Pre-playlists? Help!

[John P. 0]

Hi everyone,

 

Not sure if this is in the right section or not - only my second post! (Mods please move if required)

 

My query is this. I am returning to DJing, not having done a show for about 20 odd years. Anyway, things have moved on and I have a lot of my music collection on my home PC. I'm wondering if it would be feasible to generate / load an MP3 playlist onto a CD and use this, instead of trying to thumb through MP3 files on disc at the venue on the night (burn 2 discs the same and mix from track to track). I know that you might think it would limit my ability to vary from the pre-programmed list, but I also have an MP3 player which has my entire music collection on - so was thinking that any requests could be catered for by using this option, returning to the pre-planned music later. I thought by doing this it would reduce the amount of gear I will be lugging around.

 

For info I will be using 2 x MP3 Cd Players (as well as the available MP3 player as back up).

 

Any thought smuch appreciated - sorry if it sounds complicated.

 

Thanks,

 

John P.

[McCardle 1]

The first question is 'Why' ?

 

Is it a function where you are also an invited guest and so need to join in with mingling / family and friends etc.

 

To be honest if I was to pre-plan an entire nights playlist track by track - jukebox style, i'd be bored within an hour with nothing to do. Surely the point of being the DJ is to be full control of, and play out music in real time, as per the requirements of the guests and client, reading the dancefloor and changing the genre depending on what works with that particular audience, rather than just let a pre-determined non stop playlist run. Doing it for background music is ok, but during the function?, how do you know what is going to work on the dancefloor before you've even seen the guests / age group?.

 

Have you asked the clients for a playlist / request list for their function?. Often this can give pointers as to what to play and the type of music their guests are into?. Put a few requests lists on tables etc, encourage your audience take an active role in their night out.

 

No offense to you, but our industry is already being somewhat affected and devalued by clients who think that they can replace a Mobile Disco with an ipod on 'shuffle' to the point where in some areas a lot of good, long established jocks have had to sell up. If the client was to see a booked DJ doing the same thing it doesn't really help our cause next time they may just decide to cut out the middleman and that their teenage son / daughter can do the same with their Ipod and they can save a few quid.

 

However in answer to your question, yes it is possible but unless your CD player can play raw MP3 format files, then you'll need to convert and burn them to Audio Tracks, and you will only get 17 - 20-ish tracks per CD in standard format.

 

If finding individual tracks from an MP3 collection is the issue here, then why not just invest in a cheap laptop and some proper DJ software. You can search tens of thousands of tracks simply by typing the artist / title and cue it directly into the software player. You can of course produce and save playlists, and in some cases look back at saved logs from previous gigs if you need some inspiration.

Edited November 26, 2012 by McCardle

[John P. 0]

The first question is 'Why' ?

 

Is it a function where you are also an invited guest and so need to join in with mingling / family and friends etc.

 

To be honest if I was to pre-plan an entire nights playlist track by track - jukebox style, i'd be bored within an hour with nothing to do. Surely the point of being the DJ is to be full control of, and play out music in real time, as per the requirements of the guests and client, reading the dancefloor and changing the genre depending on what works with that particular audience, rather than just let a pre-determined non stop playlist run. Doing it for background music is ok, but during the function?, how do you know what is going to work on the dancefloor before you've even seen the guests / age group?.

 

Have you asked the clients for a playlist / request list for their function?. Often this can give pointers as to what to play and the type of music their guests are into?. Put a few requests lists on tables etc, encourage your audience take an active role in their night out.

 

No offense to you, but our industry is already being somewhat affected and devalued by clients who think that they can replace a Mobile Disco with an ipod on 'shuffle' to the point where in some areas a lot of good, long established jocks have had to sell up. If the client was to see a booked DJ doing the same thing it doesn't really help our cause next time they may just decide to cut out the middleman and that their teenage son / daughter can do the same with their Ipod and they can save a few quid.

 

However in answer to your question, yes it is possible but unless your CD player can play raw MP3 format files, then you'll need to convert and burn them to Audio Tracks, and you will only get 17 - 20-ish tracks per CD in standard format.

 

If finding individual tracks from an MP3 collection is the issue here, then why not just invest in a cheap laptop and some proper DJ software. You can search tens of thousands of tracks simply by typing the artist / title and cue it directly into the software player. You can of course produce and save playlists, and in some cases look back at saved logs from previous gigs if you need some inspiration.

 

 

Sorry - please delete the above post - clicked the wrong button! Doh.

 

Hi McCardle,

 

Thanks for the reply -I guess I was thinking about the draw backs the same as you - by using a preplanned list it takes away the flexibility - and involvement - and that's not what I'm looking to achieve - this has to be interactive work and can really only be succesful in that way.

 

You are quite right about the management of MP3 files. It would be a night mare trying to find a particular track on a disc which has 100s of tracks on and this is my problem. A cheap laptop may well be the answer here.

 

Many thanks for your thoughts - much appreciated and taken on board.

 

Any other thoughts out there?

 

Cheers,

 

John P

[nrgize 0]

In my past experience, a night can never be planned ahead for entirely. I always carry all of my CD's and 2TB Hard Drive running Rane Serato.

I think the best option is as above, invest in a laptop and some decent software

[fester 0]

I never ever plan a night.

I do have several playlists I use for when when i'm playing background music. For example, last weekend I was booked for a cabaret evening at a posh hotel. I played an xmas playlist as background during the 3 course meal, while I was in a courtesy room watching TV.

After the meal and cabaret act, I played as I usually do, as my intuition and judgement of the crowd takes me.

[dventertainment 0]

Hi John,

 

If your music is all in MP3 format anyway, do you not have a laptop you can take to gigs? You did mention they were on your computer but I'm guessing its a desktop computer.

 

If you had a laptop with all your music on you can download Virtual DJ the home edition for free (from the Virtual DJ website) and easily search and add tracks to a playlist as you go.

 

If I'm doing background music for the start of the night, then I checkout the crowd and make a playlist there and then suitable for the nights guests.

 

Piece of cake... :msn-wink: