Reader Submitted: "How To DJ The DJ Tantari Way - Chapter Three"

By Tantari Kim

"This is my guide for how to go from a newbie to a moderately successful DJ on Second Life. ...  If you do read it and have comments or corrections, I’d love to hear them.  (Mail me at tantari.kim at gmail.com.)"

Continued from Chapter Two Part Two

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Chapter 3: How to Perform a Live Set the DJ Tantari Way

If you’re content to listen to them yourself or just post them, then you don’t need this chapter.  It’s entirely possible to put together a perfect set as a multitrack project with fades between songs and master it in Audacity, then export it to a MP3 to post somewhere and give to your friends.  But that’s not what a DJ does.  A DJ plays live.  A DJ has a conversation with the crowd through chat and music.  And a DJ will often modify their set in response to a live crowd.

I get a special thrill out of performing for a live crowd.  It isn’t something I have to do; it’s something I get to do.  It’s the entire reason that I do this.  Hopefully you will give it a try.  I’m assuming that you already have a place to play.  If not, check out Chapter 4: How to Have a Second Life DJ Career the DJ Tantari Way.

Preparing for a Live Set

Before I start a live performance, I need two extra things, a silence file and a logo file.  I put both of these in a special crate in MIXXX named _live; that way they’re always easy for me to find and grab.

A silence file is exactly that, an MP3 file that contains 5 minutes of silence. It’s easy to create. Just open Audacity and tell it to insert 5 minutes of silence. Then save it as an MP3. I call mine Silence-5Minutes.mp3 and I store it in w:\music\DJ Sets.

A logo file is often called a sound bumper.  It is only a few seconds long and usually has your DJ name in it with some sound effects.  I chose a famous sound effects record that starts with an English gentleman saying, “This is a journey into sound” because it fits my brand.  You should find something that suits you.

As previously described, you want to make up some DJ Cards for the specific club.  You will want to schedule a time to get together with the DJ manager for the club to test things out and make sure everything works.  This should be outside of normal hours, preferably when there is nothing happening at the club.

At the meeting, give the DJ Cards them to the DJ manager and he or she will put them in the board for you.  Click on the DJ board and log in as a DJ.  (The DJ manager can show you how if you get confused.)  Get your DJ station up and running.  Put your set into the Auto DJ.  Start playing music.  Connect to the Server (either yours or the one provided by the club).  Open the Server URL in your web browser and make sure it shows your connection and your song title.  Make sure that the DJ Board is showing the correct artist and title for your songs.  (If it doesn’t, this is usually because the cards were set for SHOUTcast v2 and the Server is v1 or vice versa.)  Make sure that you can turn on the music stream and hear yourself.  Ask the DJ manager to do the same.  If everything is working well, then you’re good to go! If not, you have a lot of time to troubleshoot and correct things before the audience sees you.  You want to look perfect and effortless in front of them.

Starting a Live Set

You’ve got your DJ station all set up.  You’re familiar with the software.  You’ve played with a personal SHOUTcast Server and you have obtained access to a real SHOUTcast Server.  You’ve written a set.  You’ve contacted a club and got a time slot to play in.  You’ve worked with the club’s DJ manager and had a successful test.  All of this is for nothing without an audience to play to.  It’s show time.

Well, not quite.  First you want to find out if there is anyone on immediately before or after you.  Having that extra slack before and after a set is very nice, but you don’t always get it.

Make sure you show up about 30 minutes early, maybe more if it’s the first time performing at a new club or you’re new to things.  You want to have plenty of time to set up all your software without feeling rushed.  Contact the club host if there is one to let them know you’re there and to give your set title and blurb.  If not, check to see if you can post them yourself to the club’s group (if there is one).  A little advertisement helps build the crowd and anticipation for your event.  If no one is playing before you, it’s great to start with a live warmup, playing whatever songs you want to get people in the mood.  This gives you a final check that everything is working before it’s time to go live.  (This has saved by butt more than once!)

Pull up your working notes for that set.  In MIXXX, pull up the Auto DJ playlist and make sure it’s empty. Then load in your silence file, then your logo file, then your set playlist, then the silence file.  Open the Server URL in your web browser so you can make sure it’s alive and keep an eye on it during the set.  If you’re sharing the Server with the club, you should definitely make sure no one is using it before you connect to it.  You might mess up their set, which will make the other DJ and the club upset with you. If there is another DJ currently playing, make sure to give them an IM (instant message) early on.  It is common courtesy for a DJ to give a time remaining count to the next one so they know when to go.  It’ll usually start somewhere around 5 minutes before the switchover.  Eventually it’ll get down to 1:00, :30, :10, GO!  When they shout GO, it’s time to start your set.

A minute or so before it’s time to start, click the Enable Auto DJ button.  It’ll start playing the 5 minutes of silence.  When you get the GO signal from the other DJ, tell MIXXX to connect to the streaming server. (This is if you’re using a shared Server.  If it’s a private server owned by you, then you can get on it early without bothering anyone.)  Click the DJ board and click the Log In as DJ link.  Once it loads your DJ data, you’re streaming live!  Click the “Fade Now” button to go into your intro file and then into your set.  You’re DJing! (Don’t forget to log in to the club’s DJ tip jar or drop your own if you have one.)

Performing a Live Set

From this point until your 2 hours are up, you’re live.  I will let a song play until it has said everything it needs to say, then click the “Fade Now” button to go to the next song.  You should keep the fade at 2 seconds unless you want to tweak it higher or lower for a particular song.  You should know how to mix up your Auto DJ playlist while playing in case you want to cut some time, add a request from the audience, or just vary the order.
Performing Live is a very subjective; every DJ does it differently.  I’m going to give you some pointers on what does and does not work for me.  As you learn the club, the crowd, and your own style, you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t.

When I start the set, I like to paste my title and blurb into group chat the moment my intro file plays.  That lets them know that I’m starting something special.  Even if I was warming up before, this is the main event.  For me, I always use the same form: This is a Journey Into Sound with DJ Tantari.  Tonight’s Journey is Mood for a Rainy Day - Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday.

If this is a new set, make sure to play it up.  “This is the world premiere of a brand new set, Mood for a Rainy Day!”

Refresh your Server URL in your web page from time to time.  Make sure the status is good.  Watch your current listener numbers.  Make note of what things get them to tune in and what things make them drop off.  Learn from it, but don’t be driven by it or obsess over it.

Try to say a little something about each song other than the title.  If you have a bit of trivia about the band or song, share it.  If not, try to say something clever and work the title in.  If you really can’t think of anything, state the title and append it with one of your Theme Quotes.

Welcome people as they come in.  Greet them by name.  Don’t say the same thing each time; they may think that you’re using a script and get annoyed.  Often I’ll use it to work in Theme Quotes.  For example, “Hey, Steve!  Welcome to the Ark and Mood for a Rainy Day!  It’s not about waiting for the rain to stop.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain!”  If the club supplies a good host or hostess, you won’t have to do this too much.

If people in the crowd talk to you, make sure to talk back to them.  Engage them in a conversation around the music.  Make them a participant.

Always try to keep a happy and positive attitude.  Exude enthusiasm.  Hopefully your audience will catch on and want to have fun with you.

If you want to quote song lyrics, make it short and sweet.  Do it sparingly.  Do this at most once per song.

Never beg for tips.  I don’t even mention it.  It’s tacky.  If you’re in it just for the money, this isn’t a good way to do it.  The most I’ll do is say something like, “I do this for you!  If you’re enjoying the set, throw me a compliment!”  It encourages the audience to get involved and someone with money might decide to throw a few dollars your way.  If you do get a tip, make sure to thank them by name no matter how small.

Point out the continuity of your set.  “I’ve got a trio of They Might Be Giants coming at you next!”  “We’re upping the energy even more as we dive into our Dark Rock Block!”  “Now it’s time to give all that negative energy a break with some Comedy.”

Make sure you know how to call for security at the club if an audience member starts doing abusive things.  Don't deal with them yourself.  Call the club's security team and let them do their job.

Realize that you will have some good nights and some bad nights and there's nothing you can do about it.  Sometimes you’ll make a lot of mistakes, but the audience will be eating out of your hand.  Other times you'll be doing your best and just can't get their attention.  It happens.  Don't take it personally.  Do your best every time and realize that there is always another performance tomorrow.

