Recently Simon Cowell and Will Smith put together an idea for a DJ X Factor... In short here's what I think about it.

Without typing forever & ever I say this can be very good or very bad for the whole bunch. DJing is DJing but when you bring it to the masses like you would an average talent show I believe things have to be done a bit different than that of the regular X Factor or American Idol because you're not doing cover songs or bringing raw talent to a stage. DJ's play music that's already hot (The original songs) so the judges, the format and the DJ's that actually get selected have to be a special group of individuals but I do believe it could be a great opportunity to at least bring the "Life of the party", the f*ckin DJ more into the spotlight than we already are. This situation is tricky and I like it but whether you're New School or Old School, let's see what these DJ's bring to the table... Ha! To the tables that is... Pop Music 20 The Remixes II coming later this week. To the Dj booth.
Slice

What's happenin wit it? This wil be short because I have a lot to get to tonight! First off Pop Music 19 The Remixes is ready for FREE download as of right now...Hot remixes from great DJ's and Producers from all over so go get it... Keep em' dancing means simply play the hits when you're doing your gig... Don't get too caught up  with breaking new music because people come to dance to all of their favorite songs so give it to em'. Go through your computer and delete all of the music you never play, your laptop should be filled with HITS and only HITS.. That's gonna make your job so much easier. That's all folks- Gotta go get it in. Thanks for all the love, i'll see ya soon. To the DJ booth!

Slice

DJ's... What's happenin? First off there is nothing like getting paid to do what you love to do and DJing enables you to play good music, party with others, make new contacts etc. all while getting paid for it. It's a bit difficult to jump start a career as a DJ but like everything else it pays off in the end after tons of effort and know how. When someone ask you how much you charge for your DJ services tell them what your rates are with a straight face and with confidence because before hand you will have considered what it takes to do your gigs to the very best of your ability to please the customer while at the same time putting the correct amount of money in your bank account without feeling like you've sold yourself short (P.S. Most people have good money to spend but they're always looking for the "Dollar Deal"), keep this in mind while you're performing your Jedi mind tricks on em': What's a club or party without a GOOD DJ? Not much of a party at all is it? 
To the DJ booth!

$lice

What's happenin wit it? I've been asked which software to use for beginner DJ's... First look at what type of DJ you are and your software answers will be there because all DJ's are not the same. Look at what features you need and what features you want because you may want some things but you may not need them, like being able to connect 4 inputs/ outputs or having a huge selection of effects or even being able to customize your decks. If you DJ small events where you just play music for people you may not need to have recording options but if you do lots of gigs with other DJ's and you all like to do your sets as a team or something the 4 input/output options may be ideal for you. Go online and see what the compuuter requirements are for each type of software and start there because you can't use any ole' software with just any ole' computer, than look at what LE versions have upgrades because it's good to start off with the basic version and upgrade to Pro. I hope this helps DJ's??? To the DJ booth!

 

Slice

What's happening wit it DJ's? When do we play Remixes? First look at what your setting is and that will help you determine which route to go with Remixes. If you're playing to a crowd of people who do mostly Top 40 you may not want to play that Remix no matter how great it sounds if you don't normally hear that song on the radio because with that particular group a Remix may throw them for a loop, they may listen to it and recognize it but it's possible you may not get the response on the dance floor simply because they may not have heard that Remix on the radio. Play it safe and stick to music people normally hear unless you spin at a place where you can get a bit more creative with your musical selection. To the DJ booth.

 Slice 

What's happenin wit it? I was out one day early in the week at a Sports Bar having a few drinks and enjoying the music the DJ was playing when all of a sudden I heard this loud voice, I mean this guy was talking so fast and loud I didn't hear anything he was saying and it blew my vibe. DJ's have to talk on the mic because we need to remind people of what promotions the club has going, or somebody left their lights on or when it's last call, but we have to make sure we don't scare people. I always make sure I speak loud and clear but not so direct, so use a mixer with at least a 3 band EQ on the mic input to clean up your voice and test the volume before you speak into it because you want to get everyone's attention without killing the entire vibe. I hope this helps... Pop Music 19 coming next week!!! To the DJ booth..
Slice

