Is All This DJ Equipment Necessary?

If you're just starting out as a DJ, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of DJ equipment out there, as well as how expensive it can get. There is a lot of it, but luckily you don't need every bell and whistle you see. Talent is the mark of a good DJ, not how much stuff he or she uses to mix beats. But don't think that the start-up costs of becoming a DJ will ever be low, DJ equipment is going to run into the thousands, no matter what. Check out the tips below for keeping your costs as low as possible.

Before you start buying anything, you need to figure out what your budget is, what sort of DJing you want to do and what sort of transport you have access to. The bare minimum you should invest in is: one set of speakers (at least), sub-woofers, a multiple-drive CD player, RCA cables, a microphone and cables, an amplifier, a soundboard (it doesn't need to be huge) and headphones. Turntables aren't necessary, but you should have a set; it will not only help your act but your image as well.

Depending on what kind of gigs you'll be playing, you should look into lighting effects. If you're planning on playing bars or more low-key places and events, you probably won't need to worry about the lights. If you're going to be spinning at clubs and dance parties, you'll want to be able to create a light show that syncs up with the kind of music you're playing. Basic lighting set-ups include: a lighting control board, dimmers, eight par can fixtures (at least), two tree stands and four DMX effect lights. Hazers are nice, but not necessary. It's similar to a fogger but will create a more subtle but awesome effect.

Now that you know the basics and some of the extras, shop around. Find the best prices you can on what you absolutely need, and see if there are things you can by secondhand. Things like RCA cables and headphones don't have to be brand-new just test them out first. Tree stands can be bought at a discount or secondhand as well. Check out eBay, or a web site that sells discount DJ equipment.

As mentioned before, all this is going to add up in terms of cost. Keep in mind, though, that if you're truly talented and passionate, you have a good chance of making back the money you spend on DJ equipment in no time. If you establish yourself and build up a following, you'll be in demand and able to in turn create your own fees. And if in the end it turns out DJing isn't the cup of tea you were hoping, you can always sell the stuff.

CrispDeals.com offers top of the line professional audio equipment, including car stereo amplifiers and Pioneer DJ equipment. Whether you're looking for professional DJ equipment or supplies for your home or car, we've got you covered!

Ask Your Wedding DJ More Than Just 'How Much Do You Charge?'

The first thing a lot of people ask their prospective wedding DJ is the price, but there's a lot more you should be thinking about when deciding who to book to take charge of the music on your big day. Below is a list of a few things you should be asking a prospective DJ when you contact them about performing at your wedding reception.

How much control do I have over the music?

Your DJ should be more than happy for you to have as much or as little input into the music as you like. I've known clients have a playlist and insist that we only play music on this list, some clients have even stated they order they would like the music played in. This isn't always a good idea as although it's your big day you also have to consider your guests as you want them to have a great time too. An evening of Metallica is not always to everyone's taste!

I recommend that clients offer a playlist of music they'd particularly like to hear on their special day and of course a list of any songs they particularly don't want to hear as well. The DJ should then use their experience and knowledge to mix tracks from the playlist with tried and tested songs that go down well time after time and get everyone up dancing and enjoying themselves.

Who will actually be DJing at my Wedding Reception?

Make sure that the person you speak to about your booking is the person that will actually be DJing at your wedding. Many companies have a pool of DJ's that they use for bookings and many companies outsource work, so very often the person you speak to and build up a rapport with isn't the person that will be playing at your wedding.

Does the DJ have experience of playing at Weddings?

You want to hire a DJ that is experienced and has had experience of playing at weddings before. Find out how long the DJ has been in the industry for. Many people start up mobile disco businesses with little or no experience thinking 'how hard can it be?' these people often use cheap, unreliable equipment and have no idea about music. Make sure when booking your DJ that they've had experience in this field and that they know what they're doing.

So hopefully I've shown here that there are more questions to ask your potential wedding DJ than just how much do they charge. Spending a bit of time getting answers to all your questions before you decide on the DJ for your wedding day can mean the difference between a fantastic wedding reception or a disastrous wedding reception. Treat choosing your wedding DJ as important as choosing your venue!

Mark Mackinnon is a wedding DJ in Cheshire. He runs Impact Mobile Discos and is an experienced Mobile DJ in Cheshire.

