BPM Range: 75-82 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: Main room 11:30PM @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival. The main room opener was DJ Power putting up some amazing tracks and we had a very good DJ transition. The set stopped to do the JnJ awards. The theme for this event was "Generations" and in the DJ meeting there was an emphasis on playing old school songs mixed with the new songs. This was my last set of the festival so I planned on playing oldies like Isabela and Yolanda as well as some classic Kizomba songs. I also played with the halloween theme of the festival with a few halloween songs. The video looks better compared to the other ones I recorded at the event. I changed a few of the camera settings. The second camera didn't record very well in the low light. If you want a perspective on how dark the room was, I put the second camera angle on for a few shots. But didn't put more because the footage was too dark. In My DJ Mind: I was asked to play some "lower energy" songs towards the end of my set. My response was a polite decline because I take live feedback from the active dancers, constantly observing both those dancing and those sitting. I juggle decisions on how to keep the current dancers on the floor while encouraging others to join. I’m actively engaged with the dancers throughout my sets. Through past experiences, I’ve learned not to cater to a few people at the expense of the larger group enjoying the music. When I DJ, I aim to weave a "story" or "journey" through the songs. So, if someone asks me to change that story halfway through, I decline. Imagine you’re watching a movie or reading a book and enjoying it when someone enters halfway through and demands a change to the plot-it would be jarring. If they’d been there from the start, they’d understand the flow of the story. From my perspective, most dancers on the floor were enjoying the "story" I was telling. I’m not perfect, and there are times when I do shift the narrative, but I do it based on my own judgment and the energy of the dancers who are actively engaged in that journey. I hope that brings some insight into how I approach DJing live. Links: Zouk Conexao: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_atlanta/ Zouk Conexao Festival: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_festival/ DJ Power: instagram.com/djpower_zouk/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
*This set was about 80% requested songs. I could have played more requests but I only played requested songs when I recognized the dancer who requested was in the room dancing. BPM Range: 75-82 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: Opening the Main room @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival. The day social closer was DJ Chuky and then DJ Bandido came on after me. The theme for this event is "Generations" and in the DJ meeting there was an emphasis on playing old school songs mixed with the new songs. That is what I tried to do with this set and I feel like I accomplished that. I am very happy with how I prepared for this set with that theme in mind. I also played a few Halloween remixes. The video has rolling back bars this is because I set the wrong shutter speed on the cameras. This hasn't been a problem in the past, but with the larger room and older lights, it is noticeable. The Sunday set, I am editing now, should look much better. Links: Zouk Conexao: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_atlanta/ Zouk Conexao Festival: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_festival/ DJ Chuky: instagram.com/dj_chuky_zouk/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Bandido: instagram.com/leandrobandidozouk/
BPM Range: 75-82 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: Closing the Day Social on Friday @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival. This is my favorite festival in the US. Jose, Joseph and Jacqueline as well as the amazing staff help make this the best event possible. I went on after DJ Power and then DJ Bandido came on after me. The theme for this event is "Generations" and in the DJ meeting there was an emphasis on playing old school songs mixed with the new songs. That is what I tried to do with this set and I feel like I accomplished that. I am very happy with how I prepared for this set with that theme in mind. Venturing into the old school Kizomba and traditional zouk and out into newer remixes of old school songs like Hot in Herre and others. I had a lot of fun DJing this set and I hope you enjoy the creativity. On a side note, the room was empty towards the end. I soon found out why and it was because everyone went to their rooms to change into their halloween costumes for the theme of the night social. Links: Zouk Conexao: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_atlanta/ Zouk Conexao Festival: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_festival/ DJ Power: instagram.com/djpower_zouk/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Bandido: instagram.com/leandrobandidozouk/
BPM Range: 76-83. Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: I opened the day social, actually Issac opened the social. It was a very fun and packed social. Links: Sensual Movement: instagram.com/sensual_movement_miami/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Fab: instagram.com/fabioaraujodj/ DJ Instinx: instagram.com/mercenario_116/
*The render cut out the audio at the end of the video where DJ Tom transitions in with Gasolina. It was a very cool transition. But I can't re-render the video, so I cut the last part out. So just imagine Gasolina coming in at the end...* BPM Range: 76-83 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! "Anger is an emotional punishment you give yourself for somebody else’s behavior.” Notes: I played in the middle DJ Fab opening, and DJ Tom closing (Linked below). I had two goals in this set; practice for next weeks @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival, and play @IceCubeCubevision new song "Its My Ego". And I am happy to say I did both. I was initially supposed open the social. On my way to Miami, I got caught in gridlock for over an hour. Initially I was supposed to get there at 10:40. I didn't get there until 11:58. I would be lying if I said it didn't affect my night. My number one pet peeve is being late, I love arriving early to commitments I make. I felt off because of the delay, which I felt translated into my set. The raw emotions brought on by a delay in life that I could not control. Even my dancing felt off. So, when I started DJing I thought "screw it, lets see how I can translate these emotions into my DJing." I did riskier transitions and experimented with different styles of music/FX. I am proud of this set, flaws and all. Links: Sensual Movement: instagram.com/sensual_movement_miami/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Fab: instagram.com/fabioaraujodj/ DJ Tom: instagram.com/tomsouza4/
BPM Range: 72-80 Brazilian Zouk Set Closer. Following DJ Instinx. I hope you enjoy! Notes: I closed the Zouk room Friday night. I always enjoy being able to DJ for the Zoukers in Miami. Hope to see you at the next event! I was operating at 70-80% of my capacity. Relistening to my set and thinking back on my performance I see I made more mistakes than I would normally. I believe it's because of my new work. On weekdays I work 11 hour days which includes this Friday. I always try to my upmost to give everyone present the best of myself even when I'm not at 100%. So I was happy to hear from the dancers after the event that they loved the set. I will keep that in mind for the next events. Links: Sensual Movement: DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
