Building a DJ booth - seeking input
empanadamn
1,462 Posts
A friend of mine is building a DJ booth for her live music venue and asked for input. Because they mostly host bands, they wanted have a modular set up for DJs - so a booth that could be carted in and out, on wheels. I was hoping to get some opinion and perspective on preference and ideas towards building a set up for diverse styles of DJing. Any input is welcome. Thanks.
My feedback is in quotes.
-needs to be less deep. would turntables be the deepest gear that a DJ would place on the table? ideally i want it to be less than 31" deep so that i can wheel the new booth into the office if we need the venue completely cleared out.
-needs to be taller. what is the ideal height? the height we have now is standard table height which i find is too short.
-wiring needs to be tidier. is it better to have the wires visible for troubleshooting, or can we place them so that they're not visible but still somewhat organized?
-do you prefer a shelf or a higher level where one can place a laptop or can everything stay on the same plane assuming that the table itself is taller? or would it be easier to have a portable shelf for something like a laptop?
-is it better to have our house mixer on an angle or flush? we have wingnuts to allow the mixer to be on an angle or flush - do ppl even care to use it?
-how wide should the table be? i assume wide enough to house our mixer, 2 turntables and cdjs but is that overkill? will anyone actually use all 5 at once?
-i'm thinking of having eric add shelves underneath to store any gear that is not being used so that the DJ has more counter space. also, incorporate a drawer to store connectors, DI boxes, mic, etc. or is that unnecessary?
lemme know if there are any other critical components that i'm missing, or if you noticed something that should be added that will make it easier for you as the DJ. like a light fixture and power strip bolted to the table!
My feedback is in quotes.
Generally, for me, the simpler, the better. I think the more built in things are, the more of a hassle it is for not only DJs with their varying preferences, but also the venue, in having to move stuff, repair, access cables, etc. But then modular pieces also can create a problem with DJs / people not knowing what they're doing with custom components
-needs to be less deep. would turntables be the deepest gear that a DJ would place on the table? ideally i want it to be less than 31" deep so that i can wheel the new booth into the office if we need the venue completely cleared out.
It can totally be less deep. I think there is very little that needs to be beyond the extent of the far end of turntables and mixer, except for maybe something like a laptop stand / shelf for digital DJing. Extra stuff can be set along the flanks of the turntables. A shelf sometimes encourages people to set their drinks on it, patrons and DJs alike.
What I do think an advantage to having a booth being a little deep is the fact people often like to lean over a booth with their drinks to talk to the DJ / make requests, not being mindful of the expensive electronics below. An easy solution I've seen for that is a fold-out wall that gives some seclusion and acts as a buffer. White Rabbit has a more sturdy version of this in a sharp U shape. However it was not stationary enough as I've had it dump over a couple times before while people were grinding against it.
-needs to be taller. what is the ideal height? the height we have now is standard table height which i find is too short.
It's going to be varying according to DJ's height / preference. I like my set up around stomach height, but then again, I'm short. You can either raise the height of the gear with platforms, or have a small platform for the DJ to stand on. I kinda prefer to be elevated off the ground so I can see better, even if it's a little bit. I can't say there's a one size-fits-all easy fix for that.
-wiring needs to be tidier. is it better to have the wires visible for troubleshooting, or can we place them so that they're not visible but still somewhat organized?
I'm a big proponent for keeping wires tucked away, hidden, even zip-tied if need be, but again, if people are moving gear around, it can't be something that's permanent. It's not often that I've seen a neat DJ booth where stuff wasn't built-in. Most spots that a have regular DJ booth area is a spagetti bowl of cables & wires - complete disarray. Since you're booth is maintained by your sound guy based on changing talent, your venue exists by different standards.
-do you prefer a shelf or a higher level where one can place a laptop or can everything stay on the same plane assuming that the table itself is taller? or would it be easier to have a portable shelf for something like a laptop?
I do like the shelf that you guys have on your current booth, but I would like something a little tighter to my set up, over my mixer, or over to the side of the turntables. Typically, I don't like to have a laptop right in front of my face blocking my crowd view while DJing. I prefer a laptop flush with my turntables, while some like the laptop elevated right in their face. I think an adjustable laptop stand is a way to cater to everyone or a small prop to set the laptop / extra gear off to the side. Or just leave it up to the DJ to figure it out.
-is it better to have our house mixer on an angle or flush? we have wingnuts to allow the mixer to be on an angle or flush - do ppl even care to use it?
Flush. MOST current working DJs deal with a flat interface.
-how wide should the table be? i assume wide enough to house our mixer, 2 turntables and cdjs but is that overkill? will anyone actually use all 5 at once?
I think that's a safe bet. I think it's rare, but sometimes you get talent who won't be able to use one or the other, both on the same bill. But also, you might have someone who has extra gear, want to do a 2x4 DJ set up for some weird reason, etc. I think the width of yours now is good.
-i'm thinking of having eric add shelves underneath to store any gear that is not being used so that the DJ has more counter space. also, incorporate a drawer to store connectors, DI boxes, mic, etc. or is that unnecessary?
we want to build the frame out of steel and then add nice finished wood. it makes sense to keep this on wheels too. i hope it's sturdy enough that the bass won't let the needles skip which happens when someone uses the folding tables up on stage.It's a smart idea in theory, but you might run the risk of shit going missing or it housing empty drinks. Maybe a lockbox for those pieces?
A problem that I've dealt with for booths on wheels is people leaning on it and moving regardless of brakes on the wheel system. It's normally spots where I've been on the floor near a full crowd, so I don't think that'd be an issue as most people are mindful of the DJ booth at your spot. I've experienced been pushed up against a wall or having power ripped from their outlets from having someone accidentally move the booth from being drunk, grinding against it, finding their balance...
For the bass problem, I've seen turntables set on little inflatable floaty type devices to absorb bass. There's fixes for this, though.
lemme know if there are any other critical components that i'm missing, or if you noticed something that should be added that will make it easier for you as the DJ. like a light fixture and power strip bolted to the table!
I second those components. A power strip or two in an out of the way spot on the booth would be awesome - I just don't know where exactly. A dimmer light with a crane neck would be cool, too.
A NO DRINKS ON BOOTH sign? Few might actually abide by that, but I'm all for that reminder. A little sign with the venue's Twitter handle on it so DJs can mention the venue for promo purposes.
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