Music For the whole gig. Order of events.

[Dj_Kray 0]

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??? http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/095.gif DJ NAMMU http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/095.gif

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.

[Dukesy 0]

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?! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/sterb188.gif

 

 

 

 

[Paul Smith 0]

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. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

 

PaulS

[kazzachi 0]

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!

[stevemarshall 0]

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........

[Eskie 0]

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.... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/071.gif

[Gary 0]

QUOTE (Eskie @ Nov 24 2003, 02:05 AM)

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.... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/071.gif 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..

[wolfmann 0]

like teens will not dance on 70's music will they

 

last week i had a 70yr old dancing to sandstorm!!! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/533.gif just goes to show that you cant plan for everything lol.

 

[Titan 0]

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! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/huh.gif

[High Fidelity 0]

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.

[Titan 0]

thanks for the reply!

sorry i didnt recieve it in time for the show:(

oh well ... such is life http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/kid.gif

 

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 http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/nono.gif

 

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 http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/363.gif 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) http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/nono.gif 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 http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/pepsi.gif

 

[teebone 0]

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?

[djwynn 0]

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

[simatbirch 0]

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.

[SeanyB 0]

OMG :drool:

 

You Are A Good Sir !!!

 

 

 

[Kandi man 0]

Hi,

 

Just want to say that this thread is bleedin excellant for new djs. Thanks.

[bedfordft 0]

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!!

 

[simonsteph 0]

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

[Moody Music 0]

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.

 

 

[Norfolk DJ 0]

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

[jukeboxdj 0]

 

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

 

 

 

 

[jamesmurphy 0]

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.

[dventertainment 0]

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

[DJTauntonJams 0]

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!!!

[Lag1Rich 0]

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