Interview With Author John Reyer Afamasaga Regarding His Emotional Techno Fiction

etfiction: Emotional Techno Fiction was conceptualized by John Reyer Afamasaga in 2001, a novice free-eBook-author, who believed that he has to synthetically create his work, due to his lack of ability, experience and finesse as a writer.

A number of slants are presented by etfiction as to the relevance of its roots being steeped in music, rather than just literature.

He takes the word Techno, in two senses. First, in relating to the style and type of music DJs produced from sampling other peoples' recordings. Second, relating its technical connotations, referencing the DJ and their approach to creating their music, because of their use of turntables and samplers in the place of instruments.

etfiction is a story telling technique, which takes its development and deployment method, in principle, from the way DJs create their dance tracks.

In 2007, the novice looks to attract the attention of publishing houses, in his aim to get the free online eBook publisher etfiction's books into the most classic of editions - print.

Heather: Afamasaga, aside from the principles and theoretical stuff, what's the practical application of DJing to writing books? If at all there are any?

Afamasaga: Simile, techno, technique. The rig, turntables, PC, Apple Mac, Laptop or media playing device is the pen. The record, disc, audio or digital file is the same as an authors' ink. The mixed track is the idea. The feeling from the crowd makes emotion. The experience is often as surreal as fiction.

Heather: So this is your method of writing?

Afamasaga: It's a development process. I am conscious of it when I write; its part of that security blanket we find in having created our own way of writing, because I used to get so much flak about the way I wrote. I decided no one can tell me that it's wrong, clumsy or lousy, as it is my genre. Of course there are the universal groupings that all written communication come under, is it "rubbish" or is it "worth reading"?

I always say to myself before I sit down at the keyboard: "The 'Impassioned' DJ is about to perform his 'Plausible', yet still 'Colorful' set."

Heather: Go on...

Afamasaga: Impassioned - etfiction relies on fuel; inspiration, the power of some passion. The writer, prior to beginning the writing process, must be at the point where they have no choice but to perform their task of putting into words, what they instinctively know and now wholeheartedly believe. This may produce questionable reason and even challengeable facts due to the stream of consciousness that runs through the writer and out onto their pages of words.

Plausible - etfiction must, over a long passage, provide a concept, complete so as to stimulate conversation, that is Intertextually self fulfilling in both fact, according to the narrator, and acceptable in sensibility to the reader, making etfiction plausible.

Colorful - Similar to a DJ's output, a record which may include many different samples from many genres, eras and styles, etfiction is at mercy of whims, tangents, and exaggerations by the Author, or Narrator, which are permissible as deemed necessary under the heading, Impassioned.

Heather: Your slogan is "A narrative from a Pacific Islander who speaks through an illiterate in America." Is this a derogatory remark against the US?

Afamasaga: No, it's not. It's actually much simpler than that; it's a compliment to my lead character John Lazoo. He can't read or write, but it takes Lazoo to put this whole show together.

Heather: John Lazoo was your first book, after reading the second, WIPE, and then Illicit Blade of Grass, I often got the feeling that your were almost rambling, angry, almost like voices you often refer to. Were you hearing these voices?

Afamasaga: Of course, as did the characters Lazoo, John Page, Metofeaz, Le Mac, Polina. Yeah, I've always heard voices.

Heather: Did you ever seek help?

Afamasaga: What for? Actually I did, but I was told I can't be schizophrenic, or I wouldn't be able to differentiate between the voices outside and inside of my head. Maybe depressed, delusional, imbalanced and a bit paranoid, but who isn't, ah?

Heather: Lazoo, Metofeaz, Le Mac, and Afamasaga, are they real?

Afamasaga: Of course they're real. Lazoo is the Id, Metofeaz is the Ego, Afamasaga is the Super-Ego.

Heather: And Jon Le Mac?

Afamasaga: Jon Le Mac is everyman and his dog, that Lazoo refers to as MICE, he is actually, what bridges the divide between LMLA-ink and the markets. Everyone loves Le Mac and Le Mac loves everyone.

Heather: So Jon Le Mac is who I am interviewing?

Afamasaga: You're interviewing me, which is when Lazoo and Afamasaga agree.

Heather: What happens when Lazoo and Afamasaga disagree?

