Are DJs Musicians?

[Marc DLarosa]

Success does not equate with musicianship. Doh!
Can you easily play Twinkle Twinkle little star, or Old MacDonalds got a farm, or the Alphabet song or even Baa Baa Black Sheep on DJ equipment? If that's a stretch, how about Donna Lee? Autumn Leaves?

The DJ's equipment is a performance tool, regardless how adept they are.
I'm sure some DJs are very talented, and may be very musical, but they're not playing chromatic musical instruments.
The vast majority of music is realised with CHROMATIC instruments, OK, y'all?

Hah, call me old fashioned

Where would "they" be, without ECSTACY?

 

[GlenParks]

Success does not equate with musicianship. Doh!
Can you easily play Twinkle Twinkle little star, or Old MacDonalds got a farm, or the Alphabet song or even Baa Baa Black Sheep on DJ equipment? If that's a stretch, how about Donna Lee? Autumn Leaves?

The DJ's equipment is a performance tool, regardless how adept they are.
I'm sure some DJs are very talented, and may be very musical, but they're not playing chromatic musical instruments.
The vast majority of music is realised with CHROMATIC instruments, OK, y'all?

Hah, call me old fashioned

Even primitive 90's samplers have functions to scale out samples across the pads.

Turntabilists also scratch pitches.

 

[factory presets]

The strings on my bass don't automatically reproduce someone else's work. I have to manipulate them to get sounds which could be considered music.

And a DJ has to manipulate the record to get sounds that could be considered scratching. Saying you can't make music on turntables without records on them is exactly the same as saying you can't make music on a bass with no strings. Both are useless without their sound generating components.

 

[Mark Ambler]

Where would "they" be, without ECSTACY?

Or even ECSTASY?

(sorry)

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Same smell...

 

[factory presets]

If they do indeed create from scratch, then some DJs are musicians. In that case I would say that some musicians also function as DJs.

A DJ can be a musician. A bassist can be a musician. A saxophonist can be a musician. That doesn't make a bassist a saxophonist or a DJ.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Are Carrots Bananas?

 

[LBS-bass]

The DJ's equipment is a performance tool, regardless how adept they are.

And what do you think your bass is?

 

[GlenParks]

If they made carrot bananas, that would be my favorite food. Hands down.

 

[LBS-bass]

If they made carrot bananas, that would be my favorite food. Hands down.

I had carrots for dinner tonight, with onions and red peppers. A little bit of spice and some butter. Not bad.

 

[Mark Ambler]

Even primitive 90's samplers have functions to scale out samples across the pads.

Turntabilists also scratch pitches.

Sure, you can rig up electronic pads and arrange them chromatically. You could also use a midi keyboard to play samples, so in that sense, it's possible to mimic the characteristics of a keyboard, and maybe use a piano sample.
Then you can take piano lessons. LOL

 

[Bassist30]

Yes.
That said; as kids we learn partly by copying what we hear, hence benefitting from the skills others have. a bit like a teacher-student relation ship. where the students benefits from the fact that the teacher or mentor is able to read write , name all the notes etc.

But the student isn't learning the rudiments. So if you take a record, chop it up and create sounds your a musician? A Lumberjack chops up a tree which is making sounds and the tree makes sounds falling, then he is also a musician? If you record it happening its making a tone and notes also, right? Does he know the notes? Does a DJ know the notes or key he is in? Playing an already sound and making music is more of a technician.

 

[cnltb]

Are Carrots Bananas?

No.

 

[LBS-bass]

But the student isn't learning the rudiments.

Rudiments of what? The word rudiment has a meaning. It means something different to a drummer than to a pianist. If your instrument is a sampler and a DJ console, you'll also have rudiments that need to be learned. It doesn't matter if anyone is calling them that, there are still fundamentals to the skillset.

 

[Mark Ambler]

A DJ can be a musician. A bassist can be a musician. A saxophonist can be a musician. That doesn't make a bassist a saxophonist or a DJ.

One can be grateful for small mercies.

 

[Mark Ambler]

I had carrots for dinner tonight, with onions and red peppers. A little bit of spice and some butter. Not bad.

 

[Mark Ambler]

And what do you think your bass is?

A musical instrument. (You're up late!)

 

[LBS-bass]

A musical instrument. (You're up late!)

I am. Happens about every five days or so. Insomnia is my best friend

 

[cnltb]

But the student isn't learning the rudiments. So if you take a record, chop it up and create sounds your a musician? A Lumberjack chops up a tree which is making sounds and the tree makes sounds falling, then he is also a musician? If you record it happening its making a tone and notes also, right? Does he know the notes? Does a DJ know the notes or key he is in? Playing an already sound and making music is more of a technician.

I think a musician is he or she who produces music, or as I like to call it, organises sound in ways they decided to ( skill over co-incidence). Knowledge is secondary and comes in, once they have found something they like and the way to reproduce it( introducing music theory).

My (only) problem with the lumberjack is that the way the tree falls and the exact sound it will make whilst doing so is not as predictable as I'd like it to be in order to call it music. That said, it may very well form part of a musical piece.

Rudiment is not more than a fundamental skill and a term not excludive to music-making.
Rudiments change from one discipline to the next.
If the students first interest is not notes, chords, etc but the technical aspects of DJ-ing, then that is what they will become proficient in(starting with the rudiments of his chosen discipline) and hopefully proficient enough to use it to musical ends and with deliberation having picked up good taste and restraint along the way.

Btw; I do see your point and might have seen it all quite similarly at one point.

That's my take on it for now

 

[LBS-bass]

My (only) problem with the lumberjack is that the way the tree falls and the exact sound it will make whilst doing so is not as predictable as I'd like it to be in order to call it music. That said, it may very well form part of a musical piece.

John Cage might have disagreed with you on this bit. But I think you are channeling his spirit here a bit more than most, overall.