oh jesus...here we go again
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oh jesus...here we go again
You need a shirt that says the JesC :)Quote:
Originally Posted by JesC
Tasty caeks!!!!
BTW her family is likely Iranian, not Jewish.
Her last name means breakfast in Farsi.
"Hi, my name is Rana Breakfast and i'm the first ipad DJ!"
EDIT:
Changed from Persian to Iranian
I actually went to see her in LA a few weeks ago. She was playing House of Blues and had offered free entry to anyone who responded to her on twitter; I decided to check it out. I was really curious to see what exactly she was doing with her ipads. It was kind of strange to be honest - she barely picked up her headphones at all while playing and it looked like she was playing a prerecorded set and simply using the ipad apps for effects.Quote:
Originally Posted by JesC
My first thought was, how does someone with no real DJ experience land a gig at HOB?! Well she was actually the house DJ for a private party which had rented out the venue for the night, and in fact there weren't that many people there -- it was a far cry from when I saw George Clinton jam here, for example, hehehe. There were probably less than 100 people in the whole venue, most of them there for the group that rented the place out, and probably very few who had any idea they were witnessing "the first ipad DJ."
Still I have to give her credit -- she really rocked the place. Not with the music per se (it was a mediocre electro house mix), but she has a good stage presence and she was doing her best to interact with the crowd. She was clearly enjoying herself, was very friendly, and made a point of connecting with every person who came to the dancefloor (and trying to wave everyone else down there as well). A highlight was when she got a 5-7 year old girl to get on stage and pretend to DJ with her.
The beats were matched just fine (which is why I suspect it was prerecorded -- honestly she never picked up her headphones long enough to match any beats, and she is using 2 ipads and a mixer; no "sync" button), but there were more than a couple of key clashes and the effects that were thrown in were hit-or-miss. I tried to watch the ipad screens to see what apps she was using and I didn't recognize it; for sure it was NOT one of the "top five" apps she mentions here http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/bl...p-5-music-apps ... And in interviews she claims that she uses several different apps while DJing but I didn't really see her switch apps and both ipads seemed to have the same screen. But I really wasn't close enough to be sure. The bottom line is that unless the set was pretty much pre-recorded (or pre-selected from beats that already are the same tempo), I don't see how it is even physically possible for her to have matched the beats live.
The interesting thing is, in her interviews and comments she does seem to know a reasonable amount about music and she's clearly aware of what DJs do when we mix (whether or not she actually does it herself). She has been really good about ignoring the negative commentary she's getting from "the streets" and has been successful at booking gigs and keeping her name out in the public eye as the world's first ipad DJ.
In other words, she's clever and successful at marketing herself and the silliness of her first video (and the negative reaction to it in the actual DJ community) really hasn't hurt her DJ image much at all. By and large it appears that most people DO take her seriously as a DJ. I think at the very least we have to take her seriously as a self-promoter if nothing else. And there's something we can learn from this -- her ability to successfully connect with her audience despite what she may lack in actual skills suggests that playing a great musical set and having the skills down is only a small part of what it takes to rock the crowd.
@DJProben, like you said it was a private gig, not a actually club event. Its a stunt....all she is doing is building her resume, which i can hate on her for doing it...my thing is she make the digital dj community look cheap.
BTW she can call herself the 1st iPad dj...but really shes not.
Yep it's a stunt -- the whole thing is a stunt, and you're right, it's fucking annoying. I'm not disagreeing with most of the sentiment around here, just asking whether there's something we can learn from this.
BTW I found this on youtube from the gig I was talking about -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtBt7hSTcHA -- she's got the kid on stage, is primping for the crowd, and playing with her camera..... doing anything BUT actually DJing.
And this may have been posted already but here's a real ipad DJ who can take her to school: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2T-K4nqNuk
@Proben ah that stage is very familar, i djed there for the depeche mode cd release. All i will say is if she found her scene, good for her.
She's an ugly bitch
The only people who take her seriously are the people who can't see through her horrible attempt at ninja marketing. Typically, people who know nothing about DJing and will believe what they're told.
I have no problem with DJs using the iPad for DJing and production - it's easy to tell that I'm an advocate. But Rana (no matter how cute - rawr), cheapens both DJing and iPad use with this drivel. She wasn't the first, she's not the best, and she's not even exploiting what the iPad can really do. She's not advocating DJ apps for the iPad, and doesn't seem to be contributing in any way to the development of DJ apps for the iPad. Everything she's doing is about her, and the angle she's working only benefits her and her perceived ability to market cool portable technology "to the kids". This is ALL to make her and her marketing company more valuable.
If you have any interest in using an iPad for DJing applications, instead of giving this attention whore what she's looking for, find an app that you find interesting and contact it's developer. Give them feedback. Tell them how to make their software better. Tell other people about the cool stuff you run across. This is going to help the scene at large, not just a single entity.