Teez
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Posts posted by Teez
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Shall I or shan't I ???
Well there's lots of snow outside and I have a gig tonight.
Not quite sure if I can make it there and with -8 forecast tonight even less certain if I can make it back.
I can either give it a go or try to cancel.
I will probably ring the client today but there's the risk thay they won't cancel on me because they don't want to lose their deposit, and wait and see if I cancel. Not bothered about the money frankly.
What would you guys do??
:joe:
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Come to mention it, Goodparty have stopped sending me notifications... funny as I havent changed any settings...
:joe:
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I manage to get rid of my hiss by not turning on the equipment...
:joe:
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Looks like you're using Weebly as host? Have you filled in all of their tag forms too on the admin page ?
I also understand your traffic goes up the more links to your website are placed on other websites. So go to as many free directories / forums as you can and register your details and over time that should help increase traffic.
As daft as it may sound you could create some more free weebly sites (Google will recognise simple cut and pastes and ignore those so make sure they are at least slightly different) and make your own cross references. Seing as you are paying an annual subscription I think you can create quite a few and just keep the free website addresses ie www.weebly.com/kerrydj , www.weebly.com/dinglediskjockeys etc etc etc
:joe:
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I have had one for a year and recommend it.
I'll just focus on the negatives which are not in the literature.....!!!
It's impossible to combine CDG sets with normal music as the changeover between CDG and normal music (CD's, mp3 etc) takes ages and needs a quite a few buttons pushing. You have to keep your karaoke sets separate and then play some tunes on a secondary piece of equipment while changing over.
There is also a bug in the system that simultaneously starts your connected pc playing tunes when operating CDG. It's irritating but not insurmountable.
It can be quite scary if you boot it up in the incorrect sequence as the laptop won't automatically pick up the Pioneer audio drivers if you make one mistake.
Apart from that it works perfectly with VDJ and is well worth the cost.
If you have specific questions on this then ask.
:joe:
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Apparently there is no truth in that Poundland are going to change there name to 1.025 land.... but they will be charging for carrier bags.
Yes, probably a £1 each :mcps:
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If you are thinking of making a purchase, then DO IT SOON
VAT goes up to 20% in the New Year, which will ultimately mean prices increasing on everything from Food to Fuel to Goods and Services.
Its not just a one stage increase either, people just think that its another 2.5% and won't be too bad, but by the time the Manufacturer, The Distributor, The Transport Company and the Retailer have all added their VAT liability increase, the price you see on the shelf will be significantly increased.
This is obviously more so on any large purchases like a Car, Home Improvements and Disco Equipment
, it will probably be a good idea to get that cruise booked for 2011 now as well :joe: But if you think the economy is bad, and people are shopping on price now. Gawd help us come 2011 :wall:
Good point.
Just a minor correction though, VAT isnt cumulative. It is only charged on the added value at each stage of manufacture/distribution/retail so thel increase will be limited to 2.5 percentage points.
An item costing £117.50 will soon cost £120.00 representing an actual increase of 2.9%
:joe:
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They're alright.
They gave away free albums a while ago when they setup - they get delivered as zip files containing the mp3 files. Was a bit haphazard to start off with (because there was a mad rush to get the freebies) - but have used a few times since, and its been alright. 320k mp3 CBR files as well..
Use tunechecker.com (run by Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert), to see where the cheapest prices are.. As there are the odd few tracks which are 99p (Cooler than Me ?) - most chart tracks seem to be 49p.
Hopefully relying less on downloads myself since I'm now subscribed to CD Pool..
Cheers,
David
Anyone else using CD Pool?? What's the feedback??? Do they miss out any key tracks???
:joe:
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Point of order here chaps..
When I say I was playing my system full blast, it was within the design limitations of the system. There was no sound distortion whatsoever...
so, in other words......
it was Quality AND Quantity.
I agree Bass on many of the current stuff is important but the limit isnt the crowd it's the structure of the room you are in. I find the limitation is often to do with the mechanical resonance, even sometimes the wooden floors themselves. But hey I'm no scientist.
:joe:
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Good point Slimboy, one which I forgot to mention and that is you are more able to play the music you want to. (as long as the punters enjoy it of course)
No complaints from fee paying customers or requests for 'Puff The Magic Dragon' which I was forced to play recently !!! (Best way to clear a dancefloor!)
:joe:
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That's all right Robster, no need to worry.
The best bit is not just the volume, it's when a procession of teenagers from another generation come up to you at the end of the evening and tell you what a great set of tracks were played.
:joe:
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Maybe I'm getting old but ear-bleeding music would have me running for the exit!
