I DO NOT want to start up the laptop vs CDJ/vinyl debate again here. There are plenty of other threads for that - use them.

But one part of that argument has always been the hassle of bringing the extra kit, having to plug it in etc. What is often only touched on is the impact this has on other DJs.

I played a gig recently in a fairly small DJ booth - it wasn't tiny though, there was room for the installed decks, mixer and CDJs, then a few feet of surfaces to the side. I had an extra CDJ100 I wanted to set up, so not very big, but as it would require messing about with the mixer I decided to wait until the previous DJ had finished, then set it up during my first couple of tracks. I also intended to pack it away during my last track, leaving a clear booth for the next act.

However, by the time I got to the booth, someone had filled all of the remaining space with cables, a laptop and a laptop stand - not set up, just deposited. OK, I thought, a bit annoying but I'll go without the extra CDJ this time.

About 5 minutes into my set, the act following me turned up with their Kontrol S4. The cables etc in the booth were theirs and they then proceeded to start setting it up.

They were 2 DJs but had brought a mate to help them plug it in - clearly fairly new to it all, or just really lazy. This booth isn't really big enough for 4 people, but the DJs decided to stand there anyway to watch their mate set everything up for them... which meant for most of my set I either had people standing between me and my CD wallet, or crawling around my feet fumbling around with power cables.

I appreciate the hypocrisy: part of the reason I was annoyed was because I wanted to do exactly what they were doing - add a bit of extra kit. But I had a plan to make sure I had as little impact on the DJs before and after me as possible.

And yes, I was a little annoyed that these DJs didn't seem to have even bothered to understand their own kit - in fact when I gave one of them a courteous nod towards the S4 and said "Nice, so you went for the S4 then?" I was met with a blank look and a pause, followed by "That's our mixer."


So now the rant part is out of the way...


How can DJs with extra kit avoid getting in the way?

If you've got a lot of kit, you could get there early to set it up before the club opens - that way you won't be plugging things in when someone else is mixing. But if you're on last and you fill the booth with your stuff, if an earlier act needs to set something up they won't be able to...

And I guess it isn't really practical for DJs using something like an S4 to throw on a CD for their first tune then set it all up, is it?


Of course it would be nice if every club made sure they had a big enough booth to comfortably accommodate 2 setups, but unfortunately that's often not the case!

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Last edited by Stu Cox on Apr-13-2011 at 11:24

There's just no consideration from either one of the acts. It's like everyone (minus you Stu), pi$$ed all over the booth and made it their territory and weren't gonna let anyone in. Total noobs if you ask me. I always try to get to the gig as early as possible. I do the samething. Wait until I'm up, then add the extra stuff I need. Then clear out as quickly as possible. Bigger booths would be handy, especially if the promoter/owner is gonna book four DJ's in for one night.

those guys were complete newbs/trolls i woulda kicked em in the face and left the club

quote:

Originally posted by Stu Cox They were 2 DJs but had brought a mate to help them plug it in - clearly fairly new to it all, or just really lazy. This booth isn't really big enough for 4 people, but the DJs decided to stand there anyway to watch their mate set everything up for them... which meant for most of my set I either had people standing between me and my CD wallet, or crawling around my feet fumbling around with power cables.

Its ok Stu, they were utter, utter bellends.

I think you either get there early or set up no more than say 5 mins before the start of your set and maybe a bit of both.

If you set up early you should leave the booth as clear as possible, so for the example of tweedle dee and tweedle "too fucking dum to plug and RCA in" on Sat they should have arrived early and set up all the cabling so they had power and audio cables ready to jack in to the back of the S4 and laptop. Leave the rest of the crap sitting down out the way and 5 mins before theyre on, 1 person very apologetically comes into the booth, plugs it in, runs a quick test and buys you a drink for the inconvenience

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I cannot even imagine why they would even need more than a minute to set up?

A midi controller + laptop + soundcard = 1 power plug in, 2 x USB connections and 1 x RCA connection to a channel on the mixer. That doesn't take any time at all. If there isn't any space, you can still make a plan and not be in anyones way.

