That might sound like a slightly strange thing to say, but some people will think it's obvious and others won't have even thought about it.

DJs talk all the time (on here, on other messageboards etc) about playing to the crowd - pick your tunes to suit the crowd... but you hardly ever hear anyone mention picking your tunes to suit the ROOM you're playing in.

Basically, my thoughts on it are this: certain kinds of music work better in some room styles and shapes than others... most people will agree that uplifting trance works best in a massive room with a high ceiling (or a festival tent, outdoors, whatever) and dark techno often works best in a small, sweaty, dingy room.

Of course it shouldn't take precedence over the people on the floor, but if you don't normally think about this then maybe it's worth a thought.

And I personally think promoters should pay a lot more attention to this too when they pick their venue/DJs.


But so few DJs or promoters seem to give it any consideration. I've lost count of the number of times I've supported a mate by turning up to (or been booked for) a "trance" night in a 150-cap cellar somewhere and the promoter looks perplexed when they see there are loads of people there but no one's dancing to their warm-up DJs playing big-room prog trance. If you're lucky you then get a daring DJ playing a few breaks tunes or something and you see the change straight away.

Obviously there's only so much you can be expected to adjust your sound - if you're a trance DJ, you're a trance DJ, but you'll have some groovier tracks, some techier tracks, some darker tracks and so on (maybe not so many of them if you're primarily an uplifting trance DJ, but try throwing one or two out and see how people respond)


If you like the idea of applying this to your set, my advice would be this: describe the room and play music that fits that description...
- If it's a big room, play big, long, epic tracks
- If it's a small room, play short, funky, groovy music
- If it's light/well-lit play light/uplifting music
- If it's a dark room, play dark, twisted stuff.

And things scale up better than they scale down - you'll get away with playing a groovy track (or a whole set of them) on a massive stage in front of 10,000 people much more easily than you'll get away with a 15 minute hands-in-the-air breakdown in the 30-cap basement of a house party.


I can't say I've tried it, but I wonder if rounded rooms with lots of curves feel "right" with rounded, slightly bouncey music? Or maybe that's pushing it a bit far...


Of course I'm not saying that other kinds of music won't work in these situations - just that I think more often than not, people will find it easier to get into the music if it's right for the environment they're in. If nothing else, maybe just "play to the room" when you're warming up to help get people on the floor and then play what you normally would.


It's not a rule, just another string to the bow of a versatile DJ...

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Stu Cox |