Party Theming 101, Music - Part VII

Perhaps these guidelines seem obvious, but I cannot number the times we’ve witnessed them violated by unfortunate musical choices, or simply by failing to think about what’s being played. I can recall an occasion at our home where dancing came to a screeching halt for 20 minutes because of a single song selection that seemed inspired at the time, but did not work with the rest of the music at all.  Only a temporary break in the party momentum, perhaps, but worth noting – a number of such unfortunate musical choices, even mixed in with otherwise good songs, can still disrupt the energy of a party and effectively kill dancing for the rest of the evening.

When you have listened and re-listened to your mix and fine-tuned it – shifting songs around to improve the flow of the music, moving songs that sound strange when played consecutively into the company of songs that they sound good with, and adding more songs if your playlist doesn’t seem long enough (on the average, if you’re talking modern popular music, that will come to roughly 16 song tracks per hour, but this can vary widely … for instance, if you’re working with 50’s oldies, you’ll need more like 24 tracks per hour, as popular songs back then were usually timed to be able to fit on a single side of a 45 record, a restriction that no longer exists) – you should be ready for party time. Make sure your music device is fully charged, set it to play the songs on the list consecutively from the first song on the list – then plug it in, crank it up, and walk away from it!

Once you have arranged a list of music you like that you think is about the right length (on the average, if you’re talking popular music, that will come to roughly 16 song tracks per hour, but this can vary widely) playtest it, to make sure the playlist plays as long as you want it to, and while listening, check that the songs all flow together well when they are actually played. If you here any song combos that sound awkward as one song transitions to the next, make a note and shift a song or two until it sounds better.

  

You should now be ready for party time. Make sure your music device is fully charged, set it to play the songs on the list consecutively from the first song on the list – then plug it in, crank it up, and walk away from it!

Party Theming 101, Music Part VI

From last time ... if you want to DJ all of your music before the party so you don’t have to mess with song order or the starting and stopping of music sets or CDs during the party, here’s a way to set yourself up:

Once you have all the songs you want, arrange them from the beginning of your playlist all the way to the end. This is a pretty subjective activity –  the order is ultimately based on what you think sounds like a good mix. It is not the intent here to launch into a dissertation on musical theory, but suffice to say that it helps if you buddy up songs based on shared rhythms and musical keys. For example, The Police (from that 80’s party list) used a lot of Caribbean rhythms in their songs, so this band’s songs often pair well with other songs that also use Caribbean rhythms – for instance, in a straight 80’s mix you might want to put the Police song next to Right By Your Side by the Eurhythmics, most anything by UB40, or The Tide is High by Blondie.

On the other hand, if your party mix is a more eclectic, cross-musical-genres mix – that same 80’s rock/Caribbean rhythm Police song (Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, let’s say) may still fit in quite nicely right next to, say, a Calypso or Soca Carnival tune from Trinidad.  In the same cross-genre Caribbean-esqe mix, if you are also planning to add swing music, you could probably also get away with Mambo Swing by  Big Bad Voodoo Daddy or I’ve Got a Feeling by Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers – both danceable swing songs with  a strong Caribbean undertow. Incorporate these, and you’ll have already used 3 musical genres within the space of less than half a dozen songs.  Odds are the tunes in question will play nicely together because they share some stylistic elements, all the while improving the variety of your playlist. At this point, if there are a few couples who like to Swing dance on your list of party guests, you have now just given them something to really cut a rug to besides the Caribbean reggae or 80’s selections some of the other guests are dancing to. Score!

Of course, being your own DJ is not without the occasional musical issue. Say you’re working on party music for a Voodoo-themed Halloween party. You have Voodoo by Godsmack in there – obvious choice, yes? – and the New Orleans jazz number Blue Drag, by the Jazz Vipers. Uhhhh … both great songs that go with your chosen theme well, but chances are they are not going to play nicely together and you’ll have to separate them before someone gets a black eye. There’s not a cut and dried solution that will work for everyone here – maybe inserting the jump blues piece The Man with the Hex by The Atomic Fireballs will work as a foil to the morose intensity of the Godsmack number, while easing your playlist a bit more gently into the skanky Blue Drag – and maybe it won’t. Maybe you’ll need several songs between these two before you are satisfied. Its your party music; you know best how to make it work for you, your event, and your guests.  And, while it will require a little thought, you shouldn’t have to kill too many brain cells to create an exciting musical soundtrack for your main event.

One little side benefit of musical variety: Its another opportunity to save a little money. Unless you’re Caribbean or a serious fan of music from the Caribbean, you probably don’t have much actual Caribbean music in your personal collection. You could either buy enough albums of Caribbean music for your summer party, or instead get one (or two, tops), and then fill in the rest of your party playlist with Caribbean-inspired music from other genres already in your music library, as noted in the above example. With a wide enough base of music in your musical library, you might just be able to combine and recombine your available music to fit several possible party themes, with only minor additions each time to help personalize them a bit.  The less money spent on music, the more you have for getting door prizes, having an ice luge delivered on party day, buying more booze, whatever. More bang for the party buck!

Party Theming 101, Music part 5

There's been a bit of a hiatus here; we were hosting an actual party and have been digging our house out the last several days. So, picking up where I left off with music:

... What to do? Well, you could just dump all of the music in there in any old order, and when party time comes put the list on Shuffle and let it roll. Convenience and a relatively short time investment are the bonuses here, but there are cons as well.

First of all, some of you have doubtless noticed that sometimes Shuffle does not seem all that random, and you get too much of one kind of song or artist playing in close proximity to each other. This varies by device type, of course, but is something you should be aware of. The Shuffle feature entails the music device sorting through a potentially huge amount of memory, and sometimes it simply doesn’t do this as effectively as one might hope. 

Secondly, even if the device’s choices are varied enough, it may occasionally play songs that while great individually sound awkward when played side-by-side – perhaps the rhythms or the musical keys the songs are in are radically different, the songs conflict stylistically, or some less tangible disconnect is present. Essentially, a human judgment issue as to what songs sounds good together.  While its possible to have a music set that is so homogenous that using Shuffle doesn’t really doesn’t make a difference, if you think this might be the case you should run a test-play of all of your music when only you are home first – to make sure that the music is not all so similar that the cumulative effect of the playlist, no matter how good the individual songs are, isn’t a snoozer!

Parties have a certain ebb and flow; for the music to be effective it is useful if it to some extent mirrors the activity level. For instance, for that Secret Agent party theme, the easy-listening Bond theme, You Only Live Twice, might be great as the party is getting started or winding down in the wee hours of the morning. However, no matter how nice a set of pipes Nancy Sinatra has, if this same song Shuffles in after party liftoff has been achieved and your guests are rocking out to the likes of BBC, Die Another Day, and Atom Bomb, there will most likely be a miniature riot on the dance floor.  If you actually want to change the sound and pace of your music at different times of the evening, Shuffle will be your enemy unless you break the different song sets into separate playlists – which is a completely viable solution, but will require you to fiddle with the music a little.

So, if you want to DJ all of your music before the party so you don’t have to mess with song order or the starting and stopping of music sets or CDs during the party, next time we'll cover how to set yourself up.

Party-Theming 101, Music part 4 (cont'd)

So, you now have acquired all of the music you want. It may all be in mp3 format, but odds are its on a mixture of music CD albums and stored on your computer as music files.   What next?

The ultimate goal is to get your party music in a single format, to make it easier to keep the tunes rolling during your event with minimal intervention from you as the host – you’ll have other hostly duties, and probably want some free time to enjoy your own party, so here’s a place where you can use automation to your advantage.

If you don’t have a friend who’s a DJ and willing to run all this for you for the fun of it, there are basically two choices:

1. The lower-tech option here would be to rip the song tracks off of any CDs you have lined up, and make your own compilation CD’s for the party. Create 5 CD’s to between 70-75 minutes of music apiece, drop them in a 5-CD turntable on the stereo, and you won’t have to touch your music during the party for about 6 hours. We have used this technique for anything from retirement parties to school auctions with the music piped over the school’s PA system, and as long as the individual CD’s are thoughtfully compiled, this works perfectly well in creating a good mix.
2. Put your music device (iPod, Zen, etc) to work for you by building a party playlist, if the device’s features will support this.

Regarding the second suggestion above, running party music off of a musical device: First of all, to be effective as a platform for your party music, the music device should have these qualities:

• Be able to be connected to a large stereo system. If you’re considering using your music device for party music, obtain an adaptor cord if you don’t have one already so you can plug your music device into the amplifier of the larger system, and test the connection out before you invest a lot of time arranging music in your device for the event.
• The ability to construct a long Playlist of related songs.
• The battery capability for the device to last or outlast the expected duration of your party.
• Good, or at least decent sound integrity when plugged into the amp of a regular stereo system. Most music devices sound decent when piped through a headset, but not all sound equally wonderful when jacked to a much larger system. After you test your connection, run a bunch of songs as a sound quality check, to make sure your device’s sound scales up well.

 Once you’ve confirmed that your music device is party-capable, its time to be your own playlist DJ!