Putting myself out there

Prompt: Create and document a robust online performance

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My goal in taking “Performing Online” was to train up the skills I need to have an online presence as a DJ. Given that, I approached the final as a way to get better at something I already know how to do.

In the context of ITP, it's often tempting to throw together something brand new for every project, and a couple of my initial ideas were just that (interactive online experiences in p5.js). In order to align with my reason for taking this class in the first place, I pivoted to instead building the groundwork for part of my artistic practice.

For the “Be Yourself Online” assignment, I posted a video to Instagram of myself practicing a mix on my DJ controller at home — something I hadn't done for aaaages before that. Posting a mix was a vulnerable thing to do, but I got a very positive response to it, and doing so more regularly is a big part of growing and becoming more visible as a DJ.

VirtualDJ in action!

Building a new workflow

For a bit of added context - I already archive sets that I play for dance events as Spotify playlists, and often post those to Facebook or share them with people 1:1. That type of “posting my process online” is easy for me, both because I’ve got a workflow for it, and because I've done it so many times now (I have over 100 sets I've archived to Spotify over the years). This’ll be a bit different.

In the past year or so, I've been learning to live mix, and have been working it into my sets more and more. As part of leveling up my DJ practice, I’ll be documenting my live mixes: both the process of coming up with them, and recordings of the performances themselves.

Practice sessions

Here are the steps I used to record my practice:

Recording audio of the actual practice set in its glorious imperfection, so I can look back on it later (VirtualDJ)
Recording video of my practice sessions (OBS)
Editing those videos to post online (Capcut)

Live sets

Here’s the process I’ll be using to document my live sets:

Recording audio of my full live set (VirtualDJ)
Posting that in its entirety (Mixcloud, Soundcloud)
Also archive my individual songs as I normally do (Spotify)

Empire State of Mind (Jay-Z/Alicia Keys) mixed into the Trinix remix of the same song

We’ve got content!

Stop Trippin' (GriZ) mixed into Soltera (Chesca)

On-the fly remix of **Rumble (Skrillex)

I barely have an Instagram

I’m a bit of a curmudgeon of a millennial, so don’t spend that much time on social media. As such, I don’t have a Twitter, Tumblr or a Tiktok, and while I have an instagram account, I’ve only made two posts on it.

So the process of building up an online presence as a DJ is also very much starting on a “new” platform from scratch.

Since it’s not a habit to post all the time, this’ll definitely be a challenge to maintain, but I’ve been enjoying it so far.

Now what?

The main question that came up as I was posting things to my fresh Instagram was:

How much do I want to actually curate this account?

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I could either go the route of making this a DJ/artist profile, or this could just be my personal account. I figure I’ll do my best to keep up the practice of documenting and sharing my DJing, and let the account grow naturally if I wasnt to add other things down the line.