RANT HERE: What is a DJ?

[smutek]

but so long as you're not being lame and mixing 2 tracks. if you're going to use a laptop, better do something that is impossible with turntables.

It may not be impossible but it is definitely not desireable to carry 14 days worth of music when using turntables.

Here's A difference...

DJ's do it for the attention.

Artists do it for the art.

argue about that.

Oh, and Laptops and turntables are in almost no way similar, other than both have the unfortunate feature of enabling wankers to play other peoples music.

now, laptops being the next progression in music composition?

Yes.

No. That is a shit opinion. Sorry, its just so trite. I've seen it over and over again and quite frankly it is just so fucking tiring. The bitter musician pissed off because the dj is "stealing" their lime light. "Oh I hate fucking dj's, why do they get all the attention they just play other peoples music.. blah blah blah"

No shit. A dj plays music, at raves, at parties, at weddings, at bar fucking mitzvahs, where ever. A dj can be creative and push the boundries or a dj can just mix 2 tracks at a time, or not even mix the tracks if they want to. All that really matters is are they doing what they want to do? Is their audience feeling it? Does there even need to be an audience? Maybe its just some kid in his room alone with 2 shitty numarks digging on his trance records or whatever the fuck he is into. Playing some perfect mix that no one will ever hear but man did he feel it? Maybe its some dude on stage with ableton who has no less than 11 tracks playing at once with 2 laptops 19 reverbs 8 supatriggas and 40 grain delays. Is he rippin? Is he feeling it? If these people are feeling what they are doing then there's not shit you can say about it.

I know a ton of people who have technical skill but not a creative bone in their bodies.

And for christs sake, if some wanker wasn't playing other peoples songs then how will anyone ever hear it? What are you going to do, show up at someones house and beg them to listen to your cd? Then go to the next house? I think not so. If you showed up at my door talkin bout' "hey, wanna check out my new cd?" I'd call you a wanker and set my dogs on you. Or maybe you just wont ever make a recording so no wanker can ever play your music? Or maybe your mad because no dj will play your music?

I'll admit that there are plenty of cocky dj's out there who think they are superstars, their shit doesn't stink and so on. Fuck them. Move on. Focus on the cool people. Accept dj's for what they are. Everything has its place.

[supster]

. Is he rippin? Is he feeling it? If these people are feeling what they are doing then there's not shit you can say about it.

I know a ton of people who have technical skill but not a creative bone in their bodies.

this should be framed. that rocks

werd to everything you said there too

[andydes]

Sorry to hear you got screwed Supstar. But at least if you're hearing your work everywhere, you must be doing something right.

I think you have me confused with another guy up there.

That would be me...

Sorry Guys. Tough day at the coal face.

Kabuki: I agree, DJ Shadow's set was bloody amazing, and I wouldn't even know where to start doing something like that. I was just pointing out that it's very different from playing eight hours of continuous music as a regular DJ would. Just a shame he couldn't have speeded up his track changes alittle, I didn't really care what he thought of George Dubya.

Everyone else: Sorry if this is alittle disjointed. Haven't quite got the hang of this quoting business.

[starving student]

good question

[siddhu]

No. That is a shit opinion. Sorry, its just so trite. I've seen it over and over again and quite frankly it is just so fucking tiring. The bitter musician pissed off because the dj is "stealing" their lime light. "Oh I hate fucking dj's, why do they get all the attention they just play other peoples music.. blah blah blah"

No shit. A dj plays music, at raves, at parties, at weddings, at bar fucking mitzvahs, where ever. A dj can be creative and push the boundries or a dj can just mix 2 tracks at a time, or not even mix the tracks if they want to. All that really matters is are they doing what they want to do? Is their audience feeling it? Does there even need to be an audience? Maybe its just some kid in his room alone with 2 shitty numarks digging on his trance records or whatever the fuck he is into. Playing some perfect mix that no one will ever hear but man did he feel it? Maybe its some dude on stage with ableton who has no less than 11 tracks playing at once with 2 laptops 19 reverbs 8 supatriggas and 40 grain delays. Is he rippin? Is he feeling it? If these people are feeling what they are doing then there's not shit you can say about it.

I know a ton of people who have technical skill but not a creative bone in their bodies.

