For example in a 21st Pub Birthday party, I would be baffled as the order of the songs...

I would probably:

1/ Start off with the old love songs - Phill Collins, Celine Dion??
2/ Move onto some more Mellow stuff - James Blunt, Jack Johnson??
3/ Oldies- Abracadabra, Jackson 5, Gogo's??
4/ Move on to some HipHop - Jump around etc??
5/ Some light funky house - love sensation, sweet thang etc ??
6/ Some Light RnB - Beyonce, 50cent etc???
7/ Finish off with a 'finisher' - Delilah, New York etc??


Please correct this or tell me roughly the order I should be aiming at...
Does this suck!!!!!????

Well you were doing alright for the first 3.. but really, as soon as people are up and ready to dance, you have to start judging things yourself.
Once this happens there is no sure fire list you can stick to!

You will find you'll have to keep genres/styles together..so work with small sets (3-4 tracks) and judge what to move into next by who's on the floor, and who looks ready to get up on the dance floor.

I understand that as a new commer your looking for a safety net... But you really need to get to read the crowd... A good DJ would never have such a rigid idea of what there going to play before the event...

I am doing a 21st in a few weeks time they want 80's and 90's and also some cheese they have said no R&B or Dance... Now I would have thought they would have been the other way round.... You can never tell from one audience to the next....

I think most skills have gone out of DJing except reading the crowd and having an instinct for the next song to play... This will come in time and it is never perfected as again all audiences respond differently to your music choices....

The main thing is to have fun if they see you jigging about looking like your having a ball then this can rub off on them... How ever even this can go against you if your way of the mark with your music selection as they then think great he is playing what he likes... It is always a case of you win some you loose some but you will find as you become more proficient in reading the crowd you will win more than you loose...

Hope this helps and good luck

Nik

I personally wouldn't start off with old love songs. What you play to start with can set the mood for the whole evening and if people arrive at a party and hear music that they want to cry into their beer to, it can spoil the mood for the whole evening.

I would play happy, bouncy, dancey music from the outset.

Agree with Tony.
The attention span of the audience will vary from gig to gig so as suggested, read the crowd and deliver if the 'demand' looks evident and hungry!
How about throwing in some popular late 80s and early 90s at the beginning (background / warm up) before cranking up?
Don't worry if you're asked to play a track again if it looks like its going to go down well!
Most of all, don't be tense and try to enjoy the atmosphere, after all, you're already there and the 'guests' will arrive looking for a great time for sure which you can 'read' from the body language and faces all around.

That's about it, really.
Start off by playing songs which people can dance easy to - 'handbaggy' stuff, gentle but uplifting, in order to coax dancers onto the floor. Don't at this point fall into the trap of lurching into party tunes as soon as a couple of women get up to dance - save the higher energy stuff for later, or you'll burn your choices out and may have to repeat some music, and possibly look silly as well.

Just maintain danceable music of the various genres throughout the night, possibly ending on a couple of well-known slow classics - I'm still occasionally playing Celine Dion's 'My heart Will Go On', but that's my business!

During the night, you may, for example, decide to risk a jump into 'old school' dance - what I prefer to call the Ibiza classics of the nineties - to see what will happen. You may clear the floor, but if not, play a couple more then return to what was going on before - don't play too many tracks of the same type/BPM, as people will get bored, although you will be able to spot this if you are watching closely.

This 'how to finish' lark is an interesting point of discussion - you may feel you want to end on a slowie to defuse a happy crowd before the end, or you might go for something really up-tempo to finish on a high. Some DJs finish with a sing-a-long track like New York, New York, or maybe 'Always look On The Bright Side Of Life'.

The choice of ending is yours, all directions are acceptable; just down to what you feel happy with.

As you are new to this, I highly recommend you spend some time and make some prompt lists - lists of music of various types so that you can run down the list to pick something you feel would fit in at that time. Trying to recall tracks with the pressure and noise of a disco, whilst a young lady is trying to ask you for a song can be surprisingly difficult until you create a mental playlist in your head, which may well happen if you do enough discos.

