SLOW SONGS - HOW DO YOU HANDLE?

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djmagicmoments said:
My brides would HATE that.
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Again just depends on your clientele... many of my clients want a high paced energetic atmosphere, and many do go out to bars and clubs where a quick mix atmosphere is common. It’s also something that many might be willing to pay a premium for, as it’s very easy to find djs that just play songs out as opposed to djs that can mix effectively songs in and out in a way that actually flows and one wouldn’t even notice. Of course, there are certain points and songs where I wouldn’t do that, but it’s not uncommon for me to do that as well.

A specific example... I had a client in July ask me to do what he called a “power hour” for the last portion of the night. I told him I never heard of that... and he said it’s something at one of the bars him and his friends would frequent where in the last hour of the night the DJ would quick mix all the hip hop and pop anthems from the 90’s and early 2000’s... essentially just the best parts of each song. Now for me it wasn’t an hour... more like 30 min but we did get about a song a minute during that time (some of the edm stuck took a little longer to mix in and out of due to their lengthier build ups and drops).
 
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Depends on the audience but I typically prefer 2 but no more than 3 consecutive slow songs at most. Takes less than 10-12 minutes and deployed when the energy requires a shift, if the response to an earlier slow set was unusually spectacular and/or if requested by the Host, GOH, or numerous couples that actually know how to dance...as oposed to grinding and jumping around like seizure victims.
 
If you are a guest and a dancer, a typical wedding DJ will bore the daylights out of you. If you are a guest and don't dance, a typical wedding DJ will bore the daylights out of you because you don't understand the psychology of dance. If you are a guest with someone special and want to share all facets of the dance floor, a typical wedding DJ will leave you bored to death.

It's incumbent on the DJ to make those slow-to-fast-to-slow transitions with wise and empathetic announcements as well as playing different dance steps and styles.

I'm a 5 or 6 fast to 2 slow; never more than 2; never less than 2.
 
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Cap Capello said:
If you are a guest and a dancer, a typical wedding DJ will bore the daylights out of you. If you are a guest and don't dance, a typical wedding DJ will bore the daylights out of you because you don't understand the psychology of dance. If you are a guest with someone special and want to share all facets of the dance floor, a typical wedding DJ will leave you bored to death.

It's incumbent on the DJ to make those slow-to-fast-to-slow transitions with wise and empathetic announcements as well as playing different dance steps and styles.

I'm a 5 or 6 fast to 2 slow; never more than 2; never less than 2.
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key phrase seems to be “typical DJ”
 
Cap Capello said:
If you are a guest and a dancer, a typical wedding DJ will bore the daylights out of you. If you are a guest and don't dance, a typical wedding DJ will bore the daylights out of you because you don't understand the psychology of dance. If you are a guest with someone special and want to share all facets of the dance floor, a typical wedding DJ will leave you bored to death.

It's incumbent on the DJ to make those slow-to-fast-to-slow transitions with wise and empathetic announcements as well as playing different dance steps and styles.

I'm a 5 or 6 fast to 2 slow; never more than 2; never less than 2.
Click to expand...

Cap....im reading this...and super sleepy...so forgive me... but are you saying boredom is inevitable...and are you also saying you play 6 or so slow songs an hour? (by my math)?

if the above is true...you seem to be resigned to being a boring dj...and actually highly unfamiliar with the psychology of dance... (by my math)

cc
 
To me, it's all about reading the crowd. They'll reveal how many slow songs and how they like the mixing. Adjust accordingly.

I did a 2 weddings a few weeks ago, first wedding, I played an opening slow song. When I I played one later, It was obvious this should be the last slow dance.
The next night, every time I played a slow dance break, we did 2 songs.
 
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Whooops.

My re-reading my comment kinda makes me look like a douchebag. Sorry. I'm off to a 6-hour wedding shortly. I promise to rephrase and clarify what was in my mind and got all messed up coming out my fingers to the keyboard.
 
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djtaso said:
Again just depends on your clientele... many of my clients want a high paced energetic atmosphere, and many do go out to bars and clubs where a quick mix atmosphere is common. It’s also something that many might be willing to pay a premium for, as it’s very easy to find djs that just play songs out as opposed to djs that can mix effectively songs in and out in a way that actually flows and one wouldn’t even notice. Of course, there are certain points and songs where I wouldn’t do that, but it’s not uncommon for me to do that as well.

