THE BEST DJ'S?

[Patch]

The "skill" in DJing isn't necessarily about technical ability with mixing.

The real skill is working the crowd. THAT is the part that very few can do. It has almost nothing to do with mixing. It's about music selection, and timing. Reading the crowd, and playing the right song for the mood at the time.

Djadonis said earlier in this thread that he has dropped tunes that Coxy/Clarky have droped and not got the same response. SubterFUSE's post above demonstrates that the skill held by DJ's is PREPARING the crowd for that tune you are going to drop. The preceding 4/5/6 tunes that are dropped before that monster track is what builds up the anticipation (either consiously or subconsiously) within the crowd.

Experienced DJ's know this - and this is the reason Ableton is a monster tool in their hands. As we all know - a kid can buy all the tunes that his favorite DJ is playing at the moment on iTunes, autowarp them and produce 74mins of perfectly (well - almost) beatmatched <<insert genre(?!)here>>. Can anyone actually admit to being able to listen to 74mins of that crap?!?

Absolutely! And IMO, that's a acquired skill, not talent. Anyone can do it with practice.

I know that one of my problems is spending too much 'heads down' time. Eye contact and crowd interaction are really important.

Most crowds are nothing but a bunch of lemmings, just waiting to be led. The skillful/talented DJ/musician can lead them to a temporary reprieve from their mundane existences!

Hambone1 doesn't lie! DJ's have a responsibilty to the crowd - and to think that you can just drop a monster track and have them bounce like nutters is ignorant. Experience is the key. A lot of the autowarp/iTunes kids will not percevere long enough to obtain this experience. That's when the REAL DJ's, the people who take their job seriously and never stop learning, are gonna shine.

You just know, that if Coxy/Clarky/Q-Bert/MMM had never made it big,they would still be DJ'ing. They love their job and take that sh*t seriously. Coxy was DJ'ing before there even was a club scene, ffs!

Sorry about the long post - a brother gets passionate about this sh*t...

[D DAS]

and just for adonis, i will give a shot out to funky tekno tribe cause they rocked in their dayz

We even had a FTT party up here - I even got to play (back when I was good)

I went to Tribal Massive in 98 or 99 <-- that was fun

Stayed at a little motel right next to the party - back in the day people would travel all up and down the west coast to go to a good party

Oh how I miss those days

didn't the people who threw that party get jacked that night? i heard poeple went in with guns and robbed them for all the door sales they made. i am pretty sure it was tribal massive. it was one of those big parties around that time, pretty lame

[funknotik]

There are turntablists with different styles. Mashup, drum and bass, breaks. So the best djs would probably be turntablists. Dj craze, qbert, tigerstyle, d styles.




Someone mentioned sasha moving around alot as having "prescence." I find that pointless, its not like when jimi hendrix trips out and is doing a solo. It seems like he is just trying to get people into it because technically he sucks and is without skill. Die sash die!! J/K

[debu]

personal favs:

the wicked crew in the 90's
laurent garnier
stacey pullen
Jazzanova- spotty though

these days
Francois K - on a good night
John tejada
been digging this cat lately
http://www.dj-shirkhan.de/shirkhan05.html
tipper- idm-hip hop
Ame
munk
justice

radio/net dj
der vinylizer - bttb (dope eclectic selections)
http://www.vinylizer.net/

[KU]

check out this video clip... I saw this guy rock it for 3 hours straight..relentless
never let up amazing!

t

that was extremely freukin cool - it be cooler if it was longer

it's actually not that hard to get 3-4 decks going for 10 minute stretches when you are using locked groove vinyl - but making it musical and exiting is rare.

[KU]

personal favs:

the wicked crew in the 90's

I saw the Wicked Crew reunion this summer at the Raindance campout. Thomas is still a complete beast and a great DJ.

Tipper was there too - and even though he just jockeyd his laptop with no controller and he was very reserved (the party was peaking?!) - the music was totally awesome.

[KU]

KU can't come, he's mean.


It'd be an old man sausage fest with the n00bs hitting on Shiva all night.

I am a nasty old pompous bitch

[DeadlyKungFu]

Only when people bag on DJs.