Taking Requests

This is important enough to break out into its own section.  The main job of a DJ is to create a mood and show the audience a good time.  It is not to be a jukebox and play whatever someone requests.  A poor request can break the mood you’ve spent time and energy trying to build.  If another DJ is after you, you have a very limited time; every request you play means other tracks must be dropped from your carefully crafted set.  Since you’ve saved the best for last, requests jeopardize your epic finale!  But you can’t just tell the requester to take a hike.  He or she is a valued member of your audience.  This is a very delicate subject.  Some DJs never take requests.  Should you?  What to do?

While I can’t tell you what to do in every circumstance, here are some pointers to help you:

Try to deal with requests in IMs (instant messages) as much as possible.  If something goes sour, it’s private instead of in front of the entire audience.

Explain to the requester, “Tonight our theme is Mood for a Rainy Day.  Do you have any calm, mellow songs that you would play on a rainy day?  Also, they have to be totally awesome!”  About half the time they’ll apologize and back down.  But sometimes you’ll get a really awesome new song that you wish you’d thought of in the first place.

If the song is a huge style shift that you think would break your set, try to back out of it.  Explain that you don’t have it and you’re very sorry.  Or explain it straight to them in a very polite way, “I’d love to play this but it’s really going to clash with the feel of the rest of the set.  I’m sorry.”



Try to find a spot in your set where the request will flow at least decently instead of just putting it in next.  Explain that to the requester, “Hey, I think this would fit in really well 3 songs from now.  Is that cool?”

If you do decide to play a request and you don’t have it in your MIXXX Library (use the search function), then ask the requester for a YouTube URL for a clean copy of the song.  In my experience, they’re very happy to provide them.  Listen to a few seconds of the song to make sure it’s not horrible.  (It’ll be hard to hear it over your live stream anyway.)  Then throw it into your YouTube ripper of choice (like http://peggo.tv/) and dump it to your temporary directory (f:\temp\MusicResearch\new).  Drag and drop it directly into the Auto DJ window to queue it up.
(Due to an eccentricity of the way MIXXX and Auto DJ work, if you want to play it next, you'll also have to also load it into the idle deck manually.)

When you play the song, announce it to the crowd.  It makes the requester feel good to be credited for it, and if it’s really bad, it gets you off the hook with the audience for choosing something awful.  “Okay, I’ve got a special request up next for Steve!”

If you do play a request, be mindful of your total play time.  If no one is up after you, you have the luxury of running long; just know that some crowds will rapidly disperse after a contest is awarded, so you can’t go more than 4 or 5 minutes long.  If another DJ is up right after you, try to eliminate the same amount of time from the rest of the set as you can.  This is really hard to do on the fly.  Often I'll load the playlist into WinAmp and select the remaining songs to get an estimate of remaining playtime to help me determine what songs to delete to bring it in on time.You’ll have to use a lot of judgment on this one, because you still want a chance to play your epic finale.

If there is no one after you, save requests for the encore.  “We’re doing Mood for a Rainy Day for this set, but my set is over in 45 minutes.  After that I’m taking requests for any topic at all.  I’d love to play it for you then.  I don’t seem to have that song.  Can you send me a YouTube URL so I can grab it?”

And most importantly, always be polite, even when you have to say no.  This is your audience. You’re here to entertain them and give them a good time.

Ending a Live Set

You’ve done a great job and wowed the audience.  Time to wrap it up with a bow.  If the audience remembers anything, it will usually be your last impression, so make it count.

Towards the end of your set, remind them that there will be a grand finale.  “Just 30 minutes left!  And I always save the best for last.”  “Just 3 songs left, and I’ve got a great finale for you!”  “One last song, and it’s something special...”

During the last song, thank them for coming out.  Thank your listeners.  Plug the next DJ if there is any.  If no one is after you and you want to stay later for some requests or extra bonus songs, announce that as well.  “Thank you all so much for coming out to the Ark tonight.  And a special big thanks to my 12 current listeners.  I do this for you!  Stay tuned for DJ Ignite coming up next!”

If there’s another DJ after you, make sure to get in an IM with them and give them a countdown during your last song or two.  Announce him/her to the audience.  Disconnect from the Server quickly so the next DJ can use it.  (If you’re using a private one, this isn’t an issue.)  Make sure to log out of the tip jar or pick up your tip jar before you leave.

And that’s it!  Great job, DJ!

Continued in Chapter Four

Tantari Kim

Reader Submitted: "How To DJ The DJ Tantari Way - Chapter Two Part Two"

By Tantari Kim

"This is my guide for how to go from a newbie to a moderately successful DJ on Second Life. ...  If you do read it and have comments or corrections, I’d love to hear them.  (Mail me at tantari.kim at gmail.com.)"

Continued from Chapter Two Part One

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Proofing the Playlist

You wouldn’t think of selling a wine without tasting it.  In the same way, you shouldn’t think about performing a set without listening to it first!  Often you’ll find things that require you to go back and re-do previous steps.

The first step is to make the WinAmp playlist match the notes file.  WinAmp makes it easy to move the tracks around with a simple click and drag.   That's why I use it.  (Make sure to save your notes file and your playlist from time to time, just in case your computer crashes!)

Start listening.  Go do something else for a bit while you listen.  Check out Facebook or chat with people on Second Life for a while.  Try to listen to the music as if you were in the audience, just don’t tune out so much that you aren’t paying attention.  I’ll often work on Making Theme Quotes (see next section) while doing this, as it keeps me thinking about the mood of the entire piece.  You’re trying to pick up the mood and the flow.  If you feel a bad transition, you need to change something.  Often I can switch the order of two songs within the same section.  If a song feels out of place or you can't find a good spot for it, you can drop it.  (I put it in the section of the notes called “Dropped for Time”, so I can pull it back if I change my mind.)

When I get to the end of the set, I’ll sometimes do a second listen.  If anything is wrong, you have to go back to previous steps to correct it.  Did you find out that you don’t have enough great tracks?  Go back to Researching New Material to get some.  Did you find that the story you’re trying to tell is the wrong one and you now have a better one?  Go back to Building the Playlist.  I think a set is ready when it’s “pure concentrated awesome”. 

Still too long?  Listen again and remove the one that is the weakest or just doesn’t fit the flow or theme very well.  You want to be very close to 2:05 when you’re finished. (Why 2:05?  You'll lose a little time with cue-ins and cross fades.  From experience, 2:05 will play at about 2 hours in a live set.)  Got stuck?  Put it away and work on a different set for a while.  Come back to it later.  I’ll often put a set aside because it “doesn’t have enough awesome.”  (Yes, that’s a perfectly legitimate reason for me.)  I find that my mind will keep ticking away on it while I’m at work or doing other things.

Making Theme Quotes

All of my sets have a short title and then an inspirational quote after it.  You don’t have to do this, but I think it gives the audience a taste of what’s to come and excites them about what they’re going to see.  I encourage you to try it and see if it fits your style.

The easiest way to do this is to go to Google and search for “quotes about rainy days”.  I’m looking for short things, things that can fit on a motivational poster, so I click the “Images” tab at the top.  Then I start reading.  Often I’ll do this while Proofing the Playlist; that is listening to it.  If I find something good, I’ll write it at the top of my working notes, just under the title.  After a while, I’ll have a list of about 10 to 20 good quotes that fit the mood and message I’m trying to convey.

At this point, I settle on a final title.  Sometimes it’s a brief snippet of lyrics from a song.  Usually it’s a word or two.  Then I take the best quote or two and stick them as the description after the title.  Now I have a title and a “blurb” about it that I can send to my fans and potential audience.

What do I do with the rest of the quotes?  I keep them and use them during the set!

At this point, your notes file should be complete.  I've included the one I use for Mood for a Rainy Day below.  Notice the blurb up top, then the Theme Quotes.  Then the track lists with music style and some other quotes peppered in like song lyrics I want to use during the set performance.  Lastly there are the songs that I cut.  I can go to them if I need to fill extra time.

This is a Journey Into Sound with DJ Tantari.  Tonight's Journey is a Mood for a Rainy Day - Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday.

Some people feel the rain.  Others just get wet.

When life gives you rainy days, wear cute boots and jump in the puddles.

Rainy days, rainy nights, wash the world, set to right, cleansing streets, set apart, rainy days cleanse the heart.

Pluviophile - someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.

Smell the rain, and feel the wind.

--Moody Rock

W:\Music\Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin.mp3 (slow) (Moody. Nostalgia. Love.) good opening

5 second fade to next song was REALLY good here.

