A real DJ on the 'Instant DJ'

[BOD]

Well said Brucee

dont concentwate on da finger

 

[Shooms]

The music is the heart and soul of it.

The rest of the argument is interesting, but geek wankery at the end of the day.

If someone want to play Orbital chime on a potters wheel with a diamond up their arse, I really couldn't give a shiny shite. They are still playing Orbital - Chime.

The anti digital snobbery is fucking nonsense and is like the finger pointing at the moon. You miss all the heavenly glory.

Knew you'd bite you fuckin' homo

Surprised a few more didn't...

 

[Brock Landers]

I've done my fair share of digging.

Every weekend from being 13-25ish I would do the following and at first on trains until I got a car at 18: -

Saturday
Wigan - Alans
Bolton - Beat street
Manchester - Spin inn, Eastern block, Vinyl exchange

Sunday
Liverpool - HMV in Liverpool used to be great

It was all about the thrill of the chase, iding, remembering and spending your train fare on that one last tune...

Nowadays I have much better things to do with my time like stay in bed with the missus for instance. I still have hundreds of tunes that survived the mass clear out of 2000TM but have no room for them and sold my decks at the same time as most of my collection. Music played a massive part of my life for the first 25 years, but less so now.

I played out regularly in local clubs for 10 years until 2000 when I jacked it all in to concentrate on growing up. (It didn't work as well as planned )

It's all about the tunes and how much you value your time vs time spent shopping.

Let's be honest, how many of you vinyl junkies still go to physical record shops instead of buying online? Buying vinyl online would hold the same excitement for me as buying a WAV from discogs, traxsource, beatport etc etc...

 

[leaky]

I agree with U31. Utter, utter bollocks.

So I'm in Best buy buying a new TV and I find that they sell midi controllers and fancy one. Do you think I "Don't like music" or "Don't feel it?" Why would I spend my money on something if I didn't have "passion" for it?

Many people buy these things because they are: -

1) Too young to have even used vinyl and want something that isn't as old hat as Cd's

2) Want to have a play about at home without the expense/time/hassle of buying the records and having the space for decks

3) Have previously DJ ed for years but have/have sold their vinyl/decks and fancy a dabble again when space/money/kids growing up allows

I find all this anti digital stuff offensive to be honest. If they don't like it then fuck them. They are the dinosaurs.

I see the author of the article "DJ Rev" plays shitty rock/hip hop anyway and fancies himself as a turntablist. Well DJ Rev, wake the fuck up, because you're never going to win the DMC without a DVS system from now on you fucking cock.

And yes, I am pissed off with a cold and lack of sleep.

bang on the nail there m8, and yep I'm pissed off with a cold too but for Christs sake what is the problem with people embracing the new technology, how many of you moaners going on about auto cue and beat lock, are still using belt drives with no pitch control ? ? ? nobody would be my guess yet we keep hearing this, its too easy it has no soul, argument and vinyl is king, this same argument will raise its head in years to come when kids are cutting up the beats and seamless blending using just brain sensors and thought waves, well maybe not but who knows what lies ahead. if it sounds good it doesn't matter a bean what its made on, i could be wrong but doesn't Greg Wilson still use a reel to reel tape deck ? does that make him better than q-Bert using a vestax QFO yes you can say there are set ups that make mixing tunes easier but why should that be an issue, its each to their own but most top djs use all the new gadgetry and create things that just couldn't be achieved without it.
i think there is a lot of resentment that a rare tune thats taken years to track down and cost a small fortune, can be just grabbed for free these days on mp3, i can see why people could have a problem with that, but thats just an unfortunate twist in technology, i collected tunes from about 71 -93 and spun out weekly for about 3yr and at one point i spent every penny i had on vinyl. looking back i think i must have been bonkers, i wish mp3s and you tube etc was around back then. i sold them all years ago for nowhere near what i paid for them, i don't have any decks or records now, but would love to buy a decent controller to spin mps and also re-edit and remix a few tunes to tinker with, i fall well and truly into Brock's no3 category, end of the day its each to their own stick with what your used to, or stick with it because you have £1000s of pounds worth of vinyl, or stick with it because you just prefer it. but don't knock the guys who are moving forward, call it snobbery or whatever i just don't understand it tbh, how many of you are going to stop watching TV when it goes digital, its the daftest argument on the planet.

