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Guides on planning a set for the gig you actually have — warm-up, B2B, marathon, first-timer — plus finding tracks that fit, building mashups, and the harmonic mixing and energy fundamentals underneath it all.

Set Planning

  1. How to Plan a Warm-Up Set That Still Feels Like You

    Warm-up is a discipline of its own: pick the right ceiling, protect your best tracks, and hand the room off climbing, not settling.

  2. What to Play When You're Opening for a Headliner

    A support slot is judged against the headliner's set, not your own taste — here's how to read their tempo and sound before you build it.

  3. Engineering Multiple Peaks in a Headline Set

    One climax isn't enough for a 60-120 minute headline slot — sequence two or three peaks instead, spaced and paced so each one actually lands.

  4. How to Close a DJ Set Without Killing the Room Early

    A four-stage plan for the final 25-45 minutes: read the room, pace the drop, and pick the right last track for whatever happens next.

  5. How to Plan a B2B Set With a DJ You Don't Fully Know

    Talking through vibe and genre beforehand won't tell you if your tracks actually mix — here's how to find real BPM and key overlap with a B2B partner before you're both in the booth.

  6. Planning a Short Festival Set When Nobody Knows You Yet

    Why the patient club-build backfires on a short, anonymous festival slot — and what to open with, play, and cut instead.

  7. Planning a Radio Mix or Podcast Set (No Crowd to Read)

    Why a recorded mix gets scrutinised the way a club set never is, and how to plan the arc and tracklist before you press record.

  8. How to Plan Your First DJ Set Without Overthinking It

    A beginner-safe method for planning your first DJ set — pick a small pool, one energy direction, and stop overthinking the running order.

  9. Planning a Residency Set Without Repeating Yourself

    A system for recurring bookings: track what you played, know which tracks to retire, and reshape the set so regulars hear something new each date.

  10. Pacing a 4+ Hour Solo Set So You Don't Run Out of Ideas by Hour Three

    Stop front-loading your best tracks — a wave-by-wave structure for 4+ hour solo sets that keeps the room moving all the way to close.

  11. Planning an Afters or Sunrise Set for People Who Are Actually Listening

    Why the build-to-a-peak instinct that got you the peak-time slot is the wrong tool for a 4am room, and what to do instead.

  12. When to Break Your Set Plan: Reading the Room Mid-Set

    Floor density, phones, requests, inherited energy — the mid-set signals that tell you when to hold the plan and when to abandon it.

  13. The Harmonic Move That Shouldn't Work: When to Break Camelot Rules

    Three recognisable moments when a clashing key transition beats a safe one — and how to tell a deliberate break from a bad mix.

  14. The Track List You Actually Bring: Culling a 60-Track Prep Pool Down to a 20-Track Set

    A step-by-step method for cutting a 50-60 track prep pool down to a sequenced main line and a real backup line.

  15. Why a Trance Set and a Tech House Set Tell Different Stories

    Trance and tech house reward completely different kinds of patience — learn why a breakdown that works in one genre kills momentum in the other.

  16. Crossing Genres Mid-Set Without Losing the Room

    A practical route for moving between genre families mid-set: when to start, how many bridge tracks to use, and what to leave alone.

  17. From "Something Like [Artist]'s Ibiza Set" to an Actual Tracklist

    A five-question method for turning a half-remembered reference set into concrete BPM, key, and energy-shape decisions you can actually build a tracklist from.

  18. How to Turn Your Rekordbox Crate Into a Set-Ready Track List

    You've got years of Rekordbox tracks and a gig in two weeks — here's how to filter, audit and sequence a real set out of it.

  19. Is Your Library Actually Big Enough for a 3-Hour Set?

    Sixty tracks that satisfy the calculator can still fail a 3-hour set — a practical crate audit for the gaps that actually sink a long slot.

  20. How to Plan a DJ Set

    A practical guide to set building — from anchor track and opening, through energy graduation, peak, and landing, with a framework you can adapt to any room.

Track Discovery

  1. Found a Track on a Promo or Radio Show? Here's How to Check if It'll Actually Fit Your Sets

    A quick workflow for checking whether a track you just heard on a promo or radio show actually belongs in your sets, before you spend money or crate space on it.

  2. Reading a Chemistry Score Before You Buy

    Chemistry scores aren't a black box. Here's what each dimension of a track match actually tells you before you spend money or set time on it.

  3. Why Your Rekordbox Library Didn't Fully Match

    Rekordbox imports rarely match 100%, and that's not a failure. Here's what an unmatched track still gets in Mixgraph, and how to tell which ones are worth submitting as a request.

  4. Can't Find a Track? Here's How to Get It Added

    The catalogue grows every day, but if a specific track isn't there yet, don't wait around for it — submit a request and get straight back to your prep.

  5. Like an Artist We Don't Have Yet? Help Us Decide Who to Add Next

    New artists land on Mixgraph constantly, and you get a say in who's next. If someone you rate isn't on the platform yet, Track Requests puts them straight on our radar.

  6. Deep Cuts Near the Artists You Already Play

    A workflow for finding lower-profile artists and tracks that sit right next to the big names you already trust, using chemistry instead of popularity as the filter.

