Silent Discos
mrmatthew
1,575 Posts
Just got asked to DJ at one of these and have never done one before.
Anybody have any experiences (good or bad) doing one of these?
I like the idea...but have never actually been to one.
Is everyone gonna hear how dirty my raers REALLY are? Seems a little daunting with everyone tuned into my mixing skills like that.
Anybody have any experiences (good or bad) doing one of these?
I like the idea...but have never actually been to one.
Is everyone gonna hear how dirty my raers REALLY are? Seems a little daunting with everyone tuned into my mixing skills like that.
Comments
I am assuming that a person listening to you on headphones would be a bit more in tune to you than...say...a person listening to you over a PA in a loud crowded room.
I would think if people are listening on headphones they are getting a "closer" listen.
Do the headphones have volume control? I'd be nervous I'm blowing everyone's ear drums out
which looks AWESOME, btw.
the only temporary issues i had were getting used to no monitor / house sound. i was given the option to switch between my headphones (used to cue) and using another set of headphones cued to the main out to monitor volumes. instead i relied on DJing in my headphones and switching between the cue / main thanks to that option on my mixer. the guy who provided the equipment for the silent disco assisted in monitoring jumps in volume.
another issue was DJing outdoors in the sun. i had to change the shading situation based on the direction of the sun. this also screwed with being able to see my laptop screen. visibility of wave forms was definitely an asset in this situation.
something that was fun in this situation that i normally hate doing is interacting with the crowd, using the mic. you can def shout people out on their dancing moves, tell people to "sing it" / "make some noise if they're having a good time", etc. and don't forget to flirt with the chicas.
what he said!!!
i've djed about 12 or so over the last 2 years, they are good fun. but yes people can hear mistakes a lot easier. there is no background noise at all.
i would say the most important thing is to play songs that everyone can sing along to. and make sure you keep a nice contrast to the other djs. play it safe and you'll be sure to keep people on your channel. you'll know who's winning (and it does turn into a competition) by how many people cheer when you drop a banger.
they are hard work but great fun!!
If I promoted these I would have a house mic to pick up crowd noise and that would be under everything all the time. That way when people shout when they hear a banger come on everyone will feel the energy.
Yeah...its not really a "professional" outfit puitting this on.
Its a neighborhood thing and one of the bar owners attended one recently...so he went on line and bought up about 50 pairs of cheapo wireless headphones and a transmitter and he wants to do it on the closing night of a street fair. I will be the only DJ...but i kind of like the idea of "two channels.....two djs". Maybe i'll recommend that. although i dont really know if he bought headpones capable of that.
the only problem with this, as i found out one night - is that you can hear peoples conversations very clearly if there is any dead air. I usually get on the mic a bit at a silent disco to hype the crowd. and one night at the end of the night, after all of the music had been switched off - the mic, the mixer and the transmitter were still left on....and one of the other djs girlfriends could be heard quite clearly slagging off a couple of other girls in the room! it almost got nasty when the girls being slagged off tuned in. but thankfully security got everyone out before it kicked off
silent discos are really good fun