BPM Range 80-92 Higher-mid energy focusing more on Kizomba with higher BPM. This is Part 2 of the social last Friday. Notes: This social was supposed to be KiZouk but ended up being KIZZZouk! For every Zouk dancer, there were four Kizomba dancers. As much as I wanted to play more Zouk, I really couldn’t. Slowing down the BPM had more dancers sitting, while bumping up the BPM kept them moving. I’m by no means a Kizomba DJ, but I’ve been listening to and learning from local and international Kizomba DJs. In my opinion, they are currently the best "ballroom" dance style DJs in any genre, with higher levels of technical skill and risk-taking. Overall, I think I did pretty well! You’d have a hard time convincing me to DJ a 100% Kizomba event as I am a Brazilian Zouk DJ, but I can definitely do KiZouk and I do it often. I love Kizomba music and enjoy incorporating it into my sets when I DJ Zouk events. This is part 2 of the recording from Friday night. We paused the social for a birthday dance, so you’ll get a double feature! It will go live as soon as I finish editing. Since I knew this event would be heavy on Kizomba, I took some musical liberties and found new Kizomba tracks to add to my collection. That preparation paid off! The only transition I prepared was from this short ( / watchv=50hd3wso8yq&list=fllnp6_4udrj9jwizx... ) which gave me new life in my discovery of new afrobeat songs. You will see that transition in part 2. I prepared it during the class so its transition isn't that great but I really enjoyed it! Links: Bachata Overdose: / bachataoverdose DJ Matthew: / djmatthewdc
BPM Range 80-92 Higher-mid energy focusing more on Kizomba with higher BPM. Notes: This social was supposed to be KiZouk but ended up being KIZZZouk! For every Zouk dancer, there were four Kizomba dancers. As much as I wanted to play more Zouk, I really couldn’t. Slowing down the BPM had more dancers sitting, while bumping up the BPM kept them moving. I’m by no means a Kizomba DJ, but I’ve been listening to and learning from local and international Kizomba DJs. In my opinion, they are currently the best "ballroom" dance style DJs in any genre, with higher levels of technical skill and risk-taking. Overall, I think I did pretty well! You’d have a hard time convincing me to DJ a 100% Kizomba event as I am a Brazilian Zouk DJ, but I can definitely do KiZouk and I do it often. I love Kizomba music and enjoy incorporating it into my sets when I DJ Zouk events. This is part 1 of the recording from Friday night. We paused the social for a birthday dance, so you’ll get a double feature! It will go live as soon as I finish editing. Since I knew this event would be heavy on Kizomba, I took some musical liberties and found new Kizomba tracks to add to my collection. That preparation paid off! The only transition I prepared was from this short (th-cam.com/video/50HD3wSO8YQ/w-d-xo.html) which gave me new life in my discovery of new afrobeat songs. You will see that transition in part 2. I prepared it during the class so its transition isn't that great but I really enjoyed it! Links: Bachata Overdose: facebook.com/bachataoverdose DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
Brazilian Zouk Social in Miami September 7th 2024 BPM Range: 75-85 Notes: This video is the second export. The first time I exported the video, the audio was corrupted. I had to re-export the entire project and lost the original audio from the cameras. There was a great DJ transition between DJ Hex to myself, and then from myself to DJ Kakah. But because of the corrupted files, I couldn't recover their audio. That also means there might be a few millisecond desync between the music and dancers. It's all about active learning, and I now plan on creating backups so the same mistake doesn't happen again. The only prep I had for this set was preparing a ton of new songs and remixes I bought. I had a lot of fun playing and the energy was amazing! DJ Hex built up the energy ending his set with some middle eastern vibes, DJ Kakah came on after me and dominated, everyone was having fun! Then DJ Tom came in to close the night bringing some amazing vibes. All this happened at K&K Billiards in Miami. Links: DJ Kakah: / djkakah Victoria: / victoriazouk DJ Hex: / djhexistential Live To Zouk: / livetozouk DJ Matthew: / djmatthewdc DJ Tom: / tomsouza4 K&K Billiards: / kkbilliardsmiami
Zouk Weekender September 6th for DJ Kakah and Victoria Weekender BPM 77-85 Want to learn how to dance Brazilian Zouk or Kizomba? The easiest way to find the dance scene in your city is to look up Zouk/Brazilian Zouk/Kizomba on FaceBook, and you will find something there. Keep in mind that there is usually more than one dance scene/Organization in every community, so keep an open mind and try every opportunity. Notes: This is the Friday night social for the weekender where we have world renowned DJ and Producer Kakah (Linked below) teaching and DJing alongside her partner Victoria. The turnout was a little low because there were two other Zouk events happening. But that didn't stop us from having a great time! Hopefully more people come to the Saturday night social. Following me was DJ Tom, and DJ Hex. Links: DJ Kakah: instagram.com/djkakah/ Victoria: instagram.com/victoriazouk/ Live To Zouk: instagram.com/livetozouk/ DJ Tom: instagram.com/tomsouza4/ DJ Hex: instagram.com/djhexistential/ My Instagram: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
BPM Range: 74-80 Brazilian Zouk Set opener. Followed by DJ Instinx I hope you enjoy! Notes: I opened the night with DJ Instinx (linked below) on deck after. I went with the vibes... Did you find the easter egg in the video thumbnail? Links: Sensual Movement: / sensual_movement_miami Zouk United: / zoukunitedmiami DJ Instinx: / mercenario_116
BPM range: 77-85 Higher energy South Beach Vibes Notes: This is a birthday party social for Pantea with a salsa/bachata room and zouk room at Moxy South Beach Miami. It was a very fun event, and I tried to make the vibes feel like South Beach. The front camera's battery dies an hour in and there weren't enough outlets to plug it in. Also there is a cut in the video due to a copyright strike around the 4 minute mark. There isn't anything I can do but just trim it out of the video so there will be a noticeable jump cut. I can't monetize these videos due to how strict TH-cam is with its copyright and music restriction. But I think I can reach more people using TH-cam instead of SoundCloud and MixCloud, with my goal being to bring more awareness of Brazilian Zouk to the general public. The very end of the set, I switched to a few bachata songs per request. I'm not a bachata DJ but I had fun with the few bachata songs I had. Originally, there were supposed to be 2 rooms. But due to the Zouk room being empty for over an hour, the hotel and Pantea chose to combine the rooms. Which was the correct decision. That is why the set ends in bachata and why I didn't play longer. Links: Moxy: instagram.com/moxysouthbe... Pantea: instagram.com/pantea.hear...
