robtronik wrote:I promote and DJ. Its the best way to have quality control on the night. You know what you want and you can design it that way.
I'll say this about DJs: You may slag on whether a DJ is talented, but I can surely tell you when one ISN'T.
And the fact that you can tell a bad DJ from a good DJ means that, by default, there is a skill that is needed to do the job right.
I think what Breq's is stating is that a dj skill or dj talent is easily acquired in his mind which is then equal to it not requiring much talent at all. In his mind its a lower level effort to learn the art of mixing and music programming than it is learning an instrument.
I think these are two different ideas that he's combined into one and they deserve seperation. Its quite apparent when a DJ who has no talent gets on the decks/laptop/whatever and ruins a room's vibe, clears a dancefloor, or gets kicked off vs. the DJ who can manipulate the emotions and vibe of a room through music successfully.
rob.
OK, point conceded to you Rob. I rescind my previous statements to say that rather than mix DJs having no talent, I'll say instead that the bar for talent is very easy to achieve in mix DJing.
Now, that said; If it takes little effort and little skill to achieve the bar for talent, then why do many non-producer DJs and non-turntablist DJs get worshiped like Gods?
I say it's
Hype. Too many people equate
Hype with talent.
When a DJ has
Hype, people come to his / her show predisposed to having a good time. They spend more, they anticipate a better show. Many drug themselves in anticipation.
So the
Hyped up DJ comes on, and he could play a minidisk of his neighbour's son's bedroom mix and fake playing records. The crowd goes wild.
Unrealistic? not at all. It's
Hype. The neighbour's kid could play the same set to the same crowd and not get any reaction (if people showed up at all).
Is this stage presence? It's a factor, but not the only one. But I think
Hype is a much bigger factor, since I know a lot of obscure performers with gobs of stage presence but no
Hype, and I can think of many "pro" mix DJs who lack stage presence.
On top of the anticipation of the
Hyped DJ, he / she gets promo and white label records sent to him / her. That's an immense advantage, being able to drop unheard tracks long before the bedroom kids do. Should this advantage be interpreted as talent? No, it's a byproduct of
Hype. The more
Hype a DJ has, the more likely producers / labels will send this person white labels.
What sickens me is an industry that values
Hype over talent. It doesn't matter if you're an amazing turntablist or a musician; you won't get the recognition or respect that a performer of one quarter of your talent gets if you don't have
Hype.
