BillFitzmaurice.info

First, I want to say that I am not a DJ. I'm a live sound guy but that being said, until I have regular live sound gig's, I'm going to need income so I've decided to DJ weddings, corporate events etc. So I'm going to need a dj mixer. Since I have NO music income at all right now I need to find a mixer that will be reliable but cheap. I don't scratch or any of that stuff so the features I need are real basic, just connect it to my pc and maybe 1 or 2 mic inputs.

Any idea's? Thanks in advance guys.
-Pat

Honestly, if you have no experience doing weddings, don't. Weddings require way more than just playing music. A typical wedding will have between 40 and 60 hours before I even show up at the hall. Save your reputation. Work with a wedding DJ a few times before you venture out on your own. Not doing a good job will do more harm to your professional reputation than you will ever know.

+1 I learn something new everyday.

DJPhatman wrote:Honestly, if you have no experience doing weddings, don't. Weddings require way more than just playing music. A typical wedding will have between 40 and 60 hours before I even show up at the hall. Save your reputation. Work with a wedding DJ a few times before you venture out on your own. Not doing a good job will do more harm to your professional reputation than you will ever know.

+1,000,000

A "live sound" person is no more qualified to DJ weddings, than a "wedding DJ" is qualified to run live sound. Apples and pencil cups.

I typically put in between 30 and 40 hours in total per wedding...including the 8-12 hours on the day of the event. The planning and coordination with the other vendors is not easy. Weddings are high stress, one shot only events.

In terms of reasonable mixers...it depends a little on the form factor and features you want. Here are some reasonable 2 adn 4 channel DJ style mixers. These are all reasonable quality, and will offer years of good service.

Vestax-002xl
Vestax-004xl
Denon X500

Here are some table top mic mixers that also have RCA inputs for your computer. There are additional models in each product line that offer more inputs.

Yamaha MG102
Mackie Onyx 820
Behringer Xenyx 802

Wow. Don't take this the wrong way guys - but if you're spending 40 hours on a wedding you've both got to figure out how to be more efficient with your time.

I've done weddings at dozens of major venues in the Atlanta area, dozens of hotel ballrooms, restaurants with banquet halls, historical homes, not-so-historical homes, next door to the Governor's mansion, outdoor pavilions, and state parks. I'm about to do my 120th wedding next weekend at Lake Lanier Islands Resort.

All weddings take around 10 hours the day of:

- Setup around 2 hours before ceremony: 2 hours
- 2 hours of downtime, changing clothes, cooling off (especially setting up in July)
- 1 hour ceremony
- 1 hour of cocktail music
- 3-4 hours of reception
- 1 hour breakdown

but I have never spent more than 5 hours total in preparation:

- 1 hour phone consultations with planner, venue, caterer, photographer/videographer
- 1 hour face to face meeting with bride/planner, going over lists
- 1 hour of song list preparation

I can't think of what would take 40 hours before the actual wedding as a DJ, even including advanced lighting setups.

The one part I do agree with these guys on is that you really should help out with a couple before you try to tackle one solo. I had the benefit of having quite a few of my friends get married before I started doing other friends' weddings... so it was always a relaxed environment in the beginning for me. But if I had gone along with someone who was more experienced, it sure would have helped me transition from club to wedding DJ a lot smoother (and learn first hand what NOT to do).

As for high stress, they're just weddings. It's not like you're operating on a cancer patient, or working on electrical poles, or on the front lines in Afghanistan. They're only high stress if you make it that way. If you're well prepared, you're going to be fine. If you stay cool, calm, collected, and always know what you can do if plan A fails, your work will represent your preparation. Beyond that, you're there to support the bride and groom and make their day special - not make the show about you and pull your hair out doing it.

As far as the mixer goes for a wedding, I'm more into something sleek and able to be hidden. One of those compact Yamaha mixers for around $80 should work just fine if you're mixing via a controller/laptop.

bzb wrote:Wow. Don't take this the wrong way guys - but if you're spending 40 hours on a wedding you've both got to figure out how to be more efficient with your time.

Here are typical times based on the last couple of years worth of weddings I have done:

2 hr - Initial consultation at B&G site (This is mostly a sales meeting - they get to know me.)
3 hr - Detailed planning meeting with B&G (This is mostly getting to know the B&G and offering options to personalize their event.)
2 hr - Final planning meeting with B&G
2 hr - phone consultations with BM, MoH
4-8hr - consultations with other wedding vendors
2 hr - Site visit
2-6 hr - rehearsal, playlist preparation

That is 17 to 25 hours of prep time, plus the "day of" performance time. I have included typical travel time to and from the different locations in my estimates. On average, I get about 8 months of time to get all these activities done.

