Full Version: Music For the whole gig. Order of events.
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Solid advice there steve!... Remember - there are no should do or shouldnt dos with mobile work... as long as you play to the crowd and not play stuff that is likely to offend then anything goes!
Hi
I've just started D.J'ing and I found your guide very useful, could have done with it two nights ago! I started out over a year ago doing karaokes at my local pub ( just a bit of fun at first with a player i got from Argos!) as time went by I replaced everything with better equipment and then found that while I was sorting out the next disc for the karaoke that i really needed to be playing some music and so began my first steps into Disco. Two nights ago I did my first Disco with no karaoke, and it was a birthday, I had worked out a plan of action for the party but it all went wrong before I even got started, first of all the venue wasn't ready on time that delayed every thing big time, the disco didn't even get started until 9:30, by which time most of the blokes were well and truly tanked up
, I had asked if a cake was going to be brought out and if they would give me warning so I could knock the lights off and have happy birthday cued up, guess what I just started playing Walking On Sunshine and people were beging to dance, and they brought the cake out! that killed that, The next hour was a total battle with drunks trying to give me there advice on what to play, I wouldn't have minded but when two of them started fighting cos they couldn't agree on wether i should play sex pistols or marvin gaye, I found my self feeling alittle lost. No one was dancing, people were shouting and it wasn't looking good, So what did i do when some idiot unpluged my disco thinking it was really funny? I remained calm started back up and put on gary glitter I'm the leader RESULT it was amazing they all got up and started singing at the top of their voices so I just put on as many tracks as i could were I would be sure they could sing, and the last 3/4 of an hour went sweet. At the end I had a head ache, hated myself and just wan't out of there as quick as possible. And what happend next, I got two more bookings on the spot and loads of handshakes!
I hope it gets better, or I'm buying body armoure!
I've just started D.J'ing and I found your guide very useful, could have done with it two nights ago! I started out over a year ago doing karaokes at my local pub ( just a bit of fun at first with a player i got from Argos!) as time went by I replaced everything with better equipment and then found that while I was sorting out the next disc for the karaoke that i really needed to be playing some music and so began my first steps into Disco. Two nights ago I did my first Disco with no karaoke, and it was a birthday, I had worked out a plan of action for the party but it all went wrong before I even got started, first of all the venue wasn't ready on time that delayed every thing big time, the disco didn't even get started until 9:30, by which time most of the blokes were well and truly tanked up
, I had asked if a cake was going to be brought out and if they would give me warning so I could knock the lights off and have happy birthday cued up, guess what I just started playing Walking On Sunshine and people were beging to dance, and they brought the cake out! that killed that, The next hour was a total battle with drunks trying to give me there advice on what to play, I wouldn't have minded but when two of them started fighting cos they couldn't agree on wether i should play sex pistols or marvin gaye, I found my self feeling alittle lost. No one was dancing, people were shouting and it wasn't looking good, So what did i do when some idiot unpluged my disco thinking it was really funny? I remained calm started back up and put on gary glitter I'm the leader RESULT it was amazing they all got up and started singing at the top of their voices so I just put on as many tracks as i could were I would be sure they could sing, and the last 3/4 of an hour went sweet. At the end I had a head ache, hated myself and just wan't out of there as quick as possible. And what happend next, I got two more bookings on the spot and loads of handshakes!I hope it gets better, or I'm buying body armoure!
Hi, Welcome to the DJU Forum 
,
Your gig sounds like some of mine. Everybody has good and bad gigs...and then the ones that make you wish that you'd stayed at home!. It's just unfortunate that when your first booking turns out to be like you've described, it can put you off D.J'ing for life. But you've just got to get back in there, and carry on, there are some very good gigs out there - like you've found out for yourself.
D.J's tend to remember their first gig, just like you would remember a first car or first date, and it's a shame when the memories of that gig are horrific
,Your gig sounds like some of mine. Everybody has good and bad gigs...and then the ones that make you wish that you'd stayed at home!. It's just unfortunate that when your first booking turns out to be like you've described, it can put you off D.J'ing for life. But you've just got to get back in there, and carry on, there are some very good gigs out there - like you've found out for yourself.
D.J's tend to remember their first gig, just like you would remember a first car or first date, and it's a shame when the memories of that gig are horrific
paperman..... dont worry - its happened to us all at one stage or another! Dont be put off though - especially as you have got more work out of it! Us DJs are far more critical of ourselves than perhaps any audience - and remember - you got it right in the end..... 
