Well with the Christmas Holiday season coming to an end and only New Year Parties remain until Wedding Season, this is a lesson my partner learned the hard way.. an I got bailed out with this season... Have a back up plan, or multiple back up plans, especially if you are a one man show.
During my DJ career, I have invested a lot of money into a partner/roadie to assist me on all my events, and if you run your own entertainment company this is a must!
What i used to have is an iOS phone with Djay loaded with top 40 and classic tracks already loaded incase something went wrong with my set up, this is great for last resorts, however battery life is limited and also not likely to carry you to the finish line.. i would recommend carrying an iPad because that is more like it. With more room to operate a library and also use the fader and very good response with literally no lag, this is a very good alternative.... plus you get an iPad!!!!
If you haven't collected tech for a long time and you havent reinvested in an upgraded macbook or you ha to slang it to pay for your new one... well having a back up laptop is great because most likely your library you need to tap into is larger than 16GB hard drive on a tablet, so this does the job. but the downside of this alternative is that you have to keep updating both computers on a regular basis plus also the cue points and BPM calc and processing, this is safe but a lot of work because you have to do everything twice and you dont know exactly whats on that computer, unless you back up and restore all the time... which may be the case.
Also an honorable mention is using CDJs and carrying around a hard drive or a thumb drive and using the mp3s on their to carry you through the night. Also you are going to deal with a limited library but since you should have a preferred playlist this can get you by.
And the Backup DJ/Roadie... This is the best option in my opinion because he should be a DJ to back you up should his library should be up to par. He should be a DJ so while "styles make fights" in boxing, having someone play the same type of music you play but differently and different tracks is a plus because he would play what you would play and you sound similar, and the libraries should match too. And the event you forget chargers, cords or even your USB port in your computer doesnt respond that night.. you have someone that can fill in and carry you through the night..
I use a macbook retina as my primary computer and even though its the latest and greatest from Apple, I always have problems with something that goes on, and since we do have do-overs in weddings or rain checks.. we have to be on the ball the entire time and remember... your a professional!!!
unless your not getting paid and you do favors, in that case. say your sorry and go home!
During my DJ career, I have invested a lot of money into a partner/roadie to assist me on all my events, and if you run your own entertainment company this is a must!
What i used to have is an iOS phone with Djay loaded with top 40 and classic tracks already loaded incase something went wrong with my set up, this is great for last resorts, however battery life is limited and also not likely to carry you to the finish line.. i would recommend carrying an iPad because that is more like it. With more room to operate a library and also use the fader and very good response with literally no lag, this is a very good alternative.... plus you get an iPad!!!!
If you haven't collected tech for a long time and you havent reinvested in an upgraded macbook or you ha to slang it to pay for your new one... well having a back up laptop is great because most likely your library you need to tap into is larger than 16GB hard drive on a tablet, so this does the job. but the downside of this alternative is that you have to keep updating both computers on a regular basis plus also the cue points and BPM calc and processing, this is safe but a lot of work because you have to do everything twice and you dont know exactly whats on that computer, unless you back up and restore all the time... which may be the case.
Also an honorable mention is using CDJs and carrying around a hard drive or a thumb drive and using the mp3s on their to carry you through the night. Also you are going to deal with a limited library but since you should have a preferred playlist this can get you by.
And the Backup DJ/Roadie... This is the best option in my opinion because he should be a DJ to back you up should his library should be up to par. He should be a DJ so while "styles make fights" in boxing, having someone play the same type of music you play but differently and different tracks is a plus because he would play what you would play and you sound similar, and the libraries should match too. And the event you forget chargers, cords or even your USB port in your computer doesnt respond that night.. you have someone that can fill in and carry you through the night..
I use a macbook retina as my primary computer and even though its the latest and greatest from Apple, I always have problems with something that goes on, and since we do have do-overs in weddings or rain checks.. we have to be on the ball the entire time and remember... your a professional!!!
unless your not getting paid and you do favors, in that case. say your sorry and go home!
