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WE’LL KEEP THE DANCE FLOOR BUMPIN’

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School Dance DJ · Evansville, Indiana & the Tri-State

Nobody sits in the bleachers tonight.

Homecoming, prom, winter formal, middle school dances, college mixers. I am Terry Tunks, I personally run every one, and I show up with the music your students actually want to hear.

Spectrum Sound DJ setup lighting a packed school dance floor
1,200+events performed
4.9from 103 verified reviews
Zerono-shows, ever

I DJ school dances the way a good teacher runs a classroom: a clear plan, a read on the room, and nobody checking out early. Flat pricing, clean-edit music by default, W-9 and COI on file for your district, and a free 20 to 30 minute planning call with your committee.

  • Terry personally, every event. No subcontractors.
  • Three flat packages: weeknight, Saturday, prom.
  • Clean edits all night, every song.
  • W-9, COI, and purchase-order friendly.

Other ways I can help

Every school, every dance

Middle schools

Age-appropriate energy that still packs the floor. Clean edits every song, a mic that keeps the games moving, and a volume the chaperones can live with.

High schools

Homecoming, winter formal, prom, after-prom. I plan the night with the student council, run the big entrances and crowning, and keep the floor full from the first slow song to the last call.

Colleges and universities

Mixers, Greek events, campus activities board nights, orientation. Pro-grade sound and a DJ who takes requests without losing the room.

Private and faith-based schools

Fully clean-edit playlists that honor your standards without making the night feel like a chaperoned study hall.

Dances I DJ

Each one needs a different plan for sound, lighting, mic work and set structure. I bring the plan with the speakers.

Homecoming

Court introductions, the game recap on the mic, the song the senior class picked back in August. The floor fills on cue and stays filled.

Prom

The biggest night of your school year. Grand march, king and queen, slow-song set, the one song the whole class voted for. I plan it with the committee weeks ahead.

Winter formal and semi-formal

Smaller rooms, mid-winter energy. I bring the sound scaled to the hall and the lights that make a cafeteria feel like a venue.

After-prom

Late-night energy with games, a photo booth and a mic that doesn't let the room settle. I keep it going until the bus pulls up.

Middle school dances

Short, loud, clean, over. Three hours, fully edited playlist, a lot of mic breaks for games, and a floor that empties on time.

College mixers and Greek events

Rush, bid day, formals, philanthropy events. Pro-grade system, student-DJ-friendly if you want to co-pilot.

Pep rallies and spirit nights

Short bursts of high energy with announcements, chants and the fight song cued and ready. In and out in an hour.

Graduation celebrations

After the ceremony, before summer. A playlist built from four years of this class, not a stock pack.

Rooms I know

Gyms with hard parallel walls, cafeterias with low ceilings, auditoriums with a fixed stage, hotel ballrooms rented for prom. Each one needs a different rig and a different placement. These are the ones I walk every year.

Gyms

Hard floor, long reverb, basketball hoops in the way. I bring smaller boxes placed closer to the floor, point them where the dancing happens, and keep the volume where chaperones can still talk at the tables.

Cafeterias

Low ceilings and lunch-table acoustics. Lighting matters more here than any other room, because the dance has to not feel like lunch. I bring the moving heads and wash lights that transform the space.

Auditoriums

Fixed stage, raked seating, a sound booth you probably cannot use. I load in and run from the floor level with the kids, not from the booth, so the dance feels like a dance and not a show.

Hotel ballrooms

Prom venues from Evansville to Louisville. Hotel power, hotel load-in rules, hotel elevator schedules. I know how to work with the banquet captain and get everything running before the first bus arrives.

Clean music that still fills the floor

Clean-edit does not mean soft. I keep a current library of radio edits and I use it in order on school nights. Send me the list of songs your district does not want played and I build around it, no guessing and no on-the-fly judgment calls that could blow up in a group chat later.

Student committee planning call

About two weeks before the dance I set up a 30-minute planning call with your student council, DECA chapter, or dance committee. We go through the court introductions, the slow-song set, the class song, the hype moments and the songs that absolutely have to be played. The committee owns the night. I run the sound and the mic so they get to be the hosts.

