Steve Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 I recently played at Coachella and eighty percent of DJs were just playing songs, not playing with the songs. Or they were just playing pre-mixes of songs, which is totally counter to the culture I grew up with and respect and admire. Not to knock them, they were cool, the crowd was cool, everyone was cool with it, but it’s just not what gets me inspired. It’s getting harder to see DJs up there mixing it live in front of you. I miss that. I used to get inspired when I saw DJs play. I still do, but it’s becoming less and less. A lot more DJs are pre-planning their sets or doing premade mixes. It’s becoming more about the production of the show and the spectacle rather than the skills of the DJ. You can do both, but a lot of people choose not to. I equate it to you like this. You wouldn’t see The Black Keys playing a live concert and midway through their set they start crowd-surfing but their music is still playing. Then when they come back on-stage the next song is on. It doesn’t happen that way. You wouldn’t see that and, if you did, they would lose all their fans. In electronic music there is a grey area. People like Deadmau5 say, “I just pushed some buttons” or “It’s super easy to DJ, I can do it in a few hours with a laptop”. I understand where he is coming from and don’t want to knock him. He has his hustle going on, but I clearly come from a different world and I have to rep where I come from. I am inspired by innovators like Grandmaster Flash and Jazzy Jeff. They would perform and they were clearly doing the work. You could see and hear it in real time and recognise there was the ability to fuck up. When you are on a highwire fifty storeys up and there’s no net, it changes the stakes: if you fall, you die. If there’s a net and you fall, you get to try again. That’s what’s going on today. People are performing with a net. For me, the bigger the risk, the bigger the game. I can’t help but have more respect and admiration for people who do that. Today, people like Craze and A-Trak and Jazzy Jeff (still to this day), I am blown away by. To take it a step further, people can be not DJing in the classical sense, but still be up there doing work. Guys like Bassnectar and Skrillex are not what I consider to be traditional DJing, but they are still performing and putting it together. Meanwhile, other people go up and hit play, bring people on stage and throw out beach balls. I don’t knock that hustle, but I can’t really back it. In a way, it’s taking away from what everyone built before me, as well as the work that I put in and my contemporaries are still trying to build. The technology debate boils down to the user. Technology is not at fault – it’s on the user. If you have the chance, utilise it. Use the equipment – we all have access to it, but do you want to take a shortcut in your performance? Just playing songs you made in the studio doesn’t do anything for me. If you are going to push buttons, push a thousand buttons, not four. It’s also a little bit on the crowd. The crowd needs to get educated on what’s going on. Not to fault them – they just want to have a good time – but it would be great if there was a connection or education in the process. If you’re 19 and you’re at your first show and the artist is playing on a laptop and you’re not paying attention, you might think, “This guy is cool, the music is cool, the lights are cool, I’m drinking my first beer.” There are flames and lights and girls. There’s also less chance you’re going to be like, “Holy shit, he was making that beat up there.” It’s a bit of smoke and mirrors, Wizard of Oz stuff. I would like to see more skills and taking away of the veil, so the audience understands the performance element. Then that 19-year-old might be like, “Wow, the person onstage can actually do it live.” http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/53490/DJs_should_bring_back_the_danger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 real tawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deft Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Some of it is psychological. I remember seeing Dj Shadow and enjoying the fact he was putting quite a lot of effort into the show, but ultimately he could have been miming the same thing and I would have enjoyed it. I'm not sure many non-djs really give a fuck though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I 100% agree with Z-Trip. But then he's also obviously referring to Girl Talk who explicitly says that he is not a DJ. You know, it's kinda funny because if most people said this they would be Luddites and/or haters but since it's someone who has more than made his mark and rightfully so it carries a lot more weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHouse Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I totally agree with Z Trip. I felt the same way, but now, I guess it's all about getting people to dance. Girl Talk accomplishes this and then some. For me though, I like the danger. Actually, I f'ing love it. I'll still listen to Girl Talk and other laptop DJs, maybe even see them "live," but I'd much rather see someone like MMM kill it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 You know, it's kinda funny because if most people said this they would be Luddites and/or haters I've been posting about this shit for ages on DJ Forums. I am fed up of hearing hip-hop mixes that contain no scratching/trick mixing and where every blend is just "turn the bass down a bit one one track, then blend for X number of bars" over and over again cos the DJ is using Traktor (or similar) that has auto-sync and they have no real skills when it comes to mixing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iexist Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 i appreciated this article. so happy it was said.. however.. i think there's a gray areas with premade mixes. there's plenty of room for error for mixes that are rehearsed.. and i think it's still just as big of a performance than the latter. how can you REALLY tell if a dj is freestyle mixing? nevertheless.. great article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Funksmith Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 my buddy gave me this funk mix he found on the internet. He was so excited because he thought I'd love it, because the tracks were similar to what I'd play. It was clearly made using Traktor or whatever, and every mix was the thing where you loop the outro, and then you loop