Archive for February, 2011
Preparing my set
February 22nd, 2011 | 
Author: I am writing this as I am preparing my set for DJing on Feb 22, to share with my readers my methods and thought processes as I set about deciding what and how to play my music.
First off, a few comments about methods and structure. I plan my sets in small segments, usually 3-6 songs per segment, songs that work well together, have some sort of connection to one another, and usually build up to a climax. I separate these segments usually with a non-salsa song, usually cha cha cha or bachata. I also pick out a short list of songs that I want to try to play somehow, though they might be difficult to fit in.
To start, I want to fit in a segment of hard salsa that might take dancers a bit by surprise. Two such songs that immediately spring to mind: Larry Harlow’s Un Tipo Liberado and Bobby Valentin’s Indestructibe. Both start very moderately, but build up to high-energy percussion segments. I often follow-up Un Tipo Liberado with Angel Canales’ La Humanidad, because I feel that the funk accents in the first one’s percussion segment tie in nicely with the intro to the second one. I know have a first mini-segment; I’ll need a few more songs to set it up, but I can figure that out later.
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Managing my Digital Music Collection
A few weeks ago, I mentioned on Facebook that my salsa collection had just passed 25 thousand titles. This is just the latest of several milestones that I have crossed over the past few years, as my collection grew and grew (and keeps growing). I thought it might be interesting for my readers to learn a little bit about the various workflows I use to manage such a huge collection in a manner that keeps it efficient for personal use as well as for DJing.