Is a DJ a musician

[peterbright]

Is a CD player a musician?

 

[Geezerman]

This can be a really touchy subject. There are **some** DJ's that have a strong concept of ryhthm, key centres and know how to scratch, mesh songs, samples and beats in a musical way. I feel very strongly that these DJ's are an artist in there own right but not a 'musician.'

The person that created their loops and samples is the 'musician'. Their role is much more of a live producer. I would argue that DJ has not composed anything, not created any original musical idea but found a way to almagamate existing ideas. Sure, it's a skill of its own but it's not what musicians do.

So all the bass players who exclusively play in cover bands aren't musicians? Hmm

 

[theunknowndude]

heh,...

I never really thought too much about it,...

UNTIL I heard the hilltop hoods (live and in old albums... great aussie hip hop by the way!)

DJ Debris and DJ bext,...

DJ next does a really great "built from the ground up using mostly scratches and can be downloaded from here Invalid Link Removed on back once again and matter of time albums "let me show you" is a scratch mix he did that just ROCKS...

and when I saw them live in 2004 (before they hit bigtime really...) they had a dj scratch n mix that just went off...

I'd say theyre musicians in theyre own right,... just like people who do cover songs or cover variations etc...

 

[giovabass]

For me it's ok that a very creative and talented DJ (non-player/composer) can make something considered "art", but making "music" and being "musician" is somewhat related to "creating" music by playing notes out of an instrument and/or composing something totally original, not just modifying and merging pieces of music created by someone else. If a DJ actually composes his music and/or plays a real instrument over it then I fully consider him (or her) a musician. Just my opinion, sorry for my english.

 

[russianspy]

If you're talking about DJs who just spin records and mix them for parties, then I wouldn't consider them musicians.

That would be the only case I wouldn't consider them musicians. Since basically, they're just a stereo operator. If they're actually scratching and adding samples, I would say it qualifies as a musician.

 

[KJung]

Hmmm so if I was looking for a DJ to add to my band, would I be looking for a "musician?" let me explain a bit more.

Now I don't mean a DJ who plays a musical instrument. I mean a DJ who plays with samples and adds them to the music and does other things that DJs commonly do (other than playing a traditional musical instrument, which I intentionally exclude, and I guess we have to leave out vocals too.)

Now I don't think I can make this about DJ Shadow because (I am not sure) but I think he plays some instruments too. His first album was 100% samples, and he got into the guiness book for that. If I were looking for a DJ with the skill set DJ shadow used for making his first album... would that person be a musician?

I don't think he would be an instrumentalist... well because what instrument then? But you guys can argue all that for me.

I've recently started doing some gigs with a 'true' DJ (i.e., not one of those cheezy wedding band DJ's, but a true 'house/club' DJ). I believe he is just as much a 'musician' as anyone else in the band. As an older player, he is the first 'house' DJ I've really spent any time with, and it's a pretty impressive thing.. all the remixes, the percussive hits, the insertion of different samples into the band mix, etc.

You are VERY smart considering this move IMO. The high end private and corporate sort of gig business that I work in as a freelance player has been pretty much killed by these high end house DJ's, who can charge pretty much the same amount as a high end 12 piece corporate type band.

By incorporating the DJ into the band, you can turn up the 'hip' factor, and also do every gig 'continuous', which is what people expect now (i.e., not breaks in the music over a 4 to 6 hour gig). Pretty cool, and everyone gets their standard break but the music never stops.

I dig it!

K

 

[knumbskull]

band starts playing. DJ fumbles around with records and sways back and forth rhythmically wearing hooded top. band stops for moment. DJ makes 'eeka eeka eeka' noise like someone trying to use a door with a badly oiled hinge to clear the room of flatulence. band continues. repeat to fade.

musician? maybe. a good idea in rock based music? oh so very not.

 

[Jimmyplaysabass]

DJing, when done right, is a form of composition.

do you consider a composer a musician?

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

DJing, when done right, is a form of composition.

do you consider a composer a musician?

Yes - that's like asking if Karlheinz Stockhausen was a musician?

 

[perogato02]

just to show that DJ's CAN be real musicians ... if you got the chance to see them (or something similar): please do it 'cause these guys have put in hours of labour to make it happen.

