DJ Sets: Prepared or Freestyle? How Do You Play?

Do you use prepared sets, or do you play freestyle? Join the conversation in the comments.
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Amsterdam born DJ / producer Uncas "DJ TLM" Huges has been rocking crowds at clubs, festivals, and corporate/private events for over 27 years. The DJ is best known for his ability to incorporate turntablism into his club sets. He also performs as a tour DJ for Dutch platinum selling Hip Hop artist Brainpower. They have done 3500 shows in the last 21 years and still perform regularly.
TLM has been an online content creator since 2008. He started DJ TLM TV in 2011 and his motto is "share the knowledge". He educates and motivates people through his DJ tutorials, product/tech reviews, podcasts, vlogs, tips & tricks, and other content. He currently has a global following of 168.000 subscribers on KZbin.
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[@djTLMtv]

So how do you play? Do you have prepared sets, or do you play freestyle? Or both? Share your style.

[@joju4life812]

I always love the pressure to find the next fitting track in time. I always go freestyle

[@RiddyOnline]

I normally have a prepared set but as I've gained more confidence, I'd jump out of the prepared set and pull in other tracks that I'd see fit. Having said that, I create a new set for each event so I don't play the same thing over and over again

[@djTLMtv]

How much time does it take for you to create a set?

[@RiddyOnline]

@@djTLMtv More time than I'm comfortable with....at times I wish that I could just play on the fly. Normally it's a few hours though. Normally the night before or the day of the gig.....will choose tracks, think about how it to flow...arrange by BPM (since I normally open I start out slow for when no one is there and put my more hype/party starter tracks near the end so the next DJ can get a good hand-off with a warmed up crowd) and set outstanding cue points if they're missing. What I have noticed is once I started to build a collection of these sets, I was sort of able to freestyle more jumping between sets. Kind've gives me the best of both worlds. What I'm thinking of doing is building genre based sets (dancehall set, soca set, hip-hop set, etc). So I don't have to dig as much to find the music I want

[@djTLMtv]

I could see that becoming a problem when you have a lot of gigs every week. Imagine having to prepare 5 sets for one weekend! Or has that already happened?? But you're right; you will remember parts of mixes that were part of a previous set, and use those on the fly

[@RiddyOnline]

5 sets in one weekend would be awesome! Lol...I've never played that much...at this rate, doubt I ever will...I barely play right now (not because of covid). If I do 5 gigs a year...that would be a lot for me...lol. For a while there, I was throwing my own events and then supplementing that with additional gigs...had me playing fairly regularly but now...no and the people that I used to gig with now play their own events and somehow have lost my number (despite me always making sure they were involved in my events and paying them well). But that's a story for anothe day. Would be curious to get your thoughts on egos in the business...the people side of being a DJ. The DJs who are shady, think they're celebrities (despite their skills I.e. they suck at spinning), DJs who try to corner/flood the market, DJs HAVE to drop the club bangers even at the start of the night, etc...Not sure if you still deal with any of that now..But would love your opinions on it and how you've dealt with it over the years.

[@dj_gflow]

I started out preparing my set, but it soon got frustrating bc vibe of the crowd and song requests would always Be outside of the set I prepared. Now I just go off of feeling and let the crowd guide the night. I think the days of preparing sets was for when we had to carry physical records and CDs. But now in the digital age you have you’re entire music catalog at your finger tips. No reason to limit yourself to 100 specific songs

[@dj3xdex309]

Prepared sets for DJ mixes. Freestyle when I have a live audience since I like to go off their vibe.

[@djTLMtv]

Got it. For my mixes I will make a song selection, but I record them track by track.

[@sotoalfredo20]

DJ TLM 🐐. The reason why I'm a freestyle DJ. Freestyle is the way to go 🙏🏽

[@djTLMtv]

💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾

[@dimitrilotterick8399]

Freestyle the reason is for cueing and prepping new songs so the 2nd time around playing the song is prepared so I can used it however I like and freestyle lets you explore more, prep sets is fine for recording mixes

[@daveross5275]

I did a prepared set recently, I usually don't, it was kinda fun getting to think about the mix rather then selection.

[@DodoToutDoux]

Love this topic! Most of the time, I play freestyle! It’s nice to search for the next song, and find a perfect fit. It makes DJing interesting.

[@djTLMtv]

It’s a great feeling when you pick the next song, and it works!💪🏾💪🏾

[@DanielleKingdjdinosaur]

prepared but with room to change direction should the need arise.So much easier since going digital.In my miss spent youth it was two to three record boxes all arranged with points where one could jump to another genre ,bpm or mood depending on the situation but if all was well then one could continue with the master plan.