You have scared me now....

From what I can see the only way to learn is to get an event and if it goes horrably wrong, try again.

At the same time though, the risk of wrecking someones 21'st birthday with a crap dj....

the best thing to do is to find out if their are any djs on here that live near you and offer your services as a roadie to help out at a couple of their gigs. you will learn so much from watching how they read a croud and how they change the music to what fills the dancefloor.

i would normally start of with background music consisting of new and old chart that is not really danceable but toe tapping music so they can chat and get a few drinks inside them before you start playing the dance and cheese.
its also a good idea to ask the party organiser for a rough playlist of tunes they would like.
good luck.
jim

I thought about asking the party organiser that so that is a start...
I might ask to be a roadie for a gig...
Should I just ring any local DJ from the internet?


Cheers guys.... preciate it!

You could, but it's better to go with someone you know beforehand.

If you're lucky, there may be a DJ here on these forums who is free that evening, and who may come out and "hold your hand" for little more than fuel costs and a drink. .

Maybe take along a friend who has good musical knowledge to support you, but don't come to rely on this - that's a mistake I made early on, and a difficult habit to break.

If I lived closer I'd come along, but I don't so can't.

same as andy. im in london so a bit tooooo far to travel. soz
jim

I think to be honest, your better off going to a few gigs with an experianced DJ to learn the ropes..

Hmmmm... OK then.

I have a friend who knows his musical knowledge so I am going to take a risk and jump straight in and get some giggs.


I am confident enough, I just want to get started.

Sorry but this sounds like a car crash waiting to happen.

Surely as a proffesion we cannot encourage this young lad in the way some of us seem to be. Being a DJ is NOT an easy job, it's NOT something you can walk into with a mate who knows a lot about music.

You wouldnt allow someone to fix your car simply because he likes Top Gear.

I dont mean to be mean, but from the questions you have been asking, you clearly don't have a clue what you are doing. Taking bookings (especially weddings & birthday parties) at this stage could be a disaster. People who book a disco expect a disco, not a bloke who knows a bloke who knows about music.

My advice, find a local DJ and offer him a hand for a few months...
Maybe find a local pub that has a disco, offer to do a few nights there, or get to know the DJ, see if he'll let you do the early bit.

It may be frustrating when you start - seeing someone else take the limelight, but trust me, in the long run you will be glad you did.

It is this kind of "anyone can do that" attitude to DJing that is destroying our business.

Please don't take this the wrong way, being a DJ is great and we need young blood in the business, but for your own sake, take your time and get some experience before you try and "fly solo".

...Oh!

I agree with Dale. "Reading the crowd" is not something you can learn to do before hand. Its something that happens given time and practice. I would find it hard to explain to someone else how to do it. You just get a gut feeling of whats going down well and will keep the punters on the floor.

You have to think outside of the box and not play what you personally like but what the punters want. You can get an idea of what's popular by looking at other playlists that have been posted but every function is different and whilst they can give a bit of inspiration, what works at one function may not work at another.

Reading the crowd is a mixture of experience, research, feedback and knowledge. Not something you can learn in your bedroom without a live crowd in front of you.

That's why many of us started by doing disco's for friends free of charge. Then it didn't matter so much if we cocked up. It's also a reason why inexperienced disco's charge a lower rate than experienced DJ's, and there will always be a market for people who can't afford an experienced DJ for their party.

As mentioned, you can get a head start and gain experience much more quickly, and with less risk, by tagging along with an experienced DJ for a few months.

Then you can take on a few bookings of your own, and you will continue to learn by making your own mistakes (the best way to learn anything well) but by telling customers that you are new to DJing and still learning, and by charging an appropriate rate to make up for that, they will be more accepting of this.

There is some very good advice above, and well started from where you are, but don't try and jump straight in at the deep end - it will only end in tears!

Don`t Run before you can walk springs to mind here.

My aim is clubs!

