in the modern sense, specifically talking about ableton and traktor guys that rely on quantized sync more as “clip launchers” or “song launchers” rather than dj’s persay. Whereas DJ’s refer more to people that do all the same effects gymnastics the former does, but also manually beatmatch their tracks and dont rely on key lock.
Personally id rather be known as a “controllerist dj”. Which to me represents an amalgamut of all of the above depending on the situation. Whereas just a “controllerist” would be more in the vein of guys like moldover, who use controllers to perform music.
That made me lol… funny thing was, i was actually listening to the track “nail in the coffin” by eminem when i was writing that post… and im usually not the biggest hiphop/rap fan either… i only spin EDM… still, nice to listen to different things once in a while
the simple prefix of “amateur,” “semi-pro,” and “professional” completely destroys your argument.
if you design a graphic for your flyer, yes, you are in fact a graphic artist. are you a professional graphic artist? or just amateur? or semi-professional? have you designed your own webpage from scratch? yes, you are now a web designer.
good? maybe not. earned the title? sure. recognized by the pubilc as pro, however? probably not, if you have enough time to argue about it on an internet forum.
seriously…
edit: and the title DJ is silly for a lot of people nowadays anyway. if you arent jockeying discs, then your title is a misnomer.
Sure i understand your argument in principle, and i agree with what you are saying but thats not what the thread is about, its about “being considered” as a DJ. If you play in your bedroom and in front of your friends once in a while, sure your an amateur DJ, but apart from you and your friends, whos going to know… no one else considers you a DJ because theyve never seen you do it. I cook for myself every night, and i consider MYSELF quite the chef… no one else considers me a chef though because im not in a restaurant, working in a kitchen.
You can be considered something, when someone who doesnt know you at all, can clearly point at you and obviously point out what your doing. You walk in to an office, point at the girl at the front desk, “that girl is a receptionist”, walk into a clothing shop “that guy is a retail assistant”, walk into a club, go to the bar “that girl is a bartender”, turn your head, and look at the booth, oh what do you know, that guy in the booth “That guy is a DJ”…
If no one knows, no one cares… If you sit there mixing in your room, your only going to be considered a DJ by your pillows, your chair, your action figures, your mum, and possibly your close friends. If you DJ at a party, everyone who is at that party considers you a DJ while your at that party, If you DJ in a club, ANYONE who walks in off the street can walk in, see you playing, and will obviously consider you a DJ… You might not neccesarily be a good DJ, hell, ive walked into clubs may a times and said “wtf is this DJ on? is he half deaf?” but everyone in that room can still recognise what you are doing and consider you a DJ, regardless of skill level.
Being considered something has nothing to do with skill level whatsoever, its being able to recognise that the person is actually doing what your recognising them for. I dont need your snarky comments about being regarded as a pro or not, because i know, when i go out and play, everyone on that dancefloor considers me a DJ, wether they think im good or not, and thats what this argument is about.
And yes i have time to argue about things like this on an internet forum, because i dont think its fair for an “amateur” or bedroom DJ to be considered in the same league as a working, professional DJ, sure his skillset might be just as good, Better maybe than the DJ playing in the club… but no one is going to consider him one until he gets off his ass and gets himself some sort of gig, and people can recognise and aknowlege what he is doing.
Semi pro= Guy who plays out partys and other small events but doesnt get paid
Pro Dj = Getting paid by someone for playing music for others!
Im guilty of all those![/quote]
as soon as you get paid for doing something, but that something doesnt occupy all of your time, then you could consider yourself semi-pro. thats actually close to the definition of “semi-pro.”
an amateur shows up to a friends party and plays for no cash.
pro is someone who spends all of their time, and makes most of their income, doing something.
also, “considered” is so fuggin subjective, it’s laughable. someone walks into a bar who knows nothing about music, sees me playing, they think, “oh, thats the dj.”
they have considered me a dj. therefore, i am.
youre the one who spoke to “considered” vs. “being” - i simply corrected the terminology to be accurate. the difference between “considered” vs “being” is just that - a technical difference.
i AM (being) a dj because 1/6th of my income comes from going to a local bar, “jockeying ram,” and keeping patrons at the location.
i am CONSIDEREDa DJ by roughly anyone who sees me playing, anywhere, anytime. a guy came over to remodel my downstairs. he saw my cdjs and mixer on my table. he said, “ah, so youre a dj!” he now considers me a dj until i either confirm or deny is comment.
no one ever spoke to whether an amateur is in the same league as a semipro or a pro, and i dont think that has much to do with being “considered” a dj. to quantify that takes a lot more time and evidence than anyone has really lent in this thread, but i would assume it requires something like references from public places youve played, gig posters, evidence of record labels, and all that bullshit.
at this point its just silly semantics on the definition of the word “considered.” i assume youre talking about street cred, which i couldnt care less about considering some of the “talent” that is “considered” a dj by pressing play on their video dvd players with no regards to selection, technical merit, or anything else this forum discusses on a daily basis.
im more upset that they killed the img i linked before. such a good movie.
First I cant believe this thread is now 6 pages, when it first showed up i chuckled and figure it would last about 2, wow was i wrong.
So then by your definition I am professional poker player. I get most if not all my income from playing online poker. I used to be an network engineer 6 months ago i got laid off the economy sucks in the usa and good sys admin jobs are hard to find.
however, i have never been on tv, dont play in the world series of poker and probably wont, tourneys are a fucking waste of time.
yet strangely i dont consider myself a professional by any means. Im not on tv, i dont have an endorsement deal with poker stars or full tilt. so what am I then? im just a poker player period. .
Look the easy awnser is If you DJ, be it in your bedroom, a friends pad, a club, a rave, a wharehouse, out in the desert whatever. YOUR A FARKING DJ!!! period…
its like Stephen king wrote in his memoirs, if you write you are a writer period dosnt matter whether or not u were paid to write. you wrote it therefor u are a writer.
my 2 cents iv been reading this thread off and on and really think its kinda funny.
splitting HAIRS ANYONE!