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Topic: First "Paying" Gig

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Doing a wedding on Saturday for my cousin and it is my first paid gig. This will be my 5th gig ever. I try and ask anyone at the house parties that I have Dj'ed for to see if I could change anything but don't get any responce other then "Hey that was pretty good". I like to hear that but I feel that if I messed anything up no one want to tell me. I will be playing Some oldies to start the night off for the Parents and then working my way to more modern stuff the later it gets. I have rented speakers and lights from a company here in Edmonton and have to haul everything 2 hours north.

Is there anything that I should watch out for or try and make sure I do or Don't do? I know that's kind of a loaded question but I mean more then common sence stuff. I will have my wife and our little boy there, as well my dad because its his side of the family. I am going to ask that people don't touch the lights or speakers and really hope for the best. I have a lot of music but not everything so I am going to bring a pad of paper for people to write down requests so I can try and make them happy. If I don't have it tho, I don't have it. I looked into the Content Unlimited but there is no WIFI and its long distance for my Data so forget it.

I have the first dance song, father/bride song, there is a slide show(Power point) that another one of my cousins did that I am playing the music for the 3 parts. Then on to the dance after speech's.

Anything that you can think of that I should consider would be helpfull.

Thanks
Brendan
 
Posted Thu 25 Jul 13 @ 6:01 pm
My only humble suggestion is be there early! Make sure you test the full system just in case you forget something. That's why I like to be there early just in case I forget something it leaves time to go get it or find a replacement.

Good luck!
 
soundcheck ;-)

Have fun!
 
netsearch would come in handy........
 
Oh I forgot..Don't forget you're business cards(if you have some which you should)!! I did forget once and It was kind of embarrassing because you look like a DJ that is unprepared..
 
Yeah A good DJing Consultation is great plus Unlimited Content . And a plus if the customer has wifi. you can make just about any request.
 
Thanks guys. It was for my cousin and the wedding was this past Saturday. I didn't get to read any of the suggestions posted by the time I was up there (3 hour drive from home). Ran into one problem, the wireless mic I rented was an XLR connection but my Mixdeck has a 1/4" jack for a mic input, as I was using XLR for the speakers. I brought along my $10 mic I bought at Future Shop and ended up using that. I knew the hall was going to be small but it wasn't too bad. The system they gave me at the rental place was CRAZY loud so I had to turn everything down to a sliver above 00. Good learning experience tho. I didn't think I was doing all that great because no one was really dancing. People started to come up and ask for songs so if I had it I played it. (I was going to go with Content unlimited but there was no Wifi and my phone didn't even have service in the hall. It did outside but not inside... Go figure lol.) I was asked for Waltz, swing/Jive, country, old school rock, and modern pop. Tried to talk a few genres in with "I've been asked to play some waltz so here you go" "I hear there's some swing fans in the house, let me hear you". I tried my best, I felt a little let down because the dance floor only had 6 people on it most the time. there where a few songs that got it filled up tho. When people started to leave they all started to complement me on a good job, and people kept telling my wife I was really good and asked if I do this for a living. (I guess this is where the cards could have come into play, but I can not afford to attempt this as a full time thing yet.) That made me feel better. My other cousin is getting married in Augest next year and they already want me to DJ for them as well, so I must have done something right at least lol.

Thanks,
Brendan
 
1) First of all congratulations on having the balls/guts to put yourself out there as the DJ, stepping up to the task is half the battle. It is a lot of pressure to have the success of the party rest on your shoulders.

If the customers say you did a good job then you did a good job. Some gigs especially mixed aged or nationality audiences are difficult to get dancing this doesn't mean they didn't have a good time. I have performed gigs where I thought I sucked as the dance floor was empty only to get referred to two more gigs.

