I may be a DJ!!!!

So yesterday, I received a call from my former teacher who asked me to be a substitute DJ for the salsa dance social. The original DJ was out of town. So I brought some of my music and "DJed" (not that hard to be a Salsa DJ!!)

Well, I guess some people liked what I played b/c I was approached by a person who offered me a job as a DJ for this new salsa venue that he is thinking about opening. Nothing is set in stone and Im not sure If i'll take it, but it got me thinking:

What kind of salsa music do people like to dance to?

That is, for beginners, do you like slow or fast salsa? Do you prefer "common" songs or "rare" songs?
Intermediates, do you prefer long (5+ minutes) songs or shorter?
Experts, do you like 2 hear more NY Salsa (60's 70's), Mambo era or other type of Salsa music?

I've seen the other threads on what people dont like about their DJs, but Im wondering on what they do like?

Congratulations!

One thing that I've learned over the years... you won't be able to please everyone.

So find out what the regulars to your scene prefer, and cater to that.

Personally, I hate it when all the music starts sounding the same. I'd much rather have a variety of tempo, old and new, etc. Even the occasional merengue, cha cha cha, and bachata, too.

tj said:

Personally, I hate it when all the music starts sounding the same. I'd much rather have a variety of tempo, old and new, etc. Even the occasional merengue, cha cha cha, and bachata, too.

Click to expand...

Congrats. I'm not real knowledgable about salsa music, so I like hearing songs that I know and are fun to dance to. I guess my suggestion is to keep a few standards for the less knowledgable of us, but definitely mix it up. Beginners especially need a break from one style occasionally. I like dancing lots of styles, but it's probably not best to change style with every song.

firstly, congratulations! i dream of being a dj someday, though not in salsa, and all credit to you. as far as playing stuff goes, if people liked what you played that day at the social, that's the style I would stick with. and like tj said, you can't please everybody, so if I were you, I'd play what I like. it seemed to work at the dance social.
i'm new to salsa, but i generally prefer dancing to happy, energetic music, although nothing too fast, or crazy. since i dont' speak spanish, i only respond to the sound of the music, rather than the words. generally, i dont' like too much slow and romantic stuff, unless its cha cha or bachata. an example of a song i really like is ' Manana me voy pa' sibanicu' by 'Ibrahim Ferrer' which is track 10 on 'Hecho en cuba 2'. I don't know what style of salsa it falls under, or if it is rare or popular, but i love it. its not too fast, its just right, and the beats are really clear, so I never go off time ! amazon has a preview
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...30/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/102-5488854-6787319

also one last question: do salsa dj's ever play vinyl records, or do they use cds ?

Ditto what Tj says. You really have to see what your crowd likes, and crowds on different nights at different venues can differ greatly! A good dj is watching the floor at all times. If everyone is sitting on the sidelines, take the hint and break up the salsas with a bachata. I have known some djs to play allt he same stuff at every party we had, to the point you could almost predict what they were going to play next. Also, too much trendy stuff gets old. Play some old stuff(not many newbie or young djs know much about latin music history, and just have recent CDs in their collection). There are some really great lengthy(5-minute) salsa tunes out there, but you play this after previously playing 3 salsa songs where everyone was out on the floor, they're going to hate you (read: good song, but we need a bloody break!).
Good luck!

tj said:

Congratulations!

One thing that I've learned over the years... you won't be able to please everyone.

So find out what the regulars to your scene prefer, and cater to that.

Personally, I hate it when all the music starts sounding the same. I'd much rather have a variety of tempo, old and new, etc. Even the occasional merengue, cha cha cha, and bachata, too.

Click to expand...

this sums it up well,go with tj"s advise.1 type of dance-salsa or fill in the blank is easy to dj as far as your playing the same dance music all night ,however to be diverse in that same genre is something even the so called pros are not doing. shoot for that and you'll be the new kid in town who dusts the old chumps off the map 8)

one thing ive noticed is that some DJ's tend to believe that its easier for beginners to dance to *extremely* slow salsas...believe me, its not! Spins actually become harder after the pace drops down below a certain limit, without styling it tends to look fairly dull, and most of the patterns beginners are taught are not made for the slow, dreamy, salsas.

Just a bit of random advice from me Simply run 'decently slow' salsas with beginners, but dont slow em down to much or they'll simply shut down!

Dancing to a slow salsa will really show you your skill as a dancer. Takes a very high level of control.

youngsta said:

Dancing to a slow salsa will really show you your skill as a dancer. Takes a very high level of control.

Click to expand...

Ditto!

exactly...thats why its not suitable for beginners, right?

There's slow and there's slooooooooooow. Medium-slow is okay I think, and for complete to almost-complete beginners that will be the upper limit. But I think for beginners what's more important is that the beat is very clear and easy to pick up, and there are no or few breaks that confuse them. Steady and consistent. No wild descargas. Cheerful and happy songs tend to work better than romantic or jazzy.

Long vs. short -- depends on how good the song is! And it's probably not a good idea to play two 7-minute songs back to back. :roll:

Like tj, I generally like variety, both in terms of tempo and style.

Coco's point about reading the floor is very important. When you don't know the venue (e.g., it's a new venue or you are guesting at a venue you've never been to), you have to make sure you have plenty of different stuff to make sure you can adjust your set to suit the crowd.

Sorry, I've been away on travels and withwork and havent had time to post.

But Thanx to all for the tips!! I'll definitely keep them in mind.

One thing i like to do is to intermix salsa songs w/ cha-cha songs (So there is no set 'Salsa time' and 'Cha-Cha time'). Will have to see if the crowd loves it or not.

Thank you again

PS. oh and I only use CDs. The music is from my own expanding (and expanding) collection. I really should stop expanding it.

Read the floor, and know your clientele

Buy all the music you can, and really listen to it and know it intimately (you can write all your cds off on your taxes, so buy away!)

Take chances

Please the crowd, but don't forget to please yourself, because I've always found that if I am having fun, the crowd is having fun

If someone wants to buy you a drink, let them

Even if you are a salsa snob, like me, don't let it show too much

When being a salsa dj stops being fun and being a passion and becomes a job, quit

Realize there are no saints in the nightclub business, and that sooner or later you will end up being used, so don't take it personally

If you're not a professional comedian, stay the hell off the mike

Don't get in a rut, and if you do, ask yourself why you are in a rut

Practice safe sex, because you'll be getting a lot of love

Play requests when you think they should be played, when they flow with the sequence of what you have been playing, not when some drunk is demanding that you play it

If you play salsa in your car on the way to the club, and then play salsa at the club, and then play salsa on the way home, then you are meant to be a salsa dj, otherwise, stick to dancing

to djpatricio,

i assume you have dj'd a bit with salsa, so i thought i would ask you this question :

is it common for salsa dj's to use vinyl records on turntables ? I have usually seen that dj's bring a lot of cd's ..

Do you know of places that sell records of salsa songs ?

thanks

Djpatricio-
WORDS TO LIVE BY! :applause
I am thinking about translating that list to Spanish, entitling it "Conditions of Employment" and handing it out to prospective djs before we hire them for our parties in the future.