Transcript
Why it can be a bad idea to use an iPod for wedding music as opposed to hiring a Professional Wedding Master of Ceremonies and DJ
I’ve read several articles and have been asked some questions regarding the possibility of using an iPod as opposed to an experienced, professional wedding Master of Ceremonies and DJ during a wedding reception. I can certainly appreciate the need to be careful and even frugal with expenses in a difficult economy, however feel led to mention a few key points that you should consider when making a decision about your entertainment. Music Affects Everything - The entertainment that you choose may indeed be one of the most critical elements that can affect the success or failure of such an important event. Almost every part of the event will revolve around the entertainment. It will be heard by every single person and it will drive the flow of the activities. It sets the mood and tone of the event and can create magic when used properly. Inexperience, poor quality sound equipment, inappropriate song choices and uncomfortable pauses between songs can ruin an otherwise perfect reception. Here are a few problems that you could experience: Feedback from the sound system causing loud, high pitched squeals from the speakers. Volume shifts from song to song. Digital sound files are prone to varied volume, especially older music as compared with more current music. A loud sound system makes this problem much more noticeable and can be extremely irritating to you and your guests. There are only two way to resolve this. You must either digitally edit each file with sound editing software or stand over the system all of the time to adjust the volume and EQ of each song as it is played. A good DJ does both. Forgotten explicit lyrics. You will be surprised at how many songs have explicit lyrics that are easily missed if you are not paying attention. Your Pastor, your Grandmother and your 7 year old niece will be paying attention. Are you willing to listen to every line of every song you want played? Uncomfortable pauses between songs. Your Ipod will automatically pause for at least 2 seconds between digital files. Each file has a silent section at the beginning and at the end of each song. This combined pause is just enough time for all of your friends to leave the dance floor and go do something else. A professional DJ not only eliminates most of the pauses but he also knows how to match the beats of a song to make it flow smoothly into the next one. This skill takes years of experience. An Ipod simply cannot do this. Even a laptop will not find the correct intro and ending of every song. This is something that must be done manually. Searching through the Ipod for just the right song to play for your family and friends. Your playlist will not be perfect because people are not perfect. Someone will have to attend to the song selection OFTEN. Even if you remember to add all of the perfect songs. Knowing when to play a slow song
so that people can rest and others can snuggle together is an art. Knowing the perfect song that will make grandma and grandpa dance for the first time in years is a labour of love. Running back and forth to the sound system to make adjustments. Volume issues aside, each song has its own EQ signature. All music is not equal. Some songs will have too much Bass, others will be too bright and tinny.. All of this requires adjustment. Fending off intoxicated guests from making sound adjustments and choosing inappropriate songs to play through the system. You may not think this would be an issue but believe me it happens more often than you would think.
You will invest a lot of money in your event. Entertainment is not the best place to cut costs. Is a couple hundred dollars worth the stress that will be caused? In the end it may not cut much real money from the budget anyway. Let’s address that first. Will I actually save money? – Using an iPod is less expensive than a DJ, right? After purchasing enough music to cover a four to five hour wedding reception and then renting a professional sound system it may cost a little less than hiring a professional wedding DJ but is the difference worth the time and focus you will invest trying to make sure it all works the way that you expect? Picture the countless hours that are required to plan how many songs you will need for each portion of the event, deciding exactly what music will be appropriate for each portion, pulling all of the music that you need together, reviewing all of the songs for glitches, volume issues and explicit lyrics, placing all of the songs into playlists in the correct order to make them flow well, downloading them all to the Ipod and praying that they all load correctly. (whew!) Once you wrap your head around that, picture taking the time to find an appropriate sound system to rent, (your home stereo will never have enough volume, not to mention speaker damage that you may cause trying) comparing prices of rental systems, travelling to pick up the system, trying to learn quickly how to set it up and make critical sound adjustments, transporting the system to the venue on the day of the event, setting it up, making sure there are no feedback issues, getting the EQ right, finding an adapter that will connect the Ipod to the sound system, making sure that you don’t overload electrical circuits, and then testing the system to be sure your music sounds acceptable coming through the speakers.. ALL of this while you are trying desperately to handle the OTHER 10,000 issues before you can get dressed for the ceremony. Once you have struggled through the evening trying to find the right song for the right moment and watching as your guests leave the dance floor after every song (because there are pauses before the Ipod will cue the next song to play) YOU, or someone you love, (and clearly loves you) will have to find the time carefully pack up the sound system (along with 10,000 other items) and get it back to the rental company hoping they will not find anything wrong with it that they can charge you for. Surely you will have plenty of free time to make all of that happen while you are busy planning the rest of the details concerning the most important day of your life together. :o[ Then again, maybe the decorations can be pared down a little and Aunt Sue can bake a lovely cake. How much did you say that cake was going to cost? So, you may still be saying… “Ok, so maybe it will be a pain but I want to have control over the music played at my reception” Programming Control – Couples that use an iPod believe they will have total control over the songs on the playlist, which they generate before the wedding, and the order in which those songs are played. They may even believe that this “makes the music more personal.” In fact the music programming will take control of you and all of your precious time with your friends and family. I have been a professional DJ and musician for more than 20 years and there is NO WAY that I can choose all of the songs that I would want to play for a reception beforehand. The mood of each event ebbs and flows. It changes from moment to moment. I have more than 10,000 relevant songs to choose from and any one of them could be appropriate at any given time. No person can predict what guests will respond to. Few people can even remember all of
