I guess Karma works in a weird way.
A few weeks ago on here I made the statement that DJs werent musicians but wannabees.
Yesterday for the 4th yr I took my 11 yr old daughter to a daddy/daughter dance that benefits a local childrens hospital. For the last 3 yrs they have had this great DJ do the gig. His name is Rockin Robin. My daughter and I both were looking forward to this dance cause this guy always got the crowd going. You know the type, he gets the mic and leads the dancing, the Chicken, the Hokie Pokie, interviews the little girls and lets them sing in the mic on the chorus's.
Well this year they hired a new guy. Hes playing the music too quiet to dance too. When he turns it up the music is real mushy sounding like he has some blown horns in his speakers. I mean how hard is it too eq canned music? I ease around and look at his eq settings and he has hollowed out all the mids and boosted the bass. Im no expert but that doesnt look right to me. Then he lets everyone know that they can Karoake so come sign up. This is a 2 hr event for presumably dancing and we get a cute 5 yr old who doesnt have a clue what she is singing. After shes done he has a suprise, he has recorded her and we get to hear it again! Instead of dancing we all get to stop and watch these little girls try to sing. Finally some sanity, one of the heads comes up and tells him no more Karoake. Then we are left to ourselves without a clue what is going on to dance. Of course he plays a bunch of Hannah Montana style music and all the little girls are singing and dancing like their favorites. As long as they are having fun what to heck.
Anyway, Leaving I thought what a difference a good entertaining DJ can make at this kind of event. I still dont consider DJs musicians maybe more of a performance artist. The whole thing had me thinking coming home about audiences and music and what we all expect. I guess I was an average consumer I wanted to hear the same ole music so me and my daughter could dance and have fun. We did have fun but not as much as we would have if the DJ wouldve done a better job. I think this can apply to us as musicians also. We talk on here about doing your own thing and doing it your way as a form of artistic freedom, but maybe those people in the audience dont want to hear what you have to offer. Maybe they want the generic some old thing to get their kicks. I know there are venues that allow you to do your thing, but if someone is paying to dance and have an entertaining night that doesnt center on the band maybe we should all give them what they want. Oh yeah and get paid for it of course.
JW
A few weeks ago on here I made the statement that DJs werent musicians but wannabees.
Yesterday for the 4th yr I took my 11 yr old daughter to a daddy/daughter dance that benefits a local childrens hospital. For the last 3 yrs they have had this great DJ do the gig. His name is Rockin Robin. My daughter and I both were looking forward to this dance cause this guy always got the crowd going. You know the type, he gets the mic and leads the dancing, the Chicken, the Hokie Pokie, interviews the little girls and lets them sing in the mic on the chorus's.
Well this year they hired a new guy. Hes playing the music too quiet to dance too. When he turns it up the music is real mushy sounding like he has some blown horns in his speakers. I mean how hard is it too eq canned music? I ease around and look at his eq settings and he has hollowed out all the mids and boosted the bass. Im no expert but that doesnt look right to me. Then he lets everyone know that they can Karoake so come sign up. This is a 2 hr event for presumably dancing and we get a cute 5 yr old who doesnt have a clue what she is singing. After shes done he has a suprise, he has recorded her and we get to hear it again! Instead of dancing we all get to stop and watch these little girls try to sing. Finally some sanity, one of the heads comes up and tells him no more Karoake. Then we are left to ourselves without a clue what is going on to dance. Of course he plays a bunch of Hannah Montana style music and all the little girls are singing and dancing like their favorites. As long as they are having fun what to heck.
Anyway, Leaving I thought what a difference a good entertaining DJ can make at this kind of event. I still dont consider DJs musicians maybe more of a performance artist. The whole thing had me thinking coming home about audiences and music and what we all expect. I guess I was an average consumer I wanted to hear the same ole music so me and my daughter could dance and have fun. We did have fun but not as much as we would have if the DJ wouldve done a better job. I think this can apply to us as musicians also. We talk on here about doing your own thing and doing it your way as a form of artistic freedom, but maybe those people in the audience dont want to hear what you have to offer. Maybe they want the generic some old thing to get their kicks. I know there are venues that allow you to do your thing, but if someone is paying to dance and have an entertaining night that doesnt center on the band maybe we should all give them what they want. Oh yeah and get paid for it of course.
JW
"A winks as good as nod to a blind man"
