Planning sets!

Mattix

Mattix

Sub Focus anyone?
VIP Junglist
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Location
Horsham
Does anyone else plan a set before they play out? When i say 'plan', i don't mean i turn up with exactly 20 records in a bin liner and play those exact 20, but generally, if i know im playing out and i know the night then i get a bunch of mixes together that sound real phat to make my set sound as good as i can. I can freestyle mix aswell as there have been times when sets have over run and ive continued fine, i jus find it better to have an idea of what im going to do in my sets.

I bring this up cos recently watched interviews with Andy C & Friction and Andy C says he never really plans a set and Friction says he likes to find time in the week to do some mixes which he will later play out at the weekend. Friction also quotes that "if people are paying to see you, i want to give them the best i can".

I prefer to turn up and sort of know where im going to go with my set. I know things can change depending on crowd reaction but im usually aware of the kind of nights ill be playing at and try to cater for them.

After that essay, i just want to know peoples thoughts.

:orly::orly::orly:
 
Last edited:
all my top mixes are stored, in me head, i dont think you can really plan a set in my eyes, you have to play to the crowd really, but i try and keep all my records in some kind of order, sick DD kept together but i normally see wot the crowd is sayin and wot the previous DJ played and go from there.
 
Mattix said:
Does anyone else plan a set before they play out? I do and was just wondering if anyone else does? When i say 'plan', i don't mean i turn up with exactly 20 records in a bin liner and play those exact 20, but generally, if i know im playing out and i know the night then i get a bunch of mixes together that sound real phat to make my set sound as good as i can. I can freestyle mix aswell as there have been times when sets have over run and ive continued fine, i jus find it better to have an idea of what im going to do in my sets.

I bring this up cos recently watched interviews with Andy C & Friction and Andy C says he never really plans a set and Friction says he likes to find time in the week to do some mixes which he will later play out at the weekend. Friction also quotes that "if people are paying to see you, i want to give them the best i can".

I prefer to turn up and sort of know where im going to go with my set. I know things can change depending on crowd reaction but im usually aware of the kind of nights ill be playing at i try to cater for them.

After that essay, i just want to know peoples thoughts.

:orly::orly::orly:
Click to expand...

I think to a certain extent Andy and Friction do plan their sets, I mean when I hear their sets (particularly tape pack ones i.e. One Nation, Slammin Viny') alot of the mixes have been done before and becuase they usually just have an hour at those events they just compile all their current big mixes into the set, if that makes sense. But if you see them play longer, 2, 3, 4 hour sets than they tend to improvise more and dig deeper pulling out a varied selection.

I've never played out before but if i were to I would have an idea of tunes/big mixes I would want to incorporate as it would make me feel far more comfortable.

On the whole I agree with your approach mate.
 
I've played out twice, both times I planned out an entire set an both times i ended up doing something rather different, you just get caught up in the moment an get urges to play certain tunes at certain times
 
I used to do this more when I first started but I never seemed to stick to it anyway. I ususally just pick out a box full of tracks that I think I'll play and then group them by style. It is so much more fun and rewarding to just pull and go with the crowd.
 
Ill organise my bag so i know where my tunes are, thats about as far as planning goes, nothing like not being able to find a tune when ur searching frantically.

Apart from that a mate and me always play b2b, and do 2 records each so ill 'plan' which record goes in to his and mine, but thats more just thinkin about ur mixes really, which every dj should do. Sometimes we plan our first record/mix, then u have something to build from.
 
don't think either 'plan' them too much, if you play out as much as they do your always looking for the quick mixes and heavy doubles & get stuck doin' the same ones over and over - if you watch Andy C when he plays he quite often has two record bags one for either deck, he fully flicks through the tunes, Someone else mentioned about preparing a few phat doubles which can be slotted in anywhere - personally i prefer to work out the majority of the set first, would always have a little selection of tech, a liquid just in case people weren't feelin' it, would only really play 'off the cuff' if a tunes re-wound, I've got maybe 10 tunes you can mix 1 Bar out for the Double.....making minidisks or whatever I do definitely work em out first to the 10th degree...U



aj7greene said:
I think to a certain extent Andy and Friction do plan their sets, I mean when I hear their sets (particularly tape pack ones i.e. One Nation, Slammin Viny') alot of the mixes have been done before and becuase they usually just have an hour at those events they just compile all their current big mixes into the set, if that makes sense. But if you see them play longer, 2, 3, 4 hour sets than they tend to improvise more and dig deeper pulling out a varied selection.

I've never played out before but if i were to I would have an idea of tunes/big mixes I would want to incorporate as it would make me feel far more comfortable.

On the whole I agree with your approach mate.
Click to expand...
 
Always freestyle to find nice mixes. Need about 3 months for collecting my "parts" together. Finally (when i got 30 mins) i put them together to a (in my eyes) perfect set.

Its harder to create a perfect, planned set. Every mistake makes me freakin out and hating everything!!

Dont play live..
 
Saw cyantific and he just had all his vinyl stacked flat next to him in a pile, obviously his set had been perfectly planned :)
 
i used to spend time practicing different mixes..

then basically read the crowd.

i havent mixed at and events im just on about partys n stuff like that..
if thier are some emos there i will bung on some harder stuff...if thier are some chavvyish kinda people thier il bung on some jump up(because it has the same sorta elements as bassline)

if they are dnb heads il just see what kinda mood they are in
 
There's no such thing as a totally unplanned set. Everyone comes across tunes that work well together, and that is always in your mind when you play.
Only way someone could have a totally unplanned set is if they had a big stack of unlabeled records that they hadn't listened to previously, and just randomly banged them on one by one.
 
Indi said:
There's no such thing as a totally unplanned set. Everyone comes across tunes that work well together, and that is always in your mind when you play.
Only way someone could have a totally unplanned set is if they had a big stack of unlabeled records that they hadn't listened to previously, and just randomly banged them on one by one.
Click to expand...

that would be a nightmare! that actually happened to me in a dream once, woke up covered in sweat and really confused!
 
i did plan my sets when i started out, more of a confidence thing, then i cut it down to the first few tunes and now i have got the confidence to just turn up and play whatever i feel at the time, obv you remember some mixes but if ur playing a residency then u dont wanna keep bashing out the same mix.
 
I didnt plan my sets either. All i did was when i found 2 very good tracks that mixed that went hand in hand, i would make it my first or middle or last. But i found an ass of them. But i just play what im really feeling. I use to do sets b2b with a friend of mine and he was liquid and im dark, so it kind of sucked but i would find stuff that would go with it. Oh yeah, and i agree with all of you and to all THANK YOU for teach me...


RESPESCT. . . . . . . . :beers:
 
when i record studio mixes, i plan out the mix cuz i want to give out the best quality mix that i can. plus, ive got 3 decks lol.
i try to throw in as many big tunes and big mixes that i can into a nice 30-45 minute mix.

as for playing live, i freestyle a lot more. i still plan out big doubles but nothing more than that.
 
Back
Top Bottom