When the accident happens. What then?

First of all, as a fellow DJ I sympathize and hate that this happened to you.

If I understand correctly, you knew they had the Numark and that it wouldn’t handle RB sticks, so that is the reason you brought your own gear.

On a more general note and not to say anything about this particular gig, there are a few things to watch:

1) Make sure your gear is insured properly. You had the luck of a band playing for a while, giving you time to act without interrupting your program. Generally speaking that is a luxury that is not there. So all you can do in case of such a terminal disaster, is switch to plan B and worry about the damage (a lot) later. If you are properly insured, at least you know you can just go buy new gear after the gig.

2) Have a clause in your contract that stipulates that any and all damage done by visitors of the venue, either direct or indirect, and or any damage that was not specifically caused by you, the DJ, is the responsibility of the venue. Clearly they won’t sign this if you choose to bring your own gear, while they are offering gear to play on, but if you are asked to bring your own gear, this should be in your contract.

3) The risk with an all-in-one are not bigger/smaller than with a 2 CDJ/mixer combo. Had the drinks spilled over/into the mixer it would have been end of story too. This time it was drinks spilled, a not uncommon phenomenon, next time it’s overheating, technical failure, etx. Point in case being that whatever you use as your primary setup, you ALWAYS need a plan B (and preferably plan C and if you are slightly autistic/compulsive you might care about having a plan D).

4) Have a backup for your backup. I have written in a bit more detail in another post about the way I set up my (mobile) DJ gear and it’s at least triple-redundant, with no single point of failure. Regardless of what piece of gear goes down, I am able to continue with music within 10 seconds or so. If the damage is permanent (as opposed to restarting a laptop or CDJ for example), I usually have gear to backup so I can continue something resembling a normal set. With some practice you CAN seriously DJ on an iPad app if need be. Sure, you may not be able to do all the big FX, performance pad, jog juggling and such that you can do on regular gear, but I know that if I am left with only my iPad, I can still finish the night in style.

For the price of a DJM800/900NXS with two 2000NXS(2)s you can buy an excellent controller, with an iPad controller for backup, a small PA mixer (with USB sound card built in) to hook your controller up to as well as an iPad or iPhone with an emergency mix ready, two (non-pioneer) CD-players (that can double as deck 3-4 controllers for your software too) and a few other bits and bobs and still have some money left over to put it all in professional flight cases.

In your particular case I understand where your reaction comes from, but I don’t agree that carrying a modular setup is the solution here.

I do think it is really strange that the organisation offers a Numark controller as, in stark contrast to Pioneer standard club gear, there is no such thing as a standard controller. Your software needs to support it (driver, mapping), it needs to have the buttons you are used to, etx. So the venue should either offer the option of bringing your own gear (controller) or provide club standard gear which would include spare CDJ and mixer. Typically a festival setup is 4 decks (not just to have 4 decks but for backup purposes as well) and there is always a second mixer backstage.

BTW, I have been to most places and done that and messed up a few fine t-shirts. I have stuff fail on me left right and center in 39 years on the decks. Being able to stay cool and work with what’s left (like you clearly did) will get you out of a pickle. As you noted, the audience hardly ever pays as much attention to what we do as we think they do. As long as your music selection is spot on, you can get away with murder.

To prove my point, two weeks ago I played a wedding. Apart from a few moments on the mic (it was a wedding after all) and three time using filter (which I could have NOT done, but I was bored LOL), I used NO FX, minimal beatmixes and went through the night with drop and cut mixes primarily. Everyone was dancing and had a great time. It was a challenge to myself to see if I got still play a night if I were faced with such gear that the only option would be cut and drop mixing. And presto, it can still be done.

In conclusion: be prepared for (almost) every eventuality and don’t fret loss of features too much if you are switching to backup plans; you can get away with a lot more than you thought possible.

I am glad to hear your gear had no permanent damage and I hope this once in 30 years won’t make you anxious for future gigs.

Thanks for the reply. Don’t think we are too far apart on most issues. Locations vary and some things you say are different here, but that is not really relevant for the general idea.

In clubs if you use house gear it’s their responsibility, if you bring your own, the part you bring is your responsibility (if only to be able to continue on house gear if drinks get spilled on your gear).

Mobile, you bring the gear, so it’s your responsibility either way. Clearly this is where the backup plans set in.

I have played on lots of gear, some of it old or just shabby. Mixers with channels giving out, TTs with platters refusing to move anymore mid-song. CD players skipping bad. And that is not counting the drinks and other “accidents”, like someone knocking over a mobile booth once in a drunken stupor. And this was the days without iPhones and such. I ended up moving over to the house install, which was effectively a 19″ rackmounted mixer with knobs missing, mounted vertically with a dual-CD player in the same rack. All mounted on the backwall of the bar. I was standing with my back facing the audience on a beer soaked floor with bar staff squeezing by to serve their customers. Not a happy memory LOL.

I too have used lots of Denon gear over the years. We only recently SOLD! our 2600s after about 25 years of use. Just bi-annual cleaning and readjusting of the lasers and the stuff was totally indestructible.

Some of my friends work maintenance at rental companies and they open up Pioneer gear on a (very) regular basis. I am quite sure they don’t share your view on build quality, but that is a different discussion altogether.

Thanks again for sharing your story.

I actually never had this happen to me again since I use a controller.
Not that someone did not spill things, but for 100 bucks you get a DJ screen, if that wont fit for 60 bucks you get a table screen. Not that will not totally splash proof it, but the barrier is there. Then most of the time my controller sits on something to raise it up (flightcase or a self made riser if I go with backpack), so even if stuff comes under the screen it wont sit in it. The laptop is on a stand anyways.
So yes stuff got wet, but is was mostly cables and 90% of splashes were cought by the screen(s).
And this is my without investing hundreds of bucks for backup (which I have too).
And I still love my home theatre with HD beamer and THX 7.1 system plus some sonos speakers and my controller setup and laptop that I got from selling all my Nexus gear and technics decks 🙂 So again broke, but much happier.