the intro of the next song, and you know, slowly swap the bass as the loops play. Just so boring. The track selection was great but I couldn't get into it. It seemed like the "dj" was trying to claim a connection with hip hop through funk & samples etc, but if so why the hell aren't you scratching?? You don't even need to be all that good at it for it to sound alright. If you're gonna mix like that you should be mixing house or something. In fact yeah, he was mixing funk like a house dj, except more boring. I am actually getting a bit angry thinking about it right now. lulz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 15, 2012 Author Share Posted August 15, 2012 ^^That's exactly what I hate about digital DJing. People can put out mixes before they're ready, and people who would never have put the effort into learning to mix manually can jump on the DJing bandwagon and they're never likely to put much effort in. Some of these mixes are worse than the sum of their parts, which is totally fucked up. The worst is when some no skilled DJ will say "but using auto-sync gives me time to be more creative in other ways" - yeah? Like what? Cos your mix is shit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattnice Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 i hate people putting out studio mixes, do it live u knobbers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 You dissing me boy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattnice Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 i didn't know u had a boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattnice Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 no i like your studio mixes, its people who just do 1 track into another where they may as well do it live. Get on with that bloody ultimate breaks and beats mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 i didn't know u had a boy Yeah, I keep him chained up in the basement for when Wax On comes over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jopa. Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 i agree with what ztrip said, but i am in disagreement funksmith. i think i would have still been able to enjoy that mix. for me a huge part of djing is the love of music and searching out and finding new or obscure stuff to mix with. i guess i would still appreciate it even if its not new or obscure. if all the tracks, or most, are solid and the mixing is clean i can enjoy it. sure, its not groundbreaking or anything i couldnt do myself, but i think i respect the efforts no less. plus i think the looping intros/outros to mix with goes beyond the average dj. which means homies a cut above his immediate peers. everyone around dude is probably mixing house or dubstep, or just slamming the fader over on hiphop or top 40 ish. i think it shows some integrity to continue doing what you want and like in that kind of environment. and besides, how many young djs do you know making funk mixes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Funksmith Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 The worst is when some no skilled DJ will say "but using auto-sync gives me time to be more creative in other ways" - yeah? Like what? Cos your mix is shit! yeah I remember you harping on that a lot at DJF. And you never did get a satisfying response did you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Funksmith Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 i am in disagreement funksmith. i think i would have still been able to enjoy that mix..... if all the tracks, or most, are solid and the mixing is clean i can enjoy it. .... plus i think the looping intros/outros to mix with goes beyond the average dj. I hear you that most djs are playing dubstep etc and therefore it's interesting to hear something else. Maybe you'd have to hear this particular set to know what I'm talking about. The mixing was far too clean. And the looping intros/outros was only done because mixing funk is fucking hard, not because it's some innovative strategy. The whole thing was limp and dead like some nasty old grey piece of lettuce. I mean I've heard (and made) some boring mixes in my time but this one seemed to really sum everything up. It seemed like this guy had read the wikipedia page about funk djs and then made the mix. I'm no longer certain how my diatribe against this one funk mix ties in with the original subject. I guess I was thinking about how there was no scratching or any of that. I mean even a couple baby scratches and I'm satisfied. Throw in a powerdown or whatever. Put your fingers on the music and do stuff. Else what's the point? Steve are you doing a UBB mix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 The worst is when some no skilled DJ will say "but using auto-sync gives me time to be more creative in other ways" - yeah? Like what? Cos your mix is shit! yeah I remember you harping on that a lot at DJF. And you never did get a satisfying response did you Yeah, that became kind of a joke in the end. Sometimes someone would link to a video on YouTube of some DJ being creative while using auto-sync, but nobody ever posted up audio or video of themselves doing something creative which is what pissed me off. I was never saying that it was impossible to be more creative because auto-sync gives you more time - I was saying that most people who say that are really not doing anything creative at all. Steve are you doing a UBB mix? I started it 4 years ago, haha. Here's some of it: - http://www.sigmamixes.com/misc/Ultimate%20Breaks.mp3 http://www.sigmamixes.com/misc/Ultimate%20Breaks.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 You totes need to finish this Steve, 4 years is a bit long! (not that I can talk) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Time flies man. I can't believe it's been 4 years since I started that. It will be finished one day. Don't hold your breath though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I still dunno how you get serato to sound so good. I think it sounds shit when I scratch and stuff on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 those shit cuts aren't due to serato... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattnice Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 lol cityz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 You calling me out Jim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 #banter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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