When you're doing your set what type of DJ are you? Do you throw the music in from one song to another, or do you actually mix the songs together? Answer that question and then ask yourself why you do it that way... Dance DJ's actually mix records together so that their entire set sounds like one long extended song and most Hip Hop DJ's sort of throw the songs in one after another but there isn't any real comparison because these are two different audience's that expect different things from the DJ. I'm not trying to tell you there's any textbook method to DJ (If so I never read it) but there is a method to how you play your music and I need you all to know what that method is, why you do it and how effective is it? That's just DJ slice's version of Luke's Jedi Mind Trick. Use the force... Take that to the DJ booth!

 

Slice 

What's happenin wit it? We as DJ's need to understand that it is our job to keep this industry moving forward by introducing new music to whomever we play for because if we don't we're not helping pave the way for new artist. In most venue's I've played people like to hear a little bit of everything (Hip Hop/ R&B/ Top 40/ Pop/ Old School Etc.) and it's wise to DJ in sets in order to keep your crowd whether we like to play it or not because It's not about US... It's about our audience so play for THEM. I can honestly say that I don't like a lot of the music that hits the streets and that goes for music past and present but that's just the way it is and always will be but I suppport these artist and their music unless it's just total trash. U don't have to like it but you have to play it if it keeps everyone dancing or nodding their heads, so have a few shots and spin that music. Let's help promote growth in the music industry by playing the new stuff as well because we'll get nowhere dwelling on the past. To the DJ booth!

Slice

New DJ's, keep your set ecxciting for your audience because you don't want to put em' to sleep. While you DJ keep the music coming back to back because most people in the Club or at a party get bored pretty quick, take into consideration for the 18+ crowd most of the people there are intoxicated and really want to have a good time so keep the hits coming without doing the ole' Speed Mix. People don't want to hear the entire song but they for sure don't want you to cut their favorite song down to 40 seconds either, try and do at least 2 verses if you can and then begin mixing in the other song to keep somewhat of an even flow from song to song. Speed Mixing makes you work harder but just playing a song makes you a lame ass DJ, and if people just wanted to hear music fade in and out from one song to the next they would have plugged in their ipod or something. Keep it exciting. To the Dj booth!

Slice

DJ's!!! A quick reminder... Never forget that your marketing (90%) must outweigh your performances (10%) because sometimes it's easy to get work but hard to keep it. Being that there are so many other DJ's who will do work for FREE just to get your position please make sure and wake up early each day (If you DJ full time) and get the business end of your career taken care of. A performance is easy because you love to do it but a lot of us have no business sense... Fix that if you plan on having a long lucrative career in the music business, make everything you do YOUR business and not someone elses. It's easy to let new opportunity slip away because you were focused way too much on how well you scratch or what snapback you look good in.. HA! Take a look around you because most of these good DJ's are great businessmen. I hope this helps... Back to the lab I go...
Slice

Hope your weekend is good and not over as far as making money... Sunday is a good day to rest... But why? Ha! DJ's!!! The labels require feedback from us about new music from their artist to help them decide what a next single will be so we need to test these records in the Clubs and on Radio to see what the people say. A good way to test new music is either overnight on the air or within the first minutes of your set in the Club, do it however you feel most comfortable but I test new music early on around 10PM or so while the Club isn't as packed and no one is dancing because you don't want to drop a new song during peak time at the Club and risk loosing your crowd. A person's body language will tell you if they are digging the song so watch people, It's something we as DJ's have to do even for ourselves to find out what may or may not work so take that time to play some new tunes. To the DJ booth!

