Mobile DJ Equipment Advice
Working as a mobile disk jockey (DJ) presents a whole load of challenges that a resident club DJ simply doesn’t have.One of the biggest issues is the need to carry all of that essential DJ equipment wherever we go.
I’ve worked as a DJ onboard cruise liners, in a hospital, on the radio and in various clubs but these days I make my money as a mobile DJ. Each week I get to visit new locations and meet a whole new crowd of people. I’ve played gigs in stately homes, tents, gardens, onboard ships and yachts and even on a private jet flying to America. It’s the variety that I love about this work, but lets get back to those challenges.
One of the biggest problems that us mobile DJs must overcome is the need to carry all of our equipment to every gig. The club DJ only has to carry his tunes, maybe as records or CDs, whereas I need a medium sized van to carry all of my gear.
These days I have an assistant who is a great help in setting up and breaking down my PA and lighting rig at each gig. But back in the old days, before I was commanding a decent fee, I had to do it all myself. The important factor to consider when selecting DJ equipment for mobile use is compactness. It must be small and ideally lightweight.
The DJ speakers that I use are the powered variety. This means no need to carry power amplifiers and much simpler system setup. There are far fewer cables to worry about and less that can go wrong. For the past two years I’ve been using a really excellent pair of active JBL PA speakers and these have proved to be worth their weight in gold.
Another key consideration for mobile DJs is lighting and effects. Club DJs don’t usually need to worry about club lighting systems as these are often already in place and may have their own dedicated operators. Working as a mobile DJ means we’ve got to do it all ourselves. But luckily these days there are some compact DJ lights that use LEDs making them relatively lightweight, low power and cool.
But I think the most important piece of DJ gear is the music. That’s not equipment I hear you say, and you’re right. But I’m really referring to the medium which can be vinyl records, CDs, DVDs and MP3 files. This means I need to carry turntables, CD players, a DVD player and some sort of MP3 player. These days I stick to one DJ CD player, a pair of Technics 1210s and my laptop computer which has a DVD drive. I route all of these through my excellent DJ mixer and I’m just about ready for any requests, from Mantovani to the Wombles.
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