Paperman
welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear it was a bit of a baptism of fire for a first gig
but lifes like that! You got more bookings, if that happens you can't be doing too much wrong.......... stick at it and visit here often!
The Spindoctor
welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear it was a bit of a baptism of fire for a first gig
but lifes like that! You got more bookings, if that happens you can't be doing too much wrong.......... stick at it and visit here often!The Spindoctor
Hello and welcome! well done on getting the 2 bookings
Out of interest what % of gigs do you lot get are good gigs to bad ones
Id say the percentage of my good gigs are up in the high nineties.... I think if your percentage of bad gigs is more than fifty then possibly you are in the wrong job!
I know from my experence that most people at a party only remember the last 1-2 hours !! and i must agree when i have a gig and i thing its a bad one, thats when i tend to be asked for a card or am i free for so and so date !! very strange. 
Just because people aren't dancing doesn't mean that they aren't enjoying themselves. Take Mr & Mrs average's Wedding Reception for example. A 1.00PM Wedding Reception, Photographs, Afternoon Reception with Food & Drinks, Speeches, More Drinks & Leftovers, Mingle with the relatives, More Drinks, Evening Guests Arrive Mingle with them, Sit down Meal or Buffet, more drinks, D.J starts playing.....
If you'd been on your feet, stuffing yourself with food & drink since 1PM would you feel like dancing non stop for 4 hours??.
Then you have the Evening Guest's Mingling with the Afternoon Guest's and yakking about what so and so is upto, not to mention the Guests and Old friends who haven't seen each other for XX years and all they want to do is chat and catch up. Yes, we hold the function together but as far as Joe Public is concerned, the D.J is low priority, the majority of guests are there by invitation and / or politeness and given the choice probably would have perfered a quiet pint and dominoes or Bingo at the "Hare and Hounds" on a Saturday and not a noisy disco!.
If I were to put a figure on the Gigs which I have thought were a waste of time then I would put that figure at 80%, possibly as low as 60% given that I did 22 Weddings in a row over the last few months
. However more realistically, I would say 90% of my gigs past and present have been a nightmare in one form or another.
If you'd been on your feet, stuffing yourself with food & drink since 1PM would you feel like dancing non stop for 4 hours??.
Then you have the Evening Guest's Mingling with the Afternoon Guest's and yakking about what so and so is upto, not to mention the Guests and Old friends who haven't seen each other for XX years and all they want to do is chat and catch up. Yes, we hold the function together but as far as Joe Public is concerned, the D.J is low priority, the majority of guests are there by invitation and / or politeness and given the choice probably would have perfered a quiet pint and dominoes or Bingo at the "Hare and Hounds" on a Saturday and not a noisy disco!.
If I were to put a figure on the Gigs which I have thought were a waste of time then I would put that figure at 80%, possibly as low as 60% given that I did 22 Weddings in a row over the last few months
. However more realistically, I would say 90% of my gigs past and present have been a nightmare in one form or another.| QUOTE |
| Id say the percentage of my good gigs are up in the high nineties.... I think if your percentage of bad gigs is more than fifty then possibly you are in the wrong job! |
Or the wrong function or the wrong area, so many factors to consider in a sweeping statement. If I did the Winkers Nights only, then I could possibly say that i've not had one gig where it has been a disaster (Possibly because people are paying to enter an establishment of entertainment to enjoy themselves - you wouldn't get Gran paying £5 to enter a dance music venue with an average age group of 18 - 24!). Now, a Wedding Only D.J leaves him or herself open to factors which you would have no control over, nobody has turned up to see you, or for the disco alone, they are there as a result of an invitation, and very occasionally at some function you leave thinking "Why the hell did they waste money on a disco when the majority of guests had taxi's booked for 10pm?"
| QUOTE |
| Out of interest what % of gigs do you lot get are good gigs to bad ones |
Good ones for me are over 90% and most definitely agree with Kazz that if you're having mostly bad gigs, the problem is not the punters, you are the problem!
If you go out to gigs with a negative attitude the audience will pick up on that and end result most likely that you'll have yet another bad gig; coincidence? I don't think so!!
What is the criteria to determine a good/bad gig?
Personally I did use how busy the dance floor was during the evening but this alone isn't the full story.