 

[txbasschik]

If you're talking about DJs who just spin records and mix them for parties, then I wouldn't consider them musicians. But if you're talking about guys who mix sounds and scratch to create unique songs then of course, especially when scratching, which has its own unique sound and is very rhythmically centered. And if you're still not convinced, they actually have records with just notes sampled on them so some DJs could use them to compose songs live. I'd even consider Incubus' DJ a musician (not counting that he plays guitar too), even though I think a lot of times his DJing is more a gimmick than a big contribution to the band.

+1,000 on the difference between someone who just spins/mixes for parties, and someone who *contributes* to the music made by a band, and is a part of a group of musicians.

Cherie

 

[giovabass]

just to show that DJ's CAN be real musicians ... if you got the chance to see them (or something similar): please do it 'cause these guys have put in hours of labour to make it happen.

well, i can consider scratching that way a sort of "playing an instrument" and "creating music", somewhat like a percussion player would do.
But i do not consider musicians DJ that simply reproduce, merge and loop someone else's music...

 

[lord toranaga]

dj's are not musicians. They are entertainers, just a half step away from being a clown.

this is coming from some one who has been a dj for 20 years

 

[Mon Rominee]

In order to determine whether a DJ is a musician or not you must first open your mind to exactly what can be considered a musical instrument.

In the hands of a skilled manipulator, a turntable can be an instrument just as much in context as a bass or guitar or clarinet. Open you minds people. the difference between a disc jockey and a "dj" is a bucketload of invention and ingenuity when attacking the tool of their trade.

You must also open your mind to what music is an can be. Music can be notes, melodies, soundcollages or all of the above. there is no right or wrong.

As Bruce said earlier, we are all really just reinterpreting what "has been done before"...there are only 12 notes in the western scale. It's all in the expression upon those 12 notes, same as the expression from a turntablist with whatever sounds he's manipulating. I consider Squarepusher a master musician, and not because he plays bass. But because he is a genius.

No ONE musician makes a band. If anything, innovative DJ's ARE the ultimate one man band, samples or not they are assembling new music from componenets, just like a real band...it doesn't matter whether he played each individual part or not, most bands cannot make the same claim, each having their own role on the "whole".

 

[Ricky Caboverde]

I think that the kind of "DJ" you are looking for is indeed a musician. Many guys that are posting here, including Lord Toranga are confusing a common discjockey as a DJ. The kind you are looking for is the type that uses beats and samples of sound bytes to create music. That deffinitely qualifies him as a musician. It's like a pianist using midi patches on keys or whatever. The fact that he (or she ) is using sound to create something (even noise) and does it tastefully (take that however you wish) should be considered a musician. Times have changed and so have instruments

 

[SteveC]

A DJ is not a musician, entertainer maybe, but not musician.

 

[lord toranaga]

can a dj play a c# major scale with his turntable.

can 95% of dj's read standard notation

a turntabilist is a percussionist at best.

I have been making music for 20 years with beats and samples, am I a musician? No, that is why I started playing the bass guitar.
some dj's I would call good arrangers


some dj's I would call good arrangers


just my opinion

 

[ding_man]

I would say a DJ is not a musician. HOWEVER! That's not to say what some of them are doing is creative. If an artist would cut a part a magazine and make a collage is that not art? Technically I wouldn't say they were a musician, but they can add to music. So I would call them a music artist... haha.

 

[ric1312]

DJing, when done right, is a form of composition.

do you consider a composer a musician?

A true composer composes music. "The intro is A to B and then the bridge is B# C, these instruments here...........yada yada yada."

I don't believe you can call selecting samples of already composed music and slapping them together composing. A composer can hear the music in his head first and create it from nothing. With sampleing you are not creating music out of thin air and inspiration. All you are doing is cleverly tieing together prexsisting stuff. which, really isn't that hard since a lot of pop and rock uses very similar beats and tempos.

It's a bit like cutting up famous paintings and putting different ones together with tape and acting like the real artistry was a result of you just you just putting together what you thought looked good. Sure maybe you had an eye for what worked good together, but you didn't actually create anything.

Now if the DJ wrote and played his own music, then sampled it and cut it up, that would make him a musician.

 

[Captain_Arrrg]

I don't support sampling, but if they have their own beats, then yes I think they're musicians.

I also think it would lead to more of a co-operative song writing process instead of "That's great guys, now let me loop some other band's song over that." Add some scratching, that cool rewind effect, mix together and voila! Crap.