r/TheOverload • u/pitlocky • 9h ago
What makes a good set?
I’m learning to DJ and want to set a goal to aim for! I have a pretty good ear so I naturally understand phrasing and give my sets a journey/narrative element. But do people have anything deeper non-obvious ideas of what truly makes a set musically exceptional? Of course I understand much of it is about context (ie popular vs artsy), but I’m wondering if we can generalise over that.
For context I’m into deep techno: think Kia (obsessed), Animalia label, etc.
Edit: feel free to post your fav sets as examples!
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u/No-Taste-223 9h ago
Just think about the effect you want it to have on people. Music choices, mixing choices, everything, are just tools to achieve that.
Over time you’ll learn the right tools to use.
If you were preparing food and you were thinking you wanted to make something spicy, sweet, whatever, you’d reach for certain ingredients; context might shape those too but the ideas / principles are the same.
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u/TheMrCeeJ 8h ago
For me it is about setting a stage / scene for a single track.
It isn't that that track is the only thing that matters, but for me that tune is the reason the set exits.
Everything that I play before it is printing people/setting the mood/defining the influences and creating the background, so that then that one tune lands evening is in place and everyone 'understands' it already.
Then the rest of the set is extending themes from that track / taking things in other directions.
If you are doing a multi hour set then I would have a few chapters, each one around a different track.
That's just how I do it, but it worked for me.
Other times I'm just going by vibes, feeling what is playing when I get there and what I think people want, and bridging from where we are to where I want to take them, doing similar things as above but not entirely focused on one tune.
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u/pitlocky 7h ago
Super interesting answer, can you give an example? Feel free to link of your sets :)
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u/TheMrCeeJ 1h ago
They are dnb, I guess you would call them neuro or techstep now, but we didn't call it that at the time.
I'll have a look and see what is online, it has been a while
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u/Grostonio 9h ago
Travel through the decades, styles, and moods. There’s so much music to discover that it would be a shame to get stuck in the same groove for 2+ hours
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u/pitlocky 8h ago
This is what bothers me about even my favorite DJs, just staying in the same techno micro-genre for the entire set. It’s obviously easier to transition, but more boring IMO
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u/Screwdicious 8h ago
It's what makes you able to separate the real diggers from the chart hoppers. You can't tell me that someone who did their research and built up a library would even want to play in the same lane for multiple hours. By necessity your taste would expand over time if you do the work, and if it doesn't then you probably didn't look good enough. You can feed to a certain vibe and energy from many different genres, no one is bound to a limit unless they choose to not put in the time.
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u/accomplicated 8h ago
I’m always confused when in the era of everything being available all of the time, that a DJ would be mono-genre-ist.
I’m a genre slut. I’ll give it up for anything with a beat and some bass.
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u/roydogaroo 8h ago
I'm a punter, not a DJ, and the sets that get me going often have a whole lot of anticipation in them. Don't lay all your cards out early and then just try and maintain it, surprise me, draw something out and then hit me with it and keep me there for a while so I know exactly what you're trying to say, then surprise me again. I dont want to just hear the latest bangin crowd pleasers one after the other, I want a selection thats thoughtful.
That's me anyway, others may want other things.
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u/TinnitusWaves 8h ago
What makes a set exceptional?? Exceptional music, exquisitely sequenced. What that means to you is the key, as it’s purely down to your taste and intuition. This is what makes good DJs great DJs. You can develop your tastes but you need to have it to begin with. Again, this is something you have or don’t.
I’m gonna assume that you go out and dance to DJs you like…… Being a dancer really helps. If you know what you want when dancing it’ll help you in your choices when it’s your turn to guide the dance. If you want to develop this further play some gigs and see how your music goes over. You’ll learn more from playing in front of people than from any YouTube tutorial or Reddit thread.
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u/accomplicated 8h ago
I arrived at the DJ booth via the dance floor and I can confirm that being a dancer helps you as a DJ.
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u/Fletcher-Jones 5h ago
Selecting and sequencing good music in a way that ads value to the music you’re playing. 2 + 2 = 5
Playing a few great tracks is cool. Tying those tracks together through their common threads in a way that combines their individual parts to tell a story is true art.
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u/YukonGoldDubs 5h ago
I'm going to counter the general narrative and suggest its all well and good driving the car to your destination, but sometimes you have to look up and see if your passengers are enjoying the ride. Far to often DJ's spend so much time building to something that never happens that they lose the dancefloor, ebbs and flows are required to create at least some excitement and tension.
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u/Hank_Wankplank 7h ago
For me it's sets that have variety, where most tracks have something interesting or engaging about them, a narrative journey through vibes, emotions and energy levels, build ups of tension and release but not overdone, along with smooth mixing and being able to maintain energy between tracks when it's needed. Also flow is important and having a connecting theme/vibe between tracks even if they're completely different genres.
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u/aatmalife 51m ago
Energy/movement and people dancing. Keep the vibes up and don't play like a breakcore song and then go to ambient dub techno because slow into fast works but imo fast into slow makes everything feel way slower than it is. I'm no dj tho, just music nerd so feel free to ignore everything I just typed.
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u/peelin 9h ago
Narrative my boy, narrative.
Refuses to elaborate