Playing with DJ help

[CongaTick]

I don't want to take up forum space and time with a thread that may have been covered. My SEARCH didn't bring up any results. Looking to get info on 'playing with a DJ". Doesn't happen often-- if at all in the Philly market. Fees? Set length? What do you like about it? Hate about it? Etc. We can either start a fresh thread or you can PM me. "And now... back to our regular programming...."

[gilbert]

the most thing i hate about it is not getting a good sound
there's always the DJ who goes over you and raises his volume

i always use a set of congas , a mini timbales , a darbouka ,a djembe and my Roland SPDS

you have to know whats the music you're playing with to chose your setup



Edited By gilbert on 1179491646

[windhorse]

I have two friends who regularly play with DJs. They vary the equipment depending on the DJ, like the previous poster said. Sometimes more cymbal/bell/shaker type stuff, and sometimes more congas. They say that the most difficult thing is having BIG EARS! You've got to constantly listen to what they're playing, and not get too into your own beat since the machine can't follow you.
I know how hard it is since I've been practicing lately with a mechanized practice CD..
You can get paid pretty well at these things, since you're the ONLY musician, and you get loads of respect if you pull it off well. Also, a good way to network when anyone in the audience has a band.
So, definitely do it, but practice with canned music first so you don't go out there and fall on your face. It looks much easier than it is.... <so I hear> :p

[CongaTick]

Hey, thanks guys for the info and advice. Valuable. Anybody care to volunteer any rates for an hour (2? 4?) of playing with a DJ? And what about breaks?

[JohnnyConga]

Well I'm the guy who started it all on South Beach back in 1986, long before cats were playing with DJ's...Me personally didnt particularly like it....I got more attention then the DJ's so they didnt like me either....I made anywhere from 150 to 300 a night depending on the.club I was in...In order to play along with a DJ know HIS style of music and what they play .....and I would do 3 to 4 hours...of course with 20 minutes breaks in between....each set....I ONLY used 3 congas on stands and that was it...now I see these guy s who bring all kinds of **** to a gig like this and CAN"T play....just banging around and making noise...they should be ashamed of themselves.....but then again the people that hire them don't know jack about players or anything today....when it come to the REAL players and not the "wannabees".....I do it from time to time now not as much as I did on South Beach/Miami.....it's kinda "dying out" thing to do today....now im actually seeing DJ's start to play instruments now ...some are really funny too, dont know jack...."JC" Johnny Conga...

[CongaTick]

JC,

Thanks a hell of a lot for your insights. As always, you ARE the man and confirm my view of this gig. How cool is it to have a helpful band of brudders on the forum...
Thanks again, guys.

[zaragenca]

I have been playing all over Houston with DJ's,(when not playing with the bands,as JC point out the player need to know the structure of the music which the DJ's is playing in order to porperly blend in with the music,and also an absolutely good concept of timing,one of the most challenging set up was at the place were I play for almost two years becouse they have'Latin Nights of Friday's,.so I have to deal with Salsa,Bachata,Merengue,Rock en Espanol,Cumbias,etc.,beside the HipHop,House,Industrial,R&B,etc., which is the normal roster of the Night Clubs...I have all the time even musicians coming down to check me out to get some tricks.Dr. Zaragemca

[Garvin]

I've played a couple of DJ gigs. Coming from a more traditional background I found it fun and refreshing. There were about 3 or 4 different DJ's throughout the night. Some of the music was great, some was terrible! I treated it like a practice session. All of the folks at the club were drunk and didn't even seem to notice that I was there. I had a few drinks, kept my hands moving, grabbed my $150 and got the heck out of there.

[Diceman]

My experience with playing with DJs has left me somewhat cynical, and as Gavin said, I view it as a paid practice. I only realised what it was all about when I was leaving the gig and saw the poster advertising 'Live Music' and a higher entry price. ah well, better that 'Live DJ' which I have seen As I was the only 'live' musician there, it didnt reflect in what they paid me.
I also asked the DJ for his set list, but he wasnt interested and didnt care too much for a sound balance.
But hey business is business, I got to practice my chops, have a few drinks,got paid, and wised up.

my two penneth
Diceman

[Charangaman]

I used to be a DJ and often had percussion or rappers with me... Now as a percussionist I have played with a couple of Dj's.. Knowing what it takes to do each job, I have little respect for Dj's and the kudos & cash they receive is not in proportion to their abiities, which is basically playing other people's records and maybe beat-mixing..

