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Sujet: Small Dogs Stay Off the Porch! - Page: 1

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I was asked to come the club on Saturday night because there was a new DJ starting and they wanted to make sure nothing got F'd up during set-UP.

I got there just as he was arriving. Of course I was currious for is set up since there is literally no room, Just enough room for a laptop / keyboard and a controller ( to give you an idea ). So pops out his laptop and two large externals. Me and the staff members are standing outside the booth having some laughs. I look over at him and he is on the phone and I can hear part of the discussion of how to hook everything up. Now I'm saying this is going to be interesting. I tell him to plug into an open port and start his thing. He turns on the laptop and begins his night. I ask him what software he uses and he says " CUE "... Cool since I use it. Now the laptop is loaded with music and software but I notice he has no headphones or controller. Shit, a playlister i'm thinking.

Now, it's about 9:00 and he starts playing dance music as if the floor was packed except theres still tables with people still sitting and enjoying their meals. I'm not going to say a word about his night or try to help him. If he has technical concerns then yes. So I stay there for about 3 songs and was wondering what his playlist is going to consist of since he's playing his music way before anyone is thinking about dancing.

I go home to take a shower and then was going to head back. I watch about 5-10 of the Nuggets game and hop in the shower. By the time I got out of the shower I received 4 voice mails about this DJ - 3 guest and 1 employee.

I walk in the door and started to get bombarded with did you quit? What's going on? Dude, this DJ sucks!

Walking through the dance floor to get an idea of energy there and it looked like a high school dance. Tons of people standing around the floor with a few in actually dancing. I walk into the booth and asked how is everything and he replies fine. OK, cool I get myself a couple drinks and sit back wait for him to do his thing. I go to the VIP section to how they are doing and they tell me "this DUDE is really bad and ask me to go help him" I replied I can't he wanted this job so he has to learn and suffer like a professional.

Results of his program:

No mixing what so ever, not even beatmatching
tryed to scratch with the mouse
gaps between songs
poor choice selecting music
Music exstremely LOUD even after I tell him to turn it down 3 seperate times

I just goes to show that even with this great debate of having a DJ software like VDJ. It doesn't make you a DJ. So all you bedroom DJ's please practice and get the eqp required to be a profession before you step into a pro arena. Yes, it's cool to be a dj and all but it's a much bigger picture involved.
 
Posté Mon 10 Mar 08 @ 1:11 pm
Good thing u neva offered to help him on the nite he djing or he won't learn;)

To those who aspiring to be a dj, practise is ur number one lesson n also pls do learn how to hook all the cables properly on a gig and if u can't u already lose to look as a professional. All the best!

Regards;)
 
What would you like me to do tell him what songs to play and do a DJing lesson on how to DJ. I was there for a technical stand point and if he had problems to help... From that stand-point I was there. Would you stand side by side with a stranger and do a how to of DJing? No, I don't think so.

I offered assistance several times.
 
Hehe, i dun mean that u tell him what to do n yes i agree with u offering technical help.. I also been to similar situation like u n only help if he have problem with set up etc or technical problem. Well dun wanna ruined his show;)
 
The part I left out was he had his girlfriend hanging all over the booth ( outside ) and then his "boys" came showed up. He was more interested in talking and kissing on his girl than the crowd. Several times I seen him walk past me on the dance floor to dance with his girl. I did have different people put in request but was shot down by the infamous " I don't have it " Sh*t, you better get it if you want to make as a DJ. These were Todays songs guarenteed to put people booty shaken. Then I thought about the cupid shuffle...Easy enough right. I personally walked over and asked, DID NOT HAVE IT!!!!
 
I practise every night =]
 
Fatkatz, dun tell me he put all the track on playlist n just let it run till end of the night. hehe.
 
DJ Access no1 wrote :
I practise every night =]


Same here, on top of that I do my billboard research every 2 weeks. I don't do hardly any beatmixing or trick mixing, but then I am a mobile DJ. Still, practice is everything, if you don't know your music or how to mix them together or how to transition between genres you're not gonna have a very good night. On a side note, sometimes I do wish I did club work tho..lol;^]
 
Even for a mobile DJ you still have a sense of energy, timing, music knowledge and learn to read your crowd. You don't go into any show with a thought of this my time to shine and I will do as I please. And yes, everyone has to learn sometime but don't use someone elses time to practice. It's like going to a show and using the gig to do rig testing and finding out something was wrong and could have been prevented at home.
 
fatkatzdj wrote :
Even for a mobile DJ you still have a sense of energy, timing, music knowledge and learn to read your crowd. You don't go into any show with a thought of this my time to shine and I will do as I please. And yes, everyone has to learn sometime but don't use someone elses time to practice. It's like going to a show and using the gig to do rig testing and finding out something was wrong and could have been prevented at home.



Agreed, this is serious work and requires a serious & professional approach inorder to be succseful;^]
 
The problem with Jokers like this is that they steal gigs away from DJ's who know what they are doing and have alot invested in their craft (money, time). I have a serious problem with microwave DJ's, hence why I only use Turntables (unless I have to use CDJ's). I have lost gigs because I charge alot of money for my services and a promoters friend or managers friend wants his guy in for a 5th of my price. Some wavie who downloads a few songs from Limewire, plugs in his bullshit controller, and thinks a DJ kills me.
 