W:\Music\Vince\Dream Academy-Life in a Northern Town.mp3 (walk) (Haunting. Nostalgia) very good

W:\Music\80s misc\Alan Parsons Project - Dont Answer Me.mp3 (fast walk) (I'm alone. Leave me alone. There is no hope.) great tone fit

--Mid Rock

W:\Music\Verve - Bittersweet Symphony.mp3 (walk) (Moody. Beautiful. Things are bad, but I won't change.) very good

W:\Music\ELO\Electric Light Orchestra - Love and Rain.mp3 (fast walk) (Bad love. Heartache.) very good

--Straight Rock

W:\Music\ELO\Electric Light Orchestra - Rain is Falling.mp3 (walk) (Rain is falling. Sad. Missing you. Love) good fit

W:\Music\Compilations\Grand Theft Auto_ Vice City, Vol. 3 - Emotion 98.3\02 Africa.mp3 (fast walk) (Love. Go to her. Haunting vocals. Chill. Almost sad.)

--Hard Rock

W:\Music\DJ Sets\For a Girl\Superchick - Stand in the Rain.mp3 (walk) (Devistated. Crying. Hurt. Going on anyway. Angry.) Good tone.

So stand in the rain, Stand your ground! Stand up when it's all crashing down!

You stand through the pain, You won't drown. And one day, whats lost can be found. You stand in the rain!

W:\Music\They Might Be Giants\06 - John Henry\08 - TMBG - John Henry - Why Must I Be Sad.mp3 (run) (Angry. Sad.  Alice Cooper.) good tone.

--Chill Electronica

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp - Melody A.M\Royksopp - 04 - In Space.mp3 (fast walk) (Cheerful. Mellow. Relaxing. Instrumental.) Pretty good.

W:\Music\The Longest Journey soundtrack\The Longest Journey - 35 - Eagle.mp3 (fast walk) (Haunting. Chill. This is who I choose to be.) Pretty good.

--Mid Electronic Rock

W:\Music\Massive Attack - Teardrop.mp3 (walk) (Melancholy. Teardrop. Rich and deep.) good

W:\Music\Moby\Moby - Porcelain.mp3 (fast walk) (Regret.  Goodbye. Dreamlike) good

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp - Beautiful Day Eithout You-imt.mp3 (fast walk) (Mellow. A little sad. Out in the world. Without you. Going beyond you.) good fit

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp_-_remind_me_(zabielas_ingeborg_mix)-tronik.mp3 (run) (Atmospheric. Moody. Thick bassline. Chill.) good fit

--Electronic Rock

W:\Music\Depeche Mode\Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence.mp3 (fast walk) (Enjoy the silence. I like it quiet. Moody. Dark.) Good.

W:\Music\Above & Beyond\Tri-State\Above & Beyond - Alone Tonight (Original Mix).mp3 (run) (Alone. Mournful. energetic. Wishing for better) Good fit

W:\Music\Deadmau5\Random Album Title\07 I Remember.mp3 (run) (Mellow. Moody with a nice beat. Remember.) very good fit.

W:\Music\Kaskade\I Remember\12 Raining.mp3 (run) (Mood of a rainy day. Sad. Nostalgia.) very good

W:\Music\Kaskade\I Remember\04 Turn It Down.mp3 (run) (Turn it down. Chilling. Smooth.) very good

W:\Music\Kaskade\I Remember\15 4AM.mp3 (run) (The mood of late at night. Nostalgia. Yearning.) very good

W:\Music\Keo Nozari - Close Enough (Interstate Remix).mp3 (run) (Lonely. Afraid of love. Sad.) good

--Orchestral

W:\Music\Clint Mansell\Requiem For A Dream\30 Ghosts Of A Future Lost.mp3 (walk) (Orchestral. Cinematic. Dead of night. Thoughtful. I hear you. I come back for you. I'm only with you.) Good--Very slow

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp-Dead to the world.mp3 (slow walk) (Instrumental. Mellow. Chill. Peaceful. Forgotten love.) good finale piece

------Weak

W:\Music\Depeche Mode\Depeche Mode - Blue Dress.mp3

W:\Music\Mannheim Steamroller\Fresh Aire VI\06 Nepenthe.mp3  Too slow

W:\Music\Depeche Mode\Depeche Mode - Waiting_for_the_night.mp3 (walk) (Waiting for the night to fall when everything is bearable. Moody.)

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp - Melody A.M\Royksopp - 09 - She's So.mp3 (fast walk) (instrumental. Groovy. Moody.) a little weak?

W:\Music\Mannheim Steamroller\Fresh Aire\07 Fresh Aire.mp3 (slow walk) (Slow. Thoughtful. Smooth. Instrumental.) too slow

W:\Music\Mannheim Steamroller\Fresh Aire\12 Mist.mp3 (slow walk) (Very slow. Sad. Nostalgic.) Finale piece? Too slow

------Off Topic

------Wrong tone

W:\Music\Depeche Mode\Depeche Mode - World In My Eyes (1990) (Kraftwerk Razormaid Remix).mp3

W:\Music\Depeche Mode\Depeche Mode - Useless.mp3 (fast walk) (Dark. Restrained anger.)

W:\Music\Porter Robinson\Porter Robinson & Madeon - Shelter.mp3 (fast walk) (Cheerful. Sad. Trust in me. Watching over me.) too cheerful

W:\Music\Noel Gallagher - Teotihuacan.MP3 (fast walk) (Instrumental. Cool. High tech.) Too cool for this set?

W:\Music\DJ Sets\Divas\Porter Robinson - Sad Machine.mp3 (fast walk) (Sad. Hopeful. Cybernetic. Robot.) Too cheerful? Wrong tone?

W:\Music\Compilations\Donnie Darko_ Soundtrack From The Motion Picture\17 Mad World.mp3 (walk) (Worn out. Tired. The world is crazy.) too dark

--Jazzy Rock

W:\Music\Dave Thompson - Standin In The Rain.mp3 (fast walk) (Bluesy. Lonely. Stood up.) Don't like the tone.

W:\Music\They Might Be Giants\01 - TMBG\11 - TMBG - TMBG - She's An Angel.mp3 (walk) (How can things be this good?  She's too good for me.) not moody enough? Too happy?

W:\Music\They Might Be Giants\02 - Lincoln\10 - TMBG - Lincoln - The World's Address.mp3 (run) (The world is a sad, broken place.) too cheerful tone?

W:\Music\DJ Sets\Wolf\Steve Conte - Stray Wolfs Rain Opening.mp3 (fast walk) (Stray. Nothing to lose.  Alone.) Too powerful.

W:\Music\Ulrich Schnauss\Goodbye\09 Goodbye.mp3 (walk) (Etheric. Haunting. Goodbye. She is gone forever. Let it go.) Too much love.  Too much of a finale song. Can't continue after it.  Leave it out for now.

W:\Music\Daft Punk\Musique, Vol. 1 (1993-2005)\12 Human After All.mp3 (run) (I can only do so much. Human after all.) Too cheerful?

------Cut for Time

W:\Music\MLP - My Little Pony Fanmusic\Play\Slow\ISMBOFepicly - Even the Happiest Pony Gets Sad Sometimes, Right (Secrets and Lies).mp3 (run) (Chill. Cheering up.)

W:\Music\LTJ Bukem_Earth 1-7 ohne 4\LTJ.Bukem.presents.Earth-Volume.6.(2002)-.-Pityba\08 The Freckles - See The Rain.mp3 (fast walk) (Instrumental. Chill. A little jazzy. Cheerful.) Not bad.

W:\Music\Kaskade\08 Nobody Else - 7A or 5A.mp3 (run) (Chill.  Vocal. Nobody else tonight. Warm.) too warm?  Kind of a good mood.

W:\Music\Alan Parsons Project - Some Other Time.mp3 (walk) (Epic. Alone. Lonely.) too dark?

W:\Music\They Might Be Giants\06 - John Henry\06 - TMBG - John Henry - I Should Be Allowed to Think.mp3 (run) (Vocal. Disgruntled. I'm controlled.) too angry? Leave it in for now.

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp - What Else Is There.mp3 (fast walk) (Regret. You don't see me. Pain.) good fit

W:\Music\Ryoksopp\Royksopp - Melody A.M\Royksopp - 05 - Poor Leno.mp3 (fast walk) (Sad. Melancholy. Lonely.  Love.) good

Continued on Chapter Three.

Tantari Kim

Reader Submitted: "How To DJ The DJ Tantari Way - Chapter Two Part One"

By Tantari Kim

"This is my guide for how to go from a newbie to a moderately successful DJ on Second Life. ...  If you do read it and have comments or corrections, I’d love to hear them.  (Mail me at tantari.kim at gmail.com.)"

