You want to have the dance floor in the palm of your hand, right? But if you don’t get it right from the word go, then the dance floor could easily turn against you. There’s no worse feeling than knowing you’ve lost them, so make sure you read these tips on ways to start a DJ set and how to get the place rocking from the very start.
1. Do your homework
This helps with the whole DJ set, but is even more important when thinking about the start, because the attention span of your dance floor can only last so long…. you’ve got to impress them early. One surefire way of doing it is mugging up on where you’re playing and understanding what they might expect from you. If you push their buttons first then they’re more likely to trust you when you let rip with your own ideas later.
2. Start with an intro with no beat
This won’t always be appropriate, but even at peak time, disrupting the flow of the previous DJ can still be a great way to announce yourself and get people to pay attention. If you use some kind of an intro to starve the dance floor of a kick drum for a bit, when it kicks back in, the whole place will erupt and already, you’ve scored some brownie points.
3. Rehearse your first few mixes
This is particularly important if you’re arriving at a venue and you’re going straight on the decks after a warm up DJ. You’ve had no opportunity to read the crowd, so the best thing you can do to get them to like the tunes you play is to make sure that they at least work with each other. Every dance floor is different so there is no guarantee this will automatically impress them, but it will increase your chances.
4. Turn up early
Whether you’re starting the night or whether you’re coming on at peak time, get there well before you’re meant to start. Technical glitches are never too far away from live DJ performance, so the more time you have to iron any of those out, the more likely you are to start off well. Also, if there is a DJ on before you, this is where you can read the dance floor and tailor your first few tracks.
More generally, your mind will be clearer when you play if you have the confidence that you’re organised, and being on time is key to this. The last thing you want is to be flustered when you start playing. You’ve got to give yourself every chance to nail it.
5. Only increase the pressure – never take a step down
With your first few tracks, the only way is up. Good DJ sets have peaks and troughs but it is unforgivable to build early momentum and then lose it by accident. KNOW YOUR TUNES, i.e. the ‘texture’ of each track you’re playing, and make sure the next track you play is equal or a slight step up from the track playing.
6. Tempo is your friend
Tempo is such an easy thing to use to increase the intensity of the opening part of your performance. If you creep up two or three bpm in your first half hour, people are more likely to start going for it.
7. Stock up your reserves
Make sure you have a few tracks in reserve that you know like the back of your hand. Tracks that mix easily, tracks that you know are highly likely to work in most environments; basically, tracks you can turn to in a split second that won’t let you down. Save or write down these tracks so that even in a blind panic, you won’t forget them.
8. Have a Plan A but be open to a Plan B
If you do all of the above you should have some kind of structure for your early mixes that you feel confident about, ideally with your first three or four tracks being pre planned. Then it’s time to read the dance floor. If those tracks worked then great… carry on in that vein. If they didn’t then call on one of your reserves and change it up.
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