Just a thought about djing with retro vinyl...

i started DJing 12 years ago, vinyls, but hip hop style. it didn't last long as the price of vinyls kept me from growing my collection. a few years later i bought a VCI-100, this whole using MP3's blew my mind. and then there was SYNC. genius.

then i got bored stiff with it. i gig a lot, and i just got bored. sure my mixes got clean, cuz i could practice EQ mixing, but once that was done, it was easy.

i then bought some CDJ's, using with traktor mostly. a little harder, riding the tempo fader here and there, but once it's set, it's set. i still play of CD's as my backup, but not much anymore.

tonight, i said "lets get cray" i dug out all my old disco/dance records and throught them on the turntables, and decided, let's see what it's like to DJ 70's disco, with no computer "live recordings" without a perfect tempo. holy hell. i'm used to long ass mixing, but the tempo goes out of sync SO quick, it's nuts.

makes me really appreciate anyone that can do "live" drums with just vinyls. i recorded it just to see how i did, only 40% of the mixes came out good. i suggest anyone to give it a whirl, challenge yourself. makes you REALLY practice your beat matching, constantly changing on you.

just my thought of the day. thanks for reading. your thoughts/experiences?

cheers
sean

Most transitions with disco or live instrumental stuff will tend to be pretty quick... human drummers and percussion do NOT keep a machine-like rhythm, haha. And with all the fills, flourishes, and syncopations that disco music has, you're right, it is really hard to mix. Vinyl in general just takes a lot more 'babysitting' to stay locked in the groove... much more satisfying, in my opinion. Let's face it, the only thing that controller DJ's do with all that free-time and spare hands they have is layer the sound with irritating effects and unnecessary remix decks... !

Some stuff starts to get a computer clock in the early 80s. You can do some tricks with doubles between quick transitions.

hehe ya i hear ya. when i use sync i find i change songs a lot faster, because it was the only thing to keep me going and interested! beat matching takes more time, constantly listening! both have their time and place, and not slaggin on anyone for what they choose! a packed dance floor is a packed dance floor!

If you want to mix old skool disco or funk music the way we did it back in the 70's, get yourself some Technics 1100 turntables. The reason being that with live drummer tracks, you have to press on the platter and adjust the pitch control at the same time, and you also need a strong motor that doesn't have quartz lock to fight the pressure you put on the platter. You can't really do the same mixes with modern equipment because the sliding pitch control is too far away from the platter, so you need three hands, one to adjust the pitch, one to press on the platter, and another to do the mix. The 1100's have a rotary pitch control right next to the platter, so you can adjust the pitch control and press on the platter to ride the pitch with just one hand, and have one hand free to do the mix on the mixer. Plus the motors have no quartz lock fighting you the whole time, so you can really pull off some smooth long mixes. That is the way it was done. You basically had the pitch control set a little faster than you needed it, and pressed on the platter to keep the beats in sync. You also really had to know your music to know when to press harder or softer. Yeah it was hard to do, but the guys that where good at it could do flawless, long mixes, just like you can today with drum machined tracks. And if you really want to get nostalgic, get yourself a rotary mixer.

Wow that's nutty! It's amazing the shit they could do with what they had back then, not just in the dj world! Thanks for the history lesson, love it