What makes dj great

If you have a passion for DJing, this will come through in your music and set you apart. Inventing and reinventing your style is vital if you want to be a successful DJ in the long run.

The last thing you want is to come across as a one-dimensional DJ with limited musical scope. Rather, you want to show that you can adapt your style to reflect the ever-changing musical landscape around you. Take Armin van Buuren as an example. Referring back to Carl Cox — through the years, his music has encompassed a wide range of genres such as funky techno, tech-house and funk soul.

You get the picture. Taking it upon yourself to approach promoters and club managers could be career-defining. These people could hold the key to an amazing opportunity, and every great DJ will attribute part of their success to building and nurturing relationships with people who gave them their big break. However, knowing how to approach these people and what information to get across can be an exact science. If required, you should also visit the venue.

This will help build relationships that then lead to referrals and more business. Magazines like Mixmag are ideal if you want to keep on top of the latest music.

As are online music stores like Beatport, where you can find a variety of mixes tailored towards DJs. Your sounds are only as good as the equipment you use to create them!

Check out our blog on the best DJ equipment to achieve the ultimate sound. If you were in the crowd and were listening to a DJ playing a particular type of track, what type of track would you want to follow it? A DJ set should almost turn out like a symphony. Some tunes just set up other songs so well, whether it be keeping the energy up or bringing it down.

Many DJs question how much of their set should be pre-programmed and how much should be a live pick. Finding a beautiful medium between these two is key to a thriving mix. Alternatively, if you go in completely unprepared, you may miss great set opportunities that will take the set to a higher level.

For example, when I DJ for friends, I have smaller sets in my head already. Builds-ups, and bring downs. Dramatic changes can take your breath away.

The energy comes in waves. It keeps things exciting and makes a DJ mix something more than just a bunch of songs. DJ set should have stages of tension and release allowing you time to recover from intense dancing without losing the vibe or making you feel bored; the right consistency and change of energy when necessary. It makes me step back and appreciate the work the DJ is putting in. We all like an element of surprise in techno sets.

Some people prefer that to go deep into the zone, but I need a bit more diversity, while still keeping a specific line in a set. Thus, some genres even depend on excellent, smooth transitions, and maybe a bit on the fly remixing. Transitions in set sound so much smoother when the two tracks are mixed in the same key, or at least fairly close off by a fourth or fifth that they blend the chords of the first song with the bass of another.

My friend was once playing some Psy breaks in a college town club. I was sitting at the bar, and one of the people sitting next to me thought he was playing the same tracks over and over again. His ignorance was the best compliment he could get. Like an orchestra playing in separate keys, blending two songs out of key is going to sound clashing and make for a poor transition.

Identify records that have changes inbuilt or have a good feel and not too many recognizable harmonies. Keep them up to your sleeve for transitions. They are just there to connect to your next big hit. But, they can be useful to give the listener some mental space to make the transition. The tracks have to fit together and work together. Good DJs can keep a 3-hour set running without disrupting the flow of the music.

These things have their place, and some are good at it. The way I like to think of FX are as a utility. Shuffling your feet and getting your groove on behind the decks. Anybody who thinks otherwise should attend a John Digweed show. It is fair to say that crowds like seeing DJs enjoying themselves.

But using it as criteria to determine the abilities of that person as a DJ? It could simply mean they are good at marketing, or got lucky. I love being surprised by the DJ underdog.

As a promoter, I try to talk to my potential bookings and get to know them. I learn much more about their skills as a DJ by talking to them, learning their attitude and approach, observing their musical style, and seeing how they talk about these things to other people.

Looking beyond the common arguments, and staying true to what you feel is important, is how you find those diamond-in-the-rough DJs.

We should keep in mind that there are different types of DJs, and different reasons to have them. Remember, a DJ is simply anyone who plays pre-recorded music to an audience. There are many different kinds of people with many different skill sets that could fall under that umbrella. Both of these people have marketable skills and undeniable talent… they just do different things.

If someone is operating an Internet radio station out of their home using iTunes to play one song after another, and there are people out there listening to it… they are a real DJ. Check your ego at the door. An author is still an author, regardless of whether they chisel their work into stone tablets, write them with pen and paper, type it on a typewriter or dictate it to a computer using speech-to-text software. A DJ is still a DJ, whether he emcees and plays music for weddings, scratches and juggles hip-hop tracks, long-mixes tracks seamlessly in a nightclub or festival atmosphere, decides which track should come next on the iPod at a sports bar, or runs an independent radio station.

We are all entitled to our opinions and personal taste, of course. Probably the best example that comes to mind is an often observed divide between hip-hop and electronic DJs.