Time Slots

[Robitaille]

I agree. The format and programming that Trevor uses for the Journey nights are the best.

[mrissi]

if you can't go deep and get off on it and rock the heady sound, you're not opening my room."

^^^^^^^^^

T H I S !

i was going to pull up that RA article after reading the first few posts in this thread but someone else already pulled the trigger. dan has a valid point that the promoter plays a seminole role in smoothing out this process as well.

go DEEP, & don't let your DJ's play for anything less than 2 hours!

[traci_dub]

I'm trying to melt faces no matter what time I'm playing.

I'm not friends with any other dj well enough to make myself look tame for their sake.

[Ready]

I'm trying to melt faces no matter what time I'm playing.

I'm not friends with any other dj well enough to make myself look tame for their sake.

not a bad point.

How you program your set should also depend on where you are playing ie whether its a rave or a club, what kind of sound system you are playing on, how many rooms are at the party, what the DJ playing in the other room is playing, how long you are scheduled to play. All these things factor heavily into how I program a set. Its not as simple as what time you are playing. There are certain sub genres that i can give a shit how deep you dig and play, its still shit to me!!!

[Den-E]

Opening a room is definitely the most important aspect of a night. In the good old days there were usually only 2 djs that played. The opening dj and the headliner. This traditional format definitely makes more sense to me, imo. It seems that way too many club events try to book 3, 4, 5 djs in one night in hopes of using the djs as promoters and sacrifice the quality of music through quantity.

I applaud The Journey at Upstairs Lounge that aims at getting back to listening to one very good/experienced dj for a 3+ hour extended set. I would much rather go out to a bar/club and listen to 2 very good djs than go out and hear 1 good dj, 2 marginal djs and 1 really bad dj.

i think this depends alot on the format of music being played... and knowing your dj's.

some dj's can pull the 3-4 hour sets without a problem, others can't. it's a different game when you have that much time to fill.

as to the original question:
generally i play where i live. if i'm opening it's triphop/downtempo/etc (ie, my sol monthly) however i did get opening spots when i was playing 100% psytrance... which is a pretty rough bit to fill as even slow psy is pretty fast with alot of quick variation. not the best opening tunes. i always tried to go with the deeper headier stuff when i could there, but the quantity of that is limited without just playing the discogs of a few artists. i did always make an effort to end on a down step for the next guy (unless he/she was a dick, then let me introduce you to this 165bpm irregular structured track called "fuck you", yep... you just heard a breakdown and bpm change on the 5... deal with it) with something that at least had alot of long breaks.

that being said, unless you show that you can really get a crowd up off the floor and moving, you honestly probably won't ever get booked in a decent slot. if you pull a peak crowd reaction at 10:00... well... you fucked the next guy, and may have peaked the show, but at least people know you can move a crowd and you may have a stronger chance at getting a better slot next time.

Do your part, play your role, if you are good enough you will get to be the top dog aka headline.

this rarely ever happens. promoters book dj's on draw... draw is built through rocking a crowd who will not dare forget your name. it's like credit, you have to have it to get it.

If you aren't getting that opportunity, then fuck it, throw your own party and put yourself there.

not everyone has the means to do this... and even if they do, won't necessarily get any kind of draw because they won't be taken seriously since they've never been booked to headline by a serious promoter.

if you remember back to my Time monthly i had at mercury, one of my main goals with it was to take DJ's who are always in the 1st/2nd slot and give them a prime spot to shine in and show us what they could do. with some it was epic, others not so much. but at least they had the chance. i wish we would see this from more of the major promoters and the major shows.

[traci_dub]

I'm trying to melt faces no matter what time I'm playing.

I'm not friends with any other dj well enough to make myself look tame for their sake.

not a bad point.

How you program your set should also depend on where you are playing ie whether its a rave or a club, what kind of sound system you are playing on, how many rooms are at the party, what the DJ playing in the other room is playing, how long you are scheduled to play. All these things factor heavily into how I program a set. Its not as simple as what time you are playing. There are certain sub genres that i can give a shit how deep you dig and play, its still shit to me!!!

I dunno... I used to subscribe to the 'let your set be dictated by the crowd'. IE I'd play liquid dnb if the crowd was more chill, and techstep if it was a ravier bit. I still think that's accurate, but if you play in the middle you fail to define your specific sound within your genre.

With dubstep I have my own niche in the the dubstep world and am booked in relation to the sound I'm known for. Granted I'm not going to be booked for a deep dubstep show or a chillout session, but in general I've found myself quite a bit happier as an artist/dj and found myself quite a bit more successful as a DJ by playing what I prefer and perfecting my sound.

Progression within a set should be natural for any DJ worth their weight.... but I think altering your sound to fit a timeslot or a certain party kinda insures you're not going to breakout and define yourself.

