Techno Track: "Bolivia - Hacks (Original Mix)"

I'm posting this to share a track that I just shared publicly, called "Hacks" (techno):

 

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a DJ code-named Bolivia who decided to mix up some beats for his coder friends to listen to.  A whole series of "Music To Code By" DJ mixes resulted.  One day, a fine gentleman by the name of Dan Fernandez (at MicroSoft) shared a link to the mixes to his significant following of fellow coders, and the rest is history.

What is a hack?  A hack, by itself, is neither good nor bad.  It just is.  But when it is freed by its creator to run in the wild, it may in fact cause problems.  Hacks in general have a bad reputation due to this niche.

But there are a lot of hacks that are used for good.  A hack can be a creative way of accomplishing something.  It can be a physical manifestation.  Sure, something can be "crudely hacked together," perhaps with baling wire and duct tape (or Perl).  But a hack can also be a neat trick, a creative way of accomplishing something more efficiently.

I'll leave it to the listener to form their own opinion on what type of hacks I was thinking about when this song was being created.  But in the meantime, hopefully my rambling here triggers the search engines to bring a few more hits to this post.

And if not, I'll try to hack something up later.

You can listen to this on Soundcloud:

DJ Bolivia · Bolivia - Hacks (Original Mix)

Or watch it on YouTube:

Note that while the music is mine, I used an AI generator to come up with the graphics for the YouTube video.

If you'd like to download a copy, visit my Dropbox folder at:

www.djbolivia.ca/tracks

Feel free to share it or remix it.

- Jonathan Clark (DJ Bolivia)
www.djbolivia.ca

Techno Track: "Bolivia - Dark City (Original Mix)"

 I'm posting this to share a track that I released a few weeks ago, called "Dark City" (techno):

You can listen to this on Soundcloud:

Or watch it on YouTube:

Note that while the music is mine, I used an AI generator to come up with the graphics for the YouTube video.

You may wonder about the inspiration for this track.  Let me tell you a story ...

In the heart of a sprawling metropolis, where the night never sleeps and the neon lights paint the streets in a kaleidoscope of colors, "Dark City" comes to life.  Imagine a dimly lit studio, cramped between two age-old skyscrapers, where a young producer named becomes the unwitting architect of this new anthem.  Let's pretend that his name is Jonathan.  And let's humour him when he mistakenly describes himself as young.

In this studio, the air is thick with creativity.  Or maybe it's radon gas at 212 Bq/m3, due to questionable ventilation.  Either way, Alex is too engrossed in his craft to care.  Surrounded by vintage synthesizers and a laptop that's seen better days, he channels the pulse of the city (a small town, really) and translates it into sound.

The track starts with a sultry beat, like the heartbeat of the city itself, slow and steady at first, then growing more insistent. It's the kind of rhythm that makes you want to move without quite knowing why. Into this, Jonathan weaves horn samples, not the polished kind you'd hear in a jazz club, but raw and edgy, stolen from the city's cacophony. These horns speak of midnight rendezvous and whispered secrets, of secret card games and cheap whiskey, of the kind of stories that only unfold under the cover of darkness. It's as if the city itself is whispering in your ear, telling you tales of the unseen and the unheard.

The track is a nod to the urban jungle outside, with a touch of humor that says, "Yeah, this is serious music, but let's not take ourselves too seriously."  The track, "Dark City," becomes an underground cult classic, a tribute to the nocturnal world where the lines are blurred between the mundane and the magnanimous.  It's a reminder that in the right hands, even the sounds of the city can become music, and every night holds the promise of a new story.  Jonathan, with his unintentional anthem, carries on - oblivious to the chill of the night.

If you'd like to download a copy, visit:

www.djbolivia.ca/tracks

Feel free to share it or remix it.

- Jonathan Clark (DJ Bolivia)
www.djbolivia.ca

Christmas with the Halifax Classics, 2014 Flashback

It’s Christmas Eve, 2015, and I’m sitting in my house, listening to some … house.  I’m playing an event (along with Ian Allen) in a few days in Halifax.  It’s an annual house music event at a small venue, with limited capacity.  I’ve been there for most of the past five years, and it’s always my favorite party of the year.  So my goal for tonight is to get some new music ready for that set.  I usually try to play very recently released tracks for at least eighty to ninety percent of each set that I play anywhere (unless I’m playing at a mainstream/pop event), so most of the tracks that I play on Sunday night will be ones that were released today on Beatport and from other sources.  But the nice thing is that the crowd at this event is essentially all of my raver peers from the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, so they appreciate a lot of flashbacks to older tracks too.  I’ll be remixing and re-editing a lot of classic tracks mixed with the new releases tonight and tomorrow, so we should have a pretty interesting set for the crowd in Halifax.

 

In the meantime, I was trying to find a track listing of what we played last year.  I didn’t have any luck with that, although I did find a rough recording of last year’s set.  It looks like I never put it online, probably because it’s a bit rough in places (and has too much flanger in a couple spots) but it’s not too bad.  I think that I never got around to putting it online since I didn’t have time to figure out the exact track listings. 

To download any of my studio mixes or recordings of lives shows, visit:

djbolivia.ca/dropbox 

Then go into the folder called "Bolivia's DJ Mixes & Live Shows"

Thanks for your support!

