Imagine for a moment if K2 suddenly developed a technology that made it impossible to fall on skis- overnight enabling a new generation of skiers to get skiing faster and pull off previously impossible tricks. Understandably, the existing generation of pros would be up in arms. “They have taken all the challenge out of the sport” or “this makes it way too easy to ski” would probably be common arguments and to a certain extent- they might have a point. When you take away all the challenges of a craft, both practitioners and observers no longer seem interested. There is an obvious parallel here in the DJ world that does not even need to be called out by name. With digital djing offering all kinds of new technical advances and tricks that help keep you from falling off the ski’s- what challenges are left and are they challenging enough to be artistically interesting?
Where are the “risky” territories of digital djing that push boundaries and captivate audiences?
No one here is claiming to have the answer to this challenging question- but I think we can safely explore this territory together and hopefully come away with a better sense of the land. Here are three of the most controversial “shortcuts” provided by digital djing. We will look at how they help and/or hurt and then make some suggestions on how the industry might keep the right amount of hard in this game.
COLLECTION MUSIC
Prior to the MP3 it was hard to find good music, expensive to collect it and quite a feat to carry large amounts of records to gigs. These challenges, in some ways, created an interesting environment that spawned loads of creative output. Djs with hot records had an advantage and this network of connections provided for a vibrant and productive underground music industry.
Fast forward. It’s now possible to get almost any track you can imagine. Long gone are the days of a dj’s tracks being his primary weapon, where having the right music was almost enough on its own. Today there still lies an advantage but it appears to be slanted towards those that can literally create their own music, edits and remixes- forging a sound that is all their own. In the 90’s, drum and bass crews did this extensively through the use of dub plates but it was expensive and rare to have access to such technology. Today anyone with Ableton can start crafting their own “sound” but only a few have built entire careers on that process.
- VERDICT? A Solid Improvement
Audiences are not impressed by the amount of weight a dj can carry into a gig but will be very impressed by the depth of your collection and musical dexterity. Record digging is an impressive art but probably not the most important challenge to maintain.
SYNC
Prior to the hotly debated “sync” button– many djs spent years fine-tuning their beat matching skills to perfection. It was both a sense of pride and considered very impressive to hold a mix perfectly over long lengths of time. With broken turntables, floating rhythms, drunken crowds and messed up needles each mix was a little bit risky and sometimes a feat to pull off. Now with Ableton warping and Traktor beat grids, you can deal with most of these issues digitally- removing much of the risk and challenge in mixing.
- VERDICT- Potentially a pit fall but fundamentally good
On one hand, digital djs argue, there is no point to beat-matching the same two songs twenty times and SYNC technology allows them to focus on other tasks that are more relevant to the crowds experience. They are right to a degree, but lets not forget that the crowd fundamentally understood the risky nature of a mix. Everyone loves to see a performer push themselves to the edge, almost fail and then pull off a great performance. That ebb and flow is fundamental to making a performance exciting and relevant. If djs are going to use SYNC and other time saving methods, I believe they must challenge themselves in other ways- finding new and risky techniques that are hard AND relevant.
CONTROLLERS
Part of the mystique of skateboarding, snowboarding, or many of the other board sports is that the artists/athletes can do so much with so little. Even with amazing advancements in construction technology- these guys are still hurling themselves into the air at high speeds on a simple board and then performing mind-bending feats of athletic brilliance. There is no denying that’s impressive.
Because turntables are so simple, hard to use well and well understood- they provide the perfect tool for a proper challenge. The casual viewer can instantly understand and relate to the level of skill required to artfully manipulate a turntable. Why? – because they understand the interface and the challenges it presents. Everyone has slid down the hill on a sled and few could ever imagine standing up on one, let alone pulling off a 1080.
- Verdict? Headed in the right direction
Most controllers out there today are huge and complex. They may seem challenging to operate, but in more of a Battleship Galactica sort of way. Last I checked there weren’t any United Airlines pilot battles going viral on YouTube. “Woah dude, did you see how fast he pulled off that pre-flight operations check?”- “That was sick! ” Controllers are getting better every day but are they taken seriously yet? Not totally- and that might not come until the surfaces are really understood by djs AND the audience
Where can we introduce or retain some appropriate challenges?
K.I.S.S.
I personally think controllers should not get larger and more complex- but simpler and easier to understand. The midi-fighter is my favorite minimal dj weapon because it presents unique challenges that make my job fun and often make people wonder, “How are you djing on those?” Other djs frequently convey similar stories about how their sets are most enjoyable with a simple, small controller that limit them. These not only present challenges, which yield creative results, but they also force everyone to focus on the most important thing- music. Sometimes when you can do everything- nothing sounds very good.
SEPARATE SYNC AND TEMPO MATCH
Matching tempos manually is a silly task and should be replaced by an exact digital match. Automatic SYNC however, or phase matching, is prone to problems. Djs must learn to hear how songs fit together and the technology needs to recognize there is a difference. In the current implementation of Traktor S4 and Serato Itch for example- they are tied together in a frustrating way ( this is not the case with Traktor Pro). It’s either one paradigm (all manual tempo adjustments) or the other (automatic tempo matching with no further manual adjustment of tempo). This offers the worst of both worlds, when we need a healthy balance of each that forces djs to train their ears and do the important step manually while automating the initial matching of tempos.
INNOVATE IN NEW WAYS
If the only innovations dj software companies create are in the simplification and streamlining of basic dj functions then there will be nothing hard left to do. Along with simplifying the unimportant tasks- we must come up with new challenges that are fun for the dj and compelling to the crowd!
I’ve been enjoying reading a lot of articles on this site, so thank you for that…
But let’s be honest with ourselves here… Any DJ using any type of ‘SYNC feature’ is kidding themselves. It takes away from the artistry of DJing.
A DJ should be able to concentrate on all other aspects of DJing in-spite of needing to beat match, which should come as a second nature through practice!
People who choose to SYNC either can’t, or won’t learn.
All the sync functions and easy controller tricks in the world cannot keep most DJs from playing bad music. Programming is the most ignored aspect of DJing today. Most DJs do not tell a story with the music they are selecting and fail to make a connection with their audience. No amount of “tricks” you can do with your computer will make a shitty track sound good.
Amen
Amen
Fuck yea brotha
This discussion reminds me of a great post by Ben XO on the Dogs on Acid board several years ago (which unfortunately I have been unable to find lately) that discussed beat matching, reading the crowd, etc. at great length and came to some interesting conclusions.
In short, a computer is, by its nature, very capable of matching tempos, particularly when dealing with sequenced material (or warped material, etc.; essentially deriving a steady rate of rhythm with no tempo deviation through the course of the song) as it is realistically just a math calculation, and math calculations are the basis of computing. The computer is also capable of deriving the primary key of music via any number of analysis methods. Again, math is a key component as notes are really just set frequencies, and the relationships can easily be represented with mathamatical ratios. The computer, on the other hand, is woefully bad at many of the other aspects of good djing, as these things are completely unrelated to the ability to do math quickly.
For instance, a computer may be able to tell you that a given track (track A) is in the key of C, and that the BPM is exactly 121.3679221, and the computer can also derive that another track (track B) is in the key of G and is 133.2287310 bpm. Now our computer can apply one of several available algorithms and sync these tracks at any conceivable bpm, as well as adjusting the pitch of one (or both tracks) so that they will be the same or at the very least compatible (obviously, there will be artifacts from these processes due to rounding), and voila, you can seamlessly and smoothly transition from one track to the next.
What the computer is terrible at is understanding when the critical time comes to start track B in order to create the best mix, how long to let the 2 tracks blend together for the maximum effect, and when to silence track A so that track B is presented in its best possible form, and all EQ adjustments required to manage that blend in the most compelling form. The computer is also unable to guage the reaction of the crowd (for now; it is entirely within the realm of possibility that remote cameras could guage changes in pupil dialiation and thermal scanners could show subtle changes in body temperature that reflect changes in heart rate and breathing and the computer could compare these changes and be programmed to deduce the reaction of the crowd), and has no understanding of the meaning of the lyrics (which often play a major role in the crowd response). The computer is also unable to discern what FX will have the most appealing effect on the crowd (or unappealing; there are many pieces of music that attempt to challenge the listener, or create tension).
In other words, the computer will always be superior to a person in regards to the static aspects of DJing that are really just applied math (although the process is not mathematical in our brains, but our thoughts aren’t based on a binary process). On the flip side of the coin, the computer is totally worthless at the creative and individual aspects of what a DJ can bring to the table.
So what we have is a situation where it is easier than ever to handle the fundamental tasks of DJing (realistically, that is all beat matching really is; some people can do it almost instinctively, others cannot), relieving us to put more energy into the creative aspects of a performance.
All that said, I still love watching a good turntablist, and I use my turntables as the backbone of my DJing (although less and less with each passing year) and scratch and juggle as often as possible (and reasonable for the circumstances). My particular favorite DJ performances now are the extensive meshing of the old with the new. Enferno’s Live Remix Project, or the showcase videos of Craze and Rafik using Traktor, turntablism, and controllers could not be accomplished by someone who did not have extensive skills with the old technologies while also embracing all of the new opportunities that these new tools afford.
I’ve got a little bit more than the right amount of hard… right here… alright alright! Ladies try to contain yourselves.
I think that anybody that says beat matching is hard, clearly hasn’t invested the time and effort to hone their skills to get to the point where it becomes easy! Yes auto sync makes it easy for the novice to beatmatch but only once they’ve truly learned the process of mixing and blending songs will it sound good.
When something becomes easy its down to the individual to push them selves further e.g. try beatmatching 3,4 decks, try adding effects, samples, scratching etc……….
The right amount of hard will be identified by how far the individual is willing to push their creativity. The most successful DJ’s will always be the ones most creative irrespective of what equipment or functions they use!
