Event DJ and Mobile Disco Hire

The Wedding DJ Playlist – A Definitive Guide

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As an Event DJ, I have the pleasure of being a part of a number of weddings each year. Wedding reception bookings make up a large proportion of the work I carry out, and they are definitely some of the most enjoyable gigs. Being able to create the perfect Wedding DJ Playlist is something which is important to me. It takes time, and the content can vary greatly from couple to couple depending on a number of factors, not least their musical tastes. While I appreciate the rare occasions I’m given free licence to play whatever I personally feel is most suitable, there is usually a serious amount of input from the clients prior to their big day.

Setting the Mood

I usually go high energy from the outset where weddings are concerned. The majority of the crowd are likely to be in jovial mood by this point of proceedings and more than ready to boogie. The first dance will generally be a slow ballad, where guests are invited to join the bride and groom at some stage. Where to go from here? Well, one option is to follow up with another ballad or slow dance number initially, and then takes things up tempo. Bruno Mars’ Marry You is a solid if somewhat unimaginative transition track. Disco tends to work well with mixed age groups. The early stage of proceedings is also a good time to get the kids involved should they be in attendance, and putting on a few cheesy child friendly songs at this point doesn’t kill the mood. It can actually help to get people onto the dancefloor with the little ones in tow.

The First Dance

This is obviously a personal choice from the newlyweds, and arguably the focal point of the evening. I’m a fan of the more obscure selections, when you know some thought has gone into the song choice and there is meaning behind it. Couples will often go for the most popular chart ballad of the time which is absolutely fine, but I feel it’s a real waste of what should be a once in a lifetime event. Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud and All of Me by John Legend are the two most popular first dance tracks of recent years. Some of the more interesting and original options include Angels by The XX, Phil Collins’ A Groovy Kind of Love and Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana.

Wedding DJ Playlist Essentials

Those of you looking for inspiration and ideas can do a lot worse than looking through Spotify. A search for wedding playlists will bring up a multitude of results and while there you will discover some shockers, Spotify works well as a starting point. Here are some tracks you are likely to hear at the majority of weddings;

Wedding DJ Playlist Top Ten

Come On Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners

Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond

YMCA – Village People

I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston

Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey

Marry You – Bruno Mars

Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson

September – Earth Wind & Fire

Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison

Dancing Queen – ABBA

Bottom Line

A successful Wedding DJ Playlist relies upon the client and DJ working in harmony. While it’s important for the bride and groom to have a significant amount of input when it comes to the songs they want to hear, the DJ needs to be given freedom to switch things to some extent should a change be required. Admittedly, the happy couple are the priority, but getting all the guests dancing and enjoying themselves is key to creating memories and making the reception an evening to remember. In my experience, the tried and trusted classics are the songs that should make up the bulk of any Wedding DJ Playlist. The DJ also needs to be flexible and expect a number of requests from the crowd on the night. It’s impossible to please everyone when it comes to an event with such a wide variety of attendees, but a skilled DJ will be able to create an atmosphere that keeps people on the dancefloor and talking about the wedding for years to come.

ADJ Pro Event Table II Equinox Truss Booth System Review

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I have gigged the LiteConsole GO for a number of years now. This premium booth has served me well, but hasn’t been without its issues. The GO retails at the best part of £1,000, and for that amount of money, the carry bags it comes with are quite pathetic. One of the plastic shelves arrived cracked on delivery and although this was replaced, it wasn’t long before damage occurred to another of the three shelf sections of the unit. With the bags full of holes and glue holding various bits and pieces together, I decided it was time for an upgrade.

My attention had recently been drawn to two new booths which both appeared reasonably priced, the ADJ Pro Event Table II and the Equinox Truss Booth System. I attempted a bit of online research but couldn’t for the life of me figure out the difference between the two stands. It turns out that there is none other than the branding. I believe the original Pro Event Table was slightly less portable, but the second incarnation came apart in the middle, the same as the Equinox version.

After a failed delivery from Bax and lots of back and forth with PayPal to get my money refunded, I found a reputable seller on eBay and got next day delivery on the ADJ Pro Event Table II for £279. The carry bag was another £40, and the corner shelves a further £25. Less than £350 for an extremely impressive looking DJ Booth seemed too good to be true, but the reviews and videos I’d seen online made me think it was worth a punt.

I wasn’t disappointed. The first thing that struck me was the sheer size of the Pro Event Table. I’m not sure if it is because of what I’m used to with the LiteConsole GO, but this thing is huge. Having said that, the booth is still extremely portable. This unit is made up of two sturdy aluminium sections which fold in half for transportation. There is also a main shelf, two metal bars and a front board which can be used for branding purposes such as a custom graphic. The guys at Signs and Print UK made me a suitable replacement board for less than £100 which looks great.

