DJ List to Do Before You Go out to a Gig

0:00 You've got a whole bunch of gigs this December

Right, you've got a whole bunch of gigs this December. You want to know what to take, you want to know what you should and shouldn't take. I mean, how are you going to cope with the stress of all these gigs? Well, hopefully this video will give you a little bit of advice. Now, first of all, let's imagine you are travelling just down the road to a gig. You know, it's, I don't know, it's a mile away. No rush, no stress. You know, if the client wants you to set up by seven, you could leave the house at five to seven. Well, you don't really want to do that because... You could have a flat tyre, you could jump in your vehicle and find you've got a flat battery. So if it takes you 20 minutes to get there, 10 minutes to get there, allow yourself double that time or just think in the back of your mind, what if? Alright, because you don't want to be late. It doesn't matter even if you're down the road. On the other hand though, if you're 100 miles away, that's when things become a lot different because...

You can't think, 100 miles, give me two and a half hours, yeah, no worries. Because you could end up being in a traffic jam, there could be a traffic accident on the road, you could get a flat tyre, the engine could blow up, who knows? So just remember that. It's always better to be very early at a gig instead of either A, being on time or B, being too late. As I've said in a video before, you could be the best DJ in the world. Wickedest set. But if you're late, people will remember you for being late, not the best DJ in the world, especially if you're doing a wedding because the last person you want to annoy is the bride. If you upset the bride, you upset everybody. But we're on about Christmas time and it's still the same thing. You don't want to be late, so just bear that in mind. Give yourself ample time to get to your gig. Now, you're 100 miles away. You've unloaded your kit.

2:45 Speakers or amplifier, yes

You've got everything set up, only to find that you've forgotten something. We've all done it. I have quite a few times. So, even before you put one item in your vehicle, make a mental note of everything you need. Write that mental note down. Go over it five times. Check. Have you got everything you need on that list? Think about it. Now, also what I do... Very often is I will make up an imaginary set in my mind piece by piece. For example, the DJ console. Have I got that? Yes. Have I got the decks? No, it sounds stupid, but some people do forget them. Have I got the decks, the controller? Yes. The laptop? Yes. The USB cable? Think about it. Simple things people can forget. Yes. Microphone, yes. Microphone lead, yes. Headphones, yes. I've got the cables to go to the speakers or amplifier, yes. Then the cables from the amplifier to the speakers, yes. Do I have enough power connectors? Two, three, four, five, six, seven... No! Get some more. Now I have. Sorted. Do I have my lighting? Yes. Do I have something to put the lighting on? Yes. Do I have the G-clamps to fit the lighting to the something?

Make sure you've got it. Everything needs to have a checklist. Now what I do find helps me is once I've got everything in the van, I stand there and I look inside the van. And while I'm looking at every single item, I start from the very beginning to the end as I just explained. Console, there it is. Flight case with decks in, there they are, or controller. Laptop, yep, that's next to there. Cables, cables in the back. Did I put everything in? Yes, I did. Trust me, it sounds silly, but you know what? You could go, and I've got this, oh, I've missed that bit. I've missed the base cab. There you go. See, so by just giving a mental rundown of everything you need to have in the van and looking at everything in the van means you will not forget anything. So you turn up, you do your gig, jobs are good. No it isn't! It isn't! Because you're 100 miles away. What if? What if the controller stops working? What if your laptop stops working?

5:00 For example, I take the Pioneer XDJ-RX2

What if one of the speakers goes down, or one of your moving heads or the lighting doesn't work, or a four-way cable is a bit faulty? Take backup. Now you need to be in a position where if everything failed, you could bring out something that would work. Now I'm not on about having a completely new PA or a completely separate PA in the back of your van. You know, a complete brand new controller with another laptop and, well actually another laptop's very good. Ow, sorry. Oh, I did that again. And also cables. But just think of the items that are... They're there. They are the items right in the palm of your hand and if that disappears, you've got nothing. So you will need another laptop unless, of course, you have something, another form of musical appliance for backup. For example, I take the Pioneer XDJ-RX2. I will also take one, sometimes two CD players. I probably won't even plug them in, but they're there.

In flight cases with a box of CDs, on the off chance something goes wrong. Not only that, I've got another backup which is of course a thumb drive. If needs be, I will also take a small two-channel mixer in a flight case, bring them in with me so if the proverbial hit the you know fanny thing then I've got all of the hardware I need. Speakers. Now, that there is an 8-inch powered speaker. Small. You've probably seen it in practically every video here. And it's a monitor. You know what? But that kicks some butt. And I will take one, if not two of those with me, stick them in the corner somewhere. You know what? They're probably never used. But if one speaker goes, plug it in. Away you go. of extra cables. I won't turn up and think, right, that's the last cable plugged in, no more cables, look, I used every single one, aren't I clever? You're not, you're an absolute bloody idiot because what happens if one of those cables goes wrong? Then you've got something that isn't powered. Worse, even far worse than that is if you've got a four-way that all of a sudden is slightly faulty. You do not want to go to that gig and start, excuse me a second, I need to unplug this and start rewiring.

You look an idiot. What you do want to do is, oh, never mind, that isn't working, it needs to be fixed, put that to one side, I'll get one of the other five I brought with me and plug that in. Two of the best things a mobile DJ can take with them is this. Now God knows why it's called duct tape. I have no idea if this is gaffer tape. Take some gaffer tape and also a DJ's best friend, cable ties. Take some cable ties. Now, also another good idea is this. This is RCA to Minijack. Very simply because you will undoubtedly have someone say, can you play this? Don't go, goth, no. Just go politely in your mind, no, and then go, oh, I will do my best, thank you very much, make a note of it. Now, of course, what you will need is, I think I might have it somewhere here, I normally have, can I get it really quickly before pouring you to tears?

8:15 Make sure you've got a spare microphone

Probably not, no I can't, but it is the cable that goes from an iPhone to a mini jack plug and it's a small like white iPhone cable so it might be handy to take one of those because quite a few people have got more modern. Microphone. Make sure you've got a spare microphone. Now, of course, the best microphones to get, like the SM58 or Shure, make sure you invest highly in a good quality microphone. You don't want a crap one. Otherwise, you're going to sound crap. On the other hand, if your microphone is being used by Mrs General Public, then do not give them an SM58 because if they start playing Drop The Mic... Ooh, dear me, that's a... Quite a lot of money down the drain. You're better off buying some rubbish karaoke thing from the £1.20 shop and they can do what they want with it. Let them sound rubbish, not you. Alright, so hopefully this is a bit of a help. So don't forget, keep a log of what you've got, have a mental note of what you're taking with you and just think about worst case scenario, you're at a gig, all of a sudden your amplifier blows up.

Just grab the spare one. It doesn't have to be massive and powerful. If it's something to tick you over, it'll do a good job. Think on this analogy. Some sports cars. Fast, furious, cost an absolute bloody fortune. Bang! The tyre goes. You don't pull out another huge tyre. You've got these thin crappy things that'll take you about 40 mile an hour down the road. They look stupid, but guess what? You can still drive the vehicle, maybe not as fast, but it will get you to your destination or get you to the place where you can fix your tyre. The analogy works with your kit. You may have a fantastic PA that costs a fortune, but if something goes wrong with it, if you can bring something small and petite out to still play the music, it will get you to the end of the gig and then you go back and get your big PA fixed.

And I wish I had a car like that. Anyway, practice and enjoy. Thank you.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.