Deeply uncool wedding DJ post.

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:44 pm

Ok, firstly... let me put it out there for everyone to hear.
Im in a wedding band to pay the bills. There I said it.
Im also going to be taking over the post gig dj duties.
If youve ever been to a wedding, youll know whats involved. Not exactly rocket science. Theres not too much creativity involved, just one track after another.
The thing is, Im wondering if I should invest in a decent set of cd players and a mixer, or should I just use ableton on my mac and buy a faderfox DJ2?
I dont have many cds, a lot of my music is mp3 (high res) so im tempted by the laptop solution. I know I can burn my mp3s to cd, but really, is there any point?
The only negative I can see is that I might look like im checking my email, instead of getting cds ready with an experienced florish.

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:48 pm

Do whatever is easier for you and you feel comfortable with, nobody cares at a wedding, its not a show. Just get all of Madonna's repertoire ready in whatever format you like. Have fun

pabloaugustus · Post by **pabloaugustus** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:56 pm

jesso wrote:Ok, firstly... let me put it out there for everyone to hear.
Im in a wedding band to pay the bills. There I said it.
Im also going to be taking over the post gig dj duties.
If youve ever been to a wedding, youll know whats involved. Not exactly rocket science. Theres not too much creativity involved, just one track after another.
The thing is, Im wondering if I should invest in a decent set of cd players and a mixer, or should I just use ableton on my mac and buy a faderfox DJ2?
I dont have many cds, a lot of my music is mp3 (high res) so im tempted by the laptop solution. I know I can burn my mp3s to cd, but really, is there any point?
The only negative I can see is that I might look like im checking my email, instead of getting cds ready with an experienced florish.

i was just at a wedding last weekend....DJ was laptop based it looked fine....he was ridiculous though, playing the cheasiest tunes and rocking his head mouthing every word, taking himself way seriously, pretty funny image, but hey, you gotta love what you do and put out the energy in every performance which he certainly did.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:58 pm

Keep it simple, use what you know how to use, focus on being transparent to the party, don't fuck up, take any attention, be high maintenance to the bride, etc.

I was really happy with the DJ I got for my wedding, he has a cool setup
http://www.allenwalker.com/
He has tunes listed online, you create a login, select the songs ahead of time, he DJed with Traktor and at the end of the night gave us CDs of the set. I ripped a bunch of songs for him from my collection that he didn't have.

chrysalis - you've never held a wedding, Madonna?? wtf?? I spent months putting together the right tunes and years later people are still talking about it. Music and your wedding, two pretty big deals.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:00 pm

Use a laptop, if they have wireless internet at the venue, you can take requests and DL from itunes on the spot. People can laugh at wedding DJs, but they make more than most club DJs

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:01 pm

I would love to keep it real simple and just use my laptop.
Im thinking it would look ok if I have some kind of midi control unit (like I said, the faderfox) so at least I was doing somthing...
After that I suppose just set up 2 tracks with seperate headphone/master sends, a couple of eq 3s, and bobs your uncle!
Will probly get the cd decks as back up though, with a few megamixes burned onto cd incase of a laptop crash...

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:06 pm

Actually, Im gunna get a 3G wireless broadband card from Vodafone, so ill have the internet whereever I am. Should be great for requests!
Good advice there Tone Deft.
I have been doing the wedding band thing for a while now and im pretty sensitive to brides from hell/crotch grabbing grannys/puking nephews.... just making sure I have all my angles covered for Laptop DJing.
Funny thing is, a lot of couples will give you a playlist before hand like you did Tone, which takes a lot of the guess work out of what will work for the crowd.

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:52 pm

Why Faderfox, get some cheap shit that looks impressive enough like those mixman or whatever( you know because of the "I could do it myself with my notebook") and you wont cry when it gets messed up

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:02 pm

rikhyray wrote:Why Faderfox, get some cheap shit that looks impressive enough like those mixman or whatever( you know because of the "I could do it myself with my notebook") and you wont cry when it gets messed up

That's a pretty good point. You know a bunch of fools would be saying "you paid him what?!! to play off of iTunes!!" If you have some star trek looking shit up there it will keep their mouths shut. Lots of lights, knobs, faders and buttons.

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:05 pm

Or get NuVj, add visuals, type their stupid wishes and shit and charge them triple. They will love it and you wont get bored.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:11 pm

sparklepuff wrote:
rikhyray wrote:Why Faderfox, get some cheap shit that looks impressive enough like those mixman or whatever( you know because of the "I could do it myself with my notebook") and you wont cry when it gets messed up
That's a pretty good point. You know a bunch of fools would be saying "you paid him what?!! to play off of iTunes!!" If you have some star trek looking shit up there it will keep their mouths shut. Lots of lights, knobs, faders and buttons.

Nobody gives a fuck about what the DJ is doing.

If they do then the DJ needs to step off and not be noticed. Play good music, keep the party going, be a happy and energetic MC to announce shit, just don't fuck up or draw attention to yourself.

The wedding party's talking about the wedding, meeting relatives, getting stumblefuck drunk and dealing with drama, the caterer, the wedding planner, the site manager, the florist, all that shit. Fuck the DJ.

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:41 pm

Tone Deft wrote:Keep it simple, use what you know how to use, focus on being transparent to the party, don't fuck up, take any attention, be high maintenance to the bride, etc.

I was really happy with the DJ I got for my wedding, he has a cool setup
http://www.allenwalker.com/
He has tunes listed online, you create a login, select the songs ahead of time, he DJed with Traktor and at the end of the night gave us CDs of the set. I ripped a bunch of songs for him from my collection that he didn't have.

chrysalis - you've never held a wedding, Madonna?? wtf?? I spent months putting together the right tunes and years later people are still talking about it. Music and your wedding, two pretty big deals.

That's a good point Deft, although I have respect for Madonna. I have only played one wedding, a good friend's, and she did give me a large list of tracks she wanted to hear, good stuff. But I still found trying to bridge the gap between 3 generations of listeners daunting. I guess my remark was preconceived

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:43 pm

Keep it fun for people, that's far more important than how you look.

Dominik · Post by **Dominik** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:03 pm

But I still found trying to bridge the gap between 3 generations of listeners daunting

just play frank sinatra and frank zappa.

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:27 pm

Dominik wrote:
But I still found trying to bridge the gap between 3 generations of listeners daunting
just play frank sinatra and frank zappa.

Funny, why didn't that occur to me?

Ummm, what would Zappa have thought of live's tempo changing abilities anyway? Oh, wait, that's another thread and I am DJ who doesn't know anything about tempo but how to count to four, four times.

Deeply uncool wedding DJ post.

Deeply uncool wedding DJ post.

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