For instance 2 weddings at the beginning of the summer on consecutive nights. At the first the dance floor was never more than half full and I classed it as an average gig. Following the event I received a lovely letter telling me how great it was and also (perhaps more important) four more gigs from guests.
On the second night the dance floor was overflowing all night and I gave it an 8 out of 10 but no thank you and only 1 booking from it (to date anyhow). As Party Chris says it's the ones which we think are bad that seem to give further bookings.
Is the DJ the best person to make a judgement anyhow on how good he/she or the event is. As most of us are out gigging at the same time and therefore don't see others in action what are we comparing our 'greatness' or lack of it with? At the end of the day the proof of the pudding is in the number of referrals and repeat bookings we get. If more of these come from what I would class as an average gig (which I am comparing to the ones before it) then who am I to argue.
PaulS
Personally I did use how busy the dance floor was during the evening but this alone isn't the full story.
For instance 2 weddings at the beginning of the summer on consecutive nights. At the first the dance floor was never more than half full and I classed it as an average gig. Following the event I received a lovely letter telling me how great it was and also (perhaps more important) four more gigs from guests.
On the second night the dance floor was overflowing all night and I gave it an 8 out of 10 but no thank you and only 1 booking from it (to date anyhow). As Party Chris says it's the ones which we think are bad that seem to give further bookings.
Is the DJ the best person to make a judgement anyhow on how good he/she or the event is. As most of us are out gigging at the same time and therefore don't see others in action what are we comparing our 'greatness' or lack of it with? At the end of the day the proof of the pudding is in the number of referrals and repeat bookings we get. If more of these come from what I would class as an average gig (which I am comparing to the ones before it) then who am I to argue.
PaulS
To me it's a simple matter of whether you enjoy doing the gigs or not. If a dj dreads his upcoming gigs and feels it a grind to get through the night, then I would most certainly class that as a bad gig!
I reckon i am up in the 90s too,also find that when i am most disatified with the gig i get more compliments,probably because if i feel things are going badly i try harder.
90's plus here as well, you only get out of a gig what you put in
1845% here or has my calculator broken ?
Like the rest of the replies I think most DJ should be in the 95%+ bracket at least, but a lot is state of mind, if you don't want a good gig it is never going to happen, start each gig as if it were your first and most gigs will be fine.
BTW Chris I can't remember my first gig at all.
Like the rest of the replies I think most DJ should be in the 95%+ bracket at least, but a lot is state of mind, if you don't want a good gig it is never going to happen, start each gig as if it were your first and most gigs will be fine.
BTW Chris I can't remember my first gig at all.
high 90's here too
Love doing gigs...hey they are fun:)
Love doing gigs...hey they are fun:)
I havn't done too many Disco's yet so I can't say what percentage i give myself, but as I have been doing Karaoke sessions for the last year I'll give 100% for them, they are so much fun and the fact that the puinters do most of the work is even better, i.e. they choose the music and then they sing it, loads of banter over the mic's and hardly anyone ever dances but the atmosphere is fantastic.
Disco's however I'm finding real hard work, but still rewarding mainly at that point where the whole dance floor is packed and everyone is jumping and singing at the top of there voices, the feeling that gives me makes up for all the hassel.
Disco's however I'm finding real hard work, but still rewarding mainly at that point where the whole dance floor is packed and everyone is jumping and singing at the top of there voices, the feeling that gives me makes up for all the hassel.
| QUOTE |
| Disco's however I'm finding real hard work, but still rewarding mainly at that point where the whole dance floor is packed and everyone is jumping and singing at the top of there voices, the feeling that gives me makes up for all the hassel. |
Welcome to the mobile DJ world, you will get really bad gigs, or even hours then one record will change all of that and you will be looking forward to the next gig, only for it to happen again.
i'm in the 90's aswell. its true you think you've had a bad gig and as your packing up, your shaking hands with everybody and the brides father has given you a £20 tip........well ok the tip does happen as often as it use too.....lol
we are working week in week out so you compare to the last gig you did, but the punter might not have been out for six months so its there best time in ages.
we are working week in week out so you compare to the last gig you did, but the punter might not have been out for six months so its there best time in ages.
| QUOTE |
| we are working week in week out so you compare to the last gig you did, but the punter might not have been out for six months so its there best time in ages. |
Very true
Doing mostly clubs I would defo say you can judge on how busy the dancefloor is and whether or not you get a cheer and the end of the night!!!
| QUOTE (cmj @ Oct 18 2003, 03:50 PM) |
| Doing mostly clubs I would defo say you can judge on how busy the dancefloor is and whether or not you get a cheer and the end of the night!!! |
Equally, in the same thought - you can be your own worst critic
One thing Idd reall ylike to ask is How Do i decide as to what music is da correct music for the occassion, like teens will not dance on 70's music will they???? So how do I choose correct music as and the correct way to play???
