Tuesday DJ Tips
Tuesdays are DJ Tips days on Lets Go Big tunes, from beginner to expert, they are bound to be of help.
*tips from https://passionatedj.com/how-to-become-a-dj-ultimate-guide/
Step 10: Honing Your Craft
So you learned some skills, curated a music library, and scored some gigs. Congratulations, you’re a DJ!
So now you can simply kick back and let the gigs flow in, right? Wrong!
If you want to be a truly great DJ, you’ll never stop putting in work, so that you can become an expert at your craft. Unfortunately, many DJs get stuck in the comfort zone once they’re “good enough”.
There’s a lot more to DJing than just transitions. You must learn to read the crowd: a skill which allows you to both predict and react to an audience, in order to find common musical ground.
Know your event. When I play a fashion show, I know to play music that is upbeat and bouncy without too many vocals. I know that when I play an underground event at a warehouse somewhere, my crowd is going to be bored to tears if I play 95bpm trip-hop. Big wobbly dubstep tracks don’t typically belong at a coffee shop at 8 PM.
You must realize that context is everything in the world of DJing. The same song will have a much, much different effect depending on your time slot, venue, demographic, crowd size, and more.
You must focus on music curation. Get better at finding music which reflects your unique tastes, yet works with your audience.
You must learn to play the right gigs. Decide whether or not a potential booking is actually a good fit for your style, and your brand.
There are a number of advanced skills, available to be explored. For example, mixing harmonically can add a new dimension to your sets. Turntablists/scratch DJs can never have enough practice. Maybe you’re interested in adding “live” elements to your set, using drum machines, samplers, remix decks, live musicians… the list is endless.
While you should learn how to choose appropriate gigs… you should also be versatile. Building a brand is one thing, but be careful not to pigeonhole yourself!
Final Tips
Looking for online DJ courses? Visit Digital DJ Tips Courses and gain access to a library of lessons, covering everything from equipment setup, to basic DJ techniques, to music production, and more.
Learning how to become a DJ is easy… but making a living DJing is hard. I’m not saying it can’t be done… it can! But it’s important to realize that you need to put in the work, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
Do what makes you happy.
Don’t ever move past step 10 on this list. Always be improving as a human and as a DJ. Don’t stagnate!
Learn the value of subtlety. This will help you with your crowd reading and will help you turn your sets into a journey instead of a cyclone.
It doesn’t matter that anyone can DJ these days. What matters is that you do it better.
There’s a lot to consider when deciding how to become a DJ. It can be intimidating to take all of this in. But, we’re here to help.
At the Passionate DJ Podcast, we strive to become the best DJs we can be. We hope that you will join us as a listener. Because together, we’re becoming better DJs through passion and purpose.