Comfort is a result of connection and a sense of synchronicity towards ones environment. Beatmatching the Heartbeat is one approach to accomplish this.
When it comes to DJing, connecting with the crowd is essential and absolutely necessary in order to have a good time together as opposed to just playing my stuff to people who don’t care. One major way I connect to my crowd is through rhythm by beat matching my tracks to my crowd’s heartbeat BPM.
Human heartbeat ranges roughly between 60 (resting) and 140 (heavy exercise, dancing like crazy) beats per minute (BPM). It’s not a coincidence that the BPM of music genres which compliment these states have a very similar BPM.
In the early evening, when the venue is half empty while everybody is sitting and drinking, the average heartbeat-BPM of the crowd will be somewhere around 80-90 BPM. I beatmatch the heratbeat and connect to that level. I believe raising the energy and heart beat rate in the room happens by selecting the right tracks at that tempo and obviously mixing them properly as opposed to just playing a 125 BPM house set and hoping people will catch up eventually.
When my track selection is right, I will see the energy in the room and the average heartbeat rising. That’s when I push the tempo and bring it up a notch.
It seems to be obvious common sense but real life experience shows it’s not: In order to jive together we need to adjust to our partner’s (crowd’s) rhythm (heartbeat).
Andrea
August 26, 2014 (21:05)
wonderful. as always and everywhere – it’s all about empathy. love it.
dano44ef
August 27, 2014 (14:00)
yes dear – words of wisedom 🙂
Thanks for your comment!
Ted
November 4, 2014 (14:33)
Dano your is looks great and I have to say I do like the techno style of music you have on your site, Ted
dano44ef
November 4, 2014 (14:43)
Thanks Ted!
Reid Yamamoto
November 4, 2014 (14:39)
Very interesting observation about matching the pulse of the music to heartbeat. I’ve never thought of connecting to the audience on such a deep visceral level. Thanks for sharing this post.
dano44ef
November 4, 2014 (14:47)
Thanks for your Comment Reid. Makes a lot of sense to me but the aplication can be a bit tricky 😉