Weddings Question For (Some) Wedding DJs
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djsarge
DJ Extraordinaire
I looked at a few -- is there any in particular one I should be viewing to see mad DJ Skillz...?
I want to see the DJ working, and his/her mixing skills for beat matching...
Rick needs to get out more often. He should take Haleem with him!
Quite frankly, Little Ricky probably gets out more than you these days old man
Oh, and I don't drive an SUV -- I ride my bicycle
Man I have been spinning all these years and I still don't know how! ;-)
You will bore them to death if you play the whole song. I bet you play three songs from start to finish and I play the same three songs to the same crowd and 10 out of 10 times the DJ that mixed it in will have a better energy on the dance floor
You will bore them to death if you play the whole song. I bet you play three songs from start to finish and I play the same three songs to the same crowd and 10 out of 10 times the DJ that mixed it in will have a better energy on the dance floor
Energy is not just in dancing though...
I come from a fully half Italian family (the other side is Dutch-Russian). But we have always celebrated weddings in the Italian style. Dancing is not a big deal at most of the affairs.
The energy is focused on getting people together, and having some fun together. Many of these folks haven't seen each other for ages, and they want to talk, and maybe do a couple dances. Almost every wedding I've been to, we went out to a club afterwards, to do the party stuff. At the wedding, you want to connect with your family -- it's sorta like Thanksgiving or Christmas, only somebody else is paying for it.
Maybe turning it into a disco beat-matching festival makes YOU feel good -- but what about the crowd...? If Joanie doesn't get time to talk to Fonzie, because you got them in a rave, does that make it a successful event...?
Be careful -- accomplishing YOUR goal, may not accomplish the goal that was intended...
Rick I think you are in the minority here. Your method on an overall scale is also probably in the minority. I do however agree with you that there are some songs which are sacred...you just got to have it play til the end. Put on an oldie such as Righteous Bros-Unchained Melody....cut that song short and the older folks will beat yer to death with their canes and walkers! :tribiggrin:Energy is not just in dancing though...
I come from a fully half Italian family (the other side is Dutch-Russian). But we have always celebrated weddings in the Italian style. Dancing is not a big deal at most of the affairs.
The energy is focused on getting people together, and having some fun together. Many of these folks haven't seen each other for ages, and they want to talk, and maybe do a couple dances. Almost every wedding I've been to, we went out to a club afterwards, to do the party stuff. At the wedding, you want to connect with your family -- it's sorta like Thanksgiving or Christmas, only somebody else is paying for it.
Maybe turning it into a disco beat-matching festival makes YOU feel good -- but what about the crowd...? If Joanie doesn't get time to talk to Fonzie, because you got them in a rave, does that make it a successful event...?
Be careful -- accomplishing YOUR goal, may not accomplish the goal that was intended...
In our area, people want to hear the song they know, not a hacked up snippet of it and if it's something like "Don't Stop Believin'", well you'd better not be putting a remix of it on either.
Rick is correct...there are many different definitions of a successful reception. Some crowds don't feel like dancing, some do. Does it make an event any more or less successful if the dance floor is packed all night? I say no. The funny part is though, it's not our self-centered opinions that matter...it's the guests' and the client's opinions that matter.
Rick is correct...there are many different definitions of a successful reception. Some crowds don't feel like dancing, some do. Does it make an event any more or less successful if the dance floor is packed all night? I say no. The funny part is though, it's not our self-centered opinions that matter...it's the guests' and the client's opinions that matter.
I beat mixed when it wasn't cool and I was still using records.
Everyone beat mixes to a certain point and actually with software it's really easy these days you don't have to have great ears anymore the BPM is laid out for you and most software lets you see the wav form.
As far as hard beat mixing at an event I never do it. If I was cutting songs off early in this area I would get lynched. I tend to play by feel and losing the set/genre/beatmix mindset has made me a better DJ.
Almost any two songs can be matched well if you use your ears. Some are definatly better than others.
Saturday night one of my sets consisted of The Macarena Into Mambo5, Gettin Jiggy Wit it, Dirty Bit Billie Jean, Bust A Move, Baby Likes To Rock It, Guitar Town, Dust On The Bottle. Anybody that strictly beatmixes would be in convulsions but it worked very well
Everyone beat mixes to a certain point and actually with software it's really easy these days you don't have to have great ears anymore the BPM is laid out for you and most software lets you see the wav form.
