tips on hiring a dance band!

When you hire a live dance band for your party, wedding, or corporate event, often it's because you really hope your guests will get up and dance! But what factors determine whether audiences will dance? And what makes music danceable? Here are the four factors that make the biggest difference:

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1. COMFORT OF THE SETTING (BANDS VS. DJ's)-

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While occasionally an audience includes an expert dancer who wishes to show off moves, most of us will dance only if we won't be the center of attention! Conditions must be right for even the bravest to initiate, which then makes it easier for others to join. For the question of Live Bands vs DJ's, this factor strongly advocates for live bands, as they present a much greater visual show, focusing eyes on the stage and away from the dance floor. Darker lighting and moving/flashing dance lights (included with our dance bands!) also make a difference.

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2. INSTRUMENTATION -

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Motivation to dance relies on ability to feel a rhythm or "groove" in the music. This means you'll want to hire a band with a "rhythm section," meaning drums, bass, and chordal instrument(s) like keys or guitar. Drums are especially important, as only a few genres like flamenco and gypsy jazz use techniques percussive enough to create strongly-felt dance rhythms without drums. This also means you'll likely want to hire a band with one or more vocalists, as the presence of singing can be a determining factor in whether music is perceived as background ambience verses dance music. In general, the more musicians in the band, the easier it is to make the music feel impactful enough to motivate dancing!

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3. AUDIO VOLUME & QUALITY -

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No matter the genre and instrumentation, music will likely be perceived as background ambience if below a certain decibel level. In contrast, at sufficient decibels, bands without singers will also no longer be background music! Similarly, the heaviest part of a dance groove is felt in the lower bass range of sound frequencies. So while levels leading to hearing damage should be avoided, you'll want to hire a band with the sound equipment to produce appropriate decibels and frequencies. All of our dance bands can include sound systems adequate for most venues, which can save you thousands over renting it separately! (See our FAQ for more info.)

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4. GENRE & DEMOGRAPHIC COMPATIBILITY -

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To the extent dancing is a courtship ritual, people will likely have the most experience dancing to music genres popular at the time of their courting years. Similarly, experts would agree that the rhythms of popular music have become "heavier" over the course of time, due to increased syncopation of the rhythms and emphasis on low frequencies, such that younger people accustomed to current music are likely to feel less danceable rhythmic impact from older music. This means you'll want to hire a dance band with a repertoire matched to the most prevailing age demographic of your guests - keeping in mind that some dancers begets more dancers! It also means you might prefer to hire a variety live dance band, such as ArtSound Players, which performs danceable music for every age demographic!

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Contact us to hire a live dance band that is sure to get your guests up and dancing!