Now its easy to prep for a dj night. Well I cannot say too easy but we definitely have to carry less to events. We used to play at the clubs 3 nights a week. We would have the latest tracks on record and we had all the classics. We would bring 6 crates every time we did events. We would have the classic hip hop and the latest hip hop and the current pop and funk. We would always focus on the current music but we would always dive in the older stuff in the beginning of the night.  Why not play some 80s new wave then jump into some funk? 90’s hip hop was always a hit and then once the crowd started to show up then we would go with the current music.  Once it hit midnight, I would have to go with the midnight mix.  From 12 to 1 we would go hard with the biggest hits. That had to be the peak of the night.  Then from 1 to 130 we would tone it down a bit. I would always do a slow song   as the last song of the night.  There was one club that would always wants Journey at the end of the night.  No matter what that had to be the last song of the night. But I would like to do a r&b  song to end on. The greatness of vinyl is you can only play what you bring. Never have to download any track and you just say you   don’t have it on record.

Venue! This has to be the most important decision of prom. You have to make sure the venue an accommodate your guest count.

Theme and Decorations! Make sure the leadership team agree on the theme and how to decorate. A prom is made great by a great leadership collaboration. They have to decorate the venue or hire a company that will abide by they taste.

Entertainment! Gone are the days that schools hire bands. They go with djs since they can play all sorts of genres. It is always risky to hire a dj that never played for your school before. Make sure the dj played for you during homecoming and if you never had them play for you then ask the neighboring schools for recommendations. A lot of the same music is played in certain areas of the city so you want someone who knows the crowd. Why not add a photobooth to the mix!

Catering! Often times the venues can provide their own catering but as a class you should look at their menu and see if there are other 3rd party options. Also keep in mind not everyone can get everything. There are vegans and folks who cannot eat diary or bread. It is good to have alternative options.

Promotion! Offer a discount on early ticket sales and increase the ticket prices as it gets closer.

Safety Measures: You want to make sure kids are sober and ready to have a good time and you do not want to deal with drunk party goers so its good to have plenty of chaperones around.

Top Questions to Ask Your Los Angeles DJ

Despite the hundreds of Los Angeles DJs online, finding the right one is a challenge. Hiring a Los Angeles DJ with the trifecta (experience, style, and professionalism) often means you'll have to extensively vet your potential choices. Conducting your vetting doesn't need to be an inconvenience. Instead, your vetting can be limited to the following questions, which you can ask your DJ via Zoom or in person.

The 8 Questions to Ask Your Los Angeles DJ

The answers to these eight questions will be most revealing of the type of DJ you could be hiring, allowing you to make your decisions.

Are You Willing to Have a Meeting Before Booking?

Availability is important. Many DJs may over-extend themselves, meaning they won't be available for a meeting. Therefore, if you want to know — honestly — whether your DJ will avail themselves after you've hired them, see if they'll make themselves available before booking.

How Much Time Do You Need to Set Up?

Depending on your event, knowing how long your Los Angeles DJ will take to set up can help with scheduling and coordinating the event. If the setup is one hour, and the event starts at 8 p.m., your DJ should have the space to set up for the event and should be scheduled for 7 p.m.

If a prospective DJ isn't giving a clear response on setup time, they may not have as much experience.

Do You Have Insurance?

With any business, insurance is essential for Los Angeles DJs. You'd be surprised how litigious Los Angeles venues can be and how quickly accidents can escalate. Rather than waiting to see what would happen if a DJ doesn't have insurance, confirm that they have it.

What Type of Music Do You Typically Play?

Most DJs flourish in the genre they've perfected. Being a DJ is a full-time job requiring research, testing, and development alongside serious marketing, known as self-promotion. As a result, most good DJs will have a genre of music they've been perfecting ever since they knew what career they would pursue.

Do You Have References?

Any DJ worth their salt should be able to provide at least three references and a sample of their mixes.

How Long Have You Been Spinning?

Experience is more important than expertise when hiring a Los Angeles DJ. Anyone can learn what a DJ does, but it takes years to learn to read a crowd, get — and keep — them engaged, and make last-minute changes to the set.

How Do You Keep Your Music Up-to-date?