Intresting article, but just to nitpick… DJing is nothing like sports. I’ve always gone on the principle that DJing is “about finding new songs and playing music that you like” – Not mixing between tracks. No matter how advanced technology gets, it’s all about the track selection of the DJ, and no amount of technology will ever be able to recreate that.
I have to agree with all that is said, however the number one skill of the dj is the ability to read the room, to know when to drop each track to maximise the audience experience and maintain and build the energy in the room! software or hardware will never do this, it’s that human element that makes people go to clubs in the first place, that shared experience…
The simple fact about “sync” is that it’s never exactly right. I use VDJ, and sync is always off. Not by a lot mind you, just a hair. I’ll either manually adjust pitch (but I still have the BPM to reference) or just sync and fine tune it from there. Being able to beatmatch by ear is important, because you can’t always rely on the technology… but we’d be stupid not to take advantage of the technology’s benefits. With more time to focus on the sound, and less time for beatmatching, I have more creative freedom.
As long as you’d not just sitting there doing nothing, and you actually USE the time to do something else (like layering some different beats, or sampling.. whatever floats your boat), then you’re expanding the envelope. This is 100% a good thing. The crowd doesn’t always understand what you’re doing, but when they hear a favorite with a new beat, some clever sampling, or a nice mashup… they’ll still respect the talent involved.
@cmster
I dunno if this is what the author meant, but you and several others are saying that it’s ok to use sync to match tempo but beatmatching needs to be learned to be a dj.
When taking tempo sync out of beatmatching, then beatmatching becomes letting the record go at the right moment…the easiest part of beatmatching. then just slight slowing down or speeding of the record to get it perfect. tempo matching is the part that is difficult and requires a keen ear. is it going too fast or too slow? it’s the part that needs to be learned and isn’t easy.
So tempo matching is the tough part, beatmatching is a piece of cake.
I kind of agree with this article and kind of don’t. I used to spin vinyl and it’s like. I hear people say “you know how to dj?!?!?” and it’s like “yeah..” and i’m thinking well nowadays anybody can dj because of the sync button, the only thing that comes to mind is..they don’t get what’s involved. The majority of “audience” members i’ve seen who know nothing of what it takes to dj seem to be impressed even if you just press the sync button.
I personally think no matter how easy stuff gets, musicality is musicality. it sounds good or it doesn’t.
if good music comes out of easiness then there’s talent.
do you play mp3s in a club? do you play mp3s on a huge soundsystem like “funktion one”? do you? so you’re not a dj then! you have no idea what you do to peopls ears! go to school and learn something about sound technology! regards,
do you buy msuic @ beatport? why?
beatport pays no mechanicals to you!
beat give only a 60 to 40 percent deal to you.
and at the end you get only 50% of your money.
because they lie to you!
mp3 is just a business concept against the music and musicians!
dr. motte
In the current implementation of Traktor S4 and Serato Itch for example- they are tied together in a frustrating way ( this is not the case with Traktor Pro). It’s either one paradigm (all manual tempo adjustments) or the other (automatic tempo matching with no further manual adjustment of tempo).
[quote]In the current implementation of Traktor S4 and Serato Itch for example- they are tied together in a frustrating way ( this is not the case with Traktor Pro). It’s either one paradigm (all manual tempo adjustments) or the other (automatic tempo matching with no further manual adjustment of tempo).[/quote]
What, is this for real?? The S4 is built in this stupid way and it wasn’t mentioned in the DJTT review, or did I just miss it?
Manual beatmatching is still the way to go for any music with non-sequenced rhythm tracks, and requires the old-fashioned manic tempo bends to keep it going. Even so, the sync button is a handy shortcut to get the BPMs in range for a starting point. Not to mention that any BPM detection algorithm just isn’t perfect… silly, silly stuff.
This is good to know though. I know I won’t have to give S4 or Itch another thought…
[quote comment=”40189″]Making everybody dance. That is the hard part.
In fact – come one everyone – it is the only part. The only important thing. As soon as we can agree on that and move on we can stop having these pointless debates about methods and just get on with it.[/quote]
Hear Here!
I had a house party for bonfire night here in the UK (it was only 15 people, nothing big) and I had people dancing in my living room, that made the night for me, only a small gathering of friends, in my house , and people were dancing! Not stuck in the kitchen chatting, or out the back smoking, dancing!! That’s what it’s all about, not the tools.
It’s the music, dumbass. (to paraphrase some American politican sometime a while ago :p )
@ lo.definition – people can already play a boyz noize mixtape if they want. Here’s a good mix http:// http://www.mediafire.com/?2b5qcpvb8wmf3qi
People love festivals and they love seeing lights and now with the internet, dj’s they feel like they know… Plus amazing sound. Black boxes have no personality I don’t buy it.
@question- I think the best way is to not worry about it. Let technology come out, do what you wana do and be dope at it. I for one do not care if a dj is playing a controller or a vinyl. As long as the mix is good and the speakers thump I’m good to go.
Finally…… Ean told kids to get some fucking skills. thank you.
Anybody here ever used a crossfader? Isn’t that too easy? Isn’t it “harder” to use two line fader? Or is it better to free a hand to do something really strange with it – maybe scratching!
Every development has this two sides. It can make things easier and free up potential to use it elsewhere or it supports the lazy ones who use the free hand to hold a drink or a girl – what is not a bad idea, anyway 😉
Coming from tape over vinyl and cd to controllers I always welcomed new technology. It gave me the possibilities I always dreamed of when I didn’t have it. Tape Counter, Crossfader, Pitch, Time Display, Master Key, Cue Points, Loops, Sampler, Database, MP3, Browser, Sync, Auto Gain, FX, Waveforms, Midi-Makros, whatever – every of that freed up space I could use to do more wicked stuff. Today I spray samples all over, I play along on a keyboard, I add drum solos and much more. And yes: on a more relaxed party I have more time to just enjoy the music and the people.
If you really think of making your set “harder” you just don’t have enough ideas about how to fill the space you get by using new easymaking technology. And honestly: most of you sound as if or proved that they DO have enough ideas 😉
In 2010 the thrill is no more to beat match incl. the possibility to fail with it (in my opinion there is no excuse today for a broken transition) but to use our cockpit-like technology to amaze the crowd anyway. They WILL notice, they already do.
[quote comment=”40106″]Hi All!
Ean i agree with you to the whole thing but.
Personal it has been very long trip to accept the new technology. But after 8 month of Traktor in midi, cdj and vinyl mode i love it.
Because i have the fundamental skills from start. And i know from heart how it should be done.
The younger new DJ don´t have the older material and understand it. You need that to do a great performance. You need be able to read the audience and pick good tunes. Thats a experience thing.
Younger DJ:s only plays clubmusic, it´s easier to download top 100 on beatport and go. Thats the easiest way to start. Think of a older audience with more musical experience then themselfe. That night will probably be very strickt or a discaster beacause of experience gap and knowledge.
Quality shall overcome…..
12″
PS: I wonder what carpenters said when the new nail gun came? You still need people with skills…..DS[/quote]
Do you have any idea how patronising that post is? you think just because someone is young or hasnt been djing for long that they are going to play shit music? oh how wrong you are.
Mr. Ean Golden you are wrong about your sync comment related to ITCH. Like Kraal posted above ITCH has a sync button which matches tempo only but wont beat match for you unless you hold Shift + Sync. I believe you should correct this information which is erroneous.
It’s all about the music! Can the leader of a lock tight funk band look down at a DJ who is rocking the house? Should a vinyl DJ bag on a guy with CDJs who is making the crowd sweat? Can a DJ with two physical spinning platters in front of him think less of a digital jock who is making the crowd beg for more? No and hell no! It is all about the music.
[quote comment=”40227″]In traktor Pro you can SYNC match tempos and then ,manually adjust them further (relative tempo matching). In S4 and Itch, this is not currently possible.[/quote]
It’s all good Ean – you should know people always just read what the ‘want to hear’..
Do you know if the above works with Timecode? That is essentially what Virtual Vinyl does (did?), and would love if it was also the case with Traktor – I don’t think it does, but will test tonight..
I started DJing back in the early 90s while in college, starting off on turntables and going to Traktor Pro earlier this year. To me as long as you can beat match on TTs, CDs, or beat grid your digital files, you can be at least a mediocre DJ.
The tough part in my opinion is having a large collection of good music and knowing exactly when and how to play it to rock a crowd. Easier today to carry in a laptop loaded with music than vinyl, which weighs about 50lbs a milk crate. Of course with only a few actual DJ oriented record stores out there, digital is the future, regardless of what the popular media says. Rocking the crowd can vary from Ean’s crazy good controllerism routines to some 40 something spinning 80’s new wave tunes on 45s… It’s all good!
I’m 39 and am more than thankful of the music I have been exposed to. Started Jr. High as old school hip hop exploded; was listening to new wave, freestyle, and chicago house in HS, and in college spinning everything from tribal to plain 90’s dance.
My hard comes in the form of having to spend 4 hours on Beatport to find 1 or 2 songs worth having.
“How dare you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin
This is my favorite quote right now. It works on so many levels. Following Eans point of how can we elevate and continue to create our own challenges. The point of technology making things easier is not so we can sit back and relax while it does the work. I am disgusted at realistically how much free time technology has given us that we choose to waste. In this this case the point of sync is to eliminate the room for error of beat matching, especially if your talking 4 decks. Let’s face it traditional 2 deck DJing is going to peak if it hasn’t already. Sort of like scratching did. There is only so much you can do with 2 decks and a mixer. How can anyone here even argue that advances in digital djing are bad. If it weren’t for programs like Traktor, you’d have to have 4 physical decks and a 4 channel mixer if you wanted to do 4 track mixing. First off that would be damn expensive and I don’t know many DJ’s who can keep 4 physical tracks in sync. Digital DJing opened up the creative doors again. Sync to me is what should be forcing you to raise the bar. Sure anyone can technically walk up to the laptop and hit the sync button and be “a dj”. That’s where it’s your job to throw your own loops, samples, cue juggles over top of those synced tunes to put on a fuckin show. Syncs that crutch thats keeping you from train wrecking, where it’s no longer your skills on the line, it’s your creativity that’s on the line, and thats what matters the most.
