Mixing...is it really that important?

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steve149 said:
Given the fact that it matters so much, it's interesting to me that it doesn't appear anywhere on your website or in any of the informative shopping or planning guides (nicely done by the way) you've made.

In fact you say:

A professional disc-jockey must be a director, psychologist, motivator, host, and entertainer all at the same time. It is important to select a DJ who is mature, articulate, accommodating, and well educated in reception protocol. Check that the years of experience are consistent with the DJ's age. More importantly, you should know how many wedding receptions the DJ has performed at to be sure that their experience is relevant. Look for other diverse experience they can bring to your event as well. You want to avoid a DJ who's flexibility is limited by a singular exposure to one event style. When interviewing the DJ pay attention to their ability to pick up on your ideas and offer interesting and insightful approaches to your concerns.


all which is absolutely correct .. and mixing skills never appears.
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Why should it? The difference is already public knowledge... not only are people not stupid - what you are looking for is entirely within the scope of the phrases highlighted above in red. It's part of the conversation.

One DJs inability to differentiate himself from the pack does not make consumer's uninformed. We hear all the time from DJs that the: "customer doesn't know any better" and it's bulls___t. It's the DJs who aren't prepared to have the correct conversation about what it is they actually do.
 
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mikemerlin said:
A clarification needs to be made here. I do receptions exclusively and don't mix and have great dance floors. Tempo flow and what you play is more important IMO. Blending two songs seamlessly doesn't mean much if those songs suck :)
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That's where knowing which songs will blend together well comes in at. If you don't know that then how could you know how to beat mix? Like i said it takes time to learn these things and then it's about practice, practice, practice and more practice. It also takes learning from your mistakes too. That's if you want to lean how to beat mix. What works for some may not work for others. And then there are those crowds that if you don't beat mix or aren't very good they will either boo you or simply leave the event. No matter where it's at. If it's in a bar, club or private event.
 
Proformance; said:
So if switch hitting is like mixing then what's your excuse for not getting up to bat?

Without any experience mixing or the ability to turn it on or off where do you get your knowledge of it's value or what it means to working a dance floor?
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As usual, you are answering questions that where never asked.

Never said switch hitting was like mixing nor talked about it's value. Simply that you don't understand how switch hitting works, or why someone would even try to hone the skill. You don't seem to understand how baseball works at all. You suggested switch hitting is used to hit a ball to a certain field, which isn't really that useful. It's much easier to teach someone to hit to the opposite field, so to suggest that switch hitting is used for placing the hit shows a complete lack of understanding of the fundamentals of baseball. They would call that an ERROR.:)

Instead of talking about my post and debating what about my post was incorrect...which was about switch hitting in baseball, you instead try to put down my mixing skills, which you know absolutely nothing about that either....about how much you seem to know about baseball. Where did you get your baseball knowledge?:)
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
That's where knowing which songs will blend together well comes in at. If you don't know that then how could you know how to beat mix? Like i said it takes time to learn these things and then it's about practice, practice, practice and more practice. It also takes learning from your mistakes too. That's if you want to lean how to beat mix. What works for some may not work for others. And then there are those crowds that if you don't beat mix or aren't very good they will either boo you or simply leave the event. No matter where it's at. If it's in a bar, club or private event.
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Blending songs together and beat matching aren't the same thing. I know what songs go well together (that's what cue is for) and know the bpm. With that being said I don't beat match. I blend. Again, I think it would be fair to say the skills required to DJ weddings are different than the skills required to DJ a club. The debate here doesn't seem to recognize the difference between the two
 
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Know your music and your crowd, understand which songs have long lead ins and which ones end abruptly. I know I will take some heat for this:

oldschooldj=has no headphones in any of his set ups and never used them even in the old days. I listen to and know a bunch of music. I don't play stuff I am not familiar with, I do use my daughters I-phone to check lyrics when I get an odd request at a school dance, before I play it.

I do not beat mix yet, but am working on it in my home studio and may start on the current boom thud music soon, most of this music is all 128 bpm and they are all plagorizing many of the same intros and beats, so if I can't master beat mixing this music I will be in trouble.

I play for what most would call hand picked crowds, which makes my job much easier than most of you guys.

Ray J.
 
oldschooldj said:
Know your music and your crowd, understand which songs have long lead ins and which ones end abruptly. I know I will take some heat for this:

oldschooldj=has no headphones in any of his set ups and never used them even in the old days. I listen to and know a bunch of music. I don't play stuff I am not familiar with, I do use my daughters I-phone to check lyrics when I get an odd request at a school dance, before I play it.

I do not beat mix yet, but am working on it in my home studio and may start on the current boom thud music soon, most of this music is all 128 bpm and they are all plagorizing many of the same intros and beats, so if I can't master beat mixing this music I will be in trouble.

I play for what most would call hand picked crowds, which makes my job much easier than most of you guys.

Ray J.
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What is a hand picked crowd? Why are most of the songs you play 128 BPM? What i do when it comes to weddings when it is appropiate i don't blend in a song i beat mix for me to keep the flow going on the dance floor. Others that know me expect me to beat mix and not just blend in a song. Like i said that's when it's the right thing to do. That's what i get a lot of compliments on besides how good my gear sounds and the look of the setup.

It's really about what works best for you and how many clients are booking you to be their DJ at their event.
 
deadhorse thread, needs closing
 
Hand picked crowd means, I only accept 30 gigs per year and I only play the groups I like and know. Money doesn't drive my playlist, when I play or who I choose to play for. Call me a hobby DJ all you want, it is my Hobby and I keep it fun. With my equipment and lighting I offer much more than any DJ in my area.

Most of the songs I play are oldschool, however I do many School Dances and guess what, the most popular boom-thud music for teenagers is around 128 bpm.

Ray J.
 
From Proformance: You want to avoid a DJ who's flexibility is limited by a singular exposure to one event style.

So if I'm in the market for a DJ for my reception I should stay away from the DJ's who only do receptions? Why?
 
mikemerlin said:
From Proformance: You want to avoid a DJ who's flexibility is limited by a singular exposure to one event style.

So if I'm in the market for a DJ for my reception I should stay away from the DJ's who only do receptions? Why?
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Yes, Indeed!

...Because they most often lack a well rounded experience with diverse audiences/events and are stuck in a rut of complacent routine. We know that because they even trade and recycle the same shtick with each other ad-nausea in so-called seminars and workshops. :)

By and large DJs who identify themselves as "wedding specialists" are imitative - not creative... and they are all imitating the same things. It is the number one criticism of wedding DJs among brides-to-be. Another common complaint is the trying-too-hard to be brilliant emcees who all turn out to be equally predictable and intrusive. They are all imitative - and imitation is repetition.

They are kings of the 80/20 rule: 80 percent having only 20% of the kind of consistent exposure to new experiences and events that could make them a really great DJ. Instead, most formulate a single recipe to serve over and over - never venturing out of their routine comfort zone. A DJ who calls himself a "specialist" is someone with a recipe, it's a code word for having nothing special or unique to put on the table.

The guy who's done 500 events with a wide variation of styles and types, each demanding something a little different; is far more knowledgeable and experienced than someone who has repeated his wedding recipe even 1,000 times.
 
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