Afamasaga: Then Metofeaz goes on a writing rampage, and Le Mac starts to carelessly mass market the work. Lazoo goes inside himself, Afamasaga vanishes and we just cross our fingers that Lazoo, or Afamasaga can save the day at the end of the carnival.

Heather: Your stuff is almost diary writing if you take out the settings and the character names.

Afamasaga: As is a lot of stuff by new authors or the stuff that one tends to feel most about, which causes them to first put pen to paper in a serial manner.

Heather: Are you worried about being considered brash as to suggest you have created a genre of your own?

Afamasaga: No one really knows or cares. If I get a job writing copy in a newspaper, I'd be happy. It was meant to be therapeutic, a career change, and a reinvention of myself.

Heather: You say that you lacked the ability, experience and finesse to write and this is the reason why you designed etfiction?

Afamasaga: The erection of the structure (etfiction) within which I felt safe and eventually comfortable that I could produce work was only part of the impetus required to achieve all that had to be found, sorted and presented. At this very time I was also going through huge emotional and personality changes, which I identified from having looked at Freud and then finally at Roberto Assagioli's Psychosynthesis, an approach to psychology, which takes its origins from Psychoanalysis, but then announces that our growth requires spirituality to be distinctly acknowledged as a "hormonal vital" of our different layers to attain and sustain growth.

Heather: Hormonal Vital?

Afamasaga: It's my little addition to the equation, showing my respect for Assagioli's work. Freud was most definitely the pioneer who made the whole matter accessible, but for me and my religious upbringing, Roberto's admission of the soul's existence and its requirement of satisfaction in that Spirituality is fundamentally what really does set us aside from the linguistically confused animals. Oh, "Hormonal" in that, up till Roberto, the body of understanding was without soul, his addition was the regulator for me, and "vital" as to not clash with engrained Christianity, which I don't really want to be seen selling, ok?

Furthermore, a part of Psychosynthesis that defines the changes from one person to another that I was going through - "Transmutation" was succinct; in my visualizing of what it was I had to do. In that the cross-fading of tracks by a DJ, was a perfect example of what had to be achieved in the smoothest possible way, while keeping the groove, so to speak. Firstly, I had to get beyond my past, so I could see where I was heading. Then I had to give a value to the person who I used to be, and not completely demonize that character, so I could call upon those experiences in a way which I use to darken my work, and then after recognizing the persona, I would have to change them, or move from one to the other. Yes, change into the person who I wished to be, but still have on call the experience of who I once was. Transmutation made this possible. In the end, instead of relying on the old persona as source of experience, the Mutation process I underwent left the mark I cannot forget, that being "change" (process), its dark lonely times is the emotive pool I dive into from time to time when I need to douse myself and intently the words, story and work in those darkening moods.

I also worked as DJ, for a while, in my younger days.

Other concepts I found complimentary to etfiction, were Astral Projection and its inducement through self hypnosis. And also, Active Sensoring: quieting the environment around you, from being inside the environment, from having actively listened to it, and then understanding it, and since you are actually a part of the environment now, you are not aware of its obliqueness anymore.

Heather: Is Psychosis a part of this seemingly eloborate act? According to Afamasaga it could have looked that way.

Afamasaga: There were times in my Transmutation where I was very disoriented, when I was disillousioned. Obviously the gouging of deep seated emotional systs, their excavation and airing, which was done quite violently in John Lazoo, could seem to be psychotic, but because the ID, and by now the EGO were pretty much in agreeance, of what we were up to, I knew we were of our own mind. But also, the Mutation I mentioned, personally for me, was a gouging; it's not some teddy bear's picnic, you know? A woman once told me that I was a brave man, not in a macho way, but in the way I face up to issues, deep, from when one was young.

Heather: Who was the woman?

Afamasaga: Lotte.

Heather: What's the plan from here?

Afamasaga: Get a publishing contract, get married, and finish the ten books.

Heather: Sounds like a good plan.

Heather Froeschl is an author, award winning editor, and book reviewer, at http://www.Quilldipper.com.

How To DJ Properly - Tips On Relaxing Before A Gig

Learning how to DJ properly is about a lot of things. This is why these DJ tips can help you to learn about playing gigs and help you to get the balance right before a set.