Yeah C5..I agree with everything except the controller aspect of what you said. A few years ago my mom asked me, as a favor, to help this new DJ "learn how its done". It was a friends of hers son, and she offered my services. I hated to disappoint her but, there is only one way to learn this. On the job when things break. What works for me might not work for the next guy. Now this same guy tries to under bid a lot of my jobs. I smile when some customer brings that up. Then I inform them of how long he has been in business and gently tell them what I just wrote here. Then I say to them "Now, would you rather have the student, or the teacher". I get the gigs, works every time........
 
The thing that I've learned to do is every couple of months ask the GM or entertainment management how things are doing? Is there anything that he wants changed or is there a certain energy he wants in place. This lets him know that I'm there for the business and not for myself. Plus I'm constantly reinventing myself with the big help of VDJ.

I've been there two years and and don't plan on going anywhere. Fun place, Hot woman, free food and drinks, walking distance to my house... AHHH, a DJ's utopia

Oh, I asked him what he used before CUE and he said he normaly used Tricerasoft!
 
fatkatzdj wrote :
Tricerasoft!



That software doesn't look all that bad - might be a little primitive compared to VDJ.

I notice they support the HC4500, DMC1/DAC2 and the Hercules.

Those 2 controllers (dac2 and HDJC) really get around - EVERYONE supports them

Also as we keep saying over and over.......

It's the DJ that matters, not the software.
 
ya
 
Wonder if he'll be back next week?
 
@ fatkatzdj

I'm in the same situation as u right now. I used to play @ a local spot every Saturday but my Full time job switched my schedule on me so now I can only play every other weekend.

The club owner had to get a new Dj, so I recommended one. One thing I've noticed is that people just don't like change. People will bitch for no reason. They were like c'mon man why did you quit. This guys sucks. I happen to know the guy who they say sucks cause i'm the one who put him on to the gig. He does not suck, I've heard people who suck & this guy doesn't.

& on top of that, when you're a DJ, some drunks will talk to you just so they can say they know the DJ. They may not mean what they say.
 
small pups nipping at the heels, they're everywhere...

apparently one of our idiot employees thinks he can convince management that he can dj - he has no experience, no skills, no brain, no knowledge of the job, and no clue in general. if IQ were octane he couldnt power a weedeater. decided he wanted to hang out in the booth and watch, which of course meant "ask annoying questions and make monumentally stupid suggestions requests". because on a night when i am fighting to keep energy in the building (day before payday blues.. blah) he really thinks i should play a 7 minute long ballad that is a tribute song to another country artist.

ya know there really are times i hate working in a country nightclub.

and to think i would have been able to take a night off. of course, i wouldnt have had any customers to come back to, but then again who needs work?
 
I came in to DJing via VDJ.

But i immediately got a controller (A Herc Mk1) and Headphones, these are just essential !!

I practised avidly in my bedroom for almost a year.

In that time I did some small house parties etc (not paid)

Eventually i did my Mum's wedding reception (unpaid), i was really nervous, went over and over things in the weeks leading upto it.

The night proved to be a great success form my point of view, was i as good as a Mobile DJ with experience under his belt? no i was not, but i'd spent alot of time and thought on song selections and i reacted to the crowd through the night and deviated from my 'tepmlate' for the night accordingly.

I got people asking for my services at the end of the night, so i was very pleased and it seemed everyone had enjoyed themselves to one degree or another.

I think this was probably one of the best ways to step into the DJing world without and real experience of public performace. I wasn't charging a fee, so my employer (my Mum) would have no grounds for retribution !

Still, for the months that followed i did various mobile work, but each time i was honest and explained my history, i firstly excepted nominal fees for my services as i didnt feel it was right to accept high fees due to my lack of experience. I suppose i could of charged alot more, because the people asking for my services had all already seen me in action. I guess maybe i was undercutting the more proffesional and experienced DJs out there, but i was not interested in the money, i just craved the experience !!!

Since then it's been an obsession of mine, if i go out anywhere, i can't sit back and enjoy the night, i'm always analysing, analysing the DJs, the crowd, the lighting, everything, always hungry for knowledge of how other go about it and then reevaluating my own style & techniques.

I think as long as you have a real passion for DJing and a passion for pleasing those you are there for, you can do a job, the skill & experience makes you better at it obviously !!

However it seems this guy the thread started of talking about didnt really have a passion for either. If you aren't passionate about it all, you may as well just chuck it in!

@FatKatz, how did this guy even get a chance? Was there no screening of any kind? or had he misled your management?
 
DJ Marcel_1 wrote :

Also as we keep saying over and over.......

It's the DJ that matters, not the software.



That's it. I met a lot of DJ's the past few years (the early years of VDJ)... Way back they told me thatthis was *not* the artof DJ-ing ! ... Nowadays the crowd is pleased to interact with me and vice versa... on a common night i need approx 20 sec to prepare the next tune, so the interaction and playing with the lightsystem takes most of the time ;-)

One of the owners pretends to be a dj, mostly at the end of the night. he stands up to the booth, and i use my cordless mouse at the other end of the bar.... To the crowd he's the STAR of the night...... to me : he's just a muppet and I'm Jim Henson !

Joop
 
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