Reception Gig Today

[jimbo7]

Later today I'm gonna DJ a friend's casual wedding reception. It's at Hendrick's BBQ in St. Charles, MO. Never been there but it's a nice looking place. They got married in Oct. in Lake Tahoe, so the hometown family/friends get their party today. I'm bringing my 2 SLA's (guised as pro audio cabs now), 24" T24, 2 amps, proc, mixer, laptop, cables, table, ect. I crammed all this in my VW Passat wagon with plenty of room to spare. I debated bringing the AT since I have to keep the volume reasonable. The T24 just sounded so good turned-up, though.
The music will be a weird mix of jam/progressive/electronic/rock and 80's + Bruce Springsteen per the bride and groom's tastes . Should be interesting. I'm using MIXXX to create a playlist to "auto dj" based on the song beat and key. The jam band/progressive/reggae/J.Garcia stuff is blending well, but we'll see how the 80's goes. I wanna participate at this event and not man the booth all night. Hopefully this will work since it my first time doing this.

[J_Dunavin]

Good luck, and have fun!
What are you running MIXXX on? And have you interfaced a controller to it?

[jimbo7]

Forgot to update on how the gig went.
The room where the "reception" was held was on the 2nd floor of this building and had to climb some stairs. Luckily I brought a fold-up dolly to wheel it to the stairs. I had to park on a lower level behind the building, take an elevator to the main level (thank god they had that), then wheel it all to the stairs and heft it into place. The room was like a 2 lane bowling alley. Not pleased. My setup spot was raised platform at one end about 8'x4'. Although not ideal, I had to place the mains on this platform and sub went in a corner, shooting down the wall of the room. All the other gear was on this platform, too. Didn't have time to use the RTA mic, so I used the test preset I saved.
Overall the music variety seemed to mesh well. Too bad I couldn't turn it up much because the room was overcrowded and I would've blasted the people closest to the speakers. I was surprised how easy MIXXX made it. No crazy volume jumps, long "dead air" times, fast then slow songs, and the fades were smooth. I literally just dumped my playlist into the "auto dj" and it sorted it all out. Had to move around a few songs that incorrectly determined the bpm. My only issue (beside unfavorable speaker placement) was the little hyper kids that thought my laptop was a toy they could beat on. I'm not afraid of confrontation so I grabbed every kid that touched my stuff and scolded them to the point of crying. I blame the parents more, not the kids.
Anyways, it was nice to get my gear out for a change and blow off the dust. Hopefully this summer I'll have a chance to really try out my OT12's and maybe some Titans?

Good luck, and have fun!
What are you running MIXXX on? And have you interfaced a controller to it?

Laptop with a Behringer uca202 to mixer. I have a Numark Mixtrack that can integrate with MIXXX, but I haven't used it in a long time and didn't wanna relearn it all and risk the gig.

[BrentEvans]

Only thing I'll say is that if it had been my kid you grabbed, I might have just "scolded" you. Kids are kids, man. Half the time they have crummy parents who don't teach them right from wrong, other other half of the time they do and just have a mind lapse or a streak of rebellion, so they really don't know any better and are just doing what kids do. I do church stuff all the time and when I have a rowdy kid, which is often, I've learned the best thing you can do is engage them. Say, "hey, that's a cool laptop, right? Want to know what it does?" Then spend a minute explaining. They'll either be rapt with attention and respect or they'll run and hide. If they cop attitude or resume abusing the gear, ask them where their parents are, and take it up with the parents. If you have to physically do something to prevent damage, don't grab. Use an open hand between the kid and the gear and wedge yourself between gently, or just be a shield.

People are funny about their kids. Every adult there is a potential client. Don't tick them off by being a donkey to their kids, even if the kids deserve it. A little wisdom and patience goes a long way.

And no, I don't coddle and spoil my kids, just ask them. if they are doing something destructive, I'll "jerk a knot in them" (as dad used to say), quicker than you can blink, but before I punish, I train. That way they can never say they weren't told.

[jimbo7]

I disagree. I just typed a big page of why but deleted it since this is the wrong place to discuss the matter. I'll just leave it at that.

[BrentEvans]

I disagree. I just typed a big page of why but deleted it since this is the wrong place to discuss the matter. I'll just leave it at that.

You can disagree till you're blue in the face, but Wait till you get sued and/or have charges pressed by some parent who feels like I do... or you just get punched in the face or kicked in the nuts... which is what we're probably more likely to do if we see you hurting our kid. Never mind that If you even touch the kid, and especially if you grab them, you are guilty of assault and battery, particularly when you almost make the kid cry. One day, you'll piss off the wrong person. The courts will NOT side with you, no matter how much you think the kid had it coming.

If you don't feel like doing the teaching bit, fine. But seriously consider that physical contact with or threatening a minor (or anyone) as you described is beyond a bad idea, it's criminal. You can shield, speak, and refer to parents, but not touch or threaten.

[jimbo7]

Lets get something straight, buddy. I never hurt no kid. But thanks for the advice, dad. I'll remember that next time I go to the park to push kids off the swings and throw their ice cream on the ground. Now can we talk about speakers again?

Oh, by the way, I think you forgot to use this:

[BrentEvans]

I never hurt no kid.

Obviously.