Question for Ableton DJ's: How to keep crowds interested?

[Koala111]

I'll be playing a gig soon (Electro house) and I was hoping to get a question answered from you guys. I'll be using my UC-33E/Macbook (No headphones). Usually during a mix, I always have 16 bars of transition (no more, no less). During these 16 bars, I completely mix into the next track. Usually this isn't an exciting part of the track (Just drums beatmatching, not much else). My question is, will the audience get bored if I do 16 bar transitions? I don't want to lose the crowd during these moments. I've listened to many dj sets in the genre and seen live shows, and I sometimes see dj's that don't beatmatch, just trigger the next track when the previous one is over. I've seen other dj's literally stop the track and start talking to the audience before dropping the next tune (Something I don't want to do). I'm confident in my track selection, but I want to know what things to avoid so I don't lose the audience.

Also, just to throw this out there, I have a DJ mastering patch on my master channel to avoid clipping, but should I still turn the db levels below 0 when I play live? My db levels in my mixes are usually between 0 to -2. I don't want to drop my first beat and have it play too low (Or too loud). How would I know what the perfect volume is for the tracks in a club setting?

[ollyb303]

The most important part of keeping the crowd interested is nothing to do with how you mix, it's having the right tunes with you, having the ability to read the crowd and picking the right tune at the right moment.

That aside, 16 bars seems a pretty short mix to me. I tend to mix the last/first 1 1/2 to 2 minutes of a track, but I am generally playing 7 or 8 minute techno tunes - I know very little about electro house and how long the tracks generally are. For me, it's all about letting the main hook of a tune have a decent airing, then dropping the next track in and really working the blend on the EQs, generally cutting to the next track just as the hook kicks in - I like to create a continuous flow and the crowd have always seemed to enjoy that, as long as the tunes are good.

[8O]

Also, just to throw this out there, I have a DJ mastering patch on my master channel to avoid clipping, but should I still turn the db levels below 0 when I play live? My db levels in my mixes are usually between 0 to -2. I don't want to drop my first beat and have it play too low (Or too loud). How would I know what the perfect volume is for the tracks in a club setting?

Any chance to turn up early and soundcheck? If not, you'll at least have the chance to plug your soundcard to the main mixer and see the input level indicators (with the faders down i.e. mute) and see that they're comparable with what's currently playing.

I prefer keeping a limiter on the master - just in case - but playing with much lower level in Live to avoid ever having to hit the limiter - and whacking up the soundcard and PA output. Clipping is not good.

Good luck though! Tell us how it went!

[dhilsabeck]

Don't fuck this up.

[102455]

I'd say that if you need to ask those sort of questions, then you're not ready to play at a gig.

You want to know what things to avoid - avoid doing the gig until you have the skills.

Get some experience first, learn your trade, otherwise you'll end up falling flat on your face in
front of a crowd of people and embarrassing yourself.

[Donnie]

The amount of bars in the transition should have nothing to do with how interested the crowd is. Honestly, if you do a good transition most people shouldn't be even to tell enough to get bored. Arguably depending on the music the transition is actually where the real magic happens sometimes. A good transition can get people into it and not lose them.

Besides that id look at track selection, how long you are waiting between transitions, how good your transitions actually are, etc. Try things like timing two build ups perfectly, mixing cleanly between breaks, dropping into two breaks at the same time, taking the mix in an unexpected but enjoyable direction via a unique transition, etc.

As a DJ, the transition is the art. Without that you are just a music randomizer.

[amigo]

You need to familiarise yourself with the tracks that you are playing and mix them where they sound the best. Just mixing in and out of the first and last 16 is not ideal and you could easily bore the crowd. Expand your transition to 32, 48 or 64 to see which sounds beat and go from there.

[beats me]

Copious amounts of drugs.

/thread

[mr.ergonomics]

less is more... play whole tracks and not only loops. you can't rearrange all tracks in real time, artist have spend a good amount of time to arrange those tracks. you can't impress people most with crazy fx or loop things and most serious listeners will even hate that in 2011.