GREAT stuff! I just FB’d this article to every Vinyl JOCK out there that look down their noses when I walk in with my S4! Put your records on ebay, tell Pioneer to suck it and get with the times.
Guess what guys, I don’t even know how to beat match!
Great post. I use serato on my technic turntables so I still have the enjoyment of beat match manually but the whole visual element of it helps me loads. I’m not sure maybe I should try to not look at the screen as much or just choose tracks then close my laptop lid
Great article Ean, I agreed on every point you made. When I was younger (freshman in college circa 1989) I wanted to be a dj, but hesitated to make the move when all underground house and techno music were in the price range of $10.00 to $20.00 for a 12″. Most of the tracks on a 12″ vinyl was crap. I would spent hours browsing collections at Discorama and Vinylmania in NYC and getting to know local djs.
Thankgoodness for sites like Beatport, it has open the dj doors for me. I can drop $82 and purchase about 40 tracks, I can imagine spending at least $500.00 with vinyl, and how expensive those imports can be. I am bedroom Dj and I post my music online for free, and use Traktor Pro and Vestax VCI-100 to remix 90% of my music live. Peace J.D.T.
Let me give you a little bit of background I live in Chicago and have been djing for 17yrs my wife used to be part owners of a very popular Chicago record store called Hot Jams, where I met her. We have lots of big name dj’s and producers as friends, most of them you would know. I play out on a vci-100se and traktor pro, most of my friends use mainly serato dvs, Chicago is mainly a serato town most of the clubs here have a serato box in the booth not a audio 8. I found out quickly I didn’t like having to disconnect everything to plug myself in to use traktor scratch pro dvs, and I was not to enthusiastic about getting a controller at first. I bought a vci-100 and upgraded the firmware, and I firgured if I didn’t like it I could always just use my dvs. At first I didn’t like it because most of my older tracks have pitch drift and needed to be beatmached by the pitch which was less than desirable coming from a turntable background. Then I figured out that I could turn the sync on and off and then pitch bend to get better and more accurate results. When the s4 was coming out I thought that I would just buy that until the new firmware came out, now I can ride the pitch just like I did on the 1200’s, and the controller is much faster to setup the dvs and I don’t have to worry about dead air from removing all the connection in the booth. Most of my dj friends are misinformed and think that using Traktor pro is cheating because it has a sync function. I ask them if they could keep 4 tables on beat and they say no, I’m pretty good and can only keep 3 on at the most. I explain to them sync and beat grids allows you to be more creative, play on 4 decks, have perfect loops, and it gives you a chance remove your hands from the pitch to tweak your eq’s, and effects without worring that you are going to fall off beat. In the end you are not going to change anyones mind, but videos of Ean does help demostrate the possibilities though. Basically software allows you to be more creative but in the end it is up to, it’s not what you use it’s how you use it. I love my Traktor, just wish they would do something about the beatgrid function that would allow you to change the tempo of a track in between markers to fix pitch drift, and not have to use ableton to do so.
@ nem0nic 🙂 I will vote for u as president.
I find it relevant to say that i recently saw DJ Craze play a set here in South Africa.
Nobody here can doubt the mans’ talent , but i found the set an incredible dumbing down of his obvious skills. In 2hrs of syncing tracks and “rockin’ da clerb”, there were only 4 moments of true brilliance where i felt that i got to see what i came for!
I`m pretty sure that 4 to 5 years ago the room would`ve been holding their breath, hanging on his every needle drop instead of bopping their heads along and occassionally glancing up to see whats making that scratchy sound.
It could possibly be more of his own rebranding than a technological thing, but still – the element of risk that should`ve made a set by one of the masters in the game a magical experience was definitely not there for me. Maybe somebody isnt being challenged enough?
[quote]This article and hopefully the discussion is supposed to be about keeping Djing challenging and recognizing that audiences appreciate watching people pull off challenging feats.[/quote]
Maybe. Some audiences. Roughly the same ones that are hiring turntablists right now I’m sure. Even then, when you go down that road you can get to the point where you’re doing stupid shit just to make it look hard. I’ll throw out body trick beat juggles as a good example. It goes from a nice clean sounding technique to some stupid “look at me, I’m balancing a spinning plate on my nose while I move the crossfader behind my back”.
Really? Is that what a DJ is? If so, why not go all out and DJ while someone shoots arrows at you? Or DJ while hanging upside down in a tank of water? Because I’m not impressed with the fact that you can scratch with your Air Jordans. Or a Wiimote.
[quote]The question is: “What can we do to maintain or discover new challenges while still advancing technology”[/quote]
And this is a great question. And since you’re asking I’ll give you my opinion. I think the first place to start is to learn how to fully utilize the tools you already have. I see a lot of potential in the kit we have available to us now, and I hate that I still have a hard time finding people who even attempt to utilize it fully.
[quote]Some digital djs here are getting so defensive that they are starting to sound like hard core vinyl guys 5 years ago. What ever happened to honestly and openly debating all mediums- including our own?[/quote]
If you don’t want people to give you an opinion, don’t ask for one. No one is shutting anyone down in this thread. Everyone is giving their 2 cents. For me personally, I keep turntables at the center of my DJing equipment and my DVS in absolute mode. Not because I wear beat mixing like some badge, but because that’s how I’m most comfortable DJing. I am also not the future. But I’m keenly interested in facilitating the future of DJing, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where the industry is going.
[quote comment=”40200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXsLlE26FS4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VfY-UbBeqE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88WClIG2hc
Here is a video or 3,
Is it just me or does pete tong look bored?[/quote]
Yup… BORED.. in fact, the only bloke that looks like he’s into it is Sanchez… funny… he’s using CDJ’s and manually beat matching… Hmmm.
If the Q is about discovering new challenges or maintaining old ones then there needs to be a standard even if it is a bit of a moving target. I guess the first pre-requisite to seeing a DJ set and saying “wow, that looks hard/skillful/wicked” would be…It takes practice to pull off, the technology used is enabling rather than limiting (don’t get stuck in a workflow, try doing a set or practice without one of your key pieces of kit and see where it takes you), and the person doing it is able to improvise or go outside of their pre-planned sets.
Definitely not THE answer but it’s my opinion and what I look for in a DJ set if I were to think about “challenging”. After that, go crazy with all the technology you want. In some ways getting all this gear to work is a challenge, much easier to roll up with your cd wallet and give ‘er.
Arggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg.
__
This is NOT a article about SYNC being good or bad. That has been discussed at length. This article and hopefully the discussion is supposed to be about keeping Djing challenging and recognizing that audiences appreciate watching people pull off challenging feats.
__
The question is: “What can we do to maintain or discover new challenges while still advancing technology”
__
Some digital djs here are getting so defensive that they are starting to sound like hard core vinyl guys 5 years ago. What ever happened to honestly and openly debating all mediums- including our own?
__
In traktor Pro you can SYNC match tempos and then ,manually adjust them further (relative tempo matching). In S4 and Itch, this is not currently possible.
[quote post=”8851″]Traktor S4 and Serato Itch for example- they are tied together in a terrible way. It’s either one paradigm (all manual) or the other (all auto).[/quote]
I don’t get this. When using any of the two controllers or in traktor/serato itself it’s possible to configure the SYNC button to just sync tempo. NO phase syncing no automatic beat syncing.. only is s4 which syncs the samples. Although one can get around that one too of course;)
hehe I came here to post Kerry’s article and can see that it’s been discussed already but just in case it’s been lost in the noise for some – really worth a read – resonates loudly (for me at least).
http://www.theproof.co.nz/blog/finding-the-soul-in-sync/
[quote]Hey Nem when are you coming back to DJF?[/quote]
As soon as they come back!
I never left – but I’ve been crazy with work and moving lately.
Also great to see Ean and Nem sparring! Hey Nem when are you coming back to DJF?
you could beat this subject to death. the fact of the matter is that technoligy is here. there is still an art to understand how songs are put together. you just need to focus on other things to set you apart. i think the sync button is great! before you spent all your time frickin matching the beat just right. but there was 2 tables and a simple mixer. thats all you could really do to creat the right sound. now you have cue points, loops, sample decks, beat machine’s. time to get creative with the new tech stuff. not just any joe that is not musicly inclined a little bit can pick the right songs right loops and cue poits to hit. there still an ear and art to it!!
Top notch!! 🙂
Technology has made me a better dj, more creative and with more profits than ever.
First: the vinyl records are only taken away from my house when the conditions are optimal if not they stay at home and since then no more lost, scratched records.
Second: My back is more than comfortable carrying a laptop instead of the vinyl boxes.
Third: buying music online is cheap.
Four: More gigs, less set up time, just show with your vci-100 and your macbook pro, voilá.
Five: push your performance beyond the two decks and a mixer set up. I.e. 4 decks, loops, hotcues.
Six: there are way more microwave DJ´s than ever and that has become a big plus for me because after the club owners tried them, i can charge a lot more because i give them a confidence in a professional way of work and ethics.
Seven: If i get bored with traktor, i use scratch live. If i get bored of both, dust off the wax records.
Back in the days you do not have even equalization of each track, drop a tune in the urei mixer and the only control you got it was the volume and some stereo separation tricks with the balance. Now it is easier to put “your” sound in the mix.
It is great to do your own remixes and tried out in the night and see the crowd reaction to something for sure they never heard before because you done it.
I agree on the concept of keeping simple and as blink to Nem0nic: Lazy dj´s are always been around i remember an explosion of dj´s on late 90´s using the global underground mixes and compilations until the people start to discover the trick.
tony, sorry man, for me, as a listener, what spices me up is hearing the result of a good idea, not the technical side of it. Seriously, i couldn’t care less about that shit of vinyl VS cd VS midi VS auto-sync VS blah blah blah. I love to play with traktor, vci-100 and UC-33 and i don’t give a damn about cd’s. I use sync when i’m recording a set. Sometimes, during the training sessions, i turn it off so i don’t lose the beatmatch process, in my head.