Continued from Chapter One Part Two

*  *  *  *  *

Chapter 2: How to Write a Set the DJ Tantari Way!

You’re all set up to DJ!  Now you need something to play.  There are a million ways to do this, and there is no way I can cover all of it, so I won’t even try.  I know of one way, the DJ Tantari Way!

This is what I do, as quoted from my website: Let me take you on a Journey Into Sound. My sets take you across a landscape, explore a subject, and sometimes even tell a story. While I mostly play electronica and rock, I will include any music that I need to tell a story and meets my high standards.

I spend a lot of time choosing a topic, picking the right songs, and getting it to have a good flow.  I pepper the performance with colorful commentary and cool quotes.  But to really know what I do, you should see for yourself.  Come out to one of my regularly scheduled performances and see what I do.

Almost all clubs and events expect DJs to perform in 2 hour blocks.  That’s what I do and what I recommend, but if you wanted to write something longer or shorter, the same process applies. I’m going to walk you through the process of creating one of my themed sets.

Folder Structure

On my DJ station, I have a Documents\DJ folder where I keep all my DJ work.  Under that I have a folder for every one of my sets.  I also have a brainstorming folder named _ideas where I stash any ideas I come up with and then return to when I need some inspiration.  Lastly, I have a folder for my DJ logo art named _logo.

Choosing a Topic

Choosing a topic is both hard and easy.  You want a topic that is broad enough that you can find 2 hours of really awesome music but specific enough that you can give it a pretty thorough examination in that same timeframe.  Punk Rock is probably much too wide to cover well in 2 hours.  Otters is probably too narrow to have enough good tracks.  You could probably do cats, dogs, or a particular band in a single hour.  In this case, I chose the theme “Mood for a Rainy Day”.  (I’ve also done sets themed around a particular band.  That’s much easier but much more limited. I’ll make references to it here and there without going into too much detail.)

I start the process by going to my DJ folder and creating a “MoodForARainyDay” folder to hold all my stuff for this set.  Inside there I create a text file called ideas.txt and start brainstorming.  I write down the title and start coming up with related ideas.  The wider a net you cast, the more material you have towork with.  For Mood for a Rainy Day, I came up with: rain, storm, lightning, thunder, moody, melancholy, mellow, emo, sad, lost, alone.  If you can’t think of many, it’s probably not a good topic or maybe you need to think about it some more.

Filling the Crate

Fire up MIXXX and create a crate called Mood for a Rainy Day.  To do this, right click on the word Crates on the left hand side and click “Create New Crate.”

Before we go any further, it’s helpful to go over the differences between a Playlist and a Crate in MIXXX.  Both of them contain tracks from MIXXX’s library.  The difference is that in a Playlist, a single track can appear multiple times and the order preserved.  A Crate has no order and a single track can only appear once.  You can’t have duplicates.

Your Library is a repository of your own cool style.  It should be filled with as many cool songs you love as possible.  I always search here first because it helps give the set my own unique sound.  If a set isn’t in your style, then what’s the point of it?

Search the Library for your keywords.  I generally confine them to the title by typing “title: rain” if I wanted to search for all songs with “rain” in the title.  Then go through the list.  Listen to them.  If you think the song fits the topic and is cool, drag it over to the Mood for a Rainy Day crate.  You’ll see a pair of numbers next to it (total tracks and total time) increase if you did it right.  If not, the track was probably in that crate already.  Keep doing this for all the keywords in your ideas.txt file.  I like to put a “-“ after a word when I start searching for it and a “-x” after it when I’m done so I don’t forget where I am.  If you get new ideas, quickly jot them down at the end of the ideas.txt file so you won’t lose them, then go back to them when you’re ready.  This is your chance to daydream, brainstorm, go off on tangents, and get a general feel for the set’s topic and tone.

Here’s an example of my ideas.txt file for Mood for a Rainy Day set after I was finished.  Noticed that at the top I had tried out a few different titles.  In the next section I have a bunch of keywords, some of which I didn’t actually search for.  (I decided to go in a different direction based upon what I was finding.) In the last section, I have various specific songs, artists, and ideas that I wanted to check out.

     Mood for a Rainy Day

     Music for a Rainy Day

     Moody and melancholy

     -----------------------

     rain-x

     storm

     lightning

     thunder

     moody-x

     melancholy-x

     mellow-x

     emo-x

     sad-x

     lost-x

     alone-x

     ---------------------

     Teotihuacan-x

     Moody blues-x

     Royksopp-x

     Depeche Mode (moody stuff)-x

     Alan Parson's Project-x

     Kaskade - 4 am-x

     TMBG - something from John Henry-x

     Porter Robinson-x

     human after all-x

     Don't answer me-x

     Blue Monday-x

     Mannheim Steamroller-x

     Africa-x

     Life in a Northern Town-x

When you’ve exhausted all your keywords, take a look at the crate time.  It should be at least 2:30 for your 2 hour set, but I feel much better when it is 3:00 or 3:30.  If you’ve got a lot of really awesome material, you’re ready to move on!  If not, it’s time for some Research.

Researching New Material

Need more material?  Need better material?  Time for some research.

There are many ways to do this, but my number one stop by far is YouTube.  Almost any piece of music you can think of is there, ready to listen to at a moment’s notice.  I’ll start with some generic searches like “music about rainy days” or “rain song” and start listening to them.  The ones that say “lyrics” in the title tend to be cleaner (without extraneous sound effects) than the music video ones.  Feel free to go off on tangents and explore wherever your imagination takes you.  If I find something I like, I’ll go download it from a completely legitimate source.  Of course, you could always use something like http://peggo.tv/ to download them right away, but that could be illegal.  (Consult a copyright lawyer!)  However you get them, download them as the highest quality you can and dump them in a temporary directory like f:\temp\MusicResearch\new.

If you still need new ideas, search Google for “songs about rainy days”.  No matter what it is, it seems that someone has made up a cool list of songs about your topic.  You can use  http://www.songfacts.com/ but they tend to throw their net a little too wide for my tastes.  Once you have the list, search for each artist and title on YouTube to listen to it to see if it is worth grabbing.

Now you need to clean up your new files.  Open Audacity.  Drag the source file in there.  Trim off any unwanted silence or sounds at the beginning or end.  You’ll want to check out the Audacity tutorial (http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorials.html) and manual (http://manual.audacityteam.org/) for more information.  I’ve found that the most convenient commands in Audacity are:

Shift-1 – Zoom in

Shift-3 – Zoom out

Shift and click the Skip to Start or Skip to End arrow button – Select from the current selection position to the beginning or end of the track

Control-X – Cut the selected sound

Control-Shift-E – Export the edited sound to a new file

Audacity Main Screen

Make sure you enter the metadata when you save it, and save it as a good filename.  I always do artist – title.mp3.  I like to save them all as 192 kbps variable MP3s because they sound good and can be read by anything.  I save them in a different directory, f:\temp\MusicResearch\processed.  You can delete the original downloads when you no longer need them.

In the end, you will have processed all your new files and have a directory full of them.  Next, you need to integrate them into your Library.  Open your Library folder (w:\music), and start moving them where you think they fit.  Make sure you think about this before you do it, because once you do, MIXXX and your sets will be keyed to those locations.  It’ll be hard to move them around afterwards!  In general, you’ll want a folder for each artist and to place the songs there.  If it’s something that I don’t think will ever be used anywhere else, I’ll sometimes put them in a folder specific for that set.  In this case, it is w:\music\DJ Sets\MoodForARainyDay.

As soon as you copy the file in, you need to get it into MIXXX and the crate.  In MIXXX, open the Mood for a Rainy Day crate by clicking on it.  You’ll see a list of all the songs in that crate.  Then drag and drop the MP3 file directly from the Windows File Explorer into that song list.  This will accomplish two things for you: it’ll add it to the crate and it’ll add it to the MIXXX Library.

Once you’re done, you’ll have nothing in the processed folder, all the new songs somewhere in your Music folder (w:\music) and everything in MIXXX’s Library and your new crate.

Checking the Crate

For the next steps, I don’t like to use MIXXX.  MIXXX doesn’t work very well with playlists.  I’ve also had MIXXX throw up on me before and lose all the data, so I like to keep backup copies that I know I can re-import into MIXXX if I have to. Perhaps someday you’ll want to move to a program other than MIXXX.  Because of this, we’re going to export the crate and work in WinAmp.