Why schools book me

Terry personally, every event

I am the person who answers your email, meets your committee, loads in the gear and runs the mic on the night. No subcontractors, no rotating staff, and the person on the invoice is the person on the floor.

Fully clean edits, every song

I keep a radio-edit library that is current and I never go off it at a school dance. Parents and principals have never had to ask me to turn something off.

Flat pricing with the PO on file

Three flat packages, a flat zone travel fee, and a W-9 and COI ready for your district. The quote is the invoice.

Backup for everything

Second system in the truck, spare mics and cables, a plan for a tripped breaker in the gym. Across 1,200-plus events, zero no-shows, ever.

What I ask on the first call

The planning call is free, 20 to 30 minutes, and it is mostly me listening. These are the questions, so your committee can think ahead.

  1. Which dance, and what date?
  2. Grade levels, and how many students?
  3. Which room? Gym, cafeteria, auditorium, hotel ballroom?
  4. Start, end, and what time do you want students off the floor?
  5. Is there a king and queen, a court, a grand march?
  6. Does the student council have a theme and a playlist in mind?
  7. Fully clean edits, or will the chaperones allow a looser line?
  8. Any songs on your district's do-not-play list?
  9. Photo booth, uplighting, cold sparks, monogram?
  10. Does your district need a W-9, a COI and a specific invoice format?
  11. Who signs the PO and who is the night-of contact?

Testimonials & Reviews

Terry has DJ'd for us more than once and every time he reads the room, keeps the floor packed and makes the night feel like it was built around the people in it.

Joe Chamberlain · Review

Our event ran long and Terry stayed on it, no issue, no attitude. Everything we asked for and nothing we did not.

Kelsey Held · Review

Professional from the first email to the last song. The music was right, the mic work was clean, and the kids are still talking about it.

Jerry Purvis · Review
Terry Tunks of Spectrum Sound, school dance DJ and MC serving the Tri-State

School Dance DJ Pricing

Three flat packages. Travel outside my home market is a flat zone fee shown on its own line, never blended in. My quote is my invoice.

Weeknight Dance

$700

3 hours · Sunday through Friday

  • Pro sound system and wireless mic
  • Dance-floor lighting
  • Clean-edit library
  • Pre-event planning call
Most booked

Saturday Dance

$1100

3 hours · Saturday night

  • Everything in Weeknight
  • Upgraded dance lighting
  • Grand march and court intro mic work
  • Priority scheduling

Prom

$1600

4 hours · the big night

  • Everything in Saturday
  • Full light rig with fog
  • Second wireless mic for crowning
  • Early load-in for a hotel ballroom

Every package includes a 250,000-plus song library (clean-edit at school dances), Shure wireless, arrival 60 to 90 minutes early, a full backup system and me on site. Setup, sound check and teardown are not billed.

All-in price by travel zone

ZoneTravelWeeknightSaturdayProm
Zone 1 · home marketNo travel fee$700$1,100$1,600
Zone 2+$100$800$1,200$1,700
Zone 3+$200$900$1,300$1,800
Zone 4+$300$1,000$1,400$1,900
Zone 5+$400$1,100$1,500$2,000

Zone 5 dates may need a hotel room when load-out runs past midnight: $200 per room per night, stated on the proposal before you sign.

Add-ons

$100 / hourExtra performance time
$300Self-serve photo booth with the DJ booking (prints from $500) via PicsPhotoBooth.com
$350Uplighting package

Monogram, cold sparks, video montage and the rest are on the pricing page.

Spectrum Sound photo booth setup at a school dance

Photo Booths

Add a self-serve booth from PicsPhotoBooth.com — the keepsake students actually take home.

 Dance-floor lighting setup for a school event

Lighting

Uplighting, moving heads and wash lights that turn a gym or cafeteria into a real dance venue.

How Booking Works

  1. Call or text20 to 30 minutes, free. I listen first.
  2. Paperwork for your districtW-9, COI naming the district, invoice in your format.
  3. 7-day holdAfter we meet I hold the date for 7 days, no payment.
  4. 50% retainer or PORetainer locks the date; a signed PO works for district-pay-after bookings.
  5. Committee planning callAbout two weeks out, with the student council or dance committee.
Students on a packed dance floor at a Spectrum Sound school event

School Dance DJ FAQ

Who shows up to DJ our school dance?

