Vinyl, CDJ or controller?
So I have been talking to event promoters who told me that using a controller is not sufficient for bigger events. They argue that the sound quality is not a good, and I assume that it’s not as “cool” to be using controllers. The optimal gear are vinyls whereas CDJ’s are almost equivalent.
What’s you guys take on this, and what am I, as a digital DJ, supposed to do?
[rant]
well that is fucking bollocks!! for a start!! 
the sound quality will be as good as the quality of the encoding of the tunes you use. cdjs can kick out shite signal just as easily if the user has got all his tunes from questionable sources.
however, some sound cards have a better sound than others to, as long as you’ve got a decent one, again, the sound is not a fucking issue!!!
this ‘promoter’ that told you this is a giant knob, with his head wedged firmly between his butt cheeks!
[/rant]
chances are he has a some kind of problem with controllers. you just need to prove his sorry arse wrong. what his is opinion of sound quality based on?
i’d recommend when you hand a cd to a promoter that you don’t initially mention the controller. let the disc blow them away, then casually mention it after they book you. also get a disc to this guy, maybe via someone else so he doesn’t realise, and wait and see what happens
Nice rant brad…
I’d ask said promoter to take the pepsi challenge blind folded…
buy a song off itunes and burn it to cd.
Test a) play song from burnt cd on cd deck
Test b) play song through decent sound card (audio 2 or above)
If he can pick it out 5 times out of 5 then offer to play free for a month.
Find out where his car is parked, whip out your crotch buffalo, and wank a load on his drivers side door handle.
Problem solved.
Well the argument was that the vinyls use expensive amplifiers and therefore sound better. But as I said it’s not only the sound that was mentioned, it was the whole image of using a controller that he supposedly didn’t like. And I have only once seen a dj use a controller and that was a very small venue. Which I don’t understand at all. So it’s looked down upon in the music scene - I guess because you can sync your songs with controllers and thereby they believe DJ’ing looses its essence.
Have none of you never run into these accusations? And has it stopped you getting gigs?
Awesome!
Tell him to eat shit and die.
thumbs
Seriously though that’s retarded on their parts. Kind of like people who criticized the internet before it came out.
Yeah seriously thats just bullshit… Every single promoter that ever gave me a hard time and said no to me djing with my Controller i made sure i explained to them what i can do and how it isnt what they think it is…
lol they have this mind set of what something is and wont shift it for anyone so you have to sometimes like push it and prove it 
I got them to come to a gig of mine that i played with or made them listen to a mix i did etc and in the end they end up accepting it as a viable tool/instrument to play with in the clubs 
Seriously though just don’t give up 
What instrument you play with is your own bis - pick what YOU believe is right, then fight for your right to party
I think it really depends on the controller you’re using. Take a look at Justice. When they perform, they use 2 laptops with a lemur, a DJM800 & a microkorg. That is a fairly large setup. For even bigger showmanship, they throw a giant wall of sound which serves no actual function in their performance. All of those speaker cabs and synthesizer racks are empty shells. What they’re selling here is ‘entertainment value’. How would it look if Deadmau5, Justice and the like DJ’d on a korg nano pad with a 13" macbook and that was it? That would be pretty boring.
When most promoters picture a controller they visualize a guy on a hercules syncing song after song and just standing around. If you are really entertaining throughout your performance, whether it be with a giant mouse head or just interacting well with the crowd, then he has no reason not to hire you to DJ again. Have a polite conversation with the promoter about how you would like to perform a first gig with a controller. If he says yes, make sure you show them why controllers aren’t bad. If he isn’t into it, swallow your pride and just rock the show. When you build a bigger rep you can demand 2 lemurs and a wall of sound in your rider.
Tell him to grow up, big names like Surkin use just a controller AND not even a soundcard. They totally rock the crowd with onboard sound.
Who cares if big names use controllers or not though ? That doesn’t justify it all in my eyes.
What really justifies it in my eyes is that it is the next progression of things, it allows us to get more hands on, be more personal, do mixes that were never previously possible, be more organised, present a new form of showmanship that most people have never seen before - its new and most importantly its interesting (if done right).
beatmatching is not the essence of djing, it is a very useful skill. you can still pull off a set without needing to beatmatch. the essence is track selection/flow/mood and how you mix them.
Heres my thought on this (and I had this arguement recently with a club owner) -
If someone wants to kick back and critique sonic fidelity, they can do so at home on their hi-fi stereos. At a club or a concert for that matter, its about the atmosphere. People are out there to have a good time, drink, probly do some drugs and dance their asses off. I challenge ANYONE of those club goers to actually notice the difference in sound quality. But again, I do not go to a live show for the “sound quality”, I go for the song selection/set list, the friends, the good times.
If a club or bar owner doesnt like the fact that I use controllerism instead of turntables, screw em, Ill go elsewhere. As someone who has lugged crates of records and CDs around, I tend to have a bad attitude towards people who look down on modern technology. If we as DJ’s weren’t meant to adapt we’d still be playin out on phonographs.
just my $0.02