Thankfully in London, the phenomenon is in decline and live music is where it's at...

[GuruPimpi]

Hello!

I agree with what was said, but mostly with JC I also played with DJs, mainly on HOUSE music Dance floors. I mainly used Djembe and sometimes played long sets of 60 to 90 minutes; once even more than two hours at once. Usually I got connected with DJ and we were making people getting nasty and dancing. Some DJs didn't like anyone to play along with them, cause they didn't like it or weren't used to.
I don't play with DJs anymore, got sick of everything that was part of it (crazy owners who argued about the money, drugged and drunk yuppies who think that playing percussion is common thing to everyone, loud music and usually bad sound monitoring)

It's well paid though, I earned most of my gear with those crazy nights! (at the end was 100 - 200 €/ night); I began 4 free (I played 4 rounds for 20-30 minutes); I usually stepped to DJ and asked him about the gig and we agreed how we gonna handle the situation

my former 2 cents,

Pimpi

[CongaTick]

From everything I hear...sleazy biz that'll make me a few bucks....Hmmmm... I could always use another conga... Thanks for the responses, all.

[Garvin]

Well put congatick, very positive way to look at it!

[pavloconga]

Hi guys,
I used to do it quite a lot but I'm not that interested in playing those gigs anymore. Here's my take on it anyway-

The good:
-It is good practice for chops and thinking on your feet becuase you usually have no idea whats coming up.
- Good practice for producing melodies on your congas to suit the music
-It's pretty easy really, if you make a mistake most people are too drunk to know or notice anyway!

The bad: ???
- usually in very smoky, boozy and dark clubs
- you are often directly in front of the PA and getting blasted by a wall of sound(definitely wear ear plugs!)
- not paid that well.

the ugly: :angry:
- drunk people that want to play your congas or grab your small percussion instruments which you later find at 3am under a lounge suite or in a pool of spilled beer and cigarette butts.

cheers
Pavlo

[pidoca]

I'm with Pavloconga and J.Conga.

I have had a few residencies at night clubs playing with D.J.'s. One lasted 1.5 years. I was playing with the same D.J. for all that time and we got to know either musically very well. It was fun and boring at the same time.

I remember one N.Y.E.; we were playing in a smaller room over looking the water, 12m x 12m, that night we got more people in that room that the whole club had in the premises.

We tended to concentrate more on each other than the punters.

Seeing fights, girls being picked up by different guys every week, muten dressed up as lamb etc... got too much to bear. I couldn't believe the lack of respect that people had for each other and themselves. But alcohol does that. :angry:

money can vary from club to club. If it's regular you can afford to be a little lower on price. e.g. I don't get out of bed for less than $200. I know of others who play for $80 for 3hrs. I have a mixture of clubs contacting me and an agent seeking work for me. The agent is a D.J. agent; it works well for me. I am the only percussionist on their books and they can add me to their tenders to clubs.

In australia smoking is no longer allowed in clubs. But alcohol still is. People being stupid still is. fights still are. mmm I think you get what I mean.

Equipment wise, I take 2 congas and some toys. If I get a new toy i usually take to have a go. I keep it simple, so as to not get in the way of the D.J. It's very important to keep an eye on what the D.J. is doing. If they are mixing a new track, I play at a lower volume as a mark of respect so that they can hear the beat of the song to marry the two. Playing loud and in the wrong moments can through of inexperienced D.J>.s and piss off others.

The punters are not going to know if I am playing a tumbao with my left hand, a guaganco with my right and off beat cowbell with my foot. They don't really care. It's more of a visual thing. to bring people into the club and to get them to buy drinks and have a good time.

Having said that, I do treat it as a paid practice. A place where I can try new ideas and make mistakes.

Pidoca