The Live DJ versus the Studio DJ

[photojojo]

Maybe you guys should read Shiftee's blog post on how he creates a mix tape.

http://blog.dubspot.com/how-to-make-...iftee-new-mix/

[ParisCreative]

Interesting, a hybrid method of making the mix tape from a DMC champion. Still not sure how I feel about that, it is the best of both worlds, real live transitions but then polishing it at the end.

Still very interesting.

[keithace]

A studio mix should take MUCH longer than an afternoon. The one I'm in the middle of now took me over a month to research! (Tracks/samples, etc...)

if you've taken two months to do a mix don't you feel as though you've lost the freshness to the tracks?

with the speed at which music is moving it would be hard to make a mix that is a couple of months old that is relevant...unless you are playing edits and promos of course...

[dope]

Wait, wait. Does everyone use a studio and DAWs to make their demos/mixtapes ?

[Bassline Brine]

I think doing a studio mix is something that can be great. Hell, I grew up listening to Dieselboy's CD's. Which were/are studio mixes.

It's something that has a time and place.

I think most of us focus more on live performance rather than just listening, and that's the key difference. I can chill back driving or at home listening to a studio mix. But I can do that with a live mix, and I can enjoy seeing a live mix LIVE as well. So it's different focuses.

I personally don't have the patience it requires to do a truly grand studio mix. I like to switch things up too much, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist in the studio as far as production goes. I've started a few things, but I always get side-tracked by different projects.

Having just two turntables and a mixer helps keep me focused.

[DJSigma]

I'm WELL into studio mixes. You can do things in a studio mix that you can't do live.

BUT - if you're making studio mixes that sound like, or try to sound like, a DJ set, then you are failing.

^^What he said.

I don't want to hear a studio mix that sounds like it could be a live mix done by a really skilled DJ. I don't think there's any such thing as cheating in DJing unless you're trying to pass off X as Y, so if you're honest about your methods then fine, but studio mixes that sound like they could be done live aren't really my thing. Unless you're going to really push things with a studio mix and go beyond what could be done live, I would rather hear a warts and all live mix with a few mistakes or dodgy blends in it than one where all the mistakes have been edited out.

I like studio mixes that do things that aren't possible to do live, so it's like a mix of production and DJing. I love making multitracked mixtapes so that I can use multiple layers. In fact, I wrote a guide for this site about it: -

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/07/2...ixtape-part-1/
http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/08/0...ixtape-part-2/

But ultimately, if you are DJing at home just for fun and as a hobby (as I am these days), then I think you should just do whatever makes you happy. Don't get caught up in what other people think is "real DJing" or "the right way to do it". If your goal is to get back out there and start gigging again one day, I would focus more on your live mixing skills.

[Patch]

A studio mix should take MUCH longer than an afternoon. The one I'm in the middle of now took me over a month to research! (Tracks/samples, etc...)

if you've taken two months to do a mix don't you feel as though you've lost the freshness to the tracks?

with the speed at which music is moving it would be hard to make a mix that is a couple of months old that is relevant...unless you are playing edits and promos of course...

If you're limiting yourself to tracks that are new, you are, as a DJ, once again, failing. It's not all about fresh/new tracks.

[Patch]

But ultimately, if you are DJing at home just for fun and as a hobby (as I am these days), then I think you should just do whatever makes you happy. Don't get caught up in what other people think is "real DJing" or "the right way to do it".

^^^And this.

[Alex Wild]

I wasn't trying to piss on anyone else's ways of working, I'm just saying that I completely don't get the concept of creating a mix that's not live and doing it in a DAW. But thats just me.

I've got plenty of released mix albums that you can tell haven't been done live and, for me, it kind of kills the listening experience and makes me think, oh they've just done it that way because it's the only way they can create a 'perfect' mix for commercial release. I've always preferred listening to a live mix by someone like Andy C or Hype, than a studio mix by Dieselboy. But, again, that's just me.

[dope]

I wasn't trying to piss on anyone else's ways of working, I'm just saying that I completely don't get the concept of creating a mix that's not live and doing it in a DAW. But thats just me.

No it's not just you.

But once again, I'm questioning you guys who are making studio mixes cause i'm curious. Not saying it's better/worse than a standard DJ "live" mix.

But now that clarifies some things for me. I once heard a mix from TAI (from Dim Mak Records) and it was just mindblowing, and too perfect. I was like, omg, this guy is a god at DJing.
Now that i know more things about studio mixes (and i bet it was one), i know why it was that good.