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Is a DJ a musician

Is a DJ (as described in my opening post) a musician?

  • Yes a DJ is a musician

    Votes: 101 25.3%

  • Nope a DJ is not a musician but something else (post what he is)

    Votes: 250 62.5%

  • Carrots are good musicians. Carrots make good fretboard wood too!

    Votes: 49 12.3%
  • Total voters
    400
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#301
tastybasslines said:
I think that most people in a club are totally satisfied with a DJ who can effectively fade in and out from one song to the next, and that takes little to no talent. That would not get me booed of the stage.

And mixing a beat into the existing song is a matter lining up the beat and only happens for 15 seconds or so. That's not really a musician to me.
Click to expand...

Even just within the beatmatching / dance type of DJing, there's more to it. Quite often people will listen to a techno record, and say 'huh, that's just a bass drum going 4 on the floor'. And to some extent they are right! A lot of club records are not 'finished' pieces of music - they require the DJ to cut them and mix them together with other tracks to create the whole performance.

An example :



I don't actually like Jeff Mills' mixes that much, though I do love some of the albums and tracks he's produced.
 
#308
Nev375 said:
Why is scratching a record rhythmically any less of an instrument than a snare drum?

They are both simple and you can use a plethora of techniques to get a wide variety of sounds out of them?
Click to expand...

Drummers do more than just hit a snare drum. They are also coordinating the playing of the snare with their kick drum, hi-hat, cymbals etc. A DJ just takes what someone else has recorded and basically makes it inaudible by scratching. There is nothing creative about scratching. My dog scratches herself with a consistent rhythm but I would hardly call her a musician.

Shakin-Slim said:
'Musician' and 'instrumentalist' are not analogous terms.

It really bugs me when people claim sampling and beat making requires 'little or no creativity'. Partially because my opinion is otherwise, and partially because someone shouldn't be so quick to prove their ignorance.
Click to expand...

So if someone disagrees with your point of view, they must be ignorant? Interesting way of looking at things.
 
#311
Kmonk said:
Drummers do more than just hit a snare drum. They are also coordinating the playing of the snare with their kick drum, hi-hat, cymbals etc.
Click to expand...

Yes... and a DJ does more than "taking what someone else has recorded and basically making it inaudible by scratching". They have to first find a suitable recorded section to produce the effect / chord / rhythm / melody / whatever that they want to produce, and co-ordinate their hands to vary the speed of the disc suitably to produce that effect / chord / rhythm / melody (which takes a lot of hand speed and control BTW - just as much as playing many instruments), and deal with cueing up the records, all while keeping the basic rhythm of the performance.... not to mention beat - matching, deck speed control and all that....

Have you ever tried? I have, and I've tried drumming. I know which I can fake and which I can't.
 
#312
I am amazed so many people here consider DJing to be an instrument, it definitely is not. As a musician who has made beats before, let me assure you, while it takes a kind of talented they are far from a musician. MPC's don't play music until you load samples in them, if it is somebody else playing trumpet and you sample it and then repeat the noises you are not a musician.

Have any of you ever worked with DJs? I have worked with several, some of which who have sold successful beats, I have yet to play with one that will call one self a musician and I have yet to play with one who actually can play with others. You ever try explaining what key you are in to somebody who not only has no grasp of music theory but cannot actually play an instrument that you reference things on? It is very difficult. DJs basically play like rhythm players in my experience.

Also scratching does require talent, it looks MUCH easier than it really is, now while it is a talent I don't really consider it an instrument, though scratching I could see how somebody could equate it to a percussion instrument. Sampling takes nothing more than a good ear, that is not what makes a musician that is what makes a good listener.

How many of you actually DJ? You are aware that 90% of DJ's these days use programs to tell them the tempo and key and what songs will work best next based on tempo and key, right?
 
#313
There are no right or wrong answers, as it's just a poll, but it's very telling:

63% of the people on here are still holding on to old ideas

24% are progressive

12% really like their carrots
 
#315
Nev375 said:
Or people with so much pride wrapped up in a label they've earned for themselves they can't think objectively about it anymore.

The thought of expanding that label to include a newer type of artist which they don't want to take the time to understand is just too threatening to their ego.
Click to expand...

Funny that. I could use that same description to classify DJs. They have "so much pride wrapped up in a label they've earned for themselves they can't think objectively about it anymore. The thought of expanding" their musical knowledge by learning to play an instrument is something "they don't want to take the time to understand"
 
#316
tastybasslines said:
I think that most people in a club are totally satisfied with a DJ who can effectively fade in and out from one song to the next, and that takes little to no talent. That would not get me booed of the stage.

And mixing a beat into the existing song is a matter lining up the beat and only happens for 15 seconds or so. That's not really a musician to me.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of people who go to a club specifically to see and hear true scratch-and-mix DJs do their thing. If all they did was "effectively fade in and out from one song to the next," they would indeed get booed off the stage. And yes, real fans can actually tell the difference. To put it in a way you can relate to - if people came to a club to hear a hard rock band and got smooth jazz instead, there would be a problem. Generalize all day if you will, but not all bands are alike, not all clubs are alike, and not all DJs are alike.
 
#317
DiabolusInMusic said:
Have any of you ever worked with DJs? I have worked with several, some of which who have sold successful beats, I have yet to play with one that will call one self a musician and I have yet to play with one who actually can play with others.
Click to expand...
You've never seen a band with a DJ in it? You've never heard recordings with both instruments and turntables? It actually works quite well together, as long as both sides are open-minded and know what they're doing.
 
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