BPM 73-85 Mixture of everything. Note: I went into this set with a few songs in mind, and then played with those specific songs in mind curating the set live to those vibes. One of those songs is from @ayrastarrofficial and the other is from @djkakahh . This video took a while to render, with multiple failed attempts, which is why it took so long to upload. I am still troubleshooting to figure out a possible solution. I hope a new hard drive will do the trick. Links: Bachata Overdose: facebook.com/bachataoverdose Zouk Army Orlando: facebook.com/zoukarmyorlando @zoukarmyorlando9121
BPM Range: 75-83 Brazilian Zouk Set opener. Followed by DJ Instinx I hope you enjoy! Notes: I opened the night with DJ Instinx (linked below) on deck after. This is my second time playing at Sensual Movement (SM), and both times I had issues with my cameras. Last week the footage was partially corrupted. And this week I messed up the position of one of the GoPros (The wall is in the shot). Then I pressed the slow mo record on the main camera. I got a few usable shots from the main camera but most of the footage was tossed. I am going to work harder to make sure the next recording @SM goes perfect. Links: Sensual Movement: / sensual_movement_miami Zouk United: / zoukunitedmiami DJ Instinx: / mercenario_116
BPM 72-78 Chill Brazilian Zouk Set in Miami, Sunday, July 21st Notes: I was asked to play a chill set for the theme of the day social. I got a bit excited midway through and brought the energy up, but I had to remind myself to bring it back down to match the vibe. What can I say? I often get hyped when DJing, which leads me to higher energy tracks. I had a lot of fun and look forward to experimenting more with "chill" vibes in future sets. DJ Instinx came on to DJ after my set. The video took longer to upload than usual due to several failed export attempts these past few days. I'm still figuring out the cause of the delays and will keep experimenting to find the best way to render videos efficiently. Links: Zouk United: instagram.com/zoukunitedmiami/ DJ Instinx: instagram.com/mercenario_116/
Want to learn how to dance Brazilian Zouk or Kizomba? The easiest way to find the dance scene in your city is to look up Zouk/Brazilian Zouk/Kizomba on FaceBook, and you will find something there. Keep in mind that there is usually more than one dance scene/Organization in every community, so keep an open mind and try every opportunity. Notes: I got a new camera to hopefully make the quality better in low light. All the footage was taken in 4K. The first and last part of the set I used the audio from the camera instead of Serato so you can hear the DJ transitions (DJs linked below), I thought it was neat so I kept it in. When editing videos like this with multiple angles and separate audio files all with different recording times, it is difficult to sync all the visuals with the audio perfectly. So you might notice a millisecond of desync in the dancing.
Notes: When I train, I train with Brazilian Zouk in mind. I do not categorize myself as a Kizomba DJ because from my observation, I do not have the technical skills I see local and international Kizomba DJs displaying when they play their sets. Those are the DJs I have been watching and taking inspiration from so I can continue to level up my skills. One of the biggest compliments I have gotten so far is from a local DJ who told me I am starting to sound more like a Kizomba DJ when I play. I do play a ton of Kizomba music during my sets normally. The organizer @bachataoverdose3089 asked me to play the Kizomba room so I did and spent most of the week finding new songs and practicing only Kizomba. Brazilian Zouk and Kizomba mix very well together, so I hope y'all enjoy something a little different from what I normally do. I practiced all week in preparation for this social, but I did not have anything planned. So this set was all spontaneous. I was hoping more dancers would show up so I can vibe with the floor more, but regardless, I enjoyed my time playing and taking risks! I debated on if I should post this set due to the lack of dancers. But the video that has the most views on my channel was another video that I debated and thought not upload. It became the most popular on the channel. So I decided to upload this one as well.
Notes: I have experience with Sony New Vegas Pro but can't use that on my Mac. I am still learning Mac's editing software, some of the audio might not sync completely with the dancing. I will keep practicing. Another Brazilian Zouk Event Happened At The Same Time In Miami.
Note: This is the first time I am using iMovie to edit videos. I have experience with Sony New Vegas Pro but can't use that on my Mac. I am still learning iMovie so some of the audio might not sync completely. I will keep practicing.
