How to Enjoy being a DJ

A Disc Jockey, usually abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for a live audience. There are numerous reasons for becoming a DJ. One major reason is an enjoyment one can have by creating an ambience that the audience appreciates. 

However it can be difficult to enjoy being a DJ, especially in early stages. One major reason is DJ's inability to align needs of audience, wishes of management and what is required of the DJ. 

Needs of audience can be categorized into following broad areas based on type of event:
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1. Lounge/Bar without a dance floor : Patrons at these establishments are interested in having conversations with each other. Music should not interfere with the above objective. 
2. Lounge/Bar with  a dance floor : Patrons at these establishments are interested in having conversations with each other and dancing to music at some point during the night. It is ok for the music to be loud, but not too loud where it is impossible for people to talk to each other.
3. Club : Patrons at these establishments are interested in dancing. They expect to hear music that make them move. They expect music they hear to not have any abrupt changes that interfere with dancing. 
4. Specialty Dancing Venues : Includes venues where patrons frequent to enjoy a particular type of dance. All partner dancing venues fall under this category and there is a need for music to stop at regular intervals so that patrons can change partners. 
5. Radio, Live/Recorded Streaming : Listeners expect music to be aesthetically pleasing. This is not to say that this aspect is not important in other categories.  
6. Music Festival : Patrons at these events are there to listen to their favorite artists. They expect artists to play original creations and remixes. They hope to listen to remixes and original creations that the artist is working on/haven't released yet.
7. DJ Competitions :  Patrons at these events are there to appreciate  technical aspects of DJing such as scratching, beat juggling and other creative routines that emphasize manipulation of sound samples live.        
8. Private Event : Includes weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, sweet sixteens, proms and any gathering that includes music where the main focus of the event is something other than music and dancing. If a dance floor is not present expectations of people are similar to patrons of a lounge/bar with no dance floor. If a dance floor is present expectations of people are similar to lounge/bar with a dance floor. 

Wishes of management can change based on type of event. However the primary objective is to keep the patrons happy. They are also concerned about any risks involved with someone tripping over equipment/wires. 

What is required of DJ can be categorized into following areas based on type of event. Within each category, what is required of the DJ is listed in the order of importance. 

