DJs

FatherLen wrote: »

any nightclub dj = number 3
fatboy slim = number 2
????? = number 1

hmmm

I've had a few residencies in nightclubs and mixed a large majority of the tracks. Mixing (beatmatching, EQing, bit of scratching) equals a skill, most djs in clubs would be the same(decent clubs anyway) hence most nightclub djs would be number 2 in the poll.

Fatboy Slim is number 1 i'd say, as he is a musician as well as a dj.

I am also guilty of being number 3 in the poll, a button pusher. If you are djing at a wedding or a birthday party or whatever, mixing is not important. Tune selection & reading the crowd are the most important things here, which would be the main stumbling block for the "sure I could do that" crew.

Depends on what the DJ is doing really. If he's running a laptop and using the software to sync tracks with each other, it's not really talented at all. Using CDJs or vinyl though, that's a whole different story.

There are some seriously talented DJs. Unfortunately, it's the d ickheads like David Guetta and his ilk that give the rest a bad name.

DarkJager wrote: »

A laptop DJ in the majority of cases will have software that does all of that automatically. .

and a cdj, traktor, serato, final scratch my arse dj will have all that too not to mention modern mixers with all the bells and whistles

its all easy peezy nowadays. real vinyl mixing is the only true art form of the dj skillset

Also, one final point, but beatmatching isn't the main 'skill' involved in being a good DJ. Beatmatching is difficult, in that there's a learning curve of a few months, but when you get it it's a piece of piss for the most part. It's second nature.

Put it this way, beatmatching is like learning chords on a guitar: it takes time and isn't easy, but the mark of a good guitar player isn't that they can simply play certain chords. The mark of a good guitar player is that they can use those skills to compose a good hook or song.

Similarly, judging a DJ's ability by the ability to beatmatch or not is a bit short-sighted. A DJ should be judged by their ability to select songs, transition from song to song nicely (that's the only time beatmatching is relevant btw), keeping their listeners engaged, reading the room (last night's set that got the crowd crazy mightn't work on the same crowd tonight), going up-and-down in tempo, emotion and energy and giving them a good night out over the course of a 2-4 hour live set. Everyone thinks they can do it ("Shure it's just playin' a few tunes, like")...until they actually try it.

We're hardly rockstars or saving the world, but we're still doing a job. And I always say that DJ-ing is easy to do, but very difficult to do well.

RVP 11 wrote: »

Sometimes these talented Dj's ask for it by making it seem like it's heart surgery.:pac:
BPM matching isn't that hard at all.

its the serious sweaty look on their faces trying to turn those 'so difficult to turn' knobs, so damn hard :pac:

leggo wrote: »

We're hardly rockstars or saving the world, but we're still doing a job. And I always say that DJ-ing is easy to do, but very difficult to do well.

ah but i bet you thought it would pull the berds
once upon a time...