My last gig thoughts and some basic DJ etiquette guide.
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  1. #1
    Tech Mentor
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    Default My last gig thoughts and some basic DJ etiquette guide.

    So a couple weeks ago I ended up helping out a really cool dude throw his party. It actually started out that I was only going to be DJ'ing. That is until I found out we where going to be using 90% of my DJ gear. My inventory includes:

    DJM900NXS Mixer with Flight Case
    2x Techniques 1200MKII with Flight Cases
    All My cables and DMX Cables
    10 260mW Laser System
    6 Foot DJ Table
    Skrim DJ Table Cover
    2x Light Trusses
    Projection system that I designed to display each DJ Name as a Background. That included Logos

    Seems like no DJ came early to help set up. Mind you every single DJ was a local DJ not a headliner by any means. This included me. So me and promoter set everything up. Then I set up my system to inteface with the house sound system. This was a black light event so the promoter was a couple black lights short. So I purchased 2 more to help out. We started set up at around 3pm finished by 7pm. Once again no DJ came early enough to help out.
    Event Start Time 8pm. The opening DJs come in. To my surprise every single DJ either used a laptop for Ableton Style DJing or Brought a S4 to Mix on Traktor. Here comes the problem. Not one DJ had any clue how to jack into my mixer. Really a Traktor Certified Mixer. /rollface
    So I helped each one just use a channel on my mixer instead of using the mixer as an audio card.
    The next events is pissed me off. After the DJs finished there set. They left and took small group of people they came with in the same car. So basically each DJ brought around 4 or 5 people. So as the night came to an end we had no help tear down so we could have gotten out of there quickly.
    In my day DJs had to earn their spot and pay dues. I will present the rules we used to live by.
    1) Promote the event your playing at.
    2) Come early and help set up. This includes knowing where your gear will set up. If you can have a sound check that would be awesome.
    3) After you complete your set. Stay and support the other DJs and also this supports the promoter who is doing the event. This also allows you to mingle and network yourself to other promoters and EDM fans.
    4) At the end of the event offer to help and tear down the system.
    Last Advice: Please don't use Youtube to MP3 rips. 96kbs/128kbs MP3 sound horrible

    Thanks for reading guys and hope this helps others out there
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    Last edited by hrtbrkd; 01-13-2013 at 09:03 PM.

  2. #2
    Tech Guru DJ SB's Avatar
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    Everyone's a DJ these days. Sorry mangg.

  3. #3
    Tech Convert
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    Man I totally agree and the sad part is that following all those rules help the Djs too...so why throw that away? Yeah but nowadays everyone is a Dj. *shakes head*

  4. #4
    Tech Guru guiltyblade's Avatar
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    Yup it sucks. But its happen to me so many times I just don't deal with it anymore. I try to avoid people like that all the time but its hard.

  5. #5
    Tech Mentor ajrindy's Avatar
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    >promote the event that your playing at
    >promote the event that YOUR playing at
    >>>YOUR
    seriously? let's lead by setting an example!
    That said, I suppose that is all good advice, though it applies to a rather specific kind of event. How did the party go as a whole?

  6. #6
    Tech Guru MYE's Avatar
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    The problem is most younger dj's think they are destined for stardom and they act like total D-Bags who think they are the best DJs because there parents bought them a Kontrol S4.
    Techno Producer and Dj//Upcoming releases on Discovery Records and other labels//Australia//https://soundcloud.com/mrmye

  7. #7
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    The event as whole went great. We had around 75 people. Which was ok for the 1st event. My back was hurting from doing the set up and when it came down to DJing I was mixing on my turntables with no sync. LoL that's when my back started to hurt. Oh wells.I'll post a small youtube video of the event.

  8. #8
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    Video from that night.

  9. #9
    Tech Guru
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    Nice setup!
    Never underestimate the technical illiteracy of "DJs" these days..
    I've been on the other end of the stick in this kind of situation, using my S4 setup to replace the last DJ also using a controller.

    I was just about to connect up to the DJM on stage when the "sound guy" rushes on and says the only way I'd be allowed to transition is to wait for the last DJ to finish, unplug his gear, then connect mine up. You then get the crowd blaming you for the unnecessary gap in the music..

    Hope you got paid well for going above and beyond!
    VCM100 / X1 / DJM250 / DJM900 / CDJ2000s / Maschine / Audio2+4 / 2i4 / HS8s / TSP 2.6.8
    Macbook Air i7-3667U+8GB 10.9 / Win7x64 i5-3570k+24GB


  10. #10
    Tech Wizard
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    Love what you're saying man. I've been there too. Pretty much now I always bring a friend or two to help with the takedown regardless of if I'm the last DJ or not. If its my event, its extremely nice to have them there (and usually only them since as you said all other DJs end up leaving) and if its someone else's event I always get invited back.

    As everyone is saying, theres a lot of DJs now and not all of them know what they're doing. Maybe next time send an email out to those playing so they know how to use a real mixer though.

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