... so I've been playing records almost four months now, and I'm definitely much more comfortable with it and still loving it (more than ever, actually)
... I mean, who can resist diving into a setup this beautiful?
Chris came over Friday night to play some dubstep and it was really the first time I've played with anybody...
...it's not hard for me to throw together something decent when Rachel and Winnie are around, in fact, I think I do my best when Winnie's around. It really gets me going when someone comes into the room and starts dancing.
When Courtney and I got together last weekend to make T-shirts for Bassic, I got to try my hand at explaining exactly what turntables and mixing are about- she said even though I may not be the most experienced, she preferred to hear it from me because it's not as intimidating as hearing it from the guys. I even got to play some and explain at the same time, no problem.
I really enjoyed playing when CJB was around- it's that whole 'Teaching is the best way to learn' thing, not to mention I just like hanging out with her. I hope we get to do it more often.
Oddly enough, even though Nick is teaching me a lot I still don't play too often around him. When I first started, I actually even got angry because I would feel like I was making progress and totally fuck it up while he was around!
Now it's not so bad. Often times he listens from another room just to track my progress sans-nervousness. At this point I can play pretty comfortably even when he's in the room, although sometimes if I'm on a roll and he comes in a-nodding his head it's like two trains come out of nowhere all of a sudden. Silly me.
Why so hard when Nick's around, you ask?
Well- because he is a DJ. The same goes for Chris, Dan, Damian, and pretty much almost everyone I know here in Boston...
... they're the most intimidating audience, because even if a person that's dancing can't tell, a DJ can automatically hear if I'm off beat even by a fraction of a second. That's pretty intimidating to me for some reason. I know how I feel when I hear a bad mix, and I don't want anybody to feel that way about my mixes.
But that's a silly way to go about it, because of course I won't be 100% accurate right away. In fact, I don't think I ever will be... because no DJ is. So basically I need to get over it.
It really helped to have Chris come over and play with me. Before we started he asked, 'Do you want to go two and two?' (he plays two records, then we switch off and I play two records) and I just shrugged because I'd never even tag-teamed with anyone before. I'd never tried to mix with another person's records and I hoped I could pull it together.
I almost chickened out. I kept shaking my head as I was throwing the first record on and Chris says, 'You nervous?'
'Quite.', I say.
'Well get over it. If you can't play in front of another person you're never gonna play out.'
I'm thinking, Very Good Point. I told myself I wasn't going to cut off my dreads until I played out for the first time. And I really want to cut off my dreads.
So I play. And fuck up, a lot. My hands are shaking like crazy, and half the time I can't mix the record in time before the one playing runs out. That's a problem I have when people are around, I'd rather just cut it in last minute and risk a second of silence than train-wreck (have two tracks playing terribly off-beat from each other).
But eventually my hands stop shaking and I calm down some. It still doesn't sound as good as when I'm alone, but I manage to pull together a few times that didn't sound too terribly bad. I get to watch Chris do his thing and realize that no matter how good of a DJ you are (and Chris is a great DJ), sometimes it's just hard with the time constraint, or one record is just confusing, or the two are off-key and it's too late to switch out.
That was a good thing to learn, that I shouldn't have impossible standards and shouldn't forget that it's fun. You could say that about a lot of the things I do, and expect of myself.
So I'm not going to wait until I'm a perfect DJ before recording a mix, or playing out because that time will never come. Therefore, my DJ progress report is this:
I've made some progress. And I think I'm comfortable enough to record a mix, so that's what I've been practicing for, and will be doing on Tuesday afternoon.
Pandai'a's First Mix :)
I feel ready, and I hope it goes well.
I'll post a link when it's done, for better or worse.
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