2) Self confidence is very important. Most people don't know what a good DJ is. They will base their initial judgement on your confidence and how you carry yourself so have fun and let it flow. This can be difficult when things are going wrong such as your microphone. Always smile, keep your head up and try not to look stressed as the wolves will smell fear and begin to doubt you then test you. Until you know your setup I would rent the equipment for an extra day and set the whole thing up at home down to the cable and test everything. Regarding power I use 10 times the audience as a guide. 100 guest = 1000 watts of power 2 x 500watt active speakers.

3) If you are going to do this as a business you need to invest in a standard database of music as internet connections are rarely available at decent speeds. I recommend Music That Matters @ http://www.multimusic.ca/

http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102474588320-262/MTM_Volumes_1-80.pdf

This will start you off with 1400 standard and classics to please the older people and the non-hip crowd. These songs will never go out of date and will always be requested. Then join a DJ pool such as xtendamix or MultiMusic again for a monthly subscription $35.00 - $50.00 which will update you with current tracks. Add to this VDJ Content unlimited and you a golden.

4) Regarding keeping people on the dance floor there are many components that keeps them dancing.

-Personality as MC - This goes back confidence. You need to pep talk them a bit and show that you are excited to play for them. This rule holds true even if you are not the official MC.

-Many people believe that the song selection is what keeps them on the dance floor NO.. NO... NO...Its the FLOW that keeps them dancing. This means how compatible is the song you are transitioning to tempo and KEY (most DJ's don't consider the key but it makes a big difference) from the song you a currently playing. You may need to play one or two "filler" songs to SMOOTHLY get to the Hit that is going to get them to put their hands up. Your best friend with this and the main feature of VDJ that caused me to choose Atomix as a platform is "COMPATIBLE SONG SEARCH" in your filters folders. This tool will assist you immensely by displaying songs that are musically compatible with what you are playing.

-learning how and when to use transitions and effects is the key. Try to beat match and blend songs that are compatible. Cut (fast transition) song that are not compatible (more that 15% <> pitch) with maybe and effect or sample to smooth over the sudden change. For example going from dance music to Latin I would engage a slow brake while triggering a war siren sample with a small pause to build up the anticipation that I am intentionally change the flow and bang drop a standard Latin Hit. It is important to start new genres with Hits then fillers and build back up to hits.

-Do not let the audience drive you from the back seat. Play request that makes sense and fit the flow. You are not a human iPod. Use the requests as an indicator of what the crowd generally wants to hear genre wise. Beware of wanna be DJs who come up and say "Why don't you play GOOD music?" these people think that they have cornered the market on "Good Music". They are the individuals who keep coming up and requesting songs and complaining that you haven't played the songs they have requested. Just smile and say I'll get to it and ignore them. They do not represent the audience.

-On the other hand if the bride or groom requests a song. Immediately drop what you are doing and play it right away as they are the one paying you. This rule also stands for mothers or fathers. If their request sucks announce "This is a special request from the bride and groom" then play it.

- Under no circumstances at wedding do you play songs with profanity its just not professional. Even if the bride and groom say its okay. If you don't have a clean version then manually slip scratch over it.

-Try to maintain one genre for at least 15 minutes.

-Older people like to hear the entire song play from beginning to end. Young people are A.D.D one verse one chorus next track.

-Most important, pay attention to the crowd.If the dance floor is packed keep hitting that vibe until you see the energy dropping. If this happens don't change yet just go back to known HITS in this genre. When you do this pump them up with comments like "Make some noise if you having a good time!" or " Put your hands in the air" or "If you love [bride name] and [Groom name] makes some noise. Don't use samples for this it more powerful when it comes from you other wise the audience thinks its coming from the track. If the vibe continues to drop then switch it up. If they move away from your speakers then the system is too loud or sounds bad. Regularly walk around and check levels. When you are more experienced a 31 band eq comes in very handy to tune the place. If they dance floor clears don't panic try 3 songs to see if a new crowd takes a turn at the floor if not then change it up again.
-learn the party standards such as Dollar Wine and Home for a rest etc. Use www.digitaldreamdoor.com for song lists on the greatest hits in all genres as a tool.

