What will the DJ by like a decade or two from now

[teambama]

but will prob be dead like the image link...

[photojojo]

hopefully like this.....

but will prob be dead like the image link...

lol, that was supposed to be this, but given the irony of how it turned out I've not fixed it.

[Glen]

lol, that was supposed to be this, but given the irony of how it turned out I've not fixed it.

what a great mod

and everyones forgetting the world wont exist in 15 years! cmon guys!

[teambama]

lol, that was supposed to be this, but given the irony of how it turned out I've not fixed it.

[DJSigma]

It's really hard to say what DJs will be like in 20 years time. As a hip-hop DJ I have noticed a huge decline in skills/effort put into mixes in the last few years and I put that solely down to people buying digital gear that can do the bulk of the work for them, so a bit of basic phrase matching is all they need - levels and beatmatching are done for them, and they forget about scratching, juggling etc. I don't blame the gear though - it's simply made it easier for lame fuckers to call themselves DJs - while only a tiny percentage use the new features it offers to take DJing to that next level.

I guess I expect it to get even worse as technology replaces more of the skills a DJ would do manually, whether it's phrase matching or song selection. The easier it becomes, the worse the lame to good ratio gets.

[DJ KIO]

It's really hard to say what DJs will be like in 20 years time. As a hip-hop DJ I have noticed a huge decline in skills/effort put into mixes in the last few years and I put that solely down to people buying digital gear that can do the bulk of the work for them, so a bit of basic phrase matching is all they need ....

You are right, a lazy DJ nowadays can get away by just letting the software work for him. Only has to learn which phrases in his songs library fit well together and make great mixes (thinking EDM here). That makes me wonder why the crowd accepts that from the DJ. I mean I'm sure that music technology could be transferred to guitars as well. The guitarist would only have to select his pre-recorded chords and let the guitar do the playing for him. However, the rock crowd does not accept that, they expect the rock band to play everything life.

So are rock crowds just more intelligent than dance crowds? Or do the dance crowds have no idea that the guy on stage isn't doing anything? Or do they simply not care and just want to hear music to dance to no matter what the source of the music is?

DJ KIO

[DJSigma]

That makes me wonder why the crowd accepts that from the DJ.

It depends on the venue, but most people simply don't care. They go out to get high/drunk and dance to songs they know. I can't really hate on a person that DJs because they're motivated by money, cos a lot of people work because money is their prime motivator, but it's a shame from a personal perspective as money has never been a factor for me (which is a good job really, lol) and I got into it cos I love doing it. I love hearing hip-hop mixes put together by a skilled DJ, but it's getting harder and harder to find them.

Regarding your rock crowds comment, I think it's a bit different. Most people see a DJ as "someone who just plays other peoples' music", whether they just fade from track to track or they do well thought out blends, but you can't really apply that to someone who plays a guitar. Even if a rock band is doing cover versions, the guitarist still has to be able to play his instrument and there are no shortcuts.

[djproben]

The guitarist would only have to select his pre-recorded chords and let the guitar do the playing for him. However, the rock crowd does not accept that,

I disagree. Plenty of guitar rock is based on a small number of chords and riffs that get stolen and repeated over and over again. Sure, they "play it live," but for any even mediocre guitarist that becomes second nature after a while. I'd say with rock or EDM the percentage of people who really care how skilled a particular musician is or how unique their sound is is pretty small compared to their audience. I'm not convinced it even matters that much to me in most situations to be honest.

[tokenasianguy]

It's like I always tell my friend, it doesn't matter whether it's a mix CD or a live DJ set...If it sounds good it sounds good, doesn't matter either way to the audience. Although I do agree that someone who plays a mix set is a fraud by comparison, especially if they don't ever play live and have a DJ career comprised of playing other people's "Mix CD's".

I know a lot of people have a problem with the "sync" feature, but what I find even more puzzling are the people that use controllers like the S2 or S4 and say they don't use sync, or beatgrid their songs because it's "cheating". Well if it was cheating why would they go back to playing records on tech 12's because the tempo faders on controllers are definitely not meant to be "ridden".

I also tell the same friend "the better (and more seamlessly) you DJ, the less people will know that you're doing anything at all".

It's all really ironic.

[deckard26354]

It's like I always tell my friend, it doesn't matter whether it's a mix CD or a live DJ set...If it sounds good it sounds good, doesn't matter either way to the audience. Although I do agree that someone who plays a mix set is a fraud by comparison, especially if they don't ever play live and have a DJ career comprised of playing other people's "Mix CD's".

I know a lot of people have a problem with the "sync" feature, but what I find even more puzzling are the people that use controllers like the S2 or S4 and say they don't use sync, or beatgrid their songs because it's "cheating". Well if it was cheating why would they go back to playing records on tech 12's because the tempo faders on controllers are definitely not meant to be "ridden".

I also tell the same friend "the better (and more seamlessly) you DJ, the less people will know that you're doing anything at all".

It's all really ironic.

There was an interesting video from the Amsterdam dance conference this year all about the Sync feature in software. Dave Clarke is on the panel, asked from an audience member about the human touch in Dj'ing. Conclusion to the question was it's sometimes nice to hear a Glitch (not trainwrecking) in a mix the crowd then feel's it's being mixed live. I'm not saying this should be deliberate but I think that's what a live band plus DJ'ing with vinyl will always have over Digital DJ'ing.