Is a DJ a musician

[werbo1]

I agree Bhuti,

Western music is based on a twelve tone scale, and we all use the scales. Records are DJ's scales

 

[Lon86]

Hell no.

Can they practice without electricity...

Basically, does their instrument actually make vibrations... you know, sound...???

Djs are djs.... musicians are musicians.

Even electric instruments can be practiced without volume.

I went through this crap when working at Guitar Center...hearing all the dj pro audio dudes saying the Chemical Brothers were the Nirvana of the time...

That they were musicians with their own band.

Well, I gave it a try, went and saw them.

While it might have worked at a party, in a concert venue it was the most boring thing ever.

Two dj s at stand up desk like things.



Sorry, but if you can turn your instrument on and it plays without you...

 

[Mon Rominee]

Someone who plays music at a birthday party or mixes at a club is a Selector or Disc Jockey. I think the term we are looking for is "Turntablist" or "Electronic Musician."

An electronic musician or Turntablist is a musician. Period, end of discussion. The fact that people won't budge from century-old views to allow something different and fresh to become part of music is the reason why arts are dying.

Rhythmically, they are 100% musicians. IMO, Harmonically, they are MORE musicians than bass players. Why? they aren't bound by temperment and pitch. They can use sounds that have been created before to create a different vibe/feel, tweak them HUNDREDS of different ways until it's barely recognizable. They can play ANYTHING they want. They have to move with the music like everyone else. They compose on the fly, they improvise, they have endless capabilities. Why is it so bad to consider them musicians?

Why are they thought to be so unskilled and talentless? because they are commonly associated with hip-hop and electronic music? Because they use sounds that were alread y created? Give me a break. I bet your not the first one to play a friggin C#... Or that I-VI-II-V. Creation by any right is creation. Inventions are creations and IMPROVEMENTS on previous creations.

I'd pull a jazz gig with a Turntablist ANY DAY to see the new things that would happen. I wouldn't sell a ticket because people would be closed-minded and say "that's not jazz" when they really mean "that's not what i'm used to hearing." But then again this is just me. An open-minded individual that wants to share what i have and move forward.

An electronic musician uses different tools to produce the same result. Turntables, Kaoss Pad, Mixer, Records, Laptops... These are all tools. Everyone is so insecure with themselves and considers them cheats.... I don't get it..

I apologize for the scatterbrain rambling, but it is kinda ridiculous to me. the debate and the lack of clarification.

Yup, as I and a few other OPEN MINDED people here have professed as well. Well said man.

 

[Bhuti]

Hell no.

Can they practice without electricity...

Basically, does their instrument actually make vibrations... you know, sound...???

Djs are djs.... musicians are musicians.

Even electric instruments can be practiced without volume.

I went through this crap when working at Guitar Center...hearing all the dj pro audio dudes saying the Chemical Brothers were the Nirvana of the time...

That they were musicians with their own band.

Well, I gave it a try, went and saw them.

While it might have worked at a party, in a concert venue it was the most boring thing ever.

Two dj s at stand up desk like things.



Sorry, but if you can turn your instrument on and it plays without you...

Electric keyboards make no vibrations. Are they musicians? You don't have to like it dude, just respect it.

 

[Lon86]

Put them on an acoustic piano and they can do the same thing.
And yes, they can still practice.

Electric keyboards make no vibrations. Are they musicians? You don't have to like it dude, just respect it.

 

[Infernal Affair]

Just cuz I like to poke at everyone's point of view

One could easily make the case that speaking is, by definition, manipulating tone and pitch. Unless you've had your larynx removed and require a Servox unit to make sound come from your throat, the act of speaking is indeed manipulating tone and pitch. Add to that rhythmic complexity, and rapping is music.

Touche, but I wasn't saying whether rapping is music. (I think it is.) JKT posed the question whether rapping was singing.

 

[Lon86]

Progamming a drum machine and hitting play does not make me a musician.

What I do on my computer with Pro Tools does not make me a musician.

A composer, yes...a musician...no.

I can handle and accept turntableists as musicians...but they are turntableists, not just djs.

 

[tZer]

Infernal Affair,

I found your post to be very useful, interesting and well stated. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to pull RAP and rap musicians into this discussion!

 

[Frag]

+1... I can't believe people are saying yes! Meshing songs (even with a strong concept of rhythm and key signatures) is not what a musician does. Playing an instrument/singing, reading notation, composing are all things musicians do...not a DJ.

If you think a DJ is a musician, you might as well think your studio/live engineer and producer are musicians as well. After all, the good ones have a strong concept of rhythm and key signatures and manipulate sounds--they may even mesh songs...

EDIT: Oh, and if the DJ plays and records some instruments for his samples--he/she is a musician in addition to being a DJ. But DJ and musician are not synonymous.

I SO agree with you, when I saw people had actualy said YES, I cried over my Iron maiden collection. Let a DJ suffer bruised and bleeding fingers from all the practice, the arm and wrist aches, back ache from holding a 30LB bass for an hour or two, THEN let them get back to us!!!

 

[Bhuti]

Progamming a drum machine and hitting play does not make me a musician.

What I do on my computer with Pro Tools does not make me a musician.

A composer, yes...a musician...no.

I can handle and accept turntableists as musicians...but they are turntableists, not just djs.

I disagree. Programming a drum machine is the equivilent of setting up a pedalboard with your PRE-CONFIGURED sounds to be played at a later date. It's alot more than hitting play. Hitting play is like me playing a downbeat... If i play that downbeat a hair off, that means everyone stops dancing and people think about the music instead of letting their minds be free. Same with a play button. Wrong timing, wrong result; And that timing comes from a musical place in someone's heart and mind.