With the frequency of music releases, having a current playlist can be exceptionally time-consuming. But, if you know you'll have an audience that will revel in new music — which, let's face it, in Los Angeles is everyone — understanding your Dj's process for finding and using new releases in their mixes is essential.

Can I Be Involved in the Selection?

If you're searching for a Los Angeles wedding DJ, for example, you may want to be involved in some of the song choices. Confirm with any prospective DJ if they — not only take your suggestions but — implement your song choices and where or when they'd insert it into their mix.

These eight questions to ask your Los Angeles DJ will help save your event from disaster.

At Black and White Affair, the purpose of the work being done is to meet your vision. We understand communication is a two-way street. Therefore, if you decide to book BWADJ as your Los Angeles DJ, expect us to ask you — and answer — questions, guaranteeing your event goes off without a hitch.

Djs can provide the ceremony sound for weddings if needed. They can provide the service of setting up the speakers and having the microphones to work correctly. They can also be behind the mixing board to adjust volumes and in case of feedback or if someone needs a boast or reduced in volume based on their voice is soft or too loud. The dj can also cue up the music for the pre-ceremony music and entrance music for everyone to come in. 

Or the couple can do it DIY. Some djs only bring one speaker but I always bring two for the ceremony. It has a good balanced sound to it. A smart phone or tablet can be connected to the speaker via Bluetooth or a cable. You would still need someone to man the music to push play at the appropriate times. If it’s a small gathering then you would not need microphones or if it’s a chapel that has their own microphones then you set. But if you want to diy microphones, its crucial to have someone overseeing the volumes. 

So, which is better between getting a dj to do your sound versus diy? A diy rental would run about 150 to 300 dollars and you would have to pick it up and set it up or you would have it set up for you. The question is who ever is working it are they going to know how to use the gear correctly. A dj will be using their own equipment so they know how to use it. The cost for a dj to do the ceremony can range 300 to 500 dollars. 

Covid Update 6-2020

In California the limit to gather is 10 but it is slowly opening. I feel a little foolish writing about weddings since we been under lockdown for about four months. I started to put down my thoughts but I felt fake. So I just want to give an update of what is happening on my end.

 I have been getting tons of music. I mean lots of music to sort through. This is the time to do it. My baby has a bib that say snacks on snacks on snacks. So I am literally getting songs on songs on songs.

  Maybe out of 100 djs, there were maybe 25 who learned from spinning vinyl. And out of those 25 there are probably 10 who still have the vinyl and turntables. I am part of those 10 percent who still have vinyl. When I was converting my vinyl tracks to MP3s it was a super long process. I had to play each song and record it. Once it was recorded I would have to burn it on a cd then master the volume. But a little known fact is when you download a cd on iTunes its default is at 192 bitrate. So I did all my vinyl and converted it to the default. It does sound fine to the ear but if you were going to play at a stadium it would not sound as crisp as a 320 bit rate. So That is what I have been doing is getting songs I already have but at a higher bit rate. Also going through my collection and just keeping songs I would play. Sometimes more is too much and its good to have the essentials and the one tracks that make you different as a performer. It is always good to review what you have and what tracks you have forgotten. This time last year, I was super busy but these past four months I did not throw in the towel but rather looking to come back stronger and more organized than ever. 

 To have a good party is like a good business, you need good marketing. Usually it’s the folks who were in the student leadership spearhead the whole event. It would be ideal to form a committee since it is a lot of work and they can cover more ground in numbers. They can reach out to the school and advertise it on the marquee. They can create a facebook reunion class page to let folks know of the event. It would be great to send save the date notices by snail mail or by emails.

Plan to have the Reunion on a Saturday since it gives folks an opportunity to come to town  and not have the feel to rush back to their place of residence.

They find a dj that knows music for their high school period. Typcially the dj looks for the top hits the 4 years the students were at school.

There is no such thing as the older the class the less chance of them dancing. With a good playlist, people will be dancing. A good dj will keep the soft hits for the dinner portion of the night but save the floor fillers for the end of the night.

A good host will reach out to guests and ask for their favorite songs of their high school years and record the list and give it to the dj. Its best to send that list at least a week in advance so the dj has enough time to organize the music for the event.