Big acts have been playing with pyro since the 70s……with real instruments. Both the musicians and the pyro techs have the ability to at least alter the speed of what’s happening. It’s not “just press play” on either side. And the pryo doesn’t have to be computerized. You can do it in real time if you want. Lights are the same way.
And, yeah…there can be problems. James Hetfield almost lost his arm. Michael Jackson became white. Whatever. Shit happens when you play with fire.
If you really want to sync that shit more than actually being aware of your surroundings, run a metronome and have both the pyro techs and the DJ syncing to it.
What the hell? What a bunch of poorly-written drivel! He’s said nothing new at all, he’s just jumping on the “old school DJ bandwagon”, and making the same points that other people have made, except he does it while sounding like a special needs student.
What point is he even trying to make? There are three main statements, the second two are redundant to the point that it’s not worth discussing them any more, and the first is the same tired argument that everyone seems to be thinking half-way through… Except he actually thought further into it and completely invalidated it several times IN THE SAME ARTICLE. He’s trying to claim that DJ/Producers are chasing gimmicks and playing pre-recorded sets, and that’s unacceptable… But then totally invalidates it by saying:
"Seriously though, producers either need to put on a live show like Orbital, Daft Punk, Chuck Love, etc., or develop actual DJ skills before they step on stage. "
What? Daft punk dresses up as fucking robots and play in a giant light pyramid, and play pre-recorded sets with some live non rhythm-affecting live tweaking. What, so it’s okay for them to do it, because they’re awesome and we all love them? No, the point is that it’s all a gradiation, and it’s not worth drawing a line anywhere and getting cranky about it.
He then goes on to say:
“I also know playing pre-recorded sets is nothing new and has been a ‘necessity’ now and then for DJ’s playing nightly on tour (not that I approve), but to use this as a default is unacceptable.”
WTF? So… What, it’s okay to do it every once in a while, but if you do it all the time you’re an asshole? What are you gonna do, follow DJ/producers around and count how often they cheat?
People like this are just making us all sound like cranky blathering idiots that don’t know what we’re mad about.
This whole pre-recorded to sync with the pyro and light show thing, I was always of the assumption it was the techs and the engineers job to keep the visuals and stuff in sync with the dj’s music???
With the exemption of VDJ’s obviously
I’d have to add to the topic, that we all risk to lose from larger acts and various other vultures exploiting the popularity of the music. That, my friends, is why this dead horse should keep being beat. This happened once before in the disco era. I guess I should say at the end of it. Disco was absurdly hot, the vultures circled and took advantage to make as much money as they could, and the end game was a backlash that basically all but killed the genre. Now I know that was a good thing for all of us, because it placed a stigma on the genre, drove it underground, and triggered a metamorphosis that mutated it into modern house music.
That being said, I don’t want to see the same thing happen again with this iteration.
This whole thread is ridiculous, for 99% this is a hobby…so at least try/pretend to have some fun and don’t take this to serious.
…unless you are aiming for the stars (then carry on)
You’re half right, though, this has been happening ever since recorded music existed. And each and every time it happens, nothing changes. Good music keeps getting made, and commercially sucessful music keeps being commercially successful.
There is no point, future or reason to rail against it.
“While Hilton has spent her spare time spinning for years at private parties for friends or hanging around her boyfriend’s DJ booth, this is her first foray into playing club and festival gigs.”
I dunno why people get so aggravated about this stuff. We play other peoples music…
The rise in popularity of the “DJ” is pretty much driven by people who want the sort of BS that the blog was against. Telling fresh talent that this is bad and then telling them to do what the kids want is totally contradictory.