Tracklist for DJ sets should be mandatory....

[trancedigital]

If I was living in an ideal world of music listening, then I would want to know the name of every artist and song entering my brain. When you listen to an amazing DJ set and there is no tracklist... it sucks. And why so? Because many times there is no way of knowing the played tracks. What if someone wants to explore the artist of the song they liked or want to buy that amazing tune for further listening and to support the artist directly.

 

I can understand some DJ's don't want to divulge the songs. May be it is not released yet or it is a hidden gem or worse...they don't want others to find out the source of their music. I wish every music event/festival had a protocol of giving out the tracklist, may be not during the event but later. Many established DJs or even amateur DJs post their mixes online without a tracklist. This practice should stop. I thank them all for the awesome music, but it would be so nice to always have a tracklist.

 

Anyone feel the same way?

[Padmapani]

i have never felt the need for timetables at parties (and in fact found it a bit silly to put the name of the dj + the track currently playing on the visuals, as has happened many years ago on the dnb parties i went to). but i will not download a dj mix if there's no tracklist (except from a select few). one main reason why i listen to mixes is to find new music, but those nice tracks you hear in a dj mix are nearly impossible to track down without a tracklist (or the lost tracks forum here).

[Paul Eye]

I don't reveal my tracklists on Soundcloud (my downtempo mixes) for the simple reason that I find that looking at a tracklist you can more easily opt not to listen if there's for example too many (to the listener) unknown artists, or if there's too much of artists you'd rather not hear. The good thing about Soundcloud of course is that you can always PM me for track details. People have done that and I always reply.

[Psyt3k]

This has always been an interesting discussion. The DJ is actually the messenger of the scene and so should always post the artist names and track titles in the tracklist. It's the way you bring the tracks that should get people interested in you as a DJ. It's wrong to get away with all the respect for the music you used and not give any credit to the artists.

BUT as a goa / trance / actually almost every genre DJ people will also expect you to bring "new" or never heard before music. So it's a bit of a requirement for a dj to also put unreleased or rare tracks in his/her mix. And the thing with these tracks is that they can maintain their mystery and impact on the dancefloor when they remain that rare. So I understand that sometimes the tracklist is not given away immediately. Eventually people who really love this music will find them. I've seen it happening a hundred times before with myself and others around me.

 

I prefer to hear a DJ's mix with rare tracks without the tracklist than never hearing the music at all. At least then you have a chance of finding these tracks. I don't judge a DJ for not posting the tracklist, as long as he/she also posts enough mixes WITH tracklist. It's all about keeping balance and supporting the scene instead of only yourself I think.

[Ormion]

I have to agree with the OP.There's nothing more annoying that trying to find a track you once listened in a set. What's even worse is when a dj refuses to reveal the track even when you ask him directly. When I was younger I went to a Psy party (one of my first) and after the set was over I asked the dj about a specific track he played. He answered 'no, no I won't say anything'. What a douchebag.

[Paul Eye]

If someone comes and asks me after/during my set what that one track was that I played, of course I'll give an honest answer. Maybe my philosophy leans a bit towards "if you're interested, you'll find out".

[exotic]

I don't reveal my tracklists on Soundcloud (my downtempo mixes) for the simple reason that I find that looking at a tracklist you can more easily opt not to listen if there's for example too many (to the listener) unknown artists, or if there's too much of artists you'd rather not hear. The good thing about Soundcloud of course is that you can always PM me for track details. People have done that and I always reply.

A tracklist will make me not want to listen to the set incase i have heard some of those tracks before but what i have also realised is that in a good set those very tracks you are used to listening stand alone take on a completely different meaning when mixed well with other tracks that you might not have heard. So i always give the DJ the benefit of the doubt that it will be a different experience even though there is a sesne of familiarity with the music. and the more tracks that i have not heard in a set the better. But i might be the exception here.

 

IMO Its always better to provide a tracklist than not so the listener knows exactly what to expect from a set.

[Rotwang]

and the more tracks that i have not heard in a set the better.

+1

[Shpongled247]

Yeah, i disagree with this...

As much as i want to know what the track is when i hear something new, i actually like the mystery and the fact of hearing something no one else has. Also most djs will at least tell you if you go up to them and ask afterwards. Unless it is super super secret unrlsdddd...

