discouraging dj rant

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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discouraging dj rant

Sorry in advance but this is my first big rant on this forum…

Last night I had an issue arise at a gig and it kinda put me in a bitter mood so I wanted to rant here and see opinions from team djtt. So I show up to a bar last night to play (using an s4 setup) and the bar manager brings me a pile of cables/wires, an old ass mixer, old amp, and had two big speakers already placed with no connections running to them and then leaves assuming i’m putting it all together. Well I wire everything up how I see it should run and I get no sound out of the speakers. So the manager and his friend come over who also cannot figure out how to fix the sound issue and we all try to mess with the connections.

Well the manager’s answer was that the talent usually set up all the equipment so he didn’t know what to do with troubleshooting.. They then started blaming my equipment which I argued I used everywhere with no issues at all so I pulled out my ipod and told them to get music playing from this to the speakers and we still couldn’t get sound… well long story short I called it quits after an hour in of trying to get the set-up going and didn’t get to play out at all and it was such a busy night for the bar :disappointed:. The manager said I could have another night soon and blah blah but it just pissed me off that so much pressure was on me as the dj to know how to do all the sound connections, etc. Has anyone else had this issue with a venue before where they assume you should know how to do all things sound related and not just know how to set up your own equipment…

One more rant while i’m on this, lately in my city it seems like everyone is becoming a dj and it seems like more and more people are competing for the same spots I usually play at. Do you all ever have issues with other djs taking gigs from you, replacing you, etc.? Prime example is this club manager I use to play for is now becoming a dj and using his power with his own club to get gigs all over the city, easily, since he is already well known in the scene. Just pisses me off that I have to work so hard to land a couple good gigs when this guy who cant mix for shit gets gigs just on who he is alone… Sorry for this rant feel free to say whatever, last night really just bugged me out because this was my first gig out in over a month and I was really looking forward to it and had such a good turnout of fans to come support and had to let everyone down… =/

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Unless you’re a sound tech or a mobile DJ, you shouldn’t be expected to assemble their system for them. As a DJ you should be able to walk into a venue and have a pair of RCA inputs waiting for you - that’s pretty basic stuff. That said, old or not, it sounds like they had an amp and two speakers so… What was the issue? Also, expect this type of behavior from bars. They don’t always deal with DJs, and a lot of times the talent will bring in their own sound system since that talent includes bands, MCs, etc. Hate to say it though, this is partially your fault for not checking out the venue before the night of your gig - you may not have been able to do a sound check, but knowing what you were in for as far as the system goes would have allowed you time to prep and figure it out.

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my personal opinion is… YES, you should know how to plug in and play all kinds of equipment mixers/amps etc basically its inputs and outputs, just gotta know whats what and have the right connections, a dj should have every connection/cable under the sun in my book. you never know when your gonna need a something, and having them could make the difference of playing a gig and getting paid or not…

i understand the rant completely :slight_smile: but you just gotta learn to roll with it and adapt…

i had that same issue before in a bar, i couldnt get there amp working, but i had the back up of owning a full complete mobile system, and after i realised i was getting no where with there amp, the land lord was giving me the look like it was my fault his amp was blown,
it was going to be a very busy night for him and he was starting to panic, i just said, hold on a few minutes, ill be right back,
i went and got my own (passive) speakers and stands etc, and 5 mins after that, i was playing out to the crowd.
and it ended up been one of the very best nights the bar ever had.

regarding the other thing, yeah, there is always some people out there that can get places because of who they are,
and everyone wants to be a dj now a days, but that has always been the case.

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The issue was that whenever I plugged my set up into their mixer it wouldn’t give an output to their amp + speakers.. Whenever I plugged my headphones into their mixer I could here my music so I knew my setup to the mixer was fine.. the issue was coming from the mixer to amp however and that’s where it was all a mess. But I guess you guys are right on being prepared, just sucks that I wasn’t prepared for this issue. At least he is giving me another opportunity to play. A live band will be performing at the bar tonight so i’m going to go in a little early and meet the band’s sound guy and see how he configures everything and see if they even get the sound working at all because I was under the impression last night that the amp was blown.

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I feel you bro! This happened to me too. Just once. After that, I had a clause written on my rider/contract to protect me from being blamed for other people’s sound systems. What I do now is have everthing sound checked by their people 1 hour before my I plug in. (If I’m openning, of course.). Then sound check the system myself. But I always get 50% of my payment before I play.

