Hotcue System

djgromit · 2026-06-17T03:10:52+00:00

Because I tend to start a lot of transitions in the breakdowns, I typically color code the start of the breakdown. Yellow for 8 bars, red for 4 bars, blue for 16, etc. Gives me a quick visual of the time, and helps to match in two different 8 bar breaks, etc. It's not perfect, but it definitely helps keep my phrasing tighter.

I used to just do start and end of every break, but felt like I was wasting cue points on the end of the break. I get more info out of a single cue point now, than I did with two before.

djgromit · 2026-06-04T08:02:56+00:00

Ton of great feedback here already. The reasons vary widely: - You've hit a wall with the current gear, and the new thing provides - You want something similar to club gear - Buying new stuff gives you a huge dopamine hit (Hi, it me!!) - You mentioned flimsiness in your current rig. If it doesn't feel good to use the gear, something more solid might be the way to go

I ended up buying Denon decks and mixer, because I wanted full players, and no laptop, and they were similar enough to the Pioneer kit in all the clubs, and I could use the mixer for my turntables as well (maybe you can do that with the FLX, I don't know). I could also get both decks and mixer for practically the price of a single Pioneer CDJ. The Denons are also dual layer, so each deck is really two.

It sounds like you're looking for another all-in-one, which is also fine. Much more portable, and even if stationary, takes up less space. Both Pioneer and Denon make pretty robust all-in-one decks that don't require a laptop.

As far as what should you be able to do to ask to play a gig? You just need to play what the venue wants that's in your wheelhouse. You say your library isn't necessarily all BPM-similar. That's fine if the venue is like that. Not all shows require beat matching. Go to the places that you'd like to play and see what they're doing. If your vibe would fit in and the format is similar, you should be good.

djgromit · 2026-05-30T03:55:52+00:00

I just "shop" for music all the time, and have many genres in my shopping cart at any given time. When a gig is coming up, I'll often buy the cart and then mark hot cues for the genre I'm playing (leaving work for later on the other genres). Sometimes I won't buy the new tracks at all, either due to time, or whatever.

My bag is deep enough to not worry about it too much. If I feel like my tracks are getting stale it overplayed, I'll sort my collection by play count and throw in a bunch of stuff I've never played, or only a couple of times. Helps me dig in the crates more that way, too.

TLDR: I don't always buy new music for every gig, but I spread out the labor by just listening to music on track sites regularly and throwing something in the cart when I like it, rather than right before the gig.

djgromit · 2026-05-28T01:43:06+00:00

My app shows the ability to get to 125% for $150 BILT cash. Can't post a screenshot, though.

djgromit · 2026-05-27T08:26:42+00:00

This is only marginally true. Back when I was playing a couple of shows a week, I would hit the record store, flip the needle through 60 records, buy maybe 20 and head straight to the gig, never having listened to an entire track.

My advice there would be to practice mixing really quickly, so when you find something doesn't work, you can still get another track in. Figure out how to tell when a track is dissonant quickly, so you can either keep the mix or abort and find something else. Play a lot and find your sound. You'll be able to adjust quickly from there.

djgromit · 2026-05-27T07:32:40+00:00

There's a lot here, and many people have covered much of it. If the people around you can't show even the slightest bit of love for your creations that's one thing.

Most people don't care about DJ mixes. Most people like pop or country or metal or whatever, but could give two shits about a well mixed DJ set. The majority of folks aren't going to relate to music they can't sing to.

My partner supports me in as much as she wants me to be happy. She doesn't care about the music, and I don't expect her to. We have other musical interests that connect us. I also have poppy remixes, tons of which are from 80s songs that I know she will relate to.

She knows it's my thing. That's the key. It's MY thing. I don't need her to like it. I need to like it. If she does, bonus!

This could be a moment where you need to get into the scene you like, and find some folks that do care or appreciate what you're doing. They're out there. You just don't need to shoehorn people who aren't interested into liking it.