Mastering your gear, learning how to mix like a club DJ, knowing your music inside out and the desire to spread the love are just some of the qualities and skills you'll need.

But even when you've prepared perfectly well, when you feel relaxed with your tunes and you feel like your gear has become an extension of your body, things can still go wrong.

DJ intuition plays a big part in this. It's hard to find much information explaining how to develop better intuition and making people dance. Most good DJs don't even know why they're good at selecting the right tunes. They just feel instinctively what people want to dance to.

They think like DJs all day, every day. How can you develop that kind of intuition? Part of knowing how to DJ is also about being in the right state of mind. In fact, many pro DJs would even say this is more important than anything else.

How is it that you can sometimes "not be feeling it"? We've all been there, nights where it seems almost impossible to make anyone dance. Nights where people just don't even react to the tunes you've played before that would usually make people dance on top of tables.

Good DJs have also had nights where everything seemed to go perfectly; when they mixed well, their tune selection was bang on and people smiled at them and hugged them.

On the other hand, they've also had nights where people were miserable, grumpy and seemed to like nothing that was played.

Prepare For Your Set

Now relax, I'm not bringing out that old cliché you read absolutely everywhere when learning to play gigs. I'm not going to tell you to practice till your ears and hands are raw. We all know that practice makes perfect. Or does it?

What I am going to tell you should lead to you spending less time preparing your and still DJing like a pro on the night.

1. Don't practice much on the day of your gig

Stupid as it may seem, you should plan to avoid practicing too much on the day of your important gig. Plan to give yourself enough time to avoid cramming any desperate mixing practice 2 hours before you leave to the club.

Your performance comes from somewhere deeper than what you've just learnt that day. It's the icing on the cake of your years of hard work, thinking like a DJ, imagining yourself playing a set, collecting music and observing how people react in clubs.

You can't learn that kind of intuitive skill by cramming in a hardcore "study course" tutorial the same day. Check through your new tunes and by all means, have another listen to them, but do this in a relaxed way. Don't be listening to them when you're in a hurry or stressed.

You learn while you sleep

Your brain is programmed in such a way that you learn and absorb information while you sleep. Have you ever woken up in the night with a solution to a problem? Ever get so involved in what you do that you dream about it all night and assemble all the information?

The same applies for DJing. Most DJs dream about their work, whether they're pros or amateur. It means you're absorbing what you've learnt on a deeper level. Leaving any preparation till the last day will not only stress you out, but it means your set, while it may have its moments, may well be thin in substance.

Chill out on the day of your set. You'll need to be on the same wavelength as the clubbers and party animals. Your hardcore preparation should be done days beforehand.

2. Deep breathing a couple of hours before a set

You may get some nerves and tension in the hours leading up to your set on the day. Make sure you see yourself as performing well, relaxed and being positive that you'll play a great set tonight. Take 20 minutes on your own, with your eyes shut in a room where no one can disturb you.

Empty your mind

Empty your mind of thoughts and concentrate only on your breathing. This is very hard at first but also very beneficial. Breathe slowly and deeply. This technique will free you from obsessive thinking which can become a problem for some of us. Thinking too hard and over-analysing situations just causes more tension. Calm your mind down and you'll develop better intuition and consciousness. Try it and see how you do.

3. Laugh and make jokes before a set

Telling you to laugh around before a set may sound bizarre at first. But compare that to you arriving at a venue all tense and pent-up - which one would you rather be doing?

I've arrived at a venue very tense before. I ended up playing only tunes I'd thought of just beforehand. I couldn't deviate from my selection because I was afraid to. Don't let this happen! Looking back, I should have played different tunes that night, and it took me about 40 minutes to relax and start being myself.

When you play out, speak to bar staff, promoters, anyone at all before and during your set. Release the pressure on yourself, try to crack a few silly jokes, laugh a bit. You'll be a much better state of mind.

Many more other DJ tips, reviews, advice and a free guide to getting DJ gigs can be found at Learn To DJ.

The Top DJ Tips, Tricks and Advice for Club DJing and Making People Dance

Here's my multi steroid booster, magic bullet little blue pill designed to make you perform like the best hot list of 6 key DJ tips:

1. Be the Master of your equipment

Don't think you'll somehow get by without enough practice.

