Post
by kerbelda » Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:45 am
I understand where you're coming from with the whole "getting bored going from track A to track B and using the same effects"... but how is it different when using cdjs? if anything, it can get boring faster and more often with cdjs.
Let me give you my situation, which is the exact opposite. I began djing with cdj's and a mixer. At first I'd get frustrated learning on my own, but then I started having a lot of fun mixing my favorite music. I wasn't just going outro to intro for every song either (shame on the people that do..). Anyway, after a while i got kinda bored. I found myself beatmatching and cueing a song with a bit too much time left over, so i wasn't really doing much (no i wouldn't play a song for 5min and just wait for my cue). so i bought an efx 1000 because i thought sampling with the echo effect + all the effects you can do would fill up that spare time. Well i realized it did keep me busy but then i start to use effects too much and repeat the same effects i like..
So in the end, I'm still just going from track A to track B with the same effects just like you were on your computer. You may think i just lack creativity or something, but the truth is that you're basically doing the same thing because you are DJING in both situations, and DJING is all about going from track A to track B in your own creative way, while giving the audience a good show to remember. I think you should go for the decks and try something new; it's great to see dj's trying new styles and finding their own. However I don't think you should get rid of ableton. I think we can all agree ableton allows you to do a lot of stuff you can't do on the decks, so instead of replacing, just add the decks to your set. It even says on the ableton website "add it to your setup as a 3rd deck).
Side note: ableton, or any other dj software, is not cheating. Cheating is deceiving. If you have a pre-recorded 2 hour set, and just play it on ableton and pretend you're doing something with your controllers, THAT'S cheating. You are deceiving (cheating) the audience into thinking you are playing something live for them, which is what they payed for, but not what you're doing. Using auto beatmatching isn't cheating. Most people at clubs are not dj's, and they pay to have a good experience. A good experience includes good music, good company, good drinks (if at a club), good sound system, good flirting, etc. Beatmatching is just a requirement to djing, just like burning your cd's or plugging your chords... do people care how you plug in your chords or how you burn your cds? no... plus, beatmatching doesn't take more than 10-15 seconds for a club dj, so who cares how your songs get beatmatched?
If beatmatching makes you feel more of a dj, then by all means keep beatmatching yourself. This will make you feel better when djing and you'll give off a good, confident vibe. If you don't care about beatmatching and it's actually a hastle to you, then get a software to beatmatch it for you and focus your attention and creativity on the rest of your set. Calling each other cheaters won't get you guys anywhere.. Enjoy what you do
after that, i bought it.
