And people say DJs just stand there pretending to do things

[reeloy]

.....it's all about pretending......in showbusiness....

....and for pretending it needs serious skills, too....

....a dj's talent is his taste....his choice.....and his empatic connection skills to a crowd...
....but even today there a lots of dj's out there who still can't mix....
no problem....if.....they're great pretenders....

but a dj who's not good in pretending is the poorest thing to find in showbiz....

[beats me]

Y U MAd brah?

I'm not mad......."brah".

Beat matching does not = DJing. Mixing does not = DJing. Or counting to 4 etc. etc.

Then 95% of the people getting paid well to play other people's prerecorded music aren't DJs. Have they been made aware of this?

[102455]

Then 95% of the people getting paid well to play other people's prerecorded music aren't DJs

OK maybe I should have added the word "alone" in there. In other words, beat matching and mixing ability alone don't make you a DJ.

[infernal.machine]

beat matching and mixing ability alone don't make you a DJ.

Yeah you also have to put the letters 'D' and 'J' before your name and spam your soundcloud mixes all over the internet.

[Theo Void]

Y U MAd brah?

I'm not mad......."brah".

Beat matching does not = DJing. Mixing does not = DJing. Or counting to 4 etc. etc.


Would you say that having fingers makes someone a great guitar player? Or that picking up a paint brush means they will be able to create works of art?

No, because there's more involved. Anyone can put a CD on, but that doesn't make them a DJ.

Having fingers is not a skill. Unless you don't have fingers. (lol) And picking up an object doesn't require any skill. (unless you don't have fingers.)

OK, I'll admit that there is some skill involved. I grossly over-simplified it for comedic value. But now that I think of it, it does require one to have a little rhythm in them. But also it depends on what kinda DJ we're talking about. No question that Dj Craze, Rob Swift, Q-bert, Bad Boy Bill, etc have some specialized skill. A producer who kinda has to DJ since it's the format to perform electronic music in can get away w/ syncing because they're main thing is their productions plus using sync allows for other more creative tasks. Then you have the guy who mixes other people's records and uses sync and just blends back and forth which I think is straight -up laughable.

[Theo Void]

.....it's all about pretending......in showbusiness....

....and for pretending it needs serious skills, too....

....a dj's talent is his taste....his choice.....and his empatic connection skills to a crowd...
....but even today there a lots of dj's out there who still can't mix....
no problem....if.....they're great pretenders....

but a dj who's not good in pretending is the poorest thing to find in showbiz....

^THIS. Which I didn't even take into account. Talent= Taste, choice, crowd-reading/connection + being able to mix (and pretend.)

Honestly though, back in the day when I first started going to parties the DJ was hidden. I think that was cool because the atmosphere was all about the vibe. Now, it's like a fucking rock concert. Everyone is facing front watching some dude play some pre-recorded shit. It's ridiculous! This whole rock-star DJ thing is pretty stupid. I mean it's one dude, on stage pushing buttons and you cant see what he's doing but everyone watches him as if he's some amazing performer.
If I go to see Radiohead it's gonna be an amazing show and I know what I'm hearing is happening right now!
I say all this as someone who does the same thing. I play live using Traktor an S2 and an F1. But a lot of my stuff is original and I do a lot of live editing so as not to just play pre-recorded shit(which an I-pod could do more easily.) But that doesn't mean I don't think it's ridiculous.

[infernal.machine]

That's why I do all my DJ gigs in orchestra pits.

[jestermgee]

Yeah I can agree with Void and many others here. I have no problem with DJs of any kind, I started out as a DJ from the age of 12 but was always "in the background" just keeping music flowing and taking requests. Even when I started to get more experience and started beatmatching stuff and doing "DJ Tricks" I was always kind of just in the background. By the time I was 21 I was sick of controlling the atmosphere rather than partying so I built a MP3 jukebox to do the work at parties and met way more people away from the decks than behind them.

Would much rather make my own stuff and mix that together live than just control atmosphere BUT I never really did any real big gigs and I am sure that a crowd of people cheering you on is something else.

[nathannn]

can we get back to coldplay lip syncing ?

[nathannn]

this video is suppose to be an example of them not playing live, really all i see here is video that's out of sync with audio, at the end of the video he smacks his mic on the stage a couple times and you can hear that its plugged in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nYW6_dhU8o


also its not un common to have hidden musicians in the background when the band is performing live, no one knew smashing pumpkins had a keyboard player until he died, but the guy was there..just hidden.

[Theo Void]

All that said, I'm a button pushing, knob twiddler for life!!!!
God knows I spend enough money on new knobs and buttons all the time!!

[beats me]

The irony with DJs is the bigger you get the less you can improvise live because the music is so heavily tied to a preprogrammed light and video show.

[Theo Void]

The irony with DJs is the bigger you get the less you can improvise live because the music is so heavily tied to a preprogrammed light and video show.

^ Definitely true! I'm sure everyone here saw this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCg_j7sq_k

And thats part of the problem w/ the whole DJ as Rock-Star thing. You pay to go see someone play the same exact shit they produced in a studio. They stand on stage and literally push play, smoke cigarettes and fist pump. They need the light-show because w/o it there would be nothing to see and the programming of the lights is tied to same system thats triggers the music so they can't exactly alter it. So really it's no different than paying to go watch an iPod on a stage. Only difference is you get to see your favorite "celebrity DJ" push buttons.

[beats me]

The irony with DJs is the bigger you get the less you can improvise live because the music is so heavily tied to a preprogrammed light and video show.

^ Definitely true! I'm sure everyone here saw this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCg_j7sq_k

And thats part of the problem w/ the whole DJ as Rock-Star thing. You pay to go see someone play the same exact shit they produced in a studio. They stand on stage and literally push play, smoke cigarettes and fist pump. They need the light-show because w/o it there would be nothing to see and the programming of the lights is tied to same system thats triggers the music so they can't exactly alter it. So really it's no different than paying to go watch an iPod on a stage. Only difference is you get to see your favorite "celebrity DJ" push buttons.

I saw a Madeon live show video where you couldn’t even tell if somebody was on stage because the light show was so overpowering. It was hilarious, if not sad.

I’ve said this before. Light and video production companies should just do their own events because who or what the music is coming from has become inconsequential. Let the show production companies battle it out for epic and ground breaking visual shows.

[Theo Void]

The irony with DJs is the bigger you get the less you can improvise live because the music is so heavily tied to a preprogrammed light and video show.

^ Definitely true! I'm sure everyone here saw this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCg_j7sq_k

And thats part of the problem w/ the whole DJ as Rock-Star thing. You pay to go see someone play the same exact shit they produced in a studio. They stand on stage and literally push play, smoke cigarettes and fist pump. They need the light-show because w/o it there would be nothing to see and the programming of the lights is tied to same system thats triggers the music so they can't exactly alter it. So really it's no different than paying to go watch an iPod on a stage. Only difference is you get to see your favorite "celebrity DJ" push buttons.

I saw a Madeon live show video where you couldn’t even tell if somebody was on stage because the light show was so overpowering. It was hilarious, if not sad.

I’ve said this before. Light and video production companies should just do their own events because who or what the music is coming from has become inconsequential. Let the show production companies battle it out for epic and ground breaking visual shows.

Right! Thats a good idea. I'm gonna start throwing Deadmau5 shows at the venue here in Pittsburgh. I could charge $150.00 per ticket and just have a sick light show then set my iPod to crossfade and shuffle a deadmau5 playlist. Dude, I'm about to get paid!!!!