds in a track are in a key. And most importantly, drums aren’t in a key. So if a track is ending or just starting, and it’s only playing drums, worrying about the key is irrelevant. This is a good way to jump between two tracks that aren’t in the same key.
Also, will your audience notice the two songs are out of key? Most likely not. Picking tracks that the dancefloor loves and that sound good together are far more important than harmonically mixed tunes.
This is a contentious subject, and you will hear a wide variety of opinions about it. Enjoy! Ha!
Genre
This is the most obvious and defining thing you will decide on before you hit play. Certain genres work effortlessly together, and others don’t.
For example,
Deep House, House, Tech House & Nu Disco: Work well together because they share a 4/4 beat and are all within ten bpm of each other.
Drum n Bass & Breaks & Dubstep & Jungle: Work well together for the same reasons.
DnB also works well with Hip Hop for a pretty cool reason. DnB runs at around 175 BPM, roughly double what Hip Hop runs at, so when layered over each other, they sync at 2 DnB beats for every 1 Hip Hop beat. Give it a try!
Energy
The energy and tone of a track is important to factor in too. Tracks of a similar energy work well together, tracks with miss-matched energy can quickly kill a vibe.
Intention
Being a DJ is like being a storyteller. You want to take your audience on a journey with your music selection. So you might decide to start with a happy feel, then move into a deep dark funk before pulling out at the end with a couple of uplifters to give your audience a feeling of hope. Pick your next track to fit the narrative you are telling.
Your Role
Are you a support DJ or the headline act? This will drastically influence your track selection. A support DJs job is to warm the crowd up and get people to the dance floor. If he goes and drops every latest banger, he will give the main act nowhere to go with a crowd that is over-amped and tired.
Ears
It all comes down to your ears. Does a mix sound good to you? Or does something feel off? If you’ve tried blending a pair of songs and it just won’t sound right, then bin that mix and move along. As a DJ, you have to trust your intuition and your ears.
