Most DJs suck?

[IznremiX]

no worries, and you pretty much corrected it within the context of your posts in here (and i see you edited your original post).

honestly i do agree with the general idea of your thoughts on this subject. as a person you should always strive to be better or learn more in whatever you are doing, and this goes for the many styles of djing as well. when people become complacent in their abilities and think they have nothing more to learn, i think it's generally a hindrance and a negative quality. there is always room for improvement and we should always aim for it, even if the results are marginal and unnoticeable to anyone but ourselves.

hit the nail on the head good sir. thank you for a very interesting discussion

[Ever]

maybe the title of this thread is throwing me a bit, but i wouldn't say that just because a dj is content with beatmatching 2 tracks together in a similar fashion every blend doesn't mean they suck. could they apply more or learn more? maybe, but that doesn't always make it better as less is sometimes more, especially when you consider some genres. i also think it's a fine line to consider people who put samples over music (or do "remixing" and edits) to those who just blend, where one is artistic and one isn't. at what point do you consider someone taking other people's music and making it theirs? that point may be slightly different to many people on here. to me the journey is also an artform...to you maybe it isn't.

personally if i go and see a deep house dj i don't really want to hear a bunch of button mashing or controllerist routines with a ton of samples and constant quick mixes. the music can be sexy, dark, funky, grooving and all about the mood for me. ideally i want to hear a great song play out and the transitions to take me on a slow and purposeful journey. on the other hand, when i was really into dubstep i would almost never want to hear an entire track play out and i prefered a more in your face, quick style of mixing that delivered peaks and valleys more abruptly. i also would gravitate towards the djs who would add a lot of d&b and drumstep in as well as 100-110bpm glitchy stuff and hip hop to keep me interested. also, i pretty much never like for something to be on crazy-face-smashing-ball-busting-heart-attack-inducing-level-11 the whole time. i need for things to get mellow within that style and then build back up again.

it's all about personal preference and what you enjoy. there are plenty of people from all of these camps that are great and plenty that i don't like. even if i don't like them or their style, it doesn't mean that they suck. unless sets are full of technical errors, their level of goodness is all subjective.

Second'ing this. Especially the deep house comments.

I'm personally just getting back into DJ'ing. Used to bedroom-DJ techno and cybertrance on 1200's in the late 90's. Haven't touched them since, and just got two CDJ 900s. I'm planning on doing nothing different than I did then - great track selection, transitions that add value to the experience, and an overall feeling that I'm "presenting" something rather than just creating a playlist.

[DJ Altercation]

maybe the title of this thread is throwing me a bit, but i wouldn't say that just because a dj is content with beatmatching 2 tracks together in a similar fashion every blend doesn't mean they suck. could they apply more or learn more? maybe, but that doesn't always make it better as less is sometimes more, especially when you consider some genres. i also think it's a fine line to consider people who put samples over music (or do "remixing" and edits) to those who just blend, where one is artistic and one isn't. at what point do you consider someone taking other people's music and making it theirs? that point may be slightly different to many people on here. to me the journey is also an artform...to you maybe it isn't.

personally if i go and see a deep house dj i don't really want to hear a bunch of button mashing or controllerist routines with a ton of samples and constant quick mixes. the music can be sexy, dark, funky, grooving and all about the mood for me. ideally i want to hear a great song play out and the transitions to take me on a slow and purposeful journey. on the other hand, when i was really into dubstep i would almost never want to hear an entire track play out and i prefered a more in your face, quick style of mixing that delivered peaks and valleys more abruptly. i also would gravitate towards the djs who would add a lot of d&b and drumstep in as well as 100-110bpm glitchy stuff and hip hop to keep me interested. also, i pretty much never like for something to be on crazy-face-smashing-ball-busting-heart-attack-inducing-level-11 the whole time. i need for things to get mellow within that style and then build back up again.

it's all about personal preference and what you enjoy. there are plenty of people from all of these camps that are great and plenty that i don't like. even if i don't like them or their style, it doesn't mean that they suck. unless sets are full of technical errors, their level of goodness is all subjective.

This is an awesome post, and I agree 100%. At many of the big clubs I frequent, especially in Atlantic City (Mur Mur, Dusk, Providence) to name a few, the resident DJs are pretty good with not mega mashing and letting the songs play out. There is nothing more annoying than having a DJ play :30 seconds of tons of tracks. Nobody can get into a tempo when they're dancing, no rhythm. There's a time and place for fading and blending, and it's not every 10 seconds. I think the problem lies with DJs who are so hung up on trying to fit their entire library into a gig instead of actually letting the crowd get into the music. The last mix I had set up in a playlist was 48 songs, and that was for a college house party that lasted from 11 to 2, and that was good. Wasn't cutting songs off too long or too short. It just sucks when you hear a track you know and dig, and it's over before it starts.

[rdale]

I think there is a time and place for "augmenting" a track... if you aren't adding to the experience leave it alone. I love to play with cue point juggling, looping and effects, it is the true joy of digital dj'ing that all this control is at your finger tips, but in the end track selection, good programing even on the fly, and knowing when to go thru a routine wins. Most of my mixing is A->B and back again, that doesn't mean there isn't merit to this kind of set, often times I'm structuring peaks and valleys of energy level sometimes trying to build it up to insanity levels, letting a dark and moody vibe turn into a happy and light one. I'm not one to even call myself a musician for what I do, or try to elevate it beyond to status, in the end I'm playing other people's tunes and am happy doing that in a DJ set.

But yes lots of DJs suck.

[willisnz]

maybe the title of this thread is throwing me a bit, but i wouldn't say that just because a dj is content with beatmatching 2 tracks together in a similar fashion every blend doesn't mean they suck. could they apply more or learn more? maybe, but that doesn't always make it better as less is sometimes more, especially when you consider some genres. i also think it's a fine line to consider people who put samples over music (or do "remixing" and edits) to those who just blend, where one is artistic and one isn't. at what point do you consider someone taking other people's music and making it theirs? that point may be slightly different to many people on here. to me the journey is also an artform...to you maybe it isn't.

personally if i go and see a deep house dj i don't really want to hear a bunch of button mashing or controllerist routines with a ton of samples and constant quick mixes. the music can be sexy, dark, funky, grooving and all about the mood for me. ideally i want to hear a great song play out and the transitions to take me on a slow and purposeful journey. on the other hand, when i was really into dubstep i would almost never want to hear an entire track play out and i prefered a more in your face, quick style of mixing that delivered peaks and valleys more abruptly. i also would gravitate towards the djs who would add a lot of d&b and drumstep in as well as 100-110bpm glitchy stuff and hip hop to keep me interested. also, i pretty much never like for something to be on crazy-face-smashing-ball-busting-heart-attack-inducing-level-11 the whole time. i need for things to get mellow within that style and then build back up again.

it's all about personal preference and what you enjoy. there are plenty of people from all of these camps that are great and plenty that i don't like. even if i don't like them or their style, it doesn't mean that they suck. unless sets are full of technical errors, their level of goodness is all subjective.

I agree with this also. I like to hear a DJ play a well selected set of tracks as their producer's intended them to be heard. Effects and technical skills are all good, but should be used very sparingly to provide some variation from straight beatmatch mixing. Controllerism & sync have opened up a whole new world of possibilities for DJ's, but it can get taken too far, this idea of a dj remixing tracks live etc does not appeal to me personally, but it is just personal preference in the end and if it's done right and sounds good then hey - go for it/

[robdquick]

Actually, from the look of the recent questions on this forum, I'd say DJ's need to be more technical. The amount of basic audio and routing questions on the first page alone is astonishing.

Damn right,

If you can't read a manual and work out how to hook up your gear, then you shouldn't be djing.

[rdale]

Damn right,

If you can't read a manual and work out how to hook up your gear, then you shouldn't be djing.

Kind of silly, but when I first got traktor i had a dedicated day of reviewing the manual while messing with it... it was part of the fun, it is a lot more in depth than any other application I had been using to dj previously. Sure I wanted to be banging out and just playing, but there are so many features a day with the manual was fun too.

[djchriswoods.co.uk]

I would agree to an extent, but while most of the big touring DJs dont do overly technical stuff, there are ones who do like Zabiela and Hawtin...or lesser known ones like me:



Granted this was for a competition, but pretty typical of how i play...house with technical elements, scratching, beat juggling, sample & loop play

[sobi]

Not this debate again! If you are house DJ and have great track selection skills and solid beat matching skills/play music that gets that gets the dance floor moving you are a great DJ. If you're an amazing turntablist you're a great DJ, If you're really good new age controllerist beat mashing DJ you are just as good.

None of these are better than another they are different styles of DJing. You can be good or shit at both. THE END

I completely agree. I just also think that knowing a little bit of something else on top of one's preferred medium is key. I feel like people really pushed the envelope a little more when there was only a couple turntables and a mixer. Even beyond scratching. Sure, some people were better than others. The thing I remember seeing (and doing myself) a lot of was getting really good track selection, and pulling off new ways of presenting the music.
I remember Frankie Bones used to take a spool of thread, put it over the nipple of the record platter. Then, he'd replace the needle upside down and put the record on top of the spool. He put a pencil in the hole to center it and keep it in place, and then start it up with the needle playing the underside of the record, and the song was playing backwards. I had seen him do this, mix it into a track and get it playing by itself. While the record was playing alone... backwards, he'd mix in a copy of the same song forwards, and make a whole build of it. I was so impressed because it took a great song, and introduced a completely original way to mix in and tease a track. I was especially interested, because I had heard hyperactive do the same thing not too long before... but with only a mixtape to hear it, I started just trying to make that happen with no tools... learning the muscle memory to manually push the platter backwards in time with the song I was mixing into, mix out and kick it forward with my fingers, and press the start button in time to not miss a beat. I used to see a lot of people do this. Now there's so many easy ways to do things to get that effect and I rarely see people do it.

I think the message gets lost in the defense of peoples beliefs. Just because one style of DJing may appeal to peoples tastes more than others doesn't make it (or any others) more relevant. The point that most people miss is that (at least back when I first got into it), the best guys really do have experience in all, show an obvious talent for at least one, and show an ample competence in other areas as well.

[robdquick]

Kind of silly, but when I first got traktor i had a dedicated day of reviewing the manual while messing with it... it was part of the fun, it is a lot more in depth than any other application I had been using to dj previously. Sure I wanted to be banging out and just playing, but there are so many features a day with the manual was fun too.

I always try and read manuals of programs/hardware that i am going to purchase before i purchase them. It means that when it does arrive, i have a basic idea of how it works and how to set up it up so i can just plug it in and get on with it!

Also means that i can analyse exactly what it does, which then means i can decide if i actually need/want it!