I meet my clients at least three times, in person, during the planning process. I wear a suit.

I call the BM and MoH and talk to them about the B&G. Sometimes I also talk to the B&G's siblings and parents.

I *always* visit the site in person BEFORE the day of the event...typically 2 to 4 weeks ahead of the event. I meet with the venue staff, and get to know who I will be dealing with on the day of the event. I find out about load in/out paths. I find out where to park. I wear a suit. Mostly, I present myself as a professional, behaving like a professional, and treating the venue staff like professionals.

I rehearse the introductions (e.g. record a performance and review). My performance is a bit more involved than calling the names.

I am not a $400 wedding DJ. Given the amount I charge, my clients expect a "high touch" approach to service.

bzb wrote:As for high stress, they're just weddings. It's not like you're operating on a cancer patient, or working on electrical poles, or on the front lines in Afghanistan. They're only high stress if you make it that way.

My job is to stress so that the client does not have to.

bzb wrote:If you're well prepared, you're going to be fine. If you stay cool, calm, collected, and always know what you can do if plan A fails, your work will represent your preparation.

Exactly. Preparation. A one hour face to face meeting is not enough preparation for me to get a good feel for the B&G, their family dynamics, their traditions, etc. It takes time. Multiple interviews. I always learn helpful details in second and third face to face meetings.

--Stan Graves

Again, don't take any of this the wrong way. I think we're all chill enough with each other to not sugar coat things here, right?

Something tells me that the OP is not catering to a "full service" crowd as you do. I average around $700 for weddings in the Atlanta area, although I've done some higher end stuff in the $1200-1500 range. Certainly none of these $3000+ wedding DJ events (which I still don't get how they get away with charging that much).

I market myself to the "last minute" crowd, and I do my best to take care of them... because I'm a last minute kind of person. Plans change, life happens.

For example, the wedding I'm doing next week is for a bride in her 30s and a groom in his 50s - and we signed the contract two weeks ago. I sat down with her at the venue to go over the contract and some of the more important tunes in the planner list. I checked out the venue for about 15 minutes, writing some notes in my phone about what I needed to bring and took a few photos for setup reference. Before meeting at the venue, we exchanged about a dozen e-mails and two 15 minute phone calls. There will be around 60 guests. I already know all the wedding party's names. I have the music 95% prepared already, and she hasn't gotten me the list back yet.

Maybe it's the attitude I carry from my corporate job, but I pride myself on efficiency and attention to detail. I send followup e-mails to every phone conversation to ensure there are no "misunderstandings". And as such, I spend an eighth of the time that you do to get essentially the same information. I don't want long drawn out meetings, and most (if not all) of my clients don't, either. My clients appreciate my punctuality and succinct meetings with planned objectives.

I don't know very many people who can spend the amount of time you do on one project. Hell, I haven't even spent 40 hours building out a single one of my cabs

I don't have any issues with meeting the clients in person, but I don't think I've ever done so more than once. Seems like an inefficient use of time, and much better handled over something like e-mail. Again, a product of corporate job - e-mail is CYA, not a formality.

Stress isn't really something I'm down with in my life. I'm easy-going, laid-back, and I will make lemonade out of whatever sour, bitter, rotted bowl of fruit is handed to me. I understand your point - being there for the B&G - but being a gigantic stressball isn't my way of handling it. I'm the cool, well-prepared rock that's paid to know what happens next.

And the suit thing... I don't wear a suit to my corporate job, and I didn't wear a tux to my own wedding. Usually a button down white shirt and dark grey slacks with some nice, comfortable Steve Maddens. In over 100 weddings, I've only had a request for a suit once, and I only wore it during the ceremony.


Honestly, it sounds like you're more into videography than DJing - which is not a bad thing, it's just if you were my employee I'd bust your ass for wasting too much time . The things you prepare for and these long drawn out interviews seem to be more along the lines of developing a "story" for them in post production. Weddings for me have been pretty routine, even when I've tried to make them unique, most folks tend to stick with what they're comfortable with, and that's tradition.

bzb wrote:Again, don't take any of this the wrong way. I think we're all chill enough with each other to not sugar coat things here, right?