Although I don’t have the proper track listings for you, I did look into one of my DJ’ing directories, and found a list of 23 tracks that are time-stamped from the right date, so I think we used most of them for that show, and I recognize some of the tracks as definitely having been included in the set.  So even though this list isn’t useful for being in track order, I’m pretty sure that if you’re trying to figure out all the tracks in the mix, you can use the following alphabetical list to identify them all.  Maybe I’ll try to do that someday.  Or maybe someone who’s a qualified trainspotter can sort it and email me.

     4Peace – Jazzbuggin’ (Original Mix)

     Arturo Silvestre – Once (Original Mix)

     Baseek – Baby (Original Mix)

     Call Me Steve – Turn The Beat Around (Club Mix)

     Canard – Stop Going On (Original Mix)

     Chris Noble – Dance To The Rhythm (Original Mix)

     DJ Baxy – Jungle Book (Orgazmixound Jungle Jive Mix)

     DJ PP – Queen Of Disco (Original Mix)

     Fabricio Pecanha – BeatBox (Original Mix)

     Gordon John – Wake Up The Funk (Original Mix)

     Groove Phenomenon – La Candela Viva (Original Mix)

     Householics – Stomp To This (Delgado Remix)

     Jason Rivas & Asely Frankin – Billie Jean (Old Brick Warehouse Dub Mix)

     JL & Afterman – Black Betty (Original Mix)

     Kim Sanz & Mike Light – Beat Back (Original Mix)

     Luca Debonaire & Matt Auston – Snap (Original Mix)

     Nightcrawlers – Push The Feeling On (John Jacobsen Remix)

     Reza & Peter Brown – Phreak It (Club Mix)

     Souljackerz & Rude Vinyl – Forbidden Love (Funky Truckerz Remix)

     Thomas Brown – Brooklyn (Original Mix)

     Twism & B3RAO – Hips Lips Fingertips (Original Mix)

     Vigo Qinan – Like I Like (Original Mix)

     Vlada Asanin, Yas Cepeda, & Bang Beat – Low Rider (Original Mix)

That 2014 set last year was performed on Ableton.  But the DJ booth area at this venue is pretty tight, and a lot of different DJ’s are playing throughout the night.  We’ll just beat-mix on CDJ’s this year instead, to simplify things.

Alright, it's time for me to pour some eggnog and get started on editing music for this year’s show.  Happy holidays everyone, if you’re celebrating anything!

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Set Playlist, Ducky's, 2014-11-29

Here's my set list from Ducky's last night. I played a lot of indie tracks for the first couple hours, then pop/top40 for the rest of the night.

01. Stopmotion Sickness, "Blood On Your Hands"
02. The World's A Beautiful Place, "Thanks"
03. Joya, "Gunpowder Park"
04. Hot Fudge, "To Be One Ask One"
05. Animal Flag, "Solace"
06. Meatbodies, "Wahoo"
07. Amanda X, "Guatemala"
08. Cherry Glazer, "Nurse Ratched"
09. Los Tones, "Buchanan Hammer"
10. Bed, "Wayward"
11. Corners, "Against It"
12. Sunbears, "Laughing Girl" 13. Peachpit, "Isadoria"
14. Earl Boykins, "Lance Armstrong"
15. Luxembourg Signal, "Wishing Pool"
16. Side Saddle, "When It's All Done"
17. Mourn, "Your Brain Is Made Of Candy"
18. Menace Beach, "Come On Give Up"
19. Petite League, "Surviving October"
20. Hideout, "Where You've Been"
21. History Of Apple Pie, "Don't You Wanna Be Mine"
22. High Pop, "Hey Kid"
23. Shivery Shakes, "Swimming"
24. Majestico, "I Just Want To"
25. Tideland, "Let Me In"
26. The World's A Beautiful Place, "Thanks"
27. Medicine, "Move Along Down The Road"
28. The Drink, "Beasts"
29. Hundred Visions, "You're Gonna Cut Me Loose"
30. Purling Hiss, "Learning Slowly"
31. Bully, "Milkman"
32. Tilts, "Thomas Jefferson II"
33. The World's A Beautiful Place, "Thanks"
34. M185, "Soon"
35. Repeat Repeat, "Not The One"
36. Kittyhawk, "Seasonal Abjective Disorder"
37. Hollands, "Great White Shark"
38. Sons Of Rico, "In My Eyes"
39. Taylor Swift, "Blank Space"
40. Fall Out Boy, "Centuries"
41. Ella Henderson, "Ghost"
42. Ed Sheeran, "Sing"
43. The Script, "Superheroes"
44. Echosmith, "Cool Kids"
45. Rixton, "Me & My Broken Heart"
46. Ed Sheeran, "Don't"
47. Shakira, "Empire"
48. Maroon 5, "Animals"
49. Neon Trees, "Sleeping With A Friend"
50. Ingrid, "Girls Chase Boys"
51. Meghan Trainor, "Dear Future Husband"
52. Mkto, "Classic"
53. Jess Glynne, "Rather Be"
54. Paramore, "Ain't It Fun"
55. Katy Perry, "Dark Horse"
56. Vance Joy, "Riptide"
57. Nico & Vinz, "Am I Wrong"
58. Sia, "Chandelier"
59. Hozier, "Take Me To The Church"
60. Pharrell Williams, "Come Get It Bae"
61. Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
62. Charli XCX, "Boom Clap"
63. Sara Barielles, "I Choose You"
64. Magic, "Rude"
65. Shaw Mendes, "Something Big"
66. Katy Perry, "This Is How We Do"
67. Jessie J, "Bang Bang"
68. Maroon 5, "Maps"
69. One Republic, "Love Runs"
70. 5 Seconds, "So Perfect"
71. Meghan Trainor, "Lips Are Moving"
72. Kongos, "Come With Me"
73. Alesso, "Heroes"
74. Pharrell Williams, "Happy"
75. Pitbull, "Fireball"
76. Demi Lovato, "Really Don't Care"
77. Calvin Harris, "Blame"
78. Calvin Harris, "Summer"
79. Katy Perry, "Birthday"
80. Ariana Grande, "Break Free"
81. Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
82. Avicii, "Wake Me Up"
83. Pitbull & Katy Perry, "Timber"
84. Flo Rida, "Club Can't Handle Me"
85. One Republic, "Counting Stars"
86. Eric Paslay, "Song About A Girl"
87. Darius Rucker, "Homegrown Honey"


It was a pretty casual night at the bar, and a chance for me to enjoy playing a different style than I usually play. I didn't record this set.

