I understand that there is more to dj’ing than just beatmatching, but i think that is a basic skill that all “DJ’s” should have in their arsenal.
I can’t see how you can just push buttons, and call it djing. Kinda takes the fun out of right? No? Just me then…?
I can beatmatch, still do from time to time with an X1 though mostly I sync now. Why sync? Because it frees me up to do so much more, a point Ritchie Hawtin made here:
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For example I can do live re-edits of songs, loop sections to overlay other songs, add FX to taste…etc. I work harder now as a DJ than I ever did with vinyl or CDs.
I used to be a blowhard and think digital DJing was dumb and took no skill until I setup a DJM 850 with 2 X1’s and I loved it. There are different ways of doing it. You can still manually beatmatch without having a CDJ style platter.
How is it not DJing? Everything an old school DJ could do with his/her setup back in the day is represented there. There’s just a lot more now.
How one uses it is another thing, but if you’re sitting there staring at that picture worrying about how other people DJ with that rig, you might want to find a good TV show to get addicted to or something.
Thing is…this is not like traditional DJing…but the output is just the same. You make a noise and you like it and you like how you did it.
With that kind of setup you can make a sound that you simply cannot reproduce with vinyl. And there in lies the secret. You may still enjoy the act of DJing with that kind of setup in the same way that a Formula 1 driver can enjoy driving a rally car. Different vehicle, but driving and going fast nonetheless.
I’m an old (very old) school vinyl DJ and I love messing with controllers. Try it, you might just like what it enables you to do.
Oh and I take it you have looked around DJTechTools yeah? It’s kinda controller heavy which is why your question is probably getting some carefully worded responses.
Yeah but, you don’t have to follow a visual aid. To be fair, half of the time when I tested the light method, it was still of beat slightly. That’s why I never rely on aids to begin with.
lots of djs do one to four bar blends on turntables which is whack.
lots of djs use autosync and press play with the beatport top 100 which is whack.
these days lots of producers who aren’t DJs get the headline spots and it’s whack.
With a guitar you cannot piddle your way through a two hour gig if you cannot play. Performance DJs come in all shapes and sizes and in todays world where the mainstream is trying to piggyback on the underground you’ll find more fakers than folks who are real.
At the end of the days as mentioned in this thread it’s not the tool but how you use it.
You’ll find posers no matter what gear they use. The real issue here is when there’s no standard in the promoters eyes.
the whole “it’s not what you know but who you know” is the thing that we should worry about more than anything. always settling for the lowest common denominator makes young djs think it’s even easier. I mean hey any old TV star can DJ now.
that said I only mix vinyl, not because of any reason other than I don’t think in file lists and the challenge holding beat mixes all day and all night is my idea of fun.
This has always been the question. Every time a new technology came out, the older guys would ask if the newer guys were really DJing. I started playing with turntables and a mixer before most were born here (30 years)… so I am an old bastard.
I get your point… how do you tell the ‘fakers’? If you are well trained enough, you can spot them from a mile away. Unfortunately, they have ALWAYS been there (guys pre-recording CD mixes, which was preceded by pre-recorded reel to reels, etc…) AND, they will always be there. The technology makes it easier and I get it… it’s annoying.
BUT, don’t knock new tools if 10-20% of the people using it are faking… because the other 80-90% could be doing anything from something simple to something absolutely mind blowing.
I play in venues where other digital DJ’s play using controllers. I know there is a difference between what I do and what they do… but, I have patrons actually TELL me this, too.
I have an ear for the music, spend countless hours picking out tracks and going through them, spend time remixing and re-editing, know when tracks work and when to bring them in and out, know how to use effect SPARINGLY, and work the faders and filters in a creative way, etc… In the end, my sets sound different because there dozens of other reasons that are hardly related to the tools I use. Some come from 30 years of toying with this… some come from just knowing HOW to use the tools I have.
In the end… use what YOU feel comfortable with. Each method will have limitations, so don’t knock the guy who uses a different set of gear because he can do things you can’t and vice versa… and, if it’s so easy… then, go and replicate it. In many cases, you may not be able to without A LOT of practice… if ever. (ie… tell some drummer to battle Jeremy Ellis on a Maschine)