DJ NAMMU
DJ NAMMU
| QUOTE |
| How Do i decide as to what music is da correct music for the occassion, like teens will not dance on 70's music will they???? So how do I choose correct music as and the correct way to play??? |
How did you play for your last disco where the dj was sick?
I think as it was a friends party you knew what to play as you are in the same age group as them possibly have the same music tastes etc etc.....Yeah?
Or you knew that through there age group etc etc that they'd be in to the latest chart music, yeah!!! It's called reading the crowd, the age thing means a lot what was being played in there late teens early twenties etc, also again what has your dj teacher told you?
I'm sure some of the others will be along with some comments!
But think about this!
I'm gonna book you for my 30th birthday bash (in a year and a half
)What would you play for me?
(OMG!!! this could turn into a whole new thread,feel free to join in guy's who knows I might book one of you!)
| QUOTE (djnammu @ Nov 8 2003, 08:30 PM) |
| One thing Idd reall ylike to ask is How Do i decide as to what music is da correct music for the occassion, like teens will not dance on 70's music will they???? So how do I choose correct music as and the correct way to play??? DJ NAMMU |
you really need to do a bit of work before you dj go out with a experianced dj first if you need to ask this question.
To be fair, I think that most of my gigs are well received and go ok.
Percentage wise - this year - between 85-95%, honest.
Guests can be hard work, as we all know, when you've already been given a request list or music style - but one person wants a totally different music genre.
We can only do our best, give our all and try to please as many people as possible on the night.
But I still say that a successful gig is 50% the DJ's presentation and music, and 50% the guests and clients participation and appreciation - add that together - well, I bet we can all say we've had many full-on excellent 100% nights.
Thought:
Ever had a gig where you thought the function was 'hard work' or 'audience lacking', but you got a tip at the end of the gig?!
Percentage wise - this year - between 85-95%, honest.
Guests can be hard work, as we all know, when you've already been given a request list or music style - but one person wants a totally different music genre.
We can only do our best, give our all and try to please as many people as possible on the night.
But I still say that a successful gig is 50% the DJ's presentation and music, and 50% the guests and clients participation and appreciation - add that together - well, I bet we can all say we've had many full-on excellent 100% nights.
Thought:
Ever had a gig where you thought the function was 'hard work' or 'audience lacking', but you got a tip at the end of the gig?!
| QUOTE |
| like teens will not dance on 70's music will they |
Yes they do, sometimes. Remember that these teens will have been brought up listening to their parents choice of music in their early years and will be familiar with tunes from before they were born. The best way to find out if none has been requested is to drop one into the set and see the reaction.
On Sat night I did an 18th birthday party with age group 16 - 20. They were mainly into RnB but went crazy to some 70s music (although not to the 80s). I always try to be flexible when it comes to what I play and on this particular night I had 45 requests (80% RnB, 20% Rock) but I just slipped in the odd non requested older track to see the reaction and ended up doing a 15 min 70s set.
So the moral of the story is don't asume by age, creed or anything else what you think the audience will/won't like - try it and see. If it doesn't work you can always cut it short and move to another era/genre.
PaulS
Absolutely right!... Remember, films influence people - so when a film uses a particular song ie., build me up buttercup/foundations then no matter what age they are, if the film is a hit then the soundtrack is also - meaning that you dont have to be a sixties child to enjoy the tune!
| QUOTE (kazzachi @ Nov 11 2003, 07:32 PM) |
| Absolutely right!... Remember, films influence people - so when a film uses a particular song ie., build me up buttercup/foundations then no matter what age they are, if the film is a hit then the soundtrack is also - meaning that you dont have to be a sixties child to enjoy the tune! |
Yes I would agree.....grab some copies of The Party Animal CD sets!