Pro Event Table II Pro Event Table II Pro Event Table II Pro Event Table II Pro Event Table II

I’ve already had a number of compliments on the new setup. Although my previous DJ booth also had a very professional and clean look, the Pro Event Table gives me more presence. There are a number of tweaks that can be made (moving heads on the shelves and a laptop stand attached to the truss are just a couple of ideas) to really make the booth your own. These are in addition to the customised front board.

Cons
If I was being really picky, the only small gripe as far as the Pro Event Table is concerned is with cabling. There’s not much to hide behind and to be really neat, you need to be quite cute with running any leads along the truss and securing with a tie of some sort. I use a combination of Bungee Balls and Gravity Speaker Pole Clips. I highly recommend the Gravity clips.

There are other options to resolve this issue. You can either buy the scrim for around £40, or get a piece of board or fiberglass cut to size that would cover the front of the frame. These are both fairly inexpensive ways to provide a bit more freedom with cabling.

Conclusion
This is arguably the best piece of DJ equipment I have ever bought in terms of quality, functionality and value for money. There’s definitely nothing ‘off the shelf’ I’d prefer. The Pro Event Table II is a game changer for the Event DJ.

Full ADJ Pro Event Table Specifications
Professional Event Table to use as a greeting table, sales table, live sound or lighting designer console or DJs
Compact and collapsible – collapses in half for compact transport
Lightweight, around 40lbs.
Functional and professional looking
Shelf height: 34 inches
Front board to add custom graphic (Size (WxH); 25″ x 22.5″ / 635×571.5mm)
Dimensions (LxWxH): 50” x 24” x 45.5” / 1270x610x1155mm

Six Months with the Numark NS6ii Review

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I’m a big fan of two channel controllers. There’s something about the look/feel/symmetry/size which I feel a lot happier with than the four channel counterpart. However, as an Event DJ, the four channels aren’t really negotiable.

Last April, I found myself in the market for a new controller. I wanted Pioneer’s DDJ-1000, but I wasn’t willing to jump ship to rekordbox dj. Pioneer have quite clearly released the DDJ-1000 at a price point where a number of DJs are going to switch software. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to CDJs in controller form.

Having made the decision to stick with Serato, my controller shortlist came down to the Denon DJ MC7000, the Roland DJ-808, and the Numark NS6II. All three controllers had their merits, but based on features I’d use, build quality and value for money, I plumped for the Numark controller.

Considering the success of the original NS6, the new incarnation seems to have gone under the radar somewhat. I think this is partly due to the fact that when the NS6 was released, it was breaking new ground and had a number of innovative features that hadn’t been seen before. There are so many DJ controllers available now that it becomes difficult to stand out from the crowd. I quite enjoy the fact that sightings of this unit are rare.

The Numark NS6ii is a lot better built than most controllers around this price point. It’s largely metal construction give this DJ controller a much more pro feel than its plasticky market rivals. The only reason I can think of for the NS6ii not being a more popular choice for digital DJs is quite simply branding. Pioneer are the Apple of DJ equipment, and some people just aren’t interested in an alternative.

During my six months of regular use for gigs, I’m yet to have any issues with the NS6ii. There were some initial reports on the Serato forum of problems with the jog wheels, but I understand the firmware updates have resolved these. I’ve seen no signs of these myself. Zero crashes, jog wheels and pads are ultra responsive, and it’s always powered up first time.

Numark NS6II Front

Key Features
The Numark NS6II has two USB ports allowing two computers to be connected simultaneously. This isn’t something which I utilise personally, but would definitely be of use at a venue where DJs are on rotation, or for friends at home wanting to go back to back using their own laptop/music collection.

There is also the option to use the NS6ii as a standalone four channel mixer. Turntables can be connected and the unit is also Serato DVS compatible. I personally connect an iPad via one of the RCA line/phono inputs as a back up measure or if I need to make use of Spotify.

Displays built into the middle of the jog wheels allow you to monitor important track information such as BPM, time elapsed and time remaining. I was concerned this feature might be a little bit gimmicky initially, but it’s actually a very useful feature.

I need a long pitch fader. The ridiculously short ones you get on a lot of controllers these days are just awful. I know sometimes this is down to size constraints, but a sizeable pitch fader is far more satisfying. Measuring 100mm, the NS6ii wins in this department.

