College parties are known for being the nightlife on campus for those who can not get into the bars. With the flashing lights, pumping music and the alcohol flowing like the Pemigewasset river, many do not know what it is like to be the person behind the vibe. The one person responsible for keeping the party going and keeping the dance floor moving is the college party DJ. Whether you have a DJ controller or if you have a mp3 player, you know the struggle of being the person behind the booth.
There is an unspoken rule that many do not know when they go to a party; DJ's are not your personal jukebox. If you have a request at a party, that is fine depending on if the DJ is taking requests or not. Just don't be that guy or girl that gets mad when the DJ doesn't play your request. Here's why: DJ's have selected songs prior to the start of a party that was arranged based upon BPM (Beats Per Minute) in order to make transitioning into the next song seamless. When you make a request, there is a very likely chance that the DJ has the song, but it is not in the correct BPM range that their current playing song is at, therefore mixing into your request will sound like a hot mess and will kill the vibe for everyone. It is not your fault, it is just the song type or BPM of your request that just won't fit into the mix at that moment, but can be mixed in later when the DJ reaches that target tempo.
Every DJ wants to make sure that everyone is having a good time, including you. The most important thing about being a DJ at a party is reading the crowd. There are all sorts of people with different tastes in music at the same party, so catering to one genre of music may not work out as well as you think. I would love to have a house full of bass heads and dubstep lovers, head banging to heavy drops and pounding bass, but realistically I know that I cannot pull that off at a party. When a DJ sees that there are only a few people dancing and the rest are standing around, they know that they need to switch up the song fast in order to keep the dance floor moving. You can pack a house full of people, but you can't force them all to dance. It is a difficult thing to do sometimes because the vibe can always change without a moments notice. (P.S. If females aren't dancing and a female gives you a request, take it. It could be your saving grace!)
Sometimes you can throw down a set and everyone looks at you waiting for the next hammer you're going to drop, or you scare everyone away like they just saw a ghost. Every party is a hit or miss, and you never know what type of crowd will be at the party you're performing for. Just relax, play your set, and when in doubt, switch it out.
