ATTENTION:
Before requesting songs, making comments, or asking questions of the DJ, please--read the following guidelines pertaining to your questions:
________________________________________________

1. PLAY SOMETHING GOOD...SOMETHING WE CAN DANCE TO!
The DJ has to play for more than one person...so, what you may hate may be another's favorite song and EVERYTHING played can be danced to one way or another.

2.WOULD YOU PLAY SOMETHING WITH A BEAT?
Be serious! We know of NO songs played in a club that don't have some sort of a beat! Besides, see #1.

3. EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT!
Oh sure, you polled EVERYONE in the club and, as their spokesperson, you are requesting the song. Besides, see #1.

4. I CAN GET LAID IF YOU PLAY IT!
If you are GOOD ENOUGH, you can get laid to anything! (also been known as "buy the album and get laid for a month!")

5. I WANT TO HEAR IT NEXT!
The only people who can get away with that statement write the DJ's paycheck.

6. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANNA HEAR. . . WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
It's a lot easier for you to go have another beer and figure out what you want to hear than it is for the DJ to recite the name of EVERY record in the booth!

SOME ASSORTED THINGS NOT TO SAY
If you ask for a song and the DJ says he just played it, DON'T SAY, "Well, I just got here." It makes absolutely no difference. DON'T SAY, "Is this the only kind of music you play?" If you go to a Chinese restuarant, you wouldn't ask for Italian food. Rock clubs play rock, alternative clubs play alternative, discos play disco, etc.

If you ask for a song, BE SPECIFIC. DON'T SAY, "I wanna hear something, anything but this!" Try going to the bar and saying, "I wanna drink something, anything but this..." You can't complain if you're not SPECIFIC. HOWEVER, if you ARE specific and the DJ says he doesn't have the song, DON'T SAY, "What?!! What do you mean you don't have it? What kind DJ are you? Why don't you get into the wonderful world of fast food! You obviously don't know what you're doing as a DJ

***Special Note***
A nightclub or bar DJ gets very little respect. He is expected to play everything for everybody. It is impossible to satisfy all to the people all of the time, yet club jocks are expected to do just that. If a radio jock tells his listeners a song is a hit, the majority of the people think it must be "because they said so on the radio." However, 80% of the time that same song was being played in a club long before the radio "DISCOVERED" the "NEW" song. So give the DJ a break! The next time you request a song, stop and think before you speak. Remember a request is just that... a request!! It's not a guarantee your song will get played!! Ask once for your song and the DJ will try and play it. Keep asking and you're being a pain in the ass! Don't send all your friends to request the same song hoping to get it played. DJs aren't that stupid!! They get dozens of requests in a night and there isn't enough time to play them all.


And above all, if the DJ has one hand on the mixer, one hand on a TURNTABLE --wearing headphones,
DON'T BUG him unless you know him (and probably not then, either)!

I am a DJ with 23 years' experience, who worked for Denon as a "Certified Denon DJ" and beta tester (2004-2005), and for Guitar Center as a Pro Audio salesperson (2005). I can say with certainty, the best (and for me, only) options available to long-time DJs who expect their equipment to withstand the rigors of the club and of the road, are the Pioneer CDJ800 and 1000, and the Denon DN-S3000, 3500, 5000, and 5500.

The Numark (www.numark.com/) CDX decks, in addition to weighing more than their TTX turntables (heavy!), are simply bulkier and bigger than necessary, although many DJs and turntablists I know swear by them. I assume they were designed the way they are to coax vinyl DJs into the digital world--a 12" spinning platter that does indeed look essentially like the TTX. But it's really not worth it to lug a pair around simply for 12" (no snide comments here, you bastards!). Additionally, the response time seems just slightly off, when pressing buttons, and they're a little hard to keep clean.

The Technics (www.panasonic.com/consumer_...gital.asp) SL DZ 1200 decks, though aesthetically pleasing, are nothing like Technixs turntables, the gold standard, in terms of quality, durability, simplicity, or functionality. While I could see some electronica DJs being able to use them without much complaint, I sincerely believe that vinyl DJs more into breatbeat, broken beat, hip hop, dancehall, etc., would be driven crazy by them, especially by the fact that the display controls are in the centre of the platter. While I was selling, I heard more nightmare stories about the Technics than any other.