You are on the right track to making very decent extra cash while having fun. DJing is one of the few businesses that is self perpetuating meaning that if you do well at the current wedding you are playing at chances are you earn 2 or 3 more gigs from that one. Other business require huge investment in advertisement to get leads. So do you best and yes bring your cards.

Cheers.



 
sonisphere wrote :
-Many people believe that the song selection is what keeps them on the dance floor NO.. NO... NO...Its the FLOW that keeps them dancing.


I disagree. It's not all about the flow, and forget the selection.

In my opinion it's selection first, flow second. If you can make your selections flow, then great. If not, it doesn't matter - play the song.

There's certainly no need to play five "filler" songs in order to get from one song to another at a different BPM.
 
I was wondering how long it would take for other professional DJ's to respond to that. :^)

The truth is they are both important. In my personal style Flow is priority. I have been training younger DJs lately as I can see that I am going to need to expand soon. Thank you VDJ. I use Charity or free events as an opportunity to do this. So one of my trainees was getting a bit frustrated in my selection as It was taking long to go through the requests. I turn and said "do you see the dance floor? Its packed isn't it." If DJing was a simple as playing popular song after popular song the customer would have placed a ipod on the stage here and let it go. Why are they paying us to play music? Its the flow and the experience to connect the songs together in a manner that takes the audience somewhere dynamically. Otherwise anyone can program a playlist."

I could tell the student was still on the fence with my method so I stepped back and said "be my guest". Within 3 songs (all good songs mind you) beat matched properly the dance floor was cleared. She got nervous and looked back at me I said "Keep going, try to get them back on the floor". She tried changing the genre and going down the request list and nothing. Then she said okay I give up you take over. Within 4-5 songs (just verse and chorus) with a little bit of MC the floor was packed again.

When I say filler I mean 2- 3 star rated songs there still good. I don't play unknown songs they are just not my 5 star rated tracks. I just like to ease my audience up to the great stuff.

We all have our different styles this style works for me not saying that it is the only one that works.

Cheers.
 
One more thing...

If the selection is the priority the radio plays hits (when a live DJ is not spinning) but you don't see people dancing to the radio. If it was about the selection then people would just turn on the radio at a gig. The only time I feel like dancing when the radio is playing is when they have guest star DJ spinning.

Hmmmm....
 
Holy cow thanks a lot Sonisphere that's a huge help!! You gave a lot to learn and think about. My uncle, the father of the bride, kept coming up and wanting to use the mic that night, it felt like he was really killing the flow I was trying to build. I couldn't exactly tell him no tho. He did slip me $100 at the end so I was happy. I know this isn't something I'm going to pick up right off the hop but with a ton more practice I might build my confidence up enough to try and hit up a club to let me play just one night. I listen to a hit music station here in Edmonton as the DJ's play an hour long mix at 5 and 9 and try to learn what I can from just listening to them spin. They do go out and play the club scene on the week ends too. If I ever get a chance to talk to one of them, with out coming off as a Dbag, I'll try and get a little advice from them if they will give me any.

Seriously guys thanks a lot for the help.
Brendan
 
oK let me step in.. I think Selection is the key then flow... in the other hand if you drop a couple good songs and have the floor full of ppl then you have to focus in flow too because if you screw with the rhythm of the music they just walk away... so it's both...
Max
http://www.3balldj.com
 
hi
i have my first paying gig tonight, but im having trouble with my headphones on my wego. when im trying to mix a track all i can hear through my headphones is whats coming out of the speakers, making it very difficult for me to cue and mix my next track.

any suggestions?

thanks
 
Hi there this is a simple change in your audio setup:
Goto optiions /setup/
make such it says master out and headphones with the controller listed as the output.

I am doing this from memory so you might need to contact support.

Darin
 
Congrats on making it through that. A wedding is the hardest gig I've had next to bars, then the club. But all you can do is learn from your experiences and carry on.

Flow is always good, but if you're not playing the correct genre, even an immediate drop can be forgiven if the crowd accepts the new genre
 


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