Notes: I like to do research before preparing my sets. This includes getting song requests from dancers attending the event and asking the organizers questions about the type of vibe the local dancers prefer. I was informed that the scene had more beginners, so I tailored most of the set to a beginner crowd, focusing on songs with easy-to-hear Brazilian Zouk beats. This means I started off heavily with @djkakahh songs and then transitioned to Kizomba, followed by requests from the dancers. The requests included Disney songs, EDM, and R&B/HipHop tracks, which you'll hear towards the middle and end of the set. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to all of the requests due to time constraints, but I managed to include most of them. I upgraded my editing software from iMovie to Final Cut Pro, and this is the first video I edited using it. Some of the transitions, text, synchronizations, FX, and overall editing might not be amazing as I'm still new to the software. I also tried adding a few things and experimenting with the editing for fun and practice. I like to practice like I play, always learning and trying new things, so the videos will keep improving. I also appreciate how FCP is similar to Sony Vegas, which I'm more accustomed to.
Notes: DJ Yasaf and I were scheduled to DJ the Saturday day social together, and we decided to do a B2B set where he plays three songs, then I play three songs, and so on. We've done this before in Atlanta and thought it would be fun to do it again. The room was mostly empty (except for one or two couples dancing), which is why the 'dance floor' camera wasn't turned on until the 50-minute mark. This set had some requested music, but its towards the end with the EDM and @Omatiasdamasio songs. This video took a few days to edit, and there might be a 1-4 ms delay in the audio due to syncing. I also experimented more with video transitions and practiced with the editing software. I plan to do more three-camera sets in the future once I can invest in a better third camera, as the GoPro Session isn't quite cutting it.
Notes: 77-85BPM Hope y'all enjoy, and if you do, leave a Like and Subscribe. Last night of the Festival in the Main room. The Chill room didn't open yet so I wanted to also play some lower energy music, which I did towards the latter half of my set. I wanted the energy from the pool party to continue in the main room by playing Reggaeton, EDM, Brazilian Funk, and more. The EDM, DJ Auler, Calado, DJ Kakah, and Brazilian Funk songs were requested by the dancers. I am always improving on my skills, Practicing almost every day, testing new things out even when playing live and improvising on how I am feeling at that moment. I was asked to play Lucky You into Bum Bum Tam Tam again, which I have done in the past in previous sets. This time, I tried changing it up more by playing with the vocals of both songs. Its my favorite part of the set. DJ Yasaf and I spent about 2 hours before the main room opened equalizing the sound in the room. Without moving any of the equipment, we were able to get the sound to be perfect. We got a few compliments during the set about the sound being much better. Links: DJ Tom: instagram.com/tomsouza4/ DJ Fogo: instagram.com/fogozouk/ MBZF: instagram.com/miamizoukfestival/ Zouk United: instagram.com/zoukunited/
Notes: 70-73 BPM Closing set to Friday Night Chill room. This room was added last minute during the festival because of high demand for a second room. It was a great call to add it. The energy and vibes were amazing! Over 70% of the songs I played were requested by the dancers. It was really cool being able to play those requests and hear the dancers hooting because their song came on. I made one big error in this set when my hand slipped.
Notes: 78-87 BPM This is the opening set to the Miami Beach Zouk Festival (MBZF). I wanted to keep the energy up with all the hype surrounding this event. About 40% of the songs used for this set were requests by dancers. There are a few errors made during this set, the main error was a controller malfunction that was out of my hands. I had to restart the controller to get the music going again. It happens at the 9:25 mark. Decks 1 and 3 just stopped responding, luckily the controller restart was enough and the music restarted nicely. This is the first time this has happened with the Rane Four. Will need to troubleshoot if it happens again.
Notes: This is a practice session to prep for Miami Beach Zouk Festival. The songs in this session are all requests by dancers who are going to attend the festival. LINK: facebook.com/events/92248... I always take requests before I play at events (only when the request is made prior so I can prepare the song). When I prep requests, I play as if I was playing live and write quick notes so I can later prepare the song with cues, save repeats, adjust the beat grid, etc. It is enough to get a feel for the new songs. I thought it would be great to show how I train/prepare for upcoming events with this video as well as promote the event.
