If this night is your first time playing to a crowd of people you don't know, the
main difference you notice is how much thought you will start to put into your songs in order to keep people dancing.
In time, you will become a body language expert and learn how to read a crowd, looking at the reactions of the people on the dance floor as they throw their hands in the air and dance like there's no tomorrow €" or throw their hands up in the air in disgust.
First off, think about how do you react when you're at a nightclub. When you're enjoying yourself, what do you tend to do? If you're the type of clubber who grins from ear to ear, and throws your hands in the air, and you're playing the kind of music that makes you want to do that, learn to read a crowd and look for this kind of response from the people on the dance floor. When you're bored, how do you react? Look into people's eyes. If they're staring into the distance, or at the floor, or if they're dancing with no real energy, they've gone to a happy place, waiting for something to change. It's up to you to make that change.
Don't base your readings on just the people in front of you in how to read a crowd, look through the crowd. If you get a chance to go for a wander, walk around and look at how people are responding to the music. A glum face isn't a good thing to see. Fifteen glum faces are a kick up the backside that should make you play something better.
Just ask . . . if you dare
The relationship you've developed with the club staff can really help you out in learning how to read a crowd. They're a great source of info on how well you're doing, and how the night is going.
If you want, you can just ask someone how they're nights going, either
personally or collectively, over the microphone. If you get a collective silence,
or even worse, boo's, change it, quickly. If you get cheers, whoops, and
hands in the air, keep pumping it, you're doing well.
Progress the set
DJing is not a race. You won't get far for playing all the newest, best, and
biggest tunes in the first 30 minutes, you'll lose everyone on the dance floor.
You'll wear them out, they'll become bored with the same sound, and as you
won't have any big tunes left, the people on the floor will get bored with the
rest of the set. If you resort to repeating tunes, they've already heard them, so
they aren't as excited. Your light shone brightly, but not for long enough.
Use the checkpoint tunes as a way to pepper the set with good tunes, and to move the set on in energy and tempo. But don't just instantly decide to change things. Learn how to read a crowd and always keep an eye on how the people on the dance floor are reacting to what you're playing. If the dance floor isn't packed enough, if the wrong people are dancing, or if the alcohol level hasn't kicked in yet, playing slightly heavier music may empty the dance floor. Or if you don't change the pace soon, your set will start to sound dull and monotonous, and people will start to rush off the dance floor.
Test the crowd. If you can't obviously tell by the reaction of the people on
the dance floor, take things a little harder bit by bit to see what kind of stuff they're responding to, then stick with that level until your crowd reading reveals that the time has come to move up or down a gear.
main difference you notice is how much thought you will start to put into your songs in order to keep people dancing.
In time, you will become a body language expert and learn how to read a crowd, looking at the reactions of the people on the dance floor as they throw their hands in the air and dance like there's no tomorrow €" or throw their hands up in the air in disgust.
First off, think about how do you react when you're at a nightclub. When you're enjoying yourself, what do you tend to do? If you're the type of clubber who grins from ear to ear, and throws your hands in the air, and you're playing the kind of music that makes you want to do that, learn to read a crowd and look for this kind of response from the people on the dance floor. When you're bored, how do you react? Look into people's eyes. If they're staring into the distance, or at the floor, or if they're dancing with no real energy, they've gone to a happy place, waiting for something to change. It's up to you to make that change.
Don't base your readings on just the people in front of you in how to read a crowd, look through the crowd. If you get a chance to go for a wander, walk around and look at how people are responding to the music. A glum face isn't a good thing to see. Fifteen glum faces are a kick up the backside that should make you play something better.
Just ask . . . if you dare
The relationship you've developed with the club staff can really help you out in learning how to read a crowd. They're a great source of info on how well you're doing, and how the night is going.
If you want, you can just ask someone how they're nights going, either
personally or collectively, over the microphone. If you get a collective silence,
or even worse, boo's, change it, quickly. If you get cheers, whoops, and
hands in the air, keep pumping it, you're doing well.
Progress the set
DJing is not a race. You won't get far for playing all the newest, best, and
biggest tunes in the first 30 minutes, you'll lose everyone on the dance floor.
You'll wear them out, they'll become bored with the same sound, and as you
won't have any big tunes left, the people on the floor will get bored with the
rest of the set. If you resort to repeating tunes, they've already heard them, so
they aren't as excited. Your light shone brightly, but not for long enough.
Use the checkpoint tunes as a way to pepper the set with good tunes, and to move the set on in energy and tempo. But don't just instantly decide to change things. Learn how to read a crowd and always keep an eye on how the people on the dance floor are reacting to what you're playing. If the dance floor isn't packed enough, if the wrong people are dancing, or if the alcohol level hasn't kicked in yet, playing slightly heavier music may empty the dance floor. Or if you don't change the pace soon, your set will start to sound dull and monotonous, and people will start to rush off the dance floor.
Test the crowd. If you can't obviously tell by the reaction of the people on
the dance floor, take things a little harder bit by bit to see what kind of stuff they're responding to, then stick with that level until your crowd reading reveals that the time has come to move up or down a gear.
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