How Do You Define A Good Dj?

[ellaskins 0]

For many yrs i had loads of kit.

4 x RCF event 6000 2x 15", 1 x8" and 1" cd, 2 x ohm br 218 2 x 18" band pass bass cabs. 4 x 2 by 18" forward facing subs, 12 rcf art 300 12" and 1 cd, lots of studio master 1200 amps and 4 Crown macrotech 3600 vz. All in all about 10 real! k. But apart from the pa hire in Aberystwyth college and a rave or 500 in the hills i didn't use it much. Why? because of my health! it was a bugger to get people to help, even if you payed them! So most of it had to go. Now all i have is a set of the 6000's two new studimaster 1100 a side , 4 ohm mid top cabs and other thingies. Now i have a good back again , my hearing is getting better by the day and the neighbours 500m away talk to me! it's all good.Why mention all of this?????? We all go through a stage of , the bigger the better, but eventualy you see mr dj nextdoor going to a gig with a set of 15" and you with 5,000 speakers and you find out that he gets the same£ as you.

 

SO!

 

The quality of a good disco/dj, is the person behind the mixer, the sound and lights help.Think!!, if you read the croud, apart from having the occational drunk ask for ymca, if you are playing the correct music you should not be having loads of people comming up for requests.

so theoretically you are doing a good job because you are keeping the punters happy.

[YourBigEvent 0]

Well done !

[digitaldistortion 0]

100% agreed.

 

A good disco/dj is not defined by the size of his rig (sounds filthy) as punters (mainly) aren't even that interested in the quality of his sound.

 

They want music, and preferably the music that they like or can identify. Nice, clean (read lots of) lighting and at least a so-so sound system.

 

I have seen that even DJ ****-ups are tolerated, as long as its not a constant, and the DJ can work over it.

 

Written down like this it looks very depressing, but in reality we all know that what makes a DJ is more than the above, its a whole experience, for both the punters and us.

[Jimbo55 0]

A good DJ

 

All of the things said above.

 

Plus

 

Turning up on time.

Realiable and safe setup. (What ever size)

Able to match music to the occasion.

 

 

[ellaskins 0]

A good DJ

 

All of the things said above.

 

Plus

 

Turning up on time.

Realiable and safe setup. (What ever size)

Able to match music to the occasion.

Re turn up on time!

 

You could be the best dj this side of Manchester , but to the manager of a hotell, if you arive late while the punters are aeting or the speaches, to him you are crap!

But if you arive early, set up with the minimum of fuss and dissapear till you are needed, and say you are not the best of dj's the manager will love you!

[wizard 0]

as always .....give the customer 110% of what they expect and want..then delighted.

 

which sort of surprises me why so many people on here deride Dj's who use soundlab etc. and a setup that costs £130 and only charge the customer £75.

 

If the customer is happy ... great they have got exactly what they wanted ...a cheap disco. If you could only get one type and price of disco it would kill the industry.

 

long live the bottom feeders in my opinion. just think what it would be like if the only car you could buy was £8000 ....... a lot of people couldnt afford one........ and rich people would hate it cos they couldnt spend 100,000 on one.

 

I often get asked for a very small setup couple of lights etc....... but they pay the same..... they are paying for my time.... not the kit I have

[Gary 0]

I agree with most of the above..indeed, a good DJ could DJ with 4 candles and an Amstrad (t a certain point)

 

However, I don't wholeheartedly go along with the comment of

' if you are playing the correct music you should not be having loads of people coming up for requests.

 

I've never been a fan of he "ivory tower" type of DJ, most commonly (but not exclusively) found in clubs...the ones that hate requests and just want to stick to their memorized, or double-clicked playlists, or sets. The ype of DJ who might be seen wearing o of those awful "Go away ... I'm mixing" t-shirts.

 

I think that requests, both verbally and especially via request slips distributed around tables/room are a great ice-breaker, both between Guest meet guest; (strangers around a table talk about their fav music) and guest meet DJ. It helps to remove that "us'n'them" stigma.

 

The only requests that I don't like, are the "half requests"...the ones that only ask for "anything by...", or "anything fromsuch'n'such genre"...such requests generally come from non-dancing toe-tappers....who, while who may well enjy noding their necks to the latest syrup from Sean Paul, or another unintelligible rap from whoever, usually then say later that they would've danced if you'd played that -other- one from that artist.

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Westcott 0]

I would agree as well - to a point.

 

We all know the DJ is responsible for the enjoyment of the guests, and if he plays entirely the wrong music then he'll spoil the night.

 

However, I think sound quality is important, too. Not high volume, but decent quality.

