Hello everybody,

I was sitting in a coffee shop today, and I overheard a conversation between an engaged couple and their DJ who was planning the logistics of their wedding with them.

I just wanted to comment on a few of the questions that came up.

What if I need two areas with music?

The answer to this question, like many questions you'll be asking your DJ, revolves around the space that you will be using.

If the space is small enough for sound to carry from the main set-up, that is ideal.  If a second smaller sound system is needed, we can arrange that easily.  If you want a second full sound system for the second area(like if it is a different ballroom than the ceremony or reception) you may want to pony up for a full second system, through us, this will be at a hugely discounted rate.


When will you be showing up?

This depends on the complexity of the set-up.  Our Classic Package takes about 45 to 75 minutes to set-up.   We will generally show up at least 2 hours before your guests arrive to make sure everything is ready and tested.

If you have a more complex set-up, like one involving a projector and screen, uplighting, or extra dance floor lighting - we will need to be there sooner.  We always check with you and your venue to make sure enough time is allotted for us to set-up and ready before your guests arrive.


What will you do about requests?

The DJ who answered this question had a great answer for the couple which I will share here:

Dealing with requests is one of the touchy areas in wedding DJ-ing.  Some people think because you have a laptop or play digital music that you can just play any song.  The influence of alcohol also sometimes plays a role with an over-eager guest.

While it is true that the modern DJ has access to a massive selection of music, the music files that DJs used are carefully organized, pre-tested, lossless high-quality(not iTunes quality), appropriate authorizations to play(i.e. not pirated), sometimes filtered for language(sometimes not), level adjusted in the software, et cetera, et cetera.  Therefore, it is a risk for a DJ to play a song that he doesn't know and/or can't preview before hand.  

I also know very well from first-hand experience that you cannot trust the requestor's "knowledge" of the music either.  They'll tell you it is clean(no swears) when there are swears, or that it is a pop song when it is a rap song.


That's all for now!  If you have any questions that you would like me to address, post them in the comments down below and I'll do my best to get to them.

Thanks,

~Josh

I heard this one at a recent event:

"I recently read an article that dissected the life expectancy of a man.  The study compared married men and bachelors.  They said that the life expectancy is the same, its just that one feels longer."

Have you guys heard any great jokes as part of a wedding toast?

Please share in the comments below, 

I just posted an example of a live mix I did on NYE, and it can be found on Sound Cloud, check it out and follow here:

www.soundcloud.com/revaux

Hey everybody:

I just saw a video series that I would recommend starting off DJs take a look at here.

It is done by the guy behind Digital DJ Tips, and it is informative, if a little dry and slow with the information/'how-to' that I had expected.  

The Digital DJ Tips website(and companion email series), is generally helpful and has a nice active community which is based in the UK.  Most of the information definitely crosses over and is relevant state-side.  

The guy behind it all (Phil Morse) is an experienced producer and club promoter who really knows what he's talking about.  You can tell that he's got a lot of knowledge if you watch more of the videos.  Somehow it seems like it is mostly gained from real-life experience rather than focused study in a collegiate/scientific manner.

I was interested to see the waveforms in the video in real-time as his guest was scratching.  It kind of took the mystique away, which is good for the beginner, and brought the idea of digital scratching closer to a reality in my mind.

I will be watching the whole series.  They are only about 10 minutes each, which is a nice sized portion for something like this, but my biggest gripe was the lack of what I would call 'real' information.  Phil seemed to dance around digging into the info, seeming to cater to brand new DJs with kind of "fluffy" comments and generalizations, like:

 "Any new controller should be able to scratch" 

and 

"Using any of the big 3 softwares you will be able to scratch"

Although mostly true, the real information lies in answering questions like, what are the pros and cons to Traktor/Serato/VDJ? Or, "Which controller under $300 would be best to purchase if I want to scratch?"

Again, if you're interested in the 'lite' version of this info, check this guy out.

I also highly recommend DJ Tech Tools which is run stateside by a huge figure in DJ culture - Ean Golden.  They are also the creators of the Midi-Fighter series of controllers.  I love the concept of these and the 3D is currently on my gear wish-list.

Until next time,

~Josh~