In any party there are going to be some real live wires who cant sit still in their seats and some that will sit there all night and move only to go to the bar or the Loo. Obviously a good party DJ will want to play a music for everyone but a party is ever really judge to be a great success unless there is loads of dancing, so its the 'cant sit still, live wires' we want to please the most.
A good party DJ needs to be flexible as its difficult to
plan the music in any great detail more than one or two records ahead. The reason for this is that its important
to base the choice of the next tune by watching the reaction
to the one playing. During a party its normal for there to be people joining and leaving the dance floor all the time so a party DJ will want to play a selection that appeals to the majority who are on the dance floor but allows some variation to encourage those sitting on the sidelines to get join in. The extreme example of this would be if the DJ plays just one type of music to appeal to a hardcore group of dancers and forgets about everyone else's. Ok there is lots of dancing but these dancers will get tired and want to have a break for a drink or to have a smoke etc so the dance floor will be empty. The other extreme is when the DJ flicks too often between music styles trying to play something for everyone. Although this is variety there is not enough time for those who prefer a music style to react and hit the dance floor before the music changes again. Music request are a great way to play a selection that appeals to the majority, the majority of the time. The best music requests are the ones we know the audience will dance to and will always be played as fast as we can find them.
It's very important to keep in
mind who asked for what and make sure they are still around
when you do play the request. Some requests are not as popular as others and will cause a dance floor walk off, but that's sometimes OK if dancers need a break. However its a classic DJ mistake to squeeze in a dodgy request and the person who asked
for it comes back from the loo towards
the end. They now know you have the record so may insist
it gets a replay. During an average 4 hour party the DJ can play as few as 80 tunes, the trick is to know what tunes
will work best at that moment and leave out the thousands of tracks that will not. Although variety is the spice of life it's usually best not to
waste any time on something that will not work or is out of context and inappropriate for the occasion.
Being able to tell if a request is genuine, or just to wind someone up is a big part of the job. It's amazing how
often we get requests for couples supposedly about to get
engaged when really they are already married to other people.
Being a good DJ is about remembering the many thousands
of records in the collection and working out what fits at
that moment and will help to build the party atmosphere
to an exciting crescendo. A record may work brilliantly,
a floor filling smash but six months down the line you get
rebooked and play the same tune to the same people and it
has the totally opposite reaction. Filtering out the stuff
that is not appropriate or will fall flat is the difference
between someone who just plays records at parties and a
professional party DJ.
With all that said, it's your party, on the night we
play what you like, and as for Request, we love 'em'. When
you book with pro Mobile Disco you are invited to send a
list of favourite tunes. The list can be as long as you
like but please remember 100% Play
lists for DJs do not work as its best to give the DJ
room for flexibility 20 to 30 is about right although for
teenage parties or prom night discos longer requests lists
do work better.
Click on the links for some more info on DJ playlists and party requests.
0208 367 5217 |
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07746 391 061 |
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