Dances and Clubs
 

I'm just wondering what you guys like and don't like about dances and clubs. I'm doing an event at my University that will hopefully be like a really big dance at a club. So... I know what I like, but I'm trying to get some outside opinions.

(As a note-- We already have drinks and hot girls, so no need to suggest that ;).)

lol, i know you already have it, but yes, hot girls is number one, lol, but realistically, i don't like smokers in the building, and i don't like too small places with alot of people. Bad music is another. Drinks, i don't like cheap drinks. if we go out, we're going to spend money and have a good time, so cheap alcohol is not cool! Usually a turn off as well, for the next party night planning.

Bad music will certainly be a major concern of mine. But that's sadly subjective. I am going with a Techno/R&B/Hip-Hop/Electronica/Pop theme. So, hopefully people at least know what they are in for.

I'm not to worried about the place being too small, the building holds 2400 people before it gets smashed at all... I'm more worried about the place feeling empty ;). But with enough suggestions from y'all, perhaps that won't be a concern.

Get some live music maybe? DJs can be very hit or miss, and when I was in Chicago last couple weeks ago for CCA training, I hit a few bars and clubs and they all played the same crappy electronic music, which apparently is blowing up in Chicago right now.

I prefer to see a live music act be it rock n roll, hip hop, soul, jazz, blues, whatever. If its live I like it better than almost every DJ I have ever seen.

Somewhere to chill out and be able to hear a conversation can be handy when you want a break from the noise.

I agree with the no smoking indoors too. Maybe provide a designated smokers' garden away from the entrance so you don't have to run the gauntlet.

Moderate the alcohol abuse so you don't get too much agro.

Educate the bouncers so they don't kick anyone's head in.

Cool light show/ general mood lighting is important for atmosphere.

@tlarkin -- Well, part of the dance is a music competition, and people are turning in tracks early to have them played for the dance. Also, I'm the DJ, and I'll never admit that I suck so... ;). But I'll make sure I keep the playlist diverse inside of the genres we are playing.

@fazstp -- I like the "talking area" idea, and I'll have to see what we can do about that. The hard part would be making it obvious that we have set a section aside for that...

Make sure that there are enough bar staff.

There is nothing worse than spending half your evening waiting to be served at the bar. It keeps you away from the music, away from your friends, and away from enjoying the night.

I've been to a lot of places that lure people in with cheap drink promos, then have so few bar staff working that getting more than two rounds in is an achievement. The problem gets even worse when people realise the problem, and start to order more drinks than they normally would.


And I agree with some of the other responses - especially the need for a separate (and quieter) area to chat. Distinct areas for dancing and chilling are very important in my book.

Good DJ's play whatever the majority of the current audience likes, while trying to keep a certain 'mood' to the party. It's hard to please everybody. Some stick to only one or two genres, which isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on the event. Some bars/clubs specifically tell the DJ's to stick to a certain type of music.

Bad DJ's play only what they like to listen to, even if everyone else hates it, or play music totally unrelated to the type of even that is being held.

There's also the live-mixing DJ's, who make electronic music on-the-fly. Now that requires a lot more skill than DJ's who just mix pre-recorded songs by other artists.

Yeah, that's the thing, the Dj's got to have a good sense of what the crowd wants. I wouldn't give advice based on my tastes, half my friends can't stand the DJs I pay to see.

Yeah that's what Ableton Live is for, mixed with my loop library from Logic/Garage Band. Honestly, I think that mixing together recorded music with my loops in a live setting is the hardest. But it's also the most fun.

But yeah, I very much agree that the music should be a mixture of theme/what the crowd likes. Granted, it's really hard to play to everyone in the crowd, but I think our advertising is pointed specifically enough in one direction that we should be able to do that.

You guys do bring up one of my greatest fears, that I'm only playing music I like... I'm just going to try and get as good a feel as a can for it before I head in, then just feel the crowd out (just like always).

All this talk about music does remind of one thing though, it really is the music that will make or break the event.

Yeah, but Ableton takes away from the skilled DJs and allows the novice DJ to easily make live mixes and remixes.

I personally think that Live allows a good DJ to become even better, but I honestly don't think their is a cure for mediocrity. Live only makes it so that being a good DJ is more a matter of artistic ability than technical know how, it won't give you a good ear, any knowledge of beats or any idea how music theory works. I prefer it this way. Just because a person can use a beat syncer doesn't mean they have any idea what to do once the beat is synced right?

Point being, give it a couple years so that the experts get a chance to really explore Live. About that time we'll see that the experts are still rocking the house while the mediocre are...still mediocre.

I, too, think that it's unfair to blame Ableton Live. I don't see how it takes away from skilled DJs. An unskilled DJ may not have developed a good ear for transitions, track sequencing, and layering, and giving them Ableton isn't going to change that. The skilled DJ will still get the gigs. It's like the old argument of "omg, digital ____ is ruining the traditional art of ____".