  

I didn't record this set, however, if you'd like to download some DJ dance mixes which are similar to the music used in the hour or so, check out my Workout Mix series at the following link:

www.djbolivia.ca/workout

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

DJ'ing for Beginners, #4 of 4 Parts

If you've found this blog post through an organic search, I've just (early 2024) consolidated the information from several distinct blog posts into one link on my main website:

djbolivia.ca/learn2dj

You may prefer going to that page right now, as it has all the info from the post below, plus a lot more.  But if you prefer the formatting of this blog post, feel free to carry on ...

The information that I covered in this part (#4) includes the following sections, which I talk about in more detail further down this page: Best ways to get booked, the future is in production work, closing remarks, and final tips & advice.

 

DJ'ing for Beginners, Part 4 of 4:

In this video I talk about the best ways to get booked, marketing yourself, editing tracks, making remixes, making your own tracks, and a large number of tips and advice. When it comes to production work, if you're interested in branching out into that, you'll eventually have to learn about things like: how sound works, sampling rates, bit rates, decibel scales, nyquist frequencies, dither, frequency spectrums, frequency ranges of various instruments, EQ'ing, using MIDI versus audio, virtual instruments, effects including reverb, echo, delay, chorus, flanger, compression, types of instruments, working with microphones and working with vocalists, mixing and mastering, and much more.




Here's the outline that I used when putting together this fourth part of the series:

Best Ways to Get Booked
- First, practice constantly.
- Meet other established DJ's. Learn from them, offer something in return.
- Ask DJ friends if they can put in a good word for you as an opener when they get booked.
- Make friends with DJ's or Managers of clubs. Also, become friends with all the staff. Don't get drunk and act like an idiot in the club.
- Once you've made some friends, ask if you can practice or play for the staff for an hour before the club opens.
- Become a promoter. Throw a party, play as an opener or closer. This has pros and cons.
- Make friends with promoters, and offer to help them with their events.
- Have business cards. Leave several cards with EACH club manager and other DJ's.
- Demo mixes – why they can be useful. And what their limitations are. "Fake" mixes, not actually demonstrating any talent.

The Future is in Production Work
- Production work is now possible by bedroom producers thanks to low-priced software and equipment.
- Even if you never produce professional-quality tracks for public distribution, you might find a bit of amateur production work to be fun.
- Learning the basics of production, even if you never attempt to do it professionally, will help you understand the physics and structure of music better, and that will make you a better DJ.
- How to get started, schools versus learning on your own.
- A list of things that you'll need to learn: how sound works, sampling rates, bit rates, decibel scales, nyquist frequencies, dither, frequency spectrums, frequency ranges of various instruments, EQ'ing, using MIDI versus audio, virtual instruments, effects including reverb, echo, delay, chorus, flanger, compression, types of instruments, working with microphones and working with vocalists, mixing and mastering, and much more.
- Talk about all the different software that is used in production work.
- A soft start: re-editing versions of your favourite tracks.
- Move on to doing remixes of existing tracks.
- Producing your own music from scratch.
- Legalities of playing your own personal remixes.
- Learning some Music Theory can be useful. Also, learning to play instruments is fun.

Closing Remarks, Final Tips & Advice
- You will not become a DJ overnight. If you want to do it, you're going to have to put in literally months or even a year or more of practice and getting to know people.
- Your purpose is to entertain the crowd, not to entertain yourself.
- Always think about safety. Safety of yourself, safety of your dancers. Know what you are expected to do in the case of a power failure, or various other types of emergencies. Where are the nearest fire extinguishers and how does the venue's fire suppression system work? Where are the emergency exits?
- Additional research: read lots of books. Show a number of recommended books.
- Always carry a small flashlight (or two), and maybe a leatherman.
- Always check out your sound quality, whether in a club or doing mobile. Reccie beforehand too. Learn about how sound works, and especially about acoustics.
- Understand gain staging as a way to have clean sounds and avoiding distortion.
- Be professional in a business sense. Use contracts. Ask for deposits, get paid before you play, unless you've got an ongoing relationship with the venue.
- Personal development: get a driver's license, pay attention to personal hygiene, dress appropriately, make sure you can stay sober at some events, make sure you always keep your word. There are a lot of flaky and undependable DJ's out there. Having a reputation as someone who is dependable goes a long, long way in the industry.
- Don't diss other DJ's or producers or people in the scene, thinking that it makes you look better in comparison. Focus on peoples' good points, and if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all.
- You'll be nervous the first time that you play at any new venue. Accept it. That usually goes away after you're onto your third or fourth track of the night. Again, don't use alcohol.
- Fun Staff: DJ Hero videogame.
- Remember who pays you: the promoters and managers. They want someone who is reliable.
- Know your music. There are tens of thousands of popular songs out there, in dozens of genres. If you're a specialty DJ, this may not matter, but if you're a mobile or even a mainstream club DJ, you're going to need to know a lot of music. You can never spend too much time researching and discovering “new” (or old) music.
- Don't be scared to dance.




