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Paul Oakenfold on technology...

This was in the technology section of cnn.com today:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/10/18/...fold/index.html

I used to like Oakenfold a lot but his skills and sound are outdated now in my opinion. I agree with what what he says about the quality of popular downloaded music formats but to resist change is foolish. I too was once a vinyl bigot until the first time I saw Paul van Dyk. He 'spun' 80% of the set on CDJs and the place was 100 times more in to him and the set than any time I have seen Oakenfold. It really opened my eyes.

Perhaps Oakenfold should reevaluate his stance on technology and use his 'superstar' status to help push for higher quality, DJ friendly digital formats and technology in general. He should be a leader rather than taking an arrogant 'technology is bad' stance.

Keith

quote:

I'm still happiest with two turntables and a box of records. You're pulling records out, trying to match the key, the structure, looking for the breaks. With a CD player you can put the CD in, press play and lock it in time, and it does it all for you.

I don't think he has ever key matched in his life. What the hell is he talking about? Also, I have never seen a CD player match keys either.

quote:

The most important thing is the crowd and I don't think they want someone up there DJing on a laptop. It's impersonal. With vinyl, people can see what the DJ's doing. Can you imagine Grandmaster Flash on a laptop? The art form has gone.

I agree. Laptop/Computer mixing is impersonal. If you're just a DJ in a club hidden away in a backroom or dark DJ booth then maybe this is fine. To put on a show in front of people though, you need turntables.

Interesting article Mr. Oakenfold.

Posted in another forum section also, so dont let this turn into yet another cd vs vinyl carp thread.

He is not taking a 'technology is bad mmmkay' stance at all.
Hes just stating what he likes, and he makes some very good and valid points in that interview snippet.

Im not a vinyl bigot- i just hate using cds, and given the choice (and i am every night at work) i prefer to spin vinyl and do 99% of the time.
cds bore the shit out of me, and the day they stop making vinyl is the day i hang up my headphones and stop doing this for a living.

he is right about the laptop thing- its boring to watch. and for all you know they could be miming to a pre-recorded mix.

I already commented on it a bunch here

yea I don't care for CD's either, and people do love to watch the DJ manipulating the vinyl, as I do as well. It just adds to the vibe and life of a party. Laptop mixing is boring plain and simple, and as was mentioned above, who knows if its live or not. I don't own any CDJ's and don't plan to for a while, until all the big name producers start sending me their latest tracks for review

do whatever makes u happy!

vinyl makes it look like your doing more work for the sound, because you are really.. cds you just do what oakey said lol..

I think Oakie makes a few good points. But it's important to remember that the music is the most important thing about being a DJ, not the look or the style.

I think there's a balance between technology and art. I think that an artist who neglects some of the incredible technology that is out there today doesn't have his priorities straight. The future of music is digital, and while there will always be some place for doing it old-school, there's so much more to explore musically with the latest technology.

Now like I said, there's a balance. DJing isn't JUST the music, it's performing as well. Using a laptop in front of a crowd isn't going to cut it. The performance aspect, matching beats, playing with the sound, pumping up the crowd, these are all parts of being a DJ.

I guess that's why I spin on 800s, you get the best of both worlds.

That's true, there should be a balance.

But I'm not too worried about laptops. Clicking and pressing play is a lot more difficult and time consuming to do well than having your hands on a real piece of equipment like a CDJ, not to mention scratching and other things are impossible. And I dont think you could ever replace the good old mixer - eq'ing with a mouse is impossible.

Interesting point.
I totally agree with Paul. Playing on turntables has something that CDJs and laptops dont have...
But why is Oakie so terrible in mixing? He is djing for many years and he has huge experience. I just cannot understand how can DJ like him trainwrecking songs. And I think making a good mix between 2 progressive tunes isnt very difficult...

i personally believe he is going deaf from years of ear damage.

Technological advances in DJing are what you decide to make of it - sure you can just use the medium for its standard use of you can push the limits of the technology. For example -


Standard Uses:

Turntables - with the use of a mixer beatmix 2 records
CDJ - same as above, just now being able to use CDs
Laptop - load 2 tracks into your software, possibly use software to automatically beatmix the tracks

but now push the technology to its boundaries:

Turntables - see any DMC competition video, try doing a hydroplane or other crazy scratch technique on a laptop or CDJ, there are some parts of this performance art that will never be able to be transferred to another medium no matter how good the CDJ gets

CDJ - re-edit every track you play to your liking, create loops on the fly, blend tracks 20 BPMs different from each other using master tempo feature

Laptop - using software like Ableton Live, play 20 different loops or samples in realtime, changing them and tweaking them as you go, which is impossible with any turntable set-up


obviously my examples aren't perfect, but hopefully I was able to illustrate my point. 10 years ago I never thought that anything would be created that remotely came close to a turntable, but with a CD, and look and all the awesome technology that exists now. Who knows what they will think of next.

JM-8

I agree that Oakey is probably going deaf. There is no other way that I can explain the train wrecks I hear is his sets It has caused me to take note and protect my hearing.

Anyway it looks like I started another vinyl vs. cd thread. All I wanted to point out that is things change over time and that resistance or expecting them not to change isn't realistic. I wish he would work to improve what is out there rather than condemning it which is the feeling I got from reading the article. But to each their own...

