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creating a mini club on college campus

Alright so here's the deal. My college has had some issues with it being quite boring for students to stay on campus over the past several years.
In response, the college is working on turning one of the older gyms on campus into a 'club' of sorts.
I've been put as student in charge of all of the DJ side of things. They want me to be 'resident' there since I've played at a few parties lately that have gone down quite nicely. Pretty much the only person that is going to be playing at parties will be myself.
I'm now stuck with a dilemma. Do I recommend all of the club-quality equipment that you would see at your average club, or do I try to shave costs as much as I can and do something mediocre, so that the students down the line who don't happen to be DJ's can use the equipment too?
for example, they have been talking to a local A/V store and the store is recommending that they buy:

1.Numark iDJ2.
2. Crown 475w split speaker amplifier
3. Four 200w Yamaha speakers

theres a bunch of other items in the list, like mikes, cables, labor, ect

I've been thinking about recommending a basic pro-quality DJ setup instead of the iDJ2
1. 2 CDJ 800's
2. DJM 600

What do you guys recommend? I'm really unsure about all this.....

im not gonna go extensively into this but dont get cheap shit.. and only djs should be the ones playing music, not random people plugging in their ipods

I'd try and smash the Idj/ipod way of looking at this as soon as possible. It obviously isn't what you are looking for.


Maybe used gear as an alternative?


A used CMX3000 and a used vestax mixer would be a much better alternative....

Does your school have a DJ club of some sorts? Or other people you can turn to for some help? Because this sounds like it's going to be a lot of work.

As for equipment wise, well, things like speakers and monitors can be used by other people for non DJ related stuff.

DJ gear... well, exactly how much of a budget do you have? How big is the gym?

edit: never mind, sorry.

The gym isn't really that big. Its all built around a standard sized basket ball court. They are making barriers (like closing rafter type things) that are going to cut 1/4 from each side of the court, turning the dance floor into 1/2 a basketball court.

So far, midwest audio (the company who is looking at all this) has sent us a proposal for $8,500 which includes speakers, monitors, and outdoor speaker for people outside the 'club', wireless mics, wiring, the Numark iDJ2, and a video projector with an S vid cable (the video idea has been tossed around, but the staff member who is planning all this doesn't realize you would probably need someone to VJ with that sort of thing).

Another thing, they don't want to buy used.

So yeah, were looking at a budget of around $8k, but do you think it would be worth advising them to buy cdj800's and a djm600 or something of the like, if it is only me who will be djing on this stuff? As much as i'd love to, I don't know whether or not all this will work for students once I graduate

how about 2 x tech 12 + serato/torq combination? it's cheap and strong, tech 12s last forever, no worry on maintenance after several years

so im just wondering..sicne its a college sponsored thing, im guessing at this club there wouldn't be any alch....

I think you should go with something more than the numakr iDJ, if your not going to get 800s there are lots of good quality dual CD systems out there or you could go with vinyl control like mentioned above. Your not going to be workign there everynight so your going to need to either find another DJ on campus or train someone and it is going to be eaiser to do that with decks rather than an iDJ but that is just my two cents.

With the vid things you can just plug it into a laptop and have a visualisation or film clip going, problem is that without any projector it doen't seem (from what you discribed) like there is going to be a lot of visuals going so you would need lighting anyway.

There's going to be alcohol allowed. We're building a 'removable bar' with third party catering. 21 year olds can drink, but like any other school event, they're going to be watching all the minors. It's cool though, because we are the only wet campus in the state.

Anyway back to this. I think what I'm going to do is look into the cdj800, or at least 200's. I'm not going to be doing this every night, but probably on a weekly or biweekly basis, plus any events that frats or sororities want to throw.

I think this could be the start of something big, IF we could get it to work. This has gotta be planned to the T and make sure no one ignorant about all this shit starts being dumb about it.

quote:

2. Crown 475w split speaker amplifier 3. Four 200w Yamaha speakers

I use more sound than that for houseparties, FFS. What do they think this is, a quiet zone?? Where's the bass?

This is a gym, so high ceilings, right?

Personally, if they are recommending low end yamaha speakers, an amp that won't even drive them well and an iDJ, you're dealing with the wrong people. Especially at that sort of cost range.

Afterthought: maybe you mean 475w/channel, like the CDi2000? That'd atleast drive the speakers. But still.. where's the bass

Good sound is a must

As far as the DJ gear, CDJ800s/DJM800 is _alot_ of money. I'd consider CDJ200s and a more modest but flexible mixer, put the money you saved into some lights. Consider the overall effect of the environment, not any one singular piece. Forget the projector, visuals are a whole can or worms... then you get to deal with a VDJ, computer setup to run it, bulbs to burn out, etc. blah blah. stick with some good lights.

quote:

Originally posted by xiad make sure no one ignorant about all this shit starts being dumb about it.

Then I'd strongly suggest against getting an iDJ. If you do you're garuanteed getting dumbfucks thinking they're the shit with their ipods.

If they start kicking up a fuss about costs suggest ditching the video stuff (as cool as that would be if you could get it to work, but like you said to do it properly you'd need a VJ) and using that money on gear.

CDJs and a Mixer. By far the best way to go as far as I can see.

You might get the best speakers out there but it may sound like total crap due to echo. Gyms are notorious for that. Maybe you should work on that first.

Will putting a speaker into each corner help? Making walls absorb sound better?

Not to be a total buzzkill here... but without the right about of capitol $, this whole idea is going to yield a really lame result.