[Purple Sunray]

Anyone feel the same way?

 

Also disagree. Would need to stop DJ'ing if I need to post the tracklist afterwards as I probably can't remember most tracks played by myself .. something out of that pool of tracks.. go search for the trackname on our own xD

[Psyt3k]

 

Also disagree. Would need to stop DJ'ing if I need to post the tracklist afterwards as I probably can't remember most tracks played by myself .. something out of that pool of tracks.. go search for the trackname on our own xD

This I have never understood.

When I play a 2h set on a party and people come to ask which tracks I have played, I can name almost all of them! Even when I was not prepared and improvised the entire set, I can still name almost all of them. When one track is playing and I am looking for the one to go next, it has to be the best track possible that is in my case. So afterwards I remember them, because I've spent minutes to find and try to mix them in. "Minutes" is a long time considering you only have 4 - 5 minutes to do the mix.

[Purple Sunray]

This I have never understood.

When I play a 2h set on a party and people come to ask which tracks I have played, I can name almost all of them! Even when I was not prepared and improvised the entire set, I can still name almost all of them. When one track is playing and I am looking for the one to go next, it has to be the best track possible that is in my case. So afterwards I remember them, because I've spent minutes to find and try to mix them in. "Minutes" is a long time considering you only have 4 - 5 minutes to do the mix.

 

Don't work with Traktor or an traditional DJ-Software but with Live, also for DJ sets. Have a huge set of clips, which are basically 10s-3min cuts of tracks wrapped to align with the beat. If you work like that it is less about selecting the next track and mix it, as it is a no-brainier with Live and pre-prepared clips to do a transition, but you think about.. do I play a downlift of uplift break after the current loop/clip ends, with an FX clip running at the same time? Or using the alien voice sample instead? Something like that. I spend almost no time on searching for specific tracks, but more on thinking about if I go uplift, downlift, into a break, ect. most clips don't even have the track name on it but are called something like "BSM FM Build-Up009 C#" where there might be some chris rich track in the back I cut out a buildup with strong FM lead.

Pretty difficult to tell ppl what you played exactly.. well it started with clip005 from the intro page, then break011 from the uplifting-breakbeats page and then min 3-5 for that artist track... Would need to record launchpad input to get this reproduced afterwards^^

[Psyt3k]

 

Don't work with Traktor or an traditional DJ-Software but with Live, also for DJ sets. Have a huge set of clips, which are basically 10s-3min cuts of tracks wrapped to align with the beat. If you work like that it is less about selecting the next track and mix it, as it is a no-brainier with Live and pre-prepared clips to do a transition, but you think about.. do I play a downlift of uplift break after the current loop/clip ends, with an FX clip running at the same time? Or using the alien voice sample instead? Something like that. I spend almost no time on searching for specific tracks, but more on thinking about if I go uplift, downlift, into a break, ect. most clips don't even have the track name on it but are called something like "BSM FM Build-Up009 C#" where there might be some chris rich track in the back I cut out a buildup with strong FM lead.

Pretty difficult to tell ppl what you played exactly.. well it started with clip005 from the intro page, then break011 from the uplifting-breakbeats page and then min 3-5 for that artist track... Would need to record launchpad input to get this reproduced afterwards^^

You lost me at the second line or something So you play your own tracks/pieces of music? And what genre do you play? Breakbeat?

I was talking about playing trance btw. 2 hours = about 20 - 22 tracks, so easier to remember which ones.

[Purple Sunray]

You lost me at the second line or something So you play your own tracks/pieces of music? And what genre do you play? Breakbeat?

I was talking about playing trance btw. 2 hours = about 20 - 22 tracks, so easier to remember which ones.

 

Would like to play own tracks only.. but for that I would need to have that much own sound I want to play on set.. *g* Maybe sometime in the future.. just don't wanna play crap sound on a party.. and making good sound needd a lot of time.... i don't really have :/

No, it's a DJ set, playing tracks of other artists, but prepare it in a way where I can combine pieces. You can think of Ableton Live acting like a big sampler, with a lot of samples loaded that are aligned with the beat and might have some pre-processing already. E.g. I almost never play a track like released, there is always something I want to change. Play the second buildup first, than the first one, skip a break, insert a break of another track in between, play some FX on top ect.