The 16 performance pads offer Hot Cue, Auto/Roll, Loop Roll, Sampler and Slicer. Plenty of opportunities to get creative with your mixes. The pads have a great feel and are very responsive. The frequency knobs within the mixer section can also be setup to be touch-capacitive giving further room for inventiveness during sets.

Dual mic inputs make the NS6II suitable for weddings, corporate functions and the like. I’m currently trialling Serato’s karaoke capabilities, and having two microphones available certainly makes life a lot easier.

Numark NS6II Back

Full List of Numark NS6II Features
Dual USB ports for DJ handoffs
2-inch color LCD display integrated into each jog wheel
Digital mixer with (2) phono/line inputs that can be mixed directly without software
Comes with Serato DJ (full version)
Touch-capacitive knobs
6-inch multi-function jog wheel with smart learning capacitive technology
4-channel USB Audio
Stereo XLR outputs, Master RCA outputs, Booth RCA Outputs
(2) 1/4” mic inputs
Stand-alone mixer 24-bit, 44.1K audio
USB 2.0
4 in, 4 out with (2) phono preamp
Replaceable crossfader
Roll bar to protect front panel control knobs

Conclusion
The Numark NS6II is definitely my favourite DJ controller to date. Fantastic build quality, great jogwheels, and enough bells and whistles to keep the vast majority of DJs happy. There’s been a slight price drop with some retailers recently, and I’ve seen the NS6II available as low as £550. This is considerably cheaper than any of the other four channel Serato controllers of recent times. I’d highly recommend this unit to any mobile or event DJs looking for a reliable hardware option.

How I Avoided a Mobile DJ Disaster

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This past Saturday night was particularly eventful. I was booked to play at a 40th Anniversary party at Sidcup Working Men’s Social Club. The client had been in touch a few times prior to the event and sent me a rough playlist the middle of last week. On my arrival, the car park was packed and I could see quite the light show coming from the function room. I walked in to find another DJ set up and people sitting at tables who looked to me like they’d be there all day. I asked around, but no one seemed to know of the gentleman who had booked me.

I couldn’t get the client on the phone at this stage, so worked on the assumption that I’d been given the incorrect social club address, as there are two relatively close to each other in Sidcup. Off I headed to Oxford Road. Pop my head in there only to discover a number of banners wishing Dennis well on his birthday. En-route back to Main Road, I managed to get through to the client. Simon assured me that he’d booked the venue next to the Range Rover garage, and that he’d be arriving shortly to sort everything out. I thought this was a good time for me to relax in the bar with a Peroni, and see if the staff might be able to shed any light on the situation.

It soon became apparent that there had been a mix up, and the venue had double booked. Understandably, Simon and his partner were just short of furious. Around 150 guests and a burger van about to arrive at someone else’s wedding reception. The management contacted various other clubs to try and arrange an alternative, only to be told that they were either already booked up, or didn’t have the staff available. The solution seemed simple to me – still have the event at the same venue, just use the main bar rather than the function room.

I made the suggestion and although not all parties were immediately on board, everyone eventually agreed it was the sensible option. I quickly got everything out the Jeep and set up. Guests weren’t due until 7:30pm so I still had around 30mins to play with. My anal time keeping once again paying off! This probably wasn’t the best night to be debuting my new booth, and I had a bit of an issue with the size custom front board I’d had made last minute, but got there in the end.

In the end, the party was a huge success. The client was over the moon with how the night went, and I was asked for my contact details by the venue, the DJ playing next door and two guests who had upcoming events. It turned out that the ambience of the bar was far better than that of the function room. Less tables and chairs and a slightly more night club layout meant people felt more at ease when it came to dancing. Things do generally work out in the end!

Check out our Mobile DJ Gallery for pictures from Saturday. There are also a couple of videos over on Facebook

Why is Serato the Best DJ Software?

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Serato DJ Pro is my digital DJ software of choice. I have tried and tested the majority of options available to mobile DJs including Traktor, Virtual DJ and Djay Pro to name but a few. While Serato might not be perfect, it ticks more boxes than anything else and most importantly, it has my trust! Serato is rock solid when it comes to stability and I have never encountered any issues, even when running some long and intense sets. The software is by no means basic, but doesn’t some of the unnecessary and somewhat tacky features of certain rivals. There are still plenty of effect options for those who wish to get creative, but the interface remains clean and uncluttered.

