dj-ing in bars query for anyone who's dj-ed in a bar lately.

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am dj-ing somewhere this wknd at a party in a bar hired for a brthdy. question is: how easy will it be to use cd players (for mp3s etc.) through their mixer set-up ? see i haven't *seen* their set up which would help, but how easy is it usually, if they already have decks, to just *add* 2 cd players into the mix.

i just need them to be equipped with a multi-channel mixer right ?
is there an additional problem i'm not seeing here waiting to surprise me when i get there.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 11:04 (twenty-one years ago)

just plug one cd deck into the mic channel if they only have a two channel mixer. you wont be able to fade it using the cross fader but its better than nothing. the second cd deck discard. you cant plug 2 cd decks and 2 turntables into a 2 channel mixer. not unless you have some weird splitter thing. the only way to use 2 cd decks in this situation is........take the inputs for the turntables in and plug the cd decks in!

hows that for a useless reply?

if you do get it working the only other problem is the levels whihc might be very different depending on what cd players you have.

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

disagree ambrose. it depends on the mixer but i've djed with 2 cd and 2 turntables in a 2 channel mixer - it just has to have a switch to flip from phono to aux.

although that might technically make it a 4 channel mixer...

tip though: if you're using compilations you've burnt yourself, make 2 copies of each otherwise it'll be pretty damn tough to mix between songs on the same CD.

― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 13:17 (twenty-one years ago)

yeh good tip, also useful if the CD-Rs don't play or skip in the players (which has happened to me, even tho they were fine at home)

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

check with the bar to clarify what kind of equipment they have. one of the main things that djing in bars has taught me is to never count on anything being there for you.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)

very very good point jim that i had - astonishingly- already thought of. yeah it's a disaster to put all yr fave tracks unmixed on one cd.
jumping and skipping can usually be mended by ...umm, giving them
a vigorous polish before hand i find.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

jim robinson OTM - two inputs per channel: aux/phono.

see the toggle switch on the CH1 and CH2?
http://www.clubdjforum.com/djimage/mixer.jpg

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 13:31 (twenty-one years ago)

thanx for that lauren - it's the lighthouse bar
essex road in london N1 anyone know it ? i have been before,
but can't for the life of me recall what the set-up was.

still there'll only be 100+ invited guests and friends there so
why worry eh ?

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 13:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, watch out for those CDR's. Some of the typical CD-Mixers in clubs (I'm lookin' at you, Denon), have trouble reading CDRs. New versions will, but older ones are a bit hit-and-miss.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't forget to get 2 cables with red'n'white RCA connectors at one end and mini-jacks (headphone size) at the other, so you can plug in your discmen. Bars never have them.

― Conor (Conor), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

trouble with *discmen* is that they BEEP when u nudge from one track to another !!

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

And I wouldn't recommend plugging anything other than a mic into a mic input, the signal from the discman will be a lot louder than the mic signal that the input is designed to receive, and may distort. Also, be sure to plug your discmen into a LINE input rather than a PHONO one. Again, line level signals are much louder than phono ones, so phono inputs distort easily. Some simple 2-channel mixers have a little switch beside the extra inputs that lets you switch from line to phono, so if there is one, put it to "line".

― Conor (Conor), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:38 (twenty-one years ago)

is it a sony discman?

if so, there's a way of getting rid of the beep. When you put in the batteries or the power source, hold down the stop button for 2 seconds while connecting it or putting in the batteries. beeping disappears.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

johnathon that's fantastic advice. thanx v v much indeed.
if that works of course which i'm sure it does.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

..but r u sure that's all models of discman that have that feature ?
this one's pretty old !!

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 October 2003 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

oh. No, I'm not sure if it's all models. Mine, which is a new model, made the beeping sound, and that was my solution. I also showed a friend the other day who had an older model, and it worked on his. But I don't know how old his walkman is. It might be worth a try, cause the beeping is really annoying (at least it is on my walkman)

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

you should just try it with batteries to see if it works.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

make sure they have speakers!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

(seriously!)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

always always always take your own headphones. no matter how shitty. last time i djed the guy at the bar said usually the plug an old telephone receiver into the headphone socket. this is not advisable.

― Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Wednesday, 8 October 2003 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

that cd discman trick doesnt work or doesnt appear to johnathon.
when u put the batteries in, it's 'off' anyway until you press play
so... (confused).

― piscesboy, Thursday, 9 October 2003 09:33 (twenty-one years ago)

My (pretty old) Sony Discman beeps through the "headphones" output, but not through the "line out" one -- does yours beep through both? Or do you only have one output?

― OleM (OleM), Thursday, 9 October 2003 10:57 (twenty-one years ago)

not tried that yet. good point. the plot thickens.

― piscesboy, Thursday, 9 October 2003 11:30 (twenty-one years ago)

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