Is freestyling even possible?

[Killing time]

every instrument uses technology. most brass insturments benefit from molds and perfect graded alloys that have been melted down and cast into shape. reeds under go the sharpest knife to get precision a blend. drum sticks are created is mass quantities to precision to be used. the only musicians that i can think of that don't use "tech crutches" are vocalists and beat boxers.

I think its silly when someone says thinks that they're musicians because they plucked it on a guitar or hit it with a stick.

You put your fingers on string and strummed a chord.
Press a button to put a loop through 90% reverb and made an ambient texture.

the only thing that you were responsible for was your fingers and your creativity. the technology did the rest. don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that being a dj makes you a musician, what im saying you can defiantly play parts of songs mix them together in a percussive manner. and if you think that doing it in a percussive manner negates being a musician, then you should try to make that argument to all of the drummers out there.

[ImNoDJ]

every instrument uses technology. most brass insturments benefit from molds and perfect graded alloys that have been melted down and cast into shape. reeds under go the sharpest knife to get precision a blend. drum sticks are created is mass quantities to precision to be used. the only musicians that i can think of that don't use "tech crutches" are vocalists and beat boxers.

I think its silly when someone says thinks that they're musicians because they plucked it on a guitar or hit it with a stick.

You put your fingers on string and strummed a chord.
Press a button to put a loop through 90% reverb and made an ambient texture.

the only thing that you were responsible for was your fingers and your creativity. the technology did the rest. don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that being a dj makes you a musician, what im saying you can defiantly play parts of songs mix them together in a percussive manner. and if you think that doing it in a percussive manner negates being a musician, then you should try to make that argument to all of the drummers out there.

Youre making that argument, not me. If you think drumming is just hitting things with sticks, then you dont have much idea how bands, timing or music works.

I can teach a child how to cue and play a record in about ten minutes. You can learn to beatmatch and mix in a week. The rest is craft.

It takes a good couple weeks for someone to be able to play 3 chords in anything resembling time, and its physically painful while doing so. That child is at least a year and most likely several years away from being able to improvise with a band. Its several years of training before they even get competent to a pro standard.

A DJ can be at pro standard within weeks. Especially if they use the timing crutches.

This argument is stupid.

[Karlos Santos]

I think its silly when someone says thinks that they're musicians because they plucked it on a guitar or hit it with a stick.

That statement is wholly incorrect. If you play and instrument you are a musician by definition.

You put your fingers on string and strummed a chord.
Press a button to put a loop through 90% reverb and made an ambient texture.

They are not the same thing.

I am firmly in the camp that DJ's are musical and the most inventive DJ's are instrumentalists of a form but there is a fundamental difference between say, Steve Vai and Richie Hawtin. If you genuinely think that the same amount of time, effort, skill and talent goes into being a guitar virtuoso as does being a DJ then you have clearly never tried to play or understand what it takes to be a virtuoso.
DJ Qbert and his ilk are as close as you can get to being virtuoso DJ's but being a great DJ in a more traditional sense is not the same as being a great musician.
Both can amaze and both can be ultra talented but it is different.

I know DJ's get all bent out of shape when musicians look down on them. I'm a member of a guitar only forum and they slag DJ's off all the time and I have to bite my lip cus there is no way on earth I will ever convince some of them of the incredible talent it takes to perform as a DJ at certain levels or with particular equipment BUT - it is a different kind of musicianship.

I fully expect people to misread what I am saying and get all hissy about it but it's time DJ's stopped whining about being musicians and just got on with being DJ's cus it's a noble enough craft without wanting to belong to something that's existed for millennia and which in it's most extreme can only be attained by a gifted few.

You don't hear video game players claiming to be athletes just cus they play FIFA.

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

I've been playing stringed instruments since I was 5 trust me being able to read music and in time is nothing to being
Able to improv... This is why if you ask a guitarist or bassists to jam odds are half will not be able to because they can only read tabs.... Being able to harmonically mix in multiple instruments and improv jam is something that most musicians can not do......

Fire up a metronome sometime and hop on a piano I bet you can't keep time even if only hitting keys with no regard to scales or harmonics...


Digital djing in my mind falls into the reading music category.... Find a digital dj that can close his eyes without sync on or quant..... Sorry guys digital djs are kinda whiny fuckers who demand respect when none is given.... And as for the whole know your library jaZz yeah have some guts do something that is a risk some of my best mixes have been done by blindly mixing tracks and then going woah holy fuck that sounds awesome....

Djs are musicians to an extent but I have very little personal feelings for a digital dj done a dozen "download,grid,cue,sync,repeat" that Sums up a lot of the posts I read here and all I have to say is give me a break... Every whines when someone says to read a wave display but same people say sync is a tool to be used and improves them and shouldn't be looked down on.....

Really syncs likely worse
Then a quick glance at a wave form for a track I have never seen or heard vs using sync for a track I've dissected every part of but still need sync because musically I lack the timing and ability todo it by ear....

Oh fyi I say glance at waveform because once you set your first 32bar loop you should be able
To anticipate the rest of the track and transition now that that's in place here's the equation

16x2=32x2=64 1st minute gone give or take

At 64 something will change or build at 128 your chorus/leads/main shit really comes in


Refer to any of my mixcloud sets all are improv most tracks I've never heard or have only on low volume in background at work...

[Killing time]

i dont think the point im trying to make is coming out clear.

im not making the argument that djs are musicians.

what im trying to say is that you can play a pair of decks and a mixer like an instrument. i grew up playing wind instruments throughout middle school and highschool. i can read sheet music, and i can improvise, i can hear pitches. being a musician means that you have to perform something, conduct something, or compose something. music is more than just being able to play one chord, you have to understand meter, scales, chords, rhythm, bars, beat divisions, component pitches, harmonies and a metric fuck ton of other things. its very possible to conduct pieces of songs into a into a concerto of crescendos, bridges, and Sonatas. and if you can do that then you are a musician.

some college are starting are making gaming a varsity sport. just sayin'

[JaF]

You put your fingers on string and strummed a chord.
Press a button to put a loop through 90% reverb and made an ambient texture.

Have you ever heard a classical or Jazz musician life? I doubt it, if you have and still think such nonsense than your ears are crap. There is no other way to put it.

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

. This is what you need to see for a real using decks as an instrument argument

[ImNoDJ]

. This is what you need to see for a real using decks as an instrument argument

Its still not an instrument in a way that makes a meaningful comparison. The above video takes skill and practice, but its still a different thing than playing an instrument.

Im with Karlos. DJing is its own noble craft and doesnt need to be compared to playing an instrument. Many DJs seem to be super insecure about this.

[JaF]

Are we supposed to be impressed that this master of the scratch was able to somewhat replicate the imperial march? How many notes is that? 6? I think it's cool too. I think old NSE theme songs are cool. I don't think it's anything compared to a classically trained guitar player.

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

Are we supposed to be impressed that this master of the scratch was able to somewhat replicate the imperial march? How many notes is that? 6? I think it's cool too. I think old NSE theme songs are cool. I don't think it's anything compared to a classically trained guitar player.

If you read the long post I made you will find I agree as well... I'm just saying most people find that that video from a Dmc championship has more merit musically then say this guy . No hate just showing a difference and how non djs would see this