YMCA by the Village People or Back To The 60's mix by Tight Fit will get any crowd going from 9-90........
| QUOTE |
| Back To The 60's mix by Tight Fit will get any crowd going from 9-90........ |
...sure will, will get em going right out the door....
| QUOTE (Eskie @ Nov 24 2003, 02:05 AM) | ||
...sure will, will get em going right out the door.... |
Tsk! Its a good enough tune/medley, and it does increase the number of people on a dancefloor, especially if its not the only "60's" tune you play. It IS, however, a little overplayed now - lets face it, its had 20 years to get overplayed in...
More than a few people now, start singing "black is black" prematurely, when I use this medley.
One idea is to use the "B side" instead of the "A side" of the 12'' single. It hasnt got all the "That'll make your back crack and your liver quiver" vocals all over it..
[QUOTE]like teens will not dance on 70's music will they
last week i had a 70yr old dancing to sandstorm!!! just goes to show that you cant plan for everything lol.
last week i had a 70yr old dancing to sandstorm!!!
just goes to show that you cant plan for everything lol.
hi there ...
ive got my first gig coming up hopefully in january
it is an after-show party at the theatre, for cast and crew members.
cast ages roughly from 8 - 20 but crew members in their 20's to 30's.
fingers crossed ... will have to see how it goes...
but as for that 70 year old dancing to sandstorm ... that is indeed unexpected!
ive got my first gig coming up hopefully in january
it is an after-show party at the theatre, for cast and crew members.
cast ages roughly from 8 - 20 but crew members in their 20's to 30's.
fingers crossed ... will have to see how it goes...
but as for that 70 year old dancing to sandstorm ... that is indeed unexpected!
| QUOTE |
| it is an after-show party at the theatre, for cast and crew members. |
Having been involved with theatre shows for 30 years I can tell you, if the show has songs in it they will certainly want some of them in the disco so they can do them again, but unrestrained.
thanks for the reply!
sorry i didnt recieve it in time for the show:(
oh well ... such is life
As my first ever gig, there was ofcourse some complications, which ofcourse, turned into nothing but jokes by the end of the night.
Upon arival at the venue at the agreed time to set up and run the sound checks, we were confronted by an elderly member of the theatre who didnt know what was going on. Clearly a mistake by the organiser of the event .... that OR a bit of old age grumpiness
was a bit worrying at first.
We were then notified that the party was to be moved into another room. Yet again another error on the behalf of the organiser.
This was as far as we could go at this stage, as it was showtime, so i had to get my
back stage for the begining of the show.
After the getout, it was time to start the rushed job of setting up the PA on stage, as this was the new destination of the party.
As it was such a rushed job (no guessing why) we were left with one turntable down, and with no lighting (due to the lights being rigged in the other room).
Despite all the trouble setting up, we had a good reaction from the crowd, all dancing and having fun and we even had quite a few requests.
I would call this event a success, especialy as we cought a sneeky glipse of (you know who) dancing! lol .... we even got offered the chance of turning the booking into a regular nite for youth members.
Like they say ... it will be all right on the night
sorry i didnt recieve it in time for the show:(
oh well ... such is life
As my first ever gig, there was ofcourse some complications, which ofcourse, turned into nothing but jokes by the end of the night.
Upon arival at the venue at the agreed time to set up and run the sound checks, we were confronted by an elderly member of the theatre who didnt know what was going on. Clearly a mistake by the organiser of the event .... that OR a bit of old age grumpiness
was a bit worrying at first.
We were then notified that the party was to be moved into another room. Yet again another error on the behalf of the organiser.
This was as far as we could go at this stage, as it was showtime, so i had to get my
back stage for the begining of the show. After the getout, it was time to start the rushed job of setting up the PA on stage, as this was the new destination of the party.
As it was such a rushed job (no guessing why) we were left with one turntable down, and with no lighting (due to the lights being rigged in the other room).
Despite all the trouble setting up, we had a good reaction from the crowd, all dancing and having fun and we even had quite a few requests.
