Technology and the art of DJ'ing

It's 2011.  There are a multitude of options.  Digital, analogue and even hybrids of both, but still there remains this belief that if you are not mixing records the old fashioned way - i.e 2 pieces of vinyl, 2 turntables, a mixer and nothing else - then you are cheating.

I decided to make this post after a friend of mine played a Serato set tonight on a net radio show and got accused of cheating.  He was told he couldn't mix like that using normal vinyl, among other things.  Very sad that there are people that still think this way.

Whatever the media, be it vinyl, timecoded vinyl, CD, USB stick or whatever, you still have to know the basics of mixing music.  You still have to know your music, learn where to drop it in the mix, and most of all, know how to correct the pitch so it matches to the same tempo.  These days, technology does give you a helping hand, like cue points on CDJ's and Serato for example, but even that isn't helping that much, as it's not exactly hard to find the point in a track you want to mix from on vinyl, stop the platter and cue it up from there is it?

Anyway, I think it's about time that these people that obviously don't understand anything other than the tried and tested methods need to do some research and educate themselves.  Ignorance is one thing, but calling DJ's out because you don't know any better is just plain stupid and embarrassing.

3 comments:

Cliffy said...

Traditional (analogue) deejaying is linear, whereas modern technology allows a multilateral approach to playing records. Surely this is an improvement?

djemptyx said...

"You still have to know your music, learn where to drop it in the mix, and most of all, know how to correct the pitch so it matches to the same tempo" <-- that

aorto said...

Folks who say that sound, well, old.

Every new media - vinyl, television, cassette, CD, DVD, etc. - is denounced when it arrives and, perhaps moreso, when it threatens existing power structures.

Life is about change and embracing "mixing" in new and different approaches opens up musical words that simply mixing vinyl would not offer.

Props and respect to hardcore vinyl DJs but the future always belongs to those willing to embrace innovation.

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