|
|
| AUDIO PRODUCTS VIDEO PRODUCTS DJ BLOG LOGIN |
|
|
IN THIS EDITION
Trending: Promo Only Anniversary
All of us at Promo Only Canada extended a heartfelt congratulations to our US brothers and sisters on their 25th anniversary. Here’s to 25 years more. Cheers!
Digital DJ Tips
Lots of people start out on their quest to get DJ gigs alone. Going it alone is fine and does work, but it can make things more difficult, especially if your local DJ circuit is "closed" to outsiders. Being a little bit more creative in your approach can yield a shed load of gigs and teaming up with others is a good way to achieve this. 7 WAYS TO PARTNER UP 1. Do some residency swaps / back to back (B2B) shows Residency swapping is a great way to get more bookings with promoters returning each other the favour. If you combine this with playing back to back (B2B) with other promoter / DJs, you might also be invited to do the same at their events. This can get you a lot of exposure with friends and fans of the other DJs, as they will be guaranteed to be dancing to both of your tracks. When choosing a partner to play with, try to find someone who is the same "level" as you, career and skills-wise: partnership requests sent to Carl Cox may go unanswered, while asking someone who just picked up DJing a week ago isn't likely to benefit you hugely. Get on it: Get in touch with as many DJ / promoters in your area as possible and float the above ideas. If you don't know anyone, head out to some local events and make some acquaintances. Let them know of your ideas and ask them if they would be interested in having you play or if they would like to play at your event. This is only going to boost both of your local profiles and you are making more connections in the process. 2. Form a collective with like-minded folk There are loads of examples of how forming collectives has helped catapult DJs into the limelight. Collectives are medium and large-sized groups of DJs, producers, promoters, and visual artists / designers that all rally under a common musical / aesthetic vision and ethos. Recent examples of this include Moving Castle and Soulection. When you have formed your collective, you can offer to take over clubs for a full night… [continue reading] About Digital DJ Tips: Featuring news, reviews, show reports, and tutorials, Digital DJ Tips is one of the most-read DJ tech websites in the world, with over 60,000 students on its paid and free DJ courses.
The Gear Corner: DJ life hacks
Laptop Crash If an RCA to 1/8” cable isn’t the first cable you run when you’re setting up, it should be. Make it a habit to hook that bad boy up to your smartphone and the emergency playlist of party favorites you at the ready and you’ll never have more than a few moments of downtime while you reboot. For an extra layer of prep, keep your emergency playlist on auto play to completely eliminate any chance of dead air (also good to have for that pesky laptop switch). Ground Hum For many the solution seems simple enough — drop the ground; lose the hum. But what you may not know is that simply removing the ground is never a safe option. A far better solution, one that won’t require routing through a ground lift (and the resulting loss of volume and tone), can be easily arrived at with the Ebtech Hum X Ground Loop Hum Exterminator. Easy to use, easy to install, and can be used with any device with a 3-prong outlet without affecting your audio signal. Kill the hum, not the buzz (or your gear). No Mic? Use your headphones! Here’s something might have missed: If you’re ever in a pinch for a microphone you can always use a pair of headphones. Geek-speak aside, a microphone is pretty much the same as a speaker: both use a diaphragm and magnetic driver to convert sound to current. How do you do it? Just grab the nearest pair of headphones and plug them into your mixer’s microphone input. Oddly enough, this seems to work best with cheaper iPhone type earpods, but typically whatever cans you’re wearing will do the job. Mixer Meltdown This is toughie to bounce back from: Your mixer craps out and you don’t have a back up. Solution: A 1/8 to dual XLR male cables will let you bypass your new doorstop and route directly from your laptop to most powered speakers. Have ‘em ready to run and your downtime will be minimum. The Ultimate Hack While dead air might not be a matter of life and death, it can sure feel like it when 100 or more people are staring you down. Remember: There is no panic button on your keyboard. Stay Calm. It’s the ultimate life hack.
Creating Connections with Mitch Taylor
Speak to a prospective bride just as she is speaking to you. If she's using short sentences with basic language, do the same. If she mentions descriptive words about her event use those same words in your reply back. Here’s an example of an email recently received and how we handled it to get the appointment:Bride: Hello I am just getting ideas and prices at the moment and I was wondering around what your average pricing would be I would also like the uplighting also an email would prob be the best way to respond thanks for your time. - Amber My reply: Hi! How's your wedding planning going? I got your email regarding entertainment and uplighting for your wedding. I attached a photo above to show you examples of our work and how we can transform your venue too. Feel free to call me anytime and let's talk about your day. Thanks for contacting me and I look forward to hearing from you soon. - Mitch Bride’s Reply: I am sorry I have gotten your calls but been busy working. At this time we are going to go with a live band from 8-12. I am looking to rent uplighting (for the whole night of the reception) and also entertainment from 4:00pm-8pm. Not many have been willing to do that time slot since it is Labor Day weekend. Please let me know My reply: Hi Amber, Sure...we can do that. When's a good time for us to get together to chat about your wedding? Bride’s Reply: I work in Marquette at Lowe's. My next days off are Monday and Tuesday. I have a cake appointment in Marquette on Monday at 12pm. Where are you located and what is a good time for you? My reply: Hi Amber, What about Monday at 1:30pm? Would that work? Bride’s Reply: Yes I think that would work. What is the best phone number to get a hold of you in case I need too? I have a cake appointment a 12:00 so I will be in town. My next response was to send her an email confirming that date and time with an appointment reminder from DJ Event Planner. Bottom line: Brides want to do business with someone who understands what they want, gives them the information they need in a timely fashion and connects with them. Be real. Be honest. But most importantly be relatable. Speak to them the same way through email as you would over the phone. About: Mitch Taylor owns and operates Taylored Weddings and can be reached at mitch@mitchtaylor.net. For more info about his Creating Connections books and workshops visit creatingconnections.biz
Music Video of the Month: Trouble viewing this video? Watch it on YouTube
June 2017
TED Ed Presents: The Power of Creative Constraints Trouble viewing this video? Watch it on YouTube. (via TED Ed) Imagine you were asked to invent something new. It could be whatever you want, made from anything you choose, in any shape or size. That kind of creative freedom sounds so liberating, doesn’t it? Or ... does it? if you're like most people you’d probably be paralyzed by this task. Why? Brandon Rodriguez explains how creative constraints actually help drive discovery and innovation.
|
|
|
F O L L O W U S |
|
|
|
Click [PREFERENCES] to manage subscriptions, or [UNSUBSCRIBE] to remove all subscriptions. |
|
Box 47090 RPO Creekside Calgary, AB T3P0B9, Canada |
(403) 226-6445 promocan@promoonly.com |
http://promoonly.ca |