Kids know what a club is supposed to look / sound like... without a large decent sound system to at least get you started, I can't say I'd expect much of a result.

But it sure beats the hell out of having nothing at all...

quote:

Originally posted by CReddick Not to be a total buzzkill here... but without the right about of capitol $

8 grand is quite a bit of cash, especially if one is creative in how they spend it. The goal appears to be an on-campus chill/dance area for the students not a competitor to gatecrasher

About that echo...get some second hand carpet for the walls and ceiling to help that, it�s what they use at cinemas and they are huge high ceilings with no noticeable echo.

Wait do they use some kind of sound absorbing underlay as well?

As for the 8 grand being a lot of money I agree, its more than I can drop on a setup anytime soon but you will need to budget very carefully if you intend on making the distance, if you need more is there any chance of holding a party and using the cover charge for this project? It wouldn't have to be a big charge and if your collage is a boring as you say then there should be heaps of people wanting to come and support making it more fun.

anyway...just some ideas...

you can turn a fucking shack into a club for free with friends and good taste in music


8 grand will get you a long way. i wish i had a budget for that kind of thing where i go to school

well actually not



best to keep the school out of the scene

quote:

Originally posted by Shini Wait do they use some kind of sound absorbing underlay as well?

Yes, to grab most of the bass you would need about ~40cm thick layer of rockwool to reduce the reflections. Carpets will only do for higher frequencies.

There are more tricks which require the same ammount of space but less rockwool but I'm not too keen on elaborating.

I'm a graduate of WPI in Massachusetts, and for 4 years I worked on establishing a "club" on campus to compete with the weekly frat parties which formed the basis of the campus social scene.

I'm fairly bitter about the whole undertaking. I think everyone needs to get some perspective before making decisions on something like this. The reality is...electronic music is still very much a niche genre in most places around the country, and unless your campus is very unique, there are probably not enough electronic music fans to support a club dedicated to it. That's the first and hardest fact that I had to face. Even a major city like Boston has a hard time filling a half-court sized dance floor with electronic music fans on a regular basis. So...expect to face enormous pressure to regularly play Top40 and hip-hop. If you're not ready for that, I'd get out of the situation fast or prepare to become very frustrated, very fast.

Secondly, dance floors generally need to be a lot smaller than people think (in my opinion). So while half a basketball court may seem like a small size at first, I'd suspect that it would actually be far too big to regularly hold a club night on. When people think of dances, they think of gigantic "one-of" events, like Proms, Fall Balls, Halloween dances, etc--events that draw out a large number of people because of the occasion and do actually have the power to fill a whole basketball court. However, a semi-regular club night is not such an event, and I think you will find it far harder to fill a dance floor that size on a weekly or monthly basis. When people feel exposed on a dance floor (because there's not enough people dancing around them), they're less likely to relax and enjoy themselves. So I'd recommend finding a space thats actually fairly small and work yourself to larger spots if you find yourself needing them in the future.

I hope this helps!

get a cheap double cd player and mixer combo (old denon duals are cheap now- and dont skip with the bass!). and spend the rest on the decent sound system. if the party is good then the place will be busy and wont echo.

you will need at least 2,000 watts rms of amplifier power, two 18" bass bins and two cabinets housing 1x12"+compression driver.

then spend a couple of hundred on lighting and smoke machine.

quote:

Originally posted by Stasis I'm fairly bitter about the whole undertaking. I think everyone needs to get some perspective before making decisions on something like this. The reality is...electronic music is still very much a niche genre in most places around the country, and unless your campus is very unique, there are probably not enough electronic music fans to support a club dedicated to it. That's the first and hardest fact that I had to face. Even a major city like Boston has a hard time filling a half-court sized dance floor with electronic music fans on a regular basis. So...expect to face enormous pressure to regularly play Top40 and hip-hop. If you're not ready for that, I'd get out of the situation fast or prepare to become very frustrated, very fast.

+1
If you're seeing this as an opportunity to do some crazy EDM parties, don't get your hopes up too high because chances are you are going to be disappointed (like I've been on my campus). It can really make you jaded if you're pumping out some great music but the people at the party won't get out of their grind-music comfort zones and dance or are too narrow-minded to feel the music, and I speak from experience. But not to totally discourage you, I see opportunity in this - if you can create a themed EDM party that takes place once in a while, and heavily advertise it as such so that you get mostly and most of the EDM fans at your college to the party (and weed out the party-poopers), then it could turn out to be awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by nefardec well actually not best to keep the school out of the scene

If what you mean is it's best not to try to force the school into the scene, then I think you're right. The best parties happen with people who really feel the music, and those people usually find the parties and not the other way around. That said, you should still put the music out there and potentially you may make some EDM converts. The type of people who go out of their way to search for EDM parties are the type of people you want on the floor when you're playing, and not some douchebags who will ruin the vibe with their whining.

save money on soundproofing the place and just staple egg cartons all along the walls!

quote:

Originally posted by djcami save money on soundproofing the place and just staple egg cartons all along the walls!

I guess he better start collecting them now!

You know, EDM is great and all, but if the school is paying for it, it becomes an endeavor for all students to participate in. I don't see why it would be fair to the student body to play EDM 7 days a week when musical tastes will be widely varied.

What's the big deal with other genres? Personally, I'd try to do a different genre each night, maybe on a weekly rotation or something... and I wouldn't limit it to mixed music either. What's wrong with letting some student guitarists plug into the PA if they're down? Or whatever other musical talent is on campus? Heck, they're students too, and should be given the chance to play if a campus-owned venue is created.

I love EDM and all, but variety is good.

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