Nervous for a gig!
Have a gig coming up, but I’ve never played in a club before. Just wondering how I could set up my stuff. I’m using a vci and a audio 4 DJ and possibly using my friends allen & heath xone 42 mixer.. since the club does not have its own (its a smaller lounge).
Do i need to pick up things like a surge protector etc?
You should bring a power bar and extra cords etc. just in case. If you’re using a VCI you should bring a heavy towel or something to put it down on, to avoid the vibration problem (the vibrations from the bass can cause the platters to jitter). I’d also recommend adding little tape flags to all your cords so you know which is which in the dark, and with that in mind, a USB lamp or a flashlight is always useful!
when i had my short stint at the club, i always brought my own surge protector, extra rca cords, extra usb cables and thats about it.
but don’t be like me and forget to bring ya laptop chord, that was great lol.
Keep your head straight and keep yourself cool. And most important: HAVE FUN!!!
make a checklist !!!
Yeah, get a checklist. Make sure you have redundancy of almost everything in case something fails. Bring your own extension cord, your own power strip, your own cables, etc. etc. etc.. If you don’t need to use them all the better.
A couple drinks during your set is always helpful too to ease your nerves. I never believed in that until I tried it myself. I hardly get a buzz, just enough so I feel more at ease performing live.
+1. Both before and during. Maybe the most important one for me (not kidding).
Just be really careful with this. DJing will eventually become instinct for a lot of things and you’ll be able to do it blind drunk. BUT, when you’re starting, even the littlest buzz could ennd really poorly.
I usually encourage new DJs not to drink before their first gig in the club. If something goes wrong and you aren’t aware it ends really poorly.
Just know your limits and above all, have fun.
checked the club out yesterday.. Walked in definately a cool place probably holds about 150 ppl.. lots of booths and bottle service all that shit. IT was funny when we walked in there was a lingerie video shoot going on.. TONS AND I MEAN TONS OF TITS AND ASS!!!
so we chilled out with the owner had a few drinks then soundchecked for about 15 minutes.. everything seemed to be cool. the only thing is one of the promoters was a fag.. kept telling me what type of music he wanted to hear.. I’m playing mainly electro, and house.. electro house all that fun stuff so hopefully the crowd will like it. He also told me I have to spin from 9 - 2.. and I dont have enough shit to do that.. we have a planned playlist of about 3 hours.. and originally we had to start from 10 - 2
so were thinking of throwing on a mixtape from 9 until 11.. (when people usually show up) then play our set from 11 - 2
you guys think this will be alright?
Yeah man, throw in a mix cd early.
In order to be successful at a small lounge, be prepared to play what the people want to hear. The promoter may be a ‘fag’ but he should know what his crowd likes to hear. The worst thing you can do is become an elite prick at your first gig, ya feel me?
About your setup:
I would pack everything up, load it in your car, then wait 5 minutes. Unpack everything and set it up somewhere else in your house. Make sure you do not go into any rooms you normally setup in. This will kind of allow you to make sure you know you’ve packed everything, and kind of give you some practice setting up in a different location.
Good luck.
Not really a fag, more of a dick.. i sent mixtape to my buddie who promotes with him.. and he told me play whatever i want, i have good taste in music.. and he was basically thinking that i was going to play techno.. when i was telling him i play electro, and electro house.. basically all the shit that is hot right now in toronto
the crowd there is going to be 20 - 25.. anyways, people that want to dance.. I’m bringing 30 - 40 people alone anyways, so whatever i play they will jam out. I’ve only played my set at parties, but everyone is dancing.. or partyying, so im confident what i pick is good to go.
I’m lost…I haven’t seen you post in this thread yet??
probably op’s “friend”?
Yeah, prolly. LOL
YEs yes yes . It’s also very easy to make substance use a bad habit when you’re djing that essentially hinder you and keep you in the same place musically or if you do pull off some cool new ideas you have trouble remembering them .
this may sound stupid… But did you even check out the actual setup? All joking aside… but many clubs have their setups on lockdown… I mean this literally. You may need to bring a screw driver or wrench to gain access to input your sound card into the club’s audio system. (i.e. The main mixing board may be screwed into a rack of some sort with no access to the input panel.) Don’t show up expecting to only use your soundcard and VCI-100 if you haven’t checked out their system. Good luck.
sorry yeah , evan_c is my buddy i dj with.. we should probably use one name haha.
but yeah
yeah ive checked the setup, i did a soundcheck yesterday, its 2 rca’s running into their booth i took out all their gear yesterday and put in my stuff