 

[seandelier]

I agree with U31. Utter, utter bollocks.

So I'm in Best buy buying a new TV and I find that they sell midi contollers and fancy one. Do you think I "Don't like music" or "Don't feel it?" Why would I spend my money on something if I didn't have "passion" for it?

Many people buy these things because they are: -

1) Too young to have even used vinyl and want something that isn't as old hat as CDJs

2) Want to have a play about at home without the expense/time/hassle of buying the records and having the space for decks

3) Have previously DJed for years but have/have sold their vinyl/decks and fancy a dabble again when space/money/kids growing up allows

I find all this anti digital stuff offensive to be honest. If they don't like it then fuck them. They are the dinosaurs.

I see the author of the article "DJ Rev" plays shitty rock/hip hop anyway and fancies himself as a turntablist. Well DJ Rev, wake the fuck up, because you're never going to win the DMC without a DVS system from now on you fucking cock.

And yes, I am pissed off with a cold and lack of sleep.

This post wins the thread. Easily.

 

[Stu V]

Digital V Analogue

Hi all, I'm a newbie here- but have been a DJ for 20 odd years, I still have my vinyl collection from back in the day, but buy all my current stuff digitally - similarly if I'm doing a gig, its up to the promoter / venue what format I use.

I still love the crowd vibe when they see the "Black Crack" flying around the DJ booth, but to be honest I no longer feel the need to prove myself and my beat matching skills, and I am a serious fan of track looping and the plethora of awesome effects that come standard in most DJ apps these days.

Lets face it there can't be a single DJ out there who hasn't at one time or another listened to that massive bassline kick just after the breakdown, and wished it had carried on for a few more bars before the noncy female vocal kicked back in!!

Now I just grab an 8 bar loop on the bassline and either drop a different vocal or a different track, or just let the crowd bounce on for a few more joyous seconds on the eargasm of the moment. With Traktor playing 4 decks, and 4 effects units, I am quite thankful for the auto cue functionality - and I still have to manually intervene about 25% of the time, especially when I'm adding breaks or non standard 4x4.

The difference for me is that in the old days I had a fixed 6 minutes of track, and regardless of how quickly I got the next track tee'd up (I always ran three decks and tried to keep 2 tracks ahead of live) once I was ready to start pounding the life out of my trusty EFX500 and Kaos pads - I had maybe 2 mins left, and I only had one shot at the juicy parts of the track.

Now I drop a few cue points on the way, use loops, and I can go back and create my own breakdowns and ting..... for as long as I want.

The time limitation of the vinyl, or to a lesser extent CD, has been removed, so my job has become more one of being artistic with the music than being a "Disc Jockey", andI never had the skills to be a true turntablist. (And even they scratch on CDJ's these days!!)

And anyone who thinks it can't all go horribly wrong just as easily, just because its a digital rig, obviously hasn't heard me playing pissed

I won't be selling my decks or tracks any time soon, and I would imagine that any oldskool mixes I drop here will have at least some vinyl in them - I really can't be bothered to rip 4000+ 12"'s, and a lot of the old B side mixes that got peoples ears waggling back in the day are really tough to track down.

That said its all pretty much a moot point now - take a look at the Pioneer CDJ2000 and DJM2000 combination that is now the industry standard rig across Europe and the US, and its basically digital in flightcases!!! all you nee are your cans and a USB stick and off you go!

However all this stuff still has to pass through an analogue interface anyway - and until they build a robot dj, us old analogue interfaces will keep mashing things up the way we see fit


Stu V

 

[Stu V]

And purely financially, 12"'s can cost you $20 a pop here in Perth - if they are current and cool - Beatport is 99c a track, and you can burn them onto CD if the venue only has CDJ's!!


