Djing is not just picking the next song, but planning how your songs will flow for the entire night. There are 2 critical time-lines we will look at in this article that you should keep in mind when planning the flow of a night: the drink line and the tempo line. Understanding and playing with these principles will mean happier dancers and happier owners!
The Drink Line- Build it, Use it!
We would all like to think our dj skills reign supreme, but lets keep the egos in check and share a short moment of honesty. Alcohol keeps the dance floor pumping. You can use that knowledge to help your dance floor and make sure the club does well at the bar. The trick is to respect “the drink line”. The basic timeline of an average DJ would start off light, build itself towards a peak, and slowly drop towards the end of the night. This will work, but the more nuanced and professional djs deftly work in some breathing room for drink breaks.
In the chart above, the dj has programmed 2-4 sections through the night where he intentionally allows the energy to drop moderately. Then after a 15-30 minute lull, the energy picks right back up and thanks to a fresh round of shots, goes to new heights! Programming in a few intentional breaks in energy does a few critical things:
1) Provides a clear opportunity for drink breaks helping the bar
2) Gives the dancers some breathing room and down-time
3) Provides you the chance to play a few great tracks that might not exactly be hits
4) Using the illusion of juxtaposition creates a sense of gradual energy building. 11 can start to feel like 7 if there is no reference point.
Like it or not- the club is not a non-profit entity. Club owners invest time and money into their institutions to bring in a profit, so if you want to keep your job as a resident dj, it’s wise to keep that in mind when planning sets. Don’t sacrifice your artistic integrity, but keep in mind when the club does well so will you.
THE TEMPO LINE
Just like the drink-line, the tempo line is also used to build and maintain energy throughout the night. It could coincide with your drink line but may also follow a totally different track. Here are 2 very common tempo lines that will pay solid dividends:
The builder should be fairly obvious but it’s amazing how few people actually gradually build tempos throughout the night. Over-zealous openers start the night off right at 130pm and leave headliners with no-where to go. If this happens to you- reset the clock! Let the track run out, start the set at a lower BPM. There will be some temporary energy loss but way more room to work with through the set.
The loop is more common with mixed format sets where lots of different BPMs are expected. This is my favorite style to mix with because tempos changes can give huge boosts of energy to the dance floor. I typically work 2-3 tempo cycles into the mix throughout a 4-5 hour set.
During a tempo cycle, the BPM can go all the way up the tempo range, loop around the “horn” (180) and then double back down to 90.
The timing of the lower BPMS is very important and should be used sparingly. A good time to give dancers a break by dropping the tempo is around 2AM when everyone enjoys a good drunken slow dance. The tempo’s and times above are not by any means correct, but used more as an example of the cycle.
UNIVERSAL AUDIO
Some of these principles certainly apply more to venues where drinks are no longer served after 2AM. Others, like the tempo line can apply to any venue if the unique needs and circumstances of the local dancers are considered. These principles should serve as guidelines but ultimately its your eyes, ears, and judgment that will make the best call for the dance floor. That is, after all, why they pay us the big bucks!
The idea for this article came from Jules Etro but was re-written for clarity- Thanks Jules!
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I like apple products, they don’t run windows.
180 seems outrageously fast..
If its in you, in will flow by intuition.
pretty well described deejaying,hehe, im a deejay since 85’and i can say that its just like you described…alcohol pumps the party, and remember!! you play the music for the people and not for your ego…if you understand this,than there’s a chance for you to be a good deejay,
regards
Erik Fox
[quote comment=”35010″]Anyone else ever heard this myth?? that if you pour salt on the dance-floor before a gig, people will tend to order more drinks? Sneaky trick, if it actually works. ;o)[/quote]
I don’t know about that but a long time ago clubs would put out bowls of popcorn or salted peanuts. Instead of these tricks the clubs now just charge $12 to $15 for a drink. Strangest thing I ever saw was in a night club in Seoul Korea, the put out tangerines??? They were very tasty and had to just be a comfort thing.
Anyone else ever heard this myth?? that if you pour salt on the dance-floor before a gig, people will tend to order more drinks? Sneaky trick, if it actually works. ;o)
Nice stuff Jules,
Forgive the wank factor here but what you are talking about is classic music theory. The kind that classical musicians forget to analyse because it has been drummed into them for so long.