I do. Terry Tunks, every event, no subcontractors and no rotating staff. The person your student council talks to on the planning call is the person running sound and mic on the night, and that has held across 1,200-plus events with zero no-shows.

What does a school dance DJ cost?

Three flat packages: $700 for a Sunday through Friday dance, $1100 for a Saturday-night dance, and $1600 for prom. A flat zone travel fee is added as its own line in the quote, from $0 to $400 depending on the city. The all-in table by zone is further down this page.

Is there a travel fee for our city?

Evansville, Newburgh, Henderson and the rest of Zone 1 have no travel fee. Every other city carries a flat zone fee, never a range, shown as its own line in the quote before you sign. Travel does not include lodging; Zone 5 dates may need a room when load-out runs past midnight.

How do we hold a date?

Call or text and we talk through the dance for 20 to 30 minutes, free. After we meet, I hold the date for 7 days with no payment. A 50% retainer, non-refundable, then locks it the moment it clears. The balance is due on the first of the month before the dance.

Can you work with a purchase order?

Yes. I supply a W-9, a Certificate of Insurance naming your district, and an invoice in whatever format your business office needs. If your district pays after the event rather than on a retainer, we structure the paperwork around that; just loop in your bookkeeper on the first call.

Are you insured, and can we get a COI?

Yes. I carry general liability coverage and will issue a Certificate of Insurance naming your district or school as additional insured, in time to clear your facilities office before the dance.

How many hours are included?

A weeknight dance covers 3 hours of performance; a Saturday dance covers 3; prom covers 4. Setup, sound check and teardown are not billed, so none of that eats into student floor time. Extra time is $100 per hour.

Can you keep the music clean?

Yes, fully. Clean-edit versions all night, every song, no exceptions. Middle schools and faith-based schools get the same library as high schools; I just stay on the clean side of it. Send me the do-not-play list and I will build around it.

Can the student council send a playlist?

Please do. I hold a pre-event planning call with your council or committee to build the set around your school: the theme song, the class songs, the slow songs, the ones that always get the floor up. I read the room on the night around that.

What equipment do you bring?

A pro sound system scaled to your gym, cafeteria or auditorium, moving and static dance-floor lighting, wireless mics for the court introductions and announcements, and a full backup system on site at every event.

What about photo booths, uplighting or special effects?

A self-serve photo booth from PicsPhotoBooth.com is $300 when it rides along with the DJ booking, with printed strips from $500. Uplighting is $350. Cold sparks, monograms and a video montage are on the pricing page. All of it clears your facilities office before I quote it.

What if you are sick or your truck breaks down?

I have never missed an event, and backup equipment travels with me every time. I keep a second vehicle at the shop and a short list of trusted operators I would call before I would ever leave a school dance uncovered. You would hear from me, not a stranger, and you would know the plan the same day.

Schools I serve

Based in Evansville, serving middle schools, high schools, colleges and private schools across the Tri-State and beyond.

Not seeing your town? Call or text; I assign a zone before I quote, and the fee is on the proposal before you sign.

Music becomes memory

Nobody remembers the speaker model. They remember the first slow song, the court walk, the group photo on the floor, the senior class in a circle for the last song of the night. My job is to make those moments happen on purpose. Then I pack up quietly and let the chaperones go home.

Ready to plan your dance?

Peak Fridays and Saturdays for 2026 and 2027 are filling fast. Tell me your date and I will come back the same day with availability, a flat-rate quote, and the paperwork your district needs.

Call (812) 431-8085 Text me your date Book online

Great events are engineered, not improvised. — Terry Tunks, Spectrum Sound

Terry Tunks, Spectrum Sound

Last reviewed October 2026

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HOW WE GO ABOVE & BEYOND TO MAKE YOUR SCHOOL EVENT SPECTACULAR

Clean Music

We only play up-to-date clean (radio edit) music.

All Ages

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Complete online music/planning services

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Lighting

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