  7. Mixing Two Genres in One Set: Finding the Tracks That Actually Bridge Them

    How to use Mixgraph's Compare tool to find tracks that genuinely sit between two genres, so a genre-crossing transition lands instead of feeling forced.

  8. Comparing Two Artists: How Compatible Are Their Sounds, Actually

    Instead of guessing whether two artists' catalogues mix well, use Compare to see their Sound DNA side by side and find the tracks that actually bridge them.

  9. What Actually Makes Two Record Bags Compatible (It's Not Just Key and BPM)

    Key and BPM get you in the ballpark, but they don't explain why some pairs light up a room and others just sit there. Here's what chemistry actually measures, and how to use it when you're picking the next track.

  10. Same Beatport Top 100 as Everyone Else? How to Find What Your Scene Hasn't Heard Yet

    Why every set from your scene sounds the same, and a practical way to keep digging past the chart without losing the fit that makes a set work.

  11. Building a B2B Set: Finding the Tracks That Connect Two Different Record Bags

    When two DJs bring different collections to a B2B, half the prep is finding tracks that work in both bags. Here's how to use Compare to spot the bridges before you play.

  12. Promo Pack Triage: Sorting a Big Batch of Unfamiliar Tracks Fast

    A fast method for cutting a big promo pack down to the handful of tracks worth checking against your Favourites — and reading the chemistry score for what it actually tells you.

Mashups & Edits

  1. How to Find the Right Acapella for a Mashup: Matching Key, Tempo and Vocal Register

    A practical workflow for choosing which acapella actually belongs on an instrumental — key, tempo headroom and vocal register, before you touch a stretch tool.

  2. Bootleg vs. Edit vs. Mashup vs. VIP vs. Remix: What the Terms Actually Mean

    Bootleg, edit, mashup, VIP, remix — the words get thrown around like synonyms in group chats and crate folders, but they mean genuinely different things. Here's the real distinction between each one, plus where the legal lines actually sit.

  3. The Half-Time/Double-Time Trick: Mixing a 90 BPM Track Under a 180 BPM Track

    How doubling or halving perceived tempo lets tracks that look miles apart on paper sit together perfectly on the decks, and the mental model you need to hear it before you try it.

  4. Building a Genre-Bridge Set With Mashups

    How to construct a mashup that itself acts as the bridge between two genres you play, when no existing track in either catalogue does the job.

  5. Why Your Mashup Sounds Muddy Before You Even Open Your DAW

    Key clash, tempo drift and energy crowding kill most mashups before a single fader moves. Here's how to spot a bad pairing at the selection stage, not four hours into production.

  6. Turning Your Library Into Mashup Pairs

    Your imported library already holds mashup pairs waiting to be found. Here's how to mine your matched tracks with Mashup Finder instead of starting from a blank search.

  7. DJ Transitions That Actually Work Live, Not Just in a 15-Second Clip

    The tricks that make a DJ transition go viral in 15 seconds aren't the ones that hold a dance floor for four minutes — here's what actually survives a full set, and how to test a pairing before you play it.

  8. Acapella Over Instrumental Across Genres: Making a Vocal From a Different Scene Work

    What actually changes when the acapella you want comes from a completely different scene to your instrumental — the tempo, key and energy gaps most single-genre mashup advice skips — and how to close them.

  9. When Not to Mashup: Pairs That Look Compatible on Paper But Clash in the Room

    A high chemistry score and a clean key/BPM match don't guarantee a mashup works. Here's what actually causes good-on-paper pairs to clash, and how to catch it before you commit studio time.

  10. Can You Sell or Release Your Mashups?

    A straight answer to the question every mashup-making DJ eventually asks: can you actually sell, release, or upload your mashups without getting into trouble.

Fundamentals

  1. DJ Mixing for Beginners: The Complete Guide

    A beginner-friendly walkthrough of the five things that make a DJ transition work — harmonic key, tempo, energy, mood, and vocals — with interactive tools and a first-set checklist.

  2. The Complete Camelot Wheel Guide for DJs

    Learn how the Camelot Wheel works and how to use harmonic mixing to create seamless transitions between tracks.

  3. What is BPM? A DJ's Complete Guide to Beats Per Minute

    Genre BPM ranges from 400,000+ analysed tracks, half-time mixing techniques, and tempo transition strategies for every genre.

Techniques

  1. DJ Transition Techniques: 7 Ways to Mix Between Tracks

    A practical breakdown of seven essential DJ transition techniques — what each one does to the room, when to use it, and which compatibility profile it suits.

  2. Understanding Energy Flow in DJ Sets

    Master energy management in your DJ sets — learn how to build, maintain, and release energy to keep the dancefloor moving.

  3. Vocal Mixing: How to Avoid Clashes and Use Vocals Effectively

    Techniques for handling vocal tracks in your DJ sets — avoid clashes, layer effectively, and create smooth vocal transitions.

Theory

  1. Major vs Minor Keys in DJ Mixing

    Learn the difference between major and minor keys and how they affect the mood and feel of your DJ mixes.

DJ Mixing & Set Planning Guides | Learn - Mixgraph