Slice

Let's look at being true to the game. What does that mean to you? First off we can say that the "Game" is what you do, DJ, and we can say that we play the "Game", and it's up to us HOW we play the game. Do we play the game to win or JUST play the game? I've talked with a lot of people and thre's a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth's about the whole Digital thing as opposed to Analog and people saying Analog is what REAL DJ's use and Digital is what FAKE DJ's use... Ha! So without getting too deep into the subject and turing my Blog into a Novel I will say this: 1. Apple introduced the Commodore 64 Computer back in the 80's, and now in 2012 we hold in our hands some of the most sophisticated pieces of equipment we know today: iMacs, iPhones, iPads and iPods... WE LOVE THESE PRODUCTS! 2. Also, instead of writting down directions we just get the address and punch it into our Navigation before we drive off in our vehicles...3. Check this out: In Christmas 2011 the majority of the freagin' World shopped for presents ONLINE... Why is it that after years and years of DJ's carrying 6 to 10 crates of records (Analog) to every gig people dislike the reality of DJ's being able to carry their entire collection of music on a Laptop/ Hard Drive or Controller? Are we as DJ's not worthy of making advances to keep updated with the World? HA!!! Many people don't think so, but I say YES. DJ's!!! As long as you have a passion for your craft, have a basic knowledge of Djing and work hard at being the best in the "Game" of DJing, I say keep kicking ass while moving forward and use what's available to you in order to give your audience the best available performance. To the DJ booth!!!

 

Slice

Mobile DJ's who are just starting out doing gigs here is a helpful tip for you. If you're starting out with 2 speakers and you want to get maximum sound out of them be sure and buy some speaker stands to set your speakers on because it's better to place the speakers up high (about ear level) to make sure everyone in the room can hear the sound. If your speakers are set too low the sound is blocked and the people furthest away from you won't be able to hear the music as well as the people close to you so make sure you get good sturdy speaker stands and set those speakers up high. Later you may want to purchase a subwoofer to add depth to your sound if you DJ larger rooms because setting your speakers up high may cause you to loose low end but the subwoofer will cover the low and even out your sound, but you can place that sub just about anywhere and that sound will travel. I hope this helps you all. To the DJ booth!
Slice

DJ's! Taking request from your audience is very important...I had a young DJ ask me how I incorporate request while doing my set, and here is what I told him... When you're DJing you're pretty much in a zone and it's kind of a task to drop a request in because you have a vision of where you're taking your audience so what I do is look at what they want to hear, look at what i'm playing at that time and see if it fits because the last thing you want to do is force a pumped up crowd into making a total U Turn. Don't shock your audience, keep the requested song in your mind and work towards playing it when you can lay down several other songs that match, like Tempo, Genre Etc, that way you don't loose the crowd you've built up just to satisfy one person. Be careful not to play a song you know people won't dance to because it's better to piss that one person off than the rest of the Club. I hope this helps... Pop Music 18 coming tomorrow!! To the Dj Booth

Slice

How many of us know a DJ that doesn't make beats? Probably not many of us because it seems to me that playing music and producing music goes hand and hand. Why? Because while we play music for others it's natural for us to count bars, listen to different drum patterns, and analyze the sounds that go into the music we are playing, the great part about DJing is we actually get a chance to learn what ingredients are used to make a hit and we have a natural feel for how to put it together, believe me- after bringing records back long enough you develope a feel for production so why not use it? It's an extra paycheck... DJ's... Learn what producers do to make hot tracks and do it yourself...

What's happenin? I was talking to a friend and fellow DJ about how much music to bring to our gigs and we came up with a couple of different answers. There are many different types of DJ's so it depends on what your format is at each gig. Now that we ALL have laptops and Controllers we feel it's ok to stack our entire collection of music in our computer or on external drives but in actuality we really don't have to. If you're a club DJ you may only need your internal drive for DJing your sets because it's basically the same format every time but if you do TV and various other private gigs you may want to drop 30 or 40 gigs into your laptop and also bring an external drive for the purpose of taking request. Us DJ's don't have every record ever recorded but try to help yourself by being prepared. Basically the answers are few because you have to look at who you play for and organize your music accordingly because one set musical library won't work for us all. To the DJ booth!

 

Slice

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone did well last night and came into the new year getting paid doing what they love to do? This year look at something you've never done before as far as DJing and work towards that. Try something that will improve your performance, your look, gear Etc. and go for it. Make sure whatever it is you're changing is for the best. A new year always brings new things so choose something BIG and look for a BIG return. Always remember Different things bring Different results. To the DJ Booth!

Slice