Any DJs here?

[KeithBMI]

Hey guys,

I'm interested to find out if any TBers jockey the discs.

I have two Technics and a mixer. I use Traktor on my laptop. I haven't played out anywhere yet, but I practice as much as I can. I don't want to play out until I feel like I could "wow" the crowd.

I have a video in my signature if you're interested in seeing me fumble around trying to scratch.

I like hip-hop and electro house.

How about you guys?

[ugly_bassplayer]

I'm a huge hip hop fan, just never thought about investing in turntables. I started working with Ableton instead.
Turntablism is a true art my friend.

[hover]

nice job Keith, keep it musical. I'm impressed.

[waleross]

You did great +100

[basstotheface]

Sort of, amateur DJ. Not that great, but I love it.

[ADbassman]

wicky wicky

[KeithBMI]

Aww shucks, guys. Thanks.

Here is one of my favorite DJs (2007 DMC World Champ I believe) doing some cool stuff with the same program that I have. Near the beginning he does this power down scratch thing that blows my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cZAm-NPH5s&t=0m54s

[basstotheface]

Originally Posted by KeithBMI

Aww shucks, guys. Thanks.

Here is one of my favorite DJs (2007 DMC World Champ I believe) doing some cool stuff with the same program that I have. Near the beginning he does this power down scratch thing that blows my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cZAm-NPH5s&t=0m54s

Shiftee is cool. Speaking of DMC champs though I really like Rafik.

[ADbassman]

Originally Posted by KeithBMI

Aww shucks, guys. Thanks.

Here is one of my favorite DJs (2007 DMC World Champ I believe) doing some cool stuff with the same program that I have. Near the beginning he does this power down scratch thing that blows my mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cZAm-NPH5s&t=0m54s

Some of the stuff at the end sounds a lot like what RJD2 does.

[username n/a]

DJD2 is a god name for a DJ.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by ugly_bassplayer

I'm a huge hip hop fan, just never thought about investing in turntables. I started working with Ableton instead.
Turntablism is a true art my friend.

This.

[ulrich]

I DJed in the rave scene in the '90s, but lost interest at the turn of the century, when techno, house, D&B, Happykor, and Gabber started to sound too much like trance.

Not updated in many years but I still own www.dj-ulrich.com

[lunarpollen]

There are many different kinds of and roles for DJs, just like with bands... I've been a pirate radio DJ, college radio DJ, and club DJ... I take a very old school approach (except with modern digital technology), where it's all about the SONGS, about the MUSIC, and not about spoonfeeding a crowd predictable tunes or impressing a crowd with DJ gimmicks. I basically try and be a DJ that I would want to hear if I was in the crowd. I know that when I go out to events at clubs, bars, etc. where there are DJs, I don't want to hear the equivalent of a Rhino's Greatest Hits of [insert genre here] compilation CD, I don't want to hear an hour-long beatmatched set that sounds like one 60-minute-long tune (boring!!!!!!!), I don't want to be patronized with a setlist of "legislated nostalgia"... I want variety, I want to hear stuff that isn't heard at every other club, I want to be surprised and delighted, I want to run to the DJ booth at least once to ask "what the hell is this tune?" so that I can look up the artist online when I get home...

[MakiSupaStar]

I play music with a DJ. He's an essential part of our rhythm section. He runs two digital turntables, serrato, BRIDGE, and Ableton Live. He's also responsible for mixing our sound and filtering it back into the mix via loops or the effects on his mixer. He's the best I've ever seen at it.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by lunarpollen

There are many different kinds of and roles for DJs, just like with bands... I've been a pirate radio DJ, college radio DJ, and club DJ... I take a very old school approach (except with modern digital technology), where it's all about the SONGS, about the MUSIC, and not about spoonfeeding a crowd predictable tunes or impressing a crowd with DJ gimmicks. I basically try and be a DJ that I would want to hear if I was in the crowd. I know that when I go out to events at clubs, bars, etc. where there are DJs, I don't want to hear the equivalent of a Rhino's Greatest Hits of [insert genre here] compilation CD, I don't want to hear an hour-long beatmatched set that sounds like one 60-minute-long tune (boring!!!!!!!), I don't want to be patronized with a setlist of "legislated nostalgia"... I want variety, I want to hear stuff that isn't heard at every other club, I want to be surprised and delighted, I want to run to the DJ booth at least once to ask "what the hell is this tune?" so that I can look up the artist online when I get home...

