Dj tips 22

Use loops, effects, EQ and volume to add a
spontaneity to planned sets
If the crowd are loving a break, loop it and double
its length before dropping back to the beat. If
they’re grooving to the start of a house track
quite happily, loop it and let it run for a few
minutes before you break the loop and let the
melody or bassline finally drop.
If they’re tiring after a few full-on tunes, next time
your planned set takes a natural dip, drop the
volume by a quarter and let the dancefloor
regroup for five or ten minutes before building the
volume back. Slowly drop the bass out before
throwing it back in at a big point in the track. Use
a little judiciously applied echo or other effect to
add something unusual to a well-known track.
All of these techniques and many more can add
DJing spontaneity to any set, even if it is
otherwise 100% pre-planned.

Dj tips 21

Organise your music into tightly focused
playlists
It doesn’t really matter how you do this.
I do it in groups like warm-up tunes, peak time
tunes, last hour tunes, new tunes I ‘d like to play
but may not (these can hang around for months
while I find the right place to introduce them into
a set), and surefire floorfillers / classics – kind of
“get out of jail” tunes.
Knowing you can happily play half an hour from
any of these playlists means that you can swap
and change as the crowd and the night demands,
while still actually playing a largely planned set.

Dj tips 20

Know the venue and the crowd well
Planning also involves visiting the venue and
knowing the music they play and the type of
crowd they get – if possible, of course. This helps
you with point one above, as you’ve got a picture
of the venue and crowd in your head as you’re
picking or rejecting songs for your crate.