Are DJs Musicians?

[swink]

Started reading early in the thread. Woke up next day to 10 more pages. Figured it'd be 9 and a half of no, no, no, yes, no, no, yes. Skipped to the last page just as it was becoming reasoned debate.

LOL, you missed the best parts, this discussion has seen every corner in the room

 

[factory presets]

It's been fun, I'll give you that. Went through a bit of a phase for a while there. Few too many bald assertions. But as I say, settled into attempts to persuade.

I'm new but it's been the highlight so far.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

It's been fun, I'll give you that. Went through a bit of a phase for a while there. Few too many bald assertions. But as I say, settled into attempts to persuade.

I'm new but it's been the highlight so far.

There's one of these every couple weeks. Maybe it's about DJs, maybe it's ukulele, maybe it's keyboard bass, or any other number of things. But they always have one common factor: old people angry that the world has changed and things aren't how they used to be.

 

[swink]

It's been fun, I'll give you that. Went through a bit of a phase for a while there. Few too many bald assertions. But as I say, settled into attempts to persuade.

I'm new but it's been the highlight so far.

This is the unofficial how to survive manual for TB.... learn it by heart
Name some offenses that will get you shunned on TalkBass. ;-)

 

[bigtone23]

This is the unofficial how to survive manual for TB.... learn it by heart
Name some offenses that will get you shunned on TalkBass. ;-)

Ha! I thought about the TB holy trinity: tort guards, flats, P.
Clicked the link, first two posts confirmed my belief.

 

[factory presets]

But they always have one common factor: old people angry that the world has changed and things aren't how they used to be.

Yeah but that works for me. I'm an old person who's quite comfortable in a changing world. I can walk both sides of that street. Some things from the old days really were better. But so much is better today. You couldn't pay me to go back.

 

[bigtone23]

There's one of these every couple weeks. Maybe it's about DJs, maybe it's ukulele, maybe it's keyboard bass, or any other number of things. But they always have one common factor: old people angry that the world has changed and things aren't how they used to be.

True that.
I'm old enough to have seen a lot of changes. Ya gotta be open minded.

DJ definition #1. As a kid of the 70s, a DJ was a person on the radio that played tracks according to a format. No big whoop, seems like a really cool and fun job! Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati helped the image, haha.

DJ definition #2. I started playing bass, drums and guitar in bars in 1984 as a young teen. It was a golden age, no such thing as a DUI (really!), and people went out in droves to see bands no matter how big or small. Bands were payed really well-even my small, podunk town would pay $600-900 (in mid 80s dollars. mind you) a weekend for a local band. Well, one guy who owned a lot of the rental PA equipment (he got about $100-150 a night for a basic system), as well as one guy who managed the cool record store in town, figured out that they could partner up, show up to a bar with this band-level PA, hook up a couple Technics to them and just play their pop, top 40 and rock records and get $250-300 a night. This caught on and the bands suffered a hit and about 33-50% of our gigs dried up. Naturally, many of us held resentment towards these "DJ nights", that were defined as "Glorified Jukeboxes." Today's equivalent is DJ iPod or DJ Spotify.
--a sub definition of this is the laptop or memory stick DJ: plug in, sync up, select tracks, press buttons. I feel this is what most of the haters believe is DJing.

DJ definition #3. 80s MTV exposed me to hip hop and seeing turntablists go nuts gave me an appreciation of the deck and record selection as an instrument. First time I went to a record player and tried to scratch, it was a hot mess and I never really tried to do it again. haha.

DJ definition #4. Fast forward to the mid 90s, I moved to the city, met and dated a girl that took me to underground parties/raves. It was a riot, most everyone is having a blast. Paying attention to what these DJs were doing was also impressive--a track selector that put together smart and meaningful sets. I loved it and it opened me up to more great music. Hanging with the DJs gave new perspective on various musical tastes. I had to try this. my background on instruments made it relatively easy to learn the nuts and bolts of mixing records and I found another great passion that allowed me to express myself musically in another way. Of course, finding the great records and getting two pieces of vinyl to sync and be in tune is a detail lost in todays tech. Another great thing about proper DJing is how fun and easy it is to get a house party going with just one person at the decks. Know your audience, play appropriate tracks, have fun. I couldn't get a party going like that playing solo bass, guitar or drums, guaranteed.

 

[hdscout]

Ever notice nobody tells the DJ to turn down?

 

[factory presets]

Ever notice nobody tells the DJ to turn down?

No drummer.

 

[bigtone23]

No drummer.

Ha! I was the drummer guy (with DJ experience) that would bring my djembe to House nights. The DJs quickly learned that I could play along musically and welcomed it. Sound guy would set up a mic, too.
You should have seen the looks of terror from the uninitiated! I get it. Many hand drummers don't get exactly what's going on and really poopie all over the tracks.

 

[Michedelic]

My question is, rhetorically speaking, why is this a question...why is there this need to validate them as such? What is the agenda?

 

[Dave Neal]

But what really is important and needs further debate..is Homer Simpson a bass player?

 

[bigtone23]

But what really is important and needs further debate..is Homer Simpson a bass player?

No, he is not. The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher is what impresses Homer.