And for christs sake, if some wanker wasn't playing other peoples songs then how will anyone ever hear it? What are you going to do, show up at someones house and beg them to listen to your cd? Then go to the next house? I think not so. If you showed up at my door talkin bout' "hey, wanna check out my new cd?" I'd call you a wanker and set my dogs on you. Or maybe you just wont ever make a recording so no wanker can ever play your music? Or maybe your mad because no dj will play your music?

I'll admit that there are plenty of cocky dj's out there who think they are superstars, their shit doesn't stink and so on. Fuck them. Move on. Focus on the cool people. Accept dj's for what they are. Everything has its place.

@Smutek

Your a fucking poet!!!

[Kent_in_CO]

Holy thread resurrection, batman!

[glitchrock-buddha]

wow. 4 year old thread?

I couldn't be bothered reading it though, because a DJ is simply the dude at the party responsible for the music selection of that night, and for putting the needle on the record or pressing play on the cd player. That is all. No skill, just a simple responsibility. Just like the kid at the grade 8 party who has to flip the tapes in the tape deck or change tunes on the ipod so that the music doesn't stop. Someone has to be assigned music duty. It might mean you don't get to enjoy the party as much, but on the other hand you get to play the songs you want to hear, which is pretty sweet.

Then there are turntablists and mixers (or mix artists or whatever) who actually try to do something creative with the songs they are djing.

So on one end of the musical spectrum there is the kid responsible for pressing play on the next song at a party when one is finished. On the other end there is a person playing an instrument, which actually takes some practiced skill. Then there is the whole gray area in between.

[Khazul]

The other DJ who is a producer tells me that Live is greaaaat because it just lets you focus on having fun and picking out good tracks and if something really rocks, then being able to keep going with that flow and doing whacky things on the spot and not worrying so much about the whole 'dj' thing.

Hes is probably want of those really really f****** annoying DJs who stick a really nice track on then mangling the goddamn thing on the fly cos he can... Grrrr!

I've to the conclusion that 'in-general' I prefer a good traditional DJ working off CDs/Vinyl and then they are les inclined to get board and start messing with something for the sake of it...

I know - not all software DJs fall into that category, but as I been seeing more sets played off laptop, so Ive been witnessing way more wrecked tracks then ever...

[SubFunk]

wow. 4 year old thread?

I couldn't be bothered reading it though, because a DJ is simply the dude at the party responsible for the music selection of that night, and for putting the needle on the record or pressing play on the cd player. That is all. No skill, just a simple responsibility. Just like the kid at the grade 8 party who has to flip the tapes in the tape deck or change tunes on the ipod so that the music doesn't stop. Someone has to be assigned music duty. It might mean you don't get to enjoy the party as much, but on the other hand you get to play the songs you want to hear, which is pretty sweet.

Then there are turntablists and mixers (or mix artists or whatever) who actually try to do something creative with the songs they are djing.

So on one end of the musical spectrum there is the kid responsible for pressing play on the next song at a party when one is finished. On the other end there is a person playing an instrument, which actually takes some practiced skill. Then there is the whole gray area in between.

[djsynchro]

First of all, there are producers that suck at DJing, there are DJs that suck at producing, there are people that are great at both.
Producing and actually selling your music like you do obviousy opens the door for DJing, try it.

Any idiot can learn how to beatmatch 2 turntables, but there is something else that you can't really learn, though it can be developed. It's instictively knowing what the crowd wants to hear, do they want harder, deeper, easier, freakier? Maybe not give it to them right away, know how far you can go educating them to something new, knowing how much you need to please them so you don't loose them.

Only one way to find out: Do it. Your mixing technique will improve with time (a really good mix is just as hard with Live as with turntables) keep an open mind, when trying out something new the universe tends to give a hint that this is for you (or not) early on.

[trevorc]

The other DJ who is a producer tells me that Live is greaaaat because it just lets you focus on having fun and picking out good tracks and if something really rocks, then being able to keep going with that flow and doing whacky things on the spot and not worrying so much about the whole 'dj' thing.

Hes is probably want of those really really f****** annoying DJs who stick a really nice track on then mangling the goddamn thing on the fly cos he can... Grrrr!

I've to the conclusion that 'in-general' I prefer a good traditional DJ working off CDs/Vinyl and then they are les inclined to get board and start messing with something for the sake of it...