Nuff said!!

 

[SCR101.5]

yes you can say there are set ups that make mixing tunes easier but why should that be an issue, its each to their own but most top djs use all the new gadgetry and create things that just couldn't be achieved without it.

It's all about expectations & keeping it interesting. If I knew somebody had software which made mixing easier & allowed for on-the-fly looping, stuff to be created in key, transposing & loads of effects, I would expect them to be able to create stuff, which is in a word, magical.
The reality of it imho is that there are some incredible digital djs (Surgeon & Rob Hall being my favourites), but there are quite a few that I've heard who are certainly not pushing it too it's full potential, or even aiming towards it
I use Ableton & a couple of controllers & have never really put a proper mix on the web, because I never think it's good enough (all-encompassing enough) for where digital djing should be heading.
Maybe I should let others decide & put one up.

 

[MANC]

please put a mix up SCR phones:

some great words from everyone, don't disagree with any of it... maybe im just pissed off cos i cant afford to upgrade to new state of the art set up lolol i do get dead frustrated by not being able to take my mixes further cos im only quite average at DJing in technical terms. wen i do mixing i like to take it into all kinds of directions and get in as many tunes as possible and i guess ableton or a similar setup would give me that ability. the thought of it gets me excited actually so fook knows why im moaning

 

[SCR101.5]

please put a mix up SCR phones:

It's my resolution for 2011

 

[Shooms]

Hi all, I'm a newbie here- but have been a DJ for 20 odd years, I still have my vinyl collection from back in the day, but buy all my current stuff digitally - similarly if I'm doing a gig, its up to the promoter / venue what format I use.

I still love the crowd vibe when they see the "Black Crack" flying around the DJ booth, but to be honest I no longer feel the need to prove myself and my beat matching skills, and I am a serious fan of track looping and the plethora of awesome effects that come standard in most DJ apps these days.

Lets face it there can't be a single DJ out there who hasn't at one time or another listened to that massive bassline kick just after the breakdown, and wished it had carried on for a few more bars before the noncy female vocal kicked back in!!

Now I just grab an 8 bar loop on the bassline and either drop a different vocal or a different track, or just let the crowd bounce on for a few more joyous seconds on the eargasm of the moment. With Traktor playing 4 decks, and 4 effects units, I am quite thankful for the auto cue functionality - and I still have to manually intervene about 25% of the time, especially when I'm adding breaks or non standard 4x4.

The difference for me is that in the old days I had a fixed 6 minutes of track, and regardless of how quickly I got the next track tee'd up (I always ran three decks and tried to keep 2 tracks ahead of live) once I was ready to start pounding the life out of my trusty EFX500 and Kaos pads - I had maybe 2 mins left, and I only had one shot at the juicy parts of the track.

Now I drop a few cue points on the way, use loops, and I can go back and create my own breakdowns and ting..... for as long as I want.

The time limitation of the vinyl, or to a lesser extent CD, has been removed, so my job has become more one of being artistic with the music than being a "Disc Jockey", andI never had the skills to be a true turntablist. (And even they scratch on CDJ's these days!!)

And anyone who thinks it can't all go horribly wrong just as easily, just because its a digital rig, obviously hasn't heard me playing pissed

I won't be selling my decks or tracks any time soon, and I would imagine that any oldskool mixes I drop here will have at least some vinyl in them - I really can't be bothered to rip 4000+ 12"'s, and a lot of the old B side mixes that got peoples ears waggling back in the day are really tough to track down.

That said its all pretty much a moot point now - take a look at the Pioneer CDJ2000 and DJM2000 combination that is now the industry standard rig across Europe and the US, and its basically digital in flightcases!!! all you nee are your cans and a USB stick and off you go!

