What Makes A Good Dj.
| Good [+2]Toggle ReplyLink» JasonBeastly replied on Sun May 9, 2010 @ 4:47pm |
 Coolness: 76690 | I personally find that because I've spent so much time producing I find it really easy to DJ, and in fact sort of boring. I don't always need to beatmatch but I'll admit that it's not always simple, especially when the track is a minute long and at blitz-speed... but generally speaking that's why a producer who wants to play live without running into computer crashes, hardware errors, or a missing cable for MIDI, RCA, you name it will opt for something like Serato or Final Scratch to cut corners on what they need to lug around, how much they need to prepare the montage or what-have-you they would use for a live mix, etc.
I use Ableton, and I have to say, to bring up an old topic here, it's kind of like having that infamous auto-mix feature some Tiesto fan was raging over... it's pretty easy to beatmatch tracks if you have the time to stretch them or set up the set in advance, but it's boring, because you essentially are taking a program that can do live mixing of stem tracks (the individual parts of one track) and reducing it to a program to crossfade between two tracks, sometimes more, although you can't always layer more than 4 tracks without it sounding like soup (unless it's minimal, where you need to do that to stay awake). So what does that leave you with? Relying on a couple of effects routed to a knob controller... which is sometimes great and sometimes the quickest way to overload your CPU. It's not all that easy to do a live PA, it's not exactly the same as producing a track, and it's really hard to practice it in the same way you would a DJ set, because it's highly unlikely that you can change the flow on a whim, without resorting to mixing. I tried once to take all of my tracks and open them all in the same Ableton file, so that they went from the top left corner down to the bottom right corner, nearly 96 audio tracks, tried freezing the tracks that were more CPU intensive, and well... any fool could guess that the computer crashed several times, eventually making it so that opening the unsaved crash of the file was impossible. It's not workable. You could, I guess, get all sorts of gear that costs an arm and a leg, you can do really fun live sets off of MPCs and grooveboxes, not necessarily for every style of electronic music, but yeah, I guess you could drop several thousands to have gear that you have to drag to a gig that maybe doesn't pay, set up properly, and then watch like a paranoid hawk for the rest of a night while spacecaked kids barf in the near vicinity, or maybe use Logic or Cubase to deconstruct a potential mix and turn it into a montage, running effects over everything, as a lot of people I know do for Live PAs. But if you lay it out too perfectly you have nothing to do for your whole set, and if you lose those thousands of dollars of gear you're in a heavy duty depression for quite a while, and if you drag everything out for one hour and then there's no table you look like a goof. Use Serato or CDJs and all of the sudden because you have to listen to the damn CD trainwrecking in one ear until it's on, you look like you're more into it and people go crazy... records even more so. But once you can mix your tracks together it becomes a bit too easy and the only thing you can do to not go mad is to cut or tweak on the mix. That's what's always deterred me from DJing - having to accept that you're listening to the track off the beat in one ear and having to concentrate on all that, am I going to get hate for saying that it's an awful sound right until it's on? Plus if you try to apply effects it sounds pretty gay on the master. All in all, as a musician, it's not really the same thrill that comes out of laying down a synth line in the studio or editing a complex amen rinseout. I'd love to do that live. But it's nearly impossible without Max or some sort of convoluted patch. So what I'm saying, Bliss, is that there's not much reward in preparing your tracks for three months each before completing them, then working for three months on the live montage, only to stand in front of a monitor for an hour trying to look busy, when everything basically already sounds as it should and is basically fit for DJing off of vinyl, if it doesn't cost too much to press it. You can't just say that producers suck as DJs and that they should just play live. Try it sometime, live PA is a bitch to do right. And DJing for producers can feel like just running through your greatest hits catalog. You wouldn't play a set consisting of only Justice tracks would you? |
| I'm feeling shkombombolated right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» rawali replied on Sun May 9, 2010 @ 9:39pm |
 Coolness: 140665 | Originally Posted By LUKEPERIL