We’re done with the crate and don’t want to make any changes to it.  In MIXXX, right click on your Moodfor a Rainy Day crate and select LOCK.  Then right click and select Export Crate.  Navigate to your Documents\DJ\MoodForARainyDay folder and save it as MoodForARainyDay-crate.m3u.

Open WinAmp and open its Playlist panel.  Drag and drop the MoodForARainyDay-crate.m3u file into WinAmp main window.  This will remove anything currently in its playlist, open this new playlist, open all the files, and read their metadata pretty quickly.  Go down the list and look for any where the title looks strange.  Double click to play it, then double click the scrolling title in the WinAmp main window to bring up its metadata.  Edit it here until it looks good and save it.  This way all the titles you’re using will have correct metadata in the file itself.

Why is this important?  MIXXX has made the decision that they will never do anything to change your music files.  If you edit the metadata in MIXXX, it changes the entry in its database and nowhere else.  By changing the data in the MP3 files themselves, anything will be able to read them, including MIXXX and other DJ software.  This makes it really easy to move to a different computer, operating system, or other DJing software.  (Later on, select all the tracks in the crate, right click and click Reload Track Metadata to get the changes back into MIXXX.)

When you’ve finished, have WinAmp save the playlist as “MoodForARainyDay-playlist.m3u”.  We’ll never touch the “MoodForARainyDay-crate.m3u” file again.  Why?  So we can import that crate to other DJ programs.
Categorizing the Playlist

Now you have a list of songs to work with.  You not only have to cut it down for time, you have to make it into a cohesive flow that might even tell a story!

Open the MoodForARainyDay-playlist.m3u file in your favorite text editor.  You’ll notice that it’s just a regular text file.  Every track has two lines, the first starts with #EXTINF and contains the metadata.  The second is the raw filename.   Delete every line that is not a raw filename and save it as “MoodForARainyDay.txt”.  This is your working notes file.

If you’re a Unix person like me, you can use a very simple string of commands to do this for you.  Fire up your Linux computer (or Bash in Windows 10) and save the file somewhere that Linux can see it.  Then use “cat MoodForARainyDay.txt | grep “w:\music” ” and it will spit out just the files from your music catalog.  Since every file is in your music directory, this should be a snap.  Cut and paste it back into your MoodForARainyDay.txt editor.

Now you need to listen to every song in the playlist and mark them up in your working notes file (MoodForARainyDay.txt).  I create a section for each major song style and cut and paste the song underneath it.  You don’t have to be 100% accurate with your style names so long as you know what they mean.  I commonly use names like straight rock, hard rock, electronic rock, dark electronic, chillout, folksy, cinematic, and so forth.  After each song, I’ll put some notes about the tempo and the general feelfor the song.  My tempos are generally: slow walk, walk, fast walk, and run.  My general feel notes often come from the lyrics.  Googling for “lyrics artist title” is a great way to get this in a hurry.  If you hear a song that sounds like it might be a good Introduction or Finale, make sure you make a special note of it also.

Here's an example of a section from Mood for a Rainy Day:

     --Straight Rock

     W:\Music\ELO\Electric Light Orchestra - Rain is Falling.mp3 (walk) (Rain is falling. Sad. Missing you. Love) good fit

     W:\Music\Compilations\Grand Theft Auto_ Vice City, Vol. 3 - Emotion 98.3\02 Africa.mp3 (fast walk) (Love. Go to her. Haunting vocals. Chill. Almost sad.)

I’ll also create a few special sections at the end for songs I don't use: Weak, Off Topic, Wrong Tone, and Cut for Time.  If I know that a song is too poor compared to the others or just isn’t going to fit, I’ll move it to one of those section and immediately delete it from the WinAmp playlist.

By now, you should have a good look at what you have and a decent idea for the feel of the set.

Building the Playlist

The next step is trying to put this collection of songs into a cohesive order and cutting down to a final play time.  This is the hardest step and I can only give some guidelines here.

If this is a set I’m doing about a particular band, it’s often easiest to do this chronologically.  Have MIXXX display them in chronological order in the crate and go by that.  For the Weird Al set, I tried to have at least one song from each of his albums and go from album to album.  The story I'm presenting to the audience is how he progressed through his career.

If it’s a topic that has a beginning, middle, and end, try to group it that way.  For Dreamland, I grouped the songs into Soothing You to Sleep, Free Into Dreams, Electric Dreams, Insomnia, Nightmare, Return to Dreams, and Finale.

If it’s a topic that has categories, try to find something with an intro, go dark first, move on to something more positive, and have some fulfilling sort of finale.  Audiences like ending on a positive note.

For the vast majority of sets, I won't have one of these patterns to follow, so I end up using a pattern thatI call the Double Crescendo.  The point of this is that audiences like it when you give them something good, but you’ve got to follow it up with something better.  I divide everything up between Rock (folk, vocal rock, harder rock, etc), Comedy, and Electronica.  I start with the Rock.  I’ll do the lightest ones first and move on to heavier stuff.  This means folksy, light rock, mid rock, straight rock, dark rock, then hard rock.  Within each style, I’ll start with the slowest tempo and move to the fastest.  The back half is my Electronica where I’ll do the same thing.  This means chillout, mid, happy, dark, then intense electronica. If you have to make a hard transition, it is better to make it abrupt because the audience will notice it. You want them to think that you meant to do that.  A good way to do that is to stuff a comedy break in the middle.  It gives them a chance to catch their breath and have a little chuckle after hard, dark rock before going up the crescendo again.  If you can find a good finale, stick it at the end.  Often it's the most intense electronica song, but sometimes I'll want to bring the energy down a little for something that feels good and is a nice summary or conclusion to the whole set.  Lastly, you want to find a good opener to promote to the Intro song, something to set the mood for the entire show.

Even if you have an overriding theme, keep thinking of the crescendo.  Within a sub-topic, you’ll often want to keep building, then have a drop to the next topic.

I’ll think about all this and move the stuff around in my notes file (MoodForARainyDay.txt).  I’ll move around the overall music style blocks first, then move the songs inside them.  Once you’re done, you have a first draft of your set.  Usually it’ll still be too long.  For me, it’s often 2:30, but sometimes as much as 3:00.  Now you’re ready to start listening!

Continued in Chapter Two Part Two.

Tantari Kim

Reader Submitted: "How To DJ The DJ Tantari Way - Chapter One Part Two"

From Tantari Kim

"This is my guide for how to go from a newbie to a moderately successful DJ on Second Life. ...  If you do read it and have comments or corrections, I’d love to hear them.  (Mail me at tantari.kim at gmail.com.)"

Continued from Chapter One Part One

*  *  *  *  *

How to Broadcast: Your Test Setup

Live Broadcasting (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/chapters/livebroadcasting.html) is a complex topic with a lot of moving parts, so make sure you read this section in the manual if you run into any problems.  The most important thing is to recognize the pieces and what they are called.  When you broadcast, there are three important components, the Source, the Server and the Listener.  (These can all be on the same computer or on separate computers.)

SHOUTcast Components

MIXXX is the Source.  It provides the music, encodes it, and sends it to the Server.

The Server is the glue that ties the Source and the Listeners together.  It must be a publicly accessible server.  Usually this means it needs a DNS entry and open ports.  The Source (MIXXX) connects to it by name and logs in with a username and a password.  While you are playing music, MIXXX is continuously re-encoding what you hear as an MP3 and sending them to the Server.

The last piece is the Listener.  Each listener connects to the Server and requests a copy of the stream.  The Server grabs the latest chunk of music the Source has sent and passes a separate copy to each Listener.  Each Listener decodes their stream and plays it for the end user so they can hear the music.

This is a lot to take in and there’s a lot that can go wrong, so we’re going to set up this whole thing in miniature on your home computer.  This will allow you to test what is going on, make sure that everything is working, learn about the process, and practice debugging problems.

You’re going to need the SHOUTcast DNAS software.  You already downloaded it.  As a Windows user, I had to create a directory (c:\utilities\shoutcast) and uncompress the file there.  You’ll see a sc_serv.exe (or just sc_serv for Unix and Mac) and some configuration files.  Rename sc_serv.conf  to sc_serv.conf.orig and create a new sc_serv.cong in your favorite text editor.  Cut and paste the following into it: (of course, pick different passwords)

adminpassword=SecretAdminPassword

maxuser=64

password=DJLoginPassword

requirestreamconfigs=1

streamid_1=1

portbase=8000

Then open a command prompt and change to that directory.  To run it, type “sc_serv.exe sc_serv.conf” (or “./sc_serv sc_serv.conf” for Unix and Mac).  If everything is working properly, it should dump a lot of text to the screen and then just wait.  This means it’s up and running.  Don’t close that window!  It’ll keep running until you press Control-C.

