I dont really like 'em when there is no tracklist information and when I cannot listen to it streaming (makes me go to another site or needs to be downloades)

i have a personal rule to never listen to dj mixes that dont have tracklists. this is because, being a dj myself, i tend to want tracks i hear out of mixes i like. when i have no track names, it becomes infinitely difficult to obtain those tracks i like and they become mental splinters.

meanwhile, with no track listing, you're not promoting the people who do most of the work in your mix--the PRODUCERS. as i continue to harp on--electronic music is about a symbiosis of dj's and producers. tracklistings are (one of many necessary) a means to give credit to the other half of that symbiosis.

Word

What are the opinions about studio mixes verse Live mixes on this site?

For the most part I agree with you, but there are always exceptions to the rule, and by not ever listening to any mixes without tracklistings you could be losing out on some amazing music. Even with tracklists, its not always gonna be possible to get those tunes. I like being able to get tunes from sets to spin in my own sets too, but not every mix I listen to is a scouting report - sometimes I just wanna enjoy some good music filtered through another person's perspective.

That said, Ill usually only download a mix without a tracklist from a DJ who Im familiar with and that I know plays quality tunes. Up and comers or unknowns need that tracklist as an intro to what they're all about.

I fully agree that credit should be given whenever possible to producers who help you make your sound what it is, and all that you said in that respect.

Live as in Ableton Live or as in "Live at SuperRaveIII" or as in "all in one take without stopping and with no edits"?

Yeah, edits verse no edits, is what I mean.

I know live mixes are best when they are from really good artist, hearing the crowd or not. But I guess I curious about your thoughts on editing a mix together. Drawing in automation of tempo and such, though this could be done on the spot with dummy clips and all.

Anyone use dummy clips to make edited transitions but trigger them on the spot. I'm guess this is different for Vinyl/Traktor/Serato users but I'm sure you have your tricks too.

I use live mostly, easier to transport then turntable but, I have Traktor and will master it soon.

Thought?

My only real trick with Serato is using cue points as markers for when to start tunes when Im making a mix.


I came from making mixes on tapes, so I prefer not to do edits on my own mixes if I can help it, although I wont take 70+ attempts to do it in one shot anymore like I have in the past.

As long as youre not trying to pass off an edited mix as 100% live and unedited, I have no problems with it.

i tend to no release my the tracklist for a mix until ive done my next mix.

I get precious over music sometimes. You spend hours and hours and hours hunting for those tunes that will set you apart from the hoards only do a mix and basically give it all away.

Im all up for the spirit of sharing but you have to keep something for yourself.

thi isn't fair to the artists, you should really post a track list right away. If you didn't make the track you should do everything in your power to promote that artist. I don't care if its the best track in the world and no one has heard it. The point of artist giving there tracks out is to get recognition for the work that they did, not for u to jump on the limelight band wagon. I know the couple of times I have stumbled across my tracks in someones mix they hardly ever contain a track listing. It takes 5 minutes and it promotes someone that you are using to promote yourself, sounds fair to me. It actually pisses me off when im playing a show and another dj has blacked out the label on his record or wont tell you what the artist was on a track. you didn't make this shit and you certainly are not that dope of a dj to determine wether or not I am worthy of retaining the knowledge of what track that was.

I think every effort should be made to getting the artists name out there, remixer, original producer, and even label if you want to go that far.. I can't stand when there is a tracklist with a ??? ???? in it.. I will listen to any mix I can get my hands on, and I usually download them.. I have spent way too much time in my life googling one line vocal snippets from songs I have heard in an attempt to track them down.. (Who did the dubstepish remix with the "Dirt off Your Shoulder" melody??) Same goes for being at live shows, hearing a couple of hot tunes and trying to remember what they sounded like, or anything to use as a springboard for my hunt..


On the same topic, sort of, my biggest pet peeve right now is those dudes who kinda hover around the DJs laptop all night, grabbing track names off Serato whenever a song is hitting.. Something about that just cheapens the experience for me personally.. The last show I went to, the opening DJ was running up to the booth every other song to see what was playing.

And to DJs who aren't playing: Please stop touching things on the mixer/turntable/laptop/monitors when it's not your turn! I digress, that's drifting off topic..

You could use Anti-trainspotter Mode in Serato - click in the bpm on one of the tunes in the deck and type "AM" and the names of the tunes in the deck should fade away... do it again to get them back.

I use ableton as of late to perform my sets and I've found its pretty handy to just have it prearranged with either very small unreadable blocks or renamed songs. Not that I'm trying to steal anybodies thunder here. But where I am is very clique and I don't like giving all my secrets away so that I lose a show. 9/10 times though, unless it's something I specifically don't want them to know - if they ask, I'll just tell them.

Love the sig Plus 2.

