How long have you been a DJ and what are your likes and dislikes about this business?

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
  • The weight of great sounding 18" subs
  • Missing out on Saturdays with my family
  • Never knowing if I'm really "good enough" to keep doing what I love doing.

That will probably never change you just get more used to it
 
I did my first DJ gig just about 1 year and 1 month ago to the day. So I'm a 1 year veteran. At the young age of 46, Here is what I have...


Dis-likes
  • The weight of great sounding 18" subs
  • Missing out on Saturdays with my family
  • Never knowing if I'm really "good enough" to keep doing what I love doing.

- Don't use 18" Subs. There is literally ZERO reason to even use them other than your own audio Pleasure fulfillment! ...Maybe a Big High School Dance or big College Event warrants using an 18" Sub or two of them, but how many gigs each year do you do like this?

- I use 12" Subs, and about 60% of the events I do, I don't even use a Sub.

Missing out on Family time with Saturdays - You have two Options. Only take events that come in on Fridays, Sundays, and the rare week day events. You will earn far less money unless you are in with a venue or multiple venues that just happen to be good at booking Sunday thru Friday events. The 2nd option is to limit the number of Saturdays you book each year. If you limit yourself to only booking say 20 Saturdays a year...That gives you 32 Saturdays a year to be off and spend with your family. You won't ever be given enough time to block specific Saturdays off before you book one for most family event engagements, but limiting the number of Saturdays you do book to 50% or less of all available Saturdays through out the year will give you a nice balance of Saturdays to spend with family. I use to book 38 to 45 Saturdays EVERY YEAR prior to 2018. I think I booked like 29 in 2018, and then about 25 in 2019. Then 2020 came, and after 2020 I will never book 38+ Saturdays a year again! Moving forward I won't book more than 26 Saturdays a year!

For the third one - Honestly, after 22 years I am less "Vein" or Up Tight, or Worrisome about my Skill, or Self Image. I simply work how I want, and what I am comfortable doing. If others have a problem with how I work, or how Good I am as a DJ, they can go kick rocks because I don't care what others think much these days. I have mellowed out a good bit with that since Covid. I expect myself to mellow out even more as I get older.

I will also say that eventually you reach a point to where you still like being a DJ, but you don't LOVE everything about it like you once did when you were much younger. I'm in it more for the money at this point, then the actual love of being a DJ, and the high you get from getting people to dance, and having an awesome mix of music. Honestly, events have changed a bit in many cases...dealing with planners, and the entitlement of SOME clients, their parents, and even some guests ends up getting old. Dealing with drunks is another thing that I got tired of which is why I won't do bars any more (That and the pay is AWFUL)
 
- Don't use 18" Subs. There is literally ZERO reason to even use them other than your own audio Pleasure fulfillment! ...Maybe a Big High School Dance or big College Event warrants using an 18" Sub or two of them, but how many gigs each year do you do like this?

- I use 12" Subs, and about 60% of the events I do, I don't even use a Sub.

I got to disagree with you there there's no comparison between a 12 and an 18. I've been using a 10 or like you a lot of times none for 15 years I just went up to the 12 with the Polars and there is quite a bit of difference. When I had the 18's you could fill so much more space. I always say have you ever seen a 12 inch kick drum?

Missing out on Family time with Saturdays - You have two Options. Only take events that come in on Fridays, Sundays, and the rare week day events. You will earn far less money unless you are in with a venue or multiple venues that just happen to be good at booking Sunday thru Friday events. The 2nd option is to limit the number of Saturdays you book each year. If you limit yourself to only booking say 20 Saturdays a year...That gives you 32 Saturdays a year to be off and spend with your family. You won't ever be given enough time to block specific Saturdays off before you book one for most family event engagements, but limiting the number of Saturdays you do book to 50% or less of all available Saturdays through out the year will give you a nice balance of Saturdays to spend with family. I use to book 38 to 45 Saturdays EVERY YEAR prior to 2018. I think I booked like 29 in 2018, and then about 25 in 2019. Then 2020 came, and after 2020 I will never book 38+ Saturdays a year again! Moving forward I won't book more than 26 Saturdays a year!

I think 2020 taught a lot of us a lot about ourselves and free time. I'm not going to put a number on the amount of gigs I do but if I know something is coming up I'm interested in attending I'll block that date out. If I have an open Saturday and someone wants to book there's no favours it's what I charge or I don't leave the house

For the third one - Honestly, after 22 years I am less "Vein" or Up Tight, or Worrisome about my Skill, or Self Image. I simply work how I want, and what I am comfortable doing. If others have a problem with how I work, or how Good I am as a DJ, they can go kick rocks because I don't care what others think much these days. I have mellowed out a good bit with that since Covid. I expect myself to mellow out even more as I get older.