What is that dance? This is Brazilian Zouk! Zouk Conexao: facebook.com/Zoukconexaoatlanta Feat. Marissa: instagram.com/marissatxx/ Jeramie: instagram.com/kooooldrumerboy/
BPM Range: 75-82 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: Main room 11:30PM @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival. The main room opener was DJ Power putting up some amazing tracks and we had a very good DJ transition. The set stopped to do the JnJ awards. The theme for this event was "Generations" and in the DJ meeting there was an emphasis on playing old school songs mixed with the new songs. This was my last set of the festival so I planned on playing oldies like Isabela and Yolanda as well as some classic Kizomba songs. I also played with the halloween theme of the festival with a few halloween songs. The video looks better compared to the other ones I recorded at the event. I changed a few of the camera settings. The second camera didn't record very well in the low light. If you want a perspective on how dark the room was, I put the second camera angle on for a few shots. But didn't put more because the footage was too dark. In My DJ Mind: I was asked to play some "lower energy" songs towards the end of my set. My response was a polite decline because I take live feedback from the active dancers, constantly observing both those dancing and those sitting. I juggle decisions on how to keep the current dancers on the floor while encouraging others to join. I’m actively engaged with the dancers throughout my sets. Through past experiences, I’ve learned not to cater to a few people at the expense of the larger group enjoying the music. When I DJ, I aim to weave a "story" or "journey" through the songs. So, if someone asks me to change that story halfway through, I decline. Imagine you’re watching a movie or reading a book and enjoying it when someone enters halfway through and demands a change to the plot-it would be jarring. If they’d been there from the start, they’d understand the flow of the story. From my perspective, most dancers on the floor were enjoying the "story" I was telling. I’m not perfect, and there are times when I do shift the narrative, but I do it based on my own judgment and the energy of the dancers who are actively engaged in that journey. I hope that brings some insight into how I approach DJing live. Links: Zouk Conexao: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_atlanta/ Zouk Conexao Festival: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_festival/ DJ Power: instagram.com/djpower_zouk/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
*This set was about 80% requested songs. I could have played more requests but I only played requested songs when I recognized the dancer who requested was in the room dancing. BPM Range: 75-82 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: Opening the Main room @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival. The day social closer was DJ Chuky and then DJ Bandido came on after me. The theme for this event is "Generations" and in the DJ meeting there was an emphasis on playing old school songs mixed with the new songs. That is what I tried to do with this set and I feel like I accomplished that. I am very happy with how I prepared for this set with that theme in mind. I also played a few Halloween remixes. The video has rolling back bars this is because I set the wrong shutter speed on the cameras. This hasn't been a problem in the past, but with the larger room and older lights, it is noticeable. The Sunday set, I am editing now, should look much better. Links: Zouk Conexao: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_atlanta/ Zouk Conexao Festival: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_festival/ DJ Chuky: instagram.com/dj_chuky_zouk/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Bandido: instagram.com/leandrobandidozouk/
BPM Range: 75-82 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: Closing the Day Social on Friday @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival. This is my favorite festival in the US. Jose, Joseph and Jacqueline as well as the amazing staff help make this the best event possible. I went on after DJ Power and then DJ Bandido came on after me. The theme for this event is "Generations" and in the DJ meeting there was an emphasis on playing old school songs mixed with the new songs. That is what I tried to do with this set and I feel like I accomplished that. I am very happy with how I prepared for this set with that theme in mind. Venturing into the old school Kizomba and traditional zouk and out into newer remixes of old school songs like Hot in Herre and others. I had a lot of fun DJing this set and I hope you enjoy the creativity. On a side note, the room was empty towards the end. I soon found out why and it was because everyone went to their rooms to change into their halloween costumes for the theme of the night social. Links: Zouk Conexao: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_atlanta/ Zouk Conexao Festival: instagram.com/zouk_conexao_festival/ DJ Power: instagram.com/djpower_zouk/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Bandido: instagram.com/leandrobandidozouk/
Cool set!
Thank you bro!
Let’s goo!! ❤❤
DJ Tom (instagram.com/tomsouza4/) in the flesh.
🎧🎧🎧
Love this! 😊❤
BPM Range: 76-83. Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! Notes: I opened the day social, actually Issac opened the social. It was a very fun and packed social. Links: Sensual Movement: instagram.com/sensual_movement_miami/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Fab: instagram.com/fabioaraujodj/ DJ Instinx: instagram.com/mercenario_116/
*The render cut out the audio at the end of the video where DJ Tom transitions in with Gasolina. It was a very cool transition. But I can't re-render the video, so I cut the last part out. So just imagine Gasolina coming in at the end...* BPM Range: 76-83 Brazilian Zouk Set. I hope you enjoy! "Anger is an emotional punishment you give yourself for somebody else’s behavior.” Notes: I played in the middle DJ Fab opening, and DJ Tom closing (Linked below). I had two goals in this set; practice for next weeks @zoukconexaoatlanta418 Festival, and play @IceCubeCubevision new song "Its My Ego". And I am happy to say I did both. I was initially supposed open the social. On my way to Miami, I got caught in gridlock for over an hour. Initially I was supposed to get there at 10:40. I didn't get there until 11:58. I would be lying if I said it didn't affect my night. My number one pet peeve is being late, I love arriving early to commitments I make. I felt off because of the delay, which I felt translated into my set. The raw emotions brought on by a delay in life that I could not control. Even my dancing felt off. So, when I started DJing I thought "screw it, lets see how I can translate these emotions into my DJing." I did riskier transitions and experimented with different styles of music/FX. I am proud of this set, flaws and all. Links: Sensual Movement: instagram.com/sensual_movement_miami/ DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/ DJ Fab: instagram.com/fabioaraujodj/ DJ Tom: instagram.com/tomsouza4/
Vieux bon temps des souvenirs inoubliable La bonne musique Suis Sénégalais de la Casamance One love ❤
BPM Range: 72-80 Brazilian Zouk Set Closer. Following DJ Instinx. I hope you enjoy! Notes: I closed the Zouk room Friday night. I always enjoy being able to DJ for the Zoukers in Miami. Hope to see you at the next event! I was operating at 70-80% of my capacity. Relistening to my set and thinking back on my performance I see I made more mistakes than I would normally. I believe it's because of my new work. On weekdays I work 11 hour days which includes this Friday. I always try to my upmost to give everyone present the best of myself even when I'm not at 100%. So I was happy to hear from the dancers after the event that they loved the set. I will keep that in mind for the next events. Links: Sensual Movement: DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
The video is great, you need to keep promoting your channel. Is not hard.