I would call this event a success, especialy as we cought a sneeky glipse of (you know who)
dancing! lol .... we even got offered the chance of turning the booking into a regular nite for youth members.Like they say ... it will be all right on the night
| QUOTE (Chris_Pointon @ Apr 16 2003, 10:49 AM) |
| Trev, If you use Kazaa, then download the Kazaalite version which is available from Here it's less buggy and free from hidden spyware files which infiltrate your p.c and slow down your downloads as well as play havoc with your p.c. Again, avoid the use of Windows Media Player since this is Bill Gates own Adware, and the latest version gives your p.c a unique identifier and passes on your i.p address to anything that wants it whilst connected to the net - basically your p.c becomes a mass advertising campaign for anything on the net. Result? - all those pop ups increase and the missus thinks you have been surfing busty bab's website again :o If you do download files, then some virus protection on your p.c is a MUST I recommend Norton Anti Virus. As is a firewall (which prevents your p.c from being hacked - especially if you have P2P applications running). Again I recommend "Zone Alarm", its free and I use it myself along with 2 hardware firewalls and I've never had any problems. |
Oh my GOD!!!! I have just installed the latest Windows media player! What have I done. You see most of the legal site to buy music allow you to hear a snippet before you try. Most of the time I was getting an error message from my older version of media player. Is there another player which will play these sample and can I roll back to the previous player. Am I doomed?
I have a few bookings coming up over the festive period for staff parties and was wondering if someone could give me some advice for playlists etc. At the moment I am a part time DJ as I am a University student and only have the opertunity to DJ while I am at home at Xmas and Summer.
The parties I have been booked for are xmas parties in a pub (With its own in house system) all I need to do is turn up with my cd collection and laptop with Virtual DJ on and start playing.
The venue has told me that the party group is of varied ages (18 - 50) so I was thinking of a playlist consisting of a range of tracks from the 60's to present day. With a course lots of sing along, the occasional xmas classic cheesy song and the odd classic rock tune. Not forgetting the a bit of cheese from the 90's a few of the latest chart toppers and what ever is number one at the time.
What Im really asking for is advice on songs that I should definatly play and what would be the best tune to end the night with.
Any help would be very appreciated as I have not done xmas partied before.
thanks
Gareth
The parties I have been booked for are xmas parties in a pub (With its own in house system) all I need to do is turn up with my cd collection and laptop with Virtual DJ on and start playing.
The venue has told me that the party group is of varied ages (18 - 50) so I was thinking of a playlist consisting of a range of tracks from the 60's to present day. With a course lots of sing along, the occasional xmas classic cheesy song and the odd classic rock tune. Not forgetting the a bit of cheese from the 90's a few of the latest chart toppers and what ever is number one at the time.
What Im really asking for is advice on songs that I should definatly play and what would be the best tune to end the night with.
Any help would be very appreciated as I have not done xmas partied before.
thanks
Gareth
Excellent advice all round here guys. Great forum as well by the way.
I've been in the mobile business for about eight years now, and if there's any advice that i could give any newcomers then it would have to be this (this is just a reiteration of things that have been said earlier by the esteemed members here, and are mostly common ense):
1. Get there EARLY, gives you plenty of time for any unforseen fannying around.
2. Wait.........Not yet..........Nearly.........Wait.........NOW!
3. Keep everything revolving, change, don't get bogged down.
and number 4, possibly the most important = DO NOT BE AFRAID OF CHEESE - PEOPLE LOVE CHEESE.
Simple really.
I've been in the mobile business for about eight years now, and if there's any advice that i could give any newcomers then it would have to be this (this is just a reiteration of things that have been said earlier by the esteemed members here, and are mostly common ense):
1. Get there EARLY, gives you plenty of time for any unforseen fannying around.
2. Wait.........Not yet..........Nearly.........Wait.........NOW!
3. Keep everything revolving, change, don't get bogged down.
and number 4, possibly the most important = DO NOT BE AFRAID OF CHEESE - PEOPLE LOVE CHEESE.
Simple really.
OMG 
You Are A Good Sir !!!
You Are A Good Sir !!!
Hi,
Just want to say that this thread is bleedin excellant for new djs. Thanks.
Just want to say that this thread is bleedin excellant for new djs. Thanks.
QUOTE(Chris_Pointon @ Feb 4 2003, 09:59 AM) 
That comment is so true!. An empty dancefloor often makes the D.J paranoid, thinking that it is something that He / She is doing, or rather not doing, which is keeping the Dancefloor empty!. Experience has taught me that you can play music from every era at a function, and work hard, and still only maintain a hand full of people on the dancefloor at any one time
some functions are going to be like that, and you just have to get used to it :) .Having done both resident work in a local club, and run the Gauntlet at all types of Private Functions - I can honestly say that the pub / club work is far more rewarding than Mobile :P . Logically this makes sense, since your "resident" venue will be advertising as a disco and possibly charging an admission fee, and lets face it - you wouldn't go to a club and pay money if you hated music and D.J's!!. So 99% of the punters visiting your club will be out to enjoy themselves.
