My solution to extending a song if the dance floor is full is to immediately follow it with another song that they also like to dance to. It has to be the same tempo or a bit faster, and it has to be started immediately.

I use a computer to play the tracks (ThinkPads because they are reliable). I use Windows Media Player to play them, and Windows File Explorer to launch them. To be able to play the next one immediately (and I mean immediately) I do this:
  1. Arrange File Explorer as a list in alphabetical order
  2. Type a few letters on the keyboard to highlight the song I want to play
  3. Hit enter and it plays in Media Player
  4. During the song when I have a second, hit Alt+Tab on the computer to return the focus to File Explorer
  5. Type a few letters to highlight the next song
  6. As soon as the previous song is finished, hit enter and the next one plays immediately
  7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 as necessary.


This is how DJs do it, and it works for me too.

As far as missing the input of other musicians, there is no way to fix that. I did the drum part, the bass part, the comp parts, and so on, so it's all my input. The up side of that is I keep learning and improving my skills on all the instruments I need to put in the song, and I improve my mixing skills too. Through the years I've gotten a lot better at this, and sometimes go back to re-do songs I recorded years ago.

On the up side of that, while the musicians (me) in my backing band never surprise me with a musical treat, they (me) never make mistakes either.

Do I want to go back to a bigger band? At this time in my career, definitely not. In our situation, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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