There’s no way to get around other DJs taking your spot… like everything it’s all a competition out there. The more you can offer and more unique you are from the crowd will bring you work.

One thing I’ve learned is never burn bridges with anyone. I’m sure this club owner/dj can’t be at two places at once. Sure he can’t mix, but there’s more to working a crowd. Maybe he can work a crowd really well.

Prime example - I took my daughter to a club because she was doing a school project on me. I gave her the headphones a told her to pretend she’s mixing. She was dancing, mimmiking what she’s seen me do at home, fist pumping, looking at the crowd… everything… except touch the decks. At the end of the night, people were comming up to her, giving her hugs, telling her how awesome she was, and “keep up the mixing, and one day…blah,blah,blah”.

After 6mos of prep work and practicing this b****h takes my gig?! LOL!! She mixes ok, but not like her pops.

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You’re still making a mistake going there night of. I would suggest bringing someone with you who knows what they’re doing or taking photos of the setup to someone who does and, ideally, test your gear on the system before the night in question. And honestly, if they’re letting the talent set up the sound system for every gig, I wouldn’t be surprised if you aren’t getting sound out of the mixer because the band who played there took out the connections to the amp and set them up with their gear. Figuring out cabling can be intimidating, but it’s not actually all that hard. Also, for what it’s worth, mixer → amp → speakers is about the simplest setup you could ever possibly run into, so if you’re having trouble with that you might want to spend some time learning about this stuff.

As for this other guy getting gigs - that’s how it works. You could be the best bedroom DJ in the world, but if you’re not making connections to get gigs to begin with you’re not going anywhere. Even if you’re more talented, managers are going to hire you because they like you, not just because you’re more talented than DJ ____. "It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. Also, this club manager in question probably has a fair following if he’s been in the scene a while - getting people to show up sells drinks. That said, talent will generally help you keep gigs after you have them in the first place instead of getting replaced by the next young hotshot.

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well I would normally go before the night of to check out the equipment but whenever I spoke to the manager I told him I would prefer RCA connections and he said that it would be fine so I was under the impression that I would plug RCA in and be ready to go the night of.. I didn’t expect to get thrown into that mess though. But lesson has been learned and i’ll just have to kill it even harder next gig I get to play there..

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Sorry to hear about your situation man, but when you say the gigs are few and far and other djs are ready to jump into your position at a moments notice, its up to you to step it up and be better. Be more hireable and play better sets… to do this you have to be ready at all costs (even going in early to setup :smiley: )

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Seriously, You should know how to setup a basic rig like that and also fault find if you need to.
The sound system is as much a part of your setup as your mixer. Being able to say (for example) I have traced the problem to your amp and have tried a,b and c to fix it. Sounds a whole lot better than saying dunno… shall i come back another day
.There are tons of resources on this sort of stuff and it isnt overly complex. Google and learn

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Every DJ should be able to setup and fault find that sort of setup. It blows me away how many DJs now have no idea about the basics of this sort of shit, I’m not aiming this at you dude, your right the amp could’ve been broken but still I’ve seen/heard of DJs not even knowing what an RCA is…

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Well, the stuff they gave you must have been pretty messed up, cause as a DJ I feel like you just passively learn to deal with the most jacked up audio situations just over time, if i’m ever at a house party (not DJing) people usually ask me to figure out the audio situation with the things they have at hand, I find setting up systems and the sort pretty fun actually.

but that’s too bad it was like that. And yeah, Djing is becoming easier and cheaper, so me thinks things will only get more difficult from here.

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The issue with the amp has been discussed already so ill go ahead and put my point on the other topic,

Its not what you know, its who you know.

There’s a few guys in my town that get booked purely because everybody knows them, and why not? They have a big following, they can play music, dosent matter if they do it well or not, they get booked because they can bring a crowd, its sad but its true.

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Couldn’t agree more, I just do not understand why DJs do not learn about the kit they use, including a basic understanding of audio routing.

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hey

yeah two issues here. Firstly on the subject of work and other DJs, its just part and parcel with the job i’m afraid just that kind of industry. On a good handful of occations i’ve turned up to work somewhere and been told that the club has decided that they’re going to change things up a bit, go for a different feel or try something new and i wont be needed back. However on the other hand i’m assuming that for most new jobs or venues i’ve started over the years, some other DJ has had the same conversation.

