Controllers in the club, gettin hate

[NonChalant]

First off and foremost, i am a controllerist.

Secondly, yes, i can spin DVS and CDJS. I am not just a bedroom dj overusing my sync button or only relying on my track bpm moving relative to my pitch fader as it does in itch(to 2 decimal points even) to beatmatch.

One of the things i love most about being a controlerist is showing up to a new club i havent played at yet and when doing line checks with the other djs for the night and seeing the looks on their faces as you pull a controller out of your bag and not a serato/traktor box. Almost immediately the other djs will start judging you, in their heads thinking youre not a real dj. In fact in Vancouver there are some clubs that wont even LET you use a controller through their sound systems because the sound guys freak out about signals being too hot. (this happened to a good friend of mine who opened for designer drugs at Celebrities, one of the bigger clubs in Vancouver if anyone is framiliar).

Nothing is sweeter then going on after the resident dj who has been playing the same crate for months on the club gear to a moderate crowd response and plugging in your controller and doing things with it that they have never even seen before and having what they believe to be THEIR crowd going absolutely bonkers for you. i had my ns7 (RIP NS7 2010-2011) i was using itch 1.0 which was extremely limited and had brutal fx (i ditched my fx bar almost immediately after buying it, beat fx didnt stay on beat and phaser/flange was not good sounding IMO). I would use my cue points as instruments though. remixing songs by either having melodies/basslines on my cues, or a drum single hits on my cues. and using these in combination with being able to mix flawlesslyish (depending on alcohol consumption) i would always surprise the djs who when i first walked in were looking down their nose at me.

now dont get me wrong, the reason why us controlerists get hated on in this instance is because every gigging dj has played a shitty club show or dance or whatever on the same bill as some kid who rolls in with a controller and a small group of friends and then proceeds to butcher his way through a set while even his unskilled friends notice his mistakes. but honestly, ive played shows with resident djs who are spinning cdjs or digital vinyl who DONT EVEN TOUCH THEIR DAMN PITCH FADERS.

now i dont really know what im trying to accomplish with this thread. one part of me wants to hear glory storys from other controlerists who have outperformed their dvs/cdj counterparts and another part of me wants to start a heated internet controlerist vs "traditional" dj battle.

[padi_04]

I'm kinda known now in the circles as a tech guru so I get asked about my setup and stuff rather than getting hate, even from old school guys. Last time I got any hate was back when the bcd3000 was in it's early days from a drunken dude, he was dancing his ass off again 20 minsafter I began my set

[NonChalant]

that is such a satisfying feeling haha. when drunk dude goes from raised eyebrow to dancing his ass off

[Topps]

[guiltyblade]

Not sure why you are bring this up here. You don't have to convince any of us, this is for a the most part a very controller friendly community.. Go convince the vinyl, CDJ, and club owners. If your skills are where you say then why aren't you a resident at those locations, and these nooby terrible DJs residents?

[DoubleG]

In fact in Vancouver..

Yay! another controllerist from Vancouver! anyways, did you start out with dvs/cdjs or controllers? I feel that it's gonna be hard though to enter the clubscene with a controller here in vancouver because we're kind of slow on trends here compared to places like california or new york where you could say controllers are more acceptable.

[Dj Kave]

I've noticed as my time as a Dj, that the whole Dj community seems to judge and hate on each other WAYY too much. Some Dj's need to realize that just because you have the whole pioneer DJM and CDJ setup does NOT make you a good Dj. And many others should respect another Dj's way of performing and creating music. Shit dude, I get hated on all the time just for using Traktor.


Furthermore, I have seen PLENTY of Dj's that spin on Vinyl that don't even touch the god damn records. Lol except maybe to do the backspin transition, that's pretty much it.

[NonChalant]

yo not trying to convince, i know that ppl at DJTT are convinced. i just joined the community here just trying to get a feel for it you know, just opening up a discussion. not about my skill or your skill, just about prejudice against controllersts. so sorry if i offended you or stepped on your toes and i meant no disrespect.

and i have a residency and perform around the city.

[Dj Kave]

yo not trying to convince, i know that ppl at DJTT are convinced. i just joined the community here just trying to get a feel for it you know, just opening up a discussion. not about my skill or your skill, just about prejudice against controllersts. so sorry if i offended you or stepped on your toes and i meant no disrespect.

and i have a residency and perform around the city.

I don't think you offended anyone yo. Your good

[NonChalant]

Yay! another controllerist from Vancouver! anyways, did you start out with dvs/cdjs or controllers? I feel that it's gonna be hard though to enter the clubscene with a controller here in vancouver because we're kind of slow on trends here compared to places like california or new york where you could say controllers are more acceptable.

I actually started on controllers but my friends had cdjs and digi vinyl so i taught myself so that for smaller lesser paying gigs i didnt need to lug all my shit to the club and could just use someone else's serato box. then a month ago all my dj gear got stolen so ive been using only cdjs recently at the clubs (post modern/library square) but i just ordered a midifighter and an S4 that should be here tomorrow morning.

Honestly youre gonna get a snooty look at first, but as long as you step into the dj booth and know how to set everything up and know how to run the mixer (almost everywhere ive played has a djm 800, a few Rane TT57's) you will be good to go. but if you show up with a controller and then botch your transitions and your levels are all whack they definitely give you shit haha.

I dont really know what its like compared to other places in the states but i have dj'd in cuba and mexico and they ONLY use controllers down there for the most part. Even worse is they predominantly just use virtual dj straight off the laptop because they are big on video djing down south, even if they have cdj 1000's and a djm 800 they are still running it through virtual dj.