Last night I realized I HATE djing.

[cacti]

im a producer, not a dj. not my thing. I guess i was under the pretense that i need to play out for people to hear my tracks, but fuck that. I think i just like being in total control and dont like not knowing what will happen next. some people get off on that though. anybody else have this conflict

[funky shit]

i hate the wana be djs that think djing is the be and end all of music.

[ethios4]

I think DJing is boring as fuck, but that's my fault for not having a more engaging live set. Ugh, I just can't stand putting on a track and just hanging out until it gets to the next mix point.

[davepermen]

I think DJing is boring as fuck, but that's my fault for not having a more engaging live set. Ugh, I just can't stand putting on a track and just hanging out until it gets to the next mix point.

solution: go on toilet, go to the bar, talk to the people, dance on the floor. just never be too late to actually mix the next track.

solution for being to late: put a premixed cd on.



but yeah, as "just mixing tracks and waiting for the end to do the next mix" got boring, once you understand how to do it, i started exploring new possibilities. and here i am, in ableton live. where mixing got even more "boring" (no beatmatching needed at all anymore), and i try to explore all sort of creative possibilities to enhance on that

[ChiDJ]

I think DJing is boring as fuck, but that's my fault for not having a more engaging live set. Ugh, I just can't stand putting on a track and just hanging out until it gets to the next mix point.

This doesn't happen if you love what you are playing and working the record, dropping accapellas, mixing another record in and out, working the crowd, building the energy etc.

But then, it's just DJ'ing. I guess I'm easliy amused.

[LoopStationZebra]

Are we using actual vinyl here? lol.

[ethios4]

This doesn't happen if you love what you are playing and working the record, dropping accapellas, mixing another record in and out, working the crowd, building the energy etc.

^ That's why I'm a crappy DJ.

[davepermen]

Are we using actual vinyl here? lol.

*ssshhhht*

vinyl is fun, especially on a truck, when you never know when the needle jumps. suddenly, that boring wait for the track to end gets a really dramatic pushing feel, while you stare at that evil needle...

[nebulae]

I'm a producer, not a DJ. When I perform, I can't help but put songs that I produce, and if I play other people's songs, I can't do it unless I'm adding to the song, either by chopping it up, or by embellishing it somehow. If I just played one song to the next, I'd hope to god there was wi-fi so I could be facebooking in between.

[oblique strategies]

I think DJing is boring as fuck, but that's my fault for not having a more engaging live set. Ugh, I just can't stand putting on a track and just hanging out until it gets to the next mix point.

This doesn't happen if you love what you are playing and working the record, dropping accapellas, mixing another record in and out, working the crowd, building the energy etc.

I agree. Plus you could always get into the music, like your audience is hopefully doing! I can't stand still when I DJ, unless I'm spinning beatless music.

And I've received endless compliments from people that it is refreshing to see a DJ that is actually responding to the music they are playing, instead of just standing around like they were somehow removed from the power of the music. You do play powerful music don't you?

[ethios4]

I have a bit of a hard time going back and forth from music appreciation mode and DJ mode. When I get into music it's like another part of my brain takes over, and I dance about and generally lose myself in the music. It's easy for me to lose track of the DJ'ing aspect and run into problems. It's not easy for me to be getting deep into the music and then switch it off to go into DJ mode. I can do it with live instruments, and with live PA style performance, but DJ'ing feels very bipolar to me.

[AceLuby]

If you were using Live you weren't 'really' dj'ing anyway, right Dave?

[Tarekith]

I love playing other people's music, it's a like a treat for me. A well-deserved break from my own music and the daily struggle it usually involves. Just getting to kick back and enjoy the process of manipulating great sounding music without the pressure of having to always create it first. Very cathartic for me.

[Sage]

DJing is fun just for "What's the best song in the world that I can put on right now?" and dancing like an idiot.

That said, I've never done any formal DJing, so what do I know. Live shows I don't find much fun because I can't just enjoy it, at least DJing you can sit back for a minute or two.

[davepermen]

If you were using Live you weren't 'really' dj'ing anyway, right Dave?

well, live for performances is new for me. learned how live works during the last 1.5 years to be able to build (imho) nice sounding things. now on to live performing, it's the next big step. have used it a bit before, but not that much.

for me, djing is sort of subtractive (and the reason why tarekish likes it "to relax from his own stuff"). as he said, you play pre-existing, and thus perfect mastered (within reason) great tracks. what you do is, with filtering, and some effects you take away, or change stuff. with live, it's more of an additive thing that i plan: starting with nothing, i add sounds till it sounds "perfect". and that means, it's more my problem to have it sound nice. when djing, i press play and it sounds nice allready, it's all done for me.

that additive thing is much fun, but filled with fear of failing to deliver. so my plan for now is to mix together both the additive work i try to build myself, and be able to freely play as i want live, and mix it with more subtractive, traditional dj style gigging. i might in the future use 2 laptops for that. one with live, one with traktor... we'll see.

(and yeah, i use the word djing for this right now.. i opened up my mind to accept it as a what-ever term for "mixing preexisting stuff.. bah.. don't like it, but as i have no other term known for that really.. well.. there ya go)