However all this stuff still has to pass through an analogue interface anyway - and until they build a robot dj, us old analogue interfaces will keep mashing things up the way we see fit


Stu V

Great post & welcome to the board mate

I have to agree with most of your points... to be honest most of my previous points on this thread have been (nearly) tongue in cheek wind ups

I love the creativeness the new technology brings & anyone who's seen Richie Hawtin's vids on youtube knows how busy you can be without needing to beat match


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1H9W_iLff0]YouTube - Richie Hawtin on his Traktor Scratch DJ setup - Pt 1[/ame]

As he says "Allowing the computer to do one thing is only boring if you don't use the time do do something else"

That said... there's something so comforting and 'real' about turntables & vinyl...

There is something that still rankles about people being able to download instant collections on MP3 with no personal investment of sweat, time, love & passion... but yes it IS all about the music (Ed ).

 

[U31]

Do you imagine to d/l MP3 represents no personal outlay of effort?
For that Ghost Dance track i upped to youtube, it took about 2 years to ID the track, after mithering Stu Robinson (who dropped it in a mix) for yonks, and then once i found the artist/ track i had to find the correct remix i wanted (but downloaded all versions anyhoo ) i had to find out where to buy it from, Juno iir.

The same when i did a bit of MP3 research for myself on Metropolis Evolution/ Void Addiction/ Zahna - Sanctuary of love samples, it took digging through Oggs and other resources to find what i needed to fill the gaps in my knowledge - and there's still loads to learn no doubt

 

[U31]

Ooops, i think i've upset DJ Rev... :$

 

[Shooms]

Do you imagine to d/l MP3 represents no personal outlay of effort?
For that Ghost Dance track i upped to youtube, it took about 2 years to ID the track, after mithering Stu Robinson (who dropped it in a mix) for yonks, and then once i found the artist/ track i had to find the correct remix i wanted (but downloaded all versions anyhoo ) i had to find out where to buy it from, Juno iir.

The same when i did a bit of MP3 research for myself on Metropolis Evolution/ Void Addiction/ Zahna - Sanctuary of love samples, it took digging through Oggs and other resources to find what i needed to fill the gaps in my knowledge - and there's still loads to learn no doubt

On an individual track basis then that's fair enough Dave - not doubting that - and there's tracks that I know are digi only that I'm still hunting down too.

What does rankle is the Soulseek / drag & drop whole collections at a time... where there is no personal or emotional investment.

 

[U31]

What does rankle is the Soulseek / drag & drop whole collections at a time... .

Show 'em to me! I WANT!!!!

 

[Ed]

On an individual track basis then that's fair enough Dave - not doubting that - and there's tracks that I know are digi only that I'm still hunting down too.

What does rankle is the Soulseek / drag & drop whole collections at a time... where there is no personal or emotional investment.

I'm only speculating, but I suspect the 'drag and drop' collectors don't go on to be decent dj's, in fact I'd wager most of them don't even stick with it as a hobby.

 

[Brock Landers]

On an individual track basis then that's fair enough Dave - not doubting that - and there's tracks that I know are digi only that I'm still hunting down too.

What does rankle is the Soulseek / drag & drop whole collections at a time... where there is no personal or emotional investment.

I only ever use WAVs or 320kbps tracks that I have BOUGHT from legit online shops. Admittedly, I have used soulseek etc in the past, but I find that vinyl rips do not give me the sound quality that I desire. I may be limiting myself here, but having a proper "dig" reveals far more tunes available to buy at WAV quality than you vinyl guys would ever imagine.

 

[Brock Landers]

Ooops, i think i've upset DJ Rev... :$

Hahaha, what a dickhead.

 

[Shooms]

but I find that vinyl rips do not give me the sound quality that I desire.

I'd agree with that - I've not been on Slsk for YEARS (only used to go for a chat, not to download) but most of the rips floating around would've been 128/198k from back then (as bandwidth & storage were more constrained back then)...

 

[MANC]

Ooops, i think i've upset DJ Rev... :$

Just read his response, he's in a bit of a pugnacious mood today it seems So DJ Revolution has basically challanged you to a DJ battle. Good luck