why cant i just use a controller and mix without being hassle?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
21

+1. Dude, I LOVE having gone digi, and just keep looking forward. Any time I get hassled (and it’s always by djs or wannabe djs), I just tell 'em I rocked the vinyl for 10 or eleven years before using controllers, and yes! I actually do this BY CHOICE!

Seriously, sync doesn’t mean anything. If I had a dollar for every terrible sounding but perfectly-synced mix I’ve heard a dj play, I’d be doing very well. It’s about selection, attention to the particular spectrum and elements of each track, timing, and adaptability. Also, someone please tell me how if a dj’s gear has a BPM readout, that matching two numbers up is any less “cheating” than a sync button? The argument WILL become a relic. Just think it through for a sec. We want to create this every flowing musical landscape, where adding and subtracting elements is fluid and intuitive. Why on earth would we want to HAVE to fuss around with tempo for every new sound we bring in? It actually has nothing to do with the end product (what the crowd hears). I kinda feel like beatmatching is a mechanical necessity that was born from the limitations of legacy gear. Nothing wrong with it, but in my futurist vision of djing it’s just a waste of usable time.

On a side note, I played a wedding last weekend that was pretty important to me, for some longtime friends and a couple hundred guests. I was kind of bumming at the end of the night, because I thought the set was pretty loose, and I had made a couple dumb mistakes as well. (This kind of set, with a lot of varying tempos and loose/live drumming in older tracks, I find to be one of the more challenging kinds of sets to perform - if you do anything more than just playing one track after another). After I expressed my bummitude, I heard nothing but people yelling at me to shut my trap, because they thought it was great, and everyone was having a good time, getting freaky and rocking out all night.

Saving grace: Selection and timing. The tracks that were beatmatched had nothing to do with the success of the evening.

I know it’s been said before, but the people a dj should care the most about are the partygoers/dancers. And if you can’t change a purist dj’s opinions, you can at least show them that you can blow the roof off with your “inexpensive gear”… I love that idea about handing naysayers the phones, and letting them have at it for a few tracks, to see how quickly they get set straight:smiley:

22

gont get me wrong i love digital djing wouldnt trade it for anything else. for me its more than just a synch button. its paying attention to little details and track selection in mixing. yes like id said i would love to own cdjs or turntables but ever since i got into digital djing its something im very comfortable with, and i would stand for my tools and what i believe in for digital djing. even if id own a cdjs or tts id still be into controllerism no matter what. thank you for sharing your experiences in here regarding digital djing.

23

if someone’s a hater, they’re gonna find a way to hate. the gear is just an easy target. your more advanced brand of hater will move straight on to rolling their eyes at mix technique or track selection.

i’d just ask: “are you not having a good time?”

if they say they’re having a good time, smile and tell them (jokingly) to shut the fuck up then. if they say they’re not having a good time, ask them why they’re staying.

24

yeah the idea that Sync is cheating is a bunch of horse shit… nobody goes to shows to see if a DJ can beatmatch or not.

It’d be like telling a carpenter he’s cheating because he’s using a powerdrill instead of a screwdriver.

25

Amen to that, can’t fault someone for moving with the times, jaded clubbers would probably moan at your clothes/hair/whatever even if they loved your set!

Similar situation to me, had CDJ-1000 mk3’s and a DJM-800, like the OP wants, and I’ve just spent the last fortnight messing around with juggles and loops on my VCI-100/Traktor Pro that I could never ever have done on the fly on my CDJ’s, let alone on my old 1210’s!

If you enjoy DJing and people enjoy your DJing who cares :smiley:

26

Honestly if it werent for controllerism, I wouldnt be making the strides that I have been making. Alot of the old school/traditional DJ’s in my scene appreciate what Im trying to do with a blend of live performance and DJing, its different. Im grateful to be surrounded by such professional and open minded peers. We all agree that no one style of DJing is better, its just different. Have another friend of mine who uses the exponent (nice piece of gear) and we are content knowing that being controllerists is all about making our own work flow and DJing the way we want to, thats what its always been about. Just make the crowd dance, really, thats it.

On a side note, I had a DJ come up to me at one of my gigs, spewing the bullshit about how Im not DJing, so I handed him my headphones and said go ahead, just hit sync and rock on for a bit, Im thirsty anyway. I walked away and after getting my drink I had a vicious train wreck and just got back on and proceeded to kick ass. He doesnt like me very much, but oh well, I made my point.

27

I think a lot of people just dont understand the work that can go into using a controller. Sure, it can be considered easy if you use a controller in its most basic form, but what I think makes them so great is the ability to virtually create new music on the fly, and that takes a lot of planning and creativity. You cant do that the conventional way with two turntablesno matter how hard you try. It all comes down to effort. The more time you spend trying to push the limits on what mixing is the more work and effort you have to put into it regardless of the kit you use.

28

It’s like they want us to handicap ourselves because THEY choose to use archaic equipment. Fuck that, get an upgrade grandpa!