Thread: Did anyone hire a DJ?

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For those that have had parties or will be- did you hire a DJ to play music? IF so will you play scary halloween music or dancing music or both? For those that did the music yourself did you make a CD of good songs and just play it?

Jalesa

Well I am (or was anyway) a DJ, more party/wedding DJ than pro/vinyl mixer but still...

You want to find a DJ that's going to keep the party going. Not a DJ that's going to play what the DJ wants to hear (this is a big problem if a friend is going to "DJ for free"). This goes the same for a CD or MP3 playlist. If you set it up in advance and you bore everyone to death with the music you like you're going to murder your party. And parties don't have blood and guts (usually) so it doesn't even become a good prop when it dies. You want to be able to kill off a song or even the entire playlist and quickly move to something else if the guests look like they're going to find another party if someone doesn't change the track.

Always have more music than you think you need on hand. Multiple genres/time periods/etc. Also despite the fact that it feels cliché and boring, the classics usually work. YMCA, The Time Warp, The Hustle, Monster Mash, Thriller, etc, will get a lot more people dancing than "that track that was #15 in 2009". Especially if you have a wide age variety in your group. If your group is close together in age it's more likely you can get away with playing one decade. Also go sparingly on requests. Just because Uncle Bob likes the Funky Chicken I'm sure Aunt Edna doesn't want to see him do it again and neither does anyone else. If you're going slightly more hardcore with dancing being a focus (big dance floor, pro lighting, fog machine that will set off the fire alarm and thus ruin what you were planning on doing with that new laser light show you just spent a fortune on...) and less "generic party that people can also dance at" look for remixes of older classics. If there's a lot of people in heavy costume, slow down the beat every once in awhile (and have a lot of ice water available), you don't want someone collapsing.

When I do Halloween parties I try to do a lot of Halloween themed tracks in there but there really aren't that many that make good dance music.

Monster Mash (always use the original)
Thriller (again, always use the original or people will go nuts when the tempo is off and/or lyrics are missing/wrong)
The Time Warp
Whatever Happened To Saturday Night
Stray Cat Strut
Dead Man's Party (Oingo Boingo)
The dance remix of O Fortuna that they always use in movie trailers
The dance remix of Phantom of the Opera
Ghostbusters (use the Ghostbusters 2 version by Run DMC)
Several other tracks on the Ghostbusters 2 sountrack are fun as well, such as Spirit and Flesh & Blood.
Dance remixes of Tocatta & Fugue

I will have one this year, he will play a variety to please all ears............

This will be the 2nd time we've had a DJ. I am very excited about this one we are getting this yr! He is very energetic and says he loves kids and loves parties! He also promises to get the crowd going. This dude has entertainment (games, prizes) for the kids. I have a meeting with him tomorrow actually to go over the game ideas. Getting excited already and it's only August. LOL

We had a DJ for my daughter (9 yo) Halloween Bday party last year and it was a hit! We had a dance off and awarded trophies and ribbons. We played scary and regular dance music. He will be back again this year for both our adult and kids party!

For last years party I made a 4 hour play list of scary AND dance music. Worked out pretty well. Definitely pop some classics in there like Thriller, Bela Legosi's Dead, Monster Mash, etc...

Sounds great everyone thanks for the ideas!

My humble opinion only .....

A DJ would be very appropriate for a large adult party and they should have the music genre you request prior to the event. If it's kids, and you have a karaoke machine (or other equipment) have a couple of the more outgoing kids take turns being the DJ. (If you have a good speaker system on your computer just go to various sites and play their Halloween songs as streaming audio). You could do that with my Audio stories and songs and spooky melodies at http://www.soundcloud.com/tgitzke. (They are full length and listening is free).

Of course you could also buy the downloads. If it's CD's you need (of my creations) check http://www.independentmusicsales.com.

While a DJ would be wonderful it's a huge expense! For our Halloween party I make two detailed playlists on my iPod - for the first part of the night it's rock music with a few Halloween appropriate songs like "Thriller". I put on a second playlist that's mostly dance music once the party really gets going. If you put time into selecting great music beforehand, there's no reason you can't DIY with an Ipod. Oh, and of course I have my spooky sound effects blaring outside the house as people arrive!

I wish I could have a DJ for our party but not in our budget maybe someday! We make a few playlist and play halloween party music then dance music later... then we also have eerie sounds in dif rooms