'The Vibe' and the '135bpm Zone'

[trev]

I felt I had a bit of a failure on Saturday night and I'm wondering why.

The energy of the room was lacking and it was hard to keep the floor busy. A couple of tracks got NO dancers

I understand that there are many outside influences that contribute to how inspired a room of dancers feel (temperature, condition of the floor, lighting, gigs on previous nights, etc) but I'm thinking the music selection was the main problem. I DJed the same event 2 months ago and it went off in a big way (spontaneous jam sessions, full floor at diverse tempos etc)

The night got stuck in the "135bpm Zone".

This is obviously a simplification, but I find generally any decent track between 130bpm and 140bpm will fill the floor, and so if things are looking grim, a popular track in this range will get things going again, which was working.

The problem was that anything outside of this was met with little interest.

The other factor was that I was alternating DJ duties every 10 tracks or so with another DJ. He has different taste and tends to favour 50s/60s stuff, and since we were having trouble getting things inspired he played lots of popular & novelty tunes. I tend to prefer 30s/40s stuff, but i was playing things like 50s basie and transitioning to earlier stuff.

My theory is that the gentle tempos with the swing rhythm and more modern sound are easier to dance to, and if the floor gets used to it, it just seems like hard work to dance to something at 170bpm, let alone a 30s stomp! Perhaps if we'd had 2 hours a piece it would have allowed us to create an individual flow and it would have been different.

Anyway, Help! I'm still kind of new at this. What are people's thoughts on controlling the "vibe"?

[kitkat]

I don't like trading short sets for exactly this reason. If the other DJ's music is more "popular," it kills my attempts to get people to dance at 170, let alone a 30's stomp.

If the other DJ's music is less "popular," I'm the bad guy.

[GemZombie]

I've talked about a similar problem I had in this scene, and the solution I took. I doubt it will work for you, because I was basically the *only* DJ in my scene, and I think the solution requires you having *full* control of the music in our scene. However, you might try it anyway.

It's my theory that most of the people in a dance scene don't truly care about the music, and only go with the flow, they think they do though... however, you can't drastically change things, and it takes quite a bit of time.

I too had a scene where people really just wanted slow music. So I started every evening with songs being just a bit faster than the folks were used to. This works because when you come to a dance fresh, you don't necessarily have as much of a reference point on fast or slow, and therefore you set that reference point at the beginning of the night. You keep the average tempo up just a bit.

Just play some faster songs during the night and deal with the few people dancing, as long as most of the night you keep the floor jumping, these few moments will get fewer and fewer as people just give in and try, and decide it's not so bad.

Spread this out over months... it took me about a year, but now the folks in my scene love the faster songs. I dont' have to play neo-swing at all unless i'm in a funky mood and just want to screw around, and I only get asked to play slower stuff every so often when there are beginners present... the regulars want a mix of tempos, and get grumpy if they don't get that. I'm only glad to provide that, since it's exactly what I would want.

It's very manipulative, but I'd argue that this manipulation happens regardless of whether you mean to or not.

I also think it helps to have inspiring dancers that look good dancing to faster music.

The disclaimers is that I didn't have a competing DJ to deal with, it's a small scene and i'm also a dance teacher and teach the folks how to dance a bit faster.

[falty411]

It's my theory that most of the people in a dance scene don't truly care about the music, and only go with the flow, they think they do though...

Id say a good 99% of lindy hoppers dont really care what they dance to. They just want to dance and have fun. However, the viscous circle of Djs not playing enough faster (or slower) stuff will make people less able to dance to those types of songs, which means less people on the floor when the faster (or slower) song comes on, which means DJs play it less which means......and around and around you go.

Also tempos are not absolute, they are relative. Whats medium to me is probably not medium to you

[Mr Awesomer]

Id say a good 99% of lindy hoppers dont really care what they dance to.

99% of Lindy Hoppers or 99% of Swing dancers?

[Swifty]

Do you ever get tired of the same line?

[Toon Town Dave]

I think Reuben is too narrow in his generalization ... that should be "dancers", not "swing dancers".

trev, I think what probably had the greatest impact on your night was novelty songs. When novelty tracks are scarcely played, they can be fun. Too many and too often will kill a night on the spot. I've seen it happen in my scene ... as soon as the Shim Sham and other line/novelty dances are over, half the room leaves. If you still had a room full of dancers regardless of tempo, you were probably doing good.

