SwingDJs

I just picked up the CD with "Jellyroll" on it last week. Good song. Rather than playing all 8 minutes, I am planning on fading in at around 3:00.

For anything that I might play. For original Cds, I keep them in three ring binder CD books, sorted by last name with compilations and soundtracks at the back. The jewel cases, liner notes, etc... are not kept in the binders, they are in boxes in a storage room. I print copies of the track listing. ...

I agree that DJs should be comped. However, there are situations that are borderline. A lot of times, quality DJs show up at the Exchange and they end up being put on the schedule at the last minute. In this case, do the organizers refund their registration? My though is that if a DJ gets added afte...

Yes, the whole "DJs can't be trusted with money" viewpoint is out there with some people. Ideally, DJs would get paid in cash. But, some of the powers that be in Austin have traditionally been hesitant to pay the DJs at all. Last year, I tried to get a DJ compensation plan through and it f...

We just started paying DJs at the Syndicate dances in Austin. It tooks years to get this approved. We finally got a Board that would go for it again (there was a brief three month experiment with DJ compensation a few years back). We get paid in half.com gift certificates. This makes people feel com...

Kind of timely topic, I was talking to one of our teachers last night. She is a newer teacher and she taught without her normal partner last night. Based on a casual conversation we had early in the day, she bumped up the tempo of the music last night. She was happy with the results. They were using...

Over the past two years I've been slowly burning all of my original CDs to mixes organized by artist, picking out all songs that I might play at a dance This is pretty much the same method I use. Also, whenever I make a mix CD, I log the tracks into a database. Periodically, I print a copy out of t...

That's very general. I like the idea of DJing little "sets' of 3-4 tunes and seguing to another set. Greg: Back during the first Albany Exchange, a certain DJ told me that they work under this approach. I have used it as a rule of thumb ever since. The trick is to get the bridges between the m...

It all depends on the venue and who is teaching the lesson. I try to pay attention to the who the intro lesson teacher is. We have four sets of teachers with four different ideas about what the best beginner music is. When the room is full of newbies, I will try to play something close to what their...

I don't mind requests. In general, people's intentions are good.

If the song is too weird, I always make announcement that it is a request.

Peter Cincotti A CD that just hit eMusic, in the vein of Diana Krall, Harry Connick, Jr. There are a couple of danceable songs on it. Still listening to it, I have not tested any for an audience yet. In any case, it is brand new release from Concord, the AMG write up for the artist is below... Peter...

I just noticed that the UMG stuff was pulled off eMusic. The short term contract had expired. No more Verve. Oh well, there is still a lot of other good music on the site and supposedly on much longer term contracts. I thought I would start a thread about songs/albums found on eMusic. Since, it one ...

Theme nights tend to draw out complaints, no matter what the theme. Sure, a lot of people like them. But, some people just notice what is being excluded. Locally, it has been awhile since we have had a theme night. I guess Christmas or Halloween were the last ones. Even then, there were always a few...

The problem with putting in an anti-war songs, is that those who don't share your view will feel the need to respond. When that happens, you bring unnecessary conflict into the event.

The shear volume of stuff you get from eMusic makes it worth it. No law saying you can't buy the real CDs later. Because of eMusic, I have a few hundred more jazz CDs than I would otherwise. As I am sure Greg will attest, you can still visit the records stores and download from eMusic. It is not a e...