Simple transitions and remixing is also a completely different subject from on-the-fly set building, where you walk into a room with no pre-recorded tracks, only a MacBook Pro full of loops or even just MIDI files, and from that, "play" Live as an instrument to build a complete set of deep, layered, mixed-on-the-fly pieces that sounds like he brought in a crate of finished records. The ability to create an hours-long performance from scratch with basic building blocks and no actual records goes beyond traditional DJ-ing and starts to move into the granularity of jazz-level improvisational performance, and the ultimate flexibility to respond to the audience.

And quite honestly, that's what has me excited about Live. I'm going to go in there with not just a sound bank, but also a midi keyboard and a guitar. I mean, why not just throw the whole thing together if you can? I wonder if I can find a midi enabled guitar peddle too...

Hey I am in no way against technology making things better, I was just stating something from a traditionalist point of view. Hell, I still buy and collect vinyl.:D

And, last I checked, that makes you automatically the shiz. So don't worry about anything else ;). I have to ask, what do you have? What do you play it on? (I have to admit, despite my prior comments, I wish I could use a turn table more effectively...)

I hate clubs and dances with a burning passion, because around my area, that's where it's considered the norm to find really crappy dates and such. Also, they make electronic music look bad. Around here, it's normally rap and hip-hop.

But I guess I'm a bit biased since I'm pretty anti-social.

asbo :)

anways, do you have a theme for the night?

Robots, or something to that effect. Might sound kind of, I dunno, lame. But at my school lame is the new cool (we like dumb jokes around here.) So it should work.

Hmm. how do you dress up as a search robot say Google :D

Daft Punk anyone? :)
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...aft_Punk_2.jpg

I guess that would be a good music choice for a robot theme. Some people might not like their older stuff, but their "Discovery" album is well known for songs like "One More Time" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".

Their live performance was a bit of a epileptic light show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGECJP3phyY

what are they doing in that video except shaking their heads :s

Mixing with all of this:
http://assets1.pitchforkmedia.com/im...dedaftpunk.jpg
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...ip-infiltrated

Holy.......

and they do all that with those massive helmets on?

Yep... I still don't know how they see with those things on.

Well, you caught me on that one (not that it wasn't obvious). Daft Punk are some of my musical heros. In a 3 hour set, they're in there 3 times. And yeah, they kind of are the theme in many ways. I'm trying to make it seem a little less obvious (since, you know, we shouldn't just do what I want), but I'm sure some of it will shine right through.

From them I'm taking:
Harder Better Faster Stronger
One More Time
Something About Us

I don't think anyone will recognize the last one, it's just a good slow Rumba, so I think I'll get away with it.

Well, for pop music, there's always whatever's on the Billboard Hot 100.

I'm actually an aspiring "bedroom" DJ, but I have to admit I completely suck at even basic mixing. :/

Aerodynamic is also a great tune in my view - fantastic guitars. Alive is a good track too, though it may not fit with the musical style you're going for...

EDIT: Since you're going for R&B and Electronica as genres, may I suggest Kanye West's 'Stronger' which contains a rather large sample of Daft Punk's 'Harder Better Faster Stronger'.


Just for a bit of inspiration, here's a few of my favourite house/trance tracks from the last few years:

'Shot You Down', Audio Bullys feat. Nancy Sinatra
'Insatiable', Thick Dick feat. Latanza Waters
'Push the Feeling On', The Nightcrawlers (a bit older)
'Yeah Yeah', Bodyrox
'Love Don't Let Me Go', David Guetta vs. The Egg
'The Joker', Fatboy Slim

'As the Rush Comes', Motorcycle
'Exploration of Space', Cosmic Gate
'Silence', Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan (preferably Tiesto's 'In Search of Sunrise' mix)
'Somebody to Love (Ian Knowles Remix)', Boogie Pimps
'Anthem', Filo and Perry feat. Eric Lumiere


And as an all-time great rock/dance cross-over:

'Sit Down (Apollo 440 Remix)', James


Now if only I could find a club where I live that would play this stuff... :rolleyes:

You could always hire these chicks, totally SFW

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bl6RJyZdBSU

Thanks EatsWithFingers, I'll give those tracks a look.

I actually listen to almost all of what you listen to :) . You do know that's more electronic (erm all electronic) than pop/rock/hip-hop, right? Anyway I think "Push the Feeling On" is back from 1995 and some words repeating over and over again that I could never understand. Also, the new song by Bodyrox & Luciana is "What Planet U On?". "Anthem" was on the top dance charts (and still is).

Haven't heard a lot of them, but it's always good to listen to what people suggest, because it helps give you an idea of what other people like. Sides, I might use a couple of them.

Most of the night is going to be music with electronic back beats, soo... I only am using pop in as much as it uses electronic back beats (think more Justin or OutKast than Nickleback or Fall Out Boy). I don't think we're going to be doing much rock (or any, really) because the basic musical them is to have most of the song be electronically generated. And most rock musicians kind of shun that idea (and for good reason, I like rock, it's just not the theme this time though.)

As far as the hip-hop tracks go..take a look at timbalands album...pretty much anything on there will do. And get some 2pac and dr. dre classics that everyone knows, and for the love of all thats sane, DONT put on soulja boy