In a symphony or opera there are movements, when one finishes there’s a break in which most people know not to clap because its not over yet. However originally it was intended to be a break for the audience, people with a box used this break to make drink orders and often applause occurred anyway.
Basically what I’m saying is you’ve hit the nail on the head. The best music in history has always had lulls within large performances for both alcohol and normal emotional flux within the audience. It enhances everything about a performance if the emotion or “energy” is progressively built up in a non-linear form like the graph you have shows.
Only saying all this because I’d love to find out if there’s more to it than what your graph shows. Like a perfect formula for peaks and lulls. There’s a chance it might mean more lulls early on could result in more drinks and a longer energy period, or it could do the total opposite. Be cool to find out either way.
[quote comment=”34362″][quote comment=”34354″][quote comment=”34350″]Ean great post!! but what do you do with random variable ex. “omg you have to play my song next its my birthday” etc.[/quote]
You tell ’em to fuck off, you’re a DJ..not a juke box.[/quote]
Don’t think I’d hire you in my club if you told my customers to f¤¤k off. 🙂
Be polite, tell them the facts, that is don’t fit in right now or whatever, but don’t be an asshole ego DJ.
M[/quote]
tell them the song will come later i usally do, or that you don’t have it, just get them away, like said you are not a jukebox, but an artist 😉
This was a fantastic post Ean! Much appreciated!
[quote comment=”34449″]This is where I find the “rating” system in iTunes and Traktor to be most handy for me… As I import and tag each track with all the relevant info (key, genre, sub-genre,ect,,) I’ll also add a star rating based on what I feel is the “energy” of the track is (within it’s respective genre).
0 stars – No beats, ambient sounds, FX, ect…
1 star – Mellow
2 stars – Mellow/Mid
3 stars – Mid
4 stars – Mid/Peak
5 stars – Meltyourf**kingfaceoff PEAK!!!
[/quote]
Nice system, I think I’m gonna adapt that 🙂
[quote comment=”34364″]Great post Ean!
Just an inside in Irish Night Clubs.
The 1/3 drink line passes in 2/3 hours here (at least).
Plus if you play to a younger crowd, let’s say mid-week college students. They probably arrive at between 11 and 12, half-drunk (let’s say 2/4 cans of beer).
![/quote]
2 or 4 tins of beer??? Were are you from in Ireland more like 8 tins of beer or 3 litres of cider were i live lol
I always take advice from this and other american forums with caution because it is a completely different place to DJ. I mean it is a completely different scene over here than it is in the U.S but alot of the information come in very useful
Considering so many DJs have such a hard time understanding it, perhaps an article about warm up would be an idea.
The complete truth…
I hate DJ’s who open the club with the same music they maintain and finish.
When one watch to the audience and see what’s happening at the bar, will be better dj than anyone!!
[quote comment=”34419″]My vibe from this article is that the BPM notion is actually a bit of a misguided basis – think “tone” – tempo is one thing, but a vintage disco soul track versus an electronica track at the same BPM will have noticably different characteristics and effects on a crowd…[/quote]
Good point – after all, is dubstep 65 or 130 bpm? Depends on the energy and exact drum programming. Is mellow drum & bass best “thought of” as 160 or 80bpm? Much pop is 140+ bpm, but a trance track at that tempo is far more energetic. It IS about much more than just tempo. Anthony Jacobs in his reply hit on it also with talking about “Mood”.
i believe there’s an evolution both in music production and performance, and sets should not be built up based on genres and tempo anymore.
in the early 90’s, when genres where not differentiated that much, DJ’s used to play all kinds of electronic music, categorized by BPM, coz they where highly limited by the pitch of the music: and temposyncing two vinyls was thought to be a skill of the dj.
in the late 90’s, and early 00’s tempo syncing was still in, but genres where pretty much differentiated. DJs used to play only one kind of a genre or subgenre. someone who used to play fouronthefloor trance did not play at a nuskoolbreakz party for sure. as time passed by, DJing became so famous that beatmatching two tracks was not as much a skill as it was in the 90’s and people got disappointed with every party being the same.
