Sioux Falls DJ Blog | BPM DJ Productions

My last official gig of 2008 was in Huron, SD on December 13th - right next to the world’s largest pheasant! The party was for Terex Utilities and was my first gig with my new Karaoke rig. The night went very well, and I was requested to stay an hour extra.

The weather wasn’t so nice, however. As I was loading up at the end of the night, the wind was howling at 30mph and the temperature was 6 degrees. Plus, there was ice on everything. Aaaah…….the life of a mobile DJ in South Dakota! I wonder if they need any more DJ’s down in Florida?

Here’s a new PJ Mix for your listening pleasure. Nothing too fancy, just messing around.

Enjoy!

Tracklisting
1. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
2. Let it Rock - Kevin Rudolf
3. Best Friends Girl - The Cars
4. Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams
5. Disturbia - Rihanna
6. Family Tradition - Hank Williams Jr.
7. Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money
8. Don’t Stop Believing - Journey

Download/Listen to the PJ Mix

I was able to practice for a few minutes Saturday morning, so I recorded another PJ Mix. Nothing special, just a few Hip-Hop tracks that I like.

1. Bumpin My Music - Ray Cash
2. Brooklyn Go Hard - Jay Z
3. What Dem Girls Like - Ludacris ft Chris Brown
4. Homecoming - Kanye West
5. Get Like Me - David Banner
6. Bring Em Out - T.I.

Download/Listen to the 12/13/08 PJ Mix

With a full-time job and a family, I have to make time to manage my DJ business. So, I get up way early in the morning, sometimes around 5am, but mostly at 6am. This gives me time to drink some coffee, print off contracts, respond to emails, do taxes, etc.

There are times when I’m all caught up with my business affairs and I can just relax or practice DJ’ing.

So, I go downstairs in my PJ’s with a cup of coffee and throw down a little mix on the turntables. Lately, I came up with the idea of recording those little mixes and posting them on my blog for all to enjoy. So, the PJ Mix was born!

I even came up with some “rules”

1. The PJ Mixes will be recorded live with no editing. The point here is to practice, so every mix will not be perfect (so don’t expect perfection.)
2. Each PJ Mix will be less than 30 minutes in length. This should be short enough for a quick listen, or a quick download to throw on your ipod.
3. I’ll post the tracklisting for each PJ Mix.
4. Most importantly, I have to be in my PJ’s for it to be a true PJ Mix!

My plan is to record a new mix as often as possible. The first was recorded yesterday morning. I was wearing my least favorite PJ pants (red with big white hearts - thanks wifey) and a Technics t-shirt.

Here’s the tracklisting:
1. Let’s Hear it For the Boy - Denice Williams
2. Just Dance - Lady GaGa
3. Dangerous Thriller - MashUp
4. September Remix - Earth Wind and Fire
5. Your Love Remix - The Outfield
5. Krazy - Pitbull
6. Lolli Lolli - Three 6 Mafia
7. In The Ayer - Flo Rida

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Download/Listen to the 12/08/08 PJ Mix

This past Saturday, I had a GREAT gig at the Vermillion High School. I’ve DJ’ed this particular dance for the last 4 years. Every year has been great, but I think this year is the best one so far.

The students did a great job of requesting songs and were polite and courteous. They danced the night away to a mixture of hip-hop, alternative, country, oldies, and even Christmas music!

I attempted to record the entire night on my Macbook Pro, so that students can download it and throw it on their ipods, but I had a small issue with my recording program. Apparently it was set up to record from the built in microphone instead of the line-in. So I have the entire night recorded, it just sounds horrible. I was bummed too, there was some good mixing/remixing.

Not all is lost though, I did have my trusty camcorder and recorded this gig log:

I enjoy picking up those bridal magazines in the entryways of restaurants throughout town because I know they will have a “How to hire a DJ article.” More often than not, the article is written by, you guessed it, a DJ company. Strangely enough, they all sound pretty similar, no matter which magazine you read it in.

So, I’m not going to tell you how to hire a DJ, but I will give you an insiders look at the Sioux Falls DJ market.

Basically, any Sioux Falls DJ company will fall into one of two categories, “single-op” or “multi-op.” A single-op would be a company, like mine, with only one operator (or DJ.) Single-ops can only do one dance per evening, so their availability is limited. The nice thing about going with a single-op is that you know who your DJ is going to be. If you were at a friend’s reception and you liked the single-op DJ that they had, when you book the same company for your wedding, you have a pretty good idea what to expect. Since a single-op’s availability is limited, their price will typically be a little higher than a multi-op. It’s the old supply and demand principle. But, if you run into a single-op with little to no demand in the market, you can expect to see some pretty low rates. This brings up another point. The quality of a single-op DJ service can vary greatly. Typically single-op DJ’s have day jobs and DJ on the side because they love it, because they need the money, or a combination of both. I personally do it because I love it. The money is a nice bonus!

