I know there is one night locally where the resident DJ’s always spin DnB on vinyl. They never use CDJ’s or DVS, and they keep up with the times and also throwback some serious chibs. But that’s pretty much it. (Elements @ The Phoenix Landing in Cambridge, MA. Excellent, excellent weekly if anyone is ever in the area).
I’ve even heard Andy C has moved to Traktor? I’ve seen him a few times and I’ve only seen him spin straight vinyl, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.
I know it may sound odd, but there’s something I just love about spinning on vinyl. I’m not good at beat-matching it yet honestly, but I’m working on it. As I recently came into a huge amount of early 2000’s DnB vinyl, it’s been almost nostalgic to listen to. (That’s about the same time I really started getting into EDM… DnB specifically). And there’s just something wonderful about not having a computer hooked up.
As I “mostly” listen to Dubstep, and I don’t have much of a vinyl collection, it’s a tough call for me. I’ve been debating selling serato and putting that money toward getting a solid bunch of records… But as I’ve never really been a vinyl junky, and it’s a pain in the ass to get, is it even worth it at this point? I have Serato and it’s nice being able to mix my Mp3’s. But I almost feel the need to go “backwards” and start being the guy who spins vinyl. Because no one does that shit anymore, and I really enjoy seeing a DJ spinning on straight vinyl, and almost feel it could be a competitive edge in this market which is loads of people trying to get in on DJing.
And as much as I appreciate the controllers coming out, it really is spamming the scene with kids who don’t know how to mix for shit. I mean, I’ve never played out myself yet, but you can tell. And I don’t want to get into a pissing contest about it, but it reinvigorates my want to just play vinyl. Because playing on vinyl isn’t something you can do overnight.
Anyone else feel a similar pull? Or am I alone on this one lol
See that’s the thing. The only people I see doing it is people whom have been spinning for a long time. Just getting into it, it almost seems overlooked at this point.
I’m not afraid of the $$ aspect to it (because there’s something serious to be said about building an awesome vinyl collection of stuff you love, the audiophile in me goes bonkers over the thought), but I haven’t seen… anyone in the past 5 years really spinning vinyl who hadn’t been spinning it for ages.
Theres a local classy bar where the DJ’s spin both vinyl and CDJ’s. I was chatting to the girl who spins on friday nights who spins only vinyl. She plays at a club as well on SSL, but loves the feel of spinning RnB and Jazz on straight vinyl, no laptop.
Only If I mix an old school anthem set, I cant see myself buying vinyl again as I have a cupboard full of it that never gets used because it’s old and doesn’t translate into todays music that cost a small fortune. But If you want the vinyl feeling just don’t look at the screen, that’s what I do
I spin on both DVS and vinyl. My buddy hooked me up with a crate of early 90s house, plus I have a pile of dnb, and love just throwing on records, and turning off the computer.
I spin vinyl 90% of the time. The only time I even hook up my dvs is if I’m doing a bday party, or if I feel like spinning hiphop at home.
I would keep Serato if I were you.
I use www.discogs.com for 95% of my vinyl. I pick up tons of records for around $2 each, you just have to browse around. But I also mostly buy/spin older house records so if you are the type of guy that must have the newest releases maybe vinyl isn’t for you. I started with vinyl about 8 years ago and I’ve been addicted since.
I’m also not the type to spend a buttload of money for a record just to say that I have it. Every record that I have gets played
At one of my local joints. Most djs there spin cdjs, or vinyl. I spin on cdjs, but this one girl I know spins dnb all night long straight vinyl. Not going to lie, she wasn’t super hot, but she got way sexier to me after I saw her spin vinyl as smooth as butter.
QFT. Like others, I can totally understand you. I use DVS for convenience and loops and shit but I enjoy buying the occasional older house on discogs to refresh my tiny vinyl bag when I feel like playing “unplugged”. Something about the extra care and focus makes it relaxing in a way.
I’m somewhat of a technophile, work in IT, have been quite the geek in the past, but sometimes I just like to not depend on a computer for everything - that’s one more reason vinyl only is liberating, at least at home.
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I’ve seen a fair amount of significant djs in the past few years here but even the known purists use some CDs along vinyl (Ricardo Villalobos + Raresh, the Ostgut Ton guys and gals mostly). Some are CD only.
Come to think of it, I think it’s only an actual married couple of local DJs, label owners, former record store owners, whom I’ve seen play vinyl ONLY. Not a single CD wallet in sight.
Control vinyl seems to be the dominant player. Sometimes with a bit of real cd/vinyl sprinkled in.
It seems to still be staple of dnb heads to spin vinyl. Most, if not all other places I frequent with other genres of music are either on CDJ’s or digital. I view dnb as the last bastion of hope for vinyl.
I’d love to grow my wax collection. I have everything on digital because its cheap, with a view to picking up the best on vinyl. The older stuff is ridiculously expensive though, lenzman - Fade Away/Flamethrower is £70 on discogs
It is freeing ditching the computer, its easier to listen to the tracks rather than be thinking about which cue point you need or being distracted by waveforms.
I use a combo of vinyl and DVS. Pretty much the same to me at this point. When I am feeling nostalgic for some groovy older house I’ll play my old vinyl for weeks at a time.
D’n’B or some old school UKG; Vinyl all the way. House / Electro / Dance? Probably DVS to be honest. Although if I have a the same tune on vinyl as I have on my hard drive, I’ll always spin the wax version. This is because, for me, DVS is just a tool to play all my tunes that I don’t have on vinyl as if they were vinyl.
I’ve been playing out for about 2/3 years and I play exclusively vinyl. Don’t own DVS or CDJs, just a pair of turntables and a mixer. Even in the short period that I’ve been playing in clubs there seems to be less people playing proper vinyl, but it’s still certainly alive and kicking, at least within the genres I’m interested in. I occasionally use CDs for tunes I can’t get on vinyl, but seeing as I’ve got no way of playing them outside of clubs it’s pretty rare.
Started off playing DnB, which, as has been said, has ties to vinyl. Moved on to dubstep, which again had the vinyl culture. Now I’m playing what I call “UK Bass” for lack of a better term, and while there is less on a vinyl culture there is still a lot of music that doesn’t get a digital release. Probably a hangover from dubstep*.
Everyone talks as though it is impossible to play vinyl, but it’s no more expensive than it ever was, no more heavy, and still just as easy to buy. The biggest problem is club turntables tend to be a bit knackered, but DVS is going some way to correct this. Wherever there are DJS that want to use them, there will be a motivation for club owners to get them serviced.
*UK Bass is sort of the flipside to “American Dubstep” (brostep included), while there is still a sizable dubstep scene in London (which I’m told is called “dungeon step”), FWD etc, a lot of the people who were making exciting music a few years ago have gone one of two ways. They’ve either gone into the cheesy, noisy, shittastic side of things, or abandoned the half time and dropped down into 130bpm land. I’ve ended up following the slowdown. It’s retained the vinyl culture in a big way though, lots of stuff that’s pretty hard to get downloads of, or the download comes out a long time after the original promo drops. Even got vinyl only labels like Swamp81.
“DVS is just a tool to play all my tunes that I don’t have on vinyl as if they were vinyl.”
-Lineypirate
This exactly how I feel. My laptop is never in front of me, always to the side out of the way.
I started spinning vinyl in 1996, and never moved to cds. I actually held out on Serato up until 2008 or 2009. I was a vinyl purist, but when tracks started to be released digitally only I had no choice but embrace the new technology.
I load a track, and cue the record. No hot cues, no loops, just Absolute Mode.
cost is what motivated me…i used to order records once a week or so from dancerecords.com and would get free shipping with orders over 50 bucks…for that same 50 bucks i can get 30 or so tracks from beatport or 40 plus odd itunes…
i have recently moved to an external mixer and have hooked up one of my turntables so i can play alot of tracks that made it to digi (naked music, greyhound, dubtribe, etc) music that still holds up with todays deep house sounds…very excited about that…
does doc martin still spin only vinyl? i miss going to wax records in los angeles…
^True. But not the same, nothing like being a regular at a small record shop, and the person behind the counter hands you a stack of new vinyl that they set aside for you. I miss that personal aspect of vinyl collecting.
I still spin vinyl at home pretty often and prefer it as well, though I enjoy all the possibilities of digital that aren’t there on vinyl. Last time I spun out it was an all-45 set (I turned 45 that day so it was appropos).
And yeah Amoeba is great but there used to be a ton of specialty record shops that were put out of business when they came to town! Doc Marten’s Wax on Melrose was pretty close to a few other great ones that are long gone - This Is Music (fantastic house collection) and the dnb powerhouse Beat Non Stop (I remember digging through a pile of records that DJ Rap sold there years ago; think I picked up a couple but I couldn’t tell you which). And before there was Amoeba there was Aron’s Records which at the time seemed huge… Ahhh I wax nostalgic about LA wax
I still buy way too many records but I tend to stay away from new stuff because of the prices; but I should rethink that considering I recently spent $70 on $2 records that mostly turned out to be shite. Another thing that sucks about Amoeba is no vinyl listening station! And they wrap records in so much damn plastic and tape it would be impossible to listen to them anyways…
This explains how I feel completely. I haven’t been djing for very long, but I started with Traktor but ended up obtaining some 1200’s. When I mix on traktor I feel limited and dull (doubtful that makes any sense). But when I can actually look at a record, pick it up, put it down, and play it with no distraction of a screen, I feel so much more genuine and alive. Being able to hold the music and physically search for it is a beautiful thing that puts a smile on my face.
On top of that, I feel like playing vinyl is so much more rewarding (personally, STRICTLY, I know not everyone feels the same). I don’t play strictly vinyl, as I can obtain much more music that I want digitally. HOWEVER, I have a “local” record shop that stopped stocking vinyl a few months ago and have been having a sale ever since. Any record for 2$, no limit. Oh, and there’s a guy that works there occasionally that gives em to me for a buck, so that’s pretty dope. The issue is that by local, I mean an hour and a half drive one way which is hard to make between school and work and a lack of gas money. When I get to drive down there I usually spend about 40 bones (20 if the other guy is working) and snag like 20 records. I’m usually the only guy there too so I don’t have to worry about sharing space with anyone. I need to take more advantage of this