things changed even in the last few years as digital DJing became popular. instead of beatmatching we have now lots of tools to play with music. we have controllerism for geeks, cue points in traktor / serato, we have ultimate control over pitch (does not even matter anymore): we can play anything we like. there’s still lots of genres based DJs out there, and lots of people still need something to rely on, but the crowd is hungry for music that is interesting. they want to hear sets that are maybe not 5 hours long, but built up from the beginning till the end like a song. tempo does not really matter: you can find high energy tracks, if it’s only 90 BPM (like Kraddy / Glitch Mob), and even find chillin’ 160 BPM tracks (like The Flashbulb). the DJ, who’s still going after DJ charts and genres is wrong in my opinion, he still lives in the 90’s. for me the only thing that counts is the mood of a set (and the buildup of it). i wanna get my audience from one mood to another (lets say on my last gig i was able to play Extrawelt – Titelheld and HECQ – Sura in the same 1 hour set: and the crowd of 500-600 people loved it).
This is where I find the “rating” system in iTunes and Traktor to be most handy for me… As I import and tag each track with all the relevant info (key, genre, sub-genre,ect,,) I’ll also add a star rating based on what I feel is the “energy” of the track is (within it’s respective genre).
0 stars – No beats, ambient sounds, FX, ect…
1 star – Mellow
2 stars – Mellow/Mid
3 stars – Mid
4 stars – Mid/Peak
5 stars – Meltyourf**kingfaceoff PEAK!!!
As well, to help with purposful eb and flow, I also use a tagging system in a spare column of Traktor & iTunes for “Mood”
1 = Dark(evil)or Sad
2 = Dark/Neutral
3 = Neutral
4 = Neutral/Light
5 = Light/FantasmicallyOrgasmicallyHappy!!! =oD
Now you can easily sort these columns numberically and pick tunes from your playlist based on energy and mood, suited to the eb and flow the floor needs. ;o)
Shhhhhh! That is one of my biggest secrets, next to harmonic mixing, developing great intuition, and just having fantastic taste in chooons to begin with!!! ;o)
As marinelli said … I’m wondering how this would apply in Berlin. You kinda start at a certain BPM and keep at it. Also the night kinda goes from midnight to .. well, around midnight the next day. A regular *good* set at Berghain will be pumping the whole way through, it’s the mediocre ones that have odd little breaks which straight up kills the dancefloor – and here that doesn’t mean going to the bar, but going home.
To be able to stay and drink as long as we do here, you just need that constant feed of energy from the music, the second that lets off a bit you start feeling how much your body is actually aching, and get back to reality for a split second to head home. Not exactly in the best interest of anybody at all. Except your body and wallet, perhaps.
I guess this depend on the country. Here in Norway you would probably need to multiply the drink chart by 2-3 and the crowd seldom arrive before 00:30 – 01:30… The venue close at 03:00.. 🙂
Just give me a call if you’re ever in Norway… I’ll punch out some updated charts to follow. Hahaha..
Ean, this is an excellent, well thought-out post. Over my sporadic years of djing, I’ve had to learn this stuff the hard way and I’m always learning. So it’s great to see that you approached this in a visual way with graphics. Really let’s you see the point. Thanks!
@ Phil Morse: Great info also! It’s just as important to know how to handle a slow and growing early crowd as it is to know what to do in a packed house. Great insights!
[quote comment=”34434″]heres a tip if it wasnt stated: if you need to change the tempo of the night and dont know how to go about it, find a ‘special’ point of a song to bring in it in. For example using a part where its just vocals and everyone recognizes it.[/quote]
Exactly – On a pop tip, think of the start of “Somebody Else’s Guy” by Jocelyn Brown (one from the wedding DJ’s collection here, but it’s to prove a point). That opening vocal is SO distinctive; it’s SO long before the beat comes in; and nearly every girl (whether they like it or not) WILL be singing along by the time it does, that you could play it after Portishead or gabba and get away with the tempo change (hint: avoid gabba at weddings) 😉
heres a tip if it wasnt stated: if you need to change the tempo of the night and dont know how to go about it, find a ‘special’ point of a song to bring in it in. For example using a part where its just vocals and everyone recognizes it.