1. Lounge/Bar without a dance floor
   1. Selection of music that matches the ambience management expects.
   2. Volume adjustments and equalization (adjustment of High-Mid-Low frequencies) of music to facilitate conversations. 
   3. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   4. Energy of the songs match with phases of the musical journey you are curating. 
   5. Smooth transitions from one song to another. Beat matching and mix point selection skills help. 
   6. Harmonic transitions from one song to another. Ability to identify key of the song or at a minimum, ability to detect dissonance while cueing are important skills.   
   7. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with ambience. Ability to detect sounds that are dissonant with music one is scratching over helps make necessary adjustment to ones routine.  
   8. OPTIONAL - Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. (It is possible to have dissonant sounds or change key mid song and still get away with it if you are going for that effect. However it is not recommended for a DJ starting out) 
2. Lounge/Bar with  a dance floor
   1. Selection of music that matches the ambience management expects.
   2. Volume adjustments and equalization (adjustment of High-Mid-Low frequencies) of music to facilitate conversations during early hours of the event. 
   3. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   4. Energy of the songs match with phases of the musical journey you are curating. 
   5. Smooth transitions from one song to another. Beat matching and mix point selection skills help. 
   6. Harmonic transitions from one song to another. Ability to identify key of the song or at a minimum, ability to detect dissonance while cueing are important skills.   
   7. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with ambience. Ability to detect sounds that are dissonant with music one is scratching over helps make necessary adjustment to ones routine.  
   8. OPTIONAL - Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. (It is possible to have dissonant sounds or change key mid song and still get away with it if you are going for that effect. However it is not recommended for a DJ starting out) 
3. Club
   1. Selection of music that matches the ambience management expects.
   2. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   3. Energy of the songs match with phases of the musical journey you are curating. 
   4. Smooth transitions from one song to another. Beat matching and mix point selection skills help. 
   5. Harmonic transitions from one song to another. Ability to identify key of the song or at a minimum, ability to detect dissonance while cueing are important skills.   
   6. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with ambience. Ability to detect sounds that are dissonant with music one is scratching over helps make necessary adjustment to ones routine.  
   7. OPTIONAL - Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. (It is possible to have dissonant sounds or change key mid song and still get away with it if you are going for that effect. However it is not recommended for a DJ starting out) 
4. Specialty Dancing Venues
   1. Selection of music that matches the ambience patrons expects. 
   2. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   3. Energy of the songs match with phases of the musical journey you are curating. 
   4. Let the song play from beginning to end whenever possible.  If the song is unusually long, fade the volume at an appropriate point in time to keep song duration around average time patrons are used to. Remember that patrons change partners between songs. It is important to have at least one second silence between songs.  
   5. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with the genre you are playing. 
   6. OPTIONAL - Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. Time signatures and song structuture can be very different from what one typically expects.  
5. Radio, Live/Recorded Streaming
   1. Selection of music that matches the ambience management expects.
   2. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   3. OPTIONAL - Smooth transitions from one song to another. Beat matching and mix point selection skills help. 
   4. OPTIONAL - Harmonic transitions from one song to another. Ability to identify key of the song or at a minimum, ability to detect dissonance while cueing are important skills.   
   5. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with ambience. Ability to detect sounds that are dissonant with music one is scratching over helps make necessary adjustment to ones routine.  
   6. OPTIONAL - Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. (It is possible to have dissonant sounds or change key mid song and still get away with it if you are going for that effect. However it is not recommended for a DJ starting out) 
6. Music Festival
   1. Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. (It is possible to have dissonant sounds or change key mid song and still get away with it if you are going for that effect. However it is not recommended for a DJ starting out) 
   2. Selection of music that matches the ambience of DJs brand.
   3. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   4. Harmonic transitions from one song to another. Ability to identify key of the song or at a minimum, ability to detect dissonance while cueing are important skills. 
   5. Smooth transitions from one song to another. Beat matching and mix point selection skills help.  
   6. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with ambience. Ability to detect sounds that are dissonant with music one is scratching over helps make necessary adjustment to ones routine. 
7. DJ Competitions 
   1. Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that showcase your ability to manipulate sound samples real time to create interesting series of sounds. 
8. Private Event : 
   1. Selection of music that matches the ambience of the type of event. You will need to guess what ambience is expected since it will be difficult for the person booking you to clearly communicate this. He/She might say "I want Hip-Hop". What hip-hip means will depend from person to person. Ask in advance the person booking you to give names of a few songs he/she expects to be played. This will help you make your guess.  
   2. Volume adjustments and equalization (adjustment of High-Mid-Low frequencies) of music to facilitate conversations when needed. 
   3. ​Aesthetically pleasing music. This is subjective. However songs that adhere to best practices of music theory usually are pleasing to most individuals. 
   4. Smooth transitions from one song to another (If people are dancing). Beat matching and mix point selection skills help. 
   5. Harmonic transitions from one song to another (If people are dancing). Ability to identify key of the song or at a minimum, ability to detect dissonance while cueing are important skills.   
   6. OPTIONAL - Scratching, Beat Juggling and any other creative routines that harmonize with ambience. Ability to detect sounds that are dissonant with music one is scratching over helps make necessary adjustment to ones routine.  
   7. OPTIONAL - Original music and remixes produced by the DJ. A good understanding of music theory and ability to tune all sounds to fall within the key of the song is very important. (It is possible to have dissonant sounds or change key mid song and still get away with it if you are going for that effect. However it is not recommended for a DJ starting out) 

By recognizing different types of events demand different aspects of a DJ's skills a DJ can focus on improving skills important to type of event he/she enjoys being part of.     

 - Nero Sovaki