Honestly... I feel I am ready to do it... I just think I am at the stage and know my tracks well enough to start!

ok, its exam time.
you have got 2 bookings.

1st one is a 40th family birthday party with kids as young as 5 and grand parents in their 80s and a mixed age group in between.
they have requested general party music but not supplied a play list.
their will be a buffet and the usual speeches.
the party starts at 8pm until midnight.

what sort of music would you start off with before the buffet is served.

what would you play once the grub and chat is out the way.

at the end of the night what would your last 3 songs be.


2nd party is a 18th birthday with a mixed age group but mainly teenagers.
the birthday boy has requested no cheese what so ever.
their is no buffet and the party is from 8 until midnight.

the girls outnumber the boys by 3 to 1 (my sort of party)

all the boys want to do is get drunk and misbehave and wont dance whatever you play.

a group of about 30 girls that want to dance but dont like the music you are playing come upto you and ask you to play lots of r&b and then lots of cheese.

what would you do. would you play the cheese.

what would be the last 3 songs you would play for this roudy bunch of teenagers.







hope this hasnt put you on the spot but it would give the rest of us a good idea of what advice to give you next.

good luck. and your time starts NOW!
Jim

If it's club work you are after, that's rather different from the mobile disco.
I don't know much about that side of the business, but I'm sure you could get yourself into a local club on one of their 'talent nights' for a couple of hours - ask around.

But I must agree with what has been said earlier - don't take on an imortant gig (in the customer's eyes) such as a birthday or wedding until you've performed a lot of lesser gigs.

You might even be able to hire a venue and hold your own party, inviting people yourself. That's a good way to gain a bit more experience.

But in your other thread you say will be starting with pubs/parties/home functions.

The two are very different, both in how you approach DJing the night, and also in how you get in to them in the first place.

Getting in to club DJing nowadays is very difficult with so many bedroom DJ's desperate to "actually play in front of real people". A club will want to know how many people you can attract, what can you offer that the next guy can't, and how you will increase their turnover. To get a night is just as much about promotion as it is about playing music.

But DJing in a club is easier in some ways, as you can get to know the tastes of your audience in much more detail over several weeks, allowing you to take more risks with new music. But you will need other skills/knowledge/experience such as beat mixing, music flow/energy levels, rotating the dancefloor, etc, as well as being able to read the crowd. And if you don't perform up to their expectations there is a que of other waiting to take your place. And the pay can be quite poor.

But, as with mobile DJing, a short cut to gaining these skills and experience is working with an experienced DJ. Many of the big name DJ's started out carrying the record boxes of other experienced DJ's. Hang out at club, befriend the DJ (don't open with the line I'm a DJ too!).

Or, as Andy says, you could try starting your own night. I've done it in the past, and there are a few guys on here that also do this. However it can take some time to build a regular night up, during which you may end up loosing money.

I wish you luck, but you need to be clear about what you want to do, and be prepared to put in the time and effort to get there.

1st one is a 40th family birthday party with kids as young as 5 and grand parents in their 80s and a mixed age group in between.
they have requested general party music but not supplied a play list.
their will be a buffet and the usual speeches.
the party starts at 8pm until midnight.

what sort of music would you start off with before the buffet is served.

Before the buffet is served I would either play chillout music such as michael buble/Jack Johnson/James Blunt

OR

Paris Chillout Music that is light... i.e. background bar music




what would you play once the grub and chat is out the way.

I would probably start with 70's dancy music then move onto the 80's and blend in a few 90's songs slowly. I would then add in some well known 80's/90's hip hop tunes and then, I would then do an hour of well known pop, i.e. Kylie and girls aloud... Just things the get people up and going and if I get a few requests add them in as well.


at the end of the night what would your last 3 songs be.

Thinking about it,,,, I would probably have to go for:

1) Happy Birthday - Stevie Wonder
2) Way to Amarillo
3) To finish.... I would have a laugh and but on - Don't worry, Be happy!


