I mentioned this in earlier posts. Recorded mix sets are a DJ’s business card.
It’s the best way to introduce yourself to your audience and let them know of your quality and skills.
Basically, you establish a personal brand by recording and sharing your DJ mix sets.
Let me tell you how you can and why you should record your live DJ performance sessions.
Hitting the record button for each and every mix set you play is crucial. Why am I saying this ?
You can review your work, see where you go wrong or do a good job, improve yourself and share them by uploading to sites like SoundCloud or Mixcloud.
Keep in mind that there is no cost to you in terms of storage since most computers come with huge hard drives or most online storage services are free.
How can you record a DJ mix set ?
There are different ways of doing this.
If you are a digital DJ and your software has the feature, record directly using it. Usually pro versions of DJ software are capable of recording.
If not, you can still use a standalone audio recording program like Audacity. Make sure you have the settings adjusted for a good, high quality audio file output.
I’m pretty sure 99 percent will choose this method for their recording sessions. Still, let me give you other options.
You can connect your DJ mixer to an external sound recorder and hit the button.
Using your computer’s CD drive is another option.
In any case, you will end up converting to either mp3 or another digital file format. So, better stick with the first method.
When recording to your computer’s or an external hard drive, try to choose the one with sufficient space since the size of audio file might be large due to the length of your session and the encoding level.
For example, wav format is lossless and takes much more space than mp3 files.
While recording
I want to give you couple tips for a succesful recording of your DJ mix sessions.
Before starting, test record for 5-10 seconds and listen to it. See if the sound is right.
During the mix, keep an eye on the vu meters (led sound level indicators) to make sure they don’t hit the red zone.
It means your sound is about to distort. Distortion effects your recording output too.
Try not to leave long gaps at the beginning and end of the recording. if you do, use an audio editor to trim them.
I personally recommend the wav format. Sound quality is as important as the content of your set. it may take more space but worth it.
You always have the option to increase a digital audio file’s gain level after you complete your session. Use a program like Mp3Gain for that purpose.
When you share online
Recording every single set you play does not mean you share all.
Please listen and review them carefully and use your judgement for the best ones. They will be out there for a long time and reflect your DJ quality.
DJs record their mix sets to review, self criticize and share with others. So, let it be the same for you.