You may not want to hear it but you'll need to know your DJ gear inside out and like a real pro.

Read the manuals, look up the best video tutorials, practices and advice on how to use it and try some little tricks with it yourself in the weeks and days leading up to events.

Develop your own little techniques and wizardry. Take it to the max.

Be the geek who knows all about how to make the most of your gear.

Make sure it's 100% reliable and carry out all the maintenance checks you'll need. Take a back up solution if you can.

Back up gear

For example: if you have no back up for your laptop, burn some tunes onto CDs. At least if your laptop crashes you'll be able to play from them.

Know exactly how everything works. Be relaxed with it. This'll free you to think about other things, such as..

2. Know your music

Knowing exactly what tunes you've got in the bag, case or on your hard drive is a huge bonus.

Knowing when to play the right tunes and who to play it to is just as important.

A deejay who cannot perform should either not be playing or has forgotten to check through his or her music recently.

Check my pro DJ tips on knowing all about your music.

3. Watch the crowd

Now, you can master your DJ equipment perfectly well.

You have the best tunes in town.

But if you're not paying attention to the heart and soul of the party, then none of that matters.

A real pro will be watching the crowd every few seconds.

He or she won't be just looking up every ten minutes, they'll be feeling the dancefloor out, connecting with them.

A top deejay won't be so immersed in their mix that they can't look up. They are comfortable enough with their mixing techniques that they can afford to check out who's dancing, who's going crazy and they'll see if people start to sidle off the dancefloor.

Reading reactions

You'll be able to gauge people's reactions. Maybe they're happy, drunk, drugged up, boys or girls, black, brown, white.

All of this is important when deciding how to react by choosing your next tune.

It's the intuitive part of DJing and it's why some make it and others don't.

Luckily you can find out much more about DJ Tips to read the club dancefloor.

4. Look great when DJing

Like it or not, how you look is part of your image and impact.

Some people even prefer a good looking guy or girl to someone who puts on the best tunes.

No really, it's true.

Ask your image conscious friends some tips on how to dress and adapt to the venue you're playing at.

People will relate better to you if you at least make an effort.

I'm not saying you have to look like Brangelina, but be smart, adapt and make the most of what you have.

When I say adapt, I mean that you'll need to know about the people who hang out there and they'll react better to you if they relate to your image.

You'll go further if you do that.

5. Don't get distracted from your set

It's all to easy for the weak willed boys amongst us to get distracted by a hot gorgeous girl coming up to the booth with a flirtatious smile and asking for Lady Gaga right this minute, because it's her birthday, she says. Be respectful, but remain in charge Be polite, but don't get distracted. Speaking to her is not more important than getting your mix right. Now, maybe it's just me but people always seem to ask me for stuff right when I'm lining up a tune and I need to concentrate. I just ignore them until I'm set and satisfied. Then I'll answer them, quickly. Remember your priorities Don't let them distract you from your set. Listen, be nice, but they can't change the course of a night that's going so well. The priority is your set. You need to remember that before some big breasted dolly puts you off. If you find that you have difficulties with saying no to requests then see exactly how best to handle them with my tips on dealing with booth requests.

6. Play the music they want and not what you want

Now let's get this straight.

While it's hard not to think this is all about you, numero uno, number one son of a gun and the king of the booth, it isn't. I know I just said you shouldn't get distracted by hotties asking you for music, leave that until the end. One of the best DJ tips is for you to pay attention to the whole crowd, not just one person asking for Lady Gaga. You see, people are there to have a good time and very few of them will actually be looking at and wondering about how cool the deejay actually is. It feels grand to lay down tunes that make people dance from a club booth, but you're here to make people dance. You're not playing to jerk yourself off in a booth. The more people that dance, the more successful the night will be and the more chance you have of getting bigger and better paid future gigs. So it's up to you to adapt to the crowd and not the other way around. The above DJ tips should help you play your set better, get invited back for more gigs and rock the dance floor.

This article and many more other DJ tips, advice and a free guide to getting DJ gigs can be found at The Total DJ Blog

How To DJ Guide

So you're considering being a Disc Jockey? There are some things one needs to take into consideration before choosing this career path. Here are some things to consider on how to DJ:

What it takes to become a DJ

First things first you are gonna need a how to DJ guide so you can learn to mix records from scratch, gain technical ability & confidently use advanced DJ techniques. You'll also gonna have to be a charismatic individual or at least work on your social skills. This means you have to know how to attract attention, but in addition to that you also have to know when to step back and let the dynamics of the group take over. Constantly vying for attention all the time will unsettle most people.

