Yared Lee

To be honest bro. Save up sum of money like $400 or so, go to Guitar Center, Sam Ash or any place that sells a decent selection of sound equipment, go there and ask to see speakers in your price range, and test them out for yourself. Do some general research on speakers in your price range, google some reviews, then talk to one of the professionals at the store. Write a list of candidates, then go home and do more research on them (Frequency response, more in-depth reviews etc.), then when you think you’ve chosen one or 2 final choices, go back and listen to them a second time.

Remember it is important to use songs in good quality Mp3 (Lossless Preferably) for your sound test. And MAKE SURE that the song has a good dynamic range in order to run the speaker through its paces and hear how clear every frequency sounds. I suggest using Dub/Reggae for your sound test because it goes from sub bass, bass, kick drums, bass guitar, low and high pitched voices, piano, guitar, hi-hats and drums and horns. Basically the whole frequency range without the song becoming too busy. You dont have to use reggae, thats just my preference based on the dynamic range and the fact that I’m Jamaican and I grew up around old-school sound system style lol. Alternately, test the speakers using the genre of music you intend on playing

After you’ve done your sound test, then pick the best performing speaker. If you’re still undecided. Flip a damn coin lol, because if you’re undecided and your sure of the relative quality of both speakers then it wont matter which you choose either way. Most importantly, when you buy them, take care of them! and they’ll take care of you 🙂

That depends on how much current is running through the system. Those are powered monitors so I would assume that a decent amount of current is present. Second, the presence of Saline in Water (aka Salt Water, like they have in the sea/ocean) makes water more conductive to electricity. So you would have to be pretty far

In my opinion, you have all rights to market yourself seeing as you’re the guest DJ. As to how to go about doing it, I would try a combination of both. Asking the MC if the announcement is OK to do would be a logical first step though. You also might try to tape your CD to the bathroom stalls XD (I know I used to do that with my flyers when I do events, like if I’m hosting an event, I go early to the clubs and tape my flyers in the urinals and stalls at eye level so people can read them while using the bathroom). There is no limit to the amount of CD’s you should bring. For arguments sake you could bring 30 to the club and have another 50 in the car. CDs are cheap and in this case over-prepared is better than under prepared. In this business even if you scorn the microphone you still need to learn how to strike up conversations with random strangers(because not doing so would do more harm than good). You simply approach the clubbers, make eye contact, smile(practice this beforehand if you dont generally smile or are not good at interacting with random people), hand them the CD and then lean in close(not too close) and say clearly(not too loudly) that you’re the guest DJ who Just finished playing(because the best time to hand it out is right after your set while its still fresh in people’s mind.

Example: *Makes eye contact with partier and smiles* *approaches and hands them CD* “Hey I’m DJ ______ who just finished playing, here’s my mix CD, please take a listen”

It’s best to have a sort of generic phrase and method that you develop to do this as you will be doing it often, and it doesnt look good t stutter when trying to come up with a unique approach every time (unless the person seems genuinely interested).

Also remember this is a club, people are careless, drunk and rude. So by the time said Party-goers leave, some of your CD’s will be thrown away, dropped, or forgotten.

I suppose that this is also why you ask the MC to make the announcement for you because then the announcement will attract people who are genuinely interested in hearing you play again.

There are alot of other rules and methods that other DJ’s have developed, but y’know, different strokes for different folks.

Hope this helped 🙂

– BoomDraw

Whatever you do, dont buy the Eon series from JBL. Period.

It’s a personal preference, but I suggest hunting down a pair of Mackie SRM 450. The first model, not the V2’s because those arent as reliable. I can’t speak to any other powered monitor right now. But I have experience with the SRM-450 and I’ve driven them very hard and they’ve held up wonderfully (Although, during one emergency when I had to drive them harder than is advisable, I did have to walk around with a bucket of water and use a damp rag to wipe down the amplifier at the back so they didnt overheat), I digress, I’ve had a pair of those, Loved them to death, reliable, they’re 12″ great quality, great bass response if you’re using them without a sub. And you can pick up a pair for about 750-800 give or take depending on where you look because they’re an old model. I’m getting another pair of them for $700 (Steal!!) because I’m buying old stock from Sam Ash. But look around, no shame in buying used as long as they’re in good condition.

Test #2

So let me just clarify for my own benefit. A Business Plan isnt required to start a business, but it is highly suggested to have one for personal use so that you have a guideline for success, basically right?

I vote a no on the Mackie Thumps. Ever since the Mackie company had a change around in management some of their stuff has been sub-standard. They like to advertise how “light” their cabinets are nowadays. Bear in mind, a light cabinet means light speaker and amp, and a light speaker and amp almost certainly means it will break down on you if driven too hard. If you want value, get a workhorse speaker like the Mackie SRM-450 (the first model) if you can find them, or some from another reliable brand. My father is an old school audio guy and he always said “Spend money good one time, never spend money again”