Really guys, defending beatmatching is like defending low level language programming VS high level. IT’S THE EXACT SAME THING.
Just use whatever pleases you in order to please the audience.
I feel sorry that i love something like DJing that, most of the times, it’s all about the looks and not much about the music or mixing ideas. If a guy with just a laptop do a entire mashup set, live, why should i care? And if another guy, does the same with vinyl or cd’s, why should i care??? Bah, tired of the same discussion about this. Do you complain with the pilots because they are using instruments instead of their guts? NO. “Oh, but you aren’t talking about music or art”. You guys aren’t either because beatmatching is a damn tool.
kisses
Bob Dylan went electric. Punks couldn’t play their guitars. Kraftwerk used computers. Technics will no longer make turntables. Last time I checked, the world was still turning.
[quote comment=”40205″]…With no emotional investment, sweat equity, or skin on the table how long will this insta-DJ be around? Will he leave a mark on the scene? Will he build his skills until he has earned the right to take his place amongst the other DJs of our town? Will he leave this stage of his life (as a DJ) with a greater appreciation of the legends that made the scene what it is today? I would tend to answer all of this in the negative, not long, no marks made, no patience, and little to no appreciation. With things coming so easy there is no mystery anymore, and all the wonder is slowly bleeding out of the scene.[/quote]
This kind of overly romantic view of one subset of DJing is a big part of the problem. I’ve been DJing for about 24 years now, and I learned from a guy who had been doing it for more than 10 years before me. I came up with disco and hip hop, and when big technology was a 4 channel light organ with chase. SO I know where you’re coming from when you talk about understanding the importance of understanding your roots. But those are OUR roots. DJs are coming up now that get romantic about Ritchie Hawtin instead of Kool Herc – or Joey Beltram instead of Kraftwerk. When was the last time you got romantic about Delia Derbyshire? Or Brothers Johnson? Our heroes DO NOT have to be their heroes for them to have value as artists.
[quote]With no emotional investment, sweat equity, or skin on the table how long will this insta-DJ be around?[/quote]
Who cares? Bad, lazy DJs have always been (and will always be) bad, lazy DJs. They’ll weed themselves out. This is true of any other art form, whether effected by technology or not. Also, who are you to judge? Did you hire this new DJ to work an event of yours and find he did not deliver? Or you trying to make yourself the arbiter of DJ skill and worth?
[quote]With things coming so easy there is no mystery anymore, and all the wonder is slowly bleeding out of the scene.[/quote]
Really? This sounds more like your problem than anyone else’s. If you no longer see any magic in what you do, maybe it’s time to find another hobby or profession. Why not let the people engaging in a hobby or profession they find entertaining speak for themselves?
[quote comment=”40131″]I challenge you to put a novice in front of station A: your traditional DJ rig and then station B: an Ableton rig. Which set up do you think will start making music first? Which one do you think the novice would begin to start sounding “mixed” on first?
Yes, somebody is going to learn the tricks in Ableton and cheat. Guess what folks, there are cheaters on turntables. Some DJs only mix at drop points (BTW if they are dropping white labels that you’ve never heard how would you ever know?). Some DJs put in premixed CDs and jump around like they are mixing. Hell, let’s take this further; live artists being caught with skipping DATs and unplugged gear.
This vinyl-ism and turntable-ism is starting to sound more and more like fetishism to me. What is more important, the vinyl or music; disc or data?
I think that a stance of “makes it easy” is a rhetorical fallacy.
I’m sorry, this is a change of skill sets (not lack of skill), and mirrors the history of technology in any media outlet. I think the resentment is coming from the fear of “OMG I might have to learn something new in order to stay relevant!”
What I see is in all this is the gradual loosening of the grip turntablists have on the realm of DJing and ya’ll don’t like it. Tough.
Game on![/quote]
+1000
Kerry Adams, your blog article should be attached to this one. It really sums up what the heart of the debate is, how invested are you in the art of DJing? I have tried to teach at least a dozen people how to DJ, some very close friends others complete randoms. Those that were ready to invest themselves in the art were the only ones that stuck around. I have a friend that I taught pick up his own student, and what a different situation it is today. SYNC! and he’s hooked, he’s a DJ! And so he turned wax into wine and needles into fish! Miracles of miracles, we have a new DJ! This guy is going out and picking up an S4 asap and will be rocking top 40 hits like a veteran in no time…or will he?
With no emotional investment, sweat equity, or skin on the table how long will this insta-DJ be around? Will he leave a mark on the scene? Will he build his skills until he has earned the right to take his place amongst the other DJs of our town? Will he leave this stage of his life (as a DJ) with a greater appreciation of the legends that made the scene what it is today? I would tend to answer all of this in the negative, not long, no marks made, no patience, and little to no appreciation. With things coming so easy there is no mystery anymore, and all the wonder is slowly bleeding out of the scene.
I think the essence of being a good DJ is to push your equipment to the limits to make the audience pop. Certain buttons or features may make DJ-ing easier at the most basic level, but I think I would rather listen to a fresh bedroom DJ taking advantage of the sync button when cue-ing up tracks to perform wild and crazy transitions than someone spinning on 1200’s, can perfectly beatmatch, but has grown complacent and just does the same 10 second transition song to song all night long.
To me it really does boil down to this:
What does the DJ bring to the table?
If your job can be completely replaced by iTunes, why can’t it be?
However, as I assume all of us on this site do, if you are actively pushing yourself using loops, effects, levels, and so on, you can push into the danger zone something palpable that the audience gets. 4 decks and all the music you want means you can change songs faster than physically possible on a pair of cdj’s. Think you can incorporate microphone feedback into your set, go for it.
bottom line is that new technology helps dj’s, but presents it’s own challenges. Sync may keep things in phase, but not in phrase, and the club can definitely tell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXsLlE26FS4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VfY-UbBeqE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88WClIG2hc
Here is a video or 3,
Is it just me or does pete tong look bored?
this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcw1bOWe8v4
Here is a suggestion folks………….
How about people posting some video links of DJs putting in an actual PERFORMANCE to a live audience on software or otherwise?Its important to be seen to be doing something totally agree so can anyone post some video links we might all learn something.
Great article. I think people overestimate the sync ability. Just because you have two tracks that you can make the tempo the same, doesn’t mean that it will be easy to mix – two dubstep tracks at 70 bpm may sound totally different. You have to make sure the drums and hats dont clash, etc…and even if you use beat grids through a whole set, it doesn’t mean that the mix will still be good – people may not be feeling the 4th, 5th and 6th song in your preprogrammed set…now what?
There is no software to help you choose great tunes!
thanks for the article..
I don’t know if the skiing reference really plays out like that. There’s talk about skiing with a picture of someone snowboarding, when snowboarding started to become more popular there were many debates among the snowboarders and the skiiers.
The same debate happens in just about anything with a large enough following. I can pop over to my favorite tech site and see a debate rage about old school hackers vs. script kiddies. What about gas grills vs charcoal grills?
There are going to be plenty of purists on each side of the debate with various arguments. There are also plenty of people on each side that are not pushing whatever they believe in to the limit.
Sticking Feathers Up your Butt does NOT make you a Chicken!
then only thing that matters is that the crowd have fun.and i think nobody cares about your mixing skills and scratching if you play shitty music.you must have a good collection of music and feeling for the party that is what a dj really needs. the mixing skills are overrated! i love my vci 100 and you can do a lot of technics that are interesting and hard to do. i don´t understand the people this is the future and this will establish oneself
I have just purchased an NS7 FX based purely on the fact that it “Is” big.
What I love about it, is that it has platters that move (and look like records).
Seems simple, but I find people relate to what’s going on when the see me cuing tracks and physically controlling the music.
And weirdly I get less requests!!
On smaller units people just thought I was just controlling itunes!!
BTW I don’t have the buffer of a DJ booth on this particular gig so people can basically see everything I do, and with the NS7 there’s a real “Show” element that people really enjoy.
But from my personal experience, if a DJ knows how to play the right tune at the right time,
and make a crowd jump! Then I wouldn’t care if they were playing off a casio calculator !!
Making everybody dance. That is the hard part.
In fact – come one everyone – it is the only part. The only important thing. As soon as we can agree on that and move on we can stop having these pointless debates about methods and just get on with it.
Great post.
Motivated me to finally put something up similar, and I guess in response over here – http://www.theproof.co.nz/blog/finding-the-soul-in-sync/
[quote comment=”40186″]
So really, it’s not about the equipment and the fact that life is now simpler with it, it’s what you can do with it that counts.
Ps. And just like the djs of old that hung onto that one remix that everyone else wanted, my Ableton setup is my golden egg. But even if another dj had to copy that setup exactly as is, its the way I use it that makes the difference.
[/quote]
This is where I could use a ‘LIKE’ button 😉
When I started out on vinyl years ago I learned the hard way. I felt the stress and subsequent rush of getting those beats lined up. Then I became good at it. Then it became second nature. I had to challenge myself and turned to scratching. Soon I exhausted that too, and started live looping and scratching, throwing in the bizarre but fun moves seen on DMC videos.
CDJs came along, and I had to re-learn beat mixing – just because of the difference in tactile response and sensitivity. It didn’t take long and even that became second nature, helped along by the fact that I had grown up on turntables and understood the nature of beat mixing. Before platter-driven CD players came along, I challenged myself to find a way to emulate scratching, thus giving new life and uniqueness once again to the music I was playing – much like when I dj’d with turntables. Platter-driven cdjs made that easier, and soon other tricks followed that would perceptively make a track sound different.