[djinvisiboy]

I Dj with ableton live using the launchpad and the crowd loves it.
Here's a video: http://www.djinvisiboy.com/2011/03/live-set-for-cxcw/

If you're interested they'll be interested. Crowds take their cues from the performers.

[hacktheplanet]

Don't stand up on stage looking like you're checking your email.

Scream along to the tracks, do some fistpumping, throw water bottles, do a flip, dance around, kiss a hot girl/guy, flip off the crowd, headbang, crush a can of beer with your forehead, drink a lot, toss your controller around, move faders with your teeth/tongue, make a big deal out of turning knobs, hit buttons really hard, etc etc.

[Koala111]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm 150% ready to play a gig. Musically, it's my main goal right now. I have fast track pro external soundcard but talking with other artists, if I'm not cueing in headphones, I'm told I don't need a soundcard for a live gig. I guess the one thing I realized is every dj uses Ableton a little different. Everyone has their own way with what works for them. I'm VERY confident that I can work a crowd, but I'm on the fence on the transitions. Late last year, I saw a show by Skrillex (Seems to be popular these days), and his setup was a trigger finger and a Macbook. What I noticed is, a lot of times he didn't fiddle with the knobs at all, he would just launch a clip to a new track when the previous one finished. I've seen Mr. Oizo do this as well (albeit on vinyl). In both shows, they kept the crowd very engaged, and I began to think to myself, are transitions really necessary? The transition is where the true creativity of dj comes into play, but in a live setting, is it simply better to randomly launch clips without mixing at all to keep the crowd on their toes? (Giving no clues to what's dropping next).

[Tarekith]

16 bars sounds crazy short for a transition unless you're playing hip hop and slamming the fader over.

[lasersounds]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm 150% ready to play a gig. Musically, it's my main goal right now. I have fast track pro external soundcard but talking with other artists, if I'm not cueing in headphones, I'm told I don't need a soundcard for a live gig. I guess the one thing I realized is every dj uses Ableton a little different. Everyone has their own way with what works for them. I'm VERY confident that I can work a crowd, but I'm on the fence on the transitions. Late last year, I saw a show by Skrillex (Seems to be popular these days), and his setup was a trigger finger and a Macbook. What I noticed is, a lot of times he didn't fiddle with the knobs at all, he would just launch a clip to a new track when the previous one finished. I've seen Mr. Oizo do this as well (albeit on vinyl). In both shows, they kept the crowd very engaged, and I began to think to myself, are transitions really necessary? The transition is where the true creativity of dj comes into play, but in a live setting, is it simply better to randomly launch clips without mixing at all to keep the crowd on their toes? (Giving no clues to what's dropping next).

you said it: the most important thing is track selection. obviously if these famous djs are killin it and they dont even mix the songs, its gotta mean track selection is the most important part of DJing.

for me, i try to pick the best tracks for the crowd at that moment, BTW im a working DJ so take with a big ole grain of salt we see DJing as two different things, and instinctively try to mix them together best i can. sometimes its just a stop and start, sometimes its an epic 2 minute build, sometimes its a slam.

but any how, the point is, no one gives the slightest of shits how you mix the songs, as long as they like the songs. like the song "get low". if you play that song, any crowd will get rowdy. its a sad fact of DJing, just like they dont care how well you mix, so just REALLY concentrate on giving them the tracks they want.

good luck, it took me at least a year or two to figure out how to really read the crowd, just dont give up.

[Koala111]

16 bars sounds crazy short for a transition unless you're playing hip hop and slamming the fader over.

I chop up the track heavily, basically making it a radio edit. I keep the intro drums and outro drums intact but chop the song up to be 2-4 minutes, usually just keeping the verses and hook together. I use a lot of tracks with rappers and other vocalists, so in a way, I guess my set has a hip-hop feel to it. So maybe that's why the short transitions are working. If I were to do a more progressive set, I would have a longer transition period, but with these electro house/dubstep tracks, 16 bar transitions actually come off very natural.