Absolutely. That's a two way street, right?

bzb wrote:Something tells me that the OP is not catering to a "full service" crowd as you do. I average around $700 for weddings in the Atlanta area, although I've done some higher end stuff in the $1200-1500 range. Certainly none of these $3000+ wedding DJ events (which I still don't get how they get away with charging that much).

Perhaps not. By your own estimates, you spend 1/3 of the time before the event, and 2/3 on the day of the event. By my estimates, I spend 2/3 of my time before the event, and 1/3 of the time at the event. Somewhere in between is probably common for most wedding DJs.

bzb wrote:I market myself to the "last minute" crowd, and I do my best to take care of them... because I'm a last minute kind of person. Plans change, life happens.

When I do "last minute" events, the time is typically 50/50. I will spend about 8-10 hours in planing and prep, and another 8-10 hours on the day of.

bzb wrote:I checked out the venue for about 15 minutes, writing some notes in my phone about what I needed to bring and took a few photos for setup reference.

So, you were able to leave your home/office, travel to the site, tour the site, and return to your home/office in 15 minutes???? Wow! I don't live that close to any of my venues. The few venues that I think of as in the "neighborhood" are still a 10 minute drive each way from my house. My site visits are typically booked for 2 hours - that is my time, door to door.

Often, the sites are "full service" and I am meeting with the banquet manager to go over timelines, floor plans, etc. It takes longer than 15 minutes, even with advance phone calls and e-mails.

bzb wrote: Before meeting at the venue, we exchanged about a dozen e-mails and two 15 minute phone calls.

So, two 15 minute phone calls is half an hour. If I figure 5 minutes per e-mail, a dozen messages is another hour (e.g.taking 5 minutes to read their message, write your reply, update any planning documents or notes you have).

bzb wrote:And as such, I spend an eighth of the time that you do to get essentially the same information.

You and I do not get the same information. Perhaps the facts are the same (e.g. the first guest will arrive at 6pm). But, I work to build a relationship with my clients that gets me access to a LOT more information and detail than you get. Perhaps you don't want the additional information. Perhaps your clients do not want to tell you the story of how they met, or their first date. Perhaps you would not know how (if at all) to incorporate that information into your performance.

bzb wrote:Honestly, it sounds like you're more into videography than DJing - which is not a bad thing, it's just if you were my employee I'd bust your ass for wasting too much time . The things you prepare for and these long drawn out interviews seem to be more along the lines of developing a "story" for them in post production.

I do build a story for them. And I use that information to better craft my performance. You can probably get 80% of my results with 20% of the effort. My business model is built on me putting in the other 80% of the effort to get the final 20% of the results.

SoundInMotionDJ wrote:Absolutely. That's a two way street, right?

Do as I say, not as I do!

So, you were able to leave your home/office, travel to the site, tour the site, and return to your home/office in 15 minutes???? Wow! I don't live that close to any of my venues. The few venues that I think of as in the "neighborhood" are still a 10 minute drive each way from my house. My site visits are typically booked for 2 hours - that is my time, door to door.

I said I checked out the venue for 15 mins. I didn't factor travel time in, but strangely enough, most of the weddings I've done have been within 30 minutes of my house or one of my offices... another corporate job "perk" I suppose.

The few times that I've had a long distance, I simply get floor plans and pictures from the venue. If the venue doesn't have that, they certainly can get me it. If the venue management is terrible (not as uncommon as one would think) it's not that big of a deal. That's one of the reasons I get there 2 hours before the ceremony for setup.

Often, the sites are "full service" and I am meeting with the banquet manager to go over timelines, floor plans, etc. It takes longer than 15 minutes, even with advance phone calls and e-mails.

Ouch, I'm sorry. Things must be different over there. I thought the South moved slow!

Going over the timeline is really the wedding planner's job, but it takes less than 5 minutes to go over it to make sure it matches up. Floor plans matter ZERO to me - weddings and receptions are NEVER setup for the best sound, so I just need to know where they expect the table and the speakers, and I'll make due. The only other consideration is really the venue's rules... which are covered in e-mail for CYA, once again.

I've done quite a few weddings at venues that have multiples going on. I look for the facts, and I always prefer it via e-mail:

- Load in time
- Loading dock/setup
- Contact person for any issues during setup (electrical mostly)
- Any catering issues outside the norm
- Backup plan for inclement weather
- Break down coordination

Again, my meetings are succinct. I don't want to know the venue or the manager's life story.

