How to Dj at a Night Venue that has their own equipment?
A few years ago, I would be playing every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday downtown San Jose. It was an easy set up. I started off by taking 6 cases of vinyl then eventually went to a cd case. Eventually that evolved to taking blank serato special cds with a laptop with all our music. We knew we had the option of using CD turntables or record turntables. It was very familiar.
Recently got a call to do a happening spot up north in Burlingame. We played there years ago then started doing more of the mobile route. The question is what set up do they have and what would I have to bring? I could go see the equipment before the event but that would require me to drive 40 minutes. I asked for a photo of the mixer and asked what turntables were being used.
The mixer of a top of a line Pioneer Mixer with two technic turntables. It is importatant to know the mixer so the dj can download the driver for the computer. Most often than not it is Serato Friendly. I was able to get the driver and install it on my computer. If one does not do that when the usb is attached to the computer it then it would not read it.
I also brought my controller as a back up in case for some reason the mixer cannot be read by my computer. All I would have to do was to plug in the master speaker cables to my controller. I had to remember to bring my vinyl needles with Serato Vinyl. Everything worked perfectly.
I was able to talk to some staff to get a feel for the kind of music the folks like at the venue. I already had my playlist, but it helps get that information. I knew my age demographic was 21 to 35. That means get all the new hip-hop songs they play on the radio and get in some throwbacks.
The biggest decision of the night was what song to play after midnight. I love the old school and I wanted to throw in Too Short Blow the Whistle after midnight. But I had to succumb to playing G- Eazy’s Limitless. I had the track that was made for NYE and it had the countdown included as the intro. You just had to throw it in exactly one minute before midnight.
It is always good to be prepared. Make sure the computer has the driver for the mixer and make sure Serato Vinyl or Serato CDs are brought with needles. Once you become familiar with the set up then the back up will be easier. It is always better to be over prepared then underprepared.