[@dominickbanyon5146]

Much luv og indy luv fam Dj-lodombee checking in

[@djTLMtv]

Salute!👊🏾

[@jeanphilippefrancois2172]

I always freestyle, go with the feeling, read the crowd and always enjoy and have fun while djing. The only time i prepared a set its only if its a theme night otherwise i freestyle 😊

[@DanielleKingdjdinosaur]

of course i always had new tunes going in so i would try to keep things fresh ish but much depended on where i was going.

[@cameronrobinson7400]

I mix with vinyl and my crates are organized by sets, which are then organized by bpm. My sets are prepared, but there are options stored behind my prepared 12’s that gives me room for variations based on where I’m at in the set allowing me jump in and out without missing a beat. It’s kind of a hybrid.

[@djTLMtv]

Nice

[@djcarlosalicea1638]

I do prepare my sets, but have alternative versions of it, and/or other sets that I can mix and match depending on the crowd and or venue. Peace

[@deejaynaynay]

🔥🔥💪🏾💪🏾

[@djTLMtv]

👊🏾

[@alexzanderking1556]

i prep 2 or 3 songs then i just go with what ever after that

[@DJSTOEK]

🖤

[@LochyP]

I wish i was capable of freestyle! It's a lot more impressive. I've only been mixing for a few months so I'm not very good yet and my library is pretty pitiful, which means I have to spend hours and hours preparing and practicing each set for a gig. Hopefully this becomes less of a problem in time. Glad I found your channel, it is a gold mine. Hope you keep it up 👍

[@djTLMtv]

Remember, the crowd can’t really tell what you’re doing and they don’t care about “prepared or freestyle”. They just want to hear the music they like. It is a liberating feeling to be able to play freestyle, but that will come with time. Continue to build your confidence, and try to start doing short segments of freestyle in between your prepared parts. So, in stead of preparing a 2-hour set, prepare two separate hours. When you finished the first hour, try to do a couple of songs freestyle. If it works, you can continue freestyle, and if it doesn’t work you can just start your second prepared hour

[@LochyP]

@@djTLMtv that's great advice, thanks. I actually did that at the last gig and it worked out OK. You're totally right about the first point... 99% of people don't care how good you are, they just want to hear their favourite songs. It's good in some ways and bad in others.

[@spencercollins4557]

I normally freestyle whenever I play out at bars/gigs.. sets when I’m recording I feel like if you freestyle you’re telling your own story and the crowd is with you through that specific gig

[@djTLMtv]

Well, I think you could actually create great "stories" by preparing sets, but that will work best when you know the audience that you're preparing for

[@thehouserocker]

I do kind of a hybrid of the two, mainly freestyle but certain tracks often are followed by the same 3 tracks because of how great they blend and people like it but then I jump back into freestyle.

[@djTLMtv]

Yeah, that makes sense. I think we probably all have certain tracks that we play a lot, and that we will mix together more often

[@djcarlosalicea1638]

I mix whatever I saw in any specific folder, the least likely that I would mix that the better. But that's for auto training purposes. Just trying to play anything I don't...

[@VintageVic93]

I’ve tried repeating my freestyle sets, but it just doesn’t have the same excitement and flow.

[@djTLMtv]

Yup! That’s because the set was based on that the reaction from that specific crowd. The next crowd most likely won’t be the same. And even if it is the same crowd, the vibe could be different on another night. AND, our own vibe during a set also plays a part in the outcome

[@jasonsaliou7138]

Can I add a question to expand on this subject? Lets say, the circumstances under which you are playing are less than ideal. For example, you know you will be nervous beforehand (which happens to me sometimes), would you recommend preparing in that case? Or do you have any tips on getting into the zone djing wise? thanks

[@ValentineClarke]

I normally have a set list but I would love to be able to be that confident to roll freestyle. Do you think that comes with practice, size of your library, mixing talent or all of the above? What's your best advice for someone that's really new that would like to get to that level?

[@djTLMtv]

Practice to make sure you can confidently mix without preparing your transitions. Organize, but more importantly KNOW your music because this helps you to think of which track to play next. Do the proper research to know your audience and practice reading their reactions. You can practice that when you’re doing your prepared sets as well. And what you could do, is prepare a set, but after you’ve played a part of it, continue with a freestyle set. If it doesn’t work or doesn’t feel right you can always go back to the rest of your prepared set

[@addisonreviews3407]

When u freestyle, do you look at the key of the track ?

[@djTLMtv]

I personally don’t do it often enough, and it’s something I want to start doing a bit more. But during the hype, I hardly do it

[@addisonreviews3407]

@@djTLMtv I hardly don't look. To me it sounds very off if it isn't in key.. And I am very specific when a transition is made and how it sounds. Don't know about others.. :D

[@djTLMtv]

Luckily I have a pretty good ear for key. Not that I can automatically hear if something’s playing in key, but I do hear when two tracks don’t match (key-wise) ;)