Interesting questions answered by Wolfgang Gartner
Okay, maybe not interesting to everybody. 
I like #10
[QUOTE]If you were starting up today, would you even bother to learn how to beat match and mix with CDJs, or just go all software? If I were just starting today I would learn to mix in Ableton or Traktor and not learn to beat match. No reason to learn old tech[/QUOTE].
gonna agree with him, with one side-note: you will learn the skill as time goes by simply involving yourself in the process of editing tracks in traktor / ableton / et al, but if you do not, then you will be discovered by someone and called out on it. i think he could have elaborated a bit more (or did) but the responses seem so short, they probably edited additional fluff out for the ADD gen.
I think all the responses were via twitter since they say in the beginning that it was a twitter interview with his fans. I didnāt count the characters in each answer though so donāt quote me on it.
ah yeah, glazed over that intro.
If you were learning to play an instrument, why bother to learn such old concepts as chord progressions and theā¦ the keys.
Theres plenty of reasons
Its fun. Its enjoyable. It gets you laid and makes you cool and popular (joke).
I think he should have said āno necessity to learn old techā
I donāt know If I agree, I started with a VCI-100 w/ traktor and then later switched to a 2x technics serato setup, and my game skyrocketed by forcing myself to learn manual beathmatching (STILL trying to master it lol). The VCI-100se w/Traktor with all the buttons and effects was too distracting for me at the time I suppose.
Good for you man now you get the best of both worlds and mad respect from all djs not just the digi heads.
I equate it to driving a stick shift, before automatics there were only manuals so if you wanted to drive you had to learn to drive a manual. Now in the age of automatics nobody wants to learn to drive a stick. oh my God a clutch! :eek:
Remember when the division was whether you could scratch or notā¦kinda depressing to say that being able to beatmatch makes you a ārealā dj nowā¦
I see what you mean but I donāt think the analogy fits. Those āoldā concepts lay the foundation not for technically perfoming the music, but rather for the composition and whatnot of the musicā¦I think a ālittleā better analogy would be you are learning to play the guitar, why learn to tune your instrument by ear when we have electric tuners. well one reason is that it trains you while you learn to do itā¦you start to be able to hear what key what is in, you can begin to tell what you are bending the note to rather than just pushing the string āupā the fretboard. Kinda like learning to beatmatch teaches you things like how to phrase appropriately and how to mix in key without using something that analyzes the trackā¦just some thoughts
I donāt think that was ever the division?
Yeah man I unfortunately do remember this , the thing was is that everybody
just wanted to scratch and nobody bothered to beatmix, blend, double cut, echos, remix, reverse beats and on and onā¦its was just regurgitation of the āIts Timeā scratch(Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" by Hashim) and Jam Master Jay cutā¦Many heads rolled in those days!
Times have changed for sure and all i can say is to each his own. It comes down to song selection and the way you present it to the DANCEFLOOR.
"Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years
But weak ideas irritate my ears
Is this the best that you can make?
'Cause if not and you got more, Iāll wait
But donāt make me wait too long 'cause Iām a move on
The dance floor when they put something smooth on
So turn up the bass, itās better when itās loud
'Cause I like to move the crowd
Move the crowd, move the crowd
Move the crowd, move the crowd
Move the crowd, move the crowd
Move the crowd, move the crowd"
Rakimā¦
I didnāt mean it literally, more tongue in cheek. But it is saying something that the absolute basis of club djing (beatmatching) is becoming a lost art.
To Sync or Not to Sync is the most boring discussion known to man (or DJ at least).
If someone uses Sync they will defend it.
If someone doesnt use Sync they might argue against it till they die.
Its unresolvable.
No pineappleā¦ ever.
the link inside that link to bassnectarās interview was bad ass.
thanks for bringing it up lol
The question isnāt to sync or not to sync, nobody can perfectly beatmatch as fast as a properly set up pc, the question is to know how to beatmatch or to not know how to beatmatch. I still maintain that it is an important skill to learn. I also think that digital dj software is making it a lost art. I know it took me about 3 months to get it down pretty well and I spent all of my formative years playing in band and whatnot. I know that for me at least, I would have never learned if I had software to learn on rather than a pair of turntables. As soon as someone shows me a bulletproof computer that wonāt crash Iāll say you donāt need to know how, but we all know that shit happens whether physically to the laptops or internally. Would you like to be the guy thatās up there and have it all go pear shaped and not be able to mixā¦
Agreed, but even with a synchāed set up you need to know when to throw the record (which is the first step in beat matching). And letās face it, a DJ starting out is very often going to be limited to whatever the venue has, and thatās probably going to be a pair of CDJ-1000ās at best. Sure you can lug your equipment everywhere but not everywhere is going to be able to handle it.
If you learn the basics, you can DJ anywhere. Wouldnāt diversity be the mark of a true craftsman? I would personally feel a little embarrassed if the party just didnāt take off b/c I had to say, āSorry, I canāt use this equipment.ā