Now I use Ableton, an APC40 and M-Audio Trigger Finger. Once again I had to re-learn the basics – this time called warping (akin to the above-mentioned sync button). But as anyone who uses Ableton knows the time it takes to learn to warp is very very short, and then begins the prep work. Once your tracks are warped and beats all lined up you’re good to go. But really, this is just the wee tip of the ice-berg. There is no argument that standing in the booth pushing buttons to begin play on warped tracks is sooooooo boring, but its the same experience as beat matching two vinyls after 5 years of doing it all the time. I agree you need the tension… if only even just for yourself. So once again, it’s up to you how you’ll do that. And it’s within that creativity that you’ll separate yourself from the countless other digital djs out there.
Immediately, for me, I wanted to find a way to emulate scratching a track using Ableton, like my previous experience with turntables and cdjs. I realized I needed to be seen “doing something”… or give the illusion of that, else I’m just standing there.
Through trial and error and ongoing learning my set now includes the FREEDOM to mix any track or any number of tracks at any drop harmonically, with acapellas and loops and rises and falls… which already separates me from the next guy. Added to this is me visually twisting knobs and pushing buttons with somewhat exaggerated gestures so that the crowd can see I’m doing something, but at the same time they can hear the effect I’m having on the music. And finally, playing live percussion via the Trigger Finger with a popular track adds another level of freedom to creativity.
So really, it’s not about the equipment and the fact that life is now simpler with it, it’s what you can do with it that counts.
Ps. And just like the djs of old that hung onto that one remix that everyone else wanted, my Ableton setup is my golden egg. But even if another dj had to copy that setup exactly as is, its the way I use it that makes the difference.
I wonder if photographers complained about aperture priority making photography too easy/accessible? I think mostly they were stoked on not having to worry as much about exposure anymore. They could focus on capturing the moment they were experiencing with one less layer of effort. Freeing up brain processing power for more complex tasks IS what technology allows. The water powered mill killed the grinding rock which is why there is no more bread. Oh wait, robots killed the auto industry which is why there are no more cars, auto beat matching killed Djing which is why……
A Dj, a snowboarder and a monster truck driver all walk into an employment office……hilarity and hijinks follow and no one will ever be the same.
Besides all that has been said, lets remember how easy is to carry all your tracks in your pocket. When you are in a wheelchair its kinda hard to move crates of vinyl.
[quote comment=”40175″]
Theres a great segment in the movie “It Might Get Loud” where Jack White talks about limitations pushing creativity. About how he plays with just one pick and pushes the instruments to the corners of the stage so he has to run to them. I agree with Jack. Tension and limitations make music more interesting.
The controller needs to have an element of danger or tension. There needs to be some sort of challenge. Until this changes, everything will remain mediocre.[/quote]
this is exactly what I am talking about. Thanks for providing such a great reference- its really about leaving in the danger and tension that makes music so great.
I could post another long winded response, or I could say…
[quote]Personally, I push the envelope. If it’s too easy and I’m standing there without the rush of trying something that could go up in flames I find something to mess with that puts me back in the “danger zone” risking life and mix to achieve the nirvana of the perfect set.[/quote]
^^THIS^^
Want to see innovation in the “controllerist movement”? Stop worrying about what another DJ thinks of you and start pushing boundaries. If you have time to stand around and worry about how you’re perceived, you’re part of the problem. Get to work.
And Pauly D sucks. Now I’m done.
Don’t get me wrong btw, I love DJing. I am not usually this cynical but I can’t help push the issue where I see it going. Keeping it “hard”, well it’s all subjective isn’t it? Otherwise we need to start a UN committee to preserve the DJ, gathering consensus from across the globe to establish what is the right amount of “hard”. Personally, I push the envelope. If it’s too easy and I’m standing there without the rush of trying something that could go up in flames I find something to mess with that puts me back in the “danger zone” risking life and mix to achieve the nirvana of the perfect set.
Digital DJing is the future there is no question. But most dj’s are just building playlists and are boring to listen to. It’s fundamentally flawed.
Theres a great segment in the movie “It Might Get Loud” where Jack White talks about limitations pushing creativity. About how he plays with just one pick and pushes the instruments to the corners of the stage so he has to run to them. I agree with Jack. Tension and limitations make music more interesting.
The controller needs to have an element of danger or tension. There needs to be some sort of challenge. Until this changes, everything will remain mediocre.
Without pouring over every word within the discussion let me throw this idea into the mix. I am an engineer by day, DJ by night. In my professional line of work I see technological developments speeding us towards a future dominated by hyper-productive individuals able to manage complex programs that, coupled with the newest 32 or 128 core mac tower, will be able to do what took thousands of man hours in the 60’s in weeks or days. Highways and other major infrastructure are no longer put together by collaborative teams led by senior designers of the 30 – 40 year vintage but by a tech in his 20’s who happens to geek out to AutoCAD. Going even further back when they were first making steel bridges in the early 1900’s a single man (with some assistants), an ‘artist’ of engineering, that had dedicated his entire existence to the craft was responsible for the design and analysis of these complex structures.
FFWD to today, DJing as we know it began to show signs of this trend. Soon we’ll have songs fed into computers managed by some kid able to manage a complex system beaming out a constant stream of mixes for the increasingly conglomerated tv/radio/internet. Mixed in Key, Traktor, Ableton are all paving the way for the obsolescence of the “DJ”. Face facts, it is not a huge stretch to imagine that beatgridded, keyed, and other yet to be determined analysis (brain mapping w/feedback, computer analysis of song structure, etc) will create a more formulaic way of mixing music. I am not afraid of this future, I have made sure that what I do and what my crew do are things that no computer can do…for the next 20 years at least 🙂 I fear for the workers, and wedding DJs that will be replaced by this “black box/black obelisk” future.
Perhaps this goes above some peoples heads, I’m just laughing at how the “Luddite” mentality still pervades. If you don’t like the trend of the day, learn to effectively protest. What that means to DJing I don’t know, maybe don’t pay to see or support digital DJs? Then why are you here? Start by boycotting DJTT. If the majority want to save DJing in it’s previous “artistic” form then start a movement, open a record shop, start manufacturing turntables again. You wouldn’t be alone, you can all go broke together.
I think that for the dj that starts on a laptop its very important to understand basic technique,when and where to bring in/out the tracks etc.
Although we have all these effects and loops and creative stuff sometimes its just a case of mixing from one tune to the next and making sure that the next tune is the right one.
My fear would be a dj that does not understand timing and mixing fundementals just using sync loads of effects and loops thinking that to him it sounds great when in reality its a fucking mess.
Im sure there are some examples on youtube lol.
The thing is I use traktor but I could put together a playlist and have my mum mixing within 5 minutes but it wouldnt make her a DJ, if I presented her with cdjs or turntables it would take alot longer than 5 minutes.
At the end of the day its about playing the right music at the right time the fancy stuff is the extras and the icing on the cake.
Ean Great Article
I have been djing since the early 90’s and have learned many things since then. I live in Chicago and started playing raves in 94 when I started learning how to dj there were certain fundamentals that were important and that every dj should know.
1. Count so you are throwing your tracks in on measure, so many people don’t know how to do this and if you don’t your tracks won’t build up together and break at the right points.
2. Beat matching you should practice beat matching and should be able to do it without touching the record or the nipple just the pitch. Any adjustments made other than the pitch can be heard and is not accurate.
3. Adjusting your volumes so your tracks don’t come in overbearing. The side you are bringing in the headphones are cued to that side until your volume is to high to hear then switch to hear the track you are bringing out.People should not be able to tell when you are mixing it should sound seamless.
Back when I first started djing you would bump tracks in using the x fader during breakdowns and let it drop at the end of the breakdown. For a real challenge I used to like to have both tracks break down together with no beats and come out dead on beat. To add depth to your mixes you work the eq’s those were the innovative things at that time. But now there are so many things at your disposal that let you be creative you should use them to thier full potential. Things have come a long way and there will always be people that will down play what you are doing. They did the same thing when cdj’s first came out when they said it wasn’t really djing. I have nothing to prove I can mix either way, but I do believe you have to walk before you can run. Maybe before you decide you want play with all the functions of these great tools you should know the fundamentals. Then you too can say you have nothing to prove, because if it comes down to it you can probally mix better than them either way.
Fantastic article Ean.
Totally agree with keeping it simple.
This is the reason pioneer has done so well with its cdj range any pro dj can walk up to them and within a few minutes work them out.Also they are easy for the crowd to watch and relate to.
I use a controller and the problem is they are not as visual as the above also having things under shift buttons and stuff means that lots of features dont get used the extra button pushing increase chances of eror whilst decreassing instant creativity.If I had my way the shift button would be banned on controllers! lol
When I first got traktor pro it did my head in, some of the automated functions were rubbish compared to what I can do manually.
I agree with the other guy I use sync to match the tempo then I turn it off and keep things in time manually its way more responsive like this.
I just can understand why nobody has brought out the controler equivelent of a cjd everyones trying to reinvent the wheel!
I feel that it is important to feel like you are performing on the equipment not just using it.I often um and ah about going back to playing CDS on the cdjs I know its more messing around burning discs but I felt like I was doing more as the interface was better.
Ahh, to sync or not to sync, a debate i never get tired of. I understand that the discussion is larger than that, but sync really is the main crux of it, i think. i think that one can’t deny how central beat-matching is to the whole idea of djing-i think it is ingrained in the fabric of the artform, that it isn’t going away anytime soon. I know when I first started djing in college in the late 90s, beat-matching was it-that was the fun of it, the competition of it. People still use vinyl, still use cdjs, still beat match on dvs. while beat-matching isn’t necessary for every performance anymore (i, myself, sync it up from time to time), beat-matching isn’t dying anytime soon. and, hey, it may not mean anything to you, but i will always have a little more respect for a dj that can beat match,than one that can’t. beat-matching helps you understand the music more; i mean, keeping rhythm and counting off beats just seems like such a natural part of the music. plus, sometimes i do get the feeling that some people denigrate beat-matching b/c they just don’t feel like/are afraid of/are too lazy to learn to beat match. and thats fine too. the technology is there, so different people will use it to different extents, and view it in different ways. I think its a cool discussion.
