Aug142011
11 Essential Items Of DJ Kit I Take With Me To Every Gig
Here is a photo of my DJ bag. It’s nothing amazing but I’ve had it for years and it’s served me really well for each gig I’ve been to. In it I put all of the essential things that I need when I go out to play live. It’s got so many different compartments and sections in it all containing a wide array of things that I thought I would go through each item that I keep in my DJ bag to let you know some of my essential tools of the trade.
Headphones
First and foremost are my Sennheiser HD25s - where would I be without them!? Every DJ has their favourite pair of cans but for me, these babies are worth every single penny. The quality of audio that they produce is absolutely phenominal. The cushioning around the ears means these headphones are comfortable even after 5 or 6 hours of use. They can take as much abuse as you can throw at them and even if they do break, each indivual part on them is replaceable. I’ve had mine for about 8 years and they have never broken or let me down once. An essential piece of kit.
Adapters / Jacks
It’s always worth taking a few different headphone jack adapters with you when you go to play out live. Most of the time you have no idea what mixer you will be using on the night so it’s best to come prepared. I always take with me a couple of 3.5mm to 6.35mm jacks as standard, plus a 6.53mm to 3.5mm because, well, you never know. I also carry a 1m 6.35mm jack extension cord too just in case the distance from mixer to record bag is longer than expected. You can never have too much length 
Post It Notes & Pens
Most of the gigs I ‘ve played have the DJ booth located up close and personal with the crowd and so there’s the inevitable situation of punters coming up to you requesting tunes - usually right in the middle of a mix. It can be very frustrating at times but I have found a way to make this situation a little less painful. What I do is I take post it notes and pens with me so that people can write their requests down. It saves having them shout/spit in my ear, plus I don’t need to remember what they’ve said. It also helps to stop them hanging around the booth waiting for you to play their song immediately as often once the request is in they will head back to the dancefloor. Buy cheap pens in bulk of 50 or 100 as you always lose a few during the night.
Torch & Batteries
Lighting in a DJ booth can be quite poor at some venues. Grab a couple of these funky little torches from Osram. they are really bright for their compact size plus you get a choice of adhesive backings, either sticky-backed, magnetic, velcro or hook. Very versatile and something I would not want to be without as a DJ. Don’t forget to take spare batteries with you! You can hold these in your hand as you go through your CD wallet or you can fix them to a wall or speaker or part of the DJ booth to give you instant wireless hands-free spot lighting.
CD wallet and CDs (x2)
Make sure you always take 2 copies of each CD with you in case you scratch one of your CDs. Its not that likely to happen (even less likely if you are running from a laptop or memory stick) but it’s always a good idea to be prepared for any situation. When I used to DJ vinyl I would always take a spare cartridge and stylus with me and now I am using CDs I always take 2 copies of each CD with me wherever I go. Keep your CDs in a decent wallet. The brand that I use is Body Glove. To be honest any old CD wallet will do the job but I find the Body Glove brand to be really durable and always has lots of extra hidden tucked away pockets to stash extra bits in to.
Demo Mix
You never know who you might bump into whilst you are DJing. Perhaps the event manager for a larger club, perhaps even another promoter who is looking for a DJ just like you for his next event. Either way it’s always a good idea to have a few of your demo mixes ready to go on CD. Don’t give these out to just anyone in the club because chances are the club owners will not like it, but if you are discreet and only hand them out to people who are likely to book you for another gig then this can be a powerful tool to improving your DJ CV.
Business Cards
Just like carrying some demo mixes with you, it’s always a good idea to take some business cards along for the ride too. They don’t have to be designed that well or look that flash, as long as they have your contact details clearly on them. Make sure you have your phone number printed clearly along with your email address. Any other info such as links to social networking profiles can be secondary but make sure the phone number and email address are prominent. Again, be selective and discrete with giving these out when you are at work.
USB Stick
This is another safety back up tool that I like to have with me for one of those ‘just in case’ moments. Lets say the club’s CD players stop working, or some idiot spills their drink all over your CDs - keep a backup set on a USB memory stick so that if you are using CDs you can switch to mp3’s in an instant. And if you are already using mp3’s then in the same way as a CD DJ would take 2 copies of CDs, you should take a duplicate set of tunes on memory stick as back up.
Camera
It’s optional, but you may like to take a decent camera out with you when you DJ. You don’t necessarily need a flashy SLR camera, pretty much any robust point-and-shoot will do as long as it can cope with low level lighting. It’s such a handy tool to have. You can document the night visually and get some great crowd shots for those hands-in-the-air moments. As long as the event is not a private party, you should be able to use the photos on your own web site or social network to help publicise your talents further.
Earplugs
Earplugs, I feel, are one of the most important pieces of kit I take out with me. Your hearing should never be taken for granted, you need to understand the the human ear is a delicate and fragile thing and it should be looked after as much as possible. If you lose your hearing not only do you lose your ability to do your job as a DJ but you will never be able to enjoy music again. Imagine never hearing music ever again. Awful. So please protect your ears when you DJ. Those cheap disposable foam earplugs are no good. You want to get the Apline Music Safe Earplugs. They are reusable and cost about £15. The beauty of them is rather than block out sound, they turn it down to a comfortable level. So you still get virtually all the dynamical range of audio coming into your ears, just a lot less of it. You can get custom moulded earplugs for upwards of £100 if you want even better protection.
Documents
Last but by no means least are documents. Falling into this category are things like a copy of the contract for the booking for that night, contact details of the venue in case you are delayed and a map of the venue and directions in case the sat nav packs up. Again, you need to be prepared for any obstacle you come across and if you can’t find the venue, or there’s some suprise roadworks holding you up, you need to have the venue details handy so you can a route to get there or at least contact them to say you are arriving late. A copy of the contract is always good to have on hand should any disagreements happen.
Bag Closed
Did you enjoy having a root around in my DJ bag? In my experience, each DJ carries around a wide variety of different things with them on their travels. Of course every DJ is going to have music and headphones, but what’s the one bit of unconventional DJ kit you use when you play out that you simply can’t do without? Let me know in the comments below.
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