Next, the obvious one, you have to be really into music; all genres, and not just any particular one. DJ's typically focus on dance music, but with a mixer you can "mix it up" with any genre of music; Thus, you still have to be into all types of music, and you have to know how to match certain songs with whatever event you are working. This is important concerning how to DJ. For example, you wouldn't want to mix dance music at a wedding. You would choose love songs and music for people to slow dance to. Thirdly you gonna need a really informative how to DJ guide on beat-matching and mixing.

What Type of DJ Best Suits What You Want?

In considering DJing, you should decide whether you want to be a crowd pleaser or a music specialist. A crowd pleaser is one that plays whatever music appeals to his crowd, while a music specialist plays whatever he likes and will usually specialize in a specific genre. These latter types will usually be the types that work in radio stations that cater to their taste.

DJ Equipment

Once you've decided what you want to pursue, next comes purchasing the equipment. This is an important thing in how to DJ. Most of the Disc Jockey's money should go for a decent mixer and a turntable. Most DJ's prefer vinyl turntables instead of CD's which are cheaper. A mixer and turntable could run around $1000 to start with, and if you're seriously considering being a DJ you should play around with it and get comfortable because it gets to be pretty expensive as you get into it when you have to buy speakers, microphones, and lights. Not to mention an assorted collection of music.

Figuring out What to Charge for Your Events

When you first start out, you want to shop around and see what other DJ's charge and price yourself lower, and do smaller gigs as well. For example, you could do company events, senior centers, and youth centers. If you could accompany a Disc Jockey to an event, you could learn from him. If he's the owner of the company, he might even let you work for him if his company hires out part-timer's and trains them in how to DJ. A good how to DJ guide can give really great advice on how to approach nightclubs & promoters to get a gig and also how to promote and throw your own events.

If your overhead gets to be too costly and trying to work in radio is too competitive, there's always internet radio. In the 21st Century, nearly everything is done online. You could create a blog for your playlists, broadcast through live.365.com or some site like that. Of course, to be more creative and entertaining, you would need to find a way to interact with your listeners. This could be done through text messages, emails, instant messages, and even call-ins. Also, you would have to keep up with FCC regulations, as well as copyright and legal issues, and all such fees associated with such, in learning how to DJ over the world wide web.

The great thing about being a DJ is that, not only can you make good money doing what you love, you get to work mostly on weekends with most of your week free, unless you have some corporate event. These are all things to consider if you are passionate and want to learn how to DJ. A good how to DJ guide on tips, techniques and marketing strategies can get you really far with the right practice, it is also a must have to learn the in's and out's of the DJ industry.

Learn the actual tools and techniques that pro DJs use! http://howtodjguide.blogspot.com

How to DJ Like a Pro - Learn to Read the Crowd and Whip Up a Dance Floor Frenzy

Tune into the crowd. They can feel it when you can. When your heart beats faster and you're excited, they can feel it too. No one knows exactly why, they just can. The key point is, it AIN'T SCIENCE! We don't understand everything in this world. We can only try to feel what we can't understand.

When you whip up the floor, the energy bounces off the crowd back to you and then you bounce it right back. Some people have the natural ability to tune in, others take longer but get it eventually. It's like you're dancing with the audience, reacting to each other's movements.

Reading their vibes and picking up their signals is the first part, knowing how to react is the second part. What's that girl who's dancing away doing? Can you follow up this tune with something even better?

Here are the top tips for reading and reacting to crowds:

1. Pay attention to their reactions

When you play out, you'll have to pay a fair amount of attention to your mix and your choice of music. However, just as importantly, remember to watch your crowd and to try to read their reactions too. By this I mean taking regular looks at your punters, feeling the atmosphere and adapting your music to it. Do you have more girls than boys? Do they look more bling, more rave or more indie? When you try out that new electro tune do they start smiling and perking up, some of them jigging a bit? If so, try more of that style.

