What mistakes do you continue to make ?

[ppentertainments]

Following on from the 'biggest mistake' thread, I am just interested if anyone makes mistakes or things they should/should not do, yet continually make those errors ?

I have a few :

Not following up after a function (with view to testimonial)
Not following up with venues when they are interested in my services
Never remember a camera
My copy of 'Sweet Caroline' Stutters at the beginning for some reason and although it is played at practically every function I do I have not downloaded or refreshed the track.
The shelf on my equinox booth needs strengthened, but never remember after the gig to do it.

Think I could go on lol

So what mistakes/errors do you make and continually make - be honest

(please don't post that you continually buy new equipment etc etc as that is just boring !!!)

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Personally I hate the pushy sales type people that I deal with when I'm the "client" so I think not following up isn't a mistake personally..

What can be classed as a "mistake" is despite being experienced when I have a "tough" gig or even when it's only 9 pm I panic that guests are thinking "what a **** DJ" as they're super glued to their seats with faces like slapped arses and I doubt myself/

[Excalibur]

My copy of 'Sweet Caroline' Stutters at the beginning for some reason and although it is played at practically every function I do I have not downloaded or refreshed the track.

You're lucky! Mine's disappeared totally from the greatest hits album, and I use a Mastermix one. Like you, I've never replaced the errant one.
Likewise, my Crazy Little Thing Called Love from the greatest hits album jumps, and I haven't cured that yet. :o

[Nakatomi]

I still type 'Whiney' when I'm searching for 'Whitney' - 'Meatload' when I search for 'Meatloaf'...

I sometimes forget to reset the pitch control on a deck & end up playing a 'classic' at up to 4% faster (never slower for some reason) than it should be. With or without master tempo I think it's a naughty no-no. I limit the software to plus & minus 8% (purist, MOI?!) but I rarely ever go that far.

It's considered a big no-no to play 2 songs by the same artist consecutively and I still don't see what's wrong with it. So I still do that sometimes. 2 is the most I'd allow though.


Personally I hate the pushy sales type people that I deal with when I'm the "client" so I think not following up isn't a mistake personally..

What can be classed as a "mistake" is despite being experienced when I have a "tough" gig or even when it's only 9 pm I panic that guests are thinking "what a **** DJ" as they're super glued to their seats with faces like slapped arses and I doubt myself/

I think some level of self doubt is a good thing. Keeps us on the ground. Believe me, you don't want to become the other guy. He's not nice, and he ends up without any bookings. It can be hard to strike a balance though, I hear that.

Ooo.. see also...

Taking on too much work. Always been a sucker for saying 'yes' to insane workloads, me.

[ckpr2]

I have a bad habit of leaving cables lying around and I end up tripping over them.
I know some people tape them down but I never bother.

My first gig for my own disco I tripped over a jack lead and pulled it out of the speaker.
It must have shorted as it came out and blew the output fuse in the amp.
Luckily just the fuse blew and not the amp.
I had a spare fuse so popped it in and carried on quickly.

[yourdj]

I have a bad habit of leaving cables lying around and I end up tripping over them.
I know some people tape them down but I never bother.

My first gig for my own disco I tripped over a jack lead and pulled it out of the speaker.
It must have shorted as it came out and blew the output fuse in the amp.
Luckily just the fuse blew and not the amp.
I had a spare fuse so popped it in and carried on quickly.

Thats my pet hate. I am a bit of a cable OCD freak. if its in the way it needs to be secured down.
Bands a the worst. i can't understand how some of the popel i have seen have not been sued yet. :)

The way I see it the cables make everything work and are gold dust. :p

[ckpr2]

A DJ I sometimes work with tells me I play too loud.
He is always leaning over me and turning down the music a bit.

[ukpartydj]

I keep putting my moving heads around the wrong way so the nice patterns don't match up until I unplug and switch them!

When a sound limiter cuts my power I often forget to reset all midi controls and will be playing cued tracks without noticing!

taping down cables then realising I forgot a cable and having to tape over the lot!

[yourdj]

taping down cables then realising I forgot a cable and having to tape over the lot!

LOL done that so much, annoying having another cable isn't it. Even on an all day i don't tape nothin down till just before first dance ;)

[mattydj50]

I forget to plug the linking cables to paired lighting effects so have to either lower the rig or climb on a chair to do it.

The other is forgetting to plug the active speakers leads into the 13A mains socket. I guess 40 years of passive is to blame there.

[Casual77]

Despite knowing I shouldn't do it, I still get sucked into setting up my lights before my music play out system is set up. I then invariably have a mini panic worrying that I won't get the music on by the designated start time.

I know the getting the music on is the most important thing but when I'm rushing I never approach setting up my gear as methodically as I should.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Not really sure if it is a mistake or just getting out of the habit but it's to do with when I update my system each week. It's been about 3 months now and I get everything I need and update the HD's and VDJ but not the HD2500 so I have a lot of tunes of VDJ now that aren't on the HD2500. I need to get round to doing it and today is probably that day.....he says.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

A DJ I sometimes work with tells me I play too loud.
He is always leaning over me and turning down the music a bit.

When I speak to clients the one thing they always mention about previous wedding DJ experience is either they are too loud, too cheesy or too chatty.....

[Nakatomi]

I got into the habit of setting up playout & pa before anything else early on. Quick walk around the room with my mic to see how I sound & then and only then do I rig the lights.

If nothing else I find it nicer setting up & tidying cables with a little background music. It's also pretty much essential if I've not had a chance to verify the first dance track is ok by then.

Get into the habit now. The more time you have to fix sound problems the better.

[Larry B Entertainment]

Well a mistake I still make now is not checking the tracks are labelled correctly on a CD as I rip it in iTunes after it has pulled the info from the net. Caused me a few problems when I went to play a track and it was something completely different.