[quote comment=”34419″]My vibe from this article is that the BPM notion is actually a bit of a misguided basis – think “tone” – tempo is one thing, but a vintage disco soul track versus an electronica track at the same BPM will have noticably different characteristics and effects on a crowd…[/quote]
likewise, DJs who bill themselves as playing particular genres often don’t have the option of spanning such a huge BPM range. however, there are several other ways to control the energy of the crowd (what you mentioned, as well as throwing down bangers) and the “loop” line is a good approach for where said energy level should be, so hopefully people don’t take that too literally
You know. I realise that you might not want to be straight up about this, but let’s be honest.
Alcohol, MDMA and a bunch of other drugs keep the dancefloor going 😉
You might as well be honest about it – MDMA users have a different experience from alcohol users and they need to be supported as well.
How many dj’s have realized that tiere is a fine line between being a jukebox and a dj when someone is paying you to spin thier party. Oh hey, Don’t forget about the fight line (what happens to the entire night when testosterone inevitably has made the entire night a fight club!)
karlos! LOL!!! great!
any ways.. love the post! So many people need to see this! its just sad! GREAT POST!
Free music at
funkythunderstuff.blogspot.com
Nice article, applies just as well to latin sets as house or other. When I DJ behind a live band’s sets and if they’re a cover band, not only do I have to make sure not to step on their set list, but also tie in to their sets and keep crowd energy up while they break. Too much good stuff in a row and the bar’s definitely going to lose money!
The ‘Drink Line’ needs to start at 5 and go up in multiples of 3 every 40mins.
English people drink WAY more than that… hic… pardon me !!!
Not as many people drink in north florida clubs because they’re all doing designer/club drugs. Not just molly, but there’s shit like 25i going around all the time that ultimately takes business away from the bar, and therefore the club..
My vibe from this article is that the BPM notion is actually a bit of a misguided basis – think “tone” – tempo is one thing, but a vintage disco soul track versus an electronica track at the same BPM will have noticably different characteristics and effects on a crowd…venue appropriateness is of course a concern. Point being, if you can get away with “break tracks” of a cross-genre but boogie-inducing similarity that open space in the atmosphere, it’s an up/down approach.
Sample example…Brazilian Girls Jique > Bittersweet Symphony Remix > Stereo MCs Elevate > Everything But the Girl Before Today…criticize if you want, but please say why you think otherwise to the above points. Cheers.
This is a very good topic of discussion with some varied opinions and engagement. It can be really interesting when you get a request and you politley tell the party goer you don’t have that tune….they still pester you 1hr later. On a serious note violence is more likley to occur at similar times. Have a good safe DJ experince…..blessings . Tune in to my show soulful house sessions every Saturday afternoon 12 till 2pm http://www.morefmlive.net or 103.2 fm
Simple things rock!!
Man, what’s with this success obssession? Remember the days when it was all about great tracks and having fun without all this pseudo-science and having to make it?
Success. Means different things to different people. But keeping your floor is not as simple as just playing what you like in a lot of clubs job cases.
Over here another thing to factor in is the smoking ban! things can be going really well but you can still lose people for no apparent reason.They will be going outside for a cigerrette.
Also the more variety of venues in your town or city the more carefull you have to be about keeping people interested as people may simply leave and go to the next bar or club.
[quote comment=”34367″]Also, if you’re resident every week in a half-decent club, you can build up a “warm-up” following. You notice the same people coming earlier and earlier to hear YOU. “Foot tappers” I call them; music fans who just want to listen as much as go crazy. It’s a real compliment that a sub-set of the crowd come just for your sets. You miss the musical freedom when you have to play a peak set, because of all the expectations that come with it.[/quote]
Yeah, I miss those warm up sets, tangled’s miss that since you left. My fav time in your sets I think was around 11:30, until then I’d be lurching at the bar getting the head nodding and then you’d chuck a curve ball, bam, it would usually be around 11:30. I think one track I remember is Horse – Careful?? Though that was messy times lol. Another trick you’d do is kick the music louder and the lights would get more intense.
[quote]This has nothing to do with tempo, but with energy, tension and releasing this build-up tension.[/quote]
There is a very distinct difference between a headlining DJ and a resident DJ. Headliners can get away with much more than a resident can. Because they’re generally the reason people came in the first place, crowds tend to “drink the Kool Aid” when the headliner is performing. So what someone like Carl Cox can get away with is not what we’re talking about here.
The formula outlined in this article is meant more as crowd control, and track tempo is a very useful tool in that formula. Of course there’s a difference between perceived energy and tempo, but generally we humans key into tempo at a deeper level. Ever seen a baby dance? We’re born with a natural desire to dance. Whether that keys into things like prenatal heart rate is unknown for sure, but we do perceive tempo and beat on a subconscious level.
And it’s not just about the tempo, it’s about the STRUCTURE. breaking up the night into “sets” that ebb and flow allow you to manipulate the crowd without burning them out or boring them. There’s a constant but subtle change throughout the night that creates tension as the tempo rises, and dropping the energy down allows everyone to regroup, enjoy, and prepare for the next build. This not only refreshes the crowd, but also sends them to the bar and rotates the dancefloor. As a resident DJ, you want to be watching the bar business as much as you watch the dancefloor, and it’s important to keep people moving as much as you can. Rotating the crowd also creates energy. It opens up seating, moves people to other parts of the club, and gives the venue the appearance of movement and excitement.
[quote comment=”34367″]Great article. I actually prefer playing warm-up, say 10-1 on a club night that’s open 10-4. There’s no pressure to play the big tunes, YOU (kind of) decide when things “kick off”, and there is more skill in building than just “holding it there”.
I used to have a “100-people-in -the-club” rule when I had such a residency, when I’d play the same tune every week for many weeks once 100 were in, that signalled things were moving up just a little, then a different “building” tune at 200, 300, 400 people – you can hand over to a peak-time DJ with a full, happy dancefloor with lots of energy left to give.
Also, if you’re resident every week in a half-decent club, you can build up a “warm-up” following. You notice the same people coming earlier and earlier to hear YOU. “Foot tappers” I call them; music fans who just want to listen as much as go crazy. It’s a real compliment that a sub-set of the crowd come just for your sets. You miss the musical freedom when you have to play a peak set, because of all the expectations that come with it.[/quote]
@Wbskates
HEY THERE OLD TIMER! Dude, it’s REALLY good to see ANYONE else from then posting. I always feel like the old guy in the room (and I’m usually right).
Cheers!
Olaf – agree…. “energy” is very subjective on the dancefloor and there is no easy formula. Increasing bpms does not guarantee increased energy. You can decrease bpm and increase energy with the right track. And you can slip imperceptibly into a lower (or higher) BPM without changing the energy level when necessary. It’s a lot more about track selection. But other things being equal, BPM is a rough guide to the overall flow of your set — it’s sort of a basic stable parameter for the whole set rather than a direct correlation with energy level.
A lot of this depends on what kind of club you’re playing and what the crowd is like. As someone noted above, the alcohol guideline is irrelevant if there are no drinks being served. A crowd expecting rock n roll isn’t going to be paying attention to tempo in the same way as a house music crowd. And though we may not like it, there are times when fulfilling those requests is more important than the way your set holds together overall. I once lost a residency thanks to not realizing that the girl who kept coming up with all these annoying requests was the owner’s girlfriend. (Her: “play rock n roll!” Me: puts on The Clash. Her, coming back up: “I said play rock n roll! not this shit!!” As you can imagine things deteriorated from there…).
While i agree with the drink-breaks i don’t agree with the tempo-build up.
Great DJ’s can simply massively drop the tempo of their set, but use the right tracks with the right intensity, work the soundsystem the right way, and especially start building *energy* and tension, which build up until the peak-track comes in and gives the musical solution, which induces euphoria on the dancefloor, the audio-orgasm so to say.
I’ve heard great DJ’s like Carl Craig play 5 very strange but effective tracks for a dead dancefloor, and then, booooom, play that one track that fits like a glove, and the dancefloor really explodes, and they take it further from there..
This has nothing to do with tempo, but with energy, tension and releasing this build-up tension.
Just my 2 cents of course 😉
Olaf
a better tip – just play Van Halen records all night long.
Strange topic… I always appriciate Ean’s work and respect him, but this time I cannot agree…
A decent enough article, covering a typical, mainstream event/club.
Its difficult to put bpm’s or times on any graph tho, as its so dependent on the venue, but none the less, ok.
[quote comment=”34381″]This is not nice Ean! This was my article, and my idea, and you published this article without giving me credit![/quote]
Hey Jules, I gave you credit in the last line of the article. check out the bottom of the post- perhaps you missed it? We certainly appreciate your input and thank you for the great article idea!
[quote comment=”34350″]Ean great post!! but what do you do with random variable ex. “omg you have to play my song next its my birthday” etc.[/quote]
The Smile and Nod response is exactly what I recommend. You cant be expected to derail the entire nights flow for one persons request, however if it becomes appropriate to work the song in then you will. People generally leave very happy with that response.
Sorry for the previous anonymous post.
[quote comment=”34366″]This was taken right out of a McFadden Ventures DJ handbook from the late 80s. It absolutely works. …snip…
[/quote]
So true about McFadden Ventures. I played at McFadden Ventures properties from ’84 till ’90. I’m back working for Don Nedler now, who was one of the program directors for McFadden. I don’t miss the “grid”, even though I automatically think that way to this day.
I’ve found that when I play at a venue with multiple rooms, each having a different style, My sets are shorter due to the wandering of the patrons. Still the same principles apply, though.
Great pst, I try usually try to use the flow in figure A (the builder tempo). In Chicago, the clubs are open til about 3am (depending where you), but people usually stay and drink the entire time without much need for “break.”
But there are some other bars, that aren’t clubs per se, that I might try the loop model with. Those are sports bars, turned dance clubs (at night) and the crowd isn’t looking to dance the whole night away.
What I find is by throwing in old popular, motown and 80s “sing-a-long” songs, people are given the break they need
[quote post=”7140″] Ean great post!! but what do you do with random variable ex. “omg you have to play my song next its my birthday” etc.
You tell ‘em to fuck off, you’re a DJ..not a juke box.[/quote]
SO true…
and this just reinforces that…
“The idea for this article came from Jules Etro but was re-written for clarity- Thanks Jules!”
Come on Jules, thanks for the article! Im sure Ean just fixed a couple of things and polished the article up.
Again BIG thank you to Ean & Jules. A lot of dj need to respect that timeline and have a good balance between the dance floor and the bar having drinks.
nice article ean!!!!only joking jules i noticed the credit from ean at the end.nice work pal.
@Jules Etro
the very last line in the article is specifically giving you credit.
I understand this but what about a college campus? I mean most of the clubs I have been to around me seems like bangers all night with no downtime and no build up. I will pay attention next time but thats what it seems like to me haha.
This is not nice Ean! This was my article, and my idea, and you published this article without giving me credit! Thanks Ean!
more than 180 bpm??!!! what kind of music do you play? gabber?!!
ROCK OUT WITH THE BROOKLYN KNOCKOUT!!
I think most DJs don’t really get the idea of warmups (i even had a guy who left the booth with psy trance banging at 145bpm around 1am)and prefer headlines for the exposition. What is better? to create a dancing mood out of thin air or to smash a dancefloor.
People need to put their superstar DJ egos aside and remember: you play FOR the crowd and take them on hours of musical journey.
If you have requests, you should know when to pop it, it’s kinda your job to do so, if it doesn’t no need to be agressive.
I’m going to share this link with a couple of newbie DJ’s that have opened for me in the past. Despite telling them “You’ll be warming up”, and giving examples of what to play before the gig, I’ve had these guys dive straight into their favourite bangers as soon as the doors open and they don’t understand why people aren’t responding at 10pm.
I’ve played for event organizers who don’t understand this either. “C’mon, people are showing up now, MAKE THEM DANCE!!!” Well, you just opened the doors, people want to stake out seats first, grab drinks, and chat. You have to get people tapping their toes first and go from there gradually. Once the room hits a critical mass where that first person starts dancing, THEN you pick it up some more. You don’t just dump the hits before people are ready, but you do have to nudge them in that direction, too.
Great article. I actually prefer playing warm-up, say 10-1 on a club night that’s open 10-4. There’s no pressure to play the big tunes, YOU (kind of) decide when things “kick off”, and there is more skill in building than just “holding it there”.
I used to have a “100-people-in -the-club” rule when I had such a residency, when I’d play the same tune every week for many weeks once 100 were in, that signalled things were moving up just a little, then a different “building” tune at 200, 300, 400 people – you can hand over to a peak-time DJ with a full, happy dancefloor with lots of energy left to give.
Also, if you’re resident every week in a half-decent club, you can build up a “warm-up” following. You notice the same people coming earlier and earlier to hear YOU. “Foot tappers” I call them; music fans who just want to listen as much as go crazy. It’s a real compliment that a sub-set of the crowd come just for your sets. You miss the musical freedom when you have to play a peak set, because of all the expectations that come with it.
This was taken right out of a McFadden Ventures DJ handbook from the late 80s. It absolutely works.
Also, never forget the role of the lighting. When the dancefloor is sparse, turn off lights that attract attention and keep it minimal. Hit the fog, and keep colors in the darker ranges (blues, reds, greens). No one wants to feel like they’re being watched by the whole club.
Also, if you have dancers, it’s a good idea to have them as policy act as dancefloor primers. When the floor is clear, have them get off of perches and dance on the dancefloor itself. This also works wonders.
Another great article!
well heres my question: im doing a show thats only 14-18 soon so the bar is free (the club just provides free water) so what would i do about the tempo now that drinks arent really a factor?
Great post Ean!
Just an inside in Irish Night Clubs.
The 1/3 drink line passes in 2/3 hours here (at least).
Plus if you play to a younger crowd, let’s say mid-week college students. They probably arrive at between 11 and 12, half-drunk (let’s say 2/4 cans of beer). Then if they are in the mood or can afford it, they take few shots. And if there is not playing one of their favourite songs, it’s a nightmare!
Not in general but there would have to be pumping music.
There is a big scene of electro/dubstep/fidget music currently. Always changing of course, cause we all get tired of DeadMau5 after a while.
thanks again!
[quote comment=”34354″][quote comment=”34350″]Ean great post!! but what do you do with random variable ex. “omg you have to play my song next its my birthday” etc.[/quote]
You tell ’em to fuck off, you’re a DJ..not a juke box.[/quote]
Don’t think I’d hire you in my club if you told my customers to f¤¤k off. 🙂
Be polite, tell them the facts, that is don’t fit in right now or whatever, but don’t be an asshole ego DJ.
M
180bpm seems ‘a bit’ fast…
Apart from that fact, a good mid-temp warm up is (in my opinion) the major key for an excellent party!
great article. not the first time, that you write down things i always did but never couched in terms. thanks for that!
one remark: in berlin the beat never changes, there’s no peaktime, only a pre-after hour, and nobody cares about the bar as earning money isn’t cool at all 🙂
walter
Great stuff , thank you 🙂
http://www.darwinversusthemachine.com/2009/09/inside-the-dj-booth-how-a-disc-jockey%E2%80%99s-strategic-track-selection-can-enhance-experience-foster-loyalty-and-boost-profits/
Thx for these very valuable piece of info !
great post – i’m planning a set for an open bar tomorrow and wonder how free drinks will effect the energy/tempo of the night – i’m guessing people will get smashed and peak early, haha – 11pm bangers!
[quote comment=”34350″]Ean great post!! but what do you do with random variable ex. “omg you have to play my song next its my birthday” etc.[/quote]
You tell ’em to fuck off, you’re a DJ..not a juke box.
Uh the second two pics (bpm charts) are the same.
great read though!!
Gianamrco
@Kevin
Give the good ol’ thumbs up, and smile…then never play the track. Muahaha.
I wish more dj’s would stick to this. There’s nothing i hate more than a opening dj that thinks he’s a superstar and throws nothing but bangers all set. When 12 o’clock rolls around and i go on, there’s not much i can do besides just letting the tracks run out and start all over at a reasonable tempo. Cheers on the article, and i hope everyone heeds this advise.
Ean great post!! but what do you do with random variable ex. “omg you have to play my song next its my birthday” etc.
dope post!