+1 I've been a DJ for nearly fifteen years. I'm not a scratch DJ but more of a "selector". To me a DJ (as opposed to a "turntablist") is someone who should really know their music. I can't stand it when I ask a DJ in a club/bar what's playing and he has to look at the record sleeve (computer screen nowadays). I like DJs who play the role of educator and that's how I approach DJing when I do it. I definitely have a DJing agenda and I'm not a good choice for a lot of events. I figure there's a ton of good music out there that doesn't get played and needs to be heard.

[L-A]

Originally Posted by bass12

+1 I've been a DJ for nearly fifteen years. I'm not a scratch DJ but more of a "selector". To me a DJ (as opposed to a "turntablist") is someone who should really know their music. I can't stand it when I ask a DJ in a club/bar what's playing and he has to look at the record sleeve (computer screen nowadays). I like DJs who play the role of educator and that's how I approach DJing when I do it. I definitely have a DJing agenda and I'm not a good choice for a lot of events. I figure there's a ton of good music out there that doesn't get played and needs to be heard.

I think both approaches are valuable. Some DJs (turntablists) are true musicians and a lot of fun to listen to. Others (disc jockeys I guess) are incredibly knowledgeable and that makes them great to listen to as well.

Then there's a huge amount of self-proclaimed "deejays, yo" with barely enough talent to "Yo" over poorly chosen top 40 songs.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by L-A

I think both approaches are valuable. Some DJs (turntablists) are true musicians and a lot of fun to listen to. Others (disc jockeys I guess) are incredibly knowledgeable and that makes them great to listen to as well.

Then there's a huge amount of self-proclaimed "deejays, yo" with barely enough talent to "Yo" over poorly chosen top 40 songs.

Yes, different DJs for different occasions. There are turntablists who only own "battle" records and concentrate solely on using the turntable as an instrument - and that's cool. With the advent of mp3s there has been a huge increase in the number of people out there who possess enough music to play twelve hour DJ sets. Some of these folks have decided that they too can be a DJ and so you now have the "oh yeah, I'm a DJ too..." phenomenon. Again, the DJs I tended to look up to when I was younger were the guys who had a deep love for music and could actually tell you about the records they were playing.

[KeithBMI]

I am Facebook friends with a pal from high school that wants to be a DJ because it might make him popular. He slowly fades from song to song as his computer syncs all of his tracks. I don't mind if he wants to be a crappy DJ, but he illegally downloads music and plays it at bars. Legal issues aside, there is a certain element of respect among the DJ community. Respect the artists that are making you money and pay $1 for their song!

That aside, there is some good discussion in here guys. I'm surprised to see that there are DJs on here (also suprised that Maki didn't call me out for being a FailDJ or something about fat chicks)

[bass12]

Originally Posted by KeithBMI

I am Facebook friends with a pal from high school that wants to be a DJ because it might make him popular. He slowly fades from song to song as his computer syncs all of his tracks. I don't mind if he wants to be a crappy DJ, but he illegally downloads music and plays it at bars. Legal issues aside, there is a certain element of respect among the DJ community. Respect the artists that are making you money and pay $1 for their song!

See, this is one of the things that I find unfortunate about the current state of music distribution/availability (and I'm not saying it's all bad). One used to be able to assume that a given DJ had to do some digging to uncover the records in his collection (assuming said DJ had anything other than the most run-of-the-mill stuff). Part of what got you respect from other DJs was your record collection and the time and effort you had presumably invested in obtaining those records. There was a bit of romanticism involved in the whole process of hunting for records (or CDs, for that matter). I used to have a blast visiting different cities around the world and checking out the record stores in those cities. Inevitably, I would stumble across something I'd been looking for but simply couldn't find in my own city. Man, the excitement of visiting Amoeba records in San Francisco for the first time! Or the stream of record stores along one of the main streets in Sydney, Australia. Or that tiny but well-stocked record shop in Saskatoon (the only interesting thing about that god-foresaken city ). So many of my records have stories attached to them and I'm grateful (to whom I'm not sure) for the opportunity to experience record hunting in that way. Now anyone can pretty much just order what they want from the comfort of his or her living room - or simply download an mp3. Talk about sterile...

In my day...!

[KeithBMI]

Agreed. It is a shame that record stores are fading away. There are definitely some "unique" characters in record shops. I love going to Encore Recordings in Ann Arbor and listening to the strange music that they're playing throughout the store. It usually sounds like the soundtrack to a Romanian horror movie. (Isn't it trippy, man?)