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Complain about my DJing

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:44 am
by Swifty
I started a little thread on Yehoodi inviting people to complain about my DJing, since people love to complain and I thought I'd try to invite some actual productive conversation. Feel free to chime in, or just watch the bloodbath.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 10:23 am
by fredo
looks like people want more groove and funk...


nice idea for the complaint thread, though even if you say "hit me" most people will still pull punches on a public forum. I usually just wait for someone else in my scene to tell me what they hear people saying on the sidelines....usually Brenda wont hesitate to tell me when her friends prefer her deejaying over mine. :cry: haha

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:39 am
by lipi
fredo wrote: even if you say "hit me" most people will still pull punches on a public forum.
so this made me laugh, but then, i remember usenet. also jivejunction. ;o)

anyway: why'd you play "things ain't what they used to be" twice, swifty? was there a reason, or just a slip?

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 12:13 pm
by Surreal
I find that playing songs to offend all people equally is much easier than trying to please everyone. The complaints are only marginally higher, but I don't worry nearly as much.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 12:46 pm
by Swifty
lipi wrote:
fredo wrote: even if you say "hit me" most people will still pull punches on a public forum.
so this made me laugh, but then, i remember usenet. also jivejunction. ;o)

anyway: why'd you play "things ain't what they used to be" twice, swifty? was there a reason, or just a slip?
That was actually just a cut & paste mistake. I only played it the one time to lead off the second set. Devona had played Gene Harris' marathon "Summertime" preceeding it.

Funny that no one pointed it out until now.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:22 pm
by remysun
It's only a problem if you're in denial, because how do you improve if you think that you can't improve?

Ask all the questions:
How complete is your collection? Are you stuck with one groove, or can you mix it up if you have to? Are you still making additions to your collection? If you're a regular, are you turning over your set list, or always playing the same stuff? How often are you going off on your own whim or definition of swing music, instead of the crowd's?

You know who the dancers are-- Are they dancing?

You know who the first timers and beginners are-- are you encouraging them?

How often can you accomodate requests? Remember, a fulfilled request makes at least one person happy, because you've listened to them. If it's one of those overplayed songs that will piss someone else off, try skipping the other overplay you were thinking about and go with the request instead. Then try to find some hidden gems to appease the dance gods. When you're playing a little old, a little new, something borrowed, something blue, it's more than just the ingredients for a good wedding.

Remember, there is no perfect score, and we are often blind to our faults.

Scenes and venues die when these issues are ignored. It's the same trad music week after week, or maybe the music is never really swing. But what often happens is the DJ seems to think they know more than the crowd, but they don't, because the crowd knows to stay away. And once that happens, it's hard to get them back.

So, if you spot it,
You got it.

You can do something about it.

Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:11 am
by Lawrence
(Actually, I think he was looking for more specific feedback from people who actually listened to his sets. Swifty has been DJing longer than most of the people on this board, and he has a huge collection. He probably just doesn't want to get in a rut.)

Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:34 pm
by remysun
Lawrence wrote:(Actually, I think he was looking for more specific feedback from people who actually listened to his sets. Swifty has been DJing longer than most of the people on this board, and he has a huge collection. He probably just doesn't want to get in a rut.)
Oh, okay. Good for him.

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 7:35 pm
by Toon Town Dave
fredo wrote:nice idea for the complaint thread, though even if you say "hit me" most people will still pull punches on a public forum. I usually just wait for someone else in my scene to tell me what they hear people saying on the sidelines....usually Brenda wont hesitate to tell me when her friends prefer her deejaying over mine. :cry: haha
This most important group, the silent majority is never heard from either way. If the music was bad, people would stop coming. I they come back, it can't be that bad. I've seen DJ's that try to appease a vocal individuals at the cost of the crowd.

How about soliciting feedback form peer DJs? I don't mean on whether the like the music but more on how they feel you read and played to the room? I've been to events where I personally hated the music but I still thought the DJ did a good job playing to the floor.

If it's any consolation Freddie, I thought you did a fantastic job Saturday late-night at Camp Jitterbug. Lots of solid swinging tunes that made me want to dance. Enough stuff for musical dancers to play with yet clear enough for the not so musical dancers plus a great tempo range for the crowd.

