DJing

I've copied the below post from this blog post from Atlanta. The only change I've made is to remove the HotJam specific paragraph. Many of the below points are mirrored in the other DJ pages.

Now it's time to put all that time you spent listening to music to use!

First, think of the crowd you'll be DJing for:

• How fast do they normally dance?
• What swing styles do they normally dance?
• What genres do they like?
• What surface are they going to be dancing on? (concrete, wood, slick-as-snot wood, etc)
• What time of day will you be DJing? (Mid-day dance, Main dance, Late night)
• What type of event will it be? (House party, huge dance, band breaks, multiple DJs with short sets, DJ competition, lesson, etc)

Music is an extremely complex top, both in general and with respect to dancers. We'll only scratch the surface here.

Primary Characteristics
Song Length
A good rule of thumb is on average 3-4 minutes long. Slower songs can be longer, (probably no more than a little over 5 minutes). A little under 3 minutes is also OK.

Beats Per Minute

Below are some random tips/tricks recommended by people who have DJ'd:

• I don't adjust audio on the system (laptop or ipod) I use to DJ as it increases the chance I'll accidentally click something and stop the music.
• It's a good idea to make sure automated things don't run while you're DJing. Make sure your computer's screen won't lock, your computer won't play windows sounds, your computer won't go to sleep, your computer won't try and patch it's self (disable wifi), etc.
  

Once you're at the dance, for the most part, you need to be ready to go. Don't plan on making it up as you go along, (until you're confident enough to not follow the rules, just like dancing).

First, check your surroundsings:

1. show up early!
2. Check your equipment. Did you bring everything you thought you brought? Does it still work? (Don't laugh. Many a DJ has left home with a functioning laptop and arrived at a dance with a dead one.)
3. Is there a sound system? (If not, hopefully you or someone else brought one.)
   

There are four things you need to DJ:

1. Something to play music
2. Music to play
3. A Public Address (PA) system
4. Cables to connect your player to the PA system.
5. Extras

1. Something to play music
Normally, this a laptop or a mp3 player. If you are the only DJ at the event or your music is important to the event, you should bring not one but TWO backups. (Think two laptops and an mp3 player or a laptop, an mp3 player, and your phone loaded with some music.) Every DJ has had their equipment fail, almost always when they needed it most.

The swing dance community is built on DJs. The quality of a swing scene's DJs has a great influence on the quality of it's dancers. As with dancers, DJs come and go. While a lot of DJing simply requires practice, there is some information that can help DJs avoid basic mistakes. We'll break it down into four sections plus a fifth for tips below.

There is also a forum for DJs at swingdjs.com to exchange information on swing music.