are live DJ's frontin? what to do with the spare time?

D DAS · Post by **D DAS** » Thu May 25, 2006 1:56 am

ok here's the scoop.

when i moved to hawaii i left my records at a friends garage in california. i still have not shipped or had the extra funds to ship all that heavy ass vinyl here.

i ripped as much of it to digital format as possible, and have continued with buying wav files online. (which i happen to like doing, how an icon made of light can be beemed through cables and appear on your desktop and have sounds contained in it amazes me, but that is another story)

so i have been collectin my tracks as usual just in a different way. i was never a show dj, i bought tracks for me myself and i and my friends to house out too.

but now i have a radio station here i can play on every week. which is cool. but personaly i think it is kinda embarrasing showin up with a computer to play tracks. i know how i was 1 year ago, a snooty vinyl purist when it came to house. i have gotten over that but my big thing is what do you guys do with your spare time between tracks? i used to stand and cue up the next track, now all that work is already done. do you make your selves look busy? even though i am not even playing for a crowd, i am at a station but still. i am not about mangling the tracks i am playing either, i play the track how it was produced cause that sounds fat enough.

so my question is what do you heads do between tracks?

j0shu@ · Post by **j0shu@** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:10 am

i mangle the tracks? add fx, make new loops etc

surely youve got to cue up your next track, ie search through all your clips?

then youve got to choose a start point, fade it in, maybe make a loop, fade out the other one, all with a smoke and a beer in hand makes for bunches of work.

or, so you could actually be busy, you could UNWARP the track and then REWARP it, right before you mix into it.

you would def be more busy then...

subterFUSE · Post by **subterFUSE** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:11 am

When I play in Live, I spend the extra time doing various things:

1. I spend more time selecting the next track(s). With beatmatching removed from the equation, it leaves me more time to preview music before I mix it. For example, I can drag a second copy of the song playing over to another channel, and listen to it in the headphones. Then I can mix the song I plan to play next, and hear if the mix sounds good or not.

2. I get creative. Rather than just play a song, like with vinyl... I might mix the breakdown of a remix over the original.... or I'll loop an acapella.... or whatever.. etc.. Lots of people will break their music into loops, and then assemble the loops on-the-fly. When playing this way, your time is taken up more.

3. Mess with FX.

4. Drink more.

5. Pick my ass. (Make sure no one is looking before you sniff your fingers, though)

j0shu@ · Post by **j0shu@** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:13 am

subterFUSE wrote:When I play in Live, I spend the extra time doing various things:

1. I spend more time selecting the next track(s). With beatmatching removed from the equation, it leaves me more time to preview music before I mix it. For example, I can drag a second copy of the song playing over to another channel, and listen to it in the headphones. Then I can mix the song I plan to play next, and hear if the mix sounds good or not.

2. I get creative. Rather than just play a song, like with vinyl... I might mix the breakdown of a remix over the original.... or I'll loop an acapella.... or whatever.. etc..

3. Mess with FX.

3. Drink more.

4. Pick my ass. (Make sure no one is looking before you sniff your fingers, though)

1. YES!
2. YES!
3. YES!
4. NO!

M. Bréqs · Post by **M. Bréqs** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:17 am

D DAS wrote:but personaly i think it is kinda embarrasing showin up with a computer to play tracks. i know how i was 1 year ago, a snooty vinyl purist when it came to house. i have gotten over that but my big thing is what do you guys do with your spare time between tracks? i used to stand and cue up the next track, now all that work is already done. do you make your selves look busy? even though i am not even playing for a crowd, i am at a station but still. i am not about mangling the tracks i am playing either, i play the track how it was produced cause that sounds fat enough.

so my question is what do you heads do between tracks?

That's the rub, ain't it? That's the result of using a live performance / production tool to DJ - all the work IS done for you, so unless you're going to "mangle" the track, I say go take a leak, have a smoke, and come back in five minutes to trigger the next clip.

And I see no reason to be embarrassed about showing up with a computer. That's cool, provided you gonna do something with it. Seriously, if you're not going to effect, edit or alter these other people's tracks, then you can be replaced with itunes.

That's my $0.02

D K · Post by **D K** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:21 am

damn, you are in hawaii....
take the time to roll up cones of that mind-numbing herb you got there!

