Like most of my articles, this one was inspired by a recent post I saw in a Facebook group. A DJ had made a post asking for tips and instruction on how to program his lights via DMX, which is one of my favorite topics. However, he was looking for advice specifically dealing with a hardware DMX controller, and in the comments, other DJs were repeatedly encouraging him to make the switch to a software program. "For the price," they correctly said, "it will make your life SO much easier." While today's article isn't about choosing between a hardware or software DMX controller, there is a valuable lesson to be learned in this post. Sometimes... [read more]

If you've ever watched a DMC DJ competition you've most likely been as blown away as I have by the crazy amounts of talent that the participants possess. From behind-the-back scratching to intense tone-play routines, the DJs seem to always have fresh new ways to mix, transition, and blend the tracks they use in their sets. As mobile DJs, we may not have as many opportunities to utilize such radical mixing techniques in our dance sets, but I contend that the fundamentals, such as beat-matching and understanding phrasing, are some of the most important skills to master. In most circles, it goes without saying that for someone to be considered... [read more]

What is an MC? Ask any DJ and you'll get a variety of answers. First, let's start with what an "MC" even means. Some will say it's for a "Master of Ceremonies," others may say "Mic Controller," and others may say "Mic Chief." In a way, these are all correct. For me, however, I believe an MC is a Master of Ceremonies. An MC is not only a host, but also controls the event flow and timeline. Yes, a coordinator may be present, and you may have the timeline, ahead of time, but it is up to the DJ/MC to ensure that the event flows as the client wants it to, especially if there is not a wedding planner or day-of-coordinator, present. So do all DJs also serve as an MC? It depends on the DJ or DJ company. Some DJs will say "I don't MC" and I don't make any announcements, at all." This is quite surprising to me, as a... [read more]

Standing out is essential to building our personal brand. Excelling at the service we provide can help us to grow our business, but to truly become a well-known figure in our local markets we need to develop a quality (or multiple) that distinguishes us from the hordes of other DJs and entertainment options that our potential clients have to choose from. Some DJs are known for a specific service they provide; you may be the only person in your neck of the woods that's offering indoor fireworks or light-up LOVE letters. Other DJs are well known for their personalities. My good friend Rob Ferre is known as the goofy, outgoing guy in the crazy suits that loves to work with kids. Joe Bunn is the man with the southern accent who has an obsession with shoes. You see, what sets you apart is YOU - it doesn't hav... [read more]

The views in this article are entirely my own. I purchased these speakers with my own money and am not receiving any incentive to write this article. A little over a month ago, I began a search for a new powered wedding ceremony speaker. My criteria were simple; I wanted something compact, lightweight, aesthetically pleasing, powerful, and of course, it needed to sound great. After deciding I wanted a 10" speaker, I began researching every powered model on the market today. Seeing as I already have 2 main systems that were both expensive and powerful, I just wanted a speaker that could deliver clean speech during a wedding and have enough juice to play some dinner music in a remote area. After a lot of searching, I kept noticing the new Alto TS 300 series popping up at the top of my queries. Alto speakers... [read more]

There are a lot of lessons in business that we are able to learn from books, videos, and articles. Others we learn from trusted friends and mentors. Some lessons, however, must be learned from the harsh hand of experience. This weekend provided me with such an opportunity, and today I'd like to share the lesson I learned about asking enough to questions to be properly prepared for an event. When the client (a 15-year-old girl) first reached out to me about using my services at her sweet 16, I thought to myself "Sweet! A birthday party will be an easy event and a needed break from the hectic wedding season." We had a quick conversation ab... [read more]

I'm not the biggest fan of effect lights; all too often they are seen as the tacky, cliche DJ light that flashes and spins throughout an entire party. However, there are just some effects that can't be recreated with wash lighting or even moving heads. A few months back I was on the hunt for a mirror ball-type effect, but I knew I didn't want to haul and set up an actual mirror ball. Enter the ADJ Mini Dekker. At only $79 a pop, you could grab 4 of these lights and still be out less than the price of a decent entry-level moving head. Like all my ADJ products, it's well made and (to my surprise and happiness) super compact. Inside you'l... [read more]

When packing our vehicles for events, there are certain things that always end up being loaded for every event: our music source (usually a laptop), speakers, controller or mixer, cabling, and maybe a table. We can consider these our "DJ Essentials." A lot of us, however, also keep our DJ bags loaded with other things that we know might come in handy or save our butts should things go south (extra batteries for our microphones or a spare hard drive with music, for example). With time and experience, our list of essentials grows to include some things that may not be as obvious to newer DJs, and today I present to you my personal "not-so-obvi... [read more]

A little over a year ago, I set out to do something I had never done before. I decided to write a book. The topic I chose to write this book about was one I am extremely passionate about; lighting for the Mobile DJ. Always a hot topic in the forums and facebook groups, lighting is a subject that few DJs can resist chatting about. For someone new to the DJ or lighting game, the sheer amount of information available on the internet can be overwhelming. Hundreds of articles and thousands of videos are available to read and view, but where does the DJ who has never done more than plug in an effect light start? Which fixtures should they add to their inventory? How do they choose a DMX controller? What are the best lighting upsells for weddings? Over the years of obsessively learning about lighting myself, I... [read more]

So recently I've done a couple of videos on mirror balls and some people have asked me this question. Where do you put the lights? And I thought it was kind of an odd question at first until I realized that there's a whole generation of DJs out there who never used one of these. These have kind of fallen out of fashion, but they're back in a big way. They're cool again. So this is a little more tricky than if you have the ball in the middle of a room like you would in a ballroom or a skating rink or something like that. You can have lights coming in from several different directions hitting the mirror ball and illuminating the entire space, but as a mobile DJ, you're kind of stuck against a wall. You don't have a lot of room to put lights. So this is how we used to do it back in the old days with three ... [read more]