So, two 15 minute phone calls is half an hour. If I figure 5 minutes per e-mail, a dozen messages is another hour (e.g.taking 5 minutes to read their message, write your reply, update any planning documents or notes you have).

You can nickel and dime my example, but you're not going to get anywhere near 40 hours

You and I do not get the same information. Perhaps the facts are the same (e.g. the first guest will arrive at 6pm). But, I work to build a relationship with my clients that gets me access to a LOT more information and detail than you get. Perhaps you don't want the additional information. Perhaps your clients do not want to tell you the story of how they met, or their first date. Perhaps you would not know how (if at all) to incorporate that information into your performance.

Facts are information, or data. The rest is stories. Just the facts, ma'am!

We get the same information. I'm willing to bet my entire DJ earnings that I can put on a similar "show" - as it pertains to weddings and receptions - as you can doing it my way.

I've done little gimmicks before where I've cut out interview pieces and put them together in the first dance mix. I've helped brides and their bridesmaids choreograph dances to perform as a surprise. I've created custom gobos and worked with videographers to get direct feeds. These are all extras that I'll sometimes charge for, or sometimes throw in depending on the client and how excited/interested/enthused about these things they are.

But for the VAST majority of my clients, they want the traditional wedding with the typical songs during the ceremony, the typical events during the reception, and get down to disco and top 40 while drinking themselves into oblivion.

They treat their wedding like a big party with their closest family and friends. Not a U2 concert. And that's fine by me... and it goes back to the OP: you don't have to be the Ferrari of wedding DJs if most of your clients just want a Chevy, their dog, and a pair of jeans that fit just right.

I do build a story for them. And I use that information to better craft my performance. You can probably get 80% of my results with 20% of the effort. My business model is built on me putting in the other 80% of the effort to get the final 20% of the results.

So you're admitting you're INTENTIONALLY being inefficient!

Hi, this "what's a good mixer" gone "what I do as a DJ" is very interesting. I talked with several DJs in the DFW area who pull down 10-12k per month doing one gig a week. Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs only. The business certain has room for all types of DJs from the $50/hr roller skating rinks jobs to the $3500 weddings. I'd like to hear more about what, how, when you all DJs do.
Thanks for keeping it civil and not bashing each other....we are all on the same team.

TimeWarp wrote:Hi, this "what's a good mixer" gone "what I do as a DJ" is very interesting. I talked with several DJs in the DFW area who pull down 10-12k per month doing one gig a week. Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs only. The business certain has room for all types of DJs from the $50/hr roller skating rinks jobs to the $3500 weddings. I'd like to hear more about what, how, when you all DJs do.
Thanks for keeping it civil and not bashing each other....we are all on the same team.

I got the wrong day job, that's for freaking sure.

el_ingeniero wrote:I got the wrong day job, that's for freaking sure.

careful what you wish for...
Not all DJ's make that kind of money and even if they do, just understand they miss out on lifes other fun events. I got tired of working every weekend and missing family events or friends parties/camping/etc... Most of the fun stuff happens on weekends and I grew weary of saying "I'd love to go but I have a DJ gig that weekend"

I eventually got a day job and decided to still DJ on the occasional weeknight or weekend of my choice. Now I have my cake and I can eat it too...

Truth. I'm missing the final game of my favorite sport because I have a wedding next weekend. All the other season ticket holders in my group are taking their families and tailgating beforehand... I'll be schlepping speakers around.

I've missed family birthdays, one of our annual 3rd of July parties, friends' weddings, etc. And I do this part time.

Heh, I spoke hastily. Truth is the one thing I live for mostly happens on weekends.

TimeWarp wrote:The business certain has room for all types of DJs from the $50/hr roller skating rinks jobs

The roller rink jobs don't pay $50/hr.

My average wedding last year was just over $2k. BUT...with the amount of hours I put in prepping...I make about $75 a hour. Pre tax. Pre overhead. And that's not for 40 hours a week...at least not every week.

RubiconProSound wrote:careful what you wish for...
Not all DJ's make that kind of money and even if they do, just understand they miss out on lifes other fun events. I got tired of working every weekend and missing family events or friends parties/camping/etc... Most of the fun stuff happens on weekends and I grew weary of saying "I'd love to go but I have a DJ gig that weekend"

+1

The work is all nights and weekends. That's great if you're single...unless you want to go on a date. If you married, with kids, DJing weddings is a hard way to make $$$.