That might be a vanity all in itself and thats OK. You will mellow as you get older trust me on this one :)

Dealing with drunks is another thing that I got tired of which is why I won't do bars any more (That and the pay is AWFUL)

You just got the wrong bar gigs I do very well on the easiest gig of my life every Friday
 
Last edited:
I always recommend to people is sometimes went you do this for a while you may need to reinvent yourself a few times. Move into other types of events & services. I know up until I was about 30, I was fine working almost weekends missing family events unless I was DJing them. Then with kids, all their stuff is on the weekend. So moved more to corporate & more college. Corporate events are during the week and college usually during the week too with some events during the day. When I had a 9 to 5 I used to work during the afternoon DJing or Karaoke and just take a long lunch then make up the hours, Then over years, we moved the colleges toward our other events like Outdoor Movies & Extreme Music Bingo. Very few weekends, much shorter events, and I still get to DJ if I want but I only have to do it for 15 mins or so until the event starts.
We moved away from the larger 18” subs, I had T36s which had a great sound but were a major pain to move. I definitely couldn’t use them for the corporate work in NYC. Instead I moved to front-loaded 4 double 15”. Weak as I am now, If I buy anything new it will probably be powered 12” subs.
 
- Don't use 18" Subs. There is literally ZERO reason to even use them other than your own audio Pleasure fulfillment! ...Maybe a Big High School Dance or big College Event warrants using an 18" Sub or two of them, but how many gigs each year do you do like this?

- I use 12" Subs, and about 60% of the events I do, I don't even use a Sub.

Missing out on Family time with Saturdays - You have two Options. Only take events that come in on Fridays, Sundays, and the rare week day events. You will earn far less money unless you are in with a venue or multiple venues that just happen to be good at booking Sunday thru Friday events. The 2nd option is to limit the number of Saturdays you book each year. If you limit yourself to only booking say 20 Saturdays a year...That gives you 32 Saturdays a year to be off and spend with your family. You won't ever be given enough time to block specific Saturdays off before you book one for most family event engagements, but limiting the number of Saturdays you do book to 50% or less of all available Saturdays through out the year will give you a nice balance of Saturdays to spend with family. I use to book 38 to 45 Saturdays EVERY YEAR prior to 2018. I think I booked like 29 in 2018, and then about 25 in 2019. Then 2020 came, and after 2020 I will never book 38+ Saturdays a year again! Moving forward I won't book more than 26 Saturdays a year!

For the third one - Honestly, after 22 years I am less "Vein" or Up Tight, or Worrisome about my Skill, or Self Image. I simply work how I want, and what I am comfortable doing. If others have a problem with how I work, or how Good I am as a DJ, they can go kick rocks because I don't care what others think much these days. I have mellowed out a good bit with that since Covid. I expect myself to mellow out even more as I get older.

I will also say that eventually you reach a point to where you still like being a DJ, but you don't LOVE everything about it like you once did when you were much younger. I'm in it more for the money at this point, then the actual love of being a DJ, and the high you get from getting people to dance, and having an awesome mix of music. Honestly, events have changed a bit in many cases...dealing with planners, and the entitlement of SOME clients, their parents, and even some guests ends up getting old. Dealing with drunks is another thing that I got tired of which is why I won't do bars any more (That and the pay is AWFUL)
I got to say your issue with using 18" subs for me is a bit much. Some events we don't need to use subs. Others we do need to use them. We have done events in very large rooms that you can't do an event without at least one sub. For me it's better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it. Let me also that some of those events were not for a school dance. I remember another DJ doing a wedding reception in a hotel that we were doing an event in. The room for that reception was a huge ballroom. One of those that can be sectioned off into 3 separate rooms. That was a large crowd in that room. So no getting away with not using a sub and in that large room with that many people you definitely would need to use 2 as a minimum.
 
So my thing with the 18" subs... When I started out and did all of my research online, "everyone" said "you need great subs".... so I bought the best I could find. Do they sound awesomely clean with big punch? YES! Do I love how they sound? YES! Do they suck to transport? YES! This was one of those things where not having a great mentor caught up to me a little. I do use them for most of my events though, mainly because they do make a difference and because I have them. Would I sell them or trade them for something smaller and easier to lug around if the right deal came along? Probably so.

The time with family... I wasn't really complaining... it was just one of the few "cons" I could think of. I normally won't book more than two Saturdays a month. That is so I can have some family time, as well as just have some time off for my own mental health. I'm still working a 50+ hour a week day job, so I need time to recharge my own batteries as well. When I remember back to my time in the National Guard (one weekend a month, roughly) it wasn't that it was a big time obligation, and those weekends were scheduled a year in advance, usually, but that was the weekend your friends always decided to throw a last minute party, lol. It's not a big deal to me really. One or two weekends a month free and I'm still a pretty happy guy.
 