Great discussion. Here is my two cents. I started ‘playing’ with DJ programs two years ago, and started doing it professionally this year. I’m a perfectionist, and I’m musically trained, so I’m partial to mixing in key and I like the beats to be lined up perfectly. For these reasons, I admit that I do not fully ‘get’ how beat matching was done 15 years ago.
Personally I think the Sync function is comparable (I dont wanna say ‘just as bad’) as any CDJs or devices that CLEARLY DISPLAY the bpm of the songs, since if you already know the bpm of the song, then all you have to do is push a fader or two and BOOM the bpm’s are the same. But would anyone call that “beat matching”? I hope not, but displayed BPMs sure are useful though, and following nem0nic’s line of thought, so are side by side wave forms. These things make DJ’ing WAY WAY easier, and if I didn’t have them, I probably would never have become a DJ. Frankly, DJ’ing without side by side wave forms (whether it comes from a laptop screen, or a CDJ) is fucking ridiculously hard. Thus my respect for old school DJ’s on vinyl is through the roof. And maybe that’s part of the issue here.
It’s funny, cuz I hate how easy Dj’ing has become too. Bedroom Dj’s are everywhere, and with the help of music blogs, it’s SUPER easy to get good tracks. So I hate those assholes who call themselves DJ’s and don’t even understand how mixing works. They just play out one Pop song and start the next one. Bullshit, I think you’ll agree, and worse of all, some of these guys get paid to do it. Major bullshit.
However, that doesn’t make SYNC or side by side wave forms any less awesome for those who really care about the music – those to care about making something more out of putting two songs together. My musical philosophy behind DJ’ing is about idealizing the saying, “The sum of the whole does not equal its part.” In my opinion, we’re making music, not just playing it for a crowd. Maybe it’s because I started out as a musician, but this is my art, and when I’m DJ’ing, I utilize all the tools to artistically express myself. I understand this is a different philosophy than more crowd-centered DJ’ing (and perhaps that’s my downfall), but I think it’s in line with the general consensus here: what’s important is the music, not the tools used to make it.
[quote]Your perspective of a dj is that we are workers that have “jobs” and therefore should use any tools available to do that job better. [quote]
I think you’ve missed my overall point, Ean. These new tools allow us to be MORE creative – more artistic. IF we choose to use them in that way. And unlike some forms of art, ours generally has a purpose. It’s not art for art’s sake, we’re there to entertain people. Those people don’t care don’t know or care how we’re achieving that final goal – only that we achieve it.
Let’s take your performances as an example. You often utilize hotcues. These did not exist at all when I started DJing. When CD decks finally started making it into DJ booths, the cues were laggy and could not be relied on. So the “technology” is enabling you to do something that would otherwise not be possible until recently.
How is that any different at all from using sync?
Why is one accepted without question, while another needs justification? I find this kind of attitude hypocritical. Using sync is the devil, but I SURE DO like my side to side waveforms. I don’t touch that sync button, but I LOVE those 8 cue points and seamless loops. As digital DJs we need to get away from this ridiculous idea that using the tools built into these programs somehow diminishes us as DJs. Instead, we need to learn how to use them creatively.
You want to know why traditional turntablists turn their nose up at most digital DJs? Because they’re largely right – the technology is still mostly being used as a crutch instead of a tool. The way to change that perception IS NOT to turn into a luddite and dismiss that technology. Instead, we need to embrace it – master it – and use it in ways that allow us to deliver a unique performance. And when I look at guys like CTRLD perform, I see that happening. He uses (among other things) Ableton Live in his performance. But watching his performance is entertaining, the music is compelling, and it’s not like he’s standing there pressing play.
The technology isn’t the problem. It’s how it’s being used that’s the problem.
Mix good music, drop some fx not all 24 fx that traktors has in a 30 to 60 min set and know your role as a dj.
If youre the opener, be a good opening dj, if your headliner, you earned that right and do your job, if you close, rock the set and leave a lasting impression with the crowd.
KISS always works.
LOL
[quote comment=”40150″][quote comment=”40143″]In that space, the artistic one, I think having this converstaion is very relevent. If your just spinning tracks- then yes, the music is the driving factor. If however, your trying to craft a performance- then the challenge of that performance is a totally legitimate factor![/quote]
Wow, this is the first time that I’ve ever heard difficulty being a criteria of creativity.
While we’re all tech geeks here, this is still music; not Donkey Kong. Think those game controllers are going to your head 😉
It seems to me there is a tendency to want to group artists into analog or digital clasifications. The contention seems to be that if you appreciate vinyl and / or turntables then you don’t appreciate or see the validity of the digital mediums. I think this is a mistake. Life isn’t black and white.. there are many shades of grey in between. For example, I love the freedom that Traktor offers me, but I also like to mix manually and control my setup w/ timecode vinyl most of the time. I also have a couple of Akai LPD8s that I’ve mapped to cue points and FX banks. Thus, I’m using what I consider to be the best of both worlds to conduct my art. The danger in dismissing the old medium is that newcomers will lose part of the art.. mixing the old school way isn’t purely mechanical.
[quote post=”8851″]So what this is going to come down to in the very near future is lazy versus not lazy. Artistic versus not artistic.[/quote]
Agree.
Also agree with the valid point you make, Ean, that sometimes less is more.
I love my VCI-300 for that reason. Apart from three hot cues, that’s it. Yeah it’ll sync the BPMs (sometimes), but it won’t hold them locked for you. (Well actually, it will if you beatgrid stuff, which I don’t. Not because I’m lazy, but because it feels like riding a child’s bike with stabilizer wheels on it if I do.)
Was just having a similar discussion with the guys over at Music Think Tank. We seem to all have become obsessed with HOW we do things rather than WHAT we’re doing. For 25 years, 2 decks and a mixer was it, so it was about WHAT we played.
Digital has given us some great leaps forward. But we need to remember the WHAT is the most important thing. Good music programming hasn’t changed one bit in 25 years, and for 95% of places where people dance, that’s all that’s required. I say “all”, but it’s a skill you can spend a lifetime trying to master and it feels so good when you get it right.
I don’t believe that really anyone else cares about the HOW except us, and we care far too much about it sometimes.
P.s. I have two grandmasters and a rane ttm 56 I want kontrol x1 and I have an oxygen 8… I want to work on the oxygen mapping to fit my style as I get better with it. Perfect blend… I will go pro with this set up….. watch me. I dana compete in dmc west coast as well. HollR. Oh yeah I live in mammoth lakes…. we been shedding send thursday now..wootwoot!
In my opinion digital djing opens doors… if u mash up tracks like u are using 4 cdjs than u aren’t taking advantage of ur gear. If ur droping loops juggling over them transitioning into tracks with effect chains andjust getting down than that’s totally different. I am a tech convert. Listen to invisible skratch pikilz or the beat junkies… its called class.. style… flavor… vs. New djs that learn tricks after trick and can’t do a dope phrase with baby cuts. people are impressed by tricks but if they heard Somone get down with dope skillz and composition gaurantee they will pick that person every time. What im getting at is gear didn’t make the dj….. so let’s slay some gangster sets with watever is at our disposal.
[quote comment=”40143″]I often get a kick out of these discussions, because they show how isolated and frankly out of touch DJing can be as a profession. We wouldn’t be having a discussion about how “hard” our jobs are if we were stone masons or home builders. It’s funny to think that we lose worth because the perception of our job (by our peers) is “too easy”.[/quote]
Your perspective of a dj is that we are workers that have “jobs” and therefore should use any tools available to do that job better. There are certainly djs out there that fit that description- and for them, your probably right – why should they care about how hard it is to pull off their job? For the rest of us- djs that are focused on performance, art and pushing forward skills- its a lot more than a job.
_
In that space, the artistic one, I think having this converstaion is very relevent. If your just spinning tracks- then yes, the music is the driving factor. If however, your trying to craft a performance- then the challenge of that performance is a totally legitimate factor!
i think digital djing is largely a good thing, it’s raised the bar for quality control standards. to be considered a good digital dj you have to:
a) be well rounded, play sets with songs from multiple genres, sets that have large dynamic bpm range, and utilization of crafty mixing techniques that takes advantage of the technology.
or
b) produce your own music, remixes and edits to play in your sets, and have access to lots of unreleased material by other producers to play as well.
or
c) all of the above.
Well, I have been spinning for nearly 19 years, mainly through CDJ’s and vinyl, I know use Traktor and the S4… my opinion is simple really… It isnt the tools, it’s the music… I don’t worry about the tools, I aim for the right tracks at the right time. Believe me I have spun at some great nights where my mixes were no where near perfect, but the crowd didnt care, they just went nuts anyway 🙂
[quote]How about the guy that just prints out the Picasso picture on his shiny new PC? Is he just as good? He can copy it perfectly.[/quote]
Here’s the difference. Printing out a copy isn’t an act of creation. This is akin to a DJ playing a pre-recorded mix. That’s nothing but a lazy DJ, and they’ve existed LONG before a DJ brought a computer into a DJ booth.
The ultimate irony in this luddite attitude is that soon, DJs who are “keeping it real” by playing physical media are going to sound like cavemen banging rocks together, and the kid in the DJ booth rocking Ableton and a couple cheap controllers will sound like Beethoven.
[quote]I was never worried that synthesizers would replace musicians. First of all, you have to be a musician in order to make music with a synthesizer.
Robert Moog [/quote]
Above nem0nic asks an important question: If you found out that Picasso bought his paints from a store, would that cheapen his work in your eyes? How about the guy that just prints out the Picasso picture on his shiny new PC? Is he just as good? He can copy it perfectly.