Next open your favorite web browser and connect to your Server’s address (http://127.0.0.1:8000).  If it doesn’t load, it means your Server isn’t running.  If it's working correctly, it should show a SHOUTcast logo and say “Stream Status: Stream is currently down.”  That means its working correctly so far.

SHOUTcast Is Running

Next we’re going to configure the Source (MIXXX) to connect to the Server.  In MIXXX, open Preferences and select the Live Broadcasting line.  Enter the following settings:

     Type: SHOUTcast

     Mount:

     Host: 127.0.0.1

     Port: 8000

     Login: source

     Password: DJLoginPassword (or whatever password you put in the config file)

     Stream Name: DJ Tantari (or whatever your DJ name is)

     Website: http://127.0.0.1

     Description: (anything you want)

     Genre: Live Mix (or anything you want)

     Encoding

          Bitrate: 192 kbps (or higher)

          Format: MP3

          Channels: Stereo

Leave everything else as default and click OK.  When you get done, it should look similar to this:

MIXXX Preferences For Test Broadcasting

Now you’re ready to stream!  Click Options -> Enable Live Broadcasting to activate it.  It should pop up a message box that says “Mixxx has successfully connected to the streaming server.” if it worked. Go to your web browser and refresh it.  It should say “Stream Status: Stream is up at 192 kbps with 0 of 64 listeners” if it is working properly.  Start playing some music and refresh the web page.  Next to “Current Song:” you should see the artist and title of the song you’re playing listed here.

Listening is the final test.  Open VLC and Click Media->Open Network Stream.  Enter your address (http://127.0.0.1:8000) and click “Play”.  Within a few seconds, you should hear two copies of your music playing, one through MIXXX and one through VLC.  If you refresh your web page, you should see that you have “1 of 64 listeners”.  It’s time to celebrate your first listener!

SHOUTcast Connected With One Listener

If you want to take this test to the next level, you can use another computer in your house.  First try to open the web page in the browser to make sure there aren't any firewalls blocking the connection, then use VLC to listen.  You’ll have to use the real IP address of your computer, not the loopback address (127.0.0.1).  You can even let people outside your house listen, but you’ll have to open ports on your firewall (8000 and 8001/TCP) and give them your outside IP.  They’ll be able to listen to you with VLC also.  It’s a fun test and you can have your first outside listener.

Using a Real Server

Broadcasting for real is the same thing, except you need to use a publicly accessible server.  Since I love all the geeky stuff, I set up a SHOUTcast server on my personal publicly accessible server.  It has a public DNS entry so people can find it easily.  I’m sure that’s too much for most people; you’ll want to rent a SHOUTcast server. These are available at many places in Second Life and elsewhere.  You pay them a small fee each month.  If you’re lucky, the club you’re playing at will have one that’s available to all the DJs who work there.  However you get it, you’ll need the username, password, hostname, and port.

First, access the stream with your web browser.  It’ll be in the form of http://hostname:port.  Make sure that loads properly.  More importantly, make sure no one is using it.  If you log into it while someone else is using it, it’ll either fail or you might kick them offline and interrupt their set!

Then open MIXX and its Preferences to the Live Broadcasting tab.  You’ll want to keep everything the same and only change the Host, Port, Login, and Password.  Then try to connect.  If it connects, play some music and refresh the web page.  Try to tune in with VLC.  You should hear your stream.  Now anyone on the Internet who knows the Server’s URL (it’s hostname and port) can tune in and hear you!

How to DJ in Second Life

Now that you know how to broadcast to a public server, how do you get it into Second Life?  You may have noticed that certain pieces of land have music.  If you click the play icon (which varies from client to client, but usually looks like a music note in the upper right hand corner of your screen), you are tuning in to that SHOUTcast stream.  All that is necessary is to assign your SHOUTcast URL to the land parcel. There are a number of ways to get your SHOUTcast URL into the land.  First, to see what it’s currently set to for the land that your avatar is in, click the name of the land on top of your screen to get details about it, then click Sound.  It’ll show you the current SHOUTcast URL for the land.  You can copy and paste this into your web browser if you want to learn more about it; I use this all the time to troubleshoot music problems or just to get information about a DJ that’s currently playing.  If you own the land, you can paste your URL right here and you’re done.  Most of the time, you’ll be playing in clubs, so this isn’t an option.  For this, you’ll need to use the DJ board.

Land and Sound in Second Life

The DJ board is a special scripted item that looks like a big sign.  It tells the audience what song is playing.  It also allows DJs who work for that club to sign in and switch the stream.  (Setting one up is rather complicated.  Luckily you don’t have to do this; usually it’s the club owner that takes care of it.)  You’ll use it to start your show, and then to switch it to a regular radio station afterwards if there isn’t another DJ after you.  By far, the most common one you’ll find is the SNX brand (http://www.shxonline.com/en/).  To control this, you’ll need to set up your DJ Cards.

Set up your SNX DJ Cards using the online wizard (http://www.shxonline.com/src/ncwiz/).  Fill out the form with your information.  Make sure you choose SHOUTcast 1 or SHOUTcast 2 depending on your Server.  (The Server’s web page will tell you what version you’re running.)  Once you hit submit, it’ll spit out some text that you need to copy into Second Life notecards with very specific names.  You’ll want to keep these handy and give a copy to your DJ manage who will put them in the club’s DJ board for you. You’ll need to generate a different set of cards for each club you play at.

When it’s time for a live set, you’ll need to change MIXXX’s Live Broadcasting preferences for the particular club, check Server’s web page with your browser to make sure you’re not conflicting with anyone, turn it on (which connects the Source to the Server), then click the DJ board and click the log in button.  The DJ board will examine your cards and push your Server URL to the land.  When customers arrive at the club and turn on the music, it’ll automatically load your URL into their Listener software (built into the Second Life client), connect to the Server, and they’ll hear your sweet tunes.  Time for you to rock out!

But do you have anything good to play?  Check out Chapter 2

Continued in Chapter Two Part One.

Tantari Kim

Reader Submitted: "How To DJ The DJ Tantari Way - Preface and Chapter One Part One"

By Tantari Kim

Preface

Who am I? I’m DJ Tantari, famous DJ in a tiny corner of a tiny corner of Second Life which is a tiny cornerof the Internet.  That’s who I am!  What, you still haven’t heard of me?  Well okay, I guess I’m not that famous after all.

I do four DJ sets at three different clubs on Second Life.  I’ve performed at Second Life’s 13th Birthday celebration and numerous other special events.  I've published 75 live sets, each exploring a different theme.  People come to my events every week and seem to enjoy my sets, so I guess I must be doing something right.

This is my guide for how to go from a newbie to a moderately successful DJ on Second Life.  If you’re an experienced DJ, I’m sure you have mastered these technical skills and have gone on to more advanced techniques like beat matching, looping, live mixing, and beyond.  That’s great!  Even then, you might learn benefit from a different perspective on how to put together a set, how to do branding and promotion, how to deal with clubs and crowds, or other things.  If you do read it and have comments or corrections, I’d love to hear them.  (Mail me at tantari.kim at gmail.com.)

First, let me say that this is by no means the only way to DJ or the best way to DJ.  This is the system that works for me.  As I continue to grow as a DJ, I’m sure that I’ll move on to other techniques and methods, and so will you if you pursue it that far.  With that said, if you want to learn How to DJ the DJ Tantari Way,then read on!

To set the ground rules, I'm going to assume that you are reasonably skilled at using your computer and operating system of choice.  I also assume that you know your way around Second Life, know how to use your client of choice, and feel comfortable in that environment.  Lastly, I’m going to assume that you have little or no money to buy anything, so we’ll try to make do with things you probably already own.  Where we do buy things, we’ll try to make them as general-purpose as possible so you can use them for lots of other things.

What do I get out of this?  I’m writing this because many people have asked how they can do what I do.  I enjoy DJing.  It’s a creative and expressive outlet for me.  There are so many things out there in the modern world that are soul-grinding.   This enriches my soul and makes me feel alive.  Maybe it can do these things for you too.  I hope that more DJs mean that more people will enjoy themselves, both listening to and playing music, and will make the world a tiny bit better of a place to live in.