I've heard enough squawky discos - the ones that give you ringing ears without sounding particularly powerful - to persuade me to do something different, which I did. So I have problems moving my speakers around, and they can look a bit ugly in the wrong setting, but I'm happy that they sound reasonably good, and would like to think some of the audience notice too - in fact I know some do because it has been mentioned.

 

I accept though that the majority don't notice or care, but I'm happier in the knowledge. smile icon

 

As for light - I think that's largely down to expectations, and the venue. It seems that people want - or expect - to see lots of pretty light when they walk in the room, and if they don't, then that's the 'first impressions' opportunity missed.

"Pretty crappy disco, isn't it??"she might say to her friend.

And once the seed has been sown......

 

So, I think a bit of everything is needed - reasonable lighting, decent quality sound, and a reasonable DJ.

Remove any one of these and you could have a struggle on your hands convincing the public of your worth, but as has been mentioned, there will always be those who want a cheap disco, and expect it to appear cheap - this is fine, and their choice, but we mustn't forget that there are other people involved besides the person who pays...

[C.S 0]

If you are playing the right music then your dancefloor is full and you are not getting many requests. Its got nothing to do with willingness to play requests its got to do with the guests being happy with the music they are hearing . Yes requests are a great guideline but if you have read the crowd correctly then you dont get them . Sorry Gary I think your comments on ivory tower djs does not give a typical picture of us club djs in the same way that not all mobile djs are as they are often discribed.

[BigBen 0]

I can't stand this any longer!!!!

 

"Definition of a good DJ - [Amongst other things] has lots of lights."

 

I cannot refrain from using bad language any longer...this is just balderdash. I apologise for that unseemly outburst. A good DJ is one who meets, and (quoting Wizard) hopefully exceeds, the customers expectations. If the customer expects a dozen lighting effects then they will be happy if that's what you turn up with. But if you turn up with one light, like I normally do, you can still give the customer a bloody good night and I don't think they'll ever worry about lights again...unless they're pre-pubescent of course.

 

Don't get wrong, a great light show can help lift the night if the night is already going well - in other words the music, dancing, ambience, volume, entertainment, etc. are all spot-on. But if even one of these things isn't quite right then lighting won't make a blind bit of difference. If a DJ is defined by his lighting then anybody can buy their way to becoming a good DJ.

[Paul Smith 0]

I can't stand this any longer!!!!

 

Rich is having a bad night smile icon

 

I don't think I've added my bit to this debate and probably won't.

[BigBen 0]

Rich is having a bad night

Evening Paul! We move house in nine days, we have nowhere to live for three to four weeks before we move down south having to stay up here whilst we try to get kids into over-subscribed schools via the appeal routes. I'm tired, stressed and the brain's worn out...for once, I don't feel like sitting on the fence tonight! I'll be apologising tomorrow, you see!

[Paul Smith 0]

Remember what your therapist told you now - deep breaths and alcohol :joe:

[Gary 0]

comments on ivory tower djs does not give a typical picture of us club djs

 

Thats why I didn't use any all-encompassing terms such as "All club DJs" or "Every club DJ".

 

Every apple in the bag is different. Sometimes you gotta look closely to find the differences, sometimes not.

 

I've seen, demo'd to, spoken with, and maybe even read posts from most types of DJ eg: Club, mobile, wedding only, etc,etc.. and a small ish selection will back away from requests and look down on requestors, only playing the request if it was in their set, in the first place - the majority of DJs, I'm sure, are happy to accomodate a request, so long as they feel it stands a fairly good chance of not destroying the work that the DJ has done thus far in building a crowd on the floor.

[davemoody 0]

My opinion..............

 

Equipment wise its best not to use stuff that is too cheap because you want to be reliable and not have it break down in the middle of a packed dance floor. Always, ALWAYS carry back ups of amp, cd player, speakers and assorted leads.

 

So many times I have seen DJ's equipment fail and have to say that sorry but the night is over. This is justy not acceptable these days. A good backup is one of those combined Numark cd mixer jobbies to just have always in the van.

 

Lighting I think is dependant on the night and venue. It's nice to have a varying lightshow these days and whilst people comment mainly on the music played it is nice to have a half decent lightshow as well. Again you don't have to spend loads of money. I have run the same lights for over 2 years with no complaints. From left to right....Jaguar, Ego3, Puma, Skytec 600W Mushroom, Puma, Ego3, Jaguar. Easy to set up and just using the small remotes that came with them. This is the basic setup. Anything bigger needed I just add some scanners and 2 sets of par lights either side.

 

I have seen some with just a couple of lights and to be honest I think it's just being lazy and not putting yourself out for the client, especially at a wedding.