BPM Range 80-92 Higher-mid energy focusing more on Kizomba with higher BPM. This is Part 2 of the social last Friday. Notes: This social was supposed to be KiZouk but ended up being KIZZZouk! For every Zouk dancer, there were four Kizomba dancers. As much as I wanted to play more Zouk, I really couldn’t. Slowing down the BPM had more dancers sitting, while bumping up the BPM kept them moving. I’m by no means a Kizomba DJ, but I’ve been listening to and learning from local and international Kizomba DJs. In my opinion, they are currently the best "ballroom" dance style DJs in any genre, with higher levels of technical skill and risk-taking. Overall, I think I did pretty well! You’d have a hard time convincing me to DJ a 100% Kizomba event as I am a Brazilian Zouk DJ, but I can definitely do KiZouk and I do it often. I love Kizomba music and enjoy incorporating it into my sets when I DJ Zouk events. This is part 2 of the recording from Friday night. We paused the social for a birthday dance, so you’ll get a double feature! It will go live as soon as I finish editing. Since I knew this event would be heavy on Kizomba, I took some musical liberties and found new Kizomba tracks to add to my collection. That preparation paid off! The only transition I prepared was from this short ( / watchv=50hd3wso8yq&list=fllnp6_4udrj9jwizx... ) which gave me new life in my discovery of new afrobeat songs. You will see that transition in part 2. I prepared it during the class so its transition isn't that great but I really enjoyed it! Links: Bachata Overdose: / bachataoverdose DJ Matthew: / djmatthewdc
BPM Range 80-92 Higher-mid energy focusing more on Kizomba with higher BPM. Notes: This social was supposed to be KiZouk but ended up being KIZZZouk! For every Zouk dancer, there were four Kizomba dancers. As much as I wanted to play more Zouk, I really couldn’t. Slowing down the BPM had more dancers sitting, while bumping up the BPM kept them moving. I’m by no means a Kizomba DJ, but I’ve been listening to and learning from local and international Kizomba DJs. In my opinion, they are currently the best "ballroom" dance style DJs in any genre, with higher levels of technical skill and risk-taking. Overall, I think I did pretty well! You’d have a hard time convincing me to DJ a 100% Kizomba event as I am a Brazilian Zouk DJ, but I can definitely do KiZouk and I do it often. I love Kizomba music and enjoy incorporating it into my sets when I DJ Zouk events. This is part 1 of the recording from Friday night. We paused the social for a birthday dance, so you’ll get a double feature! It will go live as soon as I finish editing. Since I knew this event would be heavy on Kizomba, I took some musical liberties and found new Kizomba tracks to add to my collection. That preparation paid off! The only transition I prepared was from this short (th-cam.com/video/50HD3wSO8YQ/w-d-xo.html) which gave me new life in my discovery of new afrobeat songs. You will see that transition in part 2. I prepared it during the class so its transition isn't that great but I really enjoyed it! Links: Bachata Overdose: facebook.com/bachataoverdose DJ Matthew: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
Brazilian Zouk Social in Miami September 7th 2024 BPM Range: 75-85 Notes: This video is the second export. The first time I exported the video, the audio was corrupted. I had to re-export the entire project and lost the original audio from the cameras. There was a great DJ transition between DJ Hex to myself, and then from myself to DJ Kakah. But because of the corrupted files, I couldn't recover their audio. That also means there might be a few millisecond desync between the music and dancers. It's all about active learning, and I now plan on creating backups so the same mistake doesn't happen again. The only prep I had for this set was preparing a ton of new songs and remixes I bought. I had a lot of fun playing and the energy was amazing! DJ Hex built up the energy ending his set with some middle eastern vibes, DJ Kakah came on after me and dominated, everyone was having fun! Then DJ Tom came in to close the night bringing some amazing vibes. All this happened at K&K Billiards in Miami. Links: DJ Kakah: / djkakah Victoria: / victoriazouk DJ Hex: / djhexistential Live To Zouk: / livetozouk DJ Matthew: / djmatthewdc DJ Tom: / tomsouza4 K&K Billiards: / kkbilliardsmiami
Buena esa
Zouk Weekender September 6th for DJ Kakah and Victoria Weekender BPM 77-85 Want to learn how to dance Brazilian Zouk or Kizomba? The easiest way to find the dance scene in your city is to look up Zouk/Brazilian Zouk/Kizomba on FaceBook, and you will find something there. Keep in mind that there is usually more than one dance scene/Organization in every community, so keep an open mind and try every opportunity. Notes: This is the Friday night social for the weekender where we have world renowned DJ and Producer Kakah (Linked below) teaching and DJing alongside her partner Victoria. The turnout was a little low because there were two other Zouk events happening. But that didn't stop us from having a great time! Hopefully more people come to the Saturday night social. Following me was DJ Tom, and DJ Hex. Links: DJ Kakah: instagram.com/djkakah/ Victoria: instagram.com/victoriazouk/ Live To Zouk: instagram.com/livetozouk/ DJ Tom: instagram.com/tomsouza4/ DJ Hex: instagram.com/djhexistential/ My Instagram: instagram.com/djmatthewdc/
BPM Range: 74-80 Brazilian Zouk Set opener. Followed by DJ Instinx I hope you enjoy! Notes: I opened the night with DJ Instinx (linked below) on deck after. I went with the vibes... Did you find the easter egg in the video thumbnail? Links: Sensual Movement: / sensual_movement_miami Zouk United: / zoukunitedmiami DJ Instinx: / mercenario_116
Дурацкие движения и танцы
BPM range: 77-85 Higher energy South Beach Vibes Notes: This is a birthday party social for Pantea with a salsa/bachata room and zouk room at Moxy South Beach Miami. It was a very fun event, and I tried to make the vibes feel like South Beach. The front camera's battery dies an hour in and there weren't enough outlets to plug it in. Also there is a cut in the video due to a copyright strike around the 4 minute mark. There isn't anything I can do but just trim it out of the video so there will be a noticeable jump cut. I can't monetize these videos due to how strict TH-cam is with its copyright and music restriction. But I think I can reach more people using TH-cam instead of SoundCloud and MixCloud, with my goal being to bring more awareness of Brazilian Zouk to the general public. The very end of the set, I switched to a few bachata songs per request. I'm not a bachata DJ but I had fun with the few bachata songs I had. Originally, there were supposed to be 2 rooms. But due to the Zouk room being empty for over an hour, the hotel and Pantea chose to combine the rooms. Which was the correct decision. That is why the set ends in bachata and why I didn't play longer. Links: Moxy: instagram.com/moxysouthbe... Pantea: instagram.com/pantea.hear...