I agree, I would never last two minutes as a punter, but that's what these kids wanted. I did wear my earphones most of the time
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Don't forget
There's A Ghost In My House - R. Dean Taylor
Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um - Major Lance
Picture Me Gone - Evie Sands
Seven Days Too Long - Chuck Wood
Shake A Tail Feather - James & Bobby Purify (or Blues Brothers, Tina Turner)
Stop Her On The Sight (S.O.S) - Edwin Starr
Tainted Love - Gloria Jones (they will associate with Soft Cell)
Wade In The Water - Ramsey Lewis Trio (again newbies will go ooh I know that one)
What'd I Say - Ray Charles
These are all A* tracks!
Plenty more if you need them
:joe:
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All my previous venues have been halls, hotels, bars, marquees etc etc with 'sensible' sound limits.
Last night I did an 18th birthday party gig in a very large pub hall on the edge of town. Most of the guests and management and staff were all in their twenties so used to clubbing etc.
For the first time I played my speakers at full blast for the last hour. Not something I've ever needed to do but the crowd were enjoying my house mixes and one thing led to another.
Ears bled, plaster fell of the ceiling, gaffer tape started to melt etc etc you get the picture. After closing with Tiesto Adagio for Strings mix our ears were ringing. The silence was deafening, they loved it.
Last time I had that was at MOS, but to get the same effect in a pub was a good bit of irresponsible fun.
The dancefloor was bouncing, but this worked out as the best track of the night for dancing
:joe:
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I agree with many of the concerns but to be honest I'm sensing a lot of 'glass half empty' thoughts here.
If I had the choice between doing nothing midweek and waiting for a business enquiry to land via conventional marketing channels, putting yourself out at a number of locations with the occasional 'freeby' raises your profile, gets your calling cards out to more people and is much more interactive than standing behind the decks all night.
Just because you offer a 'freebie' doesn't mean that anyone expects it to be free forever. It's all down to how you pitch it. I think we are all familiar with promotions in shops etc etc, so why not with DJ'ing???
Yes, of course this whould be just a random thing and yes, after a while the novelty may wear off. I do, however, know of at least two people who came to my 'freebie' who will now book me in the near future.
It cost me absolutely nothing and it saved me having to stay in and watch some rubbish on TV. I must confess that it was a lot of fun because I was dj'ing from within the crowd too and there were no expectations for me to create any cool mixes, just good music to listen and not dance to.
:joe:
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OK, don't jump on this one just yet. Also this won't work in every location but I would like to chew this over with you guys.
This Wednesday I took my laptop, prepostorously large memory USB stick and very small speakers to my local pub. (The speakers were Sony computer speakers with a real punch)
Wednesday nights in this isolated country pub are usually dead with only two or three punters playing pool.
I agreed with two friends that I would bring along some music and we would have an evening playing pool but at least with some decent music, requests etc etc. There were no plans to make this into an event.
Word spread over the 48 hours prior to the evening and by 9pm the public bar was packed. I ended up abandoning my game and spent time queuing up requests and having a really good time. The volume was louder than the normal 'musak' but nothing like a normal gig.
The pub trebled their takings that night.
So, my point is that if you are looking for more work/income one option is to offer a struggling pub a weekday evening of good music, managed by a pro, say in exchange for free drinks on the first night.
If it works and they see a good increase in trade, you can then talk about a next time and either a ££fee or a share of the increased profits (if they are prepared to be honest about it).
I didnt take any kit, no lights, mike, nothing. It was a weekday evening where I had fun and I probably had about £20 worth of free drinks (no, not squash!)
This is not an alternative to proper DJ paid events but for those who have quiet weekdays or who want to stimulate business in new venues it may be worth considering.
Anyone else tried this?
:joe:
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Thanks for your help guys. Will investigate all the options.
Best wishes
:joe:
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Hi Guys,
I know the answers are somewhere on this forum but I'm struggling with finding them.
I have a gig on Saturday where the client wants me to play two karaoke tracks that I don't have...
1. Kingston Town - UB40
2. Puff The Magic Dragon
I normally buy CDG CDs but would like to just find these two on the net, download them and then burn them onto a CD. I'm assuming that then they will just play normally on my karaoke player.
Can you recommend where I can find these at a reasonable price???
Thanks in advance guys, I have left this a bit late but only got the request this week.
Teez
:joe:
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Good Afternoon
I am currently working on a Market Research Questionnaire to pass out to people. I will be using friends and family to get friends and colleagues to complete these questionnaires, and I will be using Social Networking websites so should be able to get a hundred or so
questionnaires completed (fingers Crossed).Just trying to figure out questions to ask people and would appreciate feedback as to what questions to ask.
So far the form with be name, age, address, contact no.
How many events have you been to in the past 2 years, that have involved a mobile DJ?
Are you planning on booking a Mobile DJ for an event within the next 2 years?
What would appeal to you when booking a mobile DJ?
What equipment would you expect a Mobile DJ to provide?
