Jj's silent disco

[SolDios]

hey guys, did anyone see the jj's silent disco at the bdo?

basicly from first glance, there is heaps of people dancing and yelling, with no music going. when you walk in, you are given a pair of wireless headphones with 3 channels, and there are 3 dj's going at once. pretty self explanatory what's happening.

I went in and had a listen, but they all seemed to just be playing hits, accept for 1 person, who was awesome! All the dj's changed over every hour.

wouldn't it be awesome to get in on that? does anyone have any information on how to get in next year?

[Jaz]

no offense intended man but i think Big Day Out will hire heavily proffesional DJ's and Famous artists, you can give it a go but im saying dont get your hopes up.... and with festivals they call you not the other way round

we'd all love to play a fest

[dim]

ez sol, i've done silent discos a few times now in uk.

basically our licensing law changed which means we can hold loads more mini festivals legally as long as the late night stuff was silent disco.

It's a cool scene but

cons:

as a dj you have to swap your dj monitoring phones for the master output phones to monitor your mix. this is a big pain in the arse so better of practising mixing just in phones if you dont already do this. Although you'll still have to check the master phones to be sure you're not overloading levels.

obviously you wont "feel" the bass like you do at a proper gig so no speaker hugging or back massages via dubstep wobbles.

pro:

when you want to chat a girl or order at the bar: just take the phones off and all is silent so you just talk at normal vol then put cans back on when finished yakking.

do whatever it takes to get you in a good "night out" mood then leave the phones off and watch a room full of headz dancing to 3 dif djs, in silence, except occasionally cheering or sing along randomly. I have never seen anything so surreal in my life.

regarding getting involved i'd have thought it's be same as ever: hang out with the scene (a lot), get to kow the guys (thats the tricky bit), offer a mix cd, get lucky, be professional, have fun.

[SolDios]

thanks for the info djim how did you come buy the gig?

[dim]

potted career history -

1) hang out with the scene (I've been partying with this crew of DJs and musicians since we were all 16, i'm 37 now.)

2) get to know the guys (We all met because I had an idea for my own club night on wednesdays in leeds. we'd do a kind of DJ vs Band hip hop/acid jazz/ trip hop jam (eggs will prob recognise guru's jazzmatazz as a big inspiration behind this). We would never have got a sat night for something so specific but uni towns supply mid week punters... since then we've all done functions, club nights, recording studios, venues, teaching, workshops, festivals etc... sometimes together, sometimes alone... anything involving music and money that helps build the rep basically)

3) be ready and able to play tunes whenever you are asked or when no one else will, or can. Be professional... but be sure to have fun.

[Gandy]

3) be ready and able to play tunes whenever you are asked or when no one else will, or can. Be professional... but be sure to have fun.

+rep for that, that single piece of advice is probably some of the best you will get, so true infact that i carry around a usb full of my latest tracks on usb on my car/house keyring because you never know when you will get asked to jump on

[SolDios]

+rep thank you gandy!

[ShabangRecords]

events like BDO you have to be asked to play. its not something you can send an email and expect any sort of reply let alone give you a gig.

[SourceRaver]

I silent mix all the time.

Like djim says, I plug my headphones into a master audio output (in my case a old cassette deck connected to the mixer via RCA cables).

But...

I also have a 'in ear monitor' (crappy ear bud heaphone) in my left ear connected to the headphones socket of the mixer.

My headphones become the monitor speakers and the ear buds acts just like one cup of a set of headphones. I just toggle the cue button on and off when mixing.

[dim]

3) be ready and able to play tunes whenever you are asked or when no one else will, or can. Be professional... but be sure to have fun.

+rep for that, that single piece of advice is probably some of the best you will get, so true infact that i carry around a usb full of my latest tracks on usb on my car/house keyring because you never know when you will get asked to jump on

+rep thank you gandy!

Now i'm no rep whore but wtf?

[SolDios]

;D testing you +2 rep for noticing

[dim]

haha, bet you forget to add the second after the 15 minutes wait...

cheers tho.