Another huge positive for me is the fact I am able to organise my music library via Serato and bypass iTunes completely. This wasn’t really something I had considered before coming across this excellent article by Lou at Paris Creative. I knew I wasn’t happy with iTunes for organisation purposes, but was struggling to find a suitable alternative. I now store all my music in folders which match my Serato crate structure and eliminate the bloat. This approach has additional benefits including faster load times when firing up Serato and less work when adding to or updating your tracks.

Djay Pro is another software I like a lot. For DJing via your iPad or iPhone, this is definitely the best option. I always bring an iPad and Pioneer DDJ-WeGO4 along to any gigs as a back up solution. This is also a cool little setup for small house parties, or just mixing on the go. Djay Pro integrates seamlessly with Spotify, you do need a premium account however. Another consideration is that you aren’t meant to use Spotify for public performance, and relying on streaming services for important events is definitely not something I would recommend. A similar option utilising Serato software rather than Djay is Numark’s DJ2GO2, a mini controller I recently acquired. The DJ2GO2 works with a laptop rather than iPad/iPhone but is really tiny. I mean, can almost go in your back pocket size, but still highly functional. This allows me to work on sets in Serato as and when just by connecting one cable to my Macbook.

Pioneer’s Rekordbox DJ is quickly growing in popularity, the hardware giant having made a number of improvements to their software over the past few years. Pioneer make the most popular DJ controllers and have previously always worked very closely with Serato. However, the company now appear to be reserving their high end products just for Rekordbox. I’m not sure how this is going to affect Serato going forward, but I’m sure this must have had some impact in terms of sales. That being said, I’m more than happy with my NS6II at the moment, and even the stunning DDJ 1000 isn’t enough for me to make the jump to Rekordbox DJ. Serato is still No.1.

The DJ Equipment I Use and Why

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I have used a variety of different DJ equipment over the years. Thanks to the internet, you can undertake a vast amount of research prior to making a significant purchase, but there is no substitute for getting hands. I need to know what works in terms of usability, portability and most importantly, sound quality.

Having begun my Mobile DJ career on vinyl using 1210’s in the 90s, I’m always keen to replicate the feel of those turntables. At the same time, I need to ensure rock solid reliability while keeping all the practicalities in mind. At this moment in time, I feel I have a set up which is a close to perfect as I have ever had, or am likely to be able to achieve.

Here is my current set up and why it works for me.

Numark NS6II
My DJ Controller of choice. This thing is a tank. I’ve flirted with various DJ Software, but always come back to Serato and the NS6II is currently top of the tree for me when it comes to Serato controllers. A lot of DJ Controllers, even those at the high end of the market, are largely made of plastic and have a rather cheap feel. The NS6II has an all metal construction and all the inputs and outputs an Event DJ could ever need. The dual mic inputs can come in particularly useful for Wedding DJs, while the display in the center of the jog wheels really makes the controller pop.

Apple Macbook Pro
I have been using a Mac for around seven years now and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the only option if you’re a professional DJ. The initial outlay for one of these bad boys is significant, but handle with care and a Macbook will last you a number of years. Mine is solely used for DJing purposes and means I have peace of mind when arriving at any gig. I’d recommend a screen size of 15 inches to ensure you have enough real estate to incorporate both waveforms and your track details comfortably.

Sennheiser HD 25 Aluminium Headphones
The Sennheiser HD 25 is an absolute classic and I’ve personally never used anything else. They are the industry standard for a reason. I treated myself to the limited edition aluminium version a couple of years ago, but I’m also a big fan of the Sennheiser HD 25 Light. These come in a little cheaper than the standard version and are a solid option if the split headband and rotatable ear cup aren’t deal breakers.

AKG D5S Microphone
This dynamic vocal microphone receives five star ratings across the board, and for good reason. The AKG D5 provides superb vocal clarity, and has never let me down. A big issue for mobile discos and the like is feedback when using microphones. I have performed at various venues in Bexleyheath and Sidcup where the acoustics are less than ideal. Since employing the AKG D5, any problems with feedback have been eliminated. This mic also appears to interact very well with the Numark NS6II. There are two versions of the microphone, the D5 and the D5S. The S simply has an on/off switch where the standard model does not. This enhancement is definitely worth the small additional cost.

Electro Voice ZLX-15P
Having spent a number of hours listening to various powered speakers, the EV ZLX range stand head and shoulders above anything else in their price range. These speakers are relatively lightweight for their size and power, and a pair of the 15’s will provide enough output for any mid size venue. Yamaha would be the only other brand I could recommend as an alternative, with the DXR range producing a comparable sound but you’ll pay roughly £200 more per speaker. A pair of EV ZLX-15P’s is a great choice for any Event DJ or musician.

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