Pro Tools... Reverb, Delay, Brick Wall Compression, Gating, De-essing. All done to bring out the best in music. When done well demonstrates musicianship because it shows that someone has a musical view and perspective and is using their TOOLS to get that view out.

It seems as though that just because their methods are different that they are devalued in some way, i don't understand how that is possible.

At the end of the day we all create music. That's all that should matter.

 

[Bhuti]

I SO agree with you, when I saw people had actualy said YES, I cried over my Iron maiden collection. Let a DJ suffer bruised and bleeding fingers from all the practice, the arm and wrist aches, back ache from holding a 30LB bass for an hour or two, THEN let them get back to us!!!

All skills and art require practice. They use the same wrist and finger motions that bass players do. They have more gear than you have to carry. They just have the sense not to buy a 30lb bass..

Different but similar. Let me repeat... Different but similar. Just respect them for what they do.

 

[tZer]

Let a DJ suffer bruised and bleeding fingers from all the practice, the arm and wrist aches, back ache from holding a 30LB bass for an hour or two, THEN let them get back to us!!!

From what I can glean from your post, your bass it too heavy, you have bad posture and poor hand position.

I don't see how physically abusing yourself equates to being a musician.

For the sake of argument; suppose you are listening to a piece of music. Music that consists of woodwinds, strings, percussion and brass.

This piece of music is 100% original and demonstrates understanding of harmony, melody and other aspects of music theory and practice.

This piece of music was also created 100% on a computer my placing triggers directly on the midi piano roll - not by playing a midi keyboard as a pianist/keyboardist would do.

Would you say the person who wrote every note and delivered this particular piece of music was a musician?

 

[Lon86]

Not even a close comparison.

Programming a drum machine does not make you a musician.

Guitar effects simply enhance the sound being played from a musician.

Come on.

Guitarists play guitars...

Bassists play bass...

Keyboardists play keyboards...

Djs play ...??? dj???

It is a skill...and I like a lot of djs...some are incredibly talented..

But they are composers, arrangers and programmers, with good timing if you will...

They are not musicians.

I disagree. Programming a drum machine is the equivilent of setting up a pedalboard with your PRE-CONFIGURED sounds to be played at a later date. It's alot more than hitting play. Hitting play is like me playing a downbeat... If i play that downbeat a hair off, that means everyone stops dancing and people think about the music instead of letting their minds be free. Same with a play button. Wrong timing, wrong result; And that timing comes from a musical place in someone's heart and mind.

Pro Tools... Reverb, Delay, Brick Wall Compression, Gating, De-essing. All done to bring out the best in music. When done well demonstrates musicianship because it shows that someone has a musical view and perspective and is using their TOOLS to get that view out.

It seems as though that just because their methods are different that they are devalued in some way, i don't understand how that is possible.

At the end of the day we all create music. That's all that should matter.

 

[magneezius]

Would Anyone here consider Trent Reznor a DJ?

Trent Pretty Much is a One man band because He has all the elements of a DJ and more with his Macbook..

 

[Lon86]

You composed the piece...

Nope, still doesn't make you a musician.

Musically inclined...yes
Great musical ear...yes
good computer skills...yes

This is kind of like me saying beacause I am great at playing Madden football on my playstation, I am an athlete.

Does it take skill...yes
does it take great timing...yes
does it take practice...yes
does it take football knowledge...yes

does it make me an athlete...???

From what I can glean from your post, your bass it too heavy, you have bad posture and poor hand position.

I don't see how physically abusing yourself equates to being a musician.

For the sake of argument; suppose you are listening to a piece of music. Music that consists of woodwinds, strings, percussion and brass.

This piece of music is 100% original and demonstrates understanding of harmony, melody and other aspects of music theory and practice.

This piece of music was also created 100% on a computer my placing triggers directly on the midi piano roll - not by playing a midi keyboard as a pianist/keyboardist would do.

Would you say the person who wrote every note and delivered this particular piece of music was a musician?

 

[Bhuti]

Not even a close comparison.

Programming a drum machine does not make you a musician.

Guitar effects simply enhance the sound being played from a musician.

Come on.

Guitarists play guitars...

Bassists play bass...

Keyboardists play keyboards...

Djs play ...??? dj???

It is a skill...and I like a lot of djs...some are incredibly talented..

But they are composers, arrangers and programmers, with good timing if you will...

They are not musicians.

If guitarists play guitars, bassists play bass, and keyboardists play keyboards...

Who the hell are the musicians? the musics?

You are looking at this issue in the short term by focusing on how the sounds are being created. The end result is the same. Music. We all create and play music. Therefore we are musicians.

Our means dosen't justify our end. Our end justify our means. We do what we do to express ourselves audibly. How we do it doesn't matter.

 

[Lon86]

He is a composer, song writer and entertainer.

Would Anyone here consider Trent Reznor a DJ?

Trent Pretty Much is a One man band because He has all the elements of a DJ and more with his Macbook..

 

[Frag]

I should make it clear, for those who read my post, i've only played bass for 2 1/2 years, so yes, I do still get aches from long practice, but my fingers no longer bleed since I developed caluses hehe I'd defy anyone to say that their fingers never bled when they started out.

 

[Jay Corwin]

I think anyone who masters the expert level on guitar hero is pretty much on par with any "real" guitarist.

 

[Lon86]

Those are all musical instruments...

Come on.

Musicians play musical instruments.

That is one of the most lame retorts I have seen in a long time.

If guitarists play guitars, bassists play bass, and keyboardists play keyboards...

Who the hell are the musicians? the musics?

You are looking at this issue in the short term by focusing on how the sounds are being created. The end result is the same. Music. We all create and play music. Therefore we are musicians.

Our means dosen't justify our end. Our end justify our means. We do what we do to express ourselves audibly. How we do it doesn't matter.