Stanton (www.stantondj.com/v2/index.asp) also makes a pro CD deck but it has a CD tray that is easily damaged or snapped clean off, it is too sensitive to pressure on top yet not particularly capable of doing chirps and flares, for the turntablists out there. I believe that in two months, we went through three display models because they really aren't that durable. They also have a horrible milky-blue LED (*not* LCD) screen that is hard to read unless one is directly over it.

The difference between the Pioneer (pioneerdj.com/) and Denon (denondj.com/prodview_item.asp) offerings is the difference between Mercedes and Rolls Royce. Pioneer, already somewhat the industry standard, has forged ahead and made amazing contributions to the world of VDJs, with their incredible new mixer and their DVJ-X1 DVD decks. Its advantage over Denon is the removable chip that stores cue points for particular CDs; since quite a few clubs have these dechs already, all you need is the chip and your music, and you're good to go.

Denon's R&D department has scored coups with the compact and deceptively cute DN-S1000 (denondj.com/prodview_item.asp touch-sensitive player (a great backup deck for mobile DJs), and the DN-S3500 (denondj.com/prodview_item.asp which has an incredibly responsive direct drive spinning platter (world's first direct drive spinning platter CD decks) which spins at either 33.3 rpm or 45 rpm and a has a spindle that, as with a turntable, can be tweaked to effect pitch changes. It also has on-board effects (echo/loop, flange, hi-mid-low filter, and brake, dump (to backward mask profanity on the fly), and reverse (which causes the platter iteslf to spin backward)). Its advantage over Pioneer include spinning platters, reproducing the look and feel of vinyl turntables, and the ability for each model to store up to 1000 individual memo points, which can be communicated to another Denon player when linked. Free upgrades to the decks are posted on the website, when available. Unquestionably, Denon also has the best 1-yr service warranty (feel free to ask me 'bout it--my job was to travel to large retail dealers throughout NE--Sam Ash, GC, and some independents--and educate DJs and salespeople on how to take advantage of all features of their decks and mixers).

Guitar Center (www.guitarvision.com/mf/mf_f...et.htm), which guarantees the lowest prices in the nation among *authorised* dealers, sells the Pioneer CDJ1000 for US $999.99; the Denon DN-S3000 for $499.99, and the Denon DN-S3500 and DN-S5000 (denondj.com/prodview_item.asp for US $699.99.

www.denondj.com/awards/music&sound.jpg

Hope this helps somebody out there.

I want a wild, unfettered woman with a mind that's all her own,
a rich imagination and hint of the unknown,
a touch of the mysterious and sensuality,
intelligence and elegance and personality
Humorous, she'd laugh with me, amenable to fun
practical, she'd realise when work needs to be done
She'd be comfortable in silence, but like to sit and talk
she'd be comfortable relaxing, but enjoy a nightly walk,
have the sense to have some goals, and the drive to make them real,
the courage and conviction to try everything with zeal
she'd let me draw her baths and read my poems by candlelight
like to tackle issues even if it meant a fight,
share her dreams, and rest assured that to her I'd be true,
sit and smile and listen to my dreams and nightmares, too
I hope she'd love the great outdoors, the sun's light and the moon's,
dance with me and sweat with me on beaches by sand dunes . . .

I want a vibrant, witchy woman who would share my nights and days
a stimulating lady who has smooth and gentle ways,
a woman with a conscience, one who wouldn't deal in lies,
opinionated, restless, with smoky, sultry eyes
I wouldn't give a damn about the colour of her skin
she'd be in decent shape, neither large nor very thin
wouldn't matter if her hair were black or red or brown or blond:
while appearance is important, of her soul I'd be most fond
She'd be very independent, with her own internal fire
a siren, a companion, of whom I would not tire
Savoir faire and worldly air, knowledge and compassion
manners and decorum, a basic sense of fashion
She'd do for me and I, for her, and in us, have some pride,
her slender arms a refuge in which I could abide
I'm looking for an equal, no mindless wind-up toy--
For I don't want a plaything; I am no little boy.

Yes, a partner and a best friend, too, soulmate for all my life
A love so indescribible, that one day . . . ?

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.
We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
................................--Albert Schweitzer, musicologist, philosopher, & physician; Nobel Prize in Peace 1952


"You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other 'til it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Real love isn't brains, children. It's blood. It's blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
................................--Spike, from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"