BPM 73-85 Mixture of everything. Note: I went into this set with a few songs in mind, and then played with those specific songs in mind curating the set live to those vibes. One of those songs is from @ayrastarrofficial and the other is from @djkakahh . This video took a while to render, with multiple failed attempts, which is why it took so long to upload. I am still troubleshooting to figure out a possible solution. I hope a new hard drive will do the trick. Links: Bachata Overdose: facebook.com/bachataoverdose Zouk Army Orlando: facebook.com/zoukarmyorlando @zoukarmyorlando9121
Oh my goodness! This might was filled with incredibly talented and joyful dancers!
🔥🔥🔥
BPM Range: 75-83 Brazilian Zouk Set opener. Followed by DJ Instinx I hope you enjoy! Notes: I opened the night with DJ Instinx (linked below) on deck after. This is my second time playing at Sensual Movement (SM), and both times I had issues with my cameras. Last week the footage was partially corrupted. And this week I messed up the position of one of the GoPros (The wall is in the shot). Then I pressed the slow mo record on the main camera. I got a few usable shots from the main camera but most of the footage was tossed. I am going to work harder to make sure the next recording @SM goes perfect. Links: Sensual Movement: / sensual_movement_miami Zouk United: / zoukunitedmiami DJ Instinx: / mercenario_116
BPM 72-78 Chill Brazilian Zouk Set in Miami, Sunday, July 21st Notes: I was asked to play a chill set for the theme of the day social. I got a bit excited midway through and brought the energy up, but I had to remind myself to bring it back down to match the vibe. What can I say? I often get hyped when DJing, which leads me to higher energy tracks. I had a lot of fun and look forward to experimenting more with "chill" vibes in future sets. DJ Instinx came on to DJ after my set. The video took longer to upload than usual due to several failed export attempts these past few days. I'm still figuring out the cause of the delays and will keep experimenting to find the best way to render videos efficiently. Links: Zouk United: instagram.com/zoukunitedmiami/ DJ Instinx: instagram.com/mercenario_116/
Want to learn how to dance Brazilian Zouk or Kizomba? The easiest way to find the dance scene in your city is to look up Zouk/Brazilian Zouk/Kizomba on FaceBook, and you will find something there. Keep in mind that there is usually more than one dance scene/Organization in every community, so keep an open mind and try every opportunity. Notes: I got a new camera to hopefully make the quality better in low light. All the footage was taken in 4K. The first and last part of the set I used the audio from the camera instead of Serato so you can hear the DJ transitions (DJs linked below), I thought it was neat so I kept it in. When editing videos like this with multiple angles and separate audio files all with different recording times, it is difficult to sync all the visuals with the audio perfectly. So you might notice a millisecond of desync in the dancing.
Notes: When I train, I train with Brazilian Zouk in mind. I do not categorize myself as a Kizomba DJ because from my observation, I do not have the technical skills I see local and international Kizomba DJs displaying when they play their sets. Those are the DJs I have been watching and taking inspiration from so I can continue to level up my skills. One of the biggest compliments I have gotten so far is from a local DJ who told me I am starting to sound more like a Kizomba DJ when I play. I do play a ton of Kizomba music during my sets normally. The organizer @bachataoverdose3089 asked me to play the Kizomba room so I did and spent most of the week finding new songs and practicing only Kizomba. Brazilian Zouk and Kizomba mix very well together, so I hope y'all enjoy something a little different from what I normally do. I practiced all week in preparation for this social, but I did not have anything planned. So this set was all spontaneous. I was hoping more dancers would show up so I can vibe with the floor more, but regardless, I enjoyed my time playing and taking risks! I debated on if I should post this set due to the lack of dancers. But the video that has the most views on my channel was another video that I debated and thought not upload. It became the most popular on the channel. So I decided to upload this one as well.
Notes: About 1/4 of the songs played were requests.
Notes: I have experience with Sony New Vegas Pro but can't use that on my Mac. I am still learning Mac's editing software, some of the audio might not sync completely with the dancing. I will keep practicing. Another Brazilian Zouk Event Happened At The Same Time In Miami.
Note: This is the first time I am using iMovie to edit videos. I have experience with Sony New Vegas Pro but can't use that on my Mac. I am still learning iMovie so some of the audio might not sync completely. I will keep practicing.