As far as hard beat mixing at an event I never do it. If I was cutting songs off early in this area I would get lynched. I tend to play by feel and losing the set/genre/beatmix mindset has made me a better DJ.
Almost any two songs can be matched well if you use your ears. Some are definatly better than others.
Saturday night one of my sets consisted of The Macarena Into Mambo5, Gettin Jiggy Wit it, Dirty Bit Billie Jean, Bust A Move, Baby Likes To Rock It, Guitar Town, Dust On The Bottle. Anybody that strictly beatmixes would be in convulsions but it worked very well
Nahhhh! Yer jes live in the Boondocks. Jake and Bubba will tear yer a new one if you don't play the whole thing!
Energy is not just in dancing though...
I come from a fully half Italian family (the other side is Dutch-Russian). But we have always celebrated weddings in the Italian style. Dancing is not a big deal at most of the affairs.
The energy is focused on getting people together, and having some fun together. Many of these folks haven't seen each other for ages, and they want to talk, and maybe do a couple dances. Almost every wedding I've been to, we went out to a club afterwards, to do the party stuff. At the wedding, you want to connect with your family -- it's sorta like Thanksgiving or Christmas, only somebody else is paying for it.
Maybe turning it into a disco beat-matching festival makes YOU feel good -- but what about the crowd...? If Joanie doesn't get time to talk to Fonzie, because you got them in a rave, does that make it a successful event...?
Be careful -- accomplishing YOUR goal, may not accomplish the goal that was intended...
The key to your whole point of view is that your family doesn't get together all that often. That's not necessarily the norm, and where other family's do get together often they don't require all this talk time to catch up with one another. (..and BTW mixing need not be disco - another personal perception of yours!)
Weddings are family occasions and family dynamics are not universal. The same can be said for other events too. Corporate events may be all about networking and everyone leaves when the dancing starts, or it could be an employee party among tight co-workers and they all party their heads off. Bar Mitzvahs are often in a social circle where people might attend as many as 12 -24 in a given year - which can also leave people jaded by the end of the season. Every event has it's own history and potential.
Kind of hard to get together often, when most of them are dead (my immediate family)...
Anyway, most of my family is extended family -- I think it's an Italian thing. I've got a zillion cousins, who are spread out all over the world. Since we're not in contact on a regular basis, the weddings or anniversary parties are usually the only time we get to catch up on the gossip.
Funerals are another occasion when we catch up -- we always have a party after we put them in the ground.
BTW, pay no mind to the disco thing -- I deal with a lot of people in the UK, and DJing is generally referred to as a disco there.
I can tell you just from experience in the weddings I have done in my specific area, beat mixing, and remixes in general do not fly. They are complete floor clearer.
People want to hear the songs they know and the versions they know.
People want to hear the songs they know and the versions they know.
Patrick, what you just stated has nothing to do with Beat Mixing. Beat Mixing is a method used for transitioning one song to another, however it can happen anywhere during the song, most likely within the last few seconds. Cutting a song short, or splicing/overlaying another song while Beat Mixing is considered a Style. Two different things! Properly transitioned, Beat Mixing is more apt to keep dancers on the floor longer vs coming to a complete end.
To each their own.
I learned to beatmix on a dual CD player with mixer...at any given time I may be touching 3 or 4 or 5 different things...both faders, pitch bend buttons or nudging the jog wheels, and the 3 band EQ are all things that touch on every mix.
When I moved to a computer, I found it to be too difficult with only a keyboard & mouse. Even with hot keys, I was limited to one key click and one mouse click at a time. I could pull off a slam....but frankly, 10 years ago the latency of the computer was horrid....and even with hot keys there was a HUGE (relative to a dual CD player & mixer) lag from the button press to the change. So...I stopped beatmixing.
Today, MIDI controllers are getting really tight integration with the software. I have a huge buffer built in to avoid any drops, and I am still getting <15ms latency end to end. Plenty good enough to allow beatmixing. But, not having the controller is still a challenge for me. Using the keyboard & mouse only feels like one arm tied behind my back and a mitten on the other hand. ;P