Chapter One, Part One: How to Get Started the DJ Tantari Way

What You Need:

1) A reasonably powerful computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux

It needs to be powerful enough to run DJing software and a graphical Second Life client at the same time.  I recommend at least 4 real cores (not 2 cores with 4 threads).  This will give your Second Life client a full two cores with at least one free core for your DJing software.  You want at least 8 GB of RAM, with 16 being ideal.  Of course more is better.  The last thing you want is dropouts or hiccups in your stream because you ran out of CPU power or memory.  If you don’t have these things, you might consider an upgrade.  It’ll make everything you do with your computer faster and better.  I'm running Windows 10 Home 64 bit on an i7-4790K with 16 GB of RAM.

2) Dual monitors

I use two screens, one dedicated to the Second Life client and one dedicated to the DJing software and notes.  I suppose you could get by with one, but it would really cramp your style.  I have one 1080p monitor that I use for Second Life and an older, smaller 1280 by 1024 monitor for MIXXX and my notes.

3) Lots of storage for your music collection with a way to back it up

I recommend at least 1 TB.  As a DJ, your collection is your personal collection of style.  I use mine heavily.  You also need a way to back it up.  If you lose your collection, you can’t DJ!  I don’t want to get into all the details of backup regiments, but at a minimum, you should have a second drive that you can synchronize your music to once a month and then disconnect and put on a a shelf.  If it’s connected all the time, it doesn’t count as a backup!  My personal rig is probably overkill.  I use a Drobo FS 5 bay NAS with 12.66 TB of storage to hold my music collection and other household data.  I have four external 6 TB drives encrypted with Veracrypt for all of my backups, two of which are kept on-site in a fire safe and two which rotate to an off-site backup location (a relative that lives several hours away).

4) A stable Internet connection with at least 512 kbps uplink

You need a stable Internet connection with a fairly fast uplink to stream your music.  The stream itself will take at least 128 kbps, though I prefer going higher with 192 kbps.  You will also need some extra bandwidth for Second Life itself and any activity you want to do, like web searches for trivia or downloading music for song requests.  Having 512 kbps should give you that and a little bit of a margin. It’s important to note that I specified uplink, not downlink.  This is the rate that you can send stuff to the Internet.  Almost all residential connections in the USA are asymmetric, which means that your downlink tends to be an order or magnitude or two faster than your uplink.  Go to one of those speed testing websites (like www.speedtest.net) and measure your “Upload Speed”.  As for downlink, if it's fast enough to play Second Life, it's good enough.  My personal connection measures at about 116 Mbps down and 12 Mbps up.  This gives me the luxury of hosting my SHOUTcast server in my home and streaming directly.  This certainly isn't required.

5) Talent – None

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have any musical talent.  You don’t need any either.  I make a big distinction between talent and skill.  A talent is a natural ability.  A skill is something you can earn with hard work and study.  I have skill because I paid for it with hard work, and you can too.

6) Time – Lots!

You’re going to need lots of free time.  DJing eats time.  It’ll take time to get things set up, to learn the software, to learn your music, and so on.  Once you get started, actually being a DJ takes even more!  Hopefully it’s time well spent.  I enjoy my time listening to new music, composing sets, and performing infront of an audience.  Expect to spend 2.5 hours per live set just setting up and performing.  Composing aset varies a lot depending on the subject, how easy it is to find material, how much you want to polish it, and the level of your skill.

Personally, I perform 4 2-hour sets and usually write a new set every week.  I manage to do this on top ofworking a 40-hour a week job and being married with a child.  In all, I probably spend 20-25 hours a week on all the various DJ activities.  How do I manage it?  You have to give up on things you care less about.  I don’t spend time on Facebook or many other online sites.  I’ve mostly given up on TV and computer games.  What are you willing to sacrifice to be a DJ?

Setting Up Your DJ Station

First let’s start with software.  I mostly use open source software because it’s free and high quality.  All the tools feel solid and professional to me, and it’s a great way to get started without spending a lot of cash.  They will run on all major operating systems, including various flavors of Linux.

Download and install all the software listed below.  I haven’t gone into the details of how to do this, as they are all reasonably well documented.  I use Windows 10 Home 64 bit.  If you’re using something different, the instructions will vary somewhat.

1) Your favorite Second Life client

I use the Firestorm viewer (http://www.firestormviewer.org/downloads/).  It's available for Windows, Mac and Linux.  You can use others.

2) MIXXX version 2 from http://mixxx.org

Follow the instructions on the website.  Install it for your platform of choice.  Make sure you at least skim the introduction sections of the manual (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/), and the part about Live Broadcasting (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/chapters/livebroadcasting.html#activate-mp3-streaming-support).  For Windows, I had to download a LAME MP3 DLL (http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-libraries.php) and place a DLL in a specific directory. I imagine you’ll have to do the same with other operating systems.

3) WinAmp from http://www.winamp.com

This tool’s handling of playlists beats MIXXX into the ground.  So far, it’s the best playlist handling tool I’ve used.  It can read and write industry standard .m3u lists, so I can import/export them with MIXXX and even manipulate them in a standard text editor.  I also use it to check and modify MP3 metadata quickly without going through the bother (and loss of quality) of recoding the entire file.  It’s available for Windows and Mac, but not for Linux.  Some alternatives Linux alternatives are listed here (http://www.linuxalt.com/linux-alternatives-to/windows/winamp.html).  I don’t know which of these works well.  If you do, let me know and I’ll update this guide!

I like to configure WinAmp to have a 2 second fade between tracks to better match what I typically do during live sets.  To set this, open the Preferences with Control-P.  Then go to  Plugins -> Nullsoft Direct Output Settings and click Configure.  On the Buffering tab, set the Buffer length to 2000 ms (or higher).  On the Fading tab, set the Default Fade Length to 2000 ms (or 2 seconds).  Of course, if you prefer a different default fade length, change this accordingly.

4) Audacity from http://www.audacityteam.org

This is an amazingly powerful multitrack sound editor.  I use it for trimming source files, converting sound from one format to another, and cleaning up my live recordings to post online.  There is so much that this tool can do, and I am only scratching the surface.  If there’s any offline editing you need to do of an audio file, this is the place to go.  I had to install the same LAME MP3 DLL that I needed for MIXXX to enable MP3 support.  See the manual
(http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_installation_and_plug_ins.html#lame) for detailed instructions.

5)SHOUTcast DNAS from https://www.shoutcast.com/BroadcastNow

This is the SHOUTcast Server.  This is also known by its executable name, sc_serv or sc_serv.exe.  While it is not required for live broadcasting, it is required to learn how broadcasting works and to test your station.  You can obtain the server at the SHOUTcast website (https://www.shoutcast.com/BroadcastNow), though they will require that you create a free account to download it.  They support Windows, Linux, Linux on ARM (for Raspberry Pi and others), and I believe they also support the Mac.  However you get it, make sure you get sure you’re using version 2.  Right now, I’m using v2.4.7, but a newer version should work just as well.  The installation for this is a little complicated, so I've included detailed instructions for it later.

6) VLC Player from https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

This player works on all OSes and is a straightforward way to listen to your stream for testing purposes. Installation should be pretty straightforward.

7) Optional: Linux or Bash for Windows 10

There are some tedious text file manipulations that I do on a regular basis.  I find that pushing them to Linux and processing them with grep and awk really speeds them.  You don’t need them if you’re willing to do it all by hand.  If you have access to a Linux system or are willing to install Bash for Windows 10 (http://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-bash-shell-command-line-windows-10), you can automate these.  I believe that the underlying Unix style utilities in the Mac will also do this.

Setting Up Your Music Library

I recommend having a single folder somewhere for all your music and nothing else.  For me, that’s w:\music.  Inside there I have a folder for each artist as well as a few major styles and a “DJ Sets” folder.  Having it scattered all over the place won’t make MIXXX happy.  I keep all my music as high quality MP3 files because it works well with everything, though I’ve also had good luck with FLAC files.  Having good metadata in all your files is important, because you’ll be searching across it often.  Don’t skip it.

Getting to Know MIXXX

MIXXX is an incredibly powerful, professional DJing package.  It has far more features than I use.  You’ll need to spend some time with it and the manuals to know how to use it.  The more you read the manuals and work with it, the better you will get.  I'm going to introduce you to the things that I think are most important to DJing the DJ Tantari Way.

The first thing you’ll want to do after installing MIXXX and the LAME MP3 DLL is to run it.  It will ask for the location of your music library.  Give it the location you chose in “Setting Up Your Music Library”.  (Thisis also located in the Preferences, on the Library tab, under Music Directories.)  For me this is w:\music.  It will take a long while as it is reading the metadata from every music file and storing that in its local database.  The more music you have, the longer this will take.  Be patient!  (If you change the music directory or change the files in it, you can force it to re-read this with the menu item Library -> Rescan Library.)

