Get some real equipment??

[Abyrne7]

OK, so I was talkin to a club owner of a bar that I play at sometimes last night. Hes a nice guy and all but im just fed up with being discriminated on because of my gear choice. I use a VCI 100 SE, Akai LPD8 and Midifighter. Basically his words were, " You have the track selection, you have the following, you have the skill now all you need is some real DJ equipment." I try to do what all you guys say to do and just laugh and shrug it off but its come to the point now where I just can't anymore!

Funny thing is I rock the shit out of the place every time I play there. I know what he is referring to, specifically CDJ's. Down my way basically 95% of the electronic DJ's are on CDJ's. I know that when in the booth it can be cumbersome switching over gear to a midi setup, I experience it time and time again. But my opinion about the whole situation is that im too limited on CDJ's!

I wish this digital revolution would just hurry the %$&# up! Figured I'd just tell this frustrating story with all of you. So apart from just doing my thing with pride how do a controllerist earn respect????

[LanceBlaise]

Ah... the local little "club" owner... lol. Most of these types are clueless. I'm surprised he gave you the credit of even picking the proper tracks... lol. Nothing you can do bro, he is most likely a complete jackass. Maybe show him a clip from the traktor site of Hawtin or another cat rockin' some of the non "real" dj equipment.

[Karlos Santos]

Dude we/you will all hear this.
It doesnt matter what digital gear you use some cock-knocker will always criticise you for using controllers.

The thing is i can laugh if off 99.9% of the time. Some people will say they dont care but i think if you are human someone at sometime is gonna push your buttons and piss you off. Someone will jump in this thread and says they will never be bothered about it but i will NEVER believe it. Everyone has a tipping point and if you cant ever get mad about some hater dissing what you do as a DJ then you dont love it enough.

Its natural to get pissed at these idiots. Especially as you using equipment that the haters dont even understand.

People hide their fear of Digital behind a traditionalists attitude "Yeah man i only use vinyl"... Probably because they are computer illiterate dumb-asses.

Read this experience i recently had despite using CDJs and Vinyl and Traktor all the guy saw was Traktor and assumed i was not a 'real' DJ. Some funny stories in this thread.
http://www.native-instruments.com/fo...highlight=pfft

[calvin01]

i cant understand why if you supply the stuff your using he has a problem with it.theres always a good following of dj watchers and trainspotters at a club night that will be impressed with what your doing and im sure your bringing in punters to make the 'cock knocker'(loving your work karlos!) happy when he counts the money from the bar and tickets,so by using it i suppose your bringing attention to the digital age and are helping hurrying things up.......you could also post some of your mixes aswell.the more you make available for people to see and hear,the quicker you can change their minds.(and also make a name for yourself outside your hometown)look forward to hearing a mix from you mate.

[charo]

I know what he is referring to, specifically CDJ's. Down my way basically 95% of the electronic DJ's are on CDJ's. I know that when in the booth it can be cumbersome switching over gear to a midi setup, I experience it time and time again. But my opinion about the whole situation is that im too limited on CDJ's!

that's the part that stands out to me, and to me it makes sense why the club dude is suggesting it. 9.5/10 of out the djs that come to his club and play use the clubs cdj setup only bringing some books of cds...that .05/10 dj comes, brings a laptop, 3 different usb midi controllers, soundcard, etc.

my advice is to learn on spin on cdjs for that gig, I don't think cdjs are that limited for djing*, i mean if you want to get creative there is nothing stopping you from making your own wavs and your own edits burn them to cd and use the cdj as the digital playback device...

this opinion probably sounds counter to the goals of the site here, but I'm not saying everyone throw down your midi controllers and get cdjs, I'm just saying i can see the club guys perspective, also i don't think cdjs are as limited as you suggest, only the ways you are thinking of using them...

*i think there is this fine line that gets shifted around concerning where controllerism, and the live re-mashing/mixing meet the more traditional dj role, which is to mix other peoples music so the dancing doesn't stop.

[BradCee]

there is nothing stopping you from making your own wavs and your own edits burn them to cd and use the cdj as the digital playback device...

that's something i considered doing while i work on getting back into things, but even that can lead to 'non dj' taunts. if you lay down your own edits/mashes, chances are that the majority of those discs will at the bpm you prefer to work with (i know that would be the case with me) and people start complaining that you're not mixing properly because you've pre-pitched your discs.

but at the same time, what would be the point in making them at different bpms so you have to move the fader?

not saying it's lose/lose, but open to similar criticisms

[charo]

that's something i considered doing while i work on getting back into things, but even that can lead to 'non dj' taunts. if you lay down your own edits/mashes, chances are that the majority of those discs will at the bpm you prefer to work with (i know that would be the case with me) and people start complaining that you're not mixing properly because you've pre-pitched your discs.

but at the same time, what would be the point in making them at different bpms so you have to move the fader?

not saying it's lose/lose, but open to similar criticisms

those not a dj taunts are such slippery slopes, pretty soon everyone is cheating on some level...i think that is different from where the club guy is coming from in a practical let's make money as uniformly as possible mindset

[Abyrne7]

Haha yah supposidley people have been talking that I use that evil sync button. Some good points here And I guess part of the reason why I dont want to use CDJ's is that im trying to be different and trying do my own thing, not just be like every other DJ.

But maybe if I just rented a pair for a week and just got the hang of them, it might be useful at some point.

[charo]

Haha yah supposidley people have been talking that I use that evil sync button. Some good points here And I guess part of the reason why I dont want to use CDJ's is that im trying to be different and trying do my own thing, not just be like every other DJ.

But maybe if I just rented a pair for a week and just got the hang of them, it might be useful at some point.

props for taking a nice cool level headed approach to this...I think plan on renting some sounds like a great idea. you will get the hang of them, and you will start a cd book for yourself which will be a nice handy backup or go to for these places that are so vastly dominated by cd-j users.

[Phormula1.8T]

manually beatmatching is just a good thing to know dude. i mean yeah the club guy is a douche ive had to deal with the exact same thing several times, its a bitch but i mean whatre you gunna do right? think of it this way though, the more gear you know how to use, my more able you are as a dj. sure CDJs arent everyones shit, not mine certainly but if it gets the job done with the gig why not, unless you gotta go buy ur own. fuck that. you have extremely high quality gear that is widely respected by the educated musical enthusiast and by the openminded dj.