2nd party is a 18th birthday with a mixed age group but mainly teenagers.
the birthday boy has requested no cheese what so ever.
their is no buffet and the party is from 8 until midnight.

the girls outnumber the boys by 3 to 1 (my sort of party) boff.gif

all the boys want to do is get drunk and misbehave and wont dance whatever you play.

a group of about 30 girls that want to dance but dont like the music you are playing come up to you and ask you to play lots of r&b and then lots of cheese.

what would you do. would you play the cheese?

Tricky one..... Firstly, I would try to find some borderline dance/RNB cheesy things and see if that gets more people on the dance floor..... If not, I would probably do three cheesy'ish songs that could be classed as r'n'b-ish and then back to the dance music but I would ensure that it is very commercial all of the stuff I play. At the end of the day... if the birthday boy is happy with what your playing and most of the other guests are then keep with it, if not put stuff on that everyone else likes for a bit and for every so often put in a track the boy wants.... VERY tricky question though... got me thinking!

what would be the last 3 songs you would play for this roudy bunch of teenagers.

(1) is to make the girls happy... so probably:

1) Bob sinclair - Everybody dance now

2) Put your hands up for Detroit - Fedde La Grande

3) Baby Boy - Beyonce

..... Again... tricky but I think that would have handled the situation well... Maybe I am wrong!???

Cheers JIM!

Robbie.... I am aiming for funky house club music gigs but I also feel that I will enjoy mobile disco'ing!


It is a great way to earn money and whilst I am bettering my mixing skills and perfecting my dance mixes I would like to get into the mobile DJ-ing scene.
It is also a great way to boost my confidence levels.

well done. i know its difficult when you are put on the spot like this.
my reply will most probably be totally different from other djs on here so lets find out.

its not a trick question and it will take time to learn but reading the crowed is very important.
going by what information i have given you,you have thought about a good mixture of music beforehand.
BUT what happens when the punters start turning up for the party and you notice the person whos birthday it is is a punk and a lot of his family and friends are goths (grab as much gear as you can and run)
something similer happened to me in the late 70s and it turned out to be a great party.
dont worry about it. in this situation i would go and ask the party organiser about a few options as you were not supplied with a play list. this always covers you and they might just want the same type of music as any other 40th party.

ok here goes.

We all started out the same bu doing our first gig by ourselves and being worried about what to play and if nobody dances but you have got to jump in the deep end eventually.

As for the start I have to agree with previous about going for more up to date as a background such as 80s and 90s and chuck a few charty ones in for good measure. Again you can still play them later on becuase people don't take that much notice of what you have previously played, you are just setting the scene.

To start with pick a couple from the 90s 80s and recent to see what they go for. If for arguments sake you put Duran Duran on and a few of them scream and invade the floor stick with it for a bit. Gives you time to assess what to put on next and also don't be afraid to ask for requests. This can really help you out of an awkward situation. They cannot really complain if you are playing what they have asked for. This works well towards the end of the night. Try and get a load of requests, hopefully a mixed bag if possible, then you will find 9 times out of 10 the requests are of all types of music, something for everyone and with a little luck and a bit of patter you can keep them dancing

This advice is just what I am after... thank you.

It allows me to learn as much as I can beforehand....


I think a lot of it is using your musical knowledge and combining it with common sense... maybe I am wrong!

ok, back to skool
2nd party is a 18th birthday with a mixed age group but mainly teenagers.
the birthday boy has requested no cheese what so ever.
their is no buffet and the party is from 8 until midnight.

the girls outnumber the boys by 3 to 1 (my sort of party) boff.gif

all the boys want to do is get drunk and misbehave and wont dance whatever you play.

a group of about 30 girls that want to dance but dont like the music you are playing come up to you and ask you to play lots of r&b and then lots of cheese.

what would you do. would you play the cheese?

Tricky one..... Firstly, I would try to find some borderline dance/RNB cheesy things and see if that gets more people on the dance floor..... If not, I would probably do three cheesy'ish songs that could be classed as r'n'b-ish and then back to the dance music but I would ensure that it is very commercial all of the stuff I play. At the end of the day... if the birthday boy is happy with what your playing and most of the other guests are then keep with it, if not put stuff on that everyone else likes for a bit and for every so often put in a track the boy wants.... VERY tricky question though... got me thinking!

