Toll Room
The main indoor room. All those hard surfaces keep it lively, which is great for a dance floor and tough on a toast. I aim the speakers at people, not at the walls, and keep speech clear at a level that doesn't ring.
DJ and MC at Alumni House
Alumni House sits in the busiest part of the UC Berkeley campus, and getting a sound system into it takes a plan. I bring the music, the microphone and the timeline, so your reunion, wedding or company dinner runs without you watching the clock.
Berkeley, the East Bay
A quiet pocket on
A quiet pocket on
a busy campus
Alumni House is the home of the Cal Alumni Association, on the south side of the UC Berkeley campus beside Strawberry Creek. Haas Pavilion is just to the west, Zellerbach Hall to the south, and Sproul Plaza is a short walk away. The venue calls itself a quiet pocket in the middle of all that. It is.
The building is mid-century modern, designed by Bay Area architect Clarence Mayhew and paid for by donations from thousands of alumni. The association says it has served the university since 1954. Brick, concrete, glass and steel. For a DJ that means hard surfaces that throw sound back, so the system gets tuned to the room instead of just turned up.
It also sits inside the campus, not on a public street. Parking is in nearby garages, and Downtown Berkeley BART is a walk to the west. Put that in your invitation, and leave the gear to me.
The spaces
Two rooms, a patio,
Two rooms, a patio,
one flow
Bechtel Room
Smaller, and it works alone or opened together with the Toll Room. On its own it suits a dinner, a talk or a cocktail hour with music low enough to talk over. Opened up, I make sure the sound reaches both ends evenly.
Patio
A large outdoor patio behind the house, with Strawberry Creek close by. Outdoors there are no walls to help, so a ceremony or a welcome out here gets its own speaker and a wireless mic.
The whole house
All three spaces can be rented together, with the kitchen. That's when the walk between them matters: a second sound setup lets the music follow your guests from the patio into the rooms with no gap while gear gets moved.
How I set up here
Setting up inside
Setting up inside
a working campus
What I plan for at Alumni House before a single song gets chosen.
Load-in, worked out early
The building is inside the campus, not on a public street, and parking is in nearby garages. I ask the venue where vendors unload and how far the walk is to the rooms and the patio, then I arrive early enough that the gear is in, tested and out of sight before your first guest walks up.
Tuned for the Toll Room
The Toll Room gets its own speaker placement and levels, so a toast is clear at the back table and the dance floor has weight without the windows ringing. Dinner music stays at a level people can talk over, then builds as the plates clear.
Patio sound, on its own
If part of your event is outside, the patio gets a separate setup: a speaker pointed at your guests, a wireless mic, and backup gear within reach. It's behind the building, so I ask where the power is ahead of time, and the estimate adds a generator if the nearest outlet is too far.
Built back from the cutoff
Alumni House sits beside a performance hall and an arena, so I don't guess when the music has to end. I get the venue's answer for the rooms and the patio, then build the timeline back from it. Toasts and the big moments land early, the dance floor gets its full stretch, and the last song is the one you chose.
From my own events here
Alumni House,
Alumni House,
from behind the decks
No planner? You're covered
You don't have to
You don't have to
hold the evening
Most of what goes wrong at an event goes wrong in the handoffs. Who cues the entrance. Who has the microphone. Who notices the toasts are running long. At Alumni House, that's me. I'm the MC as well as the DJ, so every announcement, entrance and toast comes from one person who already knows your timeline.
Before the day there's a planning questionnaire, then planning and music calls: your must-plays, your do-not-plays, the exact versions of the songs you love. And I put the questions below to the venue myself, so the answers are in the plan and not a surprise on the day.
Lighting
What light does
What light does
to glass and brick
A room with this much glass changes completely once the sun goes down. Uplighting along the brick warms the walls, dance-floor lighting gives the floor its own center, and a monogram or pattern can be projected onto a wall or the floor. Each one is an add-on you choose in the instant estimate.
More than weddings
Reunions, banquets
Reunions, banquets
and game days
The venue rents for weddings, banquets, conferences, seminars and game-day tailgates. For Cal graduates it carries real weight, which is why reunions and alumni gatherings land here. I play all of it: a company dinner or holiday party, a milestone birthday, a fundraiser, a mitzvah, a department celebration that turns into a dance floor.
Not every event wants announcements and a first dance. For a reception or a dinner where you want a sound more than a program, a Selector Session is a set of my own programming, up to four hours.
Good to Know
Questions about a DJ
Questions about a DJ
at Alumni House
Have you DJed at Alumni House in Berkeley?
Yes. The photos on this page are mine, from 2013: a full wooden dance floor, hands in the air, the window wall and the trees behind the crowd. I know how the room sounds, and I confirm the current load-in with the venue before your date.
How late can the music go at Alumni House?
That's the venue's call and it can change, so I don't quote it from memory. I get the current answer for the rooms and for the patio, then plan your night back from it so the dancing isn't cut short.
Alumni House has its own PA. Do I still need your sound system?
The venue's wedding sheet lists a house PA and microphones, and what's included can change, so I confirm it. A house PA is usually there for speech. For dancing I bring professional sound and a wireless microphone, plus backup equipment, and I ask the venue whether tying into the house system helps for your event.
Can you do a ceremony on the patio and the reception inside?
I can. Ceremony sound is a second setup where the vows happen, with a wireless mic for the officiant and your vows and the processional cued. The reception system is set and tested before that, so music is already playing when your guests walk in.
We don't have a planner. Can you run the timeline?
That's a big part of what I do. We build the timeline together in the planning calls, I confirm the music hours and the setup details with the venue, and on the day I MC every entrance, toast and announcement. You get to be at your own event instead of running it.
More rooms
Other rooms I've played
Other rooms I've played
in the East Bay
- The Brazilian RoomBerkeley
- The Club at Ruby HillPleasanton
- Little HillsSan Ramon
Every room, from Napa Valley to the coast, is on the rooms list.
Your event
Tell me about your event at Alumni House
Your date, the spaces you're using and the feeling you want in the room. The instant estimate gives you a price in a couple of minutes, or book a short call and I'll take it from there.