My Current Party

I'm pretty much at the "Go Semi Pro" level. The header photo was taken while I was setting up for a recent party. The table is in the bed of my truck, the DDJ-FLX4 and Mixer were both new purchases. This was the first time I had pulled out my PA speakers which flanked the truck. It was the first time I had all my lights out and the fog machine setup. I even swapped out the porch light with a UV Lightbulb and the driveway light for a disco bulb.

IT WAS EPIC!!!!

Well, mostly, 4 years in and I'm still learning a ton. The party was a success, my sons have asked multiple times when we can do another dance party in the driveway. I chatted with a few neighbors and none of them complained about the noise.

This was the first time I took requests ahead of time(This was the genesis of tip 3) and I was so busy trying to use my new gear that I didn't bring the energy myself. Thankfully, about 15 minutes into the party(Just after this picture was taken), one of the neighbors arrived with their kids. They had glow sticks on and they brought the energy. My wife ran in, grabbed our sticks and started cracking. Things got on track after that.

The setup time was about 2 hours and then it took another 2 hours afterwards for me to tear everything down. One of the big reasons I encourage others to start small is because this amount of setup and tear down creates a bit of an expectation. If this dance party lasts 15 minutes, someone's feelings are likely to be hurt.

My Gear

Here's a quick rundown of my current gear. This list is for the big party though. If I'm just doing a quick party for my kids, I still grab a Bluetooth speaker, a USB light or two and my phone. Right now is always a better time than in 30 minutes when it comes to a dance party.

Lights

Sound

Other

Glow Sticks
UV Face Paint (and Glitter Version)
UV Balloons
Small Flashlights
Fog Machine
Table and large white tablecloth

The most recent additions to the dance party kit are the Mirror ball and the UV lights, Balloons, and Face Paint.

What's Next

EASE

OF

USE

My current focus is making it quicker and easier to setup a dance party. I'll add photos to the Mirror ball page once this is done, but as an example, I'll be mounting two of the USB lights onto the stand that holds the motor. This way, just setting up the mirror ball gives me it, plus two additional USB lights. Duplex USB wall worts are very common and I'll have one extension cord that includes the mirror ball motor, spot light, and the two USB lights.

I'm also thinking about upgrading the other single purpose lights and switching to multifunction lights, the ones that include the laser, disco, and strobe all in one. It's less wires, less things to place and increased function.

Better Music Mixing

The reason I purchased the Pioneer mixer was because I was frustrated with tracks stopping to play the next one. Additionally YouTube Music has a bad setting where when you play content for kids, it wants to pause it if you minimize the play screen. It's a mood killer when everyone is loving the song and it pauses unexpectedly because I looked for the next track.

It's easy enough to get started with one and there are a ton of great tutorials on YouTube. Getting good at it is much tougher. Quicking finding songs is just the start, then it's a matter of finding a good spot to switch and doing it in a way that the people dancing don't even notice is hard. This is probably hundreds of hours of practice.

Extended

Parties

A number of my friends and past co-workers who have kids have said they wish they could have their kids come to one of the dance parties. Somewhere in the next six months, i want to do a zoom stream for everyone to join on and have fun dancing with their kids. After that, who knows. As long as my kids keep having fun and wanting to dance, I'll keep making it happen for them.

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