Sonny Heller's Music Box

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10.12.2009

Today I want to vary the basic format of this blog a bit to talk about the search for excellence and what it has to do with being a DJ at a wedding and how it relates to being a photographer. This last Saturday we had the privilege of photographing a great couple just outside of Meriden, more of that in my next post!

The DJ pictured below, I am sure many will recognize. This is not necessarily to endorse any one DJ but to make a point I thought about Saturday as I was taking images while he played his tunes. I first have to say I’ve known this DJ, in the photo for as long as we have been photographing weddings (~17 years) and I have never known him to be late or miss a gig. I used to see him at many more weddings than I do now, he is busy and still doing well. He also used to have a sign with the name of his company but I’m guessing he feels as though he’s been around so long that surely everyone knows who he is. Just as the number of “photographers” has increased so have the number of people doing DJ services part-time. He charges more than most DJ’s in the area but not exponentially more.

The first thing to notice is the size of the speakers he brings! Do you need woofers that big? The next thing you can’t see but he is quick to tell you are that he drives his system with two amplifiers one for the top end and one just for the low end. How this translates is that the music that he plays fills the room without sounding “overdriven” or “tinny”. Many DJ’s today work much lighter, they use much smaller systems. Sometimes other DJ’s announcements are not very distinct. This DJ though, has set up sound systems for many important functions over the years in and around the area in addition to being a DJ.

In the next image notice the light bank that he brings. It takes at least a half hour just to set up the lights. Many DJ’s today may only have a fraction of the light bar he carries. The next part you will only know if you hear his program and that is, he is able to capture sound loops on the fly and “mix” as he goes. For instance instead of just playing “Cotton Eye Joe” that usually lasts 3:20 his version which includes two versions of the song mixed and re-sampled together may last 10 minutes or as long as he sees that the crowd is really into the song! You just don’t learn how to do this stuff over night and you have to have some real skills to carry it off on the fly in the middle of a party!

Now does this mean that you won’t have fun at your party if you don’t hire him? Probably not. Will you have a better time and/or get better results if you hire a full time professional with experience that is always striving to improve their skills?; quite possibly.

Subject: Topeka DJ

Harrington Photography

Topeka, Kansas