[Den-E]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

[traci_dub]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

I'm going to get you in a Dubsaw T-shirt by December 31st, 2010

[Den-E]

[Den-E]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

I'm going to get you in a Dubsaw T-shirt by December 31st, 2010

i've been considering creating a section called "Fads" and moving the dubstep there as well as adding electrohouse and fidget forums to it.

[Robitaille]

might as well put all those genres in there then.

[Humpty]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

[x]

I'm going to get you in a Dubsaw T-shirt by December 31st, 2010

i've been considering creating a section called "Fads" and moving the dubstep there as well as adding electrohouse and fidget forums to it.

you should just do nu skool and old skool. c;;

[Robitaille]

hwat about nu skool, old school and played out?

[Den-E]

hwat about nu skool, old school and played out?

because every 4 years played out becomes the new nu-skool.

[traci_dub]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

I'm going to get you in a Dubsaw T-shirt by December 31st, 2010

i've been considering creating a section called "Fads" and moving the dubstep there as well as adding electrohouse and fidget forums to it.

It's easy to put fad on it because it went from obscure to dominant practically overnight.

I'm not saying dubstep in its current form will exist for decades to come, but I do believe 140bpm music will remain a staple in electronic music for the forseable future.

[lawrence]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

I'm going to get you in a Dubsaw T-shirt by December 31st, 2010

i've been considering creating a section called "Fads" and moving the dubstep there as well as adding electrohouse and fidget forums to it.

It's easy to put fad on it because it went from obscure to dominant practically overnight.

I'm not saying dubstep in its current form will exist for decades to come, but I do believe 140bpm music will remain a staple in electronic music for the forseable future.

Yeah breaks, the only REAL music (everything else is fake).

[Den-E]

dubstep doesn't count. it's not music.

[img]x[/img]

I'm going to get you in a Dubsaw T-shirt by December 31st, 2010

i've been considering creating a section called "Fads" and moving the dubstep there as well as adding electrohouse and fidget forums to it.

It's easy to put fad on it because it went from obscure to dominant practically overnight.

I'm not saying dubstep in its current form will exist for decades to come, but I do believe 140bpm music will remain a staple in electronic music for the forseable future.

isn't that how fads work? sudden instant popularity? when red is the new black it doesn't mean someone just invented red, it just means the hordes all now "choose" to make red their favorite.

i still blame its popularity on white kids who can't dance. suddenly they found a genre where you're not expected to.

[traci_dub]

isn't that how fads work? sudden instant popularity? when red is the new black it doesn't mean someone just invented red, it just means the hordes all now "choose" to make red their favorite.

i still blame its popularity on white kids who can't dance. suddenly they found a genre where you're not expected to.

A fad has a a very short shelf life by definition.

As of right now, 6 years in, still going strong.

Regardless, if this is a fad, I'm having the absolute time of my life and getting to bring a lot of my friends along for the ride.

[Robitaille]

Here's my bottom line, there are certain sounds and vibes that bring out the best in each performer, and as for myself, I would never pussyfy my beats just to stroke someone else's ego. i've perpared my sets regiously for the past 15 years, irregardless of if its a 45 minute set or an 8 hour set. i'm not practicing in public, I'm performing. fuck getting booked if it requires taking it up the ass and lowering one's personal standards. and for the 150 shows I produced/co-produced over the last 17 years, I always expected each person booked to do their thing without fear of such castration.

the next time someone approaches you, as a dj, and asks "will you play my show" be forth right and ask the important questions:
01.) date
02.) venue
03.) # of rooms
04.) which room will I be playing in
05.) time slot (length and approximate time)
06.) who will be on before/after
07.) what do you expect me to play
08.) equipment provided by promoter in that room
09.) $$$ payment (how much and when)
10.) vips, freebees, drinks, etc

If they dont respond to your satisfaction, then fuck them.

[Hulke]

ok im waaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy late to this party, and TL;DR and all that shit, but i definitely think a dj should play to their timeslot. I think the dubstep scene in STL is a prime example of this right now. You have these young kids that just want to rock a party and be the man. They play great music, I love the stuff they are playing. But when the guys playing from 9 - mindnight have already played the top 25 dancefloor bangers of the week in the dubstep arena, thats kind of shitty towards the headliner IMO. At that point they almost have to play all exclusive shit just to play tunes that havent been rocked already. I think its up to the promoters and djs to make sure stuff like that doesnt happen. I like to play deeper, more chilled out stuff so I usually ask if they want me to play early coz I know that would probably be the best fit for me/the party or night as a whole. IMO you should not be playing the most high energy music in your genre before like 11 or 1130, maybe even midnight or later if its an all night rager. Thats how i feel anyways. /.02

[Den-E]

yeah but having a dubstep headliner makes that kinda impossible to book anyone playing anything more intense than waylon jennings... or more dubstep.

[Robitaille]

Well, the first events in STL with Dubstep djs/performers were mixed shows, typically D&B with Dubstep.