februari 9th, 2012 | 
Author: Good friend of MDJN Tony Winyard has launched a new NADJ Branch in the big smoke. Please see below for more details.
Hi guys,
Just like to announce the launch of the NADJ (National Association of DJs) London and the first meeting which will be on Monday February 27 at the Dukes Meadows golf Club in Chiswick on Monday February 27 from 7pm to 10pm. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 
Songs for Singles!
By Dave Evans On February 8, 2012
We’re heading towards Valentine’s Day, the time to buy flowers and chocolates, cook a romantic dinner or go out for that special meal before settling down for cuddles on the sofa with Marvin Gaye playing in the background.
But what about the single people? What do they do for Valentines when it is shoved down your throat that you have no-one. Everywhere you go in the days beforehand all you can hear are the likes of Teddy Pendergrass, Sade or modern equivalents like Adele or god forbid Dido playing in the background as events are publicised. What are you meant to think or do when putting the sausage and mash microwave meal for one on to cook and turn on the tv to find all the music channels are playing “50 songs for lovers”? Read the rest of this entry »
New NADJ Promotional Material Available From Your Local NADJ Branch
One of the most important aspects of running an Association is the ability to listen to the needs and thoughts of the members. At a recent NADJ North West branch meeting, the DJs asked if there was a way of promoting the National Association of Disc Jockeys to potential customers. The NADJ Chairman, Paul Arnett, and the Branch Development Officer, Peter Lockwood, were both at that meeting and a discussion ensued on providing the materials for our members to highlight their membership to customers. Read the rest of this entry »
Simon Cowell launches new talent show to find DJs
Press Release:
The Midi Map Sharing Project
Warping Ableton has begun the process of setting up a Midi Map Sharing project. The idea is to provide a space on their website that will allow DJs to download midi maps for free. Searches on the internet reveal many digital DJs who want to share their midi maps with the world, but can only do so through forums etc. In response to this, Warping Ableton has created an area on their website for midi map sharing. Read the rest of this entry »
11 Essential Items Of DJ Kit I Take With Me To Every Gig – by Paul Velocity
Here is a photo of my DJ bag. It’s nothing amazing but I’ve had it for years and it’s served me really well for each gig I’ve been to. In it I put all of the essential things that I need when I go out to play live. It’s got so many different compartments and sections in it all containing a wide array of things that I thought I would go through each item that I keep in my DJ bag to let you know some of my essential tools of the trade.
Headphones
First and foremost are my Sennheiser HD25s – where would I be without them!? Every DJ has their favourite pair of cans but for me, these babies are worth every single penny. The quality of audio that they produce is absolutely phenominal. The cushioning around the ears means these headphones are comfortable even after 5 or 6 hours of use. They can take as much abuse as you can throw at them and even if they do break, each indivual part on them is replaceable. I’ve had mine for about 8 years and they have never broken or let me down once. An essential piece of kit.
Adapters / Jacks
It’s always worth taking a few different headphone jack adapterswith you when you go to play out live. Most of the time you have no idea what mixer you will be using on the night so it’s best to come prepared. I always take with me a couple of 3.5mm to 6.35mm jacks as standard, plus a 6.53mm to 3.5mm because, well, you never know. I also carry a 1m 6.35mm jack extension cord too just in case the distance from mixer to record bag is longer than expected. You can never have too much length 
Post It Notes & Pens
Most of the gigs I ‘ve played have the DJ booth located up close and personal with the crowd and so there’s the inevitable situation of punters coming up to you requesting tunes – usually right in the middle of a mix. It can be very frustrating at times but I have found a way to make this situation a little less painful. What I do is I take post it notes and pens with me so that people can write their requests down. It saves having them shout/spit in my ear, plus I don’t need to remember what they’ve said. It also helps to stop them hanging around the booth waiting for you to play their song immediately as often once the request is in they will head back to the dancefloor. Buy cheap pens in bulk of 50 or 100 as you always lose a few during the night.