*doublepost*

i read in an iterview that TOKiMONSTA never gives out tracklistings for her mixes, on the absis that it 'takes fun out of it'

maybe i see her point, but personally, i prefer to know the tunes so then you can appreciate what theyre doing more...

as for the Live vs Edited shiz.... from a skill pov, obviously tehy should be done live. However, my favourtie dj sets to see are mash-up ones like DJ Yoda or No Fakin DJs or Z-Trip and so on, now these guys use every trick in the book for their sets.

from suing the cues and loops and midi triggers for samplers to full on using premade mashups and pre-recording ten minute chunks, or making big mashups in ableton and playing it out, and mixing in enw buts over teh top, which is how they seem to be mashing up 4 or five tunes in one go....

their sets are entirely pre-prepared, and this respect its more of a showcase of their skills than a normal dj set.

Those dudes also come from DMC battle style culture where its much more the norm. DMC Champs will typically spend 6mo or more putting together a 5min routine, so Im sure its just a continuation of that for them.

Ive heard Z-Trip a few times pre-Serato and he even with him using sections and segments from mixes and other shows that Ive seen him he still kills.


For a typical EDM DJ though, I prefer to hear a few mistakes with a completely impromtu set than to hear the same pre-planned set twice. I dont get how people expect to react to the crowd with a pre-planned set. What if your crowd just isnt feeling what you had planned? How do you capitalize on an unexpected big response from a tune if your next one is already planned and was meant to be a point in the set where you change the vibe a bit? Too many variables on the dancefloor IMO.

I see nothing wrong with using things like cue points, loops and midi controled samplers and FX when spinning live at all... it takes skill to be able to keep two records beatmatched, eq, fire loops and sync and adjust FX all at the same time.

yeah, the whole edm/dubstep.house/dnb/etc style of djing is completely uncomaprable to the hiphop style djing

my background is hiphop djing, and theres something about teose massively prepared sets that i love...

its like your watching a play or movie, rather than a dj.. a great dj will combine both, and have an arsenal of prepared shizzle so he has awesome bizzle to suit every crowd at any moment

when i dj out, i do it ad hoc for maybe 80% and also pull out a few pre-prepared mixes that i know the crowd will love... my usual style is upbeat, kinda cheesey party style djing, where prepared mashups go down a treat, its a pretty unsubtle style of djing

as i get into the more 'serious' side of djing - mixing with more subtlety, progressing sets, etc (genreally being more musical, play less cheesey, upbeaty stuff) - i do less prepared mixes and feed off crowds more.... if i record a mix, however, ill rpobably pick out the tracks, run through a few mixes to see how to string it all together in the best way and then record it....

To me the biggest problem w/ giving away tracklists is that the mix automatically get's judged prior to listening based on it. This has been something I've been thinking about quite a bit lately, seeing as I'll be releasing my first mix in the next week or two here. If possible, I'd really like there to be a way where the tracklist is easy to get at, but you're encouraged to listen to the mix first.

I'd love to see a service on mixcloud where the tracks appear as they drop, that would definitely encourage people to listen to the whole mix - or at least to every transition. Another idea I was considering was to password protect the tracklist, and have a vocal snippet hidden somewhere in the mix w/ the password. However, that seems a bit too complicated. One final idea was to have figure out having the tracklist being accessible once you've downloaded the mix, or once you've gotten 5min into listening to the stream.

I realize that with my first mix most people will say trying to hiding the tracklist until people have listened is foolish, but kids already have an excellent idea of what it'll be (in fact, arguably better than most DJs b/c many will change their styles quite a bit from set to set - where my blog covers a very small percentage of this genre).

My goal is NOT to hide what I'm playing in the least. In reality, the goal of all my mixes is to expose people to new music, so tracklists have to be easy to get if they're not immediately available. I feel like having a tracklist immediately available might not help this goal though, b/c kids will see a bunch of artists they don't know and maybe just pass it up altogether.

It's not about exclusivity or being mysterious for me. Like Tokimonsta said, it ruins some of the fun of not knowing what's coming next.

i think tracklists are important to have. i have friends who disagree, but its all about the listeners choice.


yea it can be fun not knowing, but then the listener has a choice to

a) not look at it
or
b) choose not to listen

or whatever they want.

usually if its an artist or dj i like, i'll listen regardless, but it almost always comes off as smug and elitist when people rationalize why they don't have one....

thats how i felt when tokimonsta didnt put a tl on her mix

but i chose to listen anyway.

freedom is important, exposure for the artists is important....

ya cant really force someone to listen to it if they dont want to, let them be closed minded, or whatever..


anyway.. just blabbin. do what yall want.....

Ive thought about this for a while too... the one thing Ive seen so far that works, usually happens on accident when a dj posts a radio set right away after the show and all the trainspotters come in and play guess the tracklist until the dj posts the real list. Builds hype and gets people excited.

If you can make it like a game and only hide the tracklist for a few days I think it could work...

With one of my mixes a few years ago I kept a handful of tracks listed as "???????????" because it was a dnb mix I had thrown some rock tunes into and I didnt want it to turn off any purists and leave a little suspense for everyone else. I actually had people tell me they wouldnt download it without knowing what those tunes were and that was only 3 out of 25+ tunes....

Its funny how back in the day I used to buy mixtapes at parties with a xerox cover and no tracklist as often as I could, but now that they're free online daily I wont download one without a tracklist unless its a new genre Im trying to learn about or an established dj.