By Dave Austin, “Music Professor” I belong to a local business group and at each weekly meeting, members offer a short statement about their particular business. This past meeting, I asked the group to name the top dance song in America. The responses included, “YMCA,” “Cha-Cha Slide,” etc., but to my stunned amazement, not a…
By Dave Austin, “Music Professor” So you’re a new DJ standing behind the mixer at your first major event. If you’re like I was, you have a vision of packing the dance floor from the very first song and driving the crowd into a dancing frenzy with your music selections. Now fast-forward to the end…
By Dave Austin, “Music Professor” This month brings us to Part 3, the concluding installment of this series on music programming. In Part 1 I discussed selecting music to fit your audience. In Part 2, I discussed building music sets. Now, let’s talk about organizing your music or sets in a manner which fits the…
By Dave Austin, “Music Professor Last month, in Part 1 of this series, I began a discussion of programming with an eye on selecting music to fit your audience. However, audiences can vary widely and you may have a group of middle school kids at one event and a senior citizens’ dance at your next….
By Dave Austin, “Music Professor” A couple of weeks ago, our Publisher & Chief Scribe, Stacy Zemon, suggested I explore the topic of programming music sets for various types of events and audiences. I agreed, but upon later consideration, determined that I had stepped off into deep water. Music programming theories can be as varied…
By Dave Austin, “Music Professor” In an interview, trombonist J.J. Johnson observed, “Jazz is restless. It won’t stay put and it never will.” Jazz, in its various incarnations, now spans over 100 years – from ragtime to the present day, making it nigh impossible to define. Music scholars spend hours trying to succinctly define jazz…
by Dave Austin, “Music Professor” When I decided to write this article about folk music, I was thinking only of the folk music that came on the scene back in the late 1940s, 50s’ and 60s. You know, “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore,” “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and so on. It had not occurred to…
by Dave Austin – “Music Professor” Ask someone what first comes to mind at the mention of Philadelphia and you may hear about the Declaration of Independence, the Liberty Bell or the Phillies. But, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is also home to a well-documented musical heritage dating back to colonial times. Innovations in classical, opera, jazz, R&B…
by Dave Austin I overheard a veteran DJ ask for a definition of dubstep, and like many of us who are predominately wedding DJs, he’s heard the term but doesn’t really know what actually defines a dubstep music track. As with many musical genres, it’s sometimes difficult to clearly identify an evolving, moving target, but…
by Dave Austin When it comes to weddings, nothing establishes an elegant and sophisticated mood quite like classical music. It can be restrained and soothing, grandiose and inspiring, or joyous and celebratory. Any DJ who does weddings should have a library of both traditional and contemporary classical selections. Most of these works have been around…