Torch & Batteries
Lighting in a DJ booth can be quite poor at some venues. Grab a couple of these funky little torches from Osram. they are really bright for their compact size plus you get a choice of adhesive backings, either sticky-backed, magnetic, velcro or hook. Very versatile and something I would not want to be without as a DJ. Don’t forget to take spare batteries with you! You can hold these in your hand as you go through your CD wallet or you can fix them to a wall or speaker or part of the DJ booth to give you instant wireless hands-free spot lighting.
CD wallet and CDs (x2)
Make sure you always take 2 copies of each CD with you in case you scratch one of your CDs. Its not that likely to happen (even less likely if you are running from a laptop or memory stick) but it’s always a good idea to be prepared for any situation. When I used to DJ vinyl I would always take a spare cartridge and stylus with me and now I am using CDs I always take 2 copies of each CD with me wherever I go. Keep your CDs in a decent wallet. The brand that I use is Body Glove. To be honest any old CD wallet will do the job but I find the Body Glove brand to be really durable and always has lots of extra hidden tucked away pockets to stash extra bits in to.
Demo Mix
You never know who you might bump into whilst you are DJing. Perhaps the event manager for a larger club, perhaps even another promoter who is looking for a DJ just like you for his next event. Either way it’s always a good idea to have a few of your demo mixes ready to go on CD. Don’t give these out to just anyone in the club because chances are the club owners will not like it, but if you are discreet and only hand them out to people who are likely to book you for another gig then this can be a powerful tool to improving your DJ CV.
Business Cards
Just like carrying some demo mixes with you, it’s always a good idea to take some business cards along for the ride too. They don’t have to be designed that well or look that flash, as long as they have your contact details clearly on them. Make sure you have your phone number printed clearly along with your email address. Any other info such as links to social networking profiles can be secondary but make sure the phone number and email address are prominent. Again, be selective and discrete with giving these out when you are at work.
USB Stick
This is another safety back up tool that I like to have with me for one of those ‘just in case’ moments. Lets say the club’s CD players stop working, or some idiot spills their drink all over your CDs – keep a backup set on a USB memory stick so that if you are using CDs you can switch to mp3’s in an instant. And if you are already using mp3’s then in the same way as a CD DJ would take 2 copies of CDs, you should take a duplicate set of tunes on memory stick as back up.
Camera
It’s optional, but you may like to take a decent camera out with you when you DJ. You don’t necessarily need a flashy SLR camera, pretty much any robust point-and-shoot will do as long as it can cope with low level lighting. It’s such a handy tool to have. You can document the night visually and get some great crowd shots for those hands-in-the-air moments. As long as the event is not a private party, you should be able to use the photos on your own web site or social network to help publicise your talents further.
Earplugs
Earplugs, I feel, are one of the most important pieces of kit I take out with me. Your hearing should never be taken for granted, you need to understand the the human ear is a delicate and fragile thing and it should be looked after as much as possible. If you lose your hearing not only do you lose your ability to do your job as a DJ but you will never be able to enjoy music again. Imagine never hearing music ever again. Awful. So please protect your ears when you DJ. Those cheap disposable foam earplugs are no good. You want to get the Apline Music Safe Earplugs. They are reusable and cost about £15. The beauty of them is rather than block out sound, they turn it down to a comfortable level. So you still get virtually all the dynamical range of audio coming into your ears, just a lot less of it. You can get custom moulded earplugs for upwards of £100 if you want even better protection.
Documents
Last but by no means least are documents. Falling into this category are things like a copy of the contract for the booking for that night, contact details of the venue in case you are delayed and a map of the venue and directions in case the sat nav packs up. Again, you need to be prepared for any obstacle you come across and if you can’t find the venue, or there’s some suprise roadworks holding you up, you need to have the venue details handy so you can a route to get there or at least contact them to say you are arriving late. A copy of the contract is always good to have on hand should any disagreements happen.
Bag Closed
Did you enjoy having a root around in my DJ bag? In my experience, each DJ carries around a wide variety of different things with them on their travels. Of course every DJ is going to have music and headphones, but what’s the one bit of unconventional DJ kit you use when you play out that you simply can’t do without?
