Kids Church DJ Part 3: Current Setup

For the last several weeks, I’ve been detailing a new media strategy that we’ve employed for our live kids church services (isn’t it crazy that in these days we have to specify between live and streamed services?). I decided to terminate the “media person” position and instead replaced it with a DJ.

The initial setup was quite basic but we started to see some things begin to click when we upgraded and added a DJ controller.

However, we’ve recently moved on from that setup and our current Kids Church DJ booth is pushing the envelope, and the possibilities, even further!

Here’s the diagram:

1 DJ Computer

2 DJ Controller

3 Speakers

4 Soundboard

5 Media Computer

The first thing you might notice is that we separated our setup into two zones: the Media Computer and the DJ booth.

The person running the Media Computer is responsible for cueing service videos and worship songs and the DJ runs all the rest of the audio. The Media Computer is connected to our soundboard via RCA to dual 1/4” and to our screens via HDMI.

The next thing you might notice is that we upgraded our DJ controller from the Numark Mixtrack Platinum to the Denon MCX8000. The Numark had been giving us some issues so I wanted to find something that was a little more functional and a lot more  stable.

Initially, I wanted to get the Roland DJ-505. It’s a much better DJ controller and has some extra features that I thought could be really fun.

However, because of the pandemic forcing us to cancel live services for some time, I couldn’t justify dropping money on an accessory like that. Instead, I brought over the MCX8000 which is my personal controller.

The controller is plugged into our DJ laptop via USB and to our soundboard via RCA to dual 1/4”. The audio from the DJ laptop is then plugged back into the controller via RCA to mono 1/4” (so we can run Spotify playlists from the computer into the controller.)

Jackson, our main DJ, has been working with me for several years. He’s been an integral part of my Sunday morning team as well as a part of my traveling ministry. Because of his experience and expertise, he is in charge of anyone that is serving in any zone.

He trains new members to that team and makes sure that they’re all playing the right content and the right time.

This current setup is working wonderfully! However, I know there will be a point in which we will switch things up again. We’ve been slowly adding some live instruments to our worship time so I can’t wait to add some live turntablism to that experience!

Next up, I’ll be detailing a couple of DJ Controllers at varying price ranges that I think would work well in different churches! Stay tuned!

Part 5: Kids Church DJ Controllers

Part 6: How to Find a Kids Church DJ

Part 7: Kids Church DJ Basic Skills