I know - not all software DJs fall into that category, but as I been seeing more sets played off laptop, so Ive been witnessing way more wrecked tracks then ever...

lol at this, it's true that a bad set is a bad set no matter what. there are ways of screwing it up in any medium..

i prefer it when i'm not that conscious of what a dj's up to with the tunes, if the music's flowing and the dj's reading the mood and leading it on then fine, i don't care what they're doing or how they're doing it.

on a slightly different tack, i'm not even bothered in an overtly visual dj performance, i'm usually more interested in enjoying a club night dancing and chatting to randoms than staring at someone tweaking knobs or nudging vinyl. a bit of interaction to give/get some love for the dj is great, seeing a dj enjoy himself like anyone else on the floor is great but watching the quality of their knob twiddling and platter nudging just isn't what i'm going out for.

and while we're at it the dj as musician thing is a bit of a red herring too, of course they're not musicians in the traditional sense but they are working with music and a good dj has practised researched and prepared a hell of a lot of hours to pull off a good set. i've got a lot of respect for people who do this and do it well.

[Khazul]

on a slightly different tack, i'm not even bothered in an overtly visual dj performance, i'm usually more interested in enjoying a club night dancing and chatting to randoms than staring at someone tweaking knobs or nudging vinyl. a bit of interaction to give/get some love for the dj is great, seeing a dj enjoy himself like anyone else on the floor is great but watching the quality of their knob twiddling and platter nudging just isn't what i'm going out for.

Thats it though isnt it - a good Dj keeps you in a nicely energised and lively state of mind and I tend to only notice them (them than the music they are playing) when they do something exceptionally good, or do something horrible that trashes the flow.

[trevorc]

on a slightly different tack, i'm not even bothered in an overtly visual dj performance, i'm usually more interested in enjoying a club night dancing and chatting to randoms than staring at someone tweaking knobs or nudging vinyl. a bit of interaction to give/get some love for the dj is great, seeing a dj enjoy himself like anyone else on the floor is great but watching the quality of their knob twiddling and platter nudging just isn't what i'm going out for.

Thats it though isnt it - a good Dj keeps you in a nicely energised and lively state of mind and I tend to only notice them (them than the music they are playing) when they do something exceptionally good, or do something horrible that trashes the flow.

absolutely..

[ryansupak]

I'd call DJing and "Live PA" close cousins. They're both hard work, both take a lot of practice to do well, and both will be appreciated if they are good.

In general (for my part of the world) I'd say you have a better chance of connecting with people through playing songs they know and love, rather than trying to play a lot of electronic music for them that they've never heard.

Even I get tired of beats after a short while, but I can listen to a great (non-purely electronic) DJ all night. Also, I personally don't consider "the way forward" to be chopping all songs up into loops and verses and mashing up all night.

The main difficulty of these discussions is that the definitions of these terms are changing, and they mean different things to different people.

rs

[sweetjesus]

holy crap what an old thread!!!!

i've had a few more experiences since then an I'm happy to share them with u all.

since i posted this thread, i've released music and more recently ive started doing gigs and stuff.

i tried doing a few smaller gigs a year ago where i tried to show the crowd how good my taste in music they dont know is, let's say those didnt work out so well.

so i started from scratch. i put two kind of sets together to give me the ability to go in two different directions and see which one works best. .. and oh yeah i still use Live 100% for playing out.

One set, I got dozens of really cool tracks and cut them into loops of intro, buildup, meat, hook, breakdown, outro etc..

the other set, i emulated the most basic DJ rig possible (two channels, full length tracks, eq, level mixer, a bit of delay and reverb fx).

The mashup set with all the loops etc just didn't work so well in a club. It sounded AWESOME in my studio and also making mp3's and sending it to DJ friends, they were all in awe of how cool it was but i just didnt translate well to a live setting. The only time things worked were when I were playing full length tracks during that set.

The more traditional 'DJ' set, i focused on a) having a good variety of music, b) really spending some time knowing what tracks mix well into other tracks c) Learning to read a room and also base your set on what the DJ before you played.

The more traditional approach (playing tracks out, mixing them well together and doing a good track selection) has been giving me the best results in terms of crowd reaction etc.. . and at the end of the day that's what matters and that's what gets you booked for more gigs etc.

It doesn't really matter if you use Live or not, but there is definitely a learning curve in terms of set programming and mixing from a laptop and not making that come across as boring.

Admittedly, I don't have to stress as hard when I do the traditional route, but that gives me more time to get drunk and enjoy myself too which I think the crowd enjoys when the Dj is having fun.