Private Functions are different - you have Auntie Ethel and Grandma who may not have seen each other for 5 years and all they want to do is gossip. You also have many people who have attended out of politeness or because they have to!. You also have the classic "family war" situtation to contend with also ;), where two or more members of the family do not get on.
Other situations that can also make it difficult to create an atmosphere include the large function room built for 300 people where only 30 guests turn up!, and vice versa - the packed out village hall with 200 people in it - No room to dance - even if they wanted to.
Don't be too surprised if you don't pack the Dancefloor at Private Functions, it does happen, but not very often. At best you can usually expect around 25 - 50% of the Guests on the Dancefloor at any one time.
Just remember that it is still possible for people to enjoy themselves without being on the Dancefloor (I must admit that as a guest I don't dance either!). On a brighter note - some of the gigs that I've thought were a disaster, were rewarded with many guests asking for business cards and a sincere "thank you" from the host or hostess for a "Great Night"!!!. A Strange Business is D.J'ing!!!!!!.
your comment i fear are oh so true i did my own 50th party and could not get many people dancing! it was then pointed out to me that many families only meet at parties so they have a lot to catch up on!!!
as for the dj dancing at parties they attend my word what ever next how would we be able to study the dj his lighting and music, if we were dancing and having a good time. no sorry my bum stays firmly in my seat!!
All your advice is excellent! I have my first gig at the weekend so i will be reading this thread and looking at all your advice
Thank You
Thank You
Hi Guys,
I have been a mobile dj for a fair few years, previously with an agency who took far to big a %, and now working and promoting my own set-up. My set-up is digital. Amp, Mixer, Computer, Monitor, Lighting Controller etc is all flight cased in one unit. 3 hard drives currently hold around 45,000 tracks! I carry one cd and here is why:
A few months ago I had the misfortune of setting up my equipment with half an hour to spare. I switched everything on and took ten minutes to deduce that my monitor had completely packed up. Disaster! No spare.
Gig cancelled? No way! I placed one cd into the cd drive, Grandmaster Party 3, it auto played in real player. I then jumped into the car, drove to the nearest 24 hour Asda super store, purchased a 19inch monitor with my credit card and drove back to the venue. I had been gone 45minutes, and I wondered what to expect.
What do you know, the dance floor was packed! I grabbed the mic, did the intoduction bit, and left it playing while I set up the monitor! I was approached by the person who had booked the gig, I think the box and polystyrene, plastic bags etc. was a bit of a giveaway. I explained what had happened.
End result, a fantastic non profit making night, that got me 4 further bookings.
my personal tip for ending the night at any birthday, wedding or family function is to play a 'Dirty Dancing' mix ending with 'I've had the time of my life', a sure fire way to finish on a high and gets all the couples on the dance floor for a slow one.
Andy.
I have been a mobile dj for a fair few years, previously with an agency who took far to big a %, and now working and promoting my own set-up. My set-up is digital. Amp, Mixer, Computer, Monitor, Lighting Controller etc is all flight cased in one unit. 3 hard drives currently hold around 45,000 tracks! I carry one cd and here is why:
A few months ago I had the misfortune of setting up my equipment with half an hour to spare. I switched everything on and took ten minutes to deduce that my monitor had completely packed up. Disaster! No spare.
Gig cancelled? No way! I placed one cd into the cd drive, Grandmaster Party 3, it auto played in real player. I then jumped into the car, drove to the nearest 24 hour Asda super store, purchased a 19inch monitor with my credit card and drove back to the venue. I had been gone 45minutes, and I wondered what to expect.
What do you know, the dance floor was packed! I grabbed the mic, did the intoduction bit, and left it playing while I set up the monitor! I was approached by the person who had booked the gig, I think the box and polystyrene, plastic bags etc. was a bit of a giveaway. I explained what had happened.
End result, a fantastic non profit making night, that got me 4 further bookings.
my personal tip for ending the night at any birthday, wedding or family function is to play a 'Dirty Dancing' mix ending with 'I've had the time of my life', a sure fire way to finish on a high and gets all the couples on the dance floor for a slow one.
