Set craft
Set time
Set time is the length of the slot a DJ is booked for — the number that decides everything else about the set, from how many records fit to how fast the energy can move.
Measured in our catalog
The median set built here runs 41.1 minutes across 9 tracks — a warm-up slot, not a headline one.
Across 722 sets sequenced by hand, the median holds 9 tracks and the top tenth hold 23.9 or more. In minutes, 240 run past an hour and 75 past two, with the longest at 403.7. At the catalog's median track length of 5:48, an hour is about ten records and three hours about thirty-one.
41.1 min
Median set length
9
Median tracks
75
Sets past two hours
5:48
Median track length
| Slot | Tracks it holds | Sets past this length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | 10 | 240 |
| 2 hours | 21 | 75 |
| 3 hours | 31 | — |
| All night | 62+ | — |
Measured on 11 August 2026 across 722 flows of two tracks or more sequenced by hand on Mixgraph across 518 DJs (machine-generated running orders excluded). Minutes are computed only over the 710 flows where every track carries a duration, because `playlist_songs.song_id` is nullable and a partial sum reads as a shorter set. The tracks-per-slot column is arithmetic off the catalog median, not a count. Method: the full transition dataset and its chance baseline.
Why it matters
It is the constraint every other decision hangs off. An hour is roughly a dozen records, which means one arc and no detours; three hours is enough to lose a room and get it back twice, and the same track selection played across both lengths produces two completely different nights.
It is also the number most often got wrong in preparation. Preparing ninety minutes of material for a sixty-minute slot is not caution — it is a set that never reaches its ending, because the part you cut under pressure is always the part you planned last.
Frequently asked
How many tracks are in a one-hour DJ set?+
About 10 at our catalog's median track length of 5:48. Fewer if you let records run, more if you are cutting early — which is most of the difference between two DJs playing the same hour.
How long is a typical warm-up set?+
One to two hours in most clubs. The median set built here runs 41.1 minutes, which is roughly what a warm-up slot asks for.
Should you prepare more tracks than your set time?+
A little, and knowingly. Preparing half again as much is normal insurance; preparing double means the ending you planned is the part that gets cut when the slot runs short.
Related terms
Warm-up
A warm-up is the opening stretch of a night — slower, quieter, and built to leave the next DJ somewhere to go. Playing peak-time records in a warm-up is the oldest mistake in the job.
Peak time
Peak time is the stretch of a night a set is built toward — the busiest hour, and the point of highest energy. It names a position in a night rather than a specific sound.
All night long
An all night long set is one DJ playing the entire night — opening the room, taking it through peak time and closing it — with no other DJ on the bill.
Open format
An open format DJ plays across genres in one set — hip-hop into house, disco into garage — rather than staying inside a single style. The joins are made on tempo, energy and key instead of on genre.
Explore: Set length calculator · The human transition dataset · Set list · All DJ terms