Like Forbes and others here, I use 18" subs the majority of the time (with 12" tops). Could I (and others) successfully do events with 12's only? Sure - but as a professional, I want the customer to not only see a difference, to hear a difference - and they do. Do customers know that a sub is missing if it's not there? No, most do not .. but they know good sound when they hear it. Do I hate how much they weight - absofrickinlutely - but .. there's no replacement for displacement.
 
Moving 18" subs was becoming a major pain for me. The sound was great but I found myself doing gigs that didn't require them. I stopped using them back in March when I upgraded to the RCF J8 system. When the 18" subs got to a point where they needed repairs, I decided to just donate them to the Goodwill. I still have a pair of passive 15' subs but they may get donated or sold before the year is over. I've done a lot of gigs with the RCFs since I purchased them and I haven't missed the 18" subs at all.

Just this past weekend I kind of quit my bar gig. I was in rotation among 6 other DJs and I told the scheduler to pull me out of rotation. This particular bar gig just isn't fun anymore. The expectation to take any and all requests combined with the hours and travel made the gig a big hassle and not worth the money. I really don't see me doing any more bar gigs. I've really just focused on my mobile events this year and will continue that route.
 
Wish I hadn't sold my EV 12" subs. 10" eons and the 12"sub was my micro system. I did load the eon's with the more powerful horn upgrade and they sounded nice. After going to the EKX I have not needed my 18" much at all. Mostly wedding receptions for me now days.
When you do bring those 18" bad boys out, They rock!
 
You just got the wrong bar gigs I do very well on the easiest gig of my life every Friday


Maybe, I am sure there is probably a bar somewhere that the owner/management and staff are just great people, AND the customers are real cool too. And the load in/out is super simple, AND the gig doesn't go to 1:30 or 2 am or even later. AND the pay is not peanuts...If I could find a bar like that LOCAL to me, I probably would like to have a routine gig there.

However, EVEN if the place hit on all points...I don't think I would want to work EVERY Friday night. I don't think I want a weekly gig at this point. I actually enjoyed being off today. I went shopping. I came home. Didn't have to worry about getting ready to go do a gig. A good friend called me out of the blue and I was able to talk with him for almost 90 minutes (We hadn't talked since June). I made dinner. and am now relaxing drinking hot cocoa :)

I think if I did go for a routine bar gig, I would want like a twice a month type of deal...not every week. Every other week would be sufficient for me. And the times would have to be right...like 8 p.m. to Mid Night or 9 p.m. to mid night, or 8 p.m. to 11 p.m....I wouldn't want to be out too late since I will often have a wedding to go do on Saturday. I could do a 1 am end time, but would prefer not to! I guess I'm probably asking for too much with a bar gig...Too picky, but I'm at a point where I don't need bar gig money, and am simply going to be real choosy if I even decide to get back into doing them. I know one thing...I'm not driving far to do one so There is a real finite number of places that would even be considerable for me.
 
Maybe, I am sure there is probably a bar somewhere that the owner/management and staff are just great people, AND the customers are real cool too. And the load in/out is super simple, AND the gig doesn't go to 1:30 or 2 am or even later. AND the pay is not peanuts...If I could find a bar like that LOCAL to me, I probably would like to have a routine gig there.

However, EVEN if the place hit on all points...I don't think I would want to work EVERY Friday night. I don't think I want a weekly gig at this point. I actually enjoyed being off today. I went shopping. I came home. Didn't have to worry about getting ready to go do a gig. A good friend called me out of the blue and I was able to talk with him for almost 90 minutes (We hadn't talked since June). I made dinner. and am now relaxing drinking hot cocoa :)

I think if I did go for a routine bar gig, I would want like a twice a month type of deal...not every week. Every other week would be sufficient for me. And the times would have to be right...like 8 p.m. to Mid Night or 9 p.m. to mid night, or 8 p.m. to 11 p.m....I wouldn't want to be out too late since I will often have a wedding to go do on Saturday. I could do a 1 am end time, but would prefer not to! I guess I'm probably asking for too much with a bar gig...Too picky, but I'm at a point where I don't need bar gig money, and am simply going to be real choosy if I even decide to get back into doing them. I know one thing...I'm not driving far to do one so There is a real finite number of places that would even be considerable for me.