I didn't need to link to any of my other videos in this part of the DJ'ing for Beginners series. However, I'll probably have a link here shortly to a "Extras That I Forgot To Talk About" video. Give me two or three days?



Finally, if you'd like to download or listen to an audio transcript of this video, as an mp3 from Soundcloud, here's the link:




If you like the sound of any of the tracks played during the breaks between sections, I've got all of them available as free downloads. Go to SoundCloud and do a search for: "dj bolivia global underground"

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Learning About Mobile DJ'ing

I've moved this information to my main website as of early 2024.  Here's the newest link:
    

djbolivia.ca/mobile

Any updates that I make to this training info will be updated on that link, rather than within this blog post.  I'd recommend that you check things out there, unless you find the formatting of this blog post to be preferable.

A lot of potential DJ's have asked me for advice about becoming a Mobile DJ. There are a lot of special events that require DJ's, and new DJ's recognize that this is a market that might let them get established as a DJ more quickly than by trying to get a residency in a club. Also, the wider variety of events and parties that a Mobile DJ can work at makes the job more interesting. However, Mobile DJ'ing is also probably the hardest segment of the DJ industry. Hopefully I can give you more background about the pros and cons of becoming a Mobile DJ.

 

 

Mobile DJ'ing 1 of 2: The Industry, and Business Considerations

In this video, I talk about aspects of the industry that you need to think about, such as types of events, vehicles, licensing, insurance, costs, setting prices, accounting, marketing, contracts, deposits, competition, etc. The second video will focus on the gear that I use, which you can use as a model for your own mobile rig.




Mobile DJ'ing 2 of 2: Basic Gear, and a Sample Setup

I go through an explanation of all the gear that I use in my own Mobile Rig. Not everyone will want the same gear, but I'll give you advice on where you can make changes or substitutions. I also have a full list of my own gear inventory available in Excel spreadsheet or PDF format. I'll put the links to those further down in this post.




Before I go any further, I need to point out something that I forgot to talk about in the video: smoke & fog machines!! I don't usually use them, because they can set off the fire suppression system in a venue! If a client specifically asks for one, I recommend that you have them sign a liability waiver so they take responsibility for costs incurred if the fire suppression system is set off! There could be damages to your gear, and a bill from the fire department!!!


As a Mobile DJ, you're going to be playing at a huge variety of events. Some of these potential events will include: weddings, college/university dances, junior high dances, high school dances, proms, class reunions, block parties, street parties, corporate events, business openings, conventions, banquets, fundraisers, singles dances, community hall events, pool parties, house parties, and bar mitzvahs.

Weddings are an animal all of their own. Although the process of setting up gear and playing music isn't much different than most other gigs, there is a HUGE amount of additional prep work that needs to go into a wedding. This is a very important event for your client, and it has to go smoothly. I've made a special page just to cover some of the additional considerations that you need to be aware of before accepting a request to play at a wedding:  djbolivia.ca/weddings

You'll need some form of transportation to move all your heavy speakers and other equipment around. The obvious choices are an enclosed truck or a cargo van. Buying one of those new is very expensive. Leasing is expensive. Buying a used vehicle means you have a higher risk that it will break down on the way to a show.

Licensing is something that should not be overlooked. This process will vary from country to country, but in almost everywhere you are required to register as a professional DJ and pay an annual fee to be legally allowed to perform and/or play pre-recorded music in public.

There are two types of insurance that you should consider. First, liability insurance will protect you in case one of your speakers falls over and crushes someone, or in case your equipment catches on fire and burns down a community hall.

There is lots of paperwork to think about if you're running a Mobile DJ business. You'll need to keep track of revenues and expenses for your accountant. You'll also need to ensure that potential clients sign contracts, to protect yourself. With a signed contract, you'll be able to ask for a deposit up front, and enforce cancellation fees.

As a Mobile DJ, you need to look and act respectable and professional. This means dressing appropriately, being diplomatic with guests of your clients, and staying away from alcohol and drugs before and during your events.

As a mobile DJ, you'll need to be familiar with a huge variety of music. You can't just play the types of music that you enjoy personally. You might be asked to play everything including current hits, classic rock, alternative, indie, country, hip hop, dance, EDM, and golden oldies. You'll need to own a large catalog of popular hits in all these genres, and you'll need to be familiar with all of your music.

Getting the right gear is another challenge. First of all, a professional Mobile DJ rig is fairly expensive. You will probably need to budget approximately ten to twenty thousand dollars (USD) for gear, depending on the types of mixers and CD players and speakers and lights that you choose. Although you want a comprehensive set-up that will fill the needs at 90% of the events that you are booked for, you don't want to over-spend and buy gear that is rarely used. For a big event that requires more speakers than you own, you should just rent extra gear for the weekend. My second video covers the gear that I use in detail, so you can decide what similar equipment might be available in your local market, and what will meet your needs.