[GemZombie]

It's my theory that most of the people in a dance scene don't truly care about the music, and only go with the flow, they think they do though...

Id say a good 99% of lindy hoppers dont really care what they dance to. They just want to dance and have fun. However, the viscous circle of Djs not playing enough faster (or slower) stuff will make people less able to dance to those types of songs, which means less people on the floor when the faster (or slower) song comes on, which means DJs play it less which means......and around and around you go.

Also tempos are not absolute, they are relative. Whats medium to me is probably not medium to you

True. And as I mentioned, you can adjusts a crowds relative tempo yourself if you start them off at a certain tempo. That's general as there are many (most people here I'd imagine) that are musically inclined enough to have their own internal tempo meter set.

The problem with too many DJs and scenes is that they pick a tempo and stick *too* close to that tempo all night. You have to make some drastic ups and down (not meaning you have to go from a 120bpm song so a 240bpm song, but over the course of a few songs you might want to do *something* like that -- it all depends on the mood, the songs, and the crowd).

All I know is that after a year of intentionally pushing the *average* tempo up, I have a crowd that will dance to tunes anywhere in the range of the low 100's to the the 250bpm range. In each extreme a few people will sit out, but that's to be expected. I am sure to play songs in all ranges.

I can play an entire night of music that not only do I enjoy, so do the dancers.

[Bob the Builder]

The novelty song is an interesting one. Normally I don't have much time for them (if you haven’t gathered); however I have found they can be used to your benefit.
If the room is getting very sleepy, low energy or just refuses to dance to upper tempos, here is what might do.
Play at least 3 or 4 songs in a row that are in their current comfort zone. Then throw in a much higher energy level novelty song. It will bring their energy level back up again and many of them will dance to it. I used the Muppets “Happy Feet” to solve that problem one at some very late night dancing.

Another trick would be to play a song of higher energy level that they (the local dancers) know really well and love. E.g. Taint what you do, or Miller slower version of "Jeep Jockey Jump". It should also help to bring the energy level up.
I was having a similar problem on night and Dave Davis' "Till Tom Special" solved it.

Energy level is something that is always going up and down in a room and you have to work with it. If they continue to have a lower (or upper) energy level for a long time, it’s not doing them any good, as they are going to get board and go home.

Brian

[Bob the Builder]

Another idea is some live music recordings. They can have great energy but can be in the slower tempo range and they are also a lot more warmly. Make sure you leave in the announcer at the start and the applause at the end. It will help bring the over all energy level up in the room.

[CafeSavoy]

I felt I had a bit of a failure on Saturday night and I'm wondering why.

The energy of the room was lacking and it was hard to keep the floor busy. A couple of tracks got NO dancers

The night got stuck in the "135bpm Zone".

This is obviously a simplification, but I find generally any decent track between 130bpm and 140bpm will fill the floor, and so if things are looking grim, a popular track in this range will get things going again, which was working.

The problem was that anything outside of this was met with little interest.

Anyway, Help! I'm still kind of new at this. What are people's thoughts on controlling the "vibe"?

It could just be that it was that kind of night. Maybe everybody had a tough day and just wanted to chill out. One of the things you have to figure out is when to push the crowd and when to just go along with their groove. Gemzombie example is great cause he did it over time. You can't make changes over night.

[Bob the Builder]

Ahh, I remember when I first went across to Perth people wouldn't dance unless it was fast. Times have changed.

B

[trev]

Don't ge me wrong, our scene can still bust it out when it wants to. There was a live gig the night before that was fast and furious (hmm, maybe that was the problem ) It was just a one-off flat night. I mean it could be that everyone actually enjoyed themselves, and were having too much fun just talking and hanging out with friends.

Roll on Hullabaloo!

[Mr Awesomer]

Do you ever get tired of the same line?

No.

[Nima]

When that happens I like to put a very fast song out there....240-270bpm. Yes, most of the floor clears except for a few daring people and the Bal Junkies.

After hearing a good fast song 180bpm's sounds like a breeze and the floor fills back up again.

But that's just my experience.

Nima