or
button; the CUE light will come on. Now pressing the CUE
button will return to this point and pause. Pressing it now will also
make the looping noise stop.
Stephen Gildea, MITBDT
March 2004
Being DJ for a competition is different from DJing a social ballroom dance. The social DJ is covered in Dave Leung's Ballroom Dance DJing. The comp DJ works in a more chaotic environment. The songs are shorter, the play order may change on little notice, and you need to work with an MC. Yet you still have to function with precision. Competitors deserve a clean music start and the right length song, every time. (People remember DJ goofs more than MC goofs.) Consider whether DJing a Comp is right for you.
Dress nicely. You are one of the officials of the comp and will be very visible at the head table. Wear comfortable shoes; you will be standing much of the time. If you have a pair of headphones you like using, you might bring them with you.
At MIT 2003 there are five music shifts each day: setup, three comp shifts, and strike. For MIT 2003, Stephen will work Saturday setup. The morning DJ needs to show up at the start of the morning shift, which is when the doors open. (At MIT 2003, this is at 7:30am.)
The setup DJ tests the equipment set-up and provides background music for the other workers. The strike DJ plays music until it's time to strike the sound equipment.
For MIT 2003, the Music Director will prepare play lists for all the sessions and give them to the DJs. The play list is a round-by-round table of what song to play.
Take the time before your shift to go over the play list and identify all the CDs you will need, so you readily know what they look like. If you have questions, ask the Music Director.
Be aware that you won't know for sure what level the MC and scrutineer will decide to do next, so be ready for anything.
As you play each song, mark next to it the round for which it was played. For general dances, mark the time it was played. As long as you make some kind of mark, you will know what you haven't played yet and be able to keep your place.
Need a break? Ask the MC to call for a general dance and put on a party tape or CD. But plan on having few breaks, far apart. You will get a ten-minute break when awards are handed out.
Remember to sit down and rest when you can. It is too easy to spend the whole time standing over the audio deck and end up with tired feet.
Don't play any music you don't know or that has not been approved by the Music Director. If someone hands you a song at the comp, it is best to refuse it politely. The person offering probably hasn't thought about all the requirements a competition song has to meet. If you trust them, you might try playing it for a general dance.
Don't scratch the CDs!
Here is a summary of some of the controls on the professional DJ deck we usually rent from MIT A/V for our comp.
These comments apply to A/V deck #209. It contains a Gemini CD-9500 Pro III dual CD player and a Rane MP24Z mixer.
When setting up, there are three separate pieces you have to plug in: the main amp, the pre-amp and mixer unit, and the dual CD player. I believe the mixer has no power switch.
The speakers plug in on top, at the back of the mixer. The microphone plugs in underneath the mixer.
The pre-amp has a level meter. Different CD tracks are recorded at different volumes, but you can use the level meter to adjust the volume so they all play at the same loudness.
The mixer has a volume slider for each CD player. In general, keep the slider at 0 on any channel not currently in use; this avoids accidentally playing music as you set cue points. Before touching any CD controls, verify that the slider for that channel is at 0; this avoids accidentally cutting off the music.
The main amp, at the bottom of the unit, has power level knobs for the left and right channels. You can adjust them so that the mixer sliders work over a comfortable range for you.
The CD player track time display is in minutes, seconds, and hundredths of seconds.
Since 2001, we have found the right-hand CD player to be flakey with CD-Rs.
SINGLE. When this button is on, the CD player stops playing at the end of the track; use this mode during competition rounds. Turn it off when playing a party CD.
CONTINUE. When this button is on, the CD player wraps from the end of the last track to track one.
PITCH. This button must be pressed and its associated light must be on for the pitch and speed slider to be active. Note that moving the slider up slows the music down.
Setting a cue point: First make sure the volume for this channel is
off. Twist the SEARCH wheel to fast-forward within a track.
Note this will start the music playing in a tight 200-millisecond loop
when you release the dial (good thing you have the volume off). To
set the cue point to here,
press the
or
button; the CUE light will come on. Now pressing the CUE
button will return to this point and pause. Pressing it now will also
make the looping noise stop.
When you are ready to play this track, press Play and then bring the volume up.
If you let a track play to the end, the cue point is forgotten.
CUE. This button returns to the cue point or the start of the track if no cue point has been set. Always use CUE, never STOP. The STOP button returns to the beginning of the CD.
ASSIGN. These selectors at the front of the mixer set the channels affected by the cross fader. During competition, both are normally off to disable the cross fader.
Using the headphones: There is a 1/4'' jack for headphones on the mixer. You can listen to channels on the headphones independently of what is playing out of the main speakers. The CUE ASSIGN button for each channel determines whether that channel comes through the headphones. Any input channel thus selected will come through the headphones at full volume, regardless of what volume level is set on that channel for the main output. The overall volume of the headphones is controlled by the CUE LEVEL slider. When you are not using the headphones, keep the cue level at zero so the headphones are quiet.