Andy.
Hello Andy
I see this is your first posting on here, so welcome to the forum.
It's always a good idea to introduce yourself and tells us a bit about your disco experience. There is an separate introductions thread specificaly for this.
regards
Rob
I see this is your first posting on here, so welcome to the forum.
It's always a good idea to introduce yourself and tells us a bit about your disco experience. There is an separate introductions thread specificaly for this.
regards
Rob
QUOTE(Moody Music @ Mar 16 2008, 04:39 AM)
my personal tip for ending the night at any birthday, wedding or family function is to play a 'Dirty Dancing' mix ending with 'I've had the time of my life', a sure fire way to finish on a high and gets all the couples on the dance floor for a slow one.
Andy.
First hi andy and welcome to dju
i agree with you on the the dirty dancing mix always a floorfiller for me covering all generations
This is an old thread, going back to 2003 and yets it's very relevant to new djs.
Perhaps we shoould all go back and read some of the old threads as there appears to be some great info in the archives of the site.
Perhaps we shoould all go back and read some of the old threads as there appears to be some great info in the archives of the site.
QUOTE(Chris_Pointon @ Feb 4 2003, 09:59 AM)
That comment is so true!. An empty dancefloor often makes the D.J paranoid, thinking that it is something that He / She is doing, or rather not doing, which is keeping the Dancefloor empty!. Experience has taught me that you can play music from every era at a function, and work hard, and still only maintain a hand full of people on the dancefloor at any one time
some functions are going to be like that, and you just have to get used to it :) .Having done both resident work in a local club, and run the Gauntlet at all types of Private Functions - I can honestly say that the pub / club work is far more rewarding than Mobile :P . Logically this makes sense, since your "resident" venue will be advertising as a disco and possibly charging an admission fee, and lets face it - you wouldn't go to a club and pay money if you hated music and D.J's!!. So 99% of the punters visiting your club will be out to enjoy themselves.
Private Functions are different - you have Auntie Ethel and Grandma who may not have seen each other for 5 years and all they want to do is gossip. You also have many people who have attended out of politeness or because they have to!. You also have the classic "family war" situtation to contend with also ;), where two or more members of the family do not get on.
Other situations that can also make it difficult to create an atmosphere include the large function room built for 300 people where only 30 guests turn up!, and vice versa - the packed out village hall with 200 people in it - No room to dance - even if they wanted to.
Don't be too surprised if you don't pack the Dancefloor at Private Functions, it does happen, but not very often. At best you can usually expect around 25 - 50% of the Guests on the Dancefloor at any one time.
Just remember that it is still possible for people to enjoy themselves without being on the Dancefloor (I must admit that as a guest I don't dance either!). On a brighter note - some of the gigs that I've thought were a disaster, were rewarded with many guests asking for business cards and a sincere "thank you" from the host or hostess for a "Great Night"!!!. A Strange Business is D.J'ing!!!!!!.
i just want to say that i get this quite a lot, but there isn't any thing more rewarding than at the end of the night when you feel like you should of done a better job than people say things like "that was very good", "i'll have to write you a referance", "i've never seen people on the dance floor all night before". these are just the comments from the last wedding i did which i thought was a flop and just want to pack my stuff away half way through the night!
Peace out
this thread has given me so many useful tips!
I have a pretty much infinate data base of music which i update and prune constantly to go with whats currently going on. Also i take time to ask people what they are listening to and lurk on radio websites to get the current vibe.
We're about to do out first gig end of January, for a school reunion! thats been booked and the stuff hasnt got here yet!
Planing plenty of cheese for that night, and reading all these posts have helped immensly!
THHAANNKS!!!
I have a pretty much infinate data base of music which i update and prune constantly to go with whats currently going on. Also i take time to ask people what they are listening to and lurk on radio websites to get the current vibe.
We're about to do out first gig end of January, for a school reunion! thats been booked and the stuff hasnt got here yet!
Planing plenty of cheese for that night, and reading all these posts have helped immensly!
THHAANNKS!!!
QUOTE(jukeboxdj @ Mar 16 2008, 09:36 AM)
First hi andy and welcome to dju
i agree with you on the the dirty dancing mix always a floorfiller for me covering all generations
Ive been after the dirty dancing mix for ages!! Where can I get it from??
Thanks, Rich
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