DJ / VENUE / PROMOTER Etiquette / Musings: (Things Ive learned from DJing and producing events). • Keep it out of the red. Most mixers (especially Pioneer which everyone seems to use, and sounds much harsher to my ears due to digital processing) sound terrible when you push them into the red. I attribute this to poor monitors / lack of a sound engineer and of course the DJ is responsible as well. Allen & Heath is much better in this regard and is what I always use. • Make sure all the equipment is working perfectly. CDJ firmware is updated to the latest (duhhh), linked, and the mixers arent missing any knobs. I shouldnt have to even say this! • Make it easy for DJ changeovers. A DJ booth should be spacious, intuitive and easy to plug stuff into (not barricaded). Youd be surprised how many venues fail at this. Having a sound technician at hand is great (see above). • Curate a proper line-up where music energy flows in a way that makes sense (and of course book DJs that understand this - quite a few DO NOT). • Strobes / lights are usually more an annoyance than a benefit. Less is more. • Make sure your door / guest list is super tight! Pissing people off that the door is not the way to go. Having all the pertinent information on the event page goes a long way as well. • Having good sound that is well-balanced, not harsh AND not too loud! This is a BIGGIE. I honestly cant name a single indoor venue in LA where I am totally satisfied in this regard, but some are much worse than others. I think if the DJ booth had an SPL meter with a level not to be exceeded, that could be the best $150 the venue ever spent (havent seen anyone in LA do this). The too loud part of course goes back to poor booth monitoring, as the DJs experience of the sound does not relate to what is happening on the dance-floor, so they feel the need to keep raising the overall volume. Less is often more! • Make it all about the experience. We are here to party, enjoy and have a great time with friends. Profits come naturally if you provide a sanctuary for us to do this, and lack of this vibe will simply turn people off and not want to go out (an epidemic that is currently happening due to many disappointments with poorly produced / curated events). Im sure I overlooked a few things, but these were the most obvious ones off the top of my head! DISCLAIMER: These are my unique viewpoints on the scene in LA. I encourage your feedback and comments, so we can all learn, grow and have a great time together. LA has so much untapped potential, its ridiculous actually. Of course there are a few individuals that have channeled this frustration to create some magic for all of us, and I salute you. You know who you are!
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 21:42:17 +0000
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