CUE/B. This sets a stop point in a track. I never use this button.
DJ MIC. This 3-position switch is normally set to OFF. Set it to TALK to lower the music 15dB. I never use the AUTO MUTE setting.
We typically play all songs 90 seconds (except Paso, see below). However, if the judges seem to be finished marking a Viennese, feel free to cut the music as much as 15 seconds early; the dancers will thank you. For slow songs, if the floor is crowded and the judges seem to be still marking, you might let the music go an extra 15 seconds. The scheduling of the Comp may assume songs are no longer than 90 seconds; try to stay on schedule.
Note that in a multi-heat round, each heat should get the same amount of music. Here there is little reason to cut the music short: the dancers get lots of rest between dances, and the floor is probably crowded enough to want to give the judges plenty of time.
It is the MC's call how long to play the music. But the MC will probably make general policy and delegate the round-by-round decisions to the DJ.
For Open Paso Doble, play till the second crash in the music, and then cut the music off suddenly (normally you would fade it gently). There's a minor crash at 0:42; you want the bigger one at 1:16. In the 4-beat measure from 1:14 to 1:16, count 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, OFF (before the 2 beat of the next measure). Still use the volume slider, not the CD deck CUE or STOP button, but slide it to 0 quickly. We have Paso music which has already been cut to the correct length; just be sure you play it on a deck that will stop playing at the end of one track. (For syllabus, play the usual 90 seconds of Paso Doble, and the music need not have these crashes.)
Some early rounds will have multiple heats. Play the same music for each heat, restarting it for each heat. See above for how to set a cue point on the CD player; this makes it easy to deal with songs that have an intro. Don't open the CD drawer until you are sure there are no more heats; opening the drawer loses the cue point.
Some MCs will give you an explicit cue to start the music, perhaps saying over the mic, ``Music please,'' ``Dancers, your Waltz,'' or something like that. Some will say it as an aside to you. Others will finish their charge to the judges and stop talking. Learn your MC's style.
Talk with the MC about what's next. Be ready to skip rounds or insert extra rounds.
Some MCs want 10 seconds warning when the song is about to be over, so they can say ``Last few bars, judges'' or otherwise prepare to start talking.
You may want to agree with the MC on a few key phrases: what they'll say to request that you turn off the music now (``cut the music''), what they'll say when they want the microphone turned back on, etc. ``Cut the music'' is probably the most important, because it needs to be communicated in a hurry if something goes wrong (e.g., we discover the wrong couples in a callback).
So it's time to select the next song to play. Figure out what type of music you need next. Check with the MC if you are not sure.
Find a song from your play list. Find the CD and put it in the player that is not in use. Select the correct track. Set the speed.
Check whether the song has an intro, and if so, skip past it and set the cue point.
Song check-list: CD, track, cue, speed.
Don't forget to check the speed every song!
When the MC gives you the nod, start the music playing. If the song starts at the beginning, turn the volume to normal and press Play. If the song starts at a cue point, start the music playing and fade in the song quickly.
For Open Paso Doble, the dancers need to start dancing right at the first beat of the song. After the MC says, ``and now, your Paso,'' give the dancers a few seconds to get into their starting poses. Put the volume up to its normal setting before pressing Play, so that the first beat is heard clearly.
Turn off the MC's mic so we don't get head-table noise over the speakers. This is not necessary if the mic itself has an on/off switch.
Add 1:30 to the cue point on the deck to calculate when 90 seconds from the starting point will be. Be watching the counter on the deck and be ready to stop the music.
While the music is playing, mark the song on the play list as having been played.
Get the next song ready to play.
It is your responsibility to stop the music at the right time. Be ready; competitors hate it when you let the music play too long.
Turn the mic back on, so the MC can say ``last few bars,'' ``thank you dancers,'' or whatever. MCs don't like starting to talk and finding the mic is dead.
Don't stop the music suddenly; it's jarring (except after a Paso Doble crash, when it's correct). When it's time, fade the music down 20dB over 1 second, so that everyone knows the song is over, then fade it out completely over the next 2-3 seconds, then press CUE.
Always have a general dance picked out, in case the MC calls for one unexpectedly. Keep your selection up to date and appropriate for the current moment. Also prepare floor-sweeping music; this need not be dancable.
Play a party tape or CD. This is your chance to take a break. But don't wander off unless you have to; be prepared to take requests. If you can, avoid playing songs that you also are using for competition; this rule may require careful selecting of the tracks of party material you can play.
Competitors will be wanting to practice, so get in as many different dances of the appropriate style as you can in the break. First, don't play any song for more than two minutes; for Viennese one minute is sufficient. Second, play mostly (if not exclusively) dances of the upcoming style. For example, just before Standard starts, don't play Boleros.
Playing a pre-recorded set of rounds here would let you take a break and still keep the songs short.
Another way to get a break is to cue up a party CD with a song of the right style. The next song will be the wrong style, but the one after that will be correct again. By the time it's over you will be back from your break, right?
When using the Team party CDs, don't forget to set the CD deck speed back to normal. Turn off the ``single'' track setting on the CD deck. (Remember to put the deck back to single mode for the next competition round.)
If ending a song before the track ends, fade the music gently, just as you would for competitive music.
Even if a song ends because the track plays out, don't forget to slide the volume back to 0.
Close the last session of the day with a final waltz general dance. During the clean-up shift, consider the mood of the clean-up crew, who may be tired. Play peppy music until it's time to disassemble the audio equipment.
Tom Nugent says: Be ready to scramble efficiently. Things will not go as planned, and at some point, just as you've cued up a song for what you think will be the semifinal of the advanced rumba, the MC will announce a quarterfinal for the beginner cha-cha. And people don't want to wait while you're frantically trying to find the right CD. So, you need to have all the CDs arranged in some manner so that you can find any given CD immediately. In particular, know exactly which CDs the next ten tracks are on and have them stacked up in front of you along with your next general dance and floor sweeping selections.
The job is much easier with two DJs. One way to divide up the work is to have one person organize the CDs and check them off the play list, and the other person run the audio equipment.
The DJ's assistant runs errands, fields requests and answers questions of on-lookers when the DJ is busy, and does sound checks. Mostly the DJ's assistant has nothing to do, but you have to stay alert. If there are two DJs, you don't also need an assistant.
An important job of the assistant is to keep people out of the DJ's way. As an illustration of why this is important, here's something that actually happened to me. Someone wandered by the DJ area and picked up one of the many CDs to look at. It just happened to be the very CD I needed to play one minute later. I looked where the CD should be, started franticly looking all over the area, and it was only when I muttered out loud, ``where the hell is the (blank) CD?'' that they sheepishly handed it back.
Not all these rules apply to you, but as a head table worker, it might be useful to have this information. The numbers refer to sections in the 2002-2003 USA DanceSport Rulebook.
From section 3.5 of the Rulebook and other sources, the following are your target measures per minute for competition. See also suggestions from Peter Collins. Note that Samba and Paso Doble count 2-beat measures.
| Standard | Smooth | Latin | Rhythm | |
| W 30 | W 30 | Sa 50 (2-beats/) | C 30 | |
| T 33 | T 30-32 | C 32 | R 32 | |
| V 60 | V 54 | R 27 | Sw 36 (144 bpm) | |
| F 30 | F 30 (Br: 32-34) | P 62 (2-beats/) | B 24 | |
| Q 50 | J 44 (176 bpm) | M 47-51 |
| Other | |
| WCSw | 28-32 (112-128 bpm) |
| Hustle | 28-30 |
| Merengue | 29-32 |
| Salsa | 47-52 |
In a multi-heat round, the length of the music should be the same for each heat (3.4.3.1). In a multi-dance event, there must be at least 15 seconds between each dance (3.2.4.1).
There must be at least 20 minutes between rounds of any particular event (3.2.4.2).
The competition floor must be a minimum of 60' x 36' (5.6.8). Suzanne Hamby said the normal size competition floor is 70' x 40' (August 12, 1999). For reference, a college basketball court is 94' x 50'.
In a multi-dance event, the dance order is as follows: for Standard: W T V F Q; for Latin: C S R P J; for Smooth: W T F V; for Rhythm: C R Sw B M (3.4.1).
No more than 50% of the competitors can be eliminated in any one round (3.4.2.1). Fun dances normally violate this rule, with deep cuts each round.
A copy of the USA DanceSport Rulebook shall be available at the competition (5.6.1).
Delays of more than 30 minutes from the published schedule should be publicly announced (5.6.2). Moving events more than 15 minutes earlier requires notifying each competitor (5.6.4).
The scrutineer sheets shall be made available to the public (5.9.1).
Awards shall be within 90 minutes of the final round (5.9.2).
The British term for Master of Ceremonies is Compère.
This document was originally written by Stephen Gildea for the April 2000 MIT Ballroom Dance Competition, for which he was Music Director. This document draws from Tom Nugent's 1999 instructions for Comp DJs. Tom Nugent, Mark Herschberg, and Dave Leung contributed useful comments on a early draft. Tom's proofreading was especially helpful. Steph Shaw offered advice on Pasos.