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 7:40 pm
by Toon Town Dave
Surreal wrote:I find that playing songs to offend all people equally is much easier than trying to please everyone. The complaints are only marginally higher, but I don't worry nearly as much.
Did you consider that the complaints didn't go up because the people who don't like the music just quit coming or are too polite to say anything. Especially in a small scene with a limited number of DJs, the dancers can be appreciative of a DJ despite marginal quality music because the DJ is a volunteer and there are few if any alternatives.

I take all complaints and compliments with a grain of salt.

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 11:53 pm
by fredo
Thanks very much, Dave. I enjoyed the music all weekend and was happy to be a part of it. Nevertheless, I can appreciate the other half of your advice as well:
Toon Town Dave wrote:I take all complaints and compliments with a grain of salt.

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:35 am
by Surreal
Toon Town Dave wrote:
Surreal wrote:I find that playing songs to offend all people equally is much easier than trying to please everyone. The complaints are only marginally higher, but I don't worry nearly as much.
Did you consider that the complaints didn't go up because the people who don't like the music just quit coming or are too polite to say anything. Especially in a small scene with a limited number of DJs, the dancers can be appreciative of a DJ despite marginal quality music because the DJ is a volunteer and there are few if any alternatives.

I take all complaints and compliments with a grain of salt.
You have to take my original comment as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, but it does sort of reflect my attitude sometimes. I used to really worry about what music to play because I was trying to please everyone at the same time. I would avoid tons of songs because person A didn't like this and person B didn't like that, etc. and what wound up happening was I would just play the same "safe" songs that everyone was agreeable to. As my collection grew however, I tried to play different music. Some people really liked it, some people didn't, and I was back to the safe list again because I was afraid of complaints.

My problem was that I was paranoid of criticism. Even if a song got a lot of people dancing, I was only watching the people sitting out, wondering what I did wrong. It took me a while to grow a thicker skin and realize that people will complain no matter what you do.

So nowadays I'm less afraid to experiment or disappoint. I'll cycle through the groups and keep the various dancers happy with music that I know they'll like. When I do the opposite and pick stuff that I know some people specifically don't like, it usually balances out because someone will really like it.

... or I could just be a lousy dj. I've heard the complaints through the grapevine ("eclectic" would be the polite term I've heard attributed to me). Moreso from djs than dancers. Meh.

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:29 pm
by Lawrence
Surreal wrote:
Toon Town Dave wrote:
Surreal wrote:I find that playing songs to offend all people equally is much easier than trying to please everyone. The complaints are only marginally higher, but I don't worry nearly as much.
Did you consider that the complaints didn't go up because the people who don't like the music just quit coming or are too polite to say anything. Especially in a small scene with a limited number of DJs, the dancers can be appreciative of a DJ despite marginal quality music because the DJ is a volunteer and there are few if any alternatives.

I take all complaints and compliments with a grain of salt.
You have to take my original comment as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, but it does sort of reflect my attitude sometimes. I used to really worry about what music to play because I was trying to please everyone at the same time. I would avoid tons of songs because person A didn't like this and person B didn't like that, etc. and what wound up happening was I would just play the same "safe" songs that everyone was agreeable to. As my collection grew however, I tried to play different music. Some people really liked it, some people didn't, and I was back to the safe list again because I was afraid of complaints.

My problem was that I was paranoid of criticism. Even if a song got a lot of people dancing, I was only watching the people sitting out, wondering what I did wrong. It took me a while to grow a thicker skin and realize that people will complain no matter what you do.

So nowadays I'm less afraid to experiment or disappoint. I'll cycle through the groups and keep the various dancers happy with music that I know they'll like. When I do the opposite and pick stuff that I know some people specifically don't like, it usually balances out because someone will really like it.

... or I could just be a lousy dj. I've heard the complaints through the grapevine ("eclectic" would be the polite term I've heard attributed to me). Moreso from djs than dancers. Meh.
Sounds like a lot of rationalizing specific to your own situation, which does not translate very well into generalized advice for others.

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:02 pm
by Surreal
Which once again rolls back to the tongue-in-cheek thing. Geez, I was just trying to make a dumb joke. I am the last person anyone should be taking advice from.

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:08 pm
by fredo
Lawrence wrote:Sounds like a lot of rationalizing specific to your own situation, which does not translate very well into generalized advice for others.
Don't worry Lawrence, most of your generalized advice for others doesn't translate very well into rational situations, so there's probably room for both approaches to posting on a forum.