Why Do so Many People think VinYL is Dead

nbinder · Post by **nbinder** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:01 pm

Have you been traveling with vinyl? Have you had 3 or more cases with you? Have you had your records exposed to sun? Did you play close to the audience and someone spilled beer over your records? Did you have needle skips all night long? Bass feedback? Old 1210 with crappy pitch controls? Were you able to buy that awesome piece of underground sound that this guy in Australia just made? Did you play your own stuff that just came out of your home studio?

Those were a few of the reasons to switch to playing CDs in the last years. I'm not scratching any more, so the handling was okay.

Right now I am switching to a complete Ableton Live set. Why?

Because my skills have improved so much that I now thinking about doing it all live. Re-Edits. Mash-Ups. Totally wicked mixes that you could never ever do with 2 sound sorces like vinyl or CDs.

I don't think this is everybody's way, but for me as an artist it is clear that I don't want to play other peoples records any more and all I am doing is track selection, beatmatching and mixing properly. Of course a lot of stuff will be prepared and premade, you cannot do EVERYTHING live. But you can do more... and that's what I am planning to do.

doc holiday · Post by **doc holiday** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:09 pm

Clearscreen wrote: it ain't about what you use, it's how you use it.

yup!

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:50 pm

oh for sure, we definitely need more of that, but I don't think vinyl has even reached its peak yet as a performance tool, it seems like the things these turntablist are doing is still the most imediate.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=L2McDeSKiOU

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:08 pm

EgAD wrote:oh for sure, we definitely need more of that, but I don't think vinyl has even reached its peak yet as a performance tool, it seems like the things these turntablist are doing is still the most imediate.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=L2McDeSKiOU

Moldover is a HUGE influence on me as far as innovation, sharing ideas and some (rare) very cool mashups, but he's not even worthy to carry Qbert's vinyl.

Moldover's 'controllerist' stuff isn't even in the same league as the delicate, accurate, lightning fast touch of Qbert and the like. I love Moldover but he can't touch a GOOD turntablist.

<insert one of a million amazing vinyl scratch routines>

answer to the thread - only EgAD thinks vinyl is dead.

nbinder · Post by **nbinder** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:11 pm

You can't "replace" scratching... like a violin... a synth could never replace a real violin, football could never replace basketball, pizza could never replace spaghetti...

Let's see what the guys can do with all the stuff together and let's see what's possible other than scratching.

That's what I think is so exciting.

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:31 pm

no no Egad still packs ze vinYL, 've just been in some convos lately where people know i use Live and ask me why i got records around like they're useless, now when it comes to (not scratching) most laptop cats still can't touch

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2TOX-hc ... re=related

but yeah moldover is such an inspiration, very positive dude not unlike Q-bert always trying to drop knowledge and help further the artform. i really appreciate it.

doc holiday · Post by **doc holiday** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:06 pm

no scratching but killing vinyl on four decks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I8VXgiGqF4

this guy is amazing to see!

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:22 pm

doc holiday wrote:no scratching but killing vinyl on four decks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I8VXgiGqF4

this guy is amazing to see!

miligan is smashin it, thanks for that. I feel like what the turntablist have over the controllerist right now is just the imediacey but the ideologies are different to maybe i dunno, cause it seems like the controllerist are more about adding controls between them and the music as where the turntablist seem more about maxing out a minimal set of controls and then adding as many skills as they can to that, so you don't hear them talking about adding features as much as the laptop heads, i think they prefer their tools to not change too much.

DGA · Post by **DGA** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:43 pm

one cannot argue the numerous shops and distros that have been closing in recent years with no replacements.

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:04 pm

DGA wrote:one cannot argue the numerous shops and distros that have been closing in recent years with no replacements.

thats true its very sad, I wonder which one of the emulation packages has the best quality between torque, serato, final scratch and numark

DGA · Post by **DGA** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:18 pm

traktor and serato are the 2 fighting it out. as a listener, i am satisfied with either, but ableton is the only software I use.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:34 pm

EgAD wrote:I feel like what the turntablist have over the controllerist right now is just the imediacey but the ideologies are different to maybe i dunno

you're kidding, right? turntablism is NOT immediate, and that youtube video of dj Final you linked is the epitomy of not-immediate.

First of all it's ALL custom vinyl for a lot of these cats these days. Then it's endless hours matching up records, and then all the rehearsal time to make sure you can needle drop that next record.

check out Materia Prima on youtube. In my mind he is very close to being what a controllerist should be.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AhssMbpZUd4
- main thing is that he is producing original music - live - improvised. Sure, the preparation is there too, but it's mainly in the tech, rather in the 1-off vinyl pressing section of CostCo.

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:39 pm

he's dope, what does Materia Prima mean?

contakt321 · Post by **contakt321** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:36 am

As someone that has worked for labels and a vinyl distributor I think I can say that the people who are saying vinyl is dead are the people pressing it and having a harder and harder time making money off of it.

There was a time at the company I worked for (late 90's - early 2000) that a good 12" would sell 30,000+ copies in the first month. Even a 12" that was kinda weak, but passable would sell 5-10,000. Fast forward to now. A good 12" will sell 2-3,000 in the first month and even the pretty good 12"s by known artists have a hard time reaching 1,000-1500 units.

If anyone has pressed vinyl, you would know that it's hard to make money off of it because of all the fees. It's simply getting hard to justify the expense.

A few rock labels are getting it right. They are doing great packaging and giving away free downloads if you buy it. But hip-hop and dance...it's dismal.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:21 am

My local mainstream music store has recently started stocking vinyl again. Mostly special editions, collectors editions, etc., of new releases.

If anyone had said 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, that this would happen they'd have been laughed at.

I don't know how much they're actually selling, mind, or if this well be over by next summer, but to me it seems logical that vinyl will be around longer than CDs, because a good vinyl release offers more of an "experience" than a CD can - if only cos of the size of the sleeve.

Why Do so Many People think VinYL is Dead

Re: Why Do so Many People think VinYL is Dead