the great songs that would generate excitement in a crowd of 200 guests from every age and all walks of life. This is a complex business, even after 20 years of experience. Cocktail music, dinner music, first dances, bouquet tosses, anniversary dances, Disco, Rock, Motown, R&B, Techno, Country.. Slow dances that even your grandparents will love.. songs that make the ENTIRE CROWD sing along.. Line Dances, Shag Dances.. Songs that bring back fond memories.. There is so much to consider that it boggles even my mind. Playing music that the two of you will both love is difficult enough. Playing music that 200 people will love takes a seasoned professional. Ask me to come to your office and do your job next week and see if I will accept. Not a chance… unless you are a DJ. With Charleston Disc Jockey you WILL have control! –If you choose to work with Charleston Disc Jockey you will be given a detailed form to fill out for me allowing you to choose the music that is important to you and list the songs you do not want to be played. (you know.. your ex boyfriends favourite shag song.. or the chicken dance.. or the hokey pokey..) No Cheese – Many couples simply want to avoid hiring a cheesy or irrelevant wedding DJ that does not fit the mood of their event. They have seen bad wedding DJs in the past, and don’t want to have inflatable instruments, party hats and overzealous line dance instruction ruining their wedding. I agree 100%. This is why you MUST check references and speak with your DJ at length before you sign a contract. Cheesy DJ’s are real and must be driven from the planet forever before it’s too late. (just kidding.. kinda) This is why we believe our questions are so important. We want to know your vision and follow it completely! Radio-Edited Music - One point I think most couples overlook is their access (or lack thereof) to radioedited versions of popular songs. Online music sources sometimes offer these versions, but not always. In fact, some artists and record companies make edited versions of their songs only available on the CD single in order to force people to find and purchase a separate disc. The majority of professional DJs, on the other hand, subscribe to one or many music update services that mail them CDs (or give them access to mp3’s) of all of the new music about to come out on the radio, fully edited just like the versions you hear on your way home from work. Is your grandmother going to understand when you explain that you couldn’t find a clean version of that new hip-hop song, but you still wanted to play it? Your DJ Offers You His Protection - Part of the issue with “do-it-yourself” music is that your guests may think they can do it too. I had one wedding planner tell me that, instead of drawing less attention than a traditional DJ, the iPod DJ setup the couple rented created a bit of a scene when two of the groom’s friends spent the entire night arguing over what to play next. I can tell you from experience, alcohol and inappropriate music requests often co-exist. Part of the job description of a talented DJ is understanding how and when to say no. Diplomacy is critical in these situations. I never want to offend your guests, but there are times when an intoxicated request can at best quickly kill a good vibe or worse yet be overtly offensive to other guests. I have many ways to assist with these issues that I will be happy to discuss with you directly but I can assure you that diplomacy is paramount when dealing with honoured guests. Do this yourself and there will inevitably be someone that wants to look through your iPod (or bring his own) until he finds the most inappropriate song possible. He will then play that song at the worst moment possible because there is no one available to reason with him. He may even find a way to jumble things up and you’ll be the one at the iPod trying to resurrect your playlist instead of enjoying your reception. In the end however this is YOUR party. What you say goes. I am only there to make you happy. That is my job as your DJ. Introductions and announcements – A Professional wedding Master of Ceremonies and Disc Jockey is articulate and well spoken. He will prepare and deliver your introductions with class and style. He knows how to direct attention appropriately. He does not draw undue attention to himself. He facilitates activities and helps to smooth the flow of the event. This alone is an art that requires years of experience.
Murphy’s Law - Even the best equipment is subject to fail at some point, and it’s impossible for you to tell if the sound system you’ve rented has been properly cared for and maintained. If the channel fader block on your rented mixer fails do you know how to resolve the issue? Do any of your guests? A professional wedding DJ will have the equipment knowledge to quickly solve the malfunction, or will have backup equipment in case something can’t be fixed. If you don’t feel comfortable troubleshooting professional audio gear and renting a full backup sound system, you may be left without the music that you have worked so hard for. Is there a Sound Reinforcement expert in the house? - Unless you rent a sound system from a DJ familiar with your reception site and he chooses to give you good advice, chances are you aren’t going to know exactly what equipment to rent. Is a 300-Watt sound system adequate for a 60’ x 100’ ballroom with 200 guests in it? It’s more powerful than your home sound system, but is it enough? Bodies, idle conversation and movement can dissipate sound quickly. What if you are in a room with windows on two sides, a vaulted ceiling and a tile floor? Do you know how to set up the sound system so it doesn’t create a booming echo chamber? An experienced wedding disc jockey will know how to “tune a room” to get the best sound possible, and will know how much power is enough to cover your reception site without causing feedback issues and hearing damage. Frequency feedback is common and complex. Even experienced musicians often struggle with resonating frequencies that can cause feedback. Many inexpensive microphones will feed back so easily that it will amaze you that they are even legal. Rental companies don’t often offer quality microphones with excellent off axis feedback rejection.. does yours? Your Money, Well Spent - Few of your guests will remember their meal (unless it’s very bad), your table decorations, the chairs, party favours, invitations, the cake (unless it’s very bad), or the cookies. What they will remember, however, is if they had a good time. This, to me, makes the case for investing in experienced and professional entertainment and shaving costs elsewhere. My advice is to seek the services of an experienced professional, one that shares your views and will honour your requests.
Your guests will thank you, and you will be able to relax and enjoy your wedding reception with your family and friends. That is why you are throwing this party isn’t it? Blessings on your journey together! Michael D Peifer Wedding Music Charleston 843-442-2525
[email protected] www.weddingmusiccharleston.com
