Dubstepforum.com

Sorry if there's already an existing thread for this, I couldn't find one if there was. Anyways I've been producing for about a year now and I finally found a place I can start playing my music at. My buddy has an appt with a pretty notorious basement that he puts on shows at. It's usually rock, funk, metal, etc, that's played there but he asked me if I would help put on some edm nights.

So i've never gigged as a producer before, and I'm trying to figure out what I need to know, what gear I need, tricks of the trade and just any useful basic knowledge. Some tutorials/vids would be clutch. I currently have a Numark mixtrack, which I know isn't too great, but I figure it'll get the job done as a mixer for a pretty small venue. Using some $20 numark dj headphones, too (I'm very broke ). I'm planning on making a 30 min mix of some of my favorite dubstep and electro songs, with about 15 mins of my material mixed in. Advice preez?

it all depends on how much control u want to have over what you're doing versus how pre-programmed it is, what your budget is, and how much time u have to prepare. if all youve got is a mixer, ur basically gonna be doing a DJ set. there are plenty of tutorials on youtube about mixing with just a mixer, assuming you have some DJ software already. if u want to really "perform" your music u need some kind of controller or live instrument, and even then you need some time to learn how to play it.

or you could download a nice Jitter patch and perform all your music by swinging a wii-remote around in the air...

investing in ableton is probably a good shout if you're looking to play a mix of your own stuff and other tunes

FluidMoShun wrote: So i've never gigged as a producer before

Wut?

Your there to dj. Play a set. Ableton/cd's/vinyl/your mixtrack whatever.

Its not overly complex that you need tutorials etc.

Good luck mate

From the sounds of things, you might be better off just burning your tracks to CD-R and working them into your electro/dubstep mix. With live performance it is a very good idea to go into it with a definite setup and lots of practice. Good luck however it plays out though.

dubmatters wrote:

FluidMoShun wrote: So i've never gigged as a producer before

Wut?

Your there to dj. Play a set. Ableton/cd's/vinyl/your mixtrack whatever.

Its not overly complex that you need tutorials etc.

bang on.

yea, its a dj set, not a producers set/live set.
yes there are producers who go out and play 'livesets' but your going out to play a dj set with some of your own music, so dont worry about that.
if you can already dj, then you shouldnt really have any problems...

In regards to gear....
well since your using a mixdeck i would imagen that there is a lappy involved somewhere, so make sure its up to a spec that could be played in a real club e.g. enough ram so the thing wont crash after 15 minutes of play (latency issues can also put a hindrence on sets sometimes)

headphones are gonna be a problem if their soundsystem has any real power or bass
eg you wont be able to cue properly cuz you cant hear wtf is going on in your cans.

...and in saying that, is their soundsystem up to playing 'dubstep' or bass-heavy tunes?
if not, personaly i wouldnt even bother playing at the risk of sounding like shit.

Thanks for the feedback guize. And dubmatters, I meant this is my first gig playing edm, but I've had some experience playing with a band.

Nevalo wrote:

dubmatters wrote:

FluidMoShun wrote: So i've never gigged as a producer before

Wut?

Your there to dj. Play a set. Ableton/cd's/vinyl/your mixtrack whatever.

Its not overly complex that you need tutorials etc.

bang on.

yea, its a dj set, not a producers set/live set.
yes there are producers who go out and play 'livesets' but your going out to play a dj set with some of your own music, so dont worry about that.
if you can already dj, then you shouldnt really have any problems...

In regards to gear....
well since your using a mixdeck i would imagen that there is a lappy involved somewhere, so make sure its up to a spec that could be played in a real club e.g. enough ram so the thing wont crash after 15 minutes of play (latency issues can also put a hindrence on sets sometimes)

headphones are gonna be a problem if their soundsystem has any real power or bass
eg you wont be able to cue properly cuz you cant hear wtf is going on in your cans.

...and in saying that, is their soundsystem up to playing 'dubstep' or bass-heavy tunes?
if not, personaly i wouldnt even bother playing at the risk of sounding like shit.

It's not an enormous venue, so I'm pretty sure the soundsystem my friend's got will work, its decently powerful and from what I remember has good subs.

I use a desktop for producing. My laptop is pretty shit, so I'm considering possibly bringing my cpu for the gig. I'm gunna try to get some better headphones, tho, what would you recommend? (not to expensive either.. Just some good starter cans that'll do the job)

The mixtrack I got works with Traktor. I was planning on just using that, as opposed to a DAW (you can load 2 toons at a time, so I'm thinking play load A, then mix into B, and while that's playing, bring the next song into A, etc).

FluidMoShun wrote: It's not an enormous venue, so I'm pretty sure the soundsystem my friend's got will work, its decently powerful and from what I remember has good subs.

