Doing an all-nighter is tough, but it can be fun if the DJ thinks ahead. Before a party I feel confident. Using future.dj pro, my playlists are analyzed beforehand and I can sort every list by BPM, key, artist and whatnot. I can color code which songs I’m sure to play, but after 5 hours of sustaining the party’s fire, it hits me: “What’s next?”
The most important aspect when DJing for any party is knowing what song MUST come next.
This is why most DJs do a 1-2 hour mix, tops, because when a set passes 2-3 hours, especially at large gigs, it starts to exhaust the DJ to the point where he simply runs out of ideas or energy. The risk of making mistakes grows exponentially as well.
Preparing your set ahead is a good idea, but feeling the crowd is the greatest weapon of any DJ.
Mixing all night is hard enough, but taking the musical keys of your tracks into account sounds like an even more challenging process (a harmonically mixed set sounds amazing). One night I wanted to mix my tracks harmonically, and even though the software detects the key, I asked myself: “How do I filter all these songs by a specific musical key?“. So, I told our programmers and they saw great practicality in a simple improvement that has major workflow enhancements.
A party is fun when the DJ can focus his/her attention on the people there.
Knowing which keys work together is mind boggling for me, so a simple system was integrated in future.dj pro’s search bar. If a song has the number “3” in the key section, I just look for the same number or for one number up or down, so “2”, “3” or “4” will be harmonically compatible. If a little “m” is beside the number, the track’s in a minor note. No “m”? Then it’s a major note. Write in the search “k” (for key), followed by the key value or “b” (for bpm), followed by the bpm value you seek.
Remember that when mixing a song in a major with one in a minor key just search for the same number.
If the song is a “3”, I need a “3m” key. Future.dj pro’s search system looks the same, but now a smile comes to my face when I just write in the search bar: “k03m” (key 3 minor) and hey, if I want to filter only the songs with 128 bpm, I just write “k03m b128”.
Harmonic mixing made easy. FINALLY!
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