Chapter 7: Playing Music At Dance Parties
[Note: book sections
not presented on this website are titled and summarized in italics.]
Tools Of The
Trade
As a DJ at a ballroom dance party,
your goal is to deliver a smooth stream of high-quality, well-varied songs to
which your audience can dance. Describes the tools that you'll need to do your
job well.
Knowing Your
Audience
How to keep beginning dancers from
running away.
Variety, The
Spice Of Life And Dancing
Choosing which songs to play is
a delicate art. Is is better to play a series of Waltzes, or never to repeat
the same dance more than once in a row? Is it more important to alternate slow
and fast music, or Standard and Latin dances? Are pre-mixed dance compilations
the greatest thing since sliced bread, or a crutch for the lazy DJ? Answers
for inquiring minds.
Sound Engineering
Discusses how long each song should
run, how to segue from one song to the next, and how to adjust the volume to
make the dancers happy. Includes tips on cuing, fading, and changing the pitch
of songs.