 

It should not matter how much you get paid you should have a professional and competant set up and you should always dress smart. Still see DJ's wearing jeans and stupid tee shirts and then they wonder why they can only get £50 a night!!!!!

 

Finally music knowledge is vital. If you find it hard to remember requests or can't find what you are looking for you can buy a cheap laptop and use it just to search for songs on. I just use Excel and all my songs ar elisted and its just a case of hitting the search function. Plus you have the laptop to go into Laptop djing later on if you want to. Makes your life a lot easier when you get loads of requests come in. ALso its easy compiling a playlist from a clients request form for the night ahead.

 

 

[Andy Westcott 0]

Quote:

"I have seen some with just a couple of lights and to be honest I think it's just being lazy and not putting yourself out for the client"

 

I can already see the excrement hurtling towards the rotating blades.......

[tonyj 0]

Quote:

"I have seen some with just a couple of lights and to be honest I think it's just being lazy and not putting yourself out for the client"

 

I can already see the excrement hurtling towards the rotating blades.......

 

 

light the blue touch paper and retire a safe distance.........lol

 

best quote i every heard about lighting was when a customer asked what type of lighting do you carry?

the dj said, well they flash and change colour. customer reply cool thats just what we want.....

[EdBray 0]

My opinion..............

I have seen some with just a couple of lights and to be honest I think it's just being lazy and not putting yourself out for the client, especially at a wedding.

 

What a load of absolute tosh (now where is the "coffee bean" emoticon).

 

How on earth does the number of lights you put up determine whether or not you are a good DJ?

 

A reasonable light show may help to cover up some inadequacies in a poor DJ but I would suspect the better DJs could get by with no lights if needed.

 

I would hope the number of lights required was dependant on the size and area of the venue you wish to light. Imagine covering a wedding in a small room and then fitting 3kw (about 12 250watt effects) bit of an overkill. I would also suspect that most clients would want the disco lighting confined to an area around the dance floor, so as it does not intrude into other areas where it may not be so welcome.

 

By the way ADs, you must be really lazy and you must be struggling for referrals as you obviously don't put yourself out for your clients tongue out icon , because you rarely use more than 2 lights :Thumbup: .

[andyw 0]

My opinion..............

 

Equipment wise its best not to use stuff that is too cheap because you want to be reliable and not have it break down in the middle of a packed dance floor. Always, ALWAYS carry back ups of amp, cd player, speakers and assorted leads.

 

So many times I have seen DJ's equipment fail and have to say that sorry but the night is over. This is justy not acceptable these days. A good backup is one of those combined Numark cd mixer jobbies to just have always in the van.

 

. It's nice to have a varying lightshow these days and whilst people comment mainly on the music played it is nice to have a half decent lightshow as well. Again you don't have to spend loads of money. I have run the same lights for over 2 years with no complaints. From left to right....Jaguar, Ego3, Puma, Skytec 600W Mushroom, Puma, Ego3, Jaguar. Easy to set up and just using the small remotes that came with them. This is the basic setup. Anything bigger needed I just add some scanners and 2 sets of par lights either side.

 

I have seen some with just a couple of lights and to be honest I think it's just being lazy and not putting yourself out for the client, especially at a wedding.

 

It should not matter how much you get paid you should have a professional and competant set up and you should always dress smart. Still see DJ's wearing jeans and stupid tee shirts and then they wonder why they can only get £50 a night!!!!!

 

Finally music knowledge is vital. If you find it hard to remember requests or can't find what you are looking for you can buy a cheap laptop and use it just to search for songs on. I just use Excel and all my songs ar elisted and its just a case of hitting the search function. Plus you have the laptop to go into Laptop djing later on if you want to. Makes your life a lot easier when you get loads of requests come in. ALso its easy compiling a playlist from a clients request form for the night ahead.

 

some good points and some well !!!!!!!!!!

equipment. should always have back up no excuse not to.

should always be dressed correctly for the occasion.

if you cant remember request, you should have a pen and paper handy to write them down no need to get a laptop for that

 

and finally bit of a contradition on lights"Lighting I think is dependant on the night and venue" if the venue or occasion calls for a minimal set up it's not lazy.some people prefer a minmal set up some like lots of flashy lights.horses for courses.both right in the right enviroment.

 

[Andy Westcott 0]

Well, at the end of it all, if someone is using just a portable CD player, the client is happy, and the DJ is getting enough repeat work, that should be OK. Live and let live.

 

We all have our own ideas of what a disco should consist of, and fortunately few of us agree, as otherwise we'd be in trouble, wouldn't we?

 

This discussion of how many lights we should have, or how big the speakers should be, or "you can't be a real DJ if you ain't got a van" is all good fun and highly entertaining; Keep it up, but don't let it get personal.

