4 Groups DJs Often Forget

There are two main DJ topics. One is handling the dancefloor and the dancers and the other one is the music itself. What we often forget is that an event has more groups than DJs and dancers. During a good event all involved parties are happy and even though the other groups are often happy without our doing, we have to be aware who they are and stay alert to their needs.

Event Organisors

What makes event organisors happy differs strongly. Most of them are happy when the participants are happy. Some of them have additional requirements like a certain atmosphere or a certain style of music. Hence we have to be sensitive to organisors needs and doing a good job means to incorporate those into our sets. These don't always have to match what dancers would prefer - for example while dancers might enjoy a change in the band break (e.g. play Swing when the band plays Jazz), the organisor might want you to keep to the style of the band.

Other DJs

Most of the times nothing is needed to keep collegues happy, a good advice is to simply don't annoy them.
Many people seem to have the idea that they can just look on the cover of the vinyl or on the screen of a laptop to figure out a song instead of politely asking. While not every DJ reacts strongly to this, I recommend asking instead of just looking.
One commonly made mistake by beginner and intermediate DJs is that they play music they got from a fellow DJ, that djs the same night. Researching music is a lot of work, and a common thought to a happy face by a collegue that tells you "Do you hear this? This is YOUR song!" is the non-spoken "Yes, and I would've liked to play it!". Stick to the music you've researched yourself when playing at the same night as a DJ who gave you music.

Bands

Most bands I like I've never had to worry about my actions during the break, simply don't play any of their recorded music, they'll rock so hard, there is nothing to worry about.
Bands that aren't good are a lot trickier. While you don't want to show them off, there are also dancers and organisors to take care off. I like the honest approach and think it's best to save the dancers night and have the band see what makes dancers happy instead of trying to spare them loosing face. Because if they do it is up to them and they might be actually happy about experiencing what is needed, so they can improve too.

Location Owners

I'm used to dancing in local venues that are pubs or bars. These venues need to make money to work. So I try to DJ that the people on the dance floor go on and off and have time for a drink. This way they might dance less that one night, but won't get kicked out after two weeks, because they only drink water in the bathroom. This way both groups stay happy. Want to know how to do it? Read how to empty the dancefloor.

Try to be aware of all parties wishes and decide from there what is best. Know that it is not always possible to make everyone happy.

+1 if you like including everyone!

Play (With) Music

As DJ we are supposed to play music. Serve dancers with hot dance tunes. We are supposed to handle atmosphere and the dancefloor. Part of the trade and a good DJ though is also to research. I've always liked the playful approach to learning best so what better way to learn about music than to play with music.

I like to think of these challenges as games and I want to introduce some of these games to you, and maybe you'll have fun with them. In any case, they will contribute to you learning a lot about your music, which I think is one of they keys to good dj-ing.

Basicly, chosing the next song is always about connecting to the one before. Doing it by style or speed is fairly easy. But what about connecting songs by:

• themes

  Play songs that all have the same theme like love, sex, drug, food, songs about dancing or war etc.
  Example: Big Apple Contest and Black Bottom (songs about dancing)

• titles

  Play songs that have a theme in common in the title (ignore content of lyrics) 
  Example: Big Apple and I like Pie, I like Cake (food)

• musicians that played together at some point:

  The following song has a musician that played with the musician before
  Example: Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman
 
Those are all fairly easy challenges. Some have even already been released as compilations. The ones that are more challenging and require you to research. Connect songs by

• alphabet

  Do an alphabet with titles, artists, women names, etc.

• same musician

  The following song has a musician that played in the song before.
  Example: Recording of Luis Russell's Hot Six - 29th & Dearborn - and Showboat Shuffle by King Oliver's Jazz Band (Barney Bigard)

• record label

  Only play records that were recorded on a specific label, like Decca, Vocalion, Brunswick, etc.
  Example: What Goes Up Must Come Down by Count Basie and Roy Eldridge's Wabash Stomp

• rare instruments or themes:

  Play songs that all use a rare instrument or idea, e.g. harmonica

• location:

  Play only songs by bands that played in the Savoy Ballroom, Roseland Ballroom, etc.
  Example: Luis Russel and Jimmie Lunceford  (Savoy Ballroom)

• date of recording

  Only play songs that were recorded in one specific year, or chronologically
  Example: Ella Fitzgerald - Whacky Dust and Tommy Dorsey and His Clambake 7 - You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby (1938)

• by country (except USA - too easy)

  Only play bands from a specific country, e.g. only France, Germany, Netherlands
  Example: Kristian Hauger, Rowland Greenberg, etc. (Norway)

• by city

  Only play songs by bands that resided in one city.
  Example: The State Street Ramblers - Kentucky Blues and Louis Armstrong - Weather Bird(Were both recorded in Chicago)

If you do these challenges and come up with new ones, you will gain a lot of knowledge about your music and the musicians that made it.

