Reply to Don't overthink.

Seriously.

Just as a public service notice.

Don't over-believe spinning out. Do it from your soul; from your gut.

I've spent a long time here. Learned the ropes from being an avid music listener to actually playing out and getting gigs.

This is my advice to the person in my shoes, coming from loving the music, getting fed up with shitty DJ's you are seeing play out, and taking the next step in learning the trade yourself and having an absolute blast and loving sharing the tunes you love with people.

Don't over-believe things. When creating a set, make a set that YOU yourself would want to listen to. Trust in yourself.

Personally I use iTunes for my music management. When I'm playing any given gig, I sit down and go through my music downloading sites for whatever I may be playing. Put a huge bin together of all the stuff that suites my fancy. Then I go through and listen to it all individually. Oftentimes I'll look the full song up on youtube while checking my crate to make sure I like the full thing, not just like the little sample bit. I cut a LOT of tracks this way.

The other trick? This is a LONG-TERM thing. BUY FULL ALBUMS NOT JUST SINGLES.

That album the one track you LOVE is on? The other tracks on it most likely are perfect down the road. Buy the FULL album and even if you just use the one track NOW, the others will be there later.

When going through my best sets, I often bring up a lot of stuff I've picked up recently. I'll either go through recent sets I've played out... but at least once a month or so I'll go through my WHOLE collection of a certain genre (I spin breaks primarily for instance) and listen through all the tracks I have. Build up and drop at least. Then I add EVERYTHING that fits the mood that I might spin.

I use Serato personally, but I imagine the same with Traktor plus the added fact of gridding absolutely everything (BORING). But when I buy my music, I immediately run it through Serato to analyze it. Then I run it through Mixed in Key afterward. I have the BPM analyzed by Serato, and the Key with MiK.

When planning sets I usually make sure I have 10 tracks at least to choose between of any given key.

When I'm actually spinning, I play sort the playlist via the comment tag, where I have all the key's put in. I also make notes on specific tracks if they stand out to me. Such as:

Adrum Drum (Original Mix) - Savage Skulls 4A **** HUGE BUILD UPS
Twisted Metal (Keith Mackenzie vs Dj Fixx Remix) Baymont Bross, Ray'NPro 8A ***** Bass Heavy

I usually go from like 1A then up until 12A, then back down to 1A. And just with that selection, and the notes I make, it allows me to limit what I want to play next and I have a good selection to what I'm feeling with the crowd.

That's my advice for the evening . Take note, believe about it, and do what you feel works for you best