It does seem a bit callous at first dropping you with no notice and stuff, but having worked as both a DJ and a bar and club manager i can see it from both sides of the argument: If your the manager you dont really want to say to the current DJ say a month early in case he takes the hump and leaves before the month is up, leaving you short of a DJ for a few weeks before his replacement takes over.

So yeah from that point of view its all about just having a thick skin and not taking it personally as someone said, it genuinly is almost always that they just want to mix things up a bit and have a new feel or a new genre of music at the night rather than you not being a good DJ as such.

However the point is also well noted that these is hugely increased competition nowadays for work. While, as we more than anyone all know on here, laptop DJing has opened up a whole new world of techniques and posibilities, it has also ment that every tom, dick and harry can jump online, download free DJ software and a pile of mp3’s from bit torrent and call themselves a DJ. However talent, hard work, good marketing and above all WHO YOU KNOW, like someone said, is the key. Get out to the bars an clubs in your area, start chatting and getting to know door staff, bar staff and managers and let them know your a DJ and something will eventually come, they’ll need holiday cover or someone will be sick and need covered at the last minute and that’ll be you in the door.

However the sound system part, for me, is another matter. I’m maybe slightly biased on the topic as I work as a professional sound engineer touring with bands and recording/producing as well as being a DJ, so again can see it from both sides, but to be honest and a bit blunt the technical knowledge of most DJs as it comes to sound systems is frankly shocking.

Even just the one enduring myth that “running the mixer into the red” makes it sound good, or is acceptable on any level, drives anyone who actually knows what their doing to an early grave. The number of DJs i have seen take a perfectly good sound system and, by clipping and ragging their mixer (pioneer mixers are ESPECIALLY bad sounding when pushed into the red) make it sound distorted, shrill and just all over terrible amazes me.

All DJs in my opinion should have a working knowledge of at least the basics of a sound system and how it goes together as its just as vital to their work as the decks and laptop they use. A way back when I was actually talking to the guys running the site (bento-san back then) about doing a series of articles about sound systems and how they work, but life tooke me away from DJing for a year or two and i never got round to it. However could well be time to finally sort that out.

k

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I’d recommend anyone working mobile to invest in an ART DTI box. As well as ground loop isolation you’ll be able to connect to xlr, 1/4" and rca so you can pretty much connect to any system. Passive as well so no power plug issues, works a treat for me any time I plug into somebody elses set up.

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+1

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If you don’t know how to wire your stuff up then you’ll miss out on gigs because you won’t be asked back. Why? Because people are idiots and will expect you to do all the work.

If, on the other hand, you know enough about the gear to be 100% sure that it doesn’t work, and (as importantly) know enough about the gear to be able to convince the manager as to why it doesn’t work, then I wouldn’t worry. You’ve done all you can, and you’ll be asked back.

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As a DJ, you should know the basics of how to hook up a system. However, this bar should have their own sound guy if they are providing sound that is not your fault.

Your second subject: Sadly anyone with $500 can now be a DJ and sync their way into a club/bar. Undercut your ass by charging a bar tab, or $50, or both. DJ pay and quality has gone down over the years.

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Sorry that’s not just callous; it’s totally unprofessional. At least they should let you know before you pack up your stuff and head over there ready to play. Happened to me once too and I was pissed; this was a place where I had to bring my own turntables, mixer, and vinyl and set everything up an hour before the place opened and when I got there, there was already a party going on with a DJ, and the bouncer didn’t even want to let me in. I explained I was the DJ and he said no this promoter set this other thing up a few days ago; we don’t need another DJ tonight. Finally got in and found the owner who apologized and liquored me up for my troubles, but it really didn’t make up for the fact that he could have called me the day before the gig (or hell, even the day of the gig) so I could have made other plans for the evening. Getting cut at the last minute is one thing but not being told about it until you show up is utter bullshit.

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^This for sure! Had that same experience a couple months back…drove 2 hours through the snow for a 4am slot on a big bill event (check in was at 8pm). Was assured about 2 hours before I left that everything was a go. Get there and the original promoter had “outsourced” check in and lineup to someone else. I find out I have been bumped to the after party at 8 am at a coffee shop across town…needless to say I used up my drink tickets in about 15 minutes and bounced the f*** out. The other 10 guys in my crew and the 5 other crews we are tight with now refuse to work with said promoter and he hasn’t been able to throw an event since. So sometimes (though those times are few and far between) karma does have its way. Keep networking, keep promoting yourself, and keep a level head and you’re bound to get somewhere.