Greetings from UK

General Area DJ Lounge
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Hello all,

I joined the forum for the tech stuff regarding the Denon Prime decks I have. I’ve been DJing & producing for decades, crossing many electronic genres, starting with breakbeat Hardcore in the early 90s, currently playing Psytrance. I recently moved to digital after many years of vinyl.

I love digital, but find it is almost too easy… When I was playing vinyl, I would set one record playing, then remove the previous vinyl from the other deck, put it back in it’s sleeve, search for the next vinyl, find the track (hard if it’s dark and it’s not the first on the EP, then beatmatch it, cue it up, etc. By then the other track is only a couple of minutes away to mix out, take a sip of beer, then get mixing… With digital, you start your track and drag the next one in to the next deck, it’s all cued up ready to go, all this is made even easier with Playlists. Then I stand there like a spare part while I wait 6 minutes or more for the previous one to finish.

My question is, what do you guys do while you’re waiting for the previous track to play out? Any tweaking I do is steady, functional and deliberate (and usually at the mixout stage); I’m not one of those DJs who likes to pick invisible dust particles off the mixer knobs whilst bouncing around like a bobblehead doll. So I’m left standing & waiting like a spare part for the previous track to play out. Maybe Denon should include some kind of game to play while you wait, so you appear to be engaged with the console. Especially at big events where all the focus is on you.

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Most put both hands in the air or ghost-tweaking the knobs… I also don’t understand the lack of time. Searching the database in mere seconds is too much etc. Acting busy.

My only advice is to embrace to possibilities, when you think you need to be busy (cues, loops, slicers etc.).

But. If you’re like me, you talk and drink a bit behind the decks, like we used to. Perhaps adding tracks to a playlist, if needed (like with the old vinyl crate putting them at 45 degrees), and just enjoy connecting to the audience and seeing if they like the music. Adapting accordingly.

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Grab my phone and come to the denon forum,

look for Retis latest post

try to read and understand it before the next transition

Guaranteed train wreck (but good old sync and tight beatgrids to the rescue)

:sweat_smile:

I play differently, quick mixing in the bar, one verse one hook next, beatjump to shorten songs etc, I think 4 or 5 tracks ahead as well,

I set challenges, trying not to stick to tested and tried transitions so it’s still fun and I’m busy in my head.

I also jump on the mic occasionally to give the hens, stags and VIPs their shout outs.

Whilst your style of music may not lend to that approach but think about the other benefits, you are not hauling crates, you are not anxious that you left a record behind, no one nicks your vinyl, needle ain’t jumping, you go home not too knackered.

You are doing your job efficiently with less stress.

That’s what technology is all about.

:iphone:

I like a bunch of popular tech house stuff as well but I often end up creating short flips of these tracks to focus on the good parts. (Or at least what I consider to be good parts)

But I’m biased towards playing entire 12 inch disco and funk tracks,because I grew up listening to this.

I will happily play the entire 13 mins of a Disco classic. Even when the crowd is looking at me like next. I will be like this is for me.

At my funk and soul residency, it’s a chilled groovy vibe, the record breathes, I’m sipping on something lite, chopping it up with owner and guests, talking about gear etc whilst waiting for the next transition

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When playing techno/house like sets I use to mix 3 or more decks together, do some sampling, play with effects… get creative in general. This is not only a great way to exercise your hearing and beat matching / keeping manually 4 decks in sync but also to develop Your original new style and learn new tricks. I also like to scratch some cool a’capellas or just sync an a’capella to a techy track so it gets a extra touch. There are many things that You can do: Effects, more decks, a’capoellas, scratching, sampling, looping, extra drum machine / sequencer / synth? Think what You like the best and try what works best for You.

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If you’re stood behind decks and your mind is wandering your track ■■■■■.