You wouldn't play a set consisting of only Justice tracks would you? If you were ever to do that, I'd be forced to hurt you... but yeah +1 on everything you said though... BUT! when working with rendered stems and loops out of your tracks, you can have a working, relatively CPU light live that involves you doing things with a minimal amount of gear (a launch pad, laptop and soundcard)... it IS alot of work compared to a dj set but... as stupid as it sounds... when I write a track, its always fun playing it out but considering the amount of work involved I'd kinda like people to know that it IS my track that's playing, when doing a live, most people understand that they're hearing nothing but original production... it's different feeling though... doing a live vs dj set... to me they fit into different contexts, it's a different vibe different flow... I mean... doing a dj set of just my own production vs doing a live will sound so different |
| I'm feeling lovely right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» A.Singleton replied on Sun May 9, 2010 @ 11:02pm |
 Coolness: 33930 | What about... a mix of these two? Wont say more but ill be experimenting @ koi this wednesday. I've saw what Fulgeance's set-up was and it was pretty inspiring. Plain djing with ableton is boring. but looping and layering tracks is something fun to do and the result is something suprising. |
| I'm feeling like tweaking that drum kit right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» JasonBeastly replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 1:50am |
| Coolness: 76690 | That's the way to approach it basically, but for years I couldn't sort out how to set that up on a whim. With more preparation I've found I can do more of a mashup approach to sets which is where using Ableton rocks. But I have to say it's easier with standards... easier to make it flow at least - and by standards I mean sticking to 140 bpm dubstep or techno, having a common rhythm between tracks. I haven't had an easy time doing this with breakcore because you have to change tracks faster to make it interesting, plus in some cases I've been stuck with tracks I just don't have the original files for anymore, just a wav... what I do most of the time is play with some of the incomplete tracks in between the complete ones, try to do variations for the most part. But we can all agree it's something you have to sit down and work out, you can't just practice it and leave it at that. Takes way longer to get right too, as it's a matter of making good use of your MIDI controllers and planning out scenes in the mix. But it's definitely fun... just wish I didn't have a shit-heap of a computer. |
| I'm feeling shkombombolated right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 4:11am |
 Coolness: 685570 | Originally Posted By A.SINGLETON
What about... a mix of these two? Wont say more but ill be experimenting @ koi this wednesday. I've saw what Fulgeance's set-up was and it was pretty inspiring. Plain djing with ableton is boring. but looping and layering tracks is something fun to do and the result is something suprising. Totally... IMO Fexomat should be inspiration for everyone that wants to use Ableton for DJ sets: Fexomat - Live at Re:fest VI ,Belgium 2007 1. pantera - cowboys from hell 2. ---??? - i got the music 3. torture killer - heading towards the butchery 4. bloodbath - ways to the grave 5. immortal - sons of northern darkness 6. kreator - suicide terrorist 7. ---116T7 - raumzeitstörung 8. old man's child - the servant 9. ---sum - live gypsy core 10. manowar - metal daze 11. strappin young lads - wrong side 12. ---dom&roland - trauma 13. ---christina aguilera - genie in a bottle 14. ---mc hammer - can't touch this 15. ---2UL - no limit 16. ---fear factory -t1000 (hk) 17. slayer- threshold 18. ini kamoze - here comes the hotsteppa 19. testament - down for life 20. ---sum - blaze up rough 21. pro-pain - shine 22. britney - i'm a slave 4 u 23. lamb of god - one gun 24. ---:wumpscut: - dying culture 25. suicide commando - cause of death suicide 26. torture killer - a violent scene of death 27. ---soulfly - jump the fuck up 28. sepultura - teritory 29. grave diggaz - bang your head 30. nailbomb - religious cancer 31. deicide - scars of the crucifix 32. bile - your a fucking loser 33. ---rog hardcore - 18min of hardcore 34. ministry - scarecrow 35. ---red man - let's get dirty 36. morbid angel&the berzerker - abomination 37. pulkas vs shitspitter - control 38. antichristus - paradise of pain 39. decapitated - lying and weak 40. dimmu borgir - the chosen legacy 41. shy fx - the message 42. sum - fuck d&b 43. ---brutal truth vs freak - regression - progression 44. qotsa - feel good hit of the summer 45. madonna -music 46. sum - dead embry 47. hatesphere - lies and deceit 48. --??? - i'm so crazy 49. ultraviolence - i destructor(lenny dee mix) 50. o.l.d. - two of me(thermo-amphetamine mix) 51. ultraviolence - hardcore motherfucker 52. ultraviolence - strangled 53. metadia - ultra fatality 54. ---p.a.l. - das gelöbnis 55. subliminal - wanna know 56. ---sum - big salad 57. iron maiden - the number of the beast |
| I'm feeling like a drama magnet right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Nathan replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 4:11am |
 Coolness: 166525 | i find the whole live electronic thing a little odd. almost all 'popular' acts that tour now, who are rooted in electronics, use a whole band to pull it off. 'cause, rock is live, but they have 4+ musicians playing the parts. with techno, there's only one dude, pretty much doing an orchestra's job.