RNB cheesy things. are these a new snack on the market .
R&B and cheese are two totally different genres and couldnt be further apart.
for most 18 year olds r&b is what has made it into the charts over the last couple of years ie: 50 cent, the game, beyonce, rihanna, usher, r kelly etc.
cheese can go as far back as the 70s with tracks like grease, ymca, tight fit, boney m, fame, rocky horror, yellow polker dot bikini and more upto date with cha cha slide, saturday night, fast food rockers etc.
i would check with the party host before i played any cheese as he requested it not be played. after hes tanked up on beer you could ask him that its been requested by the girls and 9 times out of ten he will say go for it.

r&b always goes down well with 18 year olds as does hip hop jungle and house.



what would be the last 3 songs you would play for this roudy bunch of teenagers.

(1) is to make the girls happy... so probably:

1) Bob sinclair - Everybody dance now

2) Put your hands up for Detroit - Fedde La Grande

3) Baby Boy - Beyonce

normally theese 3 tracks would have already been asked for so you have 2 options, slow or party.
so a rough idea would be take that, robbie williams or james blunt if they want slow
or party
the blues brothers, dexys midnight runners and finally your fun tune as you mentioned in your previous post.
i nearly always play the dance version of zorba the greek. it gets them in a circle jumping around. a bit like playing new york new york but more manic. this will end the night in roughly the same way as the other party.

as i said before, you will have a rough idea what you are going to play but once youve read the croud that might all change.
this would be a rough idea of a night for me but could be totally different from everyone else on here so this is why you need to go out with other djs and not jump in at the deep end and just get some bookings straight away.

good luck and welcome to the world of the DJ
Jim

..... Again... tricky but I think that would have handled the situation well... Maybe I am wrong!???

DJU is all about helping people and in this situation we have a new member who is eager to learn and already some have given free advice to help; with others, quite rightly, advising caution.

A forum such as this cannot teach someone 100% how to DJ. Sure we can say 'do this' or 'don't do that' but a lot of the art of our craft can only be learnt at the coal face. The best way to achieve this is by tagging along with another DJ - hopefully one who has a number of years' experience. The 2nd best way is to practice in front of a forgiving crowd (for when things go wrong) and by this I mean Youth Clubs or friends parties (as freebies).

For anyone who chooses to jump in at the deep end my advice would be don't, however when this advice is ignored then the least we can do is throw in a lifejacket. (what good a lifejacket will do at a coal face is another matter ).

So to offer a ladder to someone stuck in a hole, which is now filling with water, (and my apologies for all these analogies) the best way to deal with the event is to get to know your audience and what they want by talking to them. Use the time when you are playing background music to go around the tables, introduce yourself and find out what they like.

In the time leading up to the event practice everything from setting up your equipment, dealing with potential problems*, trying out all kinds of music, using the mic etc.

*one mark of a professional DJ is to be prepared for the unexpected. When you next practice turn off your mixer mid song. Assume now that your mixer has failed and, if this happens at a gig, how would you cope? Work out a strategy to deal with this - do you have a back-up mixer? could you by-pass the mixer - if so what leads/adaptors do you need?

You need to do this with everything in the sound chain because it's a case of not if but when something fails and the way you plan in advance can determine whether the night is ruined or not.

Very true... I never thought about that!

Expect the unexpected. I remember doing my first 18th a few years ago. I started off playing upbeat dancy tunes without much success. Then a guy came up with all his mates and asked me to put his CD on, it was what they call in scotland full of bouncy tunes. ( Happy hardcore). What a killer nobody wanted to dance then a young lad asked me if I had Come On Eileen. Put that on and the floor was jumping with all these teenagers. From then on it was that type of music. Ended up a good night but i still hate 18ths

we have an enquiry for a 21st.the birthday girl wants all 60's music