SGA.

As our first duty as the SGA Executive Committee, Sajiv, Dylan, Ichiro and I decided that we would use the DJ kit that we bought this year for the SGA and learn how to DJ ourselves.

Goals:
Learn how to DJ
"Turn the tables" at the OSC Back to School Mingler, the first OSC event of the year.

There is a parent at the school, Janie Chalmers who was a professional DJ in Thailand, and we asked her if she would help us with this task. When we first came up with the idea, we thought that it would be easy, just put some songs together and play them. However, we quickly learnt that it was much the opposite. As a DJ, you have to know the beats, you have to know the moods of the song that you are playing so that you can decide what to play next; for example, you cannot play Hip Hop and move straight into House, as they are of two very different genres. Also, you have to know which points in the song that you are able to change songs at, whether you slowly go into the next song, or if you have to do a quick changeover.
We spent hours over two weeks practicing for the event, getting our playlist together, making sure that we got our cues right, and that we knew all the songs that we were playing. We each had a set, and we each had a specific genre that we would have to play - Sajiv played the "radio" stuff, the slower music to get the party started, Dylan would play hip-hop, I would play the House/Electronic, and Ichiro would come in whenever we would need him, as he is very good at knowing when he needs to changeover etc, just by looking at the beats, not even really knowing the music.
At the Mingler, we found that our "surprise" to the school was not as well-received as we had hoped. Many people began complaining very quickly about the music, and even more thought that because they knew us they were able to control the music and tell us what to do. Because of all of the complaints, and people demanding that we play the house music, I had to play for much of the night, and much of what we had rehearsed was thrown completely out of the window, and I had to improvise. Another factor that really through us all off was the quality of the sound in the auditorium, and obviously the quality of our music.
Overall, I found something that I loved doing; during the practices, and by the end of the night, I found myself unable to let the headphones go, or remove my fingers from the mixer. I achieved the goals that I set for myself, and I have learnt from this experience.

What I learnt:
That people are never satisfied.
Students at our school like Bob Sinclair.
You need to have more back-up music.
I need more practice at this, and not to panic so much when I am put on the spot.
I love DJing.