Challenge: Make a small set of 5 to 10 songs that are connected in some way described in the second section or come up with an own challenge. Then write down the link between each song, and send it to me. I'll publish it on this blog. Also include your DJ name and where you are located. Looking very forward to your send-ins! :)

Finding Music Vol 2

This post follows up on where to find new music. In most cases, those two collections named will probably keep you busy for quite a while and might be more then sufficient.

If you want to dig deeper though, there are a couple of other ways of course, and these are ways I use:

Who Played With Whom 

Find out who played in the bands you like and look for those names. Often there were sub-groups or they formed groups later on in their career. Information about who played with whom can be found e.g. on the covers of the chronological series (background image) or wikipedia. Looking for members of Duke Ellington's band, I found Johnny Hodges, who has some amazing recordings himself.

Books

On that note I want to mention a book, "This thing called swing", where there are plenty of connections shown, and many interesting people named.

Antique Shops

Occasionally you have luck looking for old records in shops. Success strongly depends also on what country and city you live in. I've personally never found anything useful, but I know people who have built their collection by doing this.

Internet

• free online music like Spotify or Deezer (might be country dependent)
• Often music from that time is now freely and legally available on the net. The thing to watch out for is illegal downloading and poor quality (below 192 kbit/s) (e.g. youtube). 

  Search for

• public domain repositories (archive.org, http://publicdomain4u.com/)
• chronological covers on google, and find forums that share public domain music
• archives
• blogs

Collections

The two collections mentioned in the former post are of course in this category. But from time to time you'll find offers on shops like amazon - 200 songs for 5 bucks. You will probably toss 190 or even 195 of those songs, but if there is one good song in that collection and you did chose this path, it was probably worth the money :)

Finding Music Vol 1

Whether you are a teacher and you are looking for music for your class or you are a DJ and want to grow your collection, the search for swing music is a necessity. 

Every DJ has a bit of a different story on how they started. I can't recall mine, it just started :D 

The easiest way, and I've seen many people do this, is to ask a DJ for some music. However, I would actually recommend not simply copying someone else's harddrive, but rather getting out there yourself and starting from scratch. With copied music, whether you're using it for class or a party, you'll have to listen to it beforehand anyway to familiarize yourself with the songs and make sure they fit your needs and taste. So why not just use that time to find your own stuff? 

Two birds, one stone: You'll listen to different songs as you sort through albums, familiarizing yourself with the one you like as you go along, and you'll be building your own unique collection at the same time. 

To start building your own music collection, there are two truly great collections out there:

• The Ultimate Jazz Archive 
• Chronological Classics 

Getting one of those, or even both, will give you a great start. Since they are quite big, two tips: 

First, check for musicians you like. 

Second, check for a certain time period. 

Get those records first. The collections themselves will be too overwhelming. 

On a personal note, a "less" known musician I like very much and is verydanceable is Bunny Berigan. The time period I like most is 32-39. Have fun with it! :)

Music in Class, Vol I: Or Why It Should Swing

Playing swing music in a Lindy hop class is very natural and important, since music and dance are so strongly connected.  Yet despite what might seem like an obvious choice, it is not always the case that swing music is chosen for Lindy classes.

This post looks at the arguments some people offer for using non-swing music in class and provides counter-arguments. 

The reasons that teachers use non-swing music are usually one or a combination of the following:

  1. There is no (good) slow swing music
  2. It's difficult for a beginner to hear the beat (in comparison to pop music)
  3. Real swing music might not attract people

Let's start at the end and move up.  Regarding Argument Number 3, in my experience patronizing people has almost never been a good idea.  Even more importantly, I've had many students in my classes who first appreciated the music and then started dancing.  Also, if someone doesn't like swing music, maybe Ð just maybe Ð Lindy hop is just not for him or her. 

Moving on to Argument Number 2.  First of all, it's true that hearing the beat is not always easy.  Hearing the beat tends to be more tricky on late 20s Jazz and New Orleans Jazz.  But with a good music selection, you'll find swing music, that has a nice and easy-to-hear walking bass.  Secondly, avoiding swing music ignores the main problem.  We don't avoid teaching swing outs just because they are tricky.  If students have trouble hearing the beat, come up with exercises to help them develop that skill.

And arriving at the Number 1 Argument against using swing music in class, good, slow swing music absolutely _does_ exist.  It's just about getting up and doing some research and finding it. It's not as easy as finding good fast swing music, but definitely still doable :)

In conclusion, it is my firm belief that it is crucial to play swing music in swing dance classes.  I do it, advocate it, and enjoy it! :)

Now read Music In Class Vol. II