Here's a link to my Gear Inventory spreadsheet:

Document Format (PDF)

Here are links to a few books that you may find useful:

The DJ Sales & Marketing Handbook

The Mobile DJ Handbook

DJ'ing For Dummies

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Ableton Q&A Videos related to DJ'ing

Here's a collection of some additional Ableton Live tutorial videos that I've put together for people doing DJ'ing and studio work, based on YouTube viewer questions and feedback.  You can find a complete collection of my Ableton tutorials here:

djbolivia.ca/ableton

Intermediate Warping Techniques in Ableton Live

Most of the tracks that I warped in my initial "Warping Tracks in Ableton Live" video were pretty simple to warp. In this video, I picked five EDM tracks of intermediate difficulty to warp, and gave some extra tips and tricks.





Using the Loop, Start, and End Indicators

Looping sections of existing tracks during a real-time DJ performance can add a lot of strength to your performance, and gives you the ability to be more versatile than simply playing other peoples' tracks back from start to finish. This video covers the Loop Indicators and when they can be useful, and also touches on the Start and End Indicators. The practice of looping through the use of the loop indicators should not be confused with a separate but similar-sounding practice in Ableton, namely that of importing and using "looped" audio clips.





DJ'ing with Songs in Non-Electronic Genres

I've had lots of questions about how to include tracks of significantly diverse tempos in your sets, such as hip hop, indie pop, and classic rock. This video explains my own approach to tracks in these genres.





Inserting a New Track in the Middle of Arrangement View

This one is pretty simple, to be honest. How do you insert a new track into the middle of an already-complete production in the arrangement view? This video is pretty short.





Automating Global Tempo in a Studio Production

Here's another short one, based on numerous viewer questions. Once you have a studio-produced DJ Mix set up in the arrangement view, you may want to vary the tempo as the mix plays back. This video shows you how.





Cutting Breakdowns out of Dance Music Tracks

Another very short video. If you've got a track with a quiet breakdown and you don't want your dance floor to lose energy and interest, it might be smart to use Ableton to just remove that breakdown from the song. It's very easy. However, having said that, you should also watch the next video in this post which shows you an alternative to cutting out a breakdown, namely, to keep it and enhance it.





Enhancing EDM Breakdowns with Simple Editing Techniques

As you probably expect, this video teaches you how to spice up an existing track by adding things like extra drums, extra bass notes, etc. This is a medium-length video, but I hope it opens your eyes to all sorts of production capabilities that you might want to start digging into.





Clarifying Warping and Global Tempo:

Many people didn't entirely understand how warped tracks would synchronize together, so this is a short video that aims simply to clarify how warped tracks are treated by Ableton, and how they are tied to the global tempo.

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

George Martin Hall (STU) Set Playlist, Fredericton, February 8th

For anyone who was at this party last night and wondering about my setlist, here you go. As you can see from the track listings below, this was a mainstream/top40 event. I started out with an hour or so of hip hop, then moved into indie/pop, and then to upbeat dance tracks for the rest of the evening:

01. Migos & Drake, "Versace"
02. Pusha T, "Numbers On The Boards"
03. Big Sean, "Control"
04. Jay Z, "Picasso Baby"
05. Kanye West, "Blood On The Leaves"
06. Future & Lil Wayne, "Karate Chop"
07. 2 Chainz feat Pharrell, "Feds Watching"
08. Kevin Gates, "Wylin"
09. Rich Homie Quan, "Some Type Of Way"
10. Major Lazer, "Bubble Butt"
11. Jay Z, "Tom Ford"
12. Chance The Rapper, "Chain Smoker"
13. Drake, "Wu Tang Forever"
14. Ace Hood, "Bugatti"
15. J Cole, "Crooked Smile"
16. Lorde, "White Teeth Teens"
17. Blood Orange, "Chamakay"
18. Jay Z & Justin Timberlake, "Holy Grail"
19. Cali Swag District, "Teach Me How To Dougie"
20. Daft Punk feat Panda Bear, "Doin' It Right"
21. Parquet Courts, "Stoned & Starving"
22. Arctic Monkeys, "Do I Wanna Know"
23. Laura Marling, "Master Hunter"
24. Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors"
25. Elvis Costello & The Roots, "Walk Us Uptown"
26. Franz Ferdinand, "Treasons, Animals"
27. Betty Who, "You're In Love"
28. Haim, "The Wire"
29. One Direction, "Little Black Dress"
30. Thundercat, "Oh Sheit It's X"
31. Miley Cyrus, "Maybe You're Right"
32. Lorde, "Royals"
33. Snoop Lion & Miley Cyrus, "Ashtrays & Heartbreaks"
34. Kelly Rowland, "Freak"
35. Superchunk, "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo"
36. Eleanor Friedberger, "Stare At The Sun"
37. Paramore, "Still Into You"
38. Macklemore, "Can't Hold Us"
39. One Direction, "Best Song Ever"
40. Fall Out Boy, "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark"
41. Lonely Island, "Yolo"
42. Katy Perry, "Roar"
43. Avril Lavigne, "Here's To Never Growing Up"
44. Daft Punk, "Get Lucky"
45. Disclosure, "When A Fire Starts To Burn"
46. Taio Cruz, "Dynamite"
47. Robin Thicke, "Blurred Lines"
48. Katy Perry, "Dark Horse"
49. Bruno Mars, "Treasure"
50. Selena Gomez, "Come And Get It"
51. Sak Noel & Sito Rocks, "Party On My Level"
52. Demi Lovato, "Heart Attack"
53. Inna, "Be My Lover"
54. Psy, "Gentleman"
55. Miley Cyrus, "Wrecking Ball"
56. Eminem & Rihanna, "Monster"
57. Ylvis, "What Does The Fox Say"
58. Martin Garrix, "Animals"
59. Avicii, "Wake Me Up"
60. Darius Rucker, "Wagon Wheel"

I didn't list the remixes that I used for any of the dance tracks (starting around track 40 onward) because I've edited a lot of them to make them unique. So in other words, you wouldn't be able to find them on the internet.