<not me, never, nope, I'd never do that...>

[subterFUSE]

Someone mentioned sasha moving around alot as having "prescence." I find that pointless, its not like when jimi hendrix trips out and is doing a solo. It seems like he is just trying to get people into it because technically he sucks and is without skill. Die sash die!! J/K

Regardless of what you think of Sasha's music, or mixing.... No serious person can question his ability as an entertainer. To do so is simply ignorant beyond belief.

Sasha has a unique ability to tap into the emotions of a crowd. Of all the DJs I have ever seen, Sasha is more connected to the pulse of the crowd than anyone. Granted, he has always had on and off nights.... and frankly I miss the glory days at Twilo.... But when you do witness a good night with him behind the decks, it was always something special.

You really can't explain it with words. People just like him. There are some people in this world who just have a magnetic personality. They are the people who can walk into a party, and everyone there takes notice.

Sasha just has a presence.


A good friend of mine has known Sasha for years, and told me the following story about a night at Twilo.

Sasha was at the decks, and the club was packed as usual. Right in the middle of his set, Sasha just turned the music off completely. The entire club just goes silent. 5000 people dancing, and then.... Nothing. There was a brief silent pause, and then the crowd just erupts into cheers. They were begging for him to play the music again.

Sasha just stands there and laughs at the crowd. He left the music off for an enternity. My friend said it was probably 5 or 10 minutes. He said Sasha would look at the crowd and ask "What?" People were yelling for more music. Then Sasha would pretend like he was cueing a record, and everyone would cheer.... and then he would walk away and talk to someone in the booth. The whole time, just laughing at the crowd. He was just teasing them.

The point is that Sasha was getting cheers out of 5000 people by playing nothing. And nobody was leaving the dancefloor. He was just teasing them, and was still getting a stong reaction.

My friend said when he saw how people reacted to him there.... it was a perfect display of a DJ who has successfully tapped into the crowd on a deeper level than usual. He just had these people hanging on pins and needles. It was like Sasha could get more cheers out of a crowd by playing nothing, than other DJs could get playing the best record in their box.


So anyway..... While I honestly would prefer to hear John Digweed play.... I will always say that Sasha is the best DJ in the world. He just has a connection to the audience, that is rarely duplicated by anyone.

[M. Bréqs]

Asking who is the best DJ can be compared to asking who is the best garbage collector or floor sweeper - it's a simple job that anybody can do, and it's pretty tough to be "better" than the next guy when the bar for talent is set so laughably low.

The difference between a 14 year old mix DJ who practices in his / her bedroom and the "great" Sasha is a whopping 0%. I taught my mom to mix in 4 hours, and she was in her late 60's at that time.

What a pathetic joke all this DJ business is.

Except for turntablists. They've got talent. If that's what you're talking about (though I doubt it), then I nominate Kid Koala. He's not as fast or technical as MMM or Q-Bert, but he's a better composer and his performances and recordings have broad, intellectually and emotionally stimulating themes that he extends through out his sets.

try rocking a room for three or four hours straight, playing other people's music, and see how much you think its crap or no talent.

get back at us w/ your feedback then.

rob.

I've done it for years, but I gave it up because it was boring.

I had a residency every friday night at a joint called the Cave Club, and it soon became a pain in the ass. I was responsible to keep music going between 8 pm and closing (2 am). This was in a small city, so I had the only electronic music gig in town, so I had to touch on a lot of genres. I had a pretty loyal following, but not a lot of variance in the crowd from week to week.

So, I had to put together a FRESH, 6 hour set, every week. I would break it up by playing some of my own stuff in the mix, but otherwise it was 90% other people's tracks.

The reason it was boring was because it was pitifully easy. I spent a lot of time searching out other people's music online, (back in the day when mp3.com was still running because I don't pirate music), so it was also took up a lot of time.

Unlike Sasha or some other big name, I didn't have people sending me tracks, so they can't even rest on the excuse that it's hard work to search out tracks.

No, I have nothing but contempt for mix DJs, and it's a well earned opinion I assure you Rob.

[djadonis206]

You just didn't like djing - no need to hate though

i don't like Spinach but it's not like I'm hating on Popeye, no what I mean

but no one can tell you how to feel or be so...

