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DJs Spinning Those Hard Drives
Mipmap writes "Ben Kirkendoll leaves the records at home in favor of his iPods, Apple Computer's disk-based music player, which he simply plugs into an audio system's mixer. He's part of a small but growing number of DJs who have turned to MP3 music files for their accessibility and convenience..."
Needless to say, yeah, you still need skills to be a good mixer these days.
DJ's have been putting mp3s on CDs for a while now. It's only a natural progression for them to put the mp3s on smart media.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
The disadvantage is that DJs just won't look as impressive anymore - I love seeing a DJ moving sporatically and energetically to control his equipment. How boring would it be to see a DJ sitting down in front of computer, occasionally clicking something unseen on the screen? It's sort of like comparing Neil Peart playing his drum set to some dude of equal talent tapping on his triggered pads. *shrug* Just a thought.
Good Techno music is arranged with a DJ in mind. Only a few, very monotone tracks that hardly evolve give the DJ a lot of freedom in putting together his mix and working the crowd. Getting people to flip out and scream is part of that, but also continuity, flow and other terribly in-crowd things.
--[Nothing important]--
Hasn't Ritchie Hawtin been using this for a while now ? I don't know if it was this product or another.
I agree I dont want to listen to some shitty 128bit file encoded by some idiot with no ears - but the possibility of carrying a laptop instead of 3 boxes of vinyl impresses me.
The best nights clubbing involve good well chosen music and a DJ who knows what s/he is doing.
Too many people think its all about the tunes, or it's all about the mixing. it's a combination.
Acid House saves Souls
"When I was younger I felt like there was a talent to it because they were spinning records backwards and forwards and really cutting it in and overlapping songs," Parrish says. "It doesn't take much talent to be a DJ anymore. You just have to have a good flow of songs."
Basically what Parrish is saying here is: I wanted to be talented DJ but I couldn't. So I decided that there's no talent to being a DJ.
What Parrish is describing (slecting a playlist) is, as mentioned in the article, something any moron can do. The only problem is the fact that this isn't DJing. Picking a playlist is only the start of what a good DJ does. The DJ then has to mix them together in a way that sounds natural and unforced, that takes more than just matching the beats up, it's also good to make sure that the sections are matched (sections being the 32 or 64 beat repetitions in music). If they really know what they are doing then they can start to think about key mixing (ie. keeping the songs you are mixing together in the same key), a difficult trick when altering the speed of the record will put into a different key.
Then there is the fact that REAL DJs can have at least two tracks going at the same time, without making it sound awful. They don't just use this to mix from one track to another. They can also use this to add an element of one track into another, without leaving the original track.
DJs can also use their mixer to make a track sound very different to what's on the vinyl. Using EQs the DJ can emphasize or reduce the Bass Midrange and Treble, effectively cutting instruments out or bringing them to the fore. Some mixers like the Pioneer DJM-600 allow the DJ to also add effects like Echo, Flange, or Reverb. It's even got a mini-sampler built in, allowing the DJ to grab a section of a track and create something new with it. Well, partially new anyhow.
In short, if you don't think there's any artistry or talent required to be a DJ, then you simply don't understand what it is that DJs can do. I haven't even begun to cover the fact that a DJ is also required to understand, respond to, and influence the vibe of an evening.
I also haven't mentioned the idiocy of using MP3s over a commercial grade sound system. Let's just say that the ear can detect lots of frequencies and lots of frequency ranges. When speakers have the ability to playback all those frequencies clearly the ear can easily hear the difference between analogue/44.1kHz/MP3.
Conclusion: this "DJ" is an idiot and I won't be going to BQE bar for the music anytime soon. (The fact that I'm on the other side of the world is worth considering too...)
True you can do it for yourself - but half the skill of a DJ is to turn up on the night and with a finite number of albums make a playlist that the folk in the place would like.
I've done a lot of DJ'ing in the past for goth/industrial/metal/punk clubs and I've had a tricky time or two in the past when I'll turn up with 200 albums and the place will be full of punks - instantly wiping out half the tunes that I'd planned to play..
I think DJ's that most are overrated, especially people like Fatboy Slim here in the UK - but I would seriously say that it is harder than it looks. You have to keep things flowing for hours at a time, dealing with drunk people who want you to play their favourite track which either you don't have, or would totally kill the mood you've setup.
To my mind a DJ is good when you don't actually notice them...
the above described is not djing. i have a lot of friends that are DJ's and they would be quite offended being referred as something as meager as a kid with an mp3 player. dj's are about vinyl records and turn tables, the rest are just idiots on the radio/tv
I am not saying that we are looking as MP3s as the future of DJing, because each DJ will have their own media of choice. But just as you saw CDs become more popular once they had some solid CD mixers out there, with the advent of solid MP3 mixing options, I am sure that we will see MP3s (well, lets just say digital music files) become more prominent.
And I don't agree that it is just with the type of music you DJ. It doesn't mater the style of music you play, because the equipment will catch up to allow you to do what you want (again, see what happened with CDs).
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
Who wants some rewind?
/b
I have to agree with the first post. Good sound is important. Have you been to Fabric London or The End in London?. 2 of the best club soundsystems I have ever heard. And you notice it. The highs are crisp and clear and you can actually hear the midrange...top this off with some thumping bass (Fabric has it coming straight through the floor) and you can't beat it. Trance, Hard Hou se, Drum 'n Bass or god forbid UK Garage it doesn't matter, a good system sounds excellent and if your source material sucks then the output is going to be bad
Although I do agree that song selction is key, how you mix them is also equally important. This may be easier or hard on turntables/mp3's depending on the music. You will find that most DJ's in the 'Hippy Trance' scene use CD's, its a pretty simple mixing technique that is used. However other genres need techniques particualry suited to turntables. (Hip Hop, Turntablism).
--End 6pm rant after last night at Peach--
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excessive high-midrange.. your ears are most sensitive to midrange (which is what humans use for speech) so when you get blasted with too much mid, you get ringing.. the secret to good equalized sound, is to have pounding bass (you'll never get ringing from the bass), decently loud hi's and pretty low midrange.. VERY FEW DJ's seem to realize this, and go and crank up the mid, just so it makes their sound system sound louder, which makes me want to throw my drink at him.
MABASPLOOM!
It's basically the 'ease' vs 'work' issue- I personally think that the 'work' method produces better results. I have my own small studio, and I use Protools, not ACID to record, because I would rather work harder with it and get a higher quality result (yes, Protools with give you a higher quality, just look at the convertors on a 192 interface vs your sbLive).
I have used Techinics 1200s, I thought they were great, I have used a Comodore 64 since I was 3, and it's been a great ride. I don't think that people should just jump into something without knowing any background with it.
Do these DJs who some even call themselves musicians even know the notes in D Superlocrian? What's a Tritone sub? Do you even know a major chord from a diminshed chord or do you just call it 'that weird one'? Don't tell me that classical and jazz training isn't worth anything- look at what Sir Martin did for the Beatles...
Tibbon
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