I do some DJ'ing and thought you might be interested to know what happens, at least for me...its not just a matter of playing records anymore.

Lets say I have a wedding. I will talk to the Bride and Groom and we work out what they want to have played, sometimes it involves talking to family members or emailing them for requests too. I then obtain any additional songs (I have a library of 18,344 titles already and every single one is legally purchased by me). Every MP3 file I have is 320kbps and because of that each laptop has a 500gb HDD fitted. I try to work well in advance so i can buy actual CD's to rip, sometimes from ebay or charity shops (you can buy a whole CD for £1 instead of 80p for one track as a download, this builds my song database too). As a last resort I will buy them from an online vendor (not Itunes as they did not support 320kbps last time i looked). I then go through each and every song file (which can be a few hundred songs if your covering right through the ceremony, reception and end of night disco). I check lyrics for all the songs to make sure there are no profanities in case anyone is offended. If I must play a song with profanity I make sure I have....or I find the radio edit version. I then play every song to get the BPM and organize them into categories to build the final playlist.

I then divide the playlist up into the various parts of the day and throw in some additional songs because these things always run over time.

Then during the the gig you have to be on the ball - there are no breaks. each track has to be carefully mixed into the next as silences between a track are unacceptable and quickly changes the mood in a room, if during the disco you sense a song is clearing the floor you have to be able to quickly and seamlessly move into another track. Or if someone has a request you have to be able to find it quickly on your HDD or download. Playing tracks seamlessly is the art and involves matching speed and rhythm type (you might have to adjust speed very slightly) and then you mix the tracks to form a seamless transition. If songs don't quite fit together. I will use drum loops to merge the two tracks.

I take an MP3 player with the entire playlist on just in case there is a disaster and two laptops (one is on standby in case my primary laptop crashes - which has never happened). Both running DJ software and connected to my desk via USB soundcards. Which in turn runs through two 800W subs and two 400W active tops. Depending on the venue I take various lighting rigs to illuminate the floor and ceiling and I might also take a third laptop connected to a digital projector. The laptop runs a specially written program for lighting effects or I can use it to display lyrics, and again you have to prepare so the effects match the type of music you play.

Its hard work and totally full on. You don't have to have a musical background, but definitely need a good sense of rhythm. I am not a professional but its enjoyable and very different from playing an arranger.

I have not covered other duties...like talking! I also research the playlist and make notes on certain songs; like how many weeks it was in the charts and who was the artist, news events at the time, how old the groom was and what was number one for hm and her...etc etc.