The Phat Conductor · Post by **The Phat Conductor** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:05 am

when i use live i play mixes instead of tracks. find the perfect tune or acapella for all of your favourites and then 'marry' them in the session view. this way you can perform the whole time and it still sounds good.

you can take the beat out of a tune with the utility width function and then put new beats underneath to make a remix.

get freaky with it and rock the fuck out.

thinwhitepuke · Post by **thinwhitepuke** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:09 am

I usually get itchy feet and just go straight into another track, frantically mixing tune to tune until my head explodes, three channels, four channels, sometimes the crowd likes it, sometimes the crowd... doesn't.

though if I have something nice planned I'll let it play out, or fiddle with effects and plugins, or shout something at the dancefloor over the mic.

ableton's there to be abused basically.

D DAS · Post by **D DAS** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:48 am

thanks for the responses.

all good ones. i shouldn't fret so much about it, i'll be at a station with a few chill heads.

maybe i will learn a new incognito butt scratch finger sniff technique i can share in the tips & tricks forum.

it will be broadcast on the web so i will let you all know where n when.

peace

ddas

and yes, the krons here in hawaii are da dank

scottorlans · Post by **scottorlans** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:32 am

Three words:

Korg
Koass
Pad

It's a crowd pleaser!

scottorlans · Post by **scottorlans** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:33 am

Umm... I mean "Kaoss" ... it's late...

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Thu May 25, 2006 8:57 am

Believe me, nobody gives a shit ( except some retarded DJs , why should you care if they are bitching they dont issue your checks) if you play the music from HD or vinyl, neither audience neither the artists whos music you play are interested
True it is show biz so showing off is part of it, here Dell HP or iBook wont do, you do need top of the line Mac or PC. radio station or club , everybody likes to feel they get something for the money, DJ with crates of vinyl or expensive notebook, specially with some "exotic" gadgets they have no clue what THAT might be Liquid from Focusrite would be great and it wont hurt to have one anyway, SL zero even PadKontrol with those lights.
There are 1001 ways to impress people, designer shades, cloths etc crates of vinyl are the most unhealthy of them all- for your back.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:38 am

IMHO, it's a great opportunity to transition from just being a DJ to becoming a musician. Learn an instrument!

Apart from just playing tracks, I'm VJing and doing lights (both under Live control), and playing live percussion to avoid just standing there acting like I'm doing something important...

D DAS · Post by **D DAS** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:53 am

i hear ya rikhyray, good points and u r right. no one cares and those who do are fuck watts i need not to associate with. i will just have fun, i got da gadgets and a nice puter

and hambone i will work on that non electronic instument if that is what u mean. i got soft synths galor. i like the live percussion idea, and maybe bring the ol didgeredoo. chuck love does some crazy live stuff with dj sets.
a friend of mine has been spinning house since it was disco, and he is so bored with seeing all these people just djing, so during some of his sets he has a large sheet of canvas cloth mounted behind him and he creates paintings during his sets. he will mix in a track and turn around and work on some art and then mix in another track and then get out on the dance floor and boogie a little bit with the boys and girls. he's crazy and his personality would not allow him to do otherwise

i want to eventually use this slot to play all my own music in a more live fashion, still building my arsenal.

when it comes to dj'ing,,,i play house, deep n funky. i always concentrated on the mix and song selection when i mix. occasional i would use the fx on my pioneer mixer and use the loop function, etc. but rarely. for me it is all about that mix and putting the puzzel together right. i like those zen like moments of cueing records and the reward of holding a beautiful mix down.

i will get the butt scratch finger sniff down. it will be my gimmick. like computo only better

i will call myself DJ Scratch n Sniff

that will give them their moneys worth.

Patch · Post by **Patch** » Thu May 25, 2006 10:55 am

you can take the beat out of a tune with the utility width function and then put new beats underneath to make a remix.

PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS, TPC!!!

I didn't know The Utily Trick could do this??? I thought the utility trick just removed the bass from a tune?

are live DJ's frontin? what to do with the spare time?

are live DJ's frontin? what to do with the spare time?

Re: are live DJ's frontin? what to do with the spare time?