Learn to DJ and play a set at a party

“So up until right before my set, I am at my highest levels of anxiety and excitement. I spent the last two weeks making sure I would be prepared as possible [...] One thing I was really scared about was playing on CDJs for the first time ever. I mainly use a DDJ-SB3 controller. I am so grateful that I took the time to understand the differences between controllers and CDJs [...] This meant we only had 3 hot cues. The left CDJ only had 2, because hot cue ‘A’ didn’t work. [...] I had super high adrenaline, excitement, and anxiety. Our set was at 9:45pm, but the club was already getting pretty crowded. Luckily I had my friend to guide me throughout the whole process!”

“Initially I wanted to dip my toe in, before I commit to buying anything. I started out with Djay Pro on my iPhone and I streamed directly from Apple Music. For my transitions I mostly used the Crossfader FX (with beatmatch) in Djay Pro. After I understood the basics of phrasing, tempo, and the circle of fifths, I started working on my first setlist. [...] On the day of the party, I used my friend's DJ interface to connect my laptop to the club's mixer. The actual mixing was done on my laptop though. I had practiced my set several times in advance, and it all went smoothly except for when people distracted me with song requests. (I accepted one request and I immediately regretted it, because the transition was shit. Haha. Lesson learned)”

“I continued to DJ after I graduated high school and joined a fraternity during my first semester in college. I played two big frat parties, one called Pajama Jam and one on Halloween called Goes 2 Hell. [...] Those parties were the biggest gigs of my life up until that point. I practiced every night for weeks. [...] Of course, I received requests at the party, but I didn’t have internet access to quickly download the songs. So I told people no. [...] Once they learned I wasn’t taking requests they stopped asking. By the end of the night, I was playing the music I liked and had the dance floor packed.”