I'm at that gig you described as we speak LOL. The owners are spectacular they treat me more than fair all the gear is here it was a full EV
passive system but it was getting old I just sold them one of my Yorkville systems to replace it. I arrive at 7:55 with a laptop for an 8PM start and I'm out the door by 12:02 it's about a 20 minute drive home. It's pretty much the same people every week. The only thing you might not like is it's every Friday. I do have a couple of guys willing to fill in for me so it really doesn't have to be

I plan on putting a desktop in soon I have one hanging around doing nothing it will be even easier then. I would be particular about any bar gig I took too nowadays I may have found the unicorn here though lol
 

Attachments

  • 75299D5D-1B6F-468A-BB12-AF006AB76D79.jpeg
    75299D5D-1B6F-468A-BB12-AF006AB76D79.jpeg
    188 KB · Views: 12
  • F097E149-7ABC-49C7-95D9-B469B958F91E.jpeg
    F097E149-7ABC-49C7-95D9-B469B958F91E.jpeg
    270.5 KB · Views: 11
In my opinion, I believe some djs worry about things that make no difference whatsoever to clients.

For example, the bit rate debate years ago. Yes, if you listened to a higher bitrate song through headphones and compared it back and forth with a lower bit rate identical song, you'll notice the difference. In a real world scenerio, with ambiant noise and nothing else to compare to, never.

Everyone knows bass is an important element of good sound. So some djs feel that must mean more bass automatically means better sound. In my opinion, I believe very few clients believe this. They want it to sound good.
Makeup can really enhance a woman's beauty. Too much and she's a clown
Salt is a vital part of many recipes. Too much and it's ruined.

Same goes for bass. Lugging around duel 18" subs for wedding just never seemed worth it to me
 
For example, the bit rate debate years ago. Yes, if you listened to a higher bitrate song through headphones and compared it back and forth with a lower bit rate identical song, you'll notice the difference. In a real world scenerio, with ambiant noise and nothing else to compare to, never.

I find on pro gear you can really hear the difference starting with volumes the lower bit ones are much lower volume and there is a difference in sound quality. The better the gear the more you notice it but for the average listener there'e little or no difference

Same goes for bass. Lugging around duel 18" subs for wedding just never seemed worth it to me

I've changed my opinion on this greatly over the years....or maybe my back changed it for me ;) There is a huge difference in sound in 12's or 18's but in many cases the average human over 20 can't hear what the 18 produces on the low end. Move more air make more sound but do you really need it? Very rarely

In my opinion, I believe some djs worry about things that make no difference whatsoever to clients.

Sitting /standing, Bitrate, Subs, Eating at an event and so much more. I've always thought that it was an ego thing to think the client even notices you let alone what you are doing unless of course it's completely bizarre. Find a guest from a wedding last weekend and ask them what the DJ looked like I would be surprised if they could tell you. If you are doing your job they should remember the good music not that you partook in the buffet or sat for a few minutes

Now lets get to the important stuff and have a good Bose argument :)
 
Maybe, I am sure there is probably a bar somewhere that the owner/management and staff are just great people, AND the customers are real cool too. And the load in/out is super simple, AND the gig doesn't go to 1:30 or 2 am or even later. AND the pay is not peanuts...If I could find a bar like that LOCAL to me, I probably would like to have a routine gig there.

However, EVEN if the place hit on all points...I don't think I would want to work EVERY Friday night. I don't think I want a weekly gig at this point. I actually enjoyed being off today. I went shopping. I came home. Didn't have to worry about getting ready to go do a gig. A good friend called me out of the blue and I was able to talk with him for almost 90 minutes (We hadn't talked since June). I made dinner. and am now relaxing drinking hot cocoa :)

I think if I did go for a routine bar gig, I would want like a twice a month type of deal...not every week. Every other week would be sufficient for me. And the times would have to be right...like 8 p.m. to Mid Night or 9 p.m. to mid night, or 8 p.m. to 11 p.m....I wouldn't want to be out too late since I will often have a wedding to go do on Saturday. I could do a 1 am end time, but would prefer not to! I guess I'm probably asking for too much with a bar gig...Too picky, but I'm at a point where I don't need bar gig money, and am simply going to be real choosy if I even decide to get back into doing them. I know one thing...I'm not driving far to do one so There is a real finite number of places that would even be considerable for me.
These gigs are readily available, I have several bars I play on a regular basis that would be exactly what you described, one I have been playing at for 30 years
 
I can say the thing I disliked the most years ago was lugging heavy equipment around and setting it up. When I moved to light, mobile equipment, I became much happier and I believe the sound quality improved. Full disclosure, I didn't compare to every other system so yes, it's possible something else could have sounded better. But it sounded great, was light, and easy to set up, so I stopped looking and have been happy ever since 😁