I don’t feel like there is a team of engineers sitting around in a lab trying to come up with an “easier to play guitar” (And no Rockband doesn’t count! hehe)
There is a reason many of the great DJs are OLD. It’s because it’s not “easy” to rock. Doesn’t matter what equipment you use. That being said I think DJs that don’t play records are giant douche bags. I’m 99% sure I’ll be one of those douche bags soon.
Do not fear fellow DJs! A wise man once laid out the EXACT career plan we must take. And it doesn’t have shit to do with all of this:
“Fuck bitches, Get money.”
–Christopher George Latore Wallace
I often get a kick out of these discussions, because they show how isolated and frankly out of touch DJing can be as a profession. We wouldn’t be having a discussion about how “hard” our jobs are if we were stone masons or home builders. It’s funny to think that we lose worth because the perception of our job (by our peers) is “too easy”.
More than at any time in the past, DJing is about creation. Being creative gives DJs an edge – even when that DJ is a wedding DJ. And technology has enabled us to move past playing other people’s music end to end and start MAKING music of our own. TO facilitate that process of creation, a new set of technologies has emerged – from song analysis and advanced transient detection to high quality pitch change algorithms. But instead of being seen as an advance, these new developments are seen as “cheating”. I wonder of the electric drill was seen as cheating – or the pneumatic hammer. If you told a carpenter who was building a house that his use of an electric drill was “cheating”, what do you think HIS response would be?
This whole “argument” about how hard our jobs should be is frankly ridiculous. If you found out that Picasso bought his paints from a store, would that cheapen his work in your eyes? Because this is the kind of insane minutia we as DJs are getting into.
We are entertainers. We are judged by the people we are tasked with entertaining. We should utilize anything that allows us to achieve that goal. And the great thing about all this new technology is that we can be BETTER, more unique entertainers than we could 10 years ago. 10 years ago, DJs were judged as much for their collection as they were their skills, because there was no digital delivery and everyone didn’t have access to all the same music. It MEANT something to have whites and imports and alternate mixes. This is (in part) what differentiated you from others in your area. It’s a big part of the reason why some DJs could get away with not beat mixing music at all. That’s changed in the last few years. Digital distribution means that we can all pretty much have access to the same tracks. We can find out what our “idol” DJs are playing and put those tracks into rotation quickly. And if we see another play a track that gets a wild reaction from the floor, we can get that track into OUR rotation easily. The BAD part of that has been a recent “sameness” in a lot of DJs sound. But that’s where technology once again finds a way. Now DJs can create new versions of tracks that are unique to that DJ.
So what this is going to come down to in the very near future is lazy versus not lazy. Artistic versus not artistic. DJs that have been getting by with end to end mixing will be pushed out of the business by DJs who have a more unique sound. Turntablists will have to compete with controllerists for gigs. And it will all boil down to entertainment. Lazy DJs won’t bother utilizing social media to spread the word. Lazy DJs will keep end to end mixing the same crap as other lazy DJs and they’ll eventually die out. No one will care about how hard their job looks. They’ll care about how much money the DJ is bringing to the bar. And how pumped the crowd gets when they’re “spinning”.
So don’t worry about how “hard” your job looks. Learn to utilize these new technologies and how to use them to differentiate yourself in your market. The dinosaurs more worried about looks than results will be weeded out soon enough.
“Controllers are getting better every day and we have come a long way since the first ones came rolling off the line but are they taken seriously yet? Not totally- and that might not come until the surfaces are really understood by djs AND the audience.”
I think a way to get these things understood is to have the audience get a better look at what your doing. I’ve seen several metal keybordists in order to prove there’s no sequencer playing their parts. tilt the keys almost upside down at an angle with the keys facing the audience so they can see what they are doing. Obviously this wont work with standard turntables, but if your using a mixer, MidiFighter, or MPC-like controller this might be an option. Let the audience SEE what your doing, and they might start to get a clue.
And BTW it’s BATTLESTAR Galactica. Not Battleship. (Yes I know I’m a dork.)
great entry. I’ve never even thought of that how controllers are making everything so simple and how there will really be no creative ness in djing anymore.
DVS? I swear every one over looks DVS. I started on traktor and used sync on all my mixing, month later I am bored of DJing, even after playing around with effects using sync just bored me and I felt like a glorified jukebox. Basically, it wasn’t challenging or hard.
I upgraded to tsp, got some new turntables and now I switch between wax and timecode vinyl during my sets, in the dubstep scene I am involved in people love real wax, theirs nothing like dropping a white label and re-loading it two or three times. Holding up a sick 12″ after playing always creates a nuts reaction and therefore I wont be moving to staring at my macbook at pressing buttons any time soon.
Technology is good in my opinion and I have embraced it. However I’d rather have a fully cooked meal than a microwave one.
So OK, now that yur synched in a second, wadaya going to do with yer spare time?
Looping, layering, superlong transitions, harmonic mixing, 4 deck mixing make each performance unique.
-Er, excuse me my shazam isn’t iding the track.
I love it when Digital Djs do a set & you can’t what the f*ck is playing and there’s this loop that keeps coming back & everyone is dancing.
If yur not sweating, it’s cause yur not having fun.
SYNC and TEMPO match
are separate in serato ITCH on the vci-300 the ‘auto tempo’ button sets up the BPM’s to match not sync the two tracks you must actually press “shift + autotempo ” to sync
**food for thought**
reminds me of something moby mentioned waaay back in the day, when the “hardness” of producing edm was heavily compared to the “hardness” of creating traditional music with “real” instruments… to which he replied (paraphrasing)”have you seen the size of the manuals, they’re like telephone books!”
-tenten one
facebook.com/tenten1
I was a DJ in my early twenties in the eighties. I used Technics’s 1100, 1600 and 1200. Beat matching with the 1100’s and 1600’s took a long time. Last time I mixed two tracks must have been in the late eighties before I graduated from college to pursue a career in the financial world.
Now in my mid-forties, I started seeing people my age turned into DJ’s at trendy bars, in South America where I live. Then, I figured I could do the same (not professionally but as a Hobbypreneur every now and then) and started researching the new technologies and sources of information (that’s how I found DJTT). Conclusion: My S4 is on the delivery truck as I write this. The way I see it (as of today) I will have a blast manually beat matching some 70’s disco tracks as well as some 80’s material. For 90’s or current stuff I may use the SYNC button to save time.
I will focus more on other things like harmonic mixing and using loops here and there as well as effects but mostly on the music. My generation probably won’t care less about the mixes, they just want to hear the music that brings the good memories, as well as the current stuff that their children listen to or whatever they hear on the radio.
IMHO the real challenge for me is to find the right balance of loops here and there and effects just to make it sound a little different than what they are used to. Maybe using Maschine to play some percussion or to add sampled vocals here and there would do the trick for that kind of crowd.
I love technology and I embrace it. I think when you have all this technology at your fingertips, the biggest challenge is how to use it creatively in order to make a difference.
I have total and utmost respect for all you guys that do this for a living and during the months that I have been reading ALL your comments I have learned a lot. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. A special thank you for Ean, I like the way you write and present the information to your audience. Very professional. BTW: I had a blast when I watched your routine videos with the S4. Cheers.
Great article. However, this topic has been beaten to death all over the interwebs. None the less, here’s my opinion:
The DJ’s who scoff at Ableton/Traktor/Laptop DJing fall into two categories-
1. Oldschool DJ’s who still cling to their analog hardware and the countless hours it took them to master the gear they use, and the experiences they had, mostly afraid of having to learn new technology to keep up with the times.
2. People who secretly embrace the benefits of digital DJing but dont want to look like less of a DJ so they complain about SYNC and how it’s ruining DJing.
The bottom line is, our lives are becoming easier as DJ’s, with less to haul to gigs, less to setup, etc. Ean’s article states there’s less to go wrong with Digital setups, but what about computer crashes/freezes? Laptops and USB connections that are fragile like turntable needles?
Or better yet, people tagging your song with Shazam and figuring out what your hard-to-find remix is called that makes your set special and unique? That wasn’t even conceivable when analog was the DJ standard.
We’ve got new issues as digital takes over, not more necessarily, but not less either; just different.
SYNC isn’t flawless either. Something like 10% of my tracks drift so much sync does little to make smooth transitions easy.
“If the dancefloor’s pumping, THAT’S DJing” 😉
Like the points made, plus with a level playing ground music wise ,it gives the DJ more of a chance to be creative.
Im all for progress but skills/ or lack of will be the one thing that sets DJ’s apart.
Interesting question
Like Ben Liebrand from Holland once said to a wannabee DJ: It’s not the tools that make the dinner, it’s the cook.
The tools (can)make it very easy nowadays, that’s true and the needed skills have shifted to being digital creative.
Maybe a different name is an option?
DJ for the classic DJ’s who jockey the discs like on cdj2000 and SL1200 and CJ for the Controller Jockeys…
I challenge you to put a novice in front of station A: your traditional DJ rig and then station B: an Ableton rig. Which set up do you think will start making music first? Which one do you think the novice would begin to start sounding “mixed” on first?
Yes, somebody is going to learn the tricks in Ableton and cheat. Guess what folks, there are cheaters on turntables. Some DJs only mix at drop points (BTW if they are dropping white labels that you’ve never heard how would you ever know?). Some DJs put in premixed CDs and jump around like they are mixing. Hell, let’s take this further; live artists being caught with skipping DATs and unplugged gear.
This vinyl-ism and turntable-ism is starting to sound more and more like fetishism to me. What is more important, the vinyl or music; disc or data?
I think that a stance of “makes it easy” is a rhetorical fallacy.
I’m sorry, this is a change of skill sets (not lack of skill), and mirrors the history of technology in any media outlet. I think the resentment is coming from the fear of “OMG I might have to learn something new in order to stay relevant!”
What I see is in all this is the gradual loosening of the grip turntablists have on the realm of DJing and ya’ll don’t like it. Tough.
Game on!
