Are DJs Musicians?

[4stringsjack]

Is he making music? If I look at this objectively (i.e., preferred style of music is irrelevant), it would seem so.

 

[bassboysam]

Good DJing takes talent, so I will they are artists, but musicians? No. Laptops and turntables are not instruments.

how is a computer different from a synthesizer?

 

[bassboysam]

Is he making music? If I look at this objectively (i.e., my taste in music is irrelevant), it would seem so.

yes

 

[chilee]

DJs produce or arrange music at best. At worst, they make playlists.

They are essentially "curators". Perhaps they don't want to be a musician and probably wouldn't/shouldn't mind if you didn't include them. Years ago I came up with a word for people involved with music but don't play traditional musical instruments and have no real musical skills. They are "musicists". An analogy in art is the artist that makes art in Photoshop and has no interest in using traditional mediums, yet can make art that is popular.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

I know that a musician can become a DJ. But, does being a DJ somehow make someone a musician?

My oldest daughter told me a friend of hers is a wonderful musician. When I asked whether her friend was an instrumentalist or vocalist, she gave me the "Dad, you're such an old fart" look and grumpily replied, "He's a DJ; DJ's are musicians."

OK, I'm an old retired guy, and my daughters frequently roll their eyes when I ask such questions, but - are DJs now considered musicians?

Does Berklee have a DJ major? Do folks now conflate being a DJ with being a musician?

I dont think so. Are producers musicians?
I always believed Musicians played a musical instrument & made music! DJs play recorded music! they dont create anything, they at most rearrange/remix music. Am I artist if I can print out a van gogh on my inkjet printer? or reproduce a new painting I manipulated in Photoshop? Musician implies (dexterity of sorts & training)I play a radio every day since i was 12 give me a certificate or a master of communication arts degree!

 

[neurotictim]

If a computer or deck is considered a musical instrument, the term checks and they are musicians. So far as I know, these pieces of equipment are not.

Normally I try to avoid pedantry, but since this thread is essentially encouraging it...

First, if a musician is "Anyone who composes, conducts, or performs music" then by definition a DJ (not counting the "playlist->shuffle button" type) then there are an awful lot of DJs who are musicians - Skrillex, Deadmau5, Minnesota, etc., because they compose. Not all DJs compose, of course, but still. Broad brushes. :EDIT: The focus for the "no" answers seem to be with people sampling other music, but that's ignoring a huge swath of DJs who create content from scratch. And like someone said earlier, lumping them all together is a bad faith way of arguing.

Second, it seems like the biggest hangup here is that "they don't play an instrument," which I guess is valid from a very myopic point of view. After all, people who play an instrument have dedicated years or decades learning to make music with their instrument. How dare some kid with a PC find a new way to make music, amiright?

Never mind that many of them have dedicated years or decades learning to make music with their computers - that means they're musicians, as far as I'm concerned. I've never once thought Trent Reznor wasn't a musician because a majority of the music he has created has almost entirely been composed, recorded, and produced digitally.

But hey, as long as he doesn't call himself "DJ NIN" or something, he's different.

Never mind that the bar for what a "real musician" actually is always happens to be just below whatever level the person commenting feels is appropriate. Sort of makes it seem like the definition of "musician" is pretty subjective and thus flawed.

 

[cnltb]

NOUN
misnomer a wrong or inaccurate name or designation.
So its a NO
A DJ is a Disc Jocky is a Disc Jocky

Yes.Obviously. What I meant was antiquated view of the term these days.

 

[bassboysam]

A person who can organize music into mixes and performances is not a musician. He may have a unique set of skills that are not common but that does not make that person a musician. He may be a great engineer or producer and performer but I would not call that musicianship. Its just my opinion but don't confuse the definition of a musician as someone who has mastered a musical intrument(s).

how do you define musical instrument though...and is there really only one definition?

 

[bassboysam]

If you can operate a smart phone then you can be a DJ. There's not much more to it than that. A musical instrument, on the other hand, takes dedication, time, commitment and perseverance to become proficient. Most of these things are not traits that the avarage snowflake possesses.

it takes just as much dedication to compose electronic music. yes a dj that just creates a playlist is not really a musician but someone taking songs and samples to create a new piece of work is the same as someone composing on a piano or violin etc.

 

[cnltb]

The key word is band. Who makes up a band? Musicians!

I thought we were past this quite a while ago?

 

[P_Robyn]

Agreed. Also, nice keeshond avatar.

Thanks. I currently have two Keeshonden. My avatar pic is Chase, my now 12.5-year-old, at the age of 7 weeks. Photo courtesy of my son.

 

[Aidenn7]

It's no different then a piano.. Anyone can play it.. But it hard to master..
Real DJ's are synth players and get the place moving.. They have it just as hard as a band.. With the in flood of tech..

 

[bassboysam]

The answer is still No and there is No Gray area. They do not play an instrument end of story.

If the question is are they artists that is different. The answer there is Yes some of them are.

some argued the electric bass was not an instrument either at one point.

 

[bassboysam]

Depends, can they read & write music on a staff? Do they understand music theory? Are they actually creating sound clips to then use for their beats, or merely sampling? Some DJ’s, I’m sure, are musicians, but none of the ones I’ve ever met are. Just as building a bridge over the creek in your backyard doesn’t make you an engineer, just because you make music, that doesn’t make you a musician.

actually building a bridge over a creek does make you an engineer. you planned, tested it, constructed it and used it. therefore you engineered the bridge. now you may not have enough skills to engineer a more complex bridge but that doesn't make you not an engineer. now if you define engineer as someone who has some sort of certification then you would also have to say that even if you know how to play an instrument, if a governing body has not certified you, are you a musician?

 

[P_Robyn]

I don't know whether one can declare turntables or laptop computers as your principle instrument at Berklee, but they've been offering accredited classes in DJ techniques for over 20 years.

Of course, they also offer accredited classes in History Of Western Civilization and even if you pass that course with straight As you won't necessarily be considered a "musician" so...

And in some cases, not really even civilized....

 

[chux]

it takes just as much dedication to compose electronic music. yes a dj that just creates a playlist is not really a musician but someone taking songs and samples to create a new piece of work is the same as someone composing on a piano or violin etc.

 

[LowFactor]

Yes you can be a music major at Berklee with turntables as your instrument. When I went there it was just an elective course that later turned into a major after I graduated. Consequently started by a middle aged white country producer....

 

[chux]

Taking pre-recorded songs and samples of already pre-recorded songs, and playing them in whatever order you like, does not make you a musician. The artists who recorded the songs in the first place are...but not the person with the laptop.

 

[lokikallas]

I guess if you could say that programming a drum machine is a musicians skill, then some DJs have the skill to “synthesize” music. I mean a synthesizer is a percussion instrument with roots in the piano so the mouse and keyboard might be an extension of that? It’s a stretch.

 

[bassboysam]

Taking pre-recorded songs and samples of already pre-recorded songs, and playing them in whatever order you like, does not make you a musician. The artists who recorded the songs in the first place are...but not the person with the laptop.

i disagree. its just a different way to generate sounds/tones. i would say this guy is a musician.