The way people react to different styles you try on them is key to knowing what musical path to follow. This doesn't mean following every request every drunk girl makes to play Abba or Whitney Houston, but it does mean that you're playing for the crowd and you should play what they want, not what you want. You're not DJing for yourself.

2. Know your musical styles

Pretty obvious you may say. Not really in fact, you'd be surprised. The best DJs have a wealth of different styles and a back up for anything that may not go as planned. That is to say, do not turn up with just a single musical style in your repertoire. Don't play house and have nothing else to play when you've been asked to play in a place where house clearly doesn't go down well. Experiment with other styles and when you get a positive reaction, it means you're on the path to a better night.

If you're playing in an indie place, don't play techno. You'll get ideas from the look of the people about their musical tastes. Get into the habit of guessing what music people enjoy and trying it out on them. Of course, this all comes down to knowing your music well enough, which you can read our tips on right here.

3. Check out the venue beforehand

When it's possible, check out a venue you've been asked to play in. Visualize yourself behind the decks. See what kind of people hang out there and spend time having a drink, maybe talking to people. Make friends with and chat to the bar staff and bar owners. Bar staff occasionally display a surprisingly good knowledge of music due to the numerous DJs they get to see and hear and the reactions they observe to them. They can also tell you what kind of crowd will be in the night you are programmed to play on.

Get the feeling and vibe of the crowd, see what music they dance to. For DJs who are travelling to another city to play where they've never played before, this obviously doesn't apply. In this case, it's better to talk to the promoter or club owner on what kind of style should go down well.

4. Girls or boys?

Check the girls and the boys carefully when DJing, especially the girls. Why? Because when the girls dance the boys follow. You know how it is. The main hot tip here is get the girls to dance. They lead the dancing, the boys do too, that means (nearly) everyone is dancing. For some reason, it's nicer when girls dance, it gives off a more positive vibe.

So when you get to that point in the night when you have to get people moving (if you're playing in a club or party) then think of the ladies. They tend to favour lighter music with more emotion and with vocals as opposed to harder tunes.

5. Be ready to play outside your circle

If you followed our precious advice on knowing your music for DJing, then you'll be up on this. That means you have everything in your collection, even cheese. "But I don't play cheese" you protest. You don't have to play cheese. You do have to be ready to go outside your realm and play music that you may not like.

I once turned up at a club in Paris and the owner was pretty sure about what he wanted. He explained right away that he wanted well known, accessible tunes. He didn't care for the latest cool Simian Mobile Disco remix and such, he wanted favourites.

Now I didn't do exactly what he wanted, I gave the night my own twist. That meant that I played some cheese, but I used that cheese to get people on my wavelength. At that point, we established a rapport because they knew that the DJ understood what they liked, so they opened out.

Dropping the odd cheese bomb was fine by me, after all, everyone danced in there. Once they got going, they were more receptive to other, different tunes which I could happily drop, confident that they'd continue dancing. Guess what? I got asked back there several times and the owner really insisted I play again. Unfortunately I couldn't make it though as I had other gigs lined up.

The message is: dare to play music you don't particularly like when you're DJing as well. The important thing is that people are happy and dance.

Having the will power to be able do this will get you a better reputation and improved gigs. Who cares if on occasions you drop a cheese bomb, it won't be like that all the time. Remember, it's about what they like, not just about what you like.

6. React to them

When you've been struggling for a bit and people aren't really dancing to what you put on only then they suddenly go unexpectedly crazy to your next tune, make sure you react to them accordingly. When the dancefloor bursts into life, that's a sure sign the last tune you played is right up their street. That means the next tune you play should be a reaction to that; you have to try to keep them on the floor now for as long as you can. Not always easy, but you can do it.

Follow up that last rooflifter with another tune which is in some way similar to the previous one. Not identical, but similar in some aspect, whether it's the style, the energy, the BPM or the key. Give your set some shape and flow and take your people on a musical journey of enjoyment. One last important thing: Have some FUN!

http://www.challands.com

Written by pro and experienced DJs who've been there and done that, at Total DJ, you'll learn how to DJ, how to become a DJ, find out which is the best DJ equipment and gear for you, get tips on knowing your music, finding the best tunes, learning how to mix properly and of course, how to best promote yourself.

Ooh I say. Let's go to Total DJ for some proper entertainment shall we?
http://www.challands.com