A specific example... I had a client in July ask me to do what he called a “power hour” for the last portion of the night. I told him I never heard of that... and he said it’s something at one of the bars him and his friends would frequent where in the last hour of the night the DJ would quick mix all the hip hop and pop anthems from the 90’s and early 2000’s... essentially just the best parts of each song. Now for me it wasn’t an hour... more like 30 min but we did get about a song a minute during that time (some of the edm stuck took a little longer to mix in and out of due to their lengthier build ups and drops).
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Last night's wedding I did a "power hour" for about the last 45 minutes. The list of music I was given was quite long. There were a lot of eclectic song selections as well. They had ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception crammed into 4.5 hours. They had 170 guests and 2 food stations set up. Not a traditional dinner. After a traditional bread and wine ceremony done by the parents they had me open up the dance floor. I was playing loud music while some people danced and others got into the food station lines. It was different. I could tell the lady photographers hated this format. They were wondering when they could get something to eat.

Any way, after about 45 minutes of dancing/dinner we stopped everything for toasts. Had the bride and groom sit in chairs on the dance floor for that. Then immediately after toasts I had them go to cut their cake which was a tiny cake. Announced that pies will be available shorty then back to dancing. After another 25 minute dance set they did a "apron dance" - basically the same thing as a dollar dance after , but ALL POLKA MUSIC. Very high energy. that took a solid 20 minutes to do. After the Polka dancing, I basically had 40 minutes to cram in as much of a list of about 50 songs I had not played yet in. PLUS I had a special request for "LIZZO" which actually went very well. I played "JUICE" and it was phenomenal on the dance floor with this crowd. I let that one play out for like 2.5 minutes, BUT every other song that I did in that power hour was roughly 45 to 80 seconds long in length. I tried to mix in right at the best parts in the songs. Unfortunately there were a few songs I never played before, so I kinda guessed at a great cue point for them.

I fast mixed until the last song when I figured I really needed to play a slow song since I really did not play a good slow song all night. I played one during dinner but at that point most were sitting down scarfing down food. Ended on Ed Sheeran Perfect since that was on their list, and went 2 minutes over to get that song played and wrapped up after I made announcement for the after party and had everyone cheering for the newly weds. ...I had a few guests wanting me to play more music, but time at the venue was up. They were having an after party at a bar though. ...Cramming everything into 4.5 hours is truly not enough time when we are talking a 170 guest wedding. They should have paid to have the venue until 11 p.m. This was a dance crowd considering they really were not drinking that much. I noticed most people might have had a drink during cocktail hour, and 1 to 2 more during reception. Not heavy on the drinking and the younger folks wanted to dance a lot.

One thing is or certain...When I am fast mixing, I do not have the time or ability to take some video of people dancing, so I have less video clips of the dancing from last night to make a video with. Maybe that is good news though because the video will be shorter, lol. I was too focused on cue point up the next song and preparing for the next transition to get more songs played. Under normal mixing parameters for me, I can spend 30 or more seconds to walk away from table and get some quick video clip if I want.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
Last night's wedding I did a "power hour" for about the last 45 minutes. The list of music I was given was quite long. There were a lot of eclectic song selections as well. They had ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception crammed into 4.5 hours. They had 170 guests and 2 food stations set up. Not a traditional dinner. After a traditional bread and wine ceremony done by the parents they had me open up the dance floor. I was playing loud music while some people danced and others got into the food station lines. It was different. I could tell the lady photographers hated this format. They were wondering when they could get something to eat.

Any way, after about 45 minutes of dancing/dinner we stopped everything for toasts. Had the bride and groom sit in chairs on the dance floor for that. Then immediately after toasts I had them go to cut their cake which was a tiny cake. Announced that pies will be available shorty then back to dancing. After another 25 minute dance set they did a "apron dance" - basically the same thing as a dollar dance after , but ALL POLKA MUSIC. Very high energy. that took a solid 20 minutes to do. After the Polka dancing, I basically had 40 minutes to cram in as much of a list of about 50 songs I had not played yet in. PLUS I had a special request for "LIZZO" which actually went very well. I played "JUICE" and it was phenomenal on the dance floor with this crowd. I let that one play out for like 2.5 minutes, BUT every other song that I did in that power hour was roughly 45 to 80 seconds long in length. I tried to mix in right at the best parts in the songs. Unfortunately there were a few songs I never played before, so I kinda guessed at a great cue point for them.