My helper, Amanda, playing some music early in the evening.

To download any of my studio mixes or recordings of lives shows, visit:

djbolivia.ca/mixes 

Then go into the folder called "Bolivia's DJ Mixes & Live Shows"

Thanks for your support!

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Editing Breakdowns in Dance Music Tracks

I just put together a pair of videos that will teach you how to cut breakdowns out of dance music tracks. And then I added a third video, which is even more useful, to show you how to enhance breakdowns by adding extra loops or other clips (basic remixing). If you're a DJ, you might find these to be pretty useful. But before I begin, what exactly is a breakdown and why might you want to remove it? Well, in simple terms, a breakdown is a short section of a song that's a lot quieter than the rest of the track. It probably has no bass or kick drum, or maybe no rhythm at all. If you're on the dance floor, this is the section where you suddenly have less structure to guide you, and it gives you a moment to catch your breath.

Breakdowns aren't necessarily bad. I find that they're often the most interesting part of a song. If I'm playing to a captive audience where most listeners are driving, studying, working out, going for a run, etc., then I prefer to leave the breakdowns in place. And even on a packed dance floor, it's nice to play an occasional breakdown to give the dancers a few seconds to catch their breath. But when the dance floor is packed, I don't want to play several breakdowns in every song I play. That's too much "down time." So I'll cut a lot of breakdowns out, which lets me keep the energy levels higher on the dance floor. Or, as you can see from the third video, sometimes a better approach than cutting out a breakdown is to spice it up by adding a strong back beat to it.

 

I have three videos to describe everything you need to know. They go through all the technical steps in enough detail that you should be able to figure out how to edit/remove breakdowns using common audio editing software. The first video covers the process in depth, and the second video shows a faster way to remove sections of a track if you're an Ableton user. The third is probably the best (but you should watch the other two first) because it will start to teach you basic remixing techniques:

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Digital DJ Publication

Some of my videos have just been featured in the "Digital DJ" publication.  Here's a link to the issue:

http://paper.li/jaybrice/1314116998

Check it out. There are a lot of good links there if you're interested in DJ'ing, especially with software like Ableton, Serato, etc.  There's a free subscription link up in the top right if you'd like Digital DJ delivered to your inbox.

Jay Brice (DJ Mongo) is the publisher of Digital DJ.  Jay is a lawyer in Las Vegas, but he's got a background in radio station management and is the co-host of The Lyons Den Radio Show, heard weekly on Sundays from 7-11pm PST on 91.5fm KUNV Las Vegas.

  

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Upbeat Workout Music, Mix #10

As I'm writing this post, on Sunday evening, I'm about to start a bartending shift. Actually, it will be my last ever bar shift at this fine establishment (Ducky's) because they're closing after tonight, and moving to a new location, after being in this spot for 23 years. But before start making any drinks, I wanted to get this latest workout mix posted.

The mix is a continuous music mix which is an hour long, and anyone can download it (the link is near the bottom of this post). This mix is for demo purposes only, and commercial resale or redistribution is not permitted.


Here are Track Listings for Workout Mix #10:

01. RAC feat Penguin Prison, "Hollywood" (Felix Da Housecat Remix).
02. Visitor, "Coming Home" (FM Attack Remix).
03. Pitbull feat Chris Brown, "International Love" (Darwich & Michael Rune Remix).
04. Madonna, "Turn Up The Radio" (Alessio Silvestro Remix).
05. Swedish House Mafia, "Don't You Worry Child" (Dark Intensity Club Edit).
06. Chris Brown, "Don't Wake Me Up" (Fat Rat Remix).
07. Dragonette, "Let It Go" (The Knocks Remix).
08. Zedd feat Matthew Koma, "Spectrum" (Extended Remix).
09. Nicki Minaj, "Starships" (Justin Sane Remix).
10. Pink, "Blow Me One Last Kiss" (Jyvhouse Extended Bass Remix).
11. Flo Rida feat Sia, "Wild Ones" (Maison & Dragen Remix).
12. Calvin Harris feat Ne Yo, "Let's Go" (JD Milani At Night Remix).
13. Icona Pop feat Charli Xcx, "I Love It" (Sick Individuals Remix).
14. Anjulie, "You And I" (Solidisco Remix).
15. Ke$ha, "Die Young" (Seamus Haji Extended Mix).
16. Loreen, "Euphoria" (DJ Solovey Extended Remix).
17. Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe" (C Rok Candy Mix).



Note: If you're trying to track down remixes listed above and they sound different than what you're hearing in this mix, it's because I do a lot of specific editing of my own to each track before I put the mix together, and there is a lot of extra percussion added.


To download a 1.5 GB Zip file that includes all of the mixes in DJ Bolivia's workout series, right-click on this link and choose "save target" or "save link":

chma.fm/Workout_Mixes_1-12.zip

For links to the blog posts about the other mixes in this series, visit:

www.djbolivia.ca/workout

I have lots of other upbeat electronica mixes available on my DJ website. Admittedly, there aren't too many mixes there [yet] that are exclusively club dance tracks, but there are a lot of house/trance mixes that I find to be pretty good to listen to when I'm going running. Or driving. Or doing any sort of mindless task where I just want some energetic beats to listen to. Most of them are about an hour long, to fit onto a standard CD. Check them out, maybe you'd enjoy some of them? And click here if you're interested in one of my favorites, a massive four-hour mix that I made of classic dance tracks from the late 1990's and early 2000's.

