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You have spent days in preparation for your get-together. The day finally arrives. Only for you to discover that you had forgotten about hiring a DJ, or worse, you find out that the professional DJ you hired has bounced you for a bigger gig. Let’s take another example, you have been assigned the DJ role at your friend’s party because you are known to be trendy when it comes to songs.  You cannot reject it without ruffling a few feathers or step on other toes. Do not panic. Here, are some tips you would need to become a Disk Jockey: Choose your equipment: Take your time and carefully select the tools you need. Either a laptop or a mobile phone. An equipment you are familiar with would keep you in a secured comfort zone. Check out for your speakers, if needed. Always have an extra. Do not store up hopes on electricity, hence, get a generator with a full tank ready. Check out for the wires you would use, to check if they are fray and needs to be taped. Prepare your playlist: Because it’s a spur of the moment, select and gather your songs as quickly as you can. Download songs that you know people love. Do not bank on using the internet. Things happen, the network may be unavailable or slow. Get good mixtapes to supplement your collection. Arrange your songs in the order of genres so they are easily accessible. Collect available songs from friends, loved ones around you before the celebration kick starts. Play For Your Audience: As a DJ, you determine the tempo of the ‘owanmbe’. If the party fails, the blame would most likely be at your feet.  Understand the audience you are playing for. Cater to your audience. Your goal is to get them dancing and not sleeping. Sometimes, a party can have mixed audience, tailor your music to their needs. Don’t play what you think you like but what your audience likes. Do Not Leave Your Audience Out of the Equation: Your Audience is the most important tool besides your mixer. Watch both your equipment and the dance floor.  A lot of DJ make the mistake of playing music for a particular section of the audience. Start with slow songs while your audience is arriving. Watch out for reactions to the songs and save for later. Those ones that had a few tapping feet to the beat. If a song has the dance-floor emptying out or people complaining, quickly switch it. Increase the Pace of the Music: If you are able to get a couple of people on the dance floor, concentrate on keeping them there. It’s not always about you playing the street anthems, mix it up. As the party progresses, keep the tempo progressing also. Sometimes, you can play old-school songs, to bring back memories. Be sure to control the waves. Listen to Requests: As a DJ, apart from finding the perfect mix, keep the audience happy. It is your responsibility to always listen to requests from the audience. It is however not compulsory to take them. Try not to be rude, keep your anger at bay when requests are thrown at you. I attended an event where an angry guest kept shouting about a particular track he wanted, “Mad Over You”, and a replay of that song didn’t put him at peace as he wanted it all through the party, an impossibility.  Basically, everyone thinks that they would be a better DJ. But news flash: “disk jockeying, no be beans” Avoid Awkward Pauses: Two minutes pauses in between your tracks is not good enough. Protect your audience from boredom by mixing your songs. Or, not waiting for the song to fade out before cluing in your preferred songs. This would save your audience from buffering on the dance floor. Get a Side Kick:  Always have a trusted friend with you. This would enable you to take a much-needed break. Also, he/she would assist you to get your meals, protect your equipment from stragglers among other things. This is not always necessary but will do you a whole lot of good. Do Not Take Your Drink Near Your Equipment: Never ever put your drink next to your gear. That is the number 1 rule of every Disk jockey.  It can spew on your equipment and ruin it. Have Fun:  All these rules are not set on stone. The basic rule is to have fun while turning tables. Whatever you think of doing, remember to do just that. Relax, it’s just the nerves speaking. You are doing really great.
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This article was first published on 28th July 2017

adepeju

Adepeju Adenuga is a writer (considering where you are reading this, makes perfect sense). She holds a Masters Degree in Literature in English from the University of Lagos.

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