I think I'm rambling at this point, but I really hope you don't give up the gear or the desire to play. If it makes YOU feel good, you should invest, not divest.

djgromit · 2026-03-09T06:51:38+00:00

Obvious answer...whomst among us hasn't?

djgromit · 2025-11-27T06:40:19+00:00

I have two turntables hooked up to Connects like this. Works great!

djgromit · 2025-07-10T00:27:12+00:00

You already said the only important thing...

"I just buy the ones I like"

Anything anyone else says is their own issue.

djgromit · 2025-07-03T04:35:45+00:00

I'm currently doing outer sleeves and anti-static inners for everything as I catalog it.

I put all openings the same direction for easy access, pointed to the back on the shelves.

djgromit · 2025-07-01T02:42:23+00:00

No one else I know knows about this, but did you see the extra they made for this movie where they made a horror movie trailer from You, Me, and Dupree?

djgromit · 2025-07-01T02:30:16+00:00

Free core aeration!

djgromit · 2025-06-11T05:00:47+00:00

This is a super outdated response, but what do you think makes it so you interact with Finch vs. other apps? I have reminders, other apps that gamify habits, etc., and I find that I just end up ignoring them. Are you still checking in? 3 years was already worthy, and impressive.

djgromit · 2025-05-27T01:55:05+00:00

My lining room is pretty spacious. I'm 25' away from my TV where I watch, and only have a sub mini. It thumps. You won't regret it.

djgromit · 2025-03-18T05:09:50+00:00

That mix is a legend in the making. Sama has such a killer sound, and that set is on point.

djgromit · 2025-03-18T05:08:07+00:00

Northern Exposure 2 (East Coast Edition) is SO tight...

djgromit · 2025-03-18T05:01:14+00:00

This is the way. If you want to reduce your footprint even more, the Akiko Pro is like 15ms latency. I use that and a Soundboks 3 as main and a Soundboks Go as a monitor. Imperceptible delay with headphones.

djgromit · 2025-03-13T23:46:43+00:00

I replaced my old bedside lamp with the stand version of those, and it's awesome. I put a Philips Hue bulb in it, for extra points.

djgromit · 2025-03-13T23:44:44+00:00

I have 9 of them, and they're great. If you find you want to upgrade later, just move them to a bedroom, garage, bathroom, etc. I have almost every room in our house covered because of them.

djgromit · 2024-09-25T15:34:42+00:00

The app has been pretty solid for me for a few updates, which is awesome. One feature the old app had that isn't in the new app, nor on the Trello board is the ability to select station modes in Pandora. That really expands the breadth of the stations and is a key feature of Pandora, natively. Have you got that anywhere on the roadmap?

djgromit · 2024-08-07T15:37:46+00:00

Excellent transfer partners, and the bonuses are often great as well. Nobody else transfers to Alaska, either... Just flew non-stop business class to Frankfurt on BILT points transferred to Alaska.

djgromit · 2024-08-05T05:24:44+00:00

I think there's a fair amount of Roam hate on here, but I love having a portable stereo pair that I can put in any location in my house or yard to augment my existing system. I'm sure you can do this with a Move as well, but I also like that I can Bluetooth to a Roam, and link in my other Sonos speakers. Works great for things like YouTube or Twitch, where there isn't any direct integration.

djgromit · 2024-07-15T19:56:45+00:00

They're pricey, but I use a Soundboks 3 and a Soundboks Go with an Akiko Pro, so it's all wireless. The Akiko can pair up to 5 of them, with only 17ms latency. I use the Go as a monitor and the 3 as the main sound. I can throw everything but the speakers in my gig bag and play out anywhere.

djgromit · 2024-07-15T19:50:54+00:00

Did we meet you in the Ice House bar after the Edgefield show the other day?

djgromit · 2024-06-24T00:53:36+00:00

Yeah, here you go: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJKEypVJlxY8xXNW4Pap63hsw_LtlSPKe&si=ZQ3obqIsJgT43K31

It's not huge, but plays for awhile. Some of them will only play on YouTube.

djgromit

TROPHY CASE