I TOTALLY agree with Ponyboy and DJ Master P it’s technology… Get over it and use it to your advantage… I understand the old way of doing things cause I’m old enough to not have a choice but to learn how to beat match… BUT if we keep talking about the old days and the new bucks we don’t sound any different than old jazz musicians/artist… That refused to change with the times.
[quote post=”8851″]SEPARATE SYNC AND TEMPO MATCH[/quote]
^^this.. exactly what ive been doing for as long as ive been DiJ’ing. but my reason is different, im too lazy to beatgrid all my tracks… so ive no choice but to phase match manually, it probably saves me some time too.
interesting article over all. not sure if i agree with the SYNC verdict, i think its ALL good. matching the tempos of 2 songs is not exactly a feat, id say everybody(everybody with decent hearing that is) with a bit of practice would be easily able to recognize when the tempos dont match and adjust accordingly. and i dont think the crowd came to the club to listen and examine the DJs beatmatching skills.
anyway, its all about the music! KISS fits this article perfectly.
I remember seeing Mark Farina DJ a show at MIghty SF and the “kid” DJ had his laptop running serato or something… Mark came on stage and the first thing he did was Unplug the laptop handed it over and said something like “get this shit out of the way.” With nothing but wax and a mixer he gave a straight 2 hour or something mix with3 turntables and was killing every transition…..I was like wow….thats a REAL DJ……!
I agree with many of the points made both in article and commentary.
When I started using an Xponent over the Torq with timecode, I found how easy life can be with the sync. I like how Torq will not only match the tempos to one another or to a global midi clock, but will even have a general idea of the first beat in a bar of music, so you won’t drop the tune at the wrong time in a bar.
However, I also found that many new tracks still aren’t mathematically perfect to make a sync work effectively. I’ll get into later in the track, past some breakdowns, and suddenly see my beatgrid is off by one or two beats. Suddenly the program thinks the first beat is where the second or third beat is. We can say it was a badly made track, but the beat lines are on the actual beats…but the problem is that these programs don’t compensate for when a tune perhaps doesn’t adhere to the match of 4 beats per bar and 8 bars to a line of music. I know with Torq I can put in tempo anchors, but you get my point why I’ll still many times turn off sync and go manually.
Let’s not forget the other elements in great blends, like tweaking the EQ and as I mentioned above, the timing of WHEN you put in the next tune. I have yet to see a software get this right, and producers shouldn’t be forced to arrange tunes to make it easier.
The “KISS” standpoint on the controllers I am very much in agreement with. I like the controllers like the Xponent for the utter basics (decks and mixer), but like that I can attach a Midi-Fighter to control the sampler, or an MPD24 for the effects. I think the best controllers are going to be modular systems where DJs can craft together their perfect setup.
I’m also in agreement of the controllerists and digital DJs crafting their own set of tricks the way turntable DJs have since the beginning. We don’t need to measure the skill of a digital DJ based on if he/she can do everything a turntable DJ can, but more on what they bring to the venue besides the basics.
Completely agree…
I guess I’m old school in that I think manual beat matching has value. I embrace the various digital medium(s)and use them extensively, but usually not to the extent where the art of mixing is sacrificed. I like when the mixes aren’t exactly perfect; when they have a human component to them. Maybe this stems from my early learning experiences as a DJ when Urei knob mixers were coupled with a triplex of rubber-band suspended turntables. DJs were skilled enough to run three TT’s simultaneously – and for extended mixes all while really knowing how to properly drive a sound system. If you’re remixing on the fly, maybe that is something other than a DJ set, thus auto tempo matching is the accepted norm by necessity. Same for a beat juggling segment, auto tempo matching is probably necessary (depending on how many loops your aligning)… Just don’t knock the art of traditional mixing.. it is still hugely relevant and, in my humble opinion, a prerequisite that must be mastered prior to calling oneself a DJ.
I agree with PonyBoy. When I DJ. I DJ for the crowd, and not other DJ’s trying to ‘evaluate’ my session.
However, where a DJ can make him self different, has to be related to music choice, creating his/her own music/remixes, and even realtime. The better we get at that we will increase our reputation.
I believe we DJ’s should get ‘over it’ and move our occupation away from the question of beat matching, to being creative in other art’s of mixing/remixing. Those who do will take over the business.
And just my 2 cent’s Both Traktor and Ableton offers more challenges than a couple of CD’js
I even believe there will be more and more CD’js not midi enabled collecting dust in the not to far future.
Great Post – The key skills in Dj’ing are changing more than ever. Beatmatching is no longer essential, creativity is the new necessary skill to set you apart, especially in Digital DJing.
SYNC forces you to become creative otherwise you will get bored.
go play
too hip to be square 🙂
I have been Djing since the 70′ ever since my mother told me to. Someone had to handle the music while the grown-up had there fun. I have played Dance music to a HipHop generation in a Brooklyn basement with uneasy success. i have done the pause button tape deck mixing when I did not have the wheels of steel and could not afford them. i am still doing it now with a laptop and a VCI-100se “yeah baby”. i guess what I am trying to say is Djing is as much about the path you’ve walked as the path ahead of you. Ponyboy is right who care what your useing it could be a 8 track player and an IPod as long as the music is sweet and the sound is clean. I use sync, sync dont use me….lol. I appreciate sync but i can see where new Dj who never had to learn a record could miss a part of the natural development of a DJ’s ear.
DjEYE
“Woah dude, did you see how fast he pulled off that pre-flight operations check?”- “That was sick! ” HAHAHAHAHAAHAH that would be awsome!!
I started DJing with 1210s, beatmatching was what took 90pct of my time while learning, I wasn’t getting to practise phrases or harmonic mixing, I spent ages and ages making sure I could get the beats to work, then I moved on to cdjs when they became commion place and beat matching became less of an issue, it was quicker and easier and you could concentrate a little more on the music, now I use traktor and apart from tight grids, beast matching is irrelevant. I understand all the fuss about ‘the art of beat matching’ and tbh it’sd BS. It’s a mechanical function that was a necessity in the past but is now redundant. The crowd don’t care, they go to party to hear great tunes, only 1pct of the crowd might care, not even that, and they are just dj geeks in all honesty, no offence, I used to be one when I was learning, watching over the guy in the booths shoulder.
I am a much better dj now I don’t have to worry about keeping a mix in beat, I can be creative, I can relax, do more with the tunes, enjoy myself more and put more into the mix, that reflects on the party and the crowd get a better experience, that’s what’s important.
Hi All!
Ean i agree with you to the whole thing but.
Personal it has been very long trip to accept the new technology. But after 8 month of Traktor in midi, cdj and vinyl mode i love it.
Because i have the fundamental skills from start. And i know from heart how it should be done.
The younger new DJ don´t have the older material and understand it. You need that to do a great performance. You need be able to read the audience and pick good tunes. Thats a experience thing.
Younger DJ:s only plays clubmusic, it´s easier to download top 100 on beatport and go. Thats the easiest way to start. Think of a older audience with more musical experience then themselfe. That night will probably be very strickt or a discaster beacause of experience gap and knowledge.
Quality shall overcome…..
12″
PS: I wonder what carpenters said when the new nail gun came? You still need people with skills…..DS
For those who use sync but haven’t got those grids as tight as prior to gig then the mix will always sound off. I have a controller function to fine tune the grid which is essential for on the fly adjustments with sync activated. Having said this, i prefer sync off and manual nudging. The mix sounds alive and less automated.
For me, DJ’ing isn’t about it being hard, or challenging. Sure, that comes as part of the territory, depending on how you play out.. but its about what you produce, not how you produce it.
I think the articles real point wasn’t ‘is dj’ing too easy’, but ‘how can we differentiate ourselves’.
Great article Ean. I really like the point about the sync/tempo match facility. It does have some great implications for more creative performances, but I feel it does make it far too easy to pick up DJing and perform a mix. A system as described, which would take the time-consuming aspect of beatmatching out, while still requiring skill and understanding on the part of the DJ would be ideal.
If I could return to the past, and affect things, I would have stopped the technology by 1200 MK2 and Pioneer djm500.
I am a DJ for 10 years now, and I think that at that time was a lot more “soul and spirit” in music.
I also left a record player 4-5 years ago, it switched to CDJS, and now I have a digital …
I do not know, maybe I’m nostalgic 🙂
I feel you on the phase match. I like to have sync as a way to not paint myself in the corner. If the sound techs been bending my ear or I lost time because i forgot the name of the track I like to be able to hit sync which saves all the pitch fader ups and downs and lets me just drop something in, but the phase sync is weird and honestly i haven’t taken the time to learn all its idiosyncrasies
Top Article Ean ! : )
In my experience on of the ways sticking to ‘making it harder’ is to work with a pool of Dj’s who all work in different technology & do back to back sets , this certainly has taught me a thing or two when doing a manual sync between Ableton Live, serato itch, Traktor Pro & CDjs all on the same night lol. (Not forgetting the crazy choices other Djs make with their playlists & adapting (or contradicting) that.
I have had this much luck in experience that I have grown up seeing many different technologies taking place & experiencing both Analog & digital approach is a +
I think “Making it harder” = Artistic integrity , if things become too easy & stagnant it’s time to break the pattern & start learning new things……
Awum this is so true
I started off using traktor and sync button all.the time I was what they call a microwave dj
I then went back to basics and practiced on cdjs twice a week at a club I work in
Now when playing live I have choice of traktor or the cdjs and I usually beat match manually however to.concentrate on effects and timing and creating Awsum transactions I sometime use sync but press it twice just so the bpm is the same then beatmatch from there
To me you have to be able to beatmatch manually as it is one of the key skills in djing.
First! ;p
Agree on all points.
Personally I use sync to tempo match then turn it off again.
It never phrases things quite right in my opinion and it takes the fun out of cueing up tracks.
Great stuff Ean, as always!
very interesting analysis, thanks! what i’d welcome now would be examples of innovations that this made possible – you already listed the midi fighter, but it’d be great to read about other ways to “make it harder” 🙂