[M. Bréqs]

Sasha has a unique ability to tap into the emotions of a crowd.

Nope, he has highly drugged crowd. When people pay big money to go out, they go "all out" and melt their brains for a night. The fact that Sasha is paid so much means he has a(n) (undeserved) REPUTATION for being that good... But it's an issue of putting the cart before the horse to say that people have fun because or how he plays or what he plays.

Sasha just has a presence.

No, he has a rep. It's a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. Enough idiots love him and you get this group-think thing going on, aided by mind altering chemicals.

...The point is that Sasha was getting cheers out of 5000 people by playing nothing. And nobody was leaving the dancefloor. He was just teasing them, and was still getting a stong reaction.

...It was like Sasha could get more cheers out of a crowd by playing nothing, than other DJs could get playing the best record in their box.

Proves my point exactly.

[M. Bréqs]

You just didn't like djing - no need to hate though

i don't like Spinach but it's not like I'm hating on Popeye, no what I mean

but no one can tell you how to feel or be so...

I don't hate, I just don't acknowledge the mindless mantra that "DJ'ing takes talent". It doesn't, and I'm calling bullshit. I have no problems with mix DJs as long as they don't pretend that what they do is difficult or inspired.

If people want to DJ, that's fine. It's not a necessary function for a party with loud music and dancing though, never think that. Bands and Live electronic performance can easily replace a DJ, and they take a lot more talent to do the job. Unless there's a band or a live performer, I won't go out to an evening of dancing anymore - there's no point. It's just some other schmuck with fantasies of grandeur showing off how little talent he has, with a bunch of morons convincing themselves that what he does is somehow special.

The only real time a mix DJ is necessary is when the promoter wants to put out hours and hours of entertainment economically. Even a superstar DJ, who costs way too much money, is cheaper than hiring enough good bands to paly on a stage for twelve hours straight. As for these types of mix DJs, sure the decisions that these guys make influence the evening. But then again, so does the lighting dude, and nobody's up his ass like they are Sasha's, are they?

So, I guess I can paraphrase: a DJ at a party is like a valet at a parking lot - useful, but not talented. We don't worship the guy who cleans the toilets after the bar closes, but he's just as vital to the evening as the DJ, and has just about as much talent.

[djadonis206]

Ok for the sake of discussion

the actual act of beat matcing is not difficult, ok but

I've rarely come across a set of technics that stayed locked to the tempo, have you?

so, in my experience you have to constantly keep one hand on the pitch control and listen very carefully if the record is too fast or too slow then adjust accordingly (fyi you could just cheat and mix on mix outs only, but that's boring)

I'm talking about riding a mix and turning 2 songs into one

then there's the idea of programming your mix - knowing your records, where's the one (as in 1,2,3,4) and when does that record do this and this record do that (fyi you could just cheat and mix on the mix outs only, but that's boring)

Basically, being able to work 2 records that either keep the beat going on and on or playing lots of break downs - playing no breakdowns and just beats then 1 hour into the set you finally let a track play out to the break down - but then we could just be mixing mix outs

So I agree if your just playing the very last minute of all your tracks, it's pretty boring and rather easy - laying two kicks on top of one another, yes

but in all honesty some DJ's just have an ear for what's in key what's out of key - when a bassline should come in over the other bassline - how to ride eq's and faders - little tricks like beat juggling and scratching go along way - when to play break downs and how to play breakdowns - how to play no break downs - how to mix completely different styles of music and make it sound good

but I've said this earlier - non of us would be having this conversation if any of us were so good at it that we didn't need to have this discussion...know what I mean

[mike holiday]

now, M. Bréqs..i hear what your saying somewhat and agree to a point..
however there is a line to cross where beatmixing does take skill.. however "djs" rearly take it to that level.. 3 or 4 turntables with a "mix" that last the entire set imho isn't that easy the level of concentration is high. then throw in cutting and juggling..then make it sound good.. and play flawless

you are right about the "sasha's" of the world tho..the crowd is ready to be pumped, and would get off the same with a monkey up there .. just because people like to eat at McDonalds doesn't mean it's good.

hummm maybe milli vanilli could tap into that mystical "emotion"

cooperate music sucks .. and you can see that in every genra of music wether it be pop rock or disco

m