 

As for the initial question - 'how do you define a good DJ - that's pretty easy. If someone can entertain the crowd to the client's satisfaction, then he has been a good DJ, in that situation.

Perhaps the problem with this thread is that the question is wrong; Maybe we should have been asked,

"What does the typical client expect of a mobile DJ?"

 

Oh, and I've got bigger speakers than you. tongue out icon

 

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/hosting/soundsystem.jpg

[EdBray 0]

Oh, and I've got bigger speakers than you. tongue out icon

 

Fortunately as my wife keeps reminding me :hug: size isn't everything :dan+ju:

[Andy Westcott 0]

Eddie - you are lucky to have such an understanding wife;

Mine just laughs.....

[TonyB 0]

I can remember back in the 70's there were the same discussions. I used to love my light boxes back then but there were people who didn't like flashing lights and others who thought it was an important part of a disco.

 

Lighting is an area where I don't think you are going to please everyone and the best you can do is like most things, come to a compromise that appeals to the majority.

 

To a certain extent equipment matters. As long as it is adequate enough for the job and reliable then it doesn't matter what make it is or how much you have. I have been to disco's where the sound has been tinny and not clear but a majority has been up and dancing and had a good time.

 

I think these discussions result from not what makes a good DJ but what can I do to make my show better than a good DJ. What can I do to give that wow factor to the evening and makes be better than the £50 beer money boys/bottom feeders.

 

And the answer is a difficult one! What can we do to impress a public that don't really care about what equipment you use and how many lights you have as long as what you have is adequate for the job and most of the people have a good time?

 

So a good DJ is:

 

A person who is reliable

A person who has the right attitude

Turns up on time

Has adequate reliable sound equipment

Plays the right music that the majority of people like/dance to

Has a good musical knowledge and adequate selection of tracks

Lighting that fits the enviroment (it doesn't matter if it is 2 or 20 lights)

 

Hopefully that applies to most DJ's but what can one do to be better than a good DJ that makes you stand out from the crowd?

 

Some of the £50 beer boys/bottom feeders also comply with the above. They do it as a hobby, because they love music and enjoy the buzz of seeing people have a good time. So we start off with a level playing field.

 

I will admit that I have been going down the bigger is better route. I was hoping a better sound system would make me a better mobile disco. Quality of sound is important to me but I wonder how many other people care that much. Likewise with lighting. I started off with four lights and have 12 now. Most I have used is 6 at any event but am now thinking of reducing that to 4 on a T-bar.

 

So given a scenario where I am a member of the public who needs a disco for a 40th birthday in a village hall with about a hundred people. I phone around and get a quote from a "bottom feeder" for £50 against your quote for £150. Both have a number of years experience, similar equipment and can make the party go with a swing. PAT and PLI doesn't bother me as its just a party for four hours and £50 quid is more appealing than £150. How would you convince me to book you? what would I get for the extra £100?

[davemoody 0]

OK....here I go again.......treads very carefully hoping not to offend !!!!!!!!

 

On the lights situation. Let me clarify.

 

I played at my usual hotel this Christmas and they normally have 3 parties going on obviousl;y in seperate rooms.

 

Now we all get paid the same to be fair but on 2 occasions one of the other regular DJ's couldn'y make it so they approached an agency, no names but well known.

 

On my buffet break popped in as you do to see what he was like and to have a nose at his gear to be honest. Now consider that the room holds 300-350 people and what he had was a pair of moonflowers and a pair of 200w speakers running full blast and distorting to hell.

 

I wasn't criticising people who take out just 2 lights but if it is for a group of up to say 100 in a pub then yes anymore would be overkill but in an upmarket hotel where people had paid a lot of money to be entertained, I would not be impressed if I had that for my entertainment.

 

Fair enough he played a few good tunes but couldn't get an atmosphere going.

 

 

As for the requests side it wasn't that I can't remember them and yes I do write them down on a bit of paper first but when it comes to finding the right CD, I flick between PCDJ and Excel and then quickly know what CD, number and location it is so saves me valuable time.

 

OK LET THE COMMENTS COME..............LOL!!!!

[andyw 0]

dave i dont think anyone is offended,that what the forum is about everyone giving their own opinion and discussing,whether we agree or disagree it's not personal just opinions.

we have our data base on a laptop and use it to find out what cd its on and what box it is in.that helps a lot.they come in on a request slip,we check the computor look in the box(go back to the computor then look in the right box :scared: )get the cd put to one side with request slip on top and fit it in when appropiate.the dj at the hotel ,was he brought in at the last minute,because someone with 2 moonflowers is better than no one(most if the time anyway :bouncy: )