The genre is night psy, that's "mixed" with Live for instance http://soundcloud.com/mfr/dj-set-mental-broadcast/s-ksP82

Counting all the single shots, mini-loops ect. used there, there are probably around 50 tracks in it (1h), whereas form a lot I play only a small loop, cut a specific sample to mix into another track ect.

Difficult to explain if you never worked with the clip mode in Ableton Live before.. it's a like a big matrix of buttons in front of you, pushing such a button starts a clip, which can either be a track, or piece of a track or something to layer in top of a currently playing track.

[Purple Sunray]

currently writing the second pm to one asking how this Ableton live DJ-thing works in details.. so before I'm getting the 3rd PM.. any more ppl interested on this? (than I will do a guide an post it here instead of PM'ing with n ppl )

[Shpongled247]

A guide would be nice sure. I know what u are meaning and its a much more Live way of actually djing. The possibilities are endless.

 

It is just so far removed from old school djing though that I sometimes think it is a totally separate art in itself.

[Padmapani]

i'm not interested in a guide, but i'm definitely wondering how you do all that without it sounding horrible and disjointed. it sounds like a awesome way to mix techno or something, but (good?) psytrance usually has some sort of a linear, flowing structure to it where i imagine it's difficult to jumble the parts up in a way that still has some consistency. even with normal DJing psytrance (as opposed to other genres of EDM) is played one track after the other in most cases.

[Purple Sunray]

trance is not really different to techno other than you always need to stick to the 32 bar blocks, for dark stuff also 16 sometimes. Don't try throwing in anything random after a bar as it would work with techno, but wait for 32/16. If do you that it's actually pretty easy as all trance tracks follow this pattern. Works exactly like on traditional DJ'ing, there you also don't mix somewhere in the middle of something as it will sound horrible, but the end/start of the 16/32. Same with overlays, the follow the pattern (as they are actually cuts of trance tracks *g* ), so fit most of the time.

(what you need to care however when doing that is the base-note and scale, playing a F minor pad into C major track will sound horrible ofc, also if it is aligned to beat and pattern ;P )

[Purple Sunray]

A guide would be nice sure. I know what u are meaning and its a much more Live way of actually djing. The possibilities are endless.

 

It is just so far removed from old school djing though that I sometimes think it is a totally separate art in itself.

kk, going to record a video and open a new thread about, so you can continue with the original topic here

And yes, indeed, hasn't to do a lot with the old school djing anymore. Don't care about cue points, bpm (synch button!! xD ) and such during playing, but you spend most of the time with thinking in which direction you want to develop the set and firing clips to see it it's the right one to fade in next

[Psyt3k]

but (good?) psytrance usually has some sort of a linear, flowing structure to it where i imagine it's difficult to jumble the parts up in a way that still has some consistency.

Totally agree on this. The essence of a psytrance track is the story, where it takes you. You need a buildup in order to enjoy the climax. You need the break in order to long for another buildup etc. The parts of the track and the compositions need to be just in the right place and order for it to have the best effect on people. So I wouldn't want to listen to a set that cuts up all the thought out work by the artist and puts parts elsewhere.

 

But I am interested in what the result can be, I will check out your set

[Purple Sunray]

Let me know what you think. =)

As said stil trying to maintain the basic trance pattern, the difference to the normal dj set is just that i play cutsom edits off a track, and smaller pieces of it. But my goal is it ofc to sound like a DJ set.. just with more control

To help you finding the cuts: first cut/clip-change is at 2:28, that track goes on for about 3min from there until where i jump in. Wanted to bring some wobbling back to the floor soon. So jumped to last clipmax instead of letting it go into the first one, as it is more powerfull and more important.. there is break in between.. dind't felt like there should be a break for the next 30min at least but could have been started the break clip also and only skip the first clipmax and the set would have been started with a.. intro, buildup, break, buildup, clipmax.. instead of brining the best piece of the track straight away than mix on the outro

[Purple Sunray]

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[Purple Sunray]

edit: sry for empty posts.. had a problem with my browser and submitted same multiple times