Why Won't Everyone Dance? ~The Songs Should Be Good Enough~

A Hypothesis on the 'Continuity' Found in DJs Who Keep People Dancing

When listening to music at a club, there are times when, even though the songs change one after another, you can keep dancing naturally the whole time.

Conversely, there are times when, even though a song you like is playing, you find yourself unsure of how to dance, and your body drifts away from the music.

What is the reason for this difference?

I am not an expert on DJ techniques, but having been to clubs over 1,000 times and listened to many DJs from the dance floor, one difference has recently caught my attention.

That is,

"Continuity"

itself.

I believe that whether or not you can keep dancing depends significantly on the continuity of the kick and the tempo.

At this moment, that is what I think.

Can you safely entrust your body to the sound?

Guests do not think about how to dance from scratch every time a song changes.

They internalize the kick and tempo that have been continuing for a while and dance to the continuation of that flow.

When a constant rhythm continues, you come to understand when to step and where to sway your body without having to think about it in your head.

At that moment, I personally experience a feeling of,

that feeling is born.

Continuity here does not mean continuing the same musical style or progression endlessly.

It means that even when the song changes, the movement flow established in your body is not interrupted, allowing you to transition directly into the next song.

Perhaps what lies further upstream of continuity is the ability for guests to safely entrust their bodies to the sound.

I believe one of the things that supports that sense of security is the kick and the tempo.

Even if the song changes, the body doesn't reset.

When listening to a skilled DJ, even though the songs are definitely changing, I sometimes feel as if a single movement is continuing within my body the whole time.

I don't clearly know when the song changed.

Before I realize it, a different song is playing, but the movement of my feet and the swaying of my body continue just as they were.

If I were to express the feeling as a guest using the image of a waveform, it feels as if the line of the previous song and the next song continue seamlessly.

Of course, I cannot judge whether there is actually no deviation of even a fraction of a second, or what the technical state of the waveform is.

However, in terms of physical sensation,

I feel no step in the flow of the kick and tempo.

Conversely, during times when it is difficult to dance, the change of songs is clearly transmitted to the body.

What is important here is not that the song changed.

It is that the moment the song changes, the guest's body is also reset.

This "Huh?" happens many times in a short period.

If it happens once or twice, it can sometimes be enjoyed as an unexpected change.

However, every time the body starts to get used to a new rhythm, if it switches in a different direction, I have to rethink how to dance each time.

Just when I thought I had adjusted my body to a song around 135 BPM, a song around 120 BPM plays.

Just when I thought I had entrusted my body to a four-on-the-floor kick, it changes to a song with almost no kick.

Just when I thought I had entered an emotional flow, it suddenly switches to a song with a strong pop feel.

When such changes continue many times in a short period, I myself start to feel,

that is how I feel.

Even if the song playing is one I like on its own, my body gradually drifts away from the sound.

Is "because it's all-genre" really a valid reason?

Regarding these kinds of changes,

there might be such a way of thinking.

I don't know the circumstances on the DJ's side or what their actual intentions are when selecting songs.

However, a question arises from the guest's perspective.

Does being all-genre or open-format really justify creating that "huh?" feeling over and over again?

When a DJ who is truly skilled plays all-genre or open-format, the genre certainly changes.

Sometimes they move from house to hip-hop.

Sometimes the tempo changes.

Sometimes the emotion or atmosphere of the song shifts significantly.

Even so, it is surprisingly rare to feel that "huh?" moment.

Even though it is changing, my body is not left behind.

Even though the genre has changed, I can naturally transition into the next sound as an extension of the flow I was dancing to until then.

In other words, the problem might not be the change of genre itself.

Perhaps the problem is that every time the genre, tempo, or kick changes, the flow that had been built up within the guest's body is also severed.

Since it's all-genre, it's unavoidable that there's no continuity.

Since it's an open format, it's unavoidable that the body has to be reset many times.

At the very least, from the perspective of someone who has listened on the floor for a long time, I don't think that's necessarily the case.

A skilled DJ doesn't mean they never make changes.

A skilled DJ never changes the kick or the tempo at all.

That is not what I mean to say.

They do make changes sometimes.

They sometimes change the tempo significantly.

They sometimes remove the kick.

They sometimes cross genres.

They sometimes take the entire floor to a different emotion than before.

However, in the case of DJs I consider skilled, such major changes do not happen frequently.

The time spent without making changes is overwhelmingly longer, and during that time, the flow of the kick and tempo remains surprisingly unbroken.

And when they do make a big change, I feel like some kind of preparation is placed beforehand.

For example,

• The number of sounds gradually decreases

• The presence of the kick becomes weaker little by little

• A break is used to indicate a separation

• Sounds that hint at the next rhythm come in from before

• The direction of the emotion changes over the course of several songs

• You can feel in your body that the current flow is coming to an end

With this kind of preparation, the audience's bodies can also transition to the next state.

Therefore, even if they are surprised by the change itself,

the rug has been pulled out from under you.

The feeling of suddenly singing alone

For example, imagine a scene in a school classroom of 40 students where everyone is singing in a chorus together.

You sing in harmony with the 39 people around you, and finally, you enter the chorus.

Believing that the voices around you will continue, you also sing a little louder.

However, the moment you enter the chorus, the other 39 people stop singing without any warning.

For a moment, you are the only one singing loudly.

The feeling is close to this.

Singing alone is not bad in itself.

If you had known in advance that "this part is a solo," you might have prepared your mind and enjoyed singing alone.

If there had been a flow where the voices around you grew weaker a little earlier, allowing your own voice to come to the front, you might have transitioned to the solo naturally.

But when you are suddenly left alone without any warning, just when you thought everyone would keep singing, confusion arises before surprise.