I fast mixed until the last song when I figured I really needed to play a slow song since I really did not play a good slow song all night. I played one during dinner but at that point most were sitting down scarfing down food. Ended on Ed Sheeran Perfect since that was on their list, and went 2 minutes over to get that song played and wrapped up after I made announcement for the after party and had everyone cheering for the newly weds. ...I had a few guests wanting me to play more music, but time at the venue was up. They were having an after party at a bar though. ...Cramming everything into 4.5 hours is truly not enough time when we are talking a 170 guest wedding. They should have paid to have the venue until 11 p.m. This was a dance crowd considering they really were not drinking that much. I noticed most people might have had a drink during cocktail hour, and 1 to 2 more during reception. Not heavy on the drinking and the younger folks wanted to dance a lot.

One thing is or certain...When I am fast mixing, I do not have the time or ability to take some video of people dancing, so I have less video clips of the dancing from last night to make a video with. Maybe that is good news though because the video will be shorter, lol. I was too focused on cue point up the next song and preparing for the next transition to get more songs played. Under normal mixing parameters for me, I can spend 30 or more seconds to walk away from table and get some quick video clip if I want.
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Get a GoPro, put it high up on a speaker or speaker stand, aim it at the floor and let it go ... pick it apart later.
 
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... It is a good idea to just read your Crowd. Often when I play a Slow Song, I add: " ... Giving you an opportunity to share a Dance, if you like"
Or, "if you love your Partner you would join them in this Dance" ... These work really well when the Female shares with me that her (partner/Boyfriend/Husband) won't Dance with me". (I have never had a complaint, and it makes the Guy (maybe) feel guilty .... they Dance ... The Girl is Happy. ='s Tip!
 
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Ever hear an audible groan when you drop down to a slow song?

I did a teen party last year where the mother/client wanted slow songs every 20 minutes... i mentioned to her that from my experience...todays kids dont seem as into slow songs as they did say 15 years ago or so... she said...well i want them to experience what i enjoyed about teen dances.... and then encouraged me to play as many as i could...

about a half hour in to an amazing dance set with a full dancefloor she gave me the nod...lol... i eased into a slow dance and it was as if id farted into the mic....

2 couples danced...one was an older couple... the client did not even dance with her husband...

She trusted me the rest of the night...

I love a client who is excited and full of ideas... im actually sad that i couldnt make her dream come true... but influencing a room full of teens that they should suddenly enjoy the awkwardness of a slow dance in the midst of a good time fast dancing is a tad out of my control.

cc
 
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So true! This past weekend's wedding, we were very short on time due to the hotel staff taking forever serving dinner and the whole evening getting started late. In any case, I had a packed energetic dance floor all night long (it thinned a little bit a couple of times, especially later in the evening, but picked back up). I did 2 slow songs at the beginning to warm up the floor and two at the end, which included the bride's Final Dance of the evening. Part of the reason was I didn't want to kill the mojo on the floor (which included a huge conga line around the room :laugh: )
 
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I forget to put on a slow song if the dancers are really enjoying fast dance songs. The finally someone will request a slow song so I'll play it. But usually a slow song will bring up older couples as most of the younger folks leave the dance floor. It's good to please all age groups isn't it? Or I'll put on a slow song when nothing else is working!
 
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Jas said:
I forget to put on a slow song if the dancers are really enjoying fast dance songs. The finally someone will request a slow song so I'll play it. But usually a slow song will bring up older couples as most of the younger folks leave the dance floor. It's good to please all age groups isn't it? Or I'll put on a slow song when nothing else is working!
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Definitely great to please all invited guests as much as possible... i find that that first couple slow songs at a wedding will usually suffice to appease most older ones who would like to enjoy a slow song together...once the dancing segues from older music to modern... most who dont dance anything but slow songs are slowly making their way to the exit... if not and i see a lot are staying...i will drop another slow about an hour in... and continue to pepper in classic dance songs as well... at a point though...if they are not supporting the dancefloor it's time to concentrate on the dancers.

cc
 
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It's very easy to get caught up with a group that's dancing to forget about a slow dance.
I try to look at everything. Are there a group of older people not dancing?
Should I get to a slow dance break for them?
I put placeholders in my play list I call ""slow dance? So as I'm moving around things in my play list I'm seeing this. It's basically an MP3 file with nothing on it. But it reminds me to think about playing a slow song.

I made these placeholders years ago for all formalities as a reminder for what formalities still need to be done. The slow dance one is the only one I still use on a regular basis these days. Some of my guys still use them all and find them helpful for reminders.

If I left one of these placeholders in my playlist and left my list on auto play, the crowd wouldn't notice and it would show up as a played file.
 
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