I use a desktop for producing. My laptop is pretty shit, so I'm considering possibly bringing my cpu for the gig. I'm gunna try to get some better headphones, tho, what would you recommend? (not to expensive either.. Just some good starter cans that'll do the job)

The mixtrack I got works with Traktor. I was planning on just using that, as opposed to a DAW (you can load 2 toons at a time, so I'm thinking play load A, then mix into B, and while that's playing, bring the next song into A, etc).

Alright, good subs is a start haha.

as a suggestion.... DONT TAKE YOUR HARD DRIVE. just imagen, your djing, some hot bird walk past, champers in hand, and woops... she slips, and there goes your hard drive, along with all your hard work.

cheap cans... hmmmmmmm. whats the MAX amount you would spend?

You must be the first person in history to take an actual PC tower to a gig

Just use the mixtrack with traktor. There is no need to over complicate things.

Play some music and have a laugh.

Its been many many years since I went to a teen disco lol

Sheff wrote:You must be the first person in history to take an actual PC tower to a gig

I've seen it done a few times at art school parties. The situation described above with the champers (or in this case, cask wine) actually happened as well.

Shum wrote:

Sheff wrote:You must be the first person in history to take an actual PC tower to a gig

I've seen it done a few times at art school parties. The situation described above with the champers (or in this case, cask wine) actually happened as well.

That sucks. I can't even begin to think how long it would take for me to rebuild my music collection.
porn collection too

This is actually made me aware that I really should back up my HDD. This laptop has seriously seen better days and wouldn't suprise me if imploded sometime soon.

Nevalo wrote:

FluidMoShun wrote: It's not an enormous venue, so I'm pretty sure the soundsystem my friend's got will work, its decently powerful and from what I remember has good subs.

I use a desktop for producing. My laptop is pretty shit, so I'm considering possibly bringing my cpu for the gig. I'm gunna try to get some better headphones, tho, what would you recommend? (not to expensive either.. Just some good starter cans that'll do the job)

The mixtrack I got works with Traktor. I was planning on just using that, as opposed to a DAW (you can load 2 toons at a time, so I'm thinking play load A, then mix into B, and while that's playing, bring the next song into A, etc).

Alright, good subs is a start haha.

as a suggestion.... DONT TAKE YOUR HARD DRIVE. just imagen, your djing, some hot bird walk past, champers in hand, and woops... she slips, and there goes your hard drive, along with all your hard work.

cheap cans... hmmmmmmm. whats the MAX amount you would spend?

I was thinking about making some makeshift plastic cover for my cpu for such a scenario. When I say my laptop is shit, I mean the nastiest shit in the world. FL9 starts crackling and popping bad within minutes of starting it up on my laptop. Traktor seems to function ok, but its a risk (that it might glitch out.... in a bad way). It might just be overdue for some reformatting, and maybe after a fresh start it'll function again. And for the cans, prob max $100.

dub, you're right man. I can't help but overthink it cause its my first show.. but its really just a party like any other, with the addition of dope dubstep beats

FluidMoShun wrote: I was thinking about making some makeshift plastic cover for my cpu for such a scenario.

right, one problem... heat.
but if you can get past that problem, then pretend i said nothing

FluidMoShun wrote:And for the cans, prob max $100.

well for around £100 (not dollars) there's a few really good headphones for djing

Pioneer HDJ1000

Sennheiser HD25-1II (my pick)

Technics RP-DH1200

and if you wanna go a bit lower (both in quality and price)

Pioneer HDJ-500-K (around £70)

Allen & Heath XD-40 (around £60)

and then anything under that... well lets just say you don't really wanna use for djing

Nevalo wrote:

FluidMoShun wrote: I was thinking about making some makeshift plastic cover for my cpu for such a scenario.

right, one problem... heat.
but if you can get past that problem, then pretend i said nothing

FluidMoShun wrote:And for the cans, prob max $100.

well for around £100 (not dollars) there's a few really good headphones for djing

Pioneer HDJ1000

Sennheiser HD25-1II (my pick)

Technics RP-DH1200

and if you wanna go a bit lower (both in quality and price)

Pioneer HDJ-500-K (around £70)

Allen & Heath XD-40 (around £60)

and then anything under that... well lets just say you don't really wanna use for djing

Thanks for the list man. I'll probably look into the lower tier pioneers or the allens as I'm strapped for cash currently.

if your friend is already involved in the musical scene, couldn't he get hold of a pair of decent used cans for you to either buy or lend for the night? Also: if you're so skint, why don't you buy a pair of used cans off of ebay or similar site? got a pair of barely used beyer dynamics dt 250's for a third of the original price.

Sheff wrote:You must be the first person in history to take an actual PC tower to a gig

allready been done, it was like an office set up, jokes

Sheff wrote:You must be the first person in history to take an actual PC tower to a gig

this made me laugh out loud

Sheff wrote:You must be the first person in history to take an actual PC tower to a gig

lol .. yep