New Year's Eve DJ Tips
by
Rob
Wegner
December 2003
It is one of the few nights of
the year that nightclubbing is politically correct. For DJ's,
it's a night to play great music, make money, and have fun in
the process. This month's tip is intended to share my New Year's
Eve tips to hopefully enhance your DJ performance.
1. It all centers around midnight.
Most patrons anticipate a smooth and proper countdown to the
New Year. As a DJ, it's typically your job to announce the countdown.
If you've ever worked a New Year's Eve party, then you're aware
how much importance customers place on an accurate countdown.
It seems that even a NASA transmission linked to an atomic clock
may not be enough to convince certain customers that your countdown
actually took place at midnight. To alleviate this problem, if
your club or event has television sets, I suggest tuning into
one of the New Year's Eve shows (programs featuring New
York City's Times Square are quite popular) - with the television
volume off - and count down with the program.
Also, you may want to make periodic
announcements regarding how many minutes are left until the countdown
(i.e., "two hours left," "one hour to go,"
"ten minutes," etc.).
I would also announce New Year's
Eve celebrations in other time zones. For example, "I would
like to wish the folks from Chicago a Happy New Year." Obviously,
you want to make sure you correspond your announcements with
midnight celebrations in those time zones.
2. Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo's
Auld Lang Syne is a New Year's Eve traditional post-countdown
song that will show your depth as a DJ. Be sure to cue the song
just prior to your countdown and begin play after announcing
"Happy New Year." While, there are several versions
of this song, I suggest a version that's approximately three
minutes in length.
3. New Year's Eve Formal Announcement
- After playing Auld Lang Syne, I would normally make a rather
formal announcement such as "on behalf of the staff, management,
and ownership of [insert your club's name here], I would like
to wish each one of you a happy and prosperous New Year."
4. Format. It should be
noted that - if you've performed the New Year's Eve countdown
correctly, then you will have tremendous control of your crowd.
I would normally follow the formal announcement with one of the
club's most popular songs. You can also get creative by separating
the periods before and after the countdown into retro-hits before
midnight and current hits after midnight (or vice versa). This
creates the psychological impression that there's something unique
taking place after the countdown.
Finally, because your crowd is
generally more diverse on New Year's Eve (i.e., many new customers),
you should consider a more diverse music format. Also, consider
ending the night (or morning) with Frank Sinatra (which adds
a touch of class) and a final formal announcement (wishing them
a Happy New Year and to drive home safely).
Industry
News
* DJ's and producers that have
always wanted to find the right voice for their project may now
have a software solution. Vocaloid synthetic voice software enables
anyone to sing a song and - employing software - convert the
vocals into a "world-class soul diva." See NewScientist.com
* New copyright laws enacted
in the European Union (EU) may make mix CD's - including personal
compilations - illegal. The European Copyright Directive "means
that many of the things we are used to doing, such as playing
a music CD on a computer drive or copying tracks to an MP3 player,
now fall into a legal grey area." See BBC
News
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