Tips on Performing

So recently I realized that the dance me and Jon are DJing for is only a week a way and I thought that it would be good to find some basic tips for performing which don't need a lot of practice and we could incorporate them in easily.

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2010/07/waveriding-digital-djing-without-headphone/

This source, conveniently named "Digital DJ Tips", gives insight as to what is happening with DJ's and headphones recently. Previously DJ's have been synonymous for using headphones so the DJ can hear what he's about to play before everyone else hears it. But with the advancement of software, that isn't happening more often than not. Although headphones look good.

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-perform-digital-audio-effects-with-dj-james-zabiela-313860/

These videos, of which there are eight, looks like a good way to easily incorporate new professional tricks into what I already know. I have yet to watch all of the videos but I'm looking forward to learning some new stuff. The way I see it, the more I know, the more I can be confident because one thing I've really overlooked until now is my nervousness in front of a crowd. The performance should be invaluable to my improvement in doing something in front of a crowd.

The End is Near

So today I finally finished some stuff for government class and some requirements for college which have been lingering but I'm finally ready to make my final steps to finish this year. This means more time to work on my WISE project as the year comes to a close. I feel very anxious because it really seems to be ending very soon and I feel like I could do so much. Currently I'm working on a song with a nice bass-line, really groovy stuff, and I'll have that up here in a while but for now I think I need to plan for the Black-light dance which is only a week from this thursday. Coincidentally the work that's required for my final presentation is also due that day so that should be interesting. I feel confident that I can pull it together for these final two weeks of school and do some good work for WISE.

Money Makin'

Download A-Trak & Dillon Francis Money Makin' (Original Mix)

So this may not be the drop I promised, that may take a while, but it does have the most catchy lyrics ever and an awesome synth melody.

In other news, me and Jon met yesterday to play with the software and organize a playlist. It works out well because the brighter more club filling songs I chose mix well with the bass-line filled, darker sounds of the songs he chose. I already have about seven songs picked out with one of my own in the mix, but he needs to work on a final mix so that we can have a rough outline to fall back on. Just in case we'll have plenty of other songs and genres to play in case the crowd doesn't like one genre or another. Slow tempo songs like dubstep are also a possibility.


I also went to the sample presentation yesterday and I have to say, it was really good. Despite not being able to read what she said in her journal, I feel like I could have made a good guess based on what she said in her presentation. Unfortunately she was very articulate and I have a feeling that her presentation has set the bar very high.

Goog

http://g.co/doodle/9tyu8p

Happy birthday Robert Moog! To celebrate Robert Moog's birthday, Google created a replica of the Moog synthesizer on the Google homepage.

• "Robert Arthur "Bob" Moog (pronounced /ˈmoʊɡ/ MOHG) (May 23, 1934 – August 21, 2005), founder of Moog Music, was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer...The Moog synthesizer was one of the first widely used electronic musical instruments. Early developmental work on the components of the synthesizer occurred at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, now the Computer Music Center. While there, Moog developed the voltage controlled oscillators, ADSR envelope generators, and other synthesizer modules with composer Herbert Deutsch." - Wikipedia

Song Layout and Drops

 "Drop dat bass girlll" -Kenz

http://www.abletonvideotutorials.com/layout-and-house-song

This tutorial will help me guide myself in future songs. Last night I worked on another song and after I finished a quick run-through I noticed my layout was the same as always and I thought to myself what a wonderful world if that may not be the best way to layout a song. I noticed that there wasn't much of a drop and so I decided to look for tutorials on layout and drops. Many people have different ideas on what a drop sounds like so I'm now on a quest to find the perfect drop. An artist that I follow, Dada Life, will be releasing a song that they suggest will have a very nice drop and so in due time, I will post this song and study it's internal organization studiously.

Run Through (Sly #4 by BOI CHIPS)

As you can see, I start off by placing a few simple clips in the beginning. I usually start with a beat in the beginning so that in the case I decide to DJ with the song I can easily match the beats with the song before it and fade into this one. After that I sort of feel my way through. In this case I decided to go beat-less shortly after the beginning of the song and build up to another beat. After I make a simple layout which works pretty well and play with effects as I go. I then listen to the songs and focus on what I can improve, this allows me to isolate certain sounds without distraction. From here I edit parts individually until it sounds decent. For my song, A New Look, I spent a LOT of time doing this, unfortunately it's hard to appreciate all that work unless you really focus on those parts. For me it's easy listening to certain sounds because I made those sounds and I know what to look for. When I listen to other songs I almost never listen for those things and honestly it's almost frustrating because I'll never really know what my songs sound like when other people first here them.

About this song. It's a basic house song and I have to say, it sounds pretty bad without bass friendly speakers or headphones. Again, using what I said before about the differences between what I can hear and what others can, it bugs me that the bass doesn't always work in this song but I like the parts that are decently groovy. Overall, it's a decent song, whether or not it's a Blacklight dance worthy song is another matter.

Seven Observations of Learning (from 5/6ish)

I've learned a lot in the past few weeks about DJing and making music. I've learned to make mashups and remixs, what a well organized song looks like, and how far I'm willing to go to finish something. But what I've read in my sources and tutorials has no effect unless I try it out. When I actually try something out, somethings that at first seemed simple turn out to be very difficult and other things that seem difficult were actually easy to begin with and it's from these realizations that I can learn something. Some things require a lot of practice and some things come naturally, this is something I've found to be true in a lot of activities. Making music is no different. I've found that I have some rhythm in me, but my piano skills are terrible and I really need to work on my song layouts. Working on these things and learning has almost become enjoyable because what I'm doing is something that entertains me. I could almost think I'm not learning anything because I enjoy making the music so much.