There is nothing like an old school party! It was a birthday party in West Los Angeles. Everyone was in the patio area and the dj was suggested to go to the opposite end of the back yard. Black and White Affair made it happen. We set up the booth away from everyone based on client suggestion. Best scenario is to be where the action is so we can see the action and read the crowd. It was a small patio so we had to be away from everyone. I was able top place two speakers in the patio area and be stationed far away. It was hard to see if the folks were grooving to the music while they were eating but tried to keep it an old school vibe for most of the night.  Song of the night was Sex Bomb!

  This was the first event where I saw a dog table. They had meatballs for the dogs and dog treats. That table was a hit with the dogs that the guest brought. One dog was smart enough to jump on the table and over indulged in the treats. Anyway the party had a planner plus a caterer with a waitress and bartender. It was truly a celebration in West Los Angeles. I did have a good time. A few weeks later they called for another event but I sent another dj to do it since I was already doing a Latin event on the same day. Seems like most events happen on Saturday so please book your ds early if you are having a Saturday event.

  Be the hip planner to incorporate a vinyl dj for the event. When a vinyl dj plays at a corporate event it gives is a vintage feel that can bring back memories and it can fit the theme and vibe of the event. Also just the sight of vinyl records is appealing and add to the atmosphere of the event. Just the visual of a dj switching records for each song can create a cool ambiance.

A lot of folks say that vinyl records do produce a different sound than of digital formats. One can say that vinyl can produce a warmer, rich sound compared to digital tracks thus giving a better listening experience. It does seem there are a lot of digital djs around and hiring a vinyl dj will bring a different experience that not too many folks have experienced and it would be one that truly stands out. I do have to say vinyl djs have the experience to solidify their skills since collecting records is an ongoing mission and djs take serious since it is expensive to maintain.

There is no such thing as a sync button (to have songs seamlessly mix) so these vinyl djs are more skilled to mix by ear. In a nutshell, vinyl djs at corporate events can create a unique feel to the event and make it memorable for all those that attend. Call Black and White Affair to bring the Vintage Dj experience for the corporate event.

  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.

Setting up a lip dub involves a lot of planning and total buy in from the school. It would be good if the school has an advisory or homeroom so they can practice their part. First thing first, they need to select a few songs that are hip and clean as can be. Once those songs are selected then each class will have a portion of the song they are responsible for. Classes practice their part and they dress the part. Its good to do a test run so student know how to pace their part of the song.

 We recommend a dj setting up audio gear so music can be heart through the school. Depending on how big the school is I would recommend 4 to 6 speakers spread out to cover more ground. Make sure the wires are taped up or where no one can trip because there are students everywhere doing dance routines and not really paying attention on where they step. Playing it through the intercom will sound really bad. Best to do 2 to 3 takes of each song so it can be cut and pasted the parts that will be used. Once its recorded then they dub over the audio with the actual song so it sounds clean.

   This is a whole school activity and kids can be kids. They can make up dance routines or they can do silly things that they will always remember. Build some culture in your school and have Black and White Affair Dj do your audio for your lip dub event.

  Long gone are the days that all the djs do vinyl. Only a few actually do vinyl. If you went down on yelp and called 20 djs then you may get one who plays vinyl or they know of a dj that does that. It is very rare these days. Why is it so rare? Its rare since vinyl turntables are heavy and all the records you have to carry are heavy. Plus also with digital files that are so cheap a dj can spend a whole lot less on music than djs who purchase vinyl. All those djs back in the 80s 90s and 00s mostly sold their vinyl collection since they were gathering dust and had no use for it since they could get digital files that take way less space.

  A few of us kept our collections. Some of use will never part with them due to the value that vinyl had in our lives. Seems like now there is a comeback with vinyl. People are going to places to listen to vinyl and looking for vinyl djs. Older music is making a comeback thanks to Tic Tok which is playing older hits that are revitalizing old songs so the younger folks are getting into it. I do notice it with the high school dances that there are less new songs suggested while the older ones fill the lists.

 The cool thing about vinyl sets are they are rare and really a lost art. Please call Bwadj for your vinyl dj needs.

Vinyl Djs are not as common as they were years ago! (Bay Area Dj serving San Jose, Morgan Hill, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and Gilroy)

With technology it has become very easy to become a dj. Djs do not need to carry milk crates of heavy records to an event. Now they can carry usb sticks or laptops with so much music. Newer djs never had the struggle of carrying 6 boxes of records upstairs to a venue and the worry of forgetting their needles!

Cost is a big difference. With digital djing, djs can get libraries of music by joining digital record pools. When djs in the late 90s and early 00s had to get music they had to go to stores to find tracks. Sometimes they would have to spend 50 to 300 dollars in one shopping trip.

The skills of mixing vinyl compared to mixing digitally is way different. Mixing digitally can be taught pretty quickly and you can use digital tracks that make it easy to mix and there are ways to automatically sync the beat so they are the same speed. With vinyl you have to mix by ear and it’s a more difficult skill to learn.

You can call random 20 djs to do a digital mixing and all of them could do it. But if you called the same 20 djs to do a vinyl set then maybe 1 out of the 20 may know someone who does it. It is not easy and most old school djs sold their collection. But a few still kept their collections and still want to share their love for vinyl with the world. Give Black and White Affair to do your vinyl event.

  We need to set up at a field. No problem. We will have around 500 people. No problem. We need four speakers spread out in the field with power spread out also. No problem. Also we want music people can jive too. No problem.

 We had an honor roll celebration recently and I had to provide the sound. First and foremost,  I had to check the power sources to make sure they worked since it is a field. Made sure I ordered 4 50 foot extension cords and 50 foot speaker cables. Wanted to spread out the speakers to cover more ground and would not have to blast the volume so it would be too loud for those who are close to the speaker.

 I set up one wireless microphone with another on stand by with another wired microphone on backup. Parents had a full day of work and wanted to hear their child’s name loudly on the pa system.

 I made sure the playlist was as festive as can be. You need to know your audience.  The majority of the audience was latinos so we went with 90 percent latin music but I did include crossover music and some American classics. A lot of djs are afraid to play non American music because they want to be safe. But when you do play the cumbias or Mexican music people deeply appreciate it.

Outside events you have many factors to deal with but it has to be done by a professional sound guy to make sure it is done right. Contact Black and White Affair to make sure your graduation or outside event is done right.

 We had a great time playing in North Hollywood the other day. It was a surprise 80th birthday party.  It was such a surprise even I did not even know.  It was a dark street and the address was semi hidden and I typically can tell who is having a party on a street. I unloaded my gear and my start time was at 7 and I was there around 610 and I was asked that grandpa is close and I have to be ready soon. So I got everything set up and was playing 15 minutes before I was supposed to start. Anything to make the party go smoothly. We were stationed in the backyard and when grandpa came in he was greeted with Las Mananitas then Vicente Fernandez. The first hour we were playing Mexican oldies then an hour in we just mostly did cumbias the rest of the night. It was a catered party with a lot of desserts. The cake had a picture of the man of the hour. It was a festive group that liked to dance. All the requests they wanted I was able to find them on my computer or I had to stream them via the internet.

  It was a cold night but the dance floor was hot. It was my kind of party. They offered me cake like three different times. They were the perfect hosts. We had the music at a good volume and we did not get any complaints.