If you like this mix, please post this link on your Facebook walls, or to Twitter! If you're a member of any sort of workout or fitness website or message board, feel free to post a link to this post there. I appreciate your help sharing this around!

To download any of my studio mixes or recordings of lives shows, visit:

djbolivia.ca/dropbox 

Then go into the folder called "Bolivia's DJ Mixes & Live Shows"

Thanks for your support!

Follow Jonathan Clark on other sites:
        SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/djbolivia
        YouTube: youtube.com/djbolivia
        Facebook: facebook.com/djbolivia
        Main Site: www.djbolivia.ca
        Music Blog: djbolivia.blogspot.ca

STU Graffiti Party 2013

I played at the annual Graffiti party at St. Thomas University in Fredericton again last night. A fun crowd, as always. I didn't take any photos this year.

For anyone who was at the party and wanted to figure out any of the songs that I played, here's the set list:

01. The Lumineers, "Ho Hey"
02. Phillip Phillips, "Home"
03. Train, "Fifty Ways To Say Goodbye"
04. Demi Lovato, "Give Your Heart A Break"
05. Gold Fields, "Dark Again"
06. Fun, "We Are Young"
07. J Cole, "Work Out"
08. Imagine Dragons, "It’s Time"
09. Taylor Swift, "We Are Never"
10. Passion Pit, "Take A Walk"
11. Ellie Golding, "Lights"
12. Fun, "Some Nights"
13. Carrie Underwood, "Good Girl"
14. Maroon 5, "One More Night"
15. Griswolds, "Heart Of A Lion"
16. Sleeper Agent, "Get Burned"
17. Neon Trees, "Everybody Talks"
18. Atlas Genius, "Back Seat"
19. Gotye, "Somebody That I Used To Know"
20. Katy Perry, "Wide Awake"
21. Linkin Park, "Burn It Down"
22. Karmin, "Brokenhearted"
23. Ellie Goulding, "Anything Could Happen"
24. Maroon 5, "Pay Phone"
25. Selena Gomez, "Love You Like A Love Song"
26. Jjamz, "Heartbeat"
27. Christina Aguilera, "Your Body"
28. Yuna, "Live Your Life"
29. Gym Class Heroes, "Ass Back Home"
30. Justin Bieber & Nicki Minaj, "Beauty & A Beat"
31. Ke$ha, "Die Young"
32. Pink, "Blow Me One Last Kiss"
33. Pitbull, "Back In Time"
34. Flo Rida, "Whistle"
35. Calvin Harris & Flo, "Sweet Nothing"
36. Nicki Minaj, "Pound The Alarm"
37. Psy, "Gangnam Style"
38. Calvin Harris & Ne Yo, "Let Me Love You"
39. Katy Perry, "Part Of Me"
40. Pitbull & Chris Brown, "International Love"
41. Usher, "Scream"
42. Nicki Minaj, "Starships"
43. One Direction, "What Makes You Beautiful"
44. Icona Pop, "I Love It"
45. David Guetta & Sia, "Titanium"
46. Kylie Minogue, "Timebomb"
47. Swedish House Mafia, "Don’t You Worry Child"
48. Flo Rida & Sia, "Wild Ones"
49. J-Lo & Pitbull, "Dance Again"
50. David Guetta & Usher, "Without You"
51. One Direction, "Live While You’re Young"
52. Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
53. Snow Patrol, "Chasing Cars"

 

 

As you can see, the music that I played at this event was mostly mainstream club dance hits, and top40. It's the same sort of music that I put on all my Workout Mixes. If you'd like to check out any of my Workout Mixes, you can download them from this page:

www.djbolivia.ca/workout.html

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Upbeat Workout Music, Mix #08

I'm DJ'ing at St. Thomas University (Canada) in a couple weeks, and I've been trying to catch up on top40/mainstream music while I'm hanging out in South America right now. And since I'm trying to get caught up on that type of music, I figured that I should make a new Workout Mix. Well, things quickly got out of control. I quickly realized I had enough music for two new mixes, which was fine. No problem. Then, last night, while I was starting to get organized, I discovered that I had already put Workout Mix #08 together, ages ago, but I hadn't ever posted it online! Ridiculous.

I was trying to figure out when I did this, and the best that I can figure is that I might have done it last April? I'm basing that guess upon the tracks that I used, and the fact that if I did make it in April, it would make sense that I forgot about it since May through August is insane for me at work. It's possible that it was done as early as February of last year, but I'm guessing March or April is more likely.

So anyway, this is the old Workout Mix #08. Yes, the music is a bit dated now, but whatever. I listened to it again today and it was a fun-sounding mix, so why not? The only thing that I did before putting it online was to re-mix it slightly, to replace one track that I didn't like. Anyway, I still have two other (newer) workout mixes that I'm ready to release, which I'll post online next week and the week after. I should probably spread them out, instead of putting them all up at the same time.

The mix is a continuous music mix which is an hour long, and anyone can download it (the link is under the track listings). This mix is for demo purposes only, and commercial resale or redistribution is not permitted.


