Clearing The Floor

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Haydn
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Clearing The Floor

#1 Post by Haydn » Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:37 am

I've heard some DJs talk about 'clearing the floor' - because it's too crowded or they want people to go to another room. Has anyone got any experience of this? If a floor is too crowded, how would you clear it - and how would you get people back on the floor?

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#2 Post by penguin » Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:00 am

Well I would have to listen to what Frankie Manning said about the Savoy.

The only way they could clear the hall was to play a waltz. :o

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CafeSavoy
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Re: Clearing The Floor

#3 Post by CafeSavoy » Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:34 pm

Haydn wrote:I've heard some DJs talk about 'clearing the floor' - because it's too crowded or they want people to go to another room. Has anyone got any experience of this? If a floor is too crowded, how would you clear it - and how would you get people back on the floor?
Clearing the floor is generally not a good thing. It generally means there is a disconnect between you and the dancers. That's generally when you followup with "Whoever Got Your Back."

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#4 Post by Toon Town Dave » Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:41 pm

I have yet to find music that actually clears the floor. The best I could probably do would be alternating periods of silence and mic feedback.

Depending on the venue/scene, waltz music can be quite well received.

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#5 Post by Nate Dogg » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:33 pm

The main venue I DJ has two room, when I DJ the secondary (side) room and we need to have people go to the main room for a special function or something, I just announce it. That is a very rare case (if we have Halloween costume contest or something else along those line).

Playing music that does not work for the dancers seems like a silly idea. Also, you don't want to get negative recognition. Most dancers don't know why you were sucking, they will just remember that you sucked.

Nathan

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fredo
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#6 Post by fredo » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:04 pm

I've not heard many djs use the phrase "clear the floor" as a statement of intent, but I have heard it as a statement of observation.

not so much, "This next one should clear the floor." [mwahaha]

but more, "wow, that song really cleared the floor." [doh!]


What I mean is, I've seen djs with a packed floor start to play music that pushes the boundaries in whichever direction they were going, and that has in effect caused the floor to lose some people. I think the phrase "clear the floor" is a bit of hyperbole.

For example, if a deejay is climbing in tempo and the floor stays full, they may keep going thinking perhaps there are people who want to dance faster. Maybe the next song will be too fast for some and cause the floor to "clear out" leaving less people than before. The same could be done going the other direction, playing a really slow tune that only some people want to dance to. I've usually seen it done using tempo, but I'm sure you could unintentionally cause the numbers of those dancing to go down in plenty of other ways.

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CafeSavoy
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#7 Post by CafeSavoy » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:46 pm

Toon Town Dave wrote:I have yet to find music that actually clears the floor. The best I could probably do would be alternating periods of silence and mic feedback.

Depending on the venue/scene, waltz music can be quite well received.
I think you should check with Kitkat [?], i think she posted that she had some experience with that skill.

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CafeSavoy
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#8 Post by CafeSavoy » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:16 pm

CafeSavoy wrote:
Toon Town Dave wrote:I have yet to find music that actually clears the floor. The best I could probably do would be alternating periods of silence and mic feedback.

Depending on the venue/scene, waltz music can be quite well received.
More seriously, I agree with you, i think absolute floor clearers are more rare. I think what happens more often is that the timing of the song is wrong, or it doesn't resonate with that particular crowd, or both. Also, mood and circumstance can have an effect. For example, if there are several rooms, people are more apt to clear than if there was only one room. But I think since everyone can experience a thinning (hopefully not a clearing), the real question is how do you recover.

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Platypus
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#9 Post by Platypus » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:31 pm

At the end of a night where everyone lingered after the lights were turned out and the air conditioning turned off, a friend played one of those horribly boring French lesson practice tapes. Cleared the room immediately.

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fredo
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#10 Post by fredo » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:27 pm

Axel Kihara on the mic singing Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin...

... a maddeningly horrifying sound to be sure.

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Re: Clearing The Floor

#11 Post by Haydn » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:20 am

CafeSavoy wrote:Clearing the floor is generally not a good thing. It generally means there is a disconnect between you and the dancers. That's generally when you followup with "Whoever Got Your Back."
OK - so for clarification, when I said clearing the floor, I didn't really mean completely clearing it, I meant a positive strategy of reducing the numbers on a packed floor. I guess a packed floor is self-limiting in a way because dancers stay away or leave the floor if it's too crowded, not enough space, too many collisions etc. But perhaps a DJ can help in these conditions? Or is there another way to deal with an over-crowded floor? Do you slow down the music, or does that kill the energy?

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Mr Awesomer
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Re: Clearing The Floor

#12 Post by Mr Awesomer » Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:59 am

Haydn wrote:I meant a positive strategy of reducing the numbers on a packed floor.
Just push tempos in either direction.

Faster tempos will reduce the number willing/able to keep up.
Slower tempos will make people dance smaller.
Reuben Brown
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wspeid
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#13 Post by wspeid » Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:54 pm

If you are playing music that has all the people out of their seats dancing and the floor is packed, it is the responsibility of dancers to know how to dance "small enough" to not hurt each other. Yes, you can maybe scrub off a tiny bit of energy to prevent full out bedlam, but it is not up to the dj to start thinking, "I'm doing too good a job, let me start playing things that some subset of dancers won't like so there's more room for everybody else when they leave."

If a venue gets too crowded and dancers leave thinking, "wow, that DJ was awesome; I think the promoters are going to need to get a bigger venue because that guy is awesome" its not the dj's problem; its a logistical problem.

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fredo
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#14 Post by fredo » Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:01 am

get a bigger venue! haha -- wishful thinking most of the time :)

I agree though, if the floor is packed with a regular set then a job well done -- no need to push people off purposefully.

that said, people exclude themselves when they hear songs they dont like or are not comfortable for them to dance to. nothing wrong with pushing the envelope here and there if a portion of the dancers are still into dancing to it. Where do you draw the line -- how many couples dancing does it take to not seem like the song was a bust? probably too subjective to say.

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Re: Clearing The Floor

#15 Post by remysun » Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:47 pm

Haydn wrote: OK - so for clarification, when I said clearing the floor, I didn't really mean completely clearing it, I meant a positive strategy of reducing the numbers on a packed floor. I guess a packed floor is self-limiting in a way because dancers stay away or leave the floor if it's too crowded, not enough space, too many collisions etc. But perhaps a DJ can help in these conditions? Or is there another way to deal with an over-crowded floor? Do you slow down the music, or does that kill the energy?
Clearing the floor helps if the floor is too small to accomodate all dancers. I think the most effective way to do that is a non sequitur. Not that you have to stick with it, but if there's somebody who's been hogging the floor, going from Count Basie to Michael Bolton's "When a Man Loves a Woman" could be just the hint.

I don't mean to be cruel, but it's important that everybody gets a chance to dance.

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