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!