Notes: I like to do research before preparing my sets. This includes getting song requests from dancers attending the event and asking the organizers questions about the type of vibe the local dancers prefer. I was informed that the scene had more beginners, so I tailored most of the set to a beginner crowd, focusing on songs with easy-to-hear Brazilian Zouk beats. This means I started off heavily with @djkakahh songs and then transitioned to Kizomba, followed by requests from the dancers. The requests included Disney songs, EDM, and R&B/HipHop tracks, which you'll hear towards the middle and end of the set. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to all of the requests due to time constraints, but I managed to include most of them. I upgraded my editing software from iMovie to Final Cut Pro, and this is the first video I edited using it. Some of the transitions, text, synchronizations, FX, and overall editing might not be amazing as I'm still new to the software. I also tried adding a few things and experimenting with the editing for fun and practice. I like to practice like I play, always learning and trying new things, so the videos will keep improving. I also appreciate how FCP is similar to Sony Vegas, which I'm more accustomed to.
Notes: DJ Yasaf and I were scheduled to DJ the Saturday day social together, and we decided to do a B2B set where he plays three songs, then I play three songs, and so on. We've done this before in Atlanta and thought it would be fun to do it again. The room was mostly empty (except for one or two couples dancing), which is why the 'dance floor' camera wasn't turned on until the 50-minute mark. This set had some requested music, but its towards the end with the EDM and @Omatiasdamasio songs. This video took a few days to edit, and there might be a 1-4 ms delay in the audio due to syncing. I also experimented more with video transitions and practiced with the editing software. I plan to do more three-camera sets in the future once I can invest in a better third camera, as the GoPro Session isn't quite cutting it.
NOTE: TH-cam, at the moment, won't let me change the thumbnail of shorts videos...
Go DJ!!
Lets Gooooo DJ Tom!!
Notes: 77-85BPM Hope y'all enjoy, and if you do, leave a Like and Subscribe. Last night of the Festival in the Main room. The Chill room didn't open yet so I wanted to also play some lower energy music, which I did towards the latter half of my set. I wanted the energy from the pool party to continue in the main room by playing Reggaeton, EDM, Brazilian Funk, and more. The EDM, DJ Auler, Calado, DJ Kakah, and Brazilian Funk songs were requested by the dancers. I am always improving on my skills, Practicing almost every day, testing new things out even when playing live and improvising on how I am feeling at that moment. I was asked to play Lucky You into Bum Bum Tam Tam again, which I have done in the past in previous sets. This time, I tried changing it up more by playing with the vocals of both songs. Its my favorite part of the set. DJ Yasaf and I spent about 2 hours before the main room opened equalizing the sound in the room. Without moving any of the equipment, we were able to get the sound to be perfect. We got a few compliments during the set about the sound being much better. Links: DJ Tom: instagram.com/tomsouza4/ DJ Fogo: instagram.com/fogozouk/ MBZF: instagram.com/miamizoukfestival/ Zouk United: instagram.com/zoukunited/
Notes: 70-73 BPM Closing set to Friday Night Chill room. This room was added last minute during the festival because of high demand for a second room. It was a great call to add it. The energy and vibes were amazing! Over 70% of the songs I played were requested by the dancers. It was really cool being able to play those requests and hear the dancers hooting because their song came on. I made one big error in this set when my hand slipped.
Notes: 78-87 BPM This is the opening set to the Miami Beach Zouk Festival (MBZF). I wanted to keep the energy up with all the hype surrounding this event. About 40% of the songs used for this set were requests by dancers. There are a few errors made during this set, the main error was a controller malfunction that was out of my hands. I had to restart the controller to get the music going again. It happens at the 9:25 mark. Decks 1 and 3 just stopped responding, luckily the controller restart was enough and the music restarted nicely. This is the first time this has happened with the Rane Four. Will need to troubleshoot if it happens again.
Notes: This is a practice session to prep for Miami Beach Zouk Festival. The songs in this session are all requests by dancers who are going to attend the festival. LINK: facebook.com/events/92248... I always take requests before I play at events (only when the request is made prior so I can prepare the song). When I prep requests, I play as if I was playing live and write quick notes so I can later prepare the song with cues, save repeats, adjust the beat grid, etc. It is enough to get a feel for the new songs. I thought it would be great to show how I train/prepare for upcoming events with this video as well as promote the event.
Monthly Live To Zouk Social: instagram.com/livetozouk/ Feat. Jess: instagram.com/jessovie/ Nicolas: instagram.com/nnel_son/ Dance Awakening: instagram.com/danceawakening/
Monthly Live To Zouk Social: instagram.com/livetozouk/ Feat. Jess: instagram.com/jessovie/ Marcos: instagram.com/marcoscorrea9691/ Nicolas: instagram.com/nnel_son/ Dance Awakening: instagram.com/danceawakening/
Monthly Live To Zouk Social: instagram.com/livetozouk/ Feat. Jess: instagram.com/jessovie/ Marcos: instagram.com/marcoscorrea9691/ Dance Awakening: instagram.com/danceawakening/
Feat. instagram.com/adam.reis.zouk/ instagram.com/lalaoliveira/ Event: facebook.com/bachataoverdose
What is that dance? This is Brazilian Zouk! Zouk Conexao: facebook.com/Zoukconexaoatlanta Feat. Marissa: instagram.com/marissatxx/ Jeramie: instagram.com/kooooldrumerboy/
Event: facebook.com/bachataoverdose They are dancing Kizomba. Like, Comment, Sub for more!
Set from Zouk Conexao: facebook.com/Zoukconexaoatlanta Feat. Ayane instagram.com/meninaenrolada/