Partying for a living - Djs of the Escapist

[Circus O]

As a DJ I always find talking to other DJs and sharing tips on tracks and techniques/equipment etc is one of the most helpful things to do for your own sets. Having not been on these forums long I don't know if there are many DJs here but I thought i'd give it a whirl anyway (also I did a search and didn't see anything but if i'm wrong of course my bad).

My sets at the moment are a mix of the MTV electro-pop kinda stuff with some fidgety breakdowns and summer ibiza house tracks. Alot of the tracks I use are kinda old by now electro tracks but the basslines send a shiver up your spine so it's all good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2ugGzcJ1qA -
Spain (original Mix) - David Amo, Julio Navas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzxQmu9HLHw -
Torcida Cumbia (mightyfools remix) - Chris James & Lee Dearns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY97gfGUFR0
Scary Monsters and nice sprites (Zedd remix) - Skrillex

My setup at the moment is Traktor scratch pro going through a Maya 44 usb audio card into a Gemini ps-828x, not the best i know but it does the job until i get my decks and oh please i hope it'll be soon.

One of the tricks i use in practically every set i do is have the 1, 2 and 3 keys on my keyboard as controls for the effects unit in traktor. Set it to hold on press and, set one of the effects as a beatmasher for instant fills. Delay and echo are awesome effects to use in this way.

As a DJ one should always be looking to increase their knowledge and tricks to refine their sets and add that bit of interest so please share.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Aha, I've been trying to launch myself into DJing and ED/RM producing, with very little success, but I've always thought that you should make sure you have a clearly ravey Beginning, Middle and End.

As for equipment, I've been looking around and I like the look of that big Pioneer mixing console deadmau5 has going on.

 

[Circus O]

Well Deadmau5 can afford a somewhere in thousands mixing console, i'd advise something like ableton or fruity loops and vsts and using the built in faders for someone getting into production. The amount of knowledge necessary to get something decent out of a rig like deadmau5s that is pretty big and unless your doing some kind of music production/sound engineering course it can be a staggering task.

 

[Circus O]

I always like to start tracks off kinda subdued, just kick and hats and some percussion elements, then gradually bring in some bass and synth. It keeps the track from getting too muddy in a mix when im DJing and just makes it easier, rather than having to spend time messing with eq to balance the frequencies before I even cue the track in.

edit- meant to hit edit not reply, apologies for the double post