Keith

quote:

Originally posted by JM-8 Technological advances in DJing are what you decide to make of it - sure you can just use the medium for its standard use of you can push the limits of the technology. For example - Standard Uses: Turntables - with the use of a mixer beatmix 2 records CDJ - same as above, just now being able to use CDs Laptop - load 2 tracks into your software, possibly use software to automatically beatmix the tracks but now push the technology to its boundaries: Turntables - see any DMC competition video, try doing a hydroplane or other crazy scratch technique on a laptop or CDJ, there are some parts of this performance art that will never be able to be transferred to another medium no matter how good the CDJ gets CDJ - re-edit every track you play to your liking, create loops on the fly, blend tracks 20 BPMs different from each other using master tempo feature Laptop - using software like Ableton Live, play 20 different loops or samples in realtime, changing them and tweaking them as you go, which is impossible with any turntable set-up obviously my examples aren't perfect, but hopefully I was able to illustrate my point. 10 years ago I never thought that anything would be created that remotely came close to a turntable, but with a CD, and look and all the awesome technology that exists now. Who knows what they will think of next. JM-8

Great post!

For a pro-technology point of view from Sasha (someone who I respect a lot more then Oakenfold....) go here http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/18062/

It makes me laugh that Oakenfold says new technology is ruining the 'art' of djing when he can hardly mix two records together. He is more concerned with his image and 'moves' then being able to do tricks on the turntables. Not to mention the fact that he once played a pre-recorded set for a live crowd, does that sound like an artist to you?

Even the point about people not wanting to dance to someone playing with a laptop. Have you seen Junkie XL play live? I have. The crowd was going absolutely crazy with his 'laptop performance'. Obviously he knows how important image is to a DJ because he dresses up like a scotsman and does jump kicks all over the place - in effect making up for the fact that he doesn't have to mix.

Thing is, that whole argument is based on an 'image' thing. If Sasha was playing 10 foot above the stage so you couldn't see if he was mixing on decks or just playing off a turntable, yet played a mean set and everyone was really into it - would you question his performance?

A DJ 'performance' and the image of the DJ is tied together, you get an ugly fat DJ who doesn't move around and listen to him play a mean set, and then get a good looking DJ to play the same set, who jumps around and energises the crowd, see which one the crowd loves more...

My point? Image and marketing yourself is important to being a popular DJ - however that, is not art, artistic or anything to do with an art form - its marketing.

I don't see anything wrong in Final Scratch or CDs, example: PVD used 'em and nobody at the club said : "This dj sucks, we're going home." Everybody I talked to was rather exited about him using it. I think because of human nature evolution will effect every aspect of our life's so the music, dj'ing or mediums we use to play the music will evolve too and as long as you don't do anything illegal and you love what you do I don't see anything wrong in dj'ing with final scratch. Example: I noticed more and more clubs have only cd decks and they are packed every weekend and nobody on the dance floor is complaining about the lack of vinyl... well, unless a rather larger girl is wearing it And another thing, the equipment doesn't make you a great DJ , you still need skills . I've meet people that came from wealthy families and you herd them brag how great and fancy their equipment is , for them it was nothing to go and spend a lot of money on their gear , but they still couldn't mix for shit , at the same time guys that couldn't effort all the fancy stuff were technically unbelievable and way better in feeling the crowd in the place they were spinning in , some of them were using CDs because cd decks were cheaper and medium was more affordable as well .

he needs an editor cause his article is poorly written...

other than that... do what you want

quote:

Originally posted by Dirk W. Also, I have never seen a CD player match keys either.

I assume he means key lock which does make matching keys a whole lot easier. Personally I would probobly try to mix harmonicly a lot more if didn't have to worry about speed differences changeing the key of the track.

As for laptops it depends. What I mean is, of course someone mixing with Traktor is not going to look nearly as active as a normal DJ as they are mostly doodling on the computer. However some DJs/artists really use the PC in a new way, specifically BT comes to mind. We all know he sucks balls at DJing but give him his laptop and he will do a live perfomance of mixing/remixing which is definitly a step beyond DJing.

Edit: Though I don't think many people are argueing this, I think it is important to seperate FS (and therefore SSL as well) from "laptop" mixing because you are mixing with the mixer and tables. Of course as someone mentioned above, this does all become a moot point when the DJ is really seperated from the crowd and no one can see exactly what they are doing (either because they are off in a dark corner or because the booth is so high above the crowd).

DJ Tiesto; "I don't know about Final Scratch really. I'm not sure if you're DJing or you're up there checking your e-mail!"

Oh Tiesto :P

Personally, I love FS. Works wonderfully to me and many DJ's around the world are using software like this.

Hey if it sounds good and I like what I hear, than I don't care what equipment is used. Sure turn tables look cooler and the dj seems a lot more interactive but that's just an image thing.

On a different note, what I want to see in the next gen. of CDJs to have an internal hard drive and a USB connection. This way I can put my digital files right inside the cd player and do without a laptop if I choose to, not to mention carring CDs an no more fiddling around with a mouse while behind the decks

Future of DJing = DVD-Audio and Super-Audio CDs...

with that dvd audio thing, are u implying that im gonna go to a club and stare up at a screen and watch people mix videos? if thats the case i doubt that, especially considering that trance videos always manage to suck in my opinion.... But in respect to your opinion, i could be wrong

doesn't have to be trance videos. You can put any video on top of any song you want in any half ass piece of shit editor.

i see.... im still not convinced that people would wanna feel "fixed" to a screen

quote:

Originally posted by ESMdjm600 i see.... im still not convinced that people would wanna feel "fixed" to a screen

This is VJing. Super Audio CDs and DVD audio are a CD replacment. They are only audio but at much higher quality and use the larger storage capacity of these media to do it. This may be the future of DJing but not for at least a decade.

PS - Trance videos do suck balls...

ok i gotcha

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