With that, most people state that technical things such as beat-matching are crucial to mixing, but where do the technical aspects come into play as conservative (or how do you see traditional mixing as a close-minded standard)? If this doesn’t make any sense, allow me to reiterate; why is traditional mixing so important to most DJ’s? At some point we begin to sound almost the same by trying to follow a specific pattern. I suppose that the topic for discussion would be how many of you stay within the traditional mixing boundaries?
Techniques such as beatmatching are essential but by no means are on their own in the arsenal of techniques a dj has. It is crucial because without matching the beats your mix will sound like $h!t. It isn’t that beatmatching is what every dj does so they all sound the same, beatmatching is just the foundation then you can put your own style on top of that. If that makes any sense?
Beatmatching was an example, when I was writing the original post, I couldn’t think of anything else at the time. However, what I was trying to say is that mixing has become so uniform these days. So besides when the next song comes into play, where does the uniqueness come into play (besides the timing)?
I’ve seen a fair bit of DJ’s who can mix just fine, the phrasing is fine, but the tune selection is absolute shite. When I go to local Dubstep nights, for instance, there’s one DJ that absolutely rips it every time. And most of the other “residents” while having various levels of skill, absolutely destroy the flow with their tune selection.
I’d also add to say that FX can be a great addition, or a very big downer, on any mix. It’s all about being smart when using them.
Surely the uniqueness comes from the artists ability to select the songs as much as it is to mash/mix/transition between them.
If you were to look at it generally a producer like Deadmau5 does the same thing but with loops/leads.
The way he suggests DJs who emphasise the importance of beatmatching and blending are somehow “Dinosaurs” is ridiculous. The same basic principles apply to his own “craft”, keeping time, avoiding key clashes.
The technicalities of mixing are fundamental aspects of how music works that anybody working with music should be aware of.
id have to agree with this, hence why im usually very dissapointed when i go out clubbing. Quite an alarming amount of DJ’s in the clubs have no concept of track selection, building a set, mixing in key and all the stuff which i personally find very important… which pisses me off quite frankly… ive even been to a club night where the DJ had absolutely no concept of timing, as in like bars/beats and all that… sure, he could match the kicks together… but he probably didnt have a clue what a “bar” was… well… he probably knew about the bar downstairs serving vodka redbulls but thats about it…
Ive been to a club night and the whole night they played nothing but bangers… i mean, sure… every set needs its bangers, but theyre meant to be the peak/highlight of the set… when you play nothing but bangers all night, they loose their effect…
its like if you went to an expensive restaurant and ate a good meal, you would be impressed… but if you went and ate there every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it would lose its effect.
When im playing in a club, i try and keep things interesting by doing live remixes/bootlegs of songs, and using interesting effect chains, looping and yeah… all that “controllerism” shit you cant traditionaly do on a set of normal CDJ’s and a mixer…
i kind of see Deadmau5’s point though, about the typical “cue,play,pitch” DJ’s… especially the ones who dont put any efforts into their sets… i mean, you can tell when a DJ has spent hours before his set preparing his songs and mixes, compared to one that just rocks up at the club with his USB stick, and goes… hmmm… i wonder what im going to play now…
Fucking pisses me off and makes me wonder, how do these guys get booked for these gigs, in these big venues?
Making the party a lot of fun with music, making the environment conducive to drinking, dancing, celebrating, and phone number exchanging is really all there is to DJing.
From there you can go into specifics like beatmatching and blending. Then onto more interesting things if you fancy.
This guy clearly has it in his head that DJs see themselves as a sort of performing artist. For the most part, they’re not, and let’s kid neither him nor ourselves. There are exceptions out there, the Ean Goldens and the AMs and so on, of course.
The dude is a producer/performer who relies on expensive technology and the drugs you’re taking to keep your attention at a live performance.
He isn’t a party DJ and doesn’t really pay any bother to the fact that they have a place in the world, so his comments are completely irrelevant. I’m not offended but I’m putting this guy on mute in the future for his idea that he’s made DJs obsolete in this world.
well his live shows are known as some of the most boring so it’s no surprize he doesn’t get djing.
with that said his reservations do have a certain amount of merrit… most djs don’t really push themselves to be better than average which isn’t impressive at all. zero structure to their mixes, homogenous single genre track selection, caning flavour of the month tunes, simple factory mixing techniques, no originality or personal style whatsoever…
but clearly he’s missed the plot if he thinks he can shoot down guys like Z-Trip, Coldcut, Q-Bert etc. etc.