Read more from me at http://paulvelocity.co.uk/
The DJ Year in Review
By Dave Evans On January 10, 2012
Once again DJ Father Time has spun his last tune for the year and 2011 ends and what a year it has been in music and the DJ world. This blog will look back at some of the big news and stories from the last 12 months.
Last year I said that 2011 could be the year ofDubstep and while it didn’t explode the way I thought it might, the sound is certainly in a lot of current hits and it’s taken quite a stranglehold in the clubs. Whether it’s any good or you can dance to it is up for debate but you can’t deny its influence.
The charts seem to have shown some stability with records such as ‘Jar Of Hearts’, ‘The A Team’, ‘Price Tag’ & ‘I Need A Dollar’ all having extended stays in the UK Top 10. But the real success story singles wise has to be the strange collaboration of Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera with ‘Moves Like Jagger’. This record has spent nearly 4 months in the UK Top 10 and has been one of the biggest records out in the bars and at discos since the middle of summer.
Artists wise, in my opinion 2011 has been the year of LMFAO. Yes they had a couple of minor club hits but ‘Party Rock Anthem’ exploded them into the commercial mainstream with their looks, videos and funky tunes LMFAO end the year strong with ‘Sexy And I Know It’ and look destined to continue this well into 2012. Other big successes of the year have been Pixie Lott, Emeli Sande (a BIG name for 2012) and Rizzle Kicks who have joined the likes of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, The Wanted and Adele in having big selling records.
Mastermix celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and amongst the celebrations and congratulations to them an album was released around that time that changed my life. I have done previous blogs about it but I must give many thanks to NADJ and all at Mastermix who supported me in the creation of Grandmaster Rewind, my first album which I won the opportunity to make at the NADJ show held at Mastermix. Yes, this is a little ego trip but I can look at that CD and think “I did that and it’s good”, enough of you have agreed with me as GM Rewind was one of the top 5 selling CDs released by Mastermix in 2011. I’m proof that if you have the ideas then they can come to reality. Again thanks to NADJ, Mastermix and especially my co-pilot in the studio Danny Holland…have a Hob-Nob sir!
2011 was also a time where we lost artists and influences on the music industry, some likeDobie Gray, Sylvia Robinson (founder of Sugarhill Records) and Clarence Clemons had lived their lives but the likes of Heavy D, Nate Dogg and Amy Winehouse passed away before their time and we will never know their full potential.
So what does 2012 bring? A continuation of the emergence and commercialisation of Dubstep? A return to Swing with the likes of Olly Murs, Pixie Lott and others bringing a soulful nod to the ratpack era to the 21st century? In my opinion I think 2012 will be the year of the girl group returning, Little Mix stand a chance to really excel themselves but it will take careful management to avoid the McElderry trap and I think the likes of Oh My! will come good.
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2012.
Dave
Read more of Daves Blogs over at http://blog.mastermixdigital.com/
Big thanks to Alex over at Vibedisco for the great little review below
MH 575s Review
http://www.thomann.d…g_head_demo.htm
So I figured there must be a few people in the same position as me that have aspired to move away from the mini movers into something thats a bit more substantial but winced at the inflated price of them.Thomann attempts to bridge the price gap between the mini mobile arsenal of moving heads and the big boys in the form of the Stairville MH-575s. (£650 inc lamp) Read the rest of this entry »
Happy New Year to all of our readers here at Mobile DJ News
2012 we hope is going to be a great year for MDJN with lots in the happening watch this space!
As usual we rely on you guys contributing with blogs and anyone who wishes to do so should contact Ciaran @ mobiledjnews@yahoo.co.uk
We do require new product reviewers so again if this is of interest than drop us a line
2012 I hope is going to be a great year for a Mobile DJ and we hope our site becomes one of your continuing favourites along the way.
All the best
Ciaran – Mobile DJ News
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Our good friends over at Phase One have launched their new look website today – you can check this out at the following URL
Be sure to add them to your favourite DJ Dealers around, all the major brands are there, some massive savings to be had, treat yourself over the festive period!!!
| Phase One | |||
| 65 Stockton Road Darlington County Durham DL1 2RZ T: 01325 480 507 | |||