Second, you’ll want to set up your audio outputs (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/chapters/configuration.html).  For the API, I used the Windows DirectSound audio.  It should work for almost everyone and it works well enough for online streaming.  I set the Master output to my “Speakers” on “Channels 1-2” and left all the other outputs as “None”.  You’ll want to spend some time with this chapter.  While you might want to use a different API for a set in front of an in-person audience, I couldn't get anything working except the ASIO API and for that I had to load a third party driver that did all sorts of strange things to my system.  In the end, it wasn't worth it.

Since I’m jumping back and forth between Second Life chats and MIXXX, I will sometimes start typing text while leaving my focus on MIXXX.  This can be catastrophic!  To get around this, I recommend that you disable the hotkeys with Options -> Disable Keyboard Shortcuts.  It still responds to the space bar by maximizing and minimizing the library.  If you do that, just hit space again to get back the regular display.

Next you’ll want to spend some time playing around with the interface (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/chapters/user_interface.html).  In the Preferences in the Interface tab, I chose the LateNight skin, but you can pick anything you want.  On the top of MIXXX's main menu, dead center, are a number of boxes you can click to turn thins on and off.  I turned on “Mixer” and “Preview” and turned off everything else.  This gives me two decks, as that is all I need without any other stuff.  As you get more skilled in MIXXX, you'll tune it to your tastes.  You can see what my default MIXXX screen looks like below.

My Default MIXXX Screen

On the bottom you can see a left panel to select a topic and a right panel.  Click the Library and your music library will be displayed on the right side (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/chapters/library.html).  You can search in all sorts of ways by using the search box.  For example, “title: car” will show you all your music tracks that have “car” anywhere in the title.  You can then either double click the desired track or click and drag them to one of the two mixers up top to load it.  You can play them by hitting the play buttons.  Read this section and play around with it until you start to feel comfortable.

The idea is that you have two tape decks.  One is playing while the other is loading the next song.  When you get close to the end, they both play, allowing you to fade to the next song using the horizontal slider. The first stops and loads the next song.  Then the process repeats.  That’s basically what you do to play a set.  But that’s hard to do smoothly.  Isn’t there an easier way?  Yes there is!  It’s called Auto DJ.

Getting to Know Auto DJ

Auto DJ is something that a beginning DJ will use a lot.  It is a powerful tool that you’ll want to familiarizeyourself with (http://mixxx.org/manual/latest/chapters/library.html#auto-dj-automate-your-mix).  This tool allows you to set up a playlist.  The songs are automatically loaded into the decks and played with fades of your choosing.

In your Library, highlight a block of songs.  Right-click your mouse and click “Add to Auto DJ Queue (Bottom)”.   Then click on Auto DJ on the left side of the window.  You’ll see a list of the music you just added.  In this view, you can remove them or re-arrange them as you see fit.  This is your live playlist.  Now hit the “Enable Auto DJ” button.  You’ll see that your first two selections are loaded into the decks and the first one starts playing.  The first song is removed from the list.  Go to the “Transition Time” box; it will have a number and the word “seconds”.  Enter 2 second either by typing it in or using the up/down arrows.  Keep listening and watching.  2 seconds before the end of the currently playing song, the second song will start playing and the horizontal slider will glide from left to right, fading from the old to the new smoothly.  As soon as it’s over, the right track will be playing and the next track will be loaded into the first deck.

This is the process I use while performing my DJ sets, but there is a little more to it.  First I create a playlist ahead of time and load it into Auto DJ, though I will often alter it during a live set.  I’ll vary the Transition Time, though I find that 2 seconds works well most of the time.  I’ll set a cue point to the songs so they start where I want, not necessarily the beginning of the track (more on that soon).  And most importantly, I’ll trigger the song transitions manually when it sounds right to me using the “Fade Now” button.

Play around with the Auto DJ for a while to get comfortable.  Notice how when a song is played, it is removed from the Auto DJ list.  Auto DJ will stop when it runs out of songs or you hit the “Disable Auto DJ” button.

When one song is playing, you will notice that the other deck is loaded and waiting.  Many of your songs will have silence at the beginning.  You can use your mouse to drag that window left or right until the green line (representing the current time) is where you want to start.  If this is where you want the song to start by default when loaded, click the blinking “Cue” button on that deck.  It will turn a solid red.  Thisis how you can always get your songs to cue up to where you want them to be.

Congratulations!  You can now play simple ad-hoc sets.  But you’re the only one who can hear them.  The next step is to broadcast.

Continued in Chapter One Part Two

Tantari Kim

Santa Claus Is Missing: Part One

By Mylie Foxclaw

I was busy planning a defence strategy with Glu-Glu the turkey (refer to the thanksgiving dinner story).  We decided that encouraging people to eat tofu instead of turkey might be a good tactic.  Besides it was a healthy option.  Suddenly the doorbell rang and I went to answer the door.  We were expecting our protest banners to be delivered, but I was surprised as I opened the door.  Standing in front of me were Rudolph the Reindeer, and Roan the Elf.  Glu-Glu, fearing that Santa Claus was hungry, went to hide in the closet while I invited them inside.

“Err… isn’t it too early for presents?” I asked, scratching my head in confusion.  Christmas is supposed to be on the 25^th December… maybe the date changed.

“Santa is missing!” Roan exclaimed while Rudolph sobbed, “We need your help!”

“What?  Santa is missing?!” I cried out in shock, “No way!  He can’t go missing!”

“He has disappeared!” Roan explained, “We can’t find him!  Someone must have kidnapped him!”

“Oh my god!” I muttered, totally shaken by the news, “We need to find Santa!  Else Christmas will be ruined!”

Rudolph nodded while Roan continued.  I could feel the desperation in his voice, “Please!  Help us.  Santa might be in great danger.  We need to save him before it’s too late!”

“Of course, I will help you!  Let me just call Fox News, my boss, he is a good investigator and…” I started.

“Noooooo!!!!!” Roan screamed while Rudolph ran outside in fear.  Glu-Glu started to protest from his hideout. 

“But why?” I asked, wondering why they reacted as such.

“He scares the penguins away with his teeth,” Roan whispered, “When he came to visit last year to interview Santa, they all ran away to South Pole…”

“Okay, fine!” I snapped, “Let’s get going then.  I have to investigate.”

Rudolph came back and off we flew to the North Pole.  It took us a few hours to reach there.  We soon pulled in front of Santa’s magnificent house.  I wrapped my arms around myself as I followed Roan.  We got inside the house and I was amazed.  Everything looked so tidy.  The letters were in neat piles and we could see other Elves working in a corner of the room.  

Roan took me to Santa’s bedroom and I started to investigate.  Everything looked normal; there was no sign of struggle.  I went to his bathroom and noticed that it was very clean and organised.  I was amused to notice a razor since Santa has such a long and bushy beard but Roan explained that Santa liked to shave his legs every Christmas Eve and likes smooth legs.

After an hour, we left the house and I told Roan that I needed to talk to everyone who stayed nearby so we could find a clue.  I started to interrogate the snowman who worked as a vigil. 

“When was the last time you have seen Santa?”  I asked.

“It must have been yesterday night,” the snowman replied, sounding very annoyed, “the bastard snatched my nose and bit into it.”  He pulled out his carrot nose and indeed, I could see that a part of it was missing.  It looked like someone really had a bite. 

“Are you sure it was Santa?” I pressed on, trying to find more clues.

“Ha!  Yes, it was that old fat jerk!  He got no respect for snowmen!” the snowman replied before adding, “He tried to melt me once with his blow-dryer!  I’m so glad he’s gone!”

I starred at the snowman suspiciously for a moment before deciding to interrogate a penguin.  The latter told me that he saw Santa early this morning.  Apparently, Santa threatened to sell all the fish so that he could buy himself a huge Jacuzzi.  The penguin became another suspect. 

By the end of the day, it turned out that almost everyone in Santa’s neighbourhood had a grudge against him.  My list of suspects grew extensively.  Santa’s wife, the elves, the other reindeers, the snowmen, the polar bears and other creatures were all suspects in Santa’s disappearance.

I was not going to give up.  No matter what I learned about that mean old guy, I knew that we had to find Santa, else there would be no Christmas!

What happened to Santa?  Has he been kidnapped?  By whom? Is he still alive?  Stay tuned for the next episode of this story.

Mylie Foxclaw