I kinda see it like…the tradional DJ could maybe like to keep it real in the way of…playing the song for its beauty he selected it for. Not wanting to mash it or rmx it on the fly etc. Like Radio style DJing.
Some won;t even beat mix depending on genre.
Others like to blend tracks together and beatmatch. Not just EDM…I seen some badass rock DJ’s…or alternative …R&B…HipHop.
They like that its a learned skill to match tracks together in a way that works the crowd. Some of them beatmatch that shit…and its crazy skills i recon. I can only play EDM really.
It all depends on what the DJ wants for DJing.
Me…I like to perform…like a band would. I like to close my eyes…in my zone…and rock out. Its my stress reliever! I do a set I have worked on and worked to a point i know is going to rock! Then I deliver it!
I like to do more in the DJ box as most of the locals. I don’t produce anymore…so I put more into the DJing. Focusing on pushing my levels and skills.
Oh yeah…i think the kind of DJ that wants to do more in the box should be looking at Digital Controllerism. It obviously allows you to do much much more with a lot less than analogue stuff and the software is allowing you to do what you did in your studio before…live!
There is no other way in my eyes. You want to decks…DVS…you want to sample…APC…You want to mix internal…S4 or VCI…you want to mix external…no problem.
Want to add external FX?..easy…
Wanna record? EASY…
So if you are a traditional DJ these days…you either don’t or can’t go digital…or you have a record press at home.
whether you agree with him or not, like the old saying goes “keep your friends close, your enemies closer”.
there’s something to be learned from everyone. if you can’t see anything to gain from hearing out the deadmau5’s, tiestos, and david guettas of the world you’re only shutting yourself off to valuable information. nothing to be gained by keeping a closed mind.
besides hating his music, this quote is the one thing people point to more than anything else when trashing dm. ive never met him, so i have no idea if he’s a prick or not, but i can say that if everyone was quoting me everywhere i went, i would have a lot more than one quote that pissed a bunch of people off or that i regretted. i think he’s actually doing pretty good for one douchebag quote in 5 years.
Interesting read, this thread. I don’t have much to say about the mau5 - I think his quote was pretty much just a “not thinking before you speak” moment that stemmed from a grain of truth. That being, his distaste for djs on pedestals that don’t push the craft. It was a dick thing to say, but I get the root of where the thought came from. Z-Trip, Q-Bert, et al are most definitely NOT those kinds of djs, and since those are the types of “traditional” djs I respect the most, I take no offense to Deadmau5’ comments.
As a dj who loves music more than genres, I end up playing a really wide variety of events, and have learned a few things. First, the party and the people are the most important thing. They define what you should be playing. It’s your job from there to do what a dj is supposed to do: Open people’s minds to new sounds WHILE giving them what they want and expect (and sometimes what they don’t expect). All the while making sure the party is moving in the right direction. Sometimes your crowd is open minded by nature - you can really push the boundaries. Other times you can’t push very much. At the same level of importance is selection. It’s hard, because no matter how much we say selection is number one, you can’t give a dj good taste in music. It’s something everyone has to develop for themselves.
I feel the truly creative aspect comes from knowing the boundaries and making something amazing happen within them. It’s the selection, the way you combine things, teases, drops, tasteful fx and on-the-fly edits that differentiate an average dj from an amazing dj.
Some of my favorite, most spine tingling mixes have been non-beatmatched or tempo-transition type mixes. I love that option and don’t know why anyone wouldn’t use it. There is just too much great music out there to limit yourself to one tempo.
Also, I don’t think there are that many hard and fast rules in this game, but one of them (at least for me), is correct phrasing, bar cycles. You can be perfectly beatmatched and still sound like shite. We digi-djs have precise loop controls = NO EXCUSES. Anyone who’s not actually listening while they’re playing should not be behind the decks.
on the note about bar cycles - sometimes you can play with those to add impact of surprise by transitioning sooner than your ears expect, or suspense by stretching it out longer than your ears expect. when it’s tastefully done in small doses i think bending the bar cycle rule can really add extra impact to mixes.
I dont think i agree with that. We are playing music…yes its sometimes not out own but it is still music. When u see a artist perform live it is usually different from when u hear it on the CD or radio. I think DJ’s can be performing artists, by mixing up songs, making their own breakdowns, using breakdowns from other songs…Its alot of creativity that goes into it. I think deadmau5 is stating that its too much of the same stuff. Their is very little change when u just beatmatch and mix two songs, and u do that all night. He is wanting Dj’s to be more creative. At least thats what i think he ment.