[dim]

I silent mix all the time.

Like djim says, I plug my headphones into a master audio output (in my case a old cassette deck connected to the mixer via RCA cables).

But...

I also have a 'in ear monitor' (crappy ear bud heaphone) in my left ear connected to the headphones socket of the mixer.

My headphones become the monitor speakers and the ear buds acts just like one cup of a set of headphones. I just toggle the cue button on and off when mixing.

hey source, does that work 4 u?

I do the same but instead of plugging extra cans into my mixers' master out i get a pair of the wireless ones the punters are using, that way i know exactly what level they are listening at. It also means if they are having problems with reception from the wireless transmitters i know about it and can tell the team running the transmission.

[SourceRaver]

Oops...I should have said I silent mix all the time...at home (gotta keep the other half happy). Wouldn't silent mixing using wireless cans be problematic in terms of a delay between what's happening on the decks and in the cans? I once used a surround sound processor as a monitor amp and tiny delay caused by the processing drove me crazy.

[dim]

ez

no i didnt notice any delay on the system I was playing on, done it 3 times now with the same crew and found it ok.

I guess the audio path is similar really when you thing about it:

normal dj goes from dex to mixer on stage down some loom cable to a soundesk and outboard gear (compressors/limiter) then definitely to amps then finally to speakers.

silent dj goes from dex to mixer on stage down some loom cable to possibly a soundesk and outboard gear (compressors/limiter) then to trasnmitter and headphones.

so although there is a lot of opportunity for delay as long as the transmitter is as quick as the amp there is no noticable difference.

you did say "surround sound processor" tho: home hifi is called home hifi for a reason mate.

[AndrewKeebs]

That sounds very odd, silent dance how funny it is. I thought that might be something like romantic and lovely dance but here it is tempting me to laugh.

[crundyy]

to be honest i think it looks fucken gay

[dim]

haha, you wanna see it for real. I lolled for ages. didnt even put the phones on.

TBH most people dont do much else but watch first time they see it, it's too funny.

But everyone gets into it sooner or later.

[dim]

to be honest i think it looks fucken gay

where did you see one?

anyway: i thought you didnt like being called "a homophobic little man"

http://www.ausdjforums.com/modules.php? ... c&start=90

why perpetuate a myth big man?

[JonnyB]

im playing one at the start of june in wollongong in a club, ill be on 1 channel doing my heavy dubstep thing, and on the other will be some shitty rnb. cant wait to see the variation in the dancing haha,

didnt read the thread. but DJIM any handy tips on mixing a silent disco?

ive heard pretty much just so long as you can mix in headphones your sweet.

[dim]

ive heard pretty much just so long as you can mix in headphones your sweet.

ez johnny: yeah man thats about it, but i'm known for talking/typing a lot so here goes:

Tip1) I figure you're Pro mate so you prob know how to keep your sound levels suitable. I would still occasionnaly swap your cans for a pair of the ones the punters are using just to check they arent getting overloads. Unfortunatley you are at the mercy of the transmitter crew and fuck knows what they know about sound levels. Worth remembering a headphone speaker is going to rattle long before a P.A. speaker when you're pumping dubstep thru it so check every so often.

Tip2) Again i'm assuming you're pro with this one: punters will not "feel" the bass like they do out of proper speakers. This is the biggest prob when doing silent discos. If you arent getting the reaction from your crowd that you normally do when a big bass drops this is probably why.

Tip3) occasionally drop something that normally gets a reaction, something that suits your genre but is well known that would get a cheer or something, this should help you judge how many of the crowd are actually listening to you and how many are on the other channel. You may think you'll be able to tell by how they are dancing but thats not as easy as it sounds.

Tip 4) First things last: the crews who run these things may not have time to check all the headphones they loan out are in full working order. make sure the ones you borrow are before you get started. there should be a vol knob on them so test at all levels.

JTTH (just trying to help)