Here are Track Listings for Workout Mix #08:

01. Anjulie, "Brand New Chick."
02. Selena Gomez, "Love You Like A Love Song" (Dave Aude Club Remix).
03. Guinevere, "Crazy Crazy" (Dave Aude Clean Show Mix).
04. Calvin Harris feat Kelis, "Bounce" (Matt Balfe Remix).
05. Jefr Tale, "Start Again" (Anthem Remix).
06. Tom Fall & Jwaydan, "Untouchable" (Paul Keeley Remix).
07. Kaskade feat Mindy Gledhill, "Eyes" (Extended Mix).
08. David Guetta feat Nicki Minaj, "Turn Me On" (Sebastien Drums Remix).
09. Tonite Only, "Haters Gonna Hate" (Nicky Romero Out Of Space Remix).
10. David Guetta feat Sia, "Titanium" (Esquire Remix).
11. Anda Adam, "Panda Madam" (Extended Mix).
12. Destructo feat Oliver, "Technology" (Original Mix).
13. Jennifer Lopez feat Pitbull, "Dance Again" (Gregor Salto Bateria Mix).
14. Breathe Carolina, "Blackout" (Wideboys Club Mix).
15. Avicii feat Flo Rida, "Levels, Good Feeling" (Gordon & Doyle Mashup).
16. Bingo Players, "Cry Just A Little" (Original Mix).


Note: If you're trying to track down remixes listed above and they sound different than what you're hearing in this mix, it's because I do a lot of specific editing of my own to each track before I put the mix together, and there is a lot of extra percussion added.

To download a 1.5 GB Zip file that includes all of the mixes in DJ Bolivia's workout series, right-click on this link and choose "save target" or "save link":

chma.fm/Workout_Mixes_1-12.zip

For links to the blog posts about the other mixes in this series, visit:

www.djbolivia.ca/workout

I have lots of other upbeat electronica mixes available on my DJ website. Admittedly, there aren't too many mixes there [yet] that are exclusively club dance tracks, but there are a lot of house/trance mixes that I find to be pretty good to listen to when I'm going running. Or driving. Or doing any sort of mindless task where I just want some energetic beats to listen to. Most of them are about an hour long, to fit onto a standard CD. Check them out, maybe you'd enjoy some of them? And click here if you're interested in one of my favorites, a massive four-hour mix that I made of classic dance tracks from the late 1990's and early 2000's.



Follow Jonathan Clark on other sites:
        SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/djbolivia
        YouTube: youtube.com/djbolivia
        Facebook: facebook.com/djbolivia
        Main Site: www.djbolivia.ca
        Music Blog: djbolivia.blogspot.ca





And finally, here are YouTube videos for most of the songs on this mix, if you're curious (although the videos mix not be for the exact remixes that I used):

STU Graffiti Party, 2012

I just played at the Holy Cross Graffiti Party at STU this past weekend in Fredericton. As always, the crowd was great and I had a lot of fun.



The set was done on CDJ players, not through Ableton. I didn't record it, but I did write down a set list below. It was a very mainstream/top40 sort of event, and I played requests for most of the night. I ended up playing about 17 or 18 requests, and unfortunately I had requests for four songs that I didn't have (well, one that was an inappropriate genre at the time, one track that I didn't have, and two tracks that I couldn't identify based on the possibly-inaccurate titles that I was given). I played some downtempo tracks (mostly classic hip hop) for the first hour, and the dance floor was pretty packed for the last two hours, when I played a lot of older top40 hits (these were mostly requests).


Here's the set list:

01. Digable Planets, "Rebirth Of Cool"
02. Black-Eyed Peas, "Imma Be"
03. Dre, "Nuthing But a G Thang"
04. Fugees, "Ready Or Not"
05. Outkast, "Ms Jackson"
06. Kanye West, "Golddigger"
07. Notorious BIG, "Juicy"
08. ODB, "Baby I Got Your Money"
09. Nelly, "EI"
10. Nelly, "Hott In Here"
11. 50 Cent, "In Da Club"
12. Jay-Z, "Big Pimpin'"
13. House Of Pain, "Jump Around"
14. Chiddy Bang, "Ray Charles"
15. Snoop, Wiz Khalifa, & Bruno Mars, "Young, Wild, & Free"
16. Gym Class Heroes, "Stereo Hearts"
17. Jay-Z & Kanye West, "Ni**as In Paris"
18. Downtown Fiction, "Thanks For Nothing"
19. Hot Chella Rae, "I Like It Like That"
20. Lady Gaga, "Just Dance"
21. Ke$ha, "Blah Blah Blah"
22. BOB, Airplanes.
23. Estelle, "American Boy"
24. Rihanna, "Please Don't Stop"
25. Usher & Pitbull, "DJ's Got Us Fallin' In Love"
26. Katy Perry, "Firework"
27. Jennifer Lopez, "Papi"
28. Flo Rida, "Good Feeling"
29. LMFAO, "Sexy & I Know It"
30. LMFAO, "I'm In Miami"
31. Maroon 5, "Moves Like Jagger"
32. Alexandra Stan, "Mr Saxobeat"
33. Milk & Sugar, "Hey Nah Nah Nah"
34. David Guetta, "Who's That Chick"
35. Ke$ha, "Take It Off"
36. Yolanda, "We No Speak Americano"
37. Sak Noel, "Loca People"
38. Ke$ha, "We R Who We R"
39. Katy Perry, "The One That Got Away"
40. Rihanna, "Only Girl In The World"
41. Rihanna, "Rockstar 101"
42. Swedish House Mafia, "Save The World"
43. Avicii, "Levels"
44. Wolfgang Gartner, "Illmerica"
45. Tiesto & Diplo, "Maximal Crazy"
46. Benny Benassi, "Cinema"

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca