New Years Tips and DJ Countdowns

It’s become an annual tradition that DJ TechTools provides all of our readers with Tips and Tools for up coming New Years Eve gigs. This year we continue that tradition with another set of helpful tricks and tips that will help make your night go smoothly.  Continue reading after the fold for Mp3 count downs, drops, tips from the pros and more.

KEEP IT FUN

The biggest mistake I see DJs make is planning a set based on normal circumstances. New Years is a very unique night of djing that certainly requires special consideration when planning your evening.  Here are important things to look out for:

• People start early, so move the time line up and get the dance floor started earlier than usual.
• Due to the copious amount of drinking, expectations for sing-along tracks seem to go higher. Be ready with some feel good jams that your audience will absolutely know.
• Big nights usually bring out the “amateurs”, “bridge and tunnel” or whatever you want to call non-regular party folk. These crowds will not have an subtle appreciation for your obscure track selection and deft mixing skills so keep it fun and play great songs- this is one night where classic hits almost always go over well.
• Don’t expect them to stick around all night. NYE usually involves a lot of party jumping especially pre and post ball drop so do your best to keep the energy up during that critical period or you might lose the crowd.

TIPS FROM THE PROS

We asked Charles FeelGood, a professional DJ for over 20 years, and the man behind our new LA store for some timeless NYE tips. This is what he had to say:

I would have to say that one of the most important aspects of my night as a Dj on NYE is of course the countdown. One thing I learned a long time ago, is that it’s probably a good idea to start giving the crowd a heads up at least two hours before midnight. Start around 10pm,11pm,11:30pm,11:45pm and so on until the big one.

My first big New Years was in Washington DC doing the countdown, and I made no announcements prior to midnight and when my time came, no one was paying attention and midnight came and went without a pop – lesson learned!

NEW YEARS EVE MUSIC AND COUNTDOWNS

Be sure to plan out what happens at midnight- and talk to your promoter or the club owner to figure out if they have something specific in mind. Are you counting down over top of music? Is there a visual countdown that you should coordinate with? It’s really helpful to have a few pre-mixed tracks and countdowns in your bag to make the night go smoothly. We’re conveniently rated them based on how cheesy they are. New Year’s can get pretty cheesy, but sometimes its fun to just embrace it.

• Swedish House Mafia (Cheesy Factor = 2/5) Swedish House Mafia – Two Zero One One – Kidd Spin New Year’s Eve Edit by KiddSpin
• Fat Man Scoop Count Down into Disco (Cheesy Factor 5/5)Download
• Club Killers – NYE Electro Count Down (Cheesy Factor 6/5) download

If you are playing videos this weekend the sequence above is available in full 720P – download the NYE video drop here

Here’s is another nice countdown video (without music) that you can grab here.