When the kick or tempo is suddenly changed on the floor, something close to this happens to my body.

Even though I was moving my body, trusting the rhythm that had been continuing until just before, the next moment, that foundation simply disappears.

Only my body is left behind in the flow that existed just a moment ago.

It is not that the change is bad.

Perhaps the problem is that the audience's bodies are left behind in the previous rhythm without being prepared for the transition.

At this moment, that is what I think.

Is predictability boring?

In a club, unexpected developments are also a major appeal.

Being taken to a song you don't know.

Entering a genre you never expected.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the entire floor changes.

It is precisely because of such surprises that music heard in a club is interesting.

However, "predictable" here does not mean being able to guess the next song title or development in your head.

It means that the audience's bodies can feel:

that is what it means to be able to feel.

Everything does not need to be fully understood.

In fact, it is fine not to know what is coming next.

However, if the foundation for surrendering one's body disappears suddenly every time, the audience will gradually become cautious.

Once they start feeling that way, they can no longer deeply surrender their bodies to the sound.

Surprise and unpredictability are not the same thing.

Perhaps a skilled DJ surprises the floor without leaving the floor's bodies behind.

For the most part, don't make major changes.

Until it's time to change, don't change the foundation of the kick and tempo at all—it's surprising.

Really... it's surprising, keep it constant without changing it even a little bit.

And when you do make a change, make them feel that something is about to begin beforehand.

That is why I think guests can entrust their bodies to the sound with peace of mind, without having to keep thinking about how they should dance next.

This kind of consistency creates a difference in trust.

As these small differences accumulate,

I think this creates a difference in perception.

If the time spent dancing with peace of mind continues, guests can gradually dive deeper into the sound.

Conversely, if "Wait, what?" happens repeatedly, they will become cautious before they can entrust their bodies to the music.

Will the tempo change again?

Will the kick disappear again?

Even if I get into the current flow, will it change to a different direction soon?

The more often I feel that way, the more I personally lose interest, and my focus on the floor fades.

And I think that difference also appears in the guests' behavior.

Of course, not all guests act the same way.

Other reasons such as genre preference, stamina, time of day, and crowd levels can also be considered.

Even so, I have seen many times that when a DJ changes, the people who gather at the front and the people who leave the floor change.

Behind that, it's not just about name recognition or whether a favorite song is playing,

“With this DJ, I can safely let my body go,”

there is also the trust that has been built up until that point.

It is because of that sense of security that one can get into songs they don't know.

Even in genres one doesn't usually listen to, one can receive the music without closing oneself off.

Even though it's a song one would never dance to under normal circumstances, before one knows it, one is being made to dance.

In that,

there is a sense of surprise.

And at the same time,

there is a sense of joy.

The experience of being drawn into unknown songs or genres by a skilled DJ is different from simply being introduced to new music.

It is being made to like music outside of one's own preferences with one's body, before one can even understand it with one's head.

Even though it's a song I would never dance to, I'm being made to dance.

I believe that the moment filled with that joy and surprise is one of the great charms that can only be experienced in a club.

Conversely, in a state where trust has been lost, even if a song that could have originally taken the entire floor to its peak is played afterward, it may not be received in the same way as before.

The song is wonderful.

If the timing had been right, it might have created an even bigger climax.

Even so, on the part of the audience,

That is the kind of wariness that remains.

Just playing strong tracks doesn't always mean you can fully harness the power those tracks possess.

It depends on how much of a flow was created beforehand that allowed people to feel comfortable enough to keep dancing.

I believe that accumulation is what leads to the difference between

at the current moment.

Hypothesis at this stage

Let me summarize this hypothesis for now.

A DJ who keeps people dancing for a long time does not easily break the kick and tempo that the audience's bodies have grasped.

For most of the time, they do not make major changes.

During the times they don't change things, they maintain the flow of the kick and tempo with surprising consistency.

When they do make a major change, they provide enough foreshadowing or preparation for the audience's bodies to transition to the next state.

Because of this, even if the audience is surprised by the change, they are never left wondering how they should dance next.

And as a result,

Of course, it is possible that the same phenomenon arises from factors other than the kick and tempo.

Other conditions such as the emotional connection between songs, volume, how the bass sounds, the audience on the floor, the time of day, and the DJs before and after might also be influencing it.

Also, depending on the genre, I think there are cases where the sudden change itself is the appeal.

This is my current hypothesis.

Even so, there must be some common structure to the feeling that occurs repeatedly on the guest side,

that sense of confusion.

First, as one such factor,

• the continuity of the kick and tempo

• the foreshadowing placed before a change

• the ability for the body to predict what comes next

are things I would like to continue observing on other dance floors.

Please tell me about your different experiences and perspectives.

Have you ever had a similar experience where you suddenly didn't know how to dance when a track changed?

Conversely, have you ever had an experience where you were somehow able to follow along naturally even though the genre or tempo changed significantly?

From the perspective of a DJ, a dancer, or a sound engineer, there might be a different explanation for this difference.

At this moment, this is one hypothesis as seen from the dance floor side.

If you have different experiences, cases that don't fit, or professional perspectives, please let me know.

In this "DJ/Club/Floor Laboratory," I observe, think about, and put into words the conditions that create good DJs, good dance floors, and good clubs, based on the guest experience.

I am not an expert in DJ techniques. On the other hand, I have visited clubs over 1,000 times in total and have experienced many DJs and dance floors as a guest.

I do not intend for what I write here to be the final, sole correct answer; I will continue to verify and update it little by little while incorporating perspectives from other venues and different positions.

For music lovers, I hope that there will be more dance floors where you can safely surrender your body and keep dancing from start to finish.

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