Crowd Control
It was back-to-school week. The year started off mellow, with little classes and mostly administrative stuff. That said, it still has been great to get back into the academic groove. Contrary to my belief, the most fun has been adapting to new people. Due to my gap year all of my friends are now one year above me, and I was slightly distressed about that before school started.
This weekend was also our integration weekend. The 4th year students take the new 3rd year students on a weekend getaway to make connections and have a great time. With around 150 people we got on four buses on Friday afternoon and headed, at that time unknown to the 3rd years, towards the seaside region of the North of France – Dunkirk.
I was booked as a DJ for both nights of the integration – Friday and Saturday. This experience is what this post stems from actually. I wanted to talk about crowd control and response. The DJ is not up on stage to simply play songs in a predetermined order. The DJ needs to make choices based on his or her crowd.
Of course, it is important to keep a personal touch, as is with everything. That being said, many people find themselves on either extreme – crowd-pleasing or crowd-losing. There is a middle road, but you have to read the crowd.
Recently I have been mixing a lot of trance-techno. It is fast-paced groovy music that ranges from 145 beats per minute to 155. It's fast. Now considering the integration weekend crowd – these people are not all techno fans. What that made me consider, is how much I can play songs without vocals. For a techno crowd, vocals or not, it does not matter, they have a good time either way.
For the considered crowd, it is important to integrate a few commercial remixes to keep everyone interested and give people a feeling of belonging. During both of my sets this weekend I had a thumb rule that for every two songs that people did not know I played one that they could sing along to.
This concept of reading and reacting to your crowd got me thinking about other scenarios in life in which it is important to read your crowd. DJ'ing is the place I have felt it most directly, but it is the same kind of game when giving a lecture, trying for a job or even turning in an assignment. You have to consider who is on the receiving end and how can I make it more interesting for them. Be different, play and win the crowd.
This Week's Suggestions:
🎶 K Motionz Presents CROWD CONTROL:
This mix seems only appropriate as a suggestion this week. There's mixing live to a crowd but there's the name of the mix. I am warning you, it is heavily seasoned with drum and bass, so not for everyone. That said, simply watching the first five minutes is enough to understand that K Motionz knows his crowd.
This is THE YouTube channel that I have learned most of my basics of mixing from. This Australian dude not only teaches the technique, but the mindset to have when approaching a mix. It is also from him that I have learned the importance of crowd response.
Cheers!
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