Founding Father pt 1

[BobCarter]

NOTE: Unless you are offering "constructive criticism" or trying to help with the idea contained in the following message, don't bother replying to this. I realize my views and expertise may seem noobish to many veteran illmuzik family members however, everyone has been a noob at one point or another. I'm very open-minded when it comes to music, and if I'm going to be "hated-on" or jeered at, then start another thread and we'll settle it there. Thank you.

I just founded a fraternity at my college (VCU) and this other guy and I are thinking about trying to put together a two person live DJing-type group. Right now the fraternity as a whole is fund-raising and trying to plan out how things are going to be done from here. I figured that since I am part of this forum, which so far has been a very educational and valuable resource, I figured I'd go ahead and get some advice from as many of you as possible, so we would have some good tips on how we should do this thing.

We are a brand new fraternity, with about 40 members. We haven't gotten our charter yet, but we're working on becoming the most diverse and friendly fraternity on campus. We try to shy away from the whole frat-boy type thing, and focus on community service, high GPA's, and most especially, having as many joint-events with as many sororities as possible.

My friend plays piano and uses Reason. He specializes in Electronica-type music. He's going to teach me how to use Reason. I'm thinking he's going to be in charge of the synthesizers and any other keys. He has multiple midi controllers too so I'm going to try to borrow his axiom 49 until I can upgrade from my 25. I use FL studio and play guitar, drums, and I can play bass guitar too if necessary. I'm trying to bring more of a hip hop feel to our group and I am planning on switching over to Reason as soon as he gets around to helping me learn the ropes. One of the brothers in the fraternity owns a bunch of PA equipment and said we could use it for free. I'm thinking we could play a set, then have a set of pre-recorded music from other bands and alternate.

The Questions:

The 1st:
Do any of you have some suggestions on some cost-efficient audio equipment we would need?

The 2nd:
How should we split up the musical responsibilities? I was considering being in charge of the drums, samples, and hits, and he was going to be in charge of the synth melodies, the pads, and more techno-related type aspects of our sound.

The 3rd:
Do any of you all have experiencing with DJing?

The final:
I was considering playing a few original songs and then each two or three songs, we would play a live remix made from a popular song. It's not always about what's hot in the mainstream to me personally, but I'm pretty sure if your a DJ/live performer, you must take into consideration the type of music the audience wants to hear, and give it to them.

Any feedback from you all, related to the topics discussed in this post would be great. I feel very "over my head" right now, and being given the responsibility of being our DJ or music expert is a position both rewarding, and very, VERY overwhelming. But I'm not afraid of failure and I'm definitely not afraid of hearing what you all have to say to this situation.

thank you

 

[Vice]

This sounds dope man...
1.A couple questions: Do you guys have an emcee or someone singing, or is it all instrumental?
What kind of p.a. system does your friend have?
You will need some nice BIG speakers if you don't already have them with the PA, and some monitors so you can hear what you guys are doing, especially if you are playing live guitar or drums. Maybe some lighting, that definitely enhanced the parties i went to.

2.Is it only you 2 in this band? If it's only two of you then this might be tricky because of the elements you will need put into the music. For instance I was in a band with a singer, guitar, drums, bass, keyboardist, and background singers. Each played there part to enhance the music. Overall, make sure you guys rehearse ALOT. It will show.

3. I'm not a DJ, but I use to go to alot of parties/clubs with a DJ so I could get in free..lol.

4. On the last thought, this sounds dope but how do you plan on accomplishing this? Are you going to just play an acapella and play live to it?

 

[2GooD Productions]

There are times when a dj plays what the crowd wants to hear and gets the crowd into what you are doing then you try to introduce new artists and tracks that you have found and beleive to be good tracks, and then introduce the new material to the crowd and see the response.
I always beleived its up to the dj to introduce people to the latest hot music, not just whats currently hot, you need to find whats hot NEXT MONTH. Thats where a dj ear is important, to know instinctlivly whats hot and whats not.
Put on a good show and its gravy, people want to be entertained.
Practice is key. It has to be on point.
If you are trying to get some of your own music in there, do a track here a track there and see how it goes down, use the crowds reaction as a barometer to see if its worth throwing in a couple more of your own tracks or not.
The foremost goal of a dj is to get the people dancing and entertained.

 

[Sucio]

I'm not gonna answer the questions you typed but make a comment..

The "frat boy" things is what gets the sororities interested in you guys.......Trust me....

You can still have all the things you mentioned above.......but you may get a few chicks...but not many whores. =)

Now if you bang out some tracks that the females like...then the groupie factor becomes an issue...and what I said before is null and void...






Ok....as for the responsibilities....you guys should sit down and talk about your strengths/weaknesses...AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE CHECKS THEIR EGOS AT THE DOOR!!!!!!!

Egos can destroy a group/friendship....

That's the only answer I could provide you.....I don't know much about that much audio equipment/Djing....

 

[God]

The Questions:

The 1st:
Do any of you have some suggestions on some cost-efficient audio equipment we would need?

You need an awesome PA. I would suggest Mackie or JBL monitors. Cerwin-Vegas are OK. If you don't have a good PA, you don't have a good sound. Also, try to get four that "encircle" the party area - so the sound is coming from every angle.

The PA's I mentioned are expensive though. Really look for a 4 PA monitor solution. Run the set from a hard disk, like your Mac or PC. Ideally, you'd like to use a sole-hard disk player for live sets with pre-recorded music.

NEVER use a CD or DVD for live sets.

If you mix on tables, that's your decision on type of table.

You have to fit the music to the type of crowd. College chicks (if you're NOT a black fraternity) love anything that's mainstream hip-hop or Top 40 (like LadyGaGa.) Throw some friendly techno. If you're a in a HBC, then hip-hop all the way. Your target demo is what counts. It's what THEY want to hear, not what you want THEM to hear. Guys hate the music girls love, but girls love it. Girls are what matter.

Intersperse your own songs in between the hit-songs you play in the set. Don't play more than one original at a time. You need to keep the crowd pumped up.


The 2nd:
How should we split up the musical responsibilities? I was considering being in charge of the drums, samples, and hits, and he was going to be in charge of the synth melodies, the pads, and more techno-related type aspects of our sound.

Whatever most efficient. Trust me, you'll switch up in this area.

The 3rd:
Do any of you all have experiencing with DJing?

Yes. Your AUDIENCE is what counts, even if you hate the music. Your reward= hot girls come back to your parties and you guys are talked about on campus.

The final:
I was considering playing a few original songs and then each two or three songs, we would play a live remix made from a popular song. It's not always about what's hot in the mainstream to me personally, but I'm pretty sure if your a DJ/live performer, you must take into consideration the type of music the audience wants to hear, and give it to them.

Again, play originals in between hot popular tracks to keep the crowd pumped. Not everyone will feel your original music. That's the way it is. Keep the audience happy, give them what they want, but also showcase some of your own stuff in between songs. Keep your originals distanced from each other.

DJ'ing is about reading the energy in the crowd. A good set is planned out in advance. It depends on the music you're playing. If you can plan an hour long DJ set and have it written already, you're ahead of a lot of DJ's. If you can't calibrate a DJ set by understanding how the crowd reacts to what song, the ghetto shortcut is to just put on a guaranteed hit and then see if the crowd reacts positively.

Back in the day, 50 Cent's "In Da Club" was a certified track that guaranteed a positive reaction from the crowd. Lil' Jon used to be that way, too. It changes every year, but you need to know your crowd and play for the GIRLS in the crowd. THEY COUNT.

 

[eldiablo]

Just have alot of beer and have fun. the rest will follow!