How much would you be prepared to pay for a proffessional mobile DJ, carrying the equipment you have specified above?
Dont know if these questions are incredibly relevant so would appreciate feedback and more ideas for questions. I will make these questions multiple choice for ease of use.
You should make the answers multiple choice (oops just noticed that's what youre going to do) . It's more likely to get a response, Why not put the questionnaire online too sending them a link. There are plenty of free websites offering this I believe. Ask them what genre of music they like and maybe what aspects of previous MDJ experiences they have enjoyed.
:joe:
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Many pubs will try someone and promise all sorts... very few will give you a residency contract and they are worthless when the pub manager landlord changes which happens all too often
They often will give people a go when they are stuck for a night. but they have no bother in letting dj's go at the drop of a hat , on a whim because there mate got some gear etc etc.
finding good landlords is the hardest skill , i have no problem when i have not got residencies in doing a paid trial to show what i can do and from that i have got regular gigs.... but as for new year for a lot of pub residencies that may as well be a million years away as they can have ten dj's before then as turnover in publand is amazing.
luckily i have good managers at my residencies but on the whole there are not many that"value" dj's as a breed and its mainly our own industries fault , many dj's let pubs down when a higher paid function comes along, turn up late , want to finish early or they don't put the effort in or are dodgy etc etc so we all get tarred with the same brush. we are not like that but landlords deal with so many dodgy individuals from bands to artists to dj's to karaoke hosts etc its unreal.
But if i was booked ..i am booked ..i can't be in two places at once and if that meant i lost a residency so be it ...the first booking always comes first , i would have said you know how reliable i am going to be as i wont let this customer down so if you do book me the following week it means i WILL be there, i don't double book i don't let people down.. someone ringing around that desperate HAS been let down or done something to upset the original DJ in my experience.
many pubs want the person they booked not anyone..yes they want there cake and eat it . sending a replacement on a first week can be a double edged sword and opens a whole big can of worms.
I was asked this by a DJ acquaintance in the same situation he was going on holiday and he was asked to start a residency . he asked me to cover.
i went in did my thing got paid then went , my acquaintance came back off holiday and did the following week on the Monday afternoon i got a call from the landlord asking me to do the residency as the original guy was Expletive! expletive ! now I don't think he is and i turned the landlord down but that's the "value" some landlords have for us we are a commodity to barter and haggle with..I never told my acquaintance and he is still at the venue five years later! so he can't have been that bad!
I know of many DJ's who would have said yes and took the money as they see it as business and all fair in love and war etc but i respect my acquaintances and friends and customers , manners , treating people with dignity and doing the right thing rather than chasing the money seem to work better for me , karma has a way of treating me back.
I think you did the right thing Teez in my opinion
Thanks Robster, I agree with you (and I understand Dukesy's comments).
I have found that the people who treat you well at the time of enquiry treat you well during your act and beyond.
The ones that treat you like dirt at the time of enquiry generally continue along that same mode throughout the relationship and again, I need to be able to enjoy the evening as well as earn money from it... otherwise what's the point.
No regrets!
:joe:
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Got a phone call enquiry today from a not too local pub via my website..
"Can you do a disco/karaoke every other Friday?"
'Great' I think, so do some research and email them a competitive price
"Excellent" they reply "can you start this Friday and oh by the way we want you to do New Years' Eve"
"Sorry, I'm already booked this Friday but could start next Friday. Happy to discuss NYE with you too"
(Not wanting to just automatically bin my already pencilled in booking)
That was that... they never came back to me.
I could have chased it up but it was very clear that a) My price was good b) Someone else off the net said they were available this Friday c) They went for the one that could do Friday.
This is where my question of 'Do you need to feel valued' comes in.
They weren't in the slightest bit interested in whether or not they'd chosen the better DJ, their only selection criteria was the immediate availability. Arent the better ones 'theoretically' those that have a busier diary?
Now sure, I could have followed it up, maybe secured a trial and won them over with a successful evening but I held back becauise I didn't want to work for an operation that rated DJ's that way.
It was a personal choice and I'm not saying I was right or wrong but the job is more than just cash to me and unless I feel a little bit valued I'm not interested.
How do others feel? What would you have done?
:joe:
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Chord progression makes it sound a bit more like instrumental music for a movie or TV programme.
:joe:
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Fair point, but isn't photobox aimed at mainly getting prints rather than storage?
For customers to see my pics I have them all on my website (I recommend www.weebly.com for the easiest free website service without ads) and on my business Facebook page.
Clients can always right click and save any photos from these two options.
:joe:
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I think www.flickr.com is the most searched photo database there is.
:joe:
Snowbound
in D.J and Karaoke Chat
Posted
yup, job cancelled by me. Client understood.
Glad to be staying in tonight as they are forecasting more snow and ice.
:joe: