The search for Vancouver event DJ services can leave you with a lot of options these days. The question is: what company or DJ is the best fit for your specific event? There’s a lot to consider, but whoever you pick should come with a certain amount of expertise, of course, but also the right equipment to get the job done
To give you an idea of what you should expect when booking a DJ, it’s fair to say your particular situation will land in two broad categories. Often this is indicative of the size of your event.
Larger Events
For larger events, such as concerts, festivals, or large conferences, the equipment will be provided by the production company hired for AV services and “backline”. Backline is the audio equipment provided for all the artists to facilitate their performances and keep the event running smoothly. If you’re booking a sizable event of say 1000 plus, you would likely encounter this.
The fee you would pay your artist would be for the performance and the personal gear needed for it. Any additional equipment such as CD-Js, turntables, mixers, and monitors are usually included on a technical rider communicated beforehand and provided by the production company. The backline for a DJ event would likely include the equipment mentioned above, although some DJs have been known to use their own mixers and other equipment, due to their affinity to the model they are used to, or limitations from the production company. The backline for concerts would typically include guitar and bass amps, some drum equipment, and monitoring systems.
Smaller Events
For smaller events, clients will generally book DJs with their own sound and lighting systems. These all-in-one turnkey packages will give you everything you need for your typical wedding or corporate event. The only thing that the client needs to provide is access to a couple wall outlets and a table for the DJ equipment.
What equipment should a DJ company be bringing?
We’ve found a typical wedding or corporate event setup will consist of the following:
- Powered speakers – Typically, two speakers will be enough for events of up to 100 people, with more for ceremony and reception packages and venues with breakout areas you want your music and announce-ments to cover.
- DJ setup – These can be CD-J’s, turntables, mixers, or DJ controllers (all-in-one systems) and are the brains of the operation allowing the DJ to control and mix the music in a cohesive way.
- Lighting – Depending on your budget this can range from dance floor effect lights, LED uplighting, tube lighting, or moving head fixtures and trussing.
- Wireless Mics – Generally, most events have wireless microphones these days. You can get away with a wired microphone for a lot of events, but the ease and flexibility with a wireless system is preferred.
- Subwoofers – For events over 120 people we generally suggest adding some low end power to get the full spectrum of sound for your event. For events over 200 people, and larger room, this is a necessary element.
When choosing a DJ for your corporate event or wedding, you should be seeing items like this listed on an invoice or contract. While most companies offer various packages at different price points, most will allow you to put something together a-la-carte to perfectly suit your needs. That’s what we do at Essential DJs.
Feel free to give us a call at 778-888-9673 or book your DJ or consultation call from the form here. We take pride in providing entertainment that continually exceeds our clients expectations for their Greater Vancouver events.
Best,
James “JT James” Thirsk
