if you're playing mostly 4-on-the-floor music; just focus on thinking in 32. everything starts and ends in 32. example--cue your next track the moment your playing track hits that final drop--generally it tends to go for 2 16 measures before it hits the 'outro', at that point the track you're bringing it should either be building or hitting the first breakdown. it's super formulaic; but you'll sound legit enough to the non-dj/average clubgoer while you figure things out. you'll be less focused on your 'flow' timing and you can just concentrate on beatmatching.

 

as a dj who's been working for 22 years i'm not sure wether to laugh or cry, back then there was no internet, no laptop, no dj-controller, i actually dj'ed with 2 cd-players without pitchcontrol and a bloody tapedeck, that's how i learned. the thing that helped me alot was feeling the music, if you dont know by instinct where a good part is to make a crossover/mix you better just stop and go practice first, because if you fail tje crowd wont like it and big chance te promoter wont ever ask you again

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this couldnt be further from the truth, most of the oldskool dj's first made music and then started to dj along side, simply because with dj-sets you can do them monthly or even weekly, live shows however are a different thing, in 2003/2004 i did them monthly, a few times twice a month, at some point people are going to respond with 'oh god it's him again'

it's one of the biggest misconceptions nowadays: not every dj is a musician and not every musician is a dj

 

i started back in '98... on wax. on 1200's. i'm thankful for it. but i'm not one of those 'you're only a real DJ if you play on vinyl' purists. really--to me that's the same thing as when a 'dj' claims to be a 'producer'... your job description merely dictates that you play music--(apart from the fact that i'm very aware of what the 'D' stands for... but let's not PC-up a perfectly good title). i remember i would play on 2 1200's and 2 CDJ's whenever i could, just because it increased the amount of potential input i could put into the set--i wasn't just limited to what i had on vinyl or what i was only willing to risk hauling through the Tenderloin in SF on foot. i won't be knee-deep into some epic housey-blend when a pilled-up clubkid slams against the booth and skips the record. i don't have to dig frantically through that flight case in the dark for that 'one record i'm pretty sure i brought that would be perfect right now'. i view a laptop or usb drive as a godsend to just let my ADD-riddled brain focus on that cloud of songs floating above my head--be it a CDJ or vinyl i'm playing on (although, i must admit i still prefer the feel of platter i learned on). just this dude's opinion...
and, yeah--this dude sounds painfully and hilariously unprepared for a live gig... but i'm pretty sure whoever gave me my first 5am closing set at a real gig was probably jumping the gun a tad. comics have to bomb for years before they're funny--we have to wreck hilariously in front of a handful of kids who barely notice at that hour!

 

Last edited: Aug 10, 2016

totally agreeing on the laptop thing, it gave my sets so much more potential and room for improv, i had been dj'ing for a long time (and doing live shows and vj-shows) when i was asked to vj for a party in what was the alternative center of amsterdam, the korsakoff, after a year or so one of the dj's started to fuck up more and more, dancefloor started te be empty every time and party nearly died, i really had to throw my weight around and one guy there who had faith in me gave me the chance to dj in the mainhall and do 3 sets of an hour, in about 3 months the party was booming again, it was difficult to get the spot and so damn frustrating when you know you can dj and know the crowd wil like it (goddamn i sound like an arrogant dick-jockey now but it was justified)

 

Man, is so easy, make a freaking mp3 playlist in Winamp and then use this technique: