***Who really mixes anymore? DJ’ing is becoming a farce!!

[groovemixer]

"where I was standing I could see what he was doing and never saw him once change a CD for hours"

"I know digital djing is becoming the norm"

The same old argument (format vs format), but you can't have it both ways. Since I'm still a fan of vinyl, I must pick you up on the point that using cd's is still digital djing.

Yes, I am a pedant.

thing is he was using two pioneers and for a good hour didnt once change cd's, BUT after a transition which took him a good 10 secs, he turns away from the crowd and looks through his cds till the next transition then returns to the decks for 10 secs and again goes to his cds???? thats not much of a performer for being one of the top DJ's in the world sorry.

[groovemixer]

how would you feel if you spent $100 on a U2 concert (or who ever is your fav band lets say)only to have them sit on the stage do nothing but play their CD and flash some light instead of actually playing live? I guess that's my main point.

[Archies'bald]

Timecode cds?

Still, I agree with you to a point. My own point was that even using cds is digital djing.

[Villinus]

For a lot of larger events- like the Grammys, NFL Halftime, etc- SO much goes into the shows, that most of what you're hearing is guaranteed pre-recorded, because the last thing networks and the suits want is for shit to hit the fan and have a titty pop out. $$ down the drain. Almost all of these vocal 'performances' have auto-tuned backing tracks that the mix engineer will raise or lower depending on how 'on point' the singer is that particular night (or in general lol)

I'm not saying it's ok to get up there and completely fake it, but as a person in the crowd, you have no idea what the reason is for it. Maybe his CDJ's got wrecked while transporting, and rather than cancel the show they played his pre-mix, knowing that nobody would be the wiser, except for you.

Maybe the DJ is sick to the gills and on pain meds and rather than cancel the show, he rocks out to a pre-mix. It's not the end of the world, and much better than canceling completely.

I myself do gigs with a few premixes on my phone and CD just in case everything goes to hell.

[exokinetic]

***Who really reads these posts anymore? Arguing about DJ'ing is becoming a farce!!


Fixd.

[bumtsch]

I'm quite the trainspotter, like to check how they work the mixer (I guess I have a Xone fetish), read the crowd, interact with the people who come harrass them in front of the booth, so I'm always a bit frustrated at pure ableton sets if the tunes aren't up to snuff and/or the act is stiffer than a brick even if they have their shit together.
What does piss me off though is seeing acts billed to play a LIVE SET who end up just playing cds instead.

[photojojo]

You can't really say an Abelton DJ is lazy because there's a whole crap ton of work that goes into putting an Abelton set together. And the argument of why not just put in a CD doesn't really hold water in the real world.

[ponyboy]

***who really reads these posts anymore? arguing about dj'ing is becoming a farce!!


Fixd.

lol!

+1

[mr.magma]

I'm in Toronto too and go to a lot of clubs downtown, the main places I go to are for House/Tech-House etc. The resident DJ's are mostly always on CDJ's and the headliners have been using Traktor, Ableton or whatever, there was even a night a guy was using 3 LEMURS and a bunch of other stuff! (Forget the name and didn't go but saw pictures...) Basically whatever the format, these events are guaranteed to be some of the best musical experiences you can have, I go to hear the artists unreleased tracks, or that one track I've been listening to for the past month and it just starts being mixed in (synced or unsyned) and the whole crowed can feel that moment and is all in the same vibe and everyone's going crazy, or just to hear some good music on an insane sound system... I pay attention to transitions and what the DJ's are doing, some are straightforward CDJ mixes, others do layer upon layer with Ableton or Traktor and it's all just part of the experience/process. Also for the most part those who use Ableton use it for what it's capable of and do some crazing live edits or they are producers as well and are playing their own stuff Live so there is still some effort being put into the process regardless of the method, some DJ's are paying more attention to certain aspects of the mix and others, different aspects... That's how I see it and haven't been disappointed so far, there are some great parties in Toronto...

[mr.magma]

Also I'm talking proper underground events, Tiesto is wayyy over-rated, saw him when he had his big tracks and that was it, no way am I paying $150+ to see him next month, there's an even better event that SAME night with Axwell, Kaskdae, Calvin Harris, Chris Lake, Tiga, Boys Noize and more ALL in one night, currently going for $45, much better in my opinion...