On the other side of the spectrum are multi-ops. Multi-ops are DJ companies with multiple DJs on staff. I’m not going to bash multi-ops just because I am a single-op. They do have their advantages, but there are a few things you should be aware of before booking a multi-op DJ. Multi-ops have employees as DJ’s and just like any other business, some employees do a better job than others. If you are considering hiring a multi-op that you saw at another wedding, make sure you get the name of the DJ that you saw. When you call the multi-op company, request that DJ. Of course, if the DJ is already booked for that date, the company will most likely try to sell you on using another DJ – use your best judgment on this. If the DJ you requested is available, have the company put the name of that DJ on your booking contract. You’re still not 100% in the clear though. DJs can quit a multi-op DJ company just like any other part-time job. Like I said, I don’t want to bash multi-ops, because some multi-op DJs are very talented and do a terrific job, but there are some that are average at best. Plus, if you are paying $600 for a multi-op DJ, the DJ is probably getting paid $100-$250 for their night’s work. The owner is keeping the rest. Who do you think is going to work harder for you, a DJ making $600-$900 for their night’s work, or a DJ getting $100-$250?

The best single piece of advice I can give regarding choosing a DJ is this: Ask for referrals from friends you trust. Chances are, they’ve been to plenty of wedding receptions and have seen good DJ’s, average DJ’s, and horrible DJ’s. It’s also important to choose a DJ that can deliver the type of entertainment that you have in mind for your dream reception. A DJ that specializes in Country music probably isn’t the DJ for you if you are a Hip-Hop junkie.

That’s all the advice I have on the subject. If you have questions, feel free to email me at hill.jacob@yahoo.com . I might be the DJ for you, and I might not, but I network with plenty of other DJs and might be able to help you find one that is perfect for you.

Like I said in the title, you’re probably only going to hire a DJ once in your life. You might as well get it right the first time!

Well, it’s that time of year again, the wedding season has come to a close. I DJ’ed my last wedding reception for the year on November 8th at the Holdiay Inn Express in Brandon, SD. It was a great dance. I almost felt like I was part of the family since I previously DJ’ed the wedding receptions of two different couples in the bridal party!

The biggest challenge of the evening was trying to figure out how to setup my equipment. The head table was in the middle of the room against the far wall with the dancefloor directly in front of it. All around that were tables and a screen for the slideshow was on the wall adjacent to the head table. So, I really couldn’t use my normal setup near the dancefloor, or I would block the screen for the slideshow. Hmmmm……what to do??? I decided to place my speakers on each side of the head table against the wall. I spaced them out and angled them in toward the dancefloor. I placed my moving head lights on each stack, and washed the ceiling in light with my color changer. I then placed myself and my table at the end of the dancefloor. I did have to pull a “MacGyver” and make a speaker cable long enough to reach the far speaker, but that was the only difficulty with the setup. It worked out really well. It kind of took me back to my nightclub days, and felt less like a mobile DJ setup since the speakers were so far away from my table. The lights were far enough away from the dancefloor to wash it in light, and everything sounded great. The guests at the hotel were complaining about the bass later in the night, so I knew that I was doing my job correctly!

Like I said, it was a great night, and the perfect reception to end the 2008 wedding season on a high note.

In December, I have two gigs. One is at the Vermillion High School and the other is for a corporate party in Huron. The corporate party will be my first gig with Karaoke, and I have been working feverishly to rip all of my newly acquired CDG’s to my laptop. They should both be a lot of fun!

I do have some video footage from another reception that I DJ’ed in Jackson, MN in late October that I will edit and post as soon as I have time. I’m also working on redoing my Facebook page and creating a “I Party With BPM” group page for people to join. So I plan on staying busy in the slow season.

The 2009 booking are rolling in as well, and it’s shaping up to be another great year for BPM DJ Productions!

I love thank you notes!

The last two Saturdays, I DJ’ed a couple of really great events. On the 6th, I traveled to Le Mars, IA for a wedding reception at the Convention Center. There were about 450 guests in attendance, so it was a fairly large wedding reception. The bride and groom were an amazing couple, and their family and guests were great as well. The night went so well, I was paid to stay an hour later than the scheduled end time. On top of that, I received a very nice tip! Now, I’m a modest guy, but I will say this: If you are shopping for a DJ for your upcomming wedding reception, what does this tell you? Paid to stay an hour extra + received a tip = I know what I am doing! The bride and groom also grabbed a fat stack of my business cards to refer me to others (did I mention that I love this couple!) They also completed an online satisfaction survey, you can view that HERE.

I recorded a great gig-log of that night as well:

The next weekend, 9/13, I DJ’ed another reception in Okoboji, IA at the Arrowwood resort. This was my third event that I have DJ’ed at this venue. It was another great night with a great couple. I tried out something new that I plan on doing more often in the future. I ran a line from my mixer into my computer and recorded all the special events (announcements, toasts, first dances, and the serenading of the bride from the groomsmen.) I plan on cutting the audio into sections and putting it all on a CD for the bride and groom. It will be a nice keepsake that only takes a little extra effort on my part. Again it was a great reception, and I was paid to stay an extra half hour (as late as the venue would allow.)

My next reception is on 9/27 in Mitchell, SD, and on October 4th, I am DJ’ing my sister-in-law’s reception in Crooks, SD (I’m also in the wedding.) Should be a good time!

In mid July, I DJ’ed a wedding reception at Cedar Shore Resort in Chamberlain, SD. The reception was great, and the venue was very nice. This footage has been sitting my laptop for weeks and I finally had time to edit it together.

There weren’t a lot of guests in attendance, so the dancefloor wasn’t as full as I would have liked, but everyone had a great time - that’s all that matters! Plus if you watch closely in the video, you will notice that hardly anybody is sitting down! I had almost all of them all out on the dancefloor - that’s my job!

Anyway, please enjoy the video.