Five Questions to Ask Your Potential DJ

Here are five questions to ask your potential DJ that concern the quality of their performance. These are some topics I feel might get overlooked when hiring your DJ, but are still very important.

1: How long have they been DJing?

The most important element of DJing is song selection, knowing how to pick the right track at the proper time. That is a skill that comes with experience. The technical aspects of being a DJ are not that hard but choosing the right song can make or break the dance floor experience.

2: Do they DJ other events besides weddings?

A well rounded professional who is versed in different events is a rare commodity, but DJs can really learn a lot by playing at different kinds of events. Heck, I’ve DJed at farm stand in Longmont and it was a lot of fun! (I’ve never seen that many 5 yr olds dancing to the Doobie Brothers.) You never know what new idea you might discover and can bring to a wedding party. Every event a DJ works is a potential learning experience, so find out about their background and related experience.

3: Ask them about their preferred format. Do they use CDs? MP3s? Vinyl? If they do “spin” off MP3 files, what bitrate are the files encoded at?

This is important. More and more people are buying their music on iTunes these days. Until recently, some of the music being sold through these online stores was of quesionable quality. (It has improved greatly and now Apple offers high quality lossless files.) Now, understand that most of our music is played on our iPods, modest home stereos, or car stereos. In these environments, it’s hard for most people to tell the difference between a .wav file or a decent quality MP3.

However, on a bigger soundsystem (like the one at your wedding!) you will be able to notice the inferior quality of a badly compressed MP3. Ideally, you want your DJ to play MP3s that are of 256kps or higher, with 320kps or more being best. 192kps MP3s are sometimes okay, but sometimes not. You want the music to sound full, crisp, clean and balanced. Tinny sounding drums, muffled bass–these things get noticed on a bigger sound system that might otherwise be hidden on your everyday music player. Make sure your DJ understands this important aspect.

4: What is their favorite kind of music to play?

If nothing else, you should be able to get an idea of what music your DJ loves, what his or her passion is. And really, that’s what your looking for: passion. You want to be convinced that this person loves what they do. Ask them about their favorite weddings and what their favorite songs are and why. This is a job interview after all.

5: How well do they understand tempo?

Changing the tempo is essential to keeping the dance floor busy, and keeping the music fresh throughout the night. In general, a high energy, uptempo dance song resides somewhere in the 125 beats per minute (BPM) range. Think Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.’” No one wants to dance to the same beat all night–it will get old! Plus, when you throw on that Frank Sinatra song that sits at around 87 BPM, your Aunt Rita who just turned will probably be more inclined to get on the dancefloor! Playing a nice variety of tempos will eventually get more guests involved, and will be well appreciated.

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