A S4 should be even easier as you don't have the soundcard to deal with.

The longest part of the whole set up is getting the fucking laptop started.

Fuck these people.

well that's proper annoying what happened to you.

The way I operate is I try to have my outgoing sound stuff sorted before the night starts, so audio plugged into the mixer in advance unless there's no free channels and such.

Then everything is plugged in and ready to go in my bag I just have to pull it out of the bag set it on table, plug audio, plug electrical current and good to go.


The key issue here beyond the lack of consideration from the other acts in the way you experienced it is that I feel many clubs don't do their best to accomodate new technology as in, having easilly accessible audio plug-ins and all.
No no no ... you still have to get down and dirty pulling mixer out, plug it all in at the risk of annoying others and also disrupting the flow of the night

Rare easy access to rca connectors is a real pain.


And next time you should kindly tell the people to come back when it's closer to their time to play. If they don't get it well tell them it's common courtesy to share the space with everyone.
Difficult to keep a temper sometimes when you'd love to tell others to p*ss off

quote:

Originally posted by jdat Rare easy access to rca connectors is a real pain.

Im waiting for the day something like this becomes standard for booth installs....

http://www.allen-heath.co.uk/xone/xonepb

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The real question? Were these guys any good?

quote:

Originally posted by Brandt Slater The real question? Were these guys any good?

Lord no.


But the point wasn't so much to say "what a bunch of dicks they were"... it's something I've thought about a few times and wanted to bring it to the surface, to find out how other people (mostly those who play off laptops) avoid being a pain in the arse to anyone else.

And hopefully give a nudge to anyone reading this who hadn't given it a second thought

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Last edited by Stu Cox on Apr-13-2011 at 18:13

Sounds like a complete piss take to be honest Stu....

Common courtesy and respect within this industry is a very rare occurrence.

I would have made it as awkward for them to set their gear up as possible. A few shoulder barges, a quick elbow...'ooops I seem to have spilled my drink on your brand spanking new controller whilst you were invading MY FUCKING SPACE DURING MY FUCKING SET- terribly sorry about that chap!'
I'm not usually the aggressive type unless someone displays sheer and utter ignorance.

To be fair it's something that the club owner / promoter needs to be aware of beforehand.

I know you are more than competent at what you do Stu. The problem is that if there ain't procedures in place for allowing DJ's to alter the club / pub / bar set-up, it can fuck with your head when there are people in your zone.

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Last edited by A.B on Apr-13-2011 at 19:46

being polite or not being a moron or not. The closest situation i had was when the previous dj used his own cdj-1000 because as he said he didn't rely anymore on clubs equipment, after his set he went leaving my with the cd wallet and his cdjs but actually it was the opposite he was very kind, he left his cdjs for me (mint ones) instead of replugging the others back and the fact that he left the wallet in the middle of the booth was just that he forgot about it, kind guy no offence at all, by the way.. he was ~30 years old, can i guess that your djs where really full on themselves ~20 year ones?¿

I know it's difficult to say "You are disturbing me" the problem is that people like us is not what you normally find and being that impolite and being so egoistic is the common thing

When in doubt: take after the pros.

Most of the opening DJs at the clubs I frequent use the CDJs that are installed in the booth. A lot of headliners these days use laptops.

What I normally see from them is that they walk into the booth, give a nod to the crowd (who is probably cheering that said headliner is visible), then they acknowledge the opening DJ, duck down, and start setting up their laptop, etc. outside the view of the crowd as much as possible. That way the opening DJ can continue to be the center of attention, and play his stuff, while the headliner quietly sets up his stuff, only standing up if they have to in order to plug something in.

So when guys like First State, Richard Durand, M.I.K.E., Thrillseekers, etc. show that kind of courtesy, it illustrates that there is a clear difference between a professional and a newb (no matter what kind of gear you use). Always be the professional.

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quote:

Originally posted by Sushipunk At least last time you Brits got pissed off, we got punk music out of it. This time, it'll probably just end up being embers breaks