it's not really fair to techno artists to expect them to play 100% live. but, what they need to do is hire musicians to play the different parts, like a drummer, a keyboardist, and the main producer to throw the rest in. that necessitates: alot of jamming, practising, and alot of cash to pay the musicians. so, unless you're Prodigy, this is a little difficult. i saw Winterkalte last year at kinetik, and wow, the two dudes played it all completely live - like a metal band would - with an electronic drum, some gear, and 3 synths ... i was impressed. but alone? really really LIVE? i've never even bothered considering it after a dozen years of making music. my only idea, is to load a shitload of samples/loops i made, into a program, and improvise. it'll probably be pretty bad though :p PS. our buddies Risk, have the right idea: starting off as a band, with most of it electronic & the drums n' stuff organic, geared toward playing live. good job ;) |
| I'm feeling you up right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» rawali replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 7:48am |
| Coolness: 140665 | ...well... I wasn't gonna shamelessly plug the band but now that you mention it...
shameless plug come see Risk live at passeport May 27th for the 2nd annivesary of Forward alongside Michael SP from Calgary... [ www.myspace.com ] [ www.soundcloud.com ] [ www.reverbnation.com ] /shameless plug |
| I'm feeling lovely right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» A.Singleton replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 12:22pm |
| Coolness: 33930 | That guy IS Impressive :
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| I'm feeling like tweaking that drum kit right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» rawali replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 2:23pm |
| Coolness: 140665 | I like this... check around minute 7
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| I'm feeling lovely right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» El_Presidente replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 3:29pm |
 Coolness: 299305 | Originally Posted By RAWALI
I like this... check around minute 7 wow |
| I'm feeling the president right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» EggmanRobotnik replied on Mon May 10, 2010 @ 4:15pm |
 Coolness: 31170 | Originally Posted By FISHEAD
there are even those who never really experience any success in their lifetime, die in poverty and are only recognized after their death (Van Gogh is a primo example of this)... Van Gogh started painting at 30 and died at 37. |
| I'm feeling in the end of the session right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» ONE.LAB.RAT replied on Tue May 11, 2010 @ 9:14pm |
 Coolness: 76120 | lol beardyman
good dj will have a robot on the dansefloor when it not the 31 october.  |
| I'm feeling me,myself and i right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» A.Singleton replied on Tue May 11, 2010 @ 9:46pm |
| Coolness: 33930 | we had a dinosaur last week, does it count? |
| I'm feeling like tweaking that drum kit right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cutterhead replied on Tue May 11, 2010 @ 9:55pm |
 Coolness: 131575 | big collection and knowing it , not stop at trends
openmindness on multidimentionnal levels good ears by hypersensitivity or literally by mutation in the field also it helps to know some electronics, but im shure thats not absolutely required as technology is made to be selfevident. love your picture drtako |
| I'm feeling "god is(i)n`the tv" right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Kishmay_Pinas replied on Tue May 11, 2010 @ 10:10pm |
 Coolness: 103235 | Originally Posted By CUTTERHEAD
big collection and knowing it ^^^ |
| I'm feeling ez sessions monday wut! right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» greatjob replied on Wed May 12, 2010 @ 12:49am |
 Coolness: 282435 | you also need to remember to turn your monitors up ;) |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» system_glitch replied on Wed May 12, 2010 @ 12:50am |
 Coolness: 162480 | Having jesus in your heart. |
| I'm feeling zen right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» sabinonstop replied on Wed May 12, 2010 @ 1:29pm |
 Coolness: 92410 | a good dj knows and loves to dance or has a big member ;) |
| I'm feeling hit da road jack right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» crimson replied on Thu May 13, 2010 @ 10:15pm |
 Coolness: 66405 | |
| I'm feeling ^^ right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» recoil replied on Thu May 13, 2010 @ 10:25pm |
 Coolness: 86485 | ^^^^
lol!! what the hell is he doing? |
What Makes A Good Dj.
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