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What a warm-up set is, and how to build one
On YouTube this video is called DJ Advise, How to construct a warm up set in a club, what is a warm up set?
What this lesson teaches
He begins with definitions, on the grounds that plenty of people genuinely do not know, and he is right.
What a set is
A construction of tunes - tracks put together, start to finish. It might be ten minutes or it might be four hours, depending on where, how, who and why.
What a warm-up set is
The first music of the evening. If a night runs from nine until three, the warm-up might be nine until twelve - one DJ, or two doing ninety minutes each - with the main DJ taking the last three hours.
That is the job most people get first, and it is the one most often misunderstood.
The discipline
He sets out the facts; here is what follows from them.
A warm-up set is not a short version of a main set. The job is not to show what you can do - it is to build a room that somebody else will take somewhere.
Which means:
Start below where you want to end. If your first track is at the energy the headliner needs at one in the morning, you have nowhere to go for three hours and neither do they.
Do not play the anthems. Those records belong to the peak, and a peak at ten o'clock in front of forty people wastes them. The main DJ will also, quite reasonably, be annoyed.
Fill the room rather than impress it. People arriving want somewhere comfortable to stand and drink. Music that is too demanding too early keeps them at the bar.
Leave it warm. The best compliment a warm-up DJ gets is that the handover was easy - the floor was moving, the energy was rising, and the next person could simply continue.
Why it is good for you
Because it is harder than it looks and nobody will notice if you do it well.
Playing to a half-empty room, at restrained energy, for ninety minutes, while keeping it interesting, is a genuine test of selection. Anyone can empty a box of anthems at midnight.
Contents of the video
0:01 First of all these particular videos are targeted for a DJ, a set
Alright guys, a bit of a discussion mainly but also this can be classed as a tutorial on doing a warm-up set. Now first of all these particular videos are targeted for a DJ, a set. A set can be a lot of things but where a DJ is concerned a set is a construction of tunes. In other words you put loads of tracks together, start, finish and that's it. Theoretically a DJ's set. A DJ's set could be anything from, as crazy as it sounds, 10 minutes up to 3 or 4 hours. It all depends on where, how, who, which and why. Warm-up set. That's what this particular video is mainly about. The DJ who does the warm-up set. What is a warm-up set? It's not something that keeps you warm at night. It's not the sort of thing that you can go, what it is though, is the warm-up set is sort of the first person to come along to play the music at the beginning of the evening.
So for example, let's say the evening is from 6 o'clock till say 1 in the morning or 2 in the morning. The warm-up set or possibly the warm-up sets could be at the beginning of the evening. And then let's say for example, you know, the main DJ will play the last set. Which for example, let's say the evening is from 9 in the evening till 3 o'clock in the morning. The last DJ could play the last 3 hours. The warm-up DJ or DJs could let's say play the first 3 hours. So the first DJ will play from 9 till 12 and then, or 2 DJs maybe, 1 and a half hours each. The last DJ could play for 3 hours. Now a lot of people are going, yeah but we know this. Yeah, we know what it is. Well guess what? There's quite a few people out there that don't.
2:21 It could be the pumping most hardest tunes
So the whole idea behind this particular video is to explain the whole philosophy about doing a warm-up set. Very important. You may think, it's easy, you just play tunes. Well, you do. But, you know, let me explain. You can have your favourite tracks and you can play them and it could be a blinding wicked set. It could be the pumping most hardest tunes. Ever. But, if you're the warm-up DJ, do you know what? You could die a death because the manager may want a DJ who will start to bring the crowd up. Get them going. In other words, someone who can sort of build the atmosphere up as opposed to just going bosh. So a warm-up set needs to start off almost very mellow. Imagine you're giving them fluffy. You're giving them fluffy pillows to lie on prior to them having a massage.
And then after the massage, then they'll go in for the full jacuzzi. Pillows, warm-up set. The massage is maybe taking them the next step further and then the full on jacuzzi is their main set. So how can we work this out? How do we make that into music? How do we sort of sort out what I've been on about and turn that into music? How do we sort that into building your set? It's very simple. Let's look at your tunes and do this after you've watched this video. It doesn't matter what style you've got. House, hip-hop, soul, reggae, R&B, 70s, 80s, 90s, pop, 60s, Tamela Motown, Northern Soul, banger, merengue, drum and bass, dubstep. Oh damn. Whoa. It doesn't matter what I want you to do. I want you to look at your tunes and I want you to listen to the tracks that make you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then also listen to the tracks that make you go tap along. Now put them into two different categories. The ones that make you want to go yes are the main set. The ones that make you just want to tap along are the warm-up tunes. Look at it from this perspective. From this point of view, let's say you're doing the entire evening. You're doing from nine till three. Would you play your banging tunes at nine o'clock? What are you going to do at three o'clock? You need to build the crowd up so a warm-up DJ is there for a reason. The warm-up DJ is there to build the crowd up. Start here, go higher and higher and higher when they reach this point and then maybe the next DJ, if they know what they're doing, will take.
5:31 Try to keep away from full on anthems, full on banging tunes
Over from that point, higher and higher, and then the main DJ can come along. Professional DJs will do precisely that because they know if they're the warm-up DJ, they do not want to go full on because people need to be nurtured into something. It's like growing plants. You can't plant a seed and expect to have it blooming and blossoming a day later. It's going to take time, right? So for example, let's say electrohead. Let's say you're building a house, start off nice and mellow and then slowly build it up theoretically. Then the next DJ that follows you will maybe lift it a little bit higher and then the last DJ can take it from this point and start to mess around with the crowd. Try to keep away from full on anthems, full on banging tunes.
I know you desperately want to play them, but here's the deal. Please listen to me. This is really important if you're there to do the warm-up set. And you want to impress the management. You will not impress them if it's a very big club or for that matter, any club. You will not impress them by trying to make the crowd go wild to begin with. They want you to warm the crowd up. They want you to build up the atmosphere prior to the main DJ so you will do more damage by playing your banging tunes. You will. You will be. It will be better for you if you can play mellow and start to build the crowd up because the manager will look at you and think that is a professional DJ who is holding back for the main DJ to go bosh.
Right, so, for example, you always want to mix, so I'll do a mix here. If you want to know the names of the tracks, this one here is Change The Way You Kiss, alright? Now this is sort of the sort of thing you could, would let's say, play. If it was a warm-up set. No, sorry. No, I'm fine. Hold on. It's this one. There is too many things going on here today. Here we go, this one.
7:19 You know, I should really edit this video shouldn't I?
Is it that one? Hold on. Did you see?
Yeah, it was this one, sorry. Do you know what? Mindboggling. You know, I should really edit this video shouldn't I? So, tell you what, I'll edit now. Right, this is the track you want to play. as or this is an idea this is an idea of this this right cut this is the sort of track you all right here we go okay what i'll do i'll what we've got here is something that's got a bit of feeling a bit of soul to it but it's happy-go-lucky it's not just sort of full on now from something like this which is say classed as sort of house stroke garage the next dj let's say he's playing the main set could maybe take that little bit higher and go into some more maybe slightly twisted electro and then take it more higher into more banging say techno so it's almost like trying to make the crowd get
Higher higher and higher all right so walk in the club
That one there by the way it's by the beat chuggers okay very sort of mellow not necessarily the world's best example but what i'm playing here maybe it's the sort of tunes you would play in the likes of a house set for a warm-up dj now you must remember one important fact do not go into a warm-up set banging the ass out the tunes keep it mellow leave the anthems and the banging tunes for the main dj leave your comments enjoy and practice i do are you
This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.
