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-- Dance Music Visionary on Turntable Technology, by Paul Oakenfold for CNN
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Dance Music Visionary on Turntable Technology, by Paul Oakenfold for CNN

Here is an article written by oakey and posted on cnn this morning for anyone interested.
CNN LINK

quote:

Superstar DJ Dance music visionary on turntable technology By Paul Oakenfold for CNN (CNN)-- For me it all started with two turntables and a mixer. That's what DJing is all about. I always loved music and, like a lot of people, I was in a terrible band and it didn't happen. Then I saw what Grandmaster Flash was doing with turntables and it really excited me. I just followed my heart. In the last couple of years a lot of DJs have been forced into using CD players, because record companies are producing less acetate and promotional records, and just burning CDs instead. With the latest players you can do a lot of the tricks that you can do with vinyl. That makes things easier, but you're losing the art of DJing to a certain extent. It's what you do with the equipment that matters. We can all play the same records, but what makes you stand out from the pack is what you do with them and the order you play them in. 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. It's DJing from a laptop. 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 don't download music because the quality isn't good enough to play in a club. There's no bottom end on it. It's the difference between going to the cinema and watching a DVD. There are certain movies you have to see on the big screen, to see the full picture and get lost in it. For me it's the same with music. I'd much rather go to a record store than download music. I like to browse, to look at the sleeve and find out who's the hot new producer. It keeps you fresh and keeps you ahead of the game. Computers have made it easier for anyone to make a record but that's also brought the quality down. It's great that technology has made music more accessible but the biggest artists will use still traditional studio equipment because you get much better quality. The people I admire -- Liam Howlett of Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers and Orbital -- they are all artists primarily. The technology is secondary. The record for me that brings it all together is "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound of London. It's got a great sample, it's got the electronic bass and it's a huge club record. Those are the three elements. It's still being re-sampled, re-mixed and re-played. I just bought a bootleg that samples it. When you're making a record or doing a remix you've got to come with a vibe or a direction before you start with the technology. If I go into a studio to do a remix I'll listen to a record 10 or 15 times to decide where the vibe's coming from. You can't program creativity. The hit I had with "Starry Eyed Surprise" came from a sample I picked up from watching "Midnight Cowboy." You can sit there and be a tech-head, but at the end of the day the records are no good. -- Paul Oakenfold is one of the world's leading DJs and remixers. Monday, October 18, 2004 Posted: 9:55 AM EDT (1355 GMT)

Oakenfold: "Can you imagine Grandmaster Flash on a laptop? "

Thanks, that was a good read. The picture of Oakenfold is weird, but then again so is every picture of him.

oakie is hitting the real issues in this...i'm glad he said it...

summary for those too lazy to read..both of which i agree with...

1. Vinyl is better than CD and MP3

2. Computers have flooded the dance scene with crappy releases

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Originally posted by flavdave Thanks, that was a good read. The picture of Oakenfold is weird, but then again so is every picture of him.

must be old cos he doesn't look like a stuart smalley look-a-like posted around here recently

For all his faults, he has been in the music business longer than most- he knows his beans

i think he is a hypocrite. He has been seen playing cds instead of mixing his vinyl, he doesn't have an artform in a lot of his shows, and track selection.....




after his piss poor performance I saw from him he has no credibility to me now. so him saying its an artform and coming down on cd djs is horseshittery.



Take a look at markus, now that dude can program a set, all done by cd too. Also he has no idea about the digital quality that can be burnt on cd.


to me this just shows signs of resistance to progression. I love my vinyl, and that is all I spin now. And I also love to vinyl shop for days on end. But, I would never say that just by using cds it takes the artform out of djing. wtf is so different? you have a track, it has a key to it, it has a feel for it, and you play it in a set just the same as vinyl.

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Originally posted by Boomer187 to me this just shows signs of resistance to progression. I love my vinyl, and that is all I spin now. And I also love to vinyl shop for days on end. But, I would never say that just by using cds it takes the artform out of djing. wtf is so different? you have a track, it has a key to it, it has a feel for it, and you play it in a set just the same as vinyl.

i don't think that is what he is saying at all. i think he's saying that its harder to dj with turntables then it is with a cd player. also, i think he's saying that with mp3s the music is available to everyone so it takes away the value in shopping for that record that you found and everyone loves.

It will be interesting to see whether this thread goes in the "Oakenfold sucks" direction, or a good old-fashioned CD vs. vinyl debate.

thank you Oakey !

turntables for life ! happy to be a vinyl junkie and damn proud of it. i dont despise CDs but i mean, it aint vinyl, its CDS... lol

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Originally posted by flavdave It will be interesting to see whether this thread goes in the "Oakenfold sucks" direction, or a good old-fashioned CD vs. vinyl debate.

my money is on oakenfold sucks first...then cd vs vinyl hehehe

I was just thinking about this earlier this morning.

IMO, he kind of contradicts himself:

quote:

It's what you do with the equipment that matters. We can all play the same records, but what makes you stand out from the pack is what you do with them and the order you play them in.

Err... Oakie isn't exactly famous for his turntablism and tricks, is he? I don't think I've ever heard of him doing more than just mixing 2 tunes together (and I've heard that he quite often fucks that up). That's definately NOT "standing out from the pack."

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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.

Really? Because only 3 lines up, you were claiming that it's what you do with the equipment that matters. I know I say this a lot, but just look at what Zabiela does. If using CDs is cheap, then who's to say that using vinyl isn't? It's certainly a lot easier to drop the needle, beatmatch and cue than it is to haul sequencers and samplers on the stage and construct a set from scratch. But we still listen to DJs because the ease of playing a record yeilds flexibility, so that he can take the music in any direction he pleases. CD decks are just a step up from this - sure, you ca probably pop in a tune and auto beatmatch it, but the potential is there for a LOT more tricks and creativity than on vinyl alone.

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I don't download music because the quality isn't good enough to play in a club. There's no bottom end on it. It's the difference between going to the cinema and watching a DVD. There are certain movies you have to see on the big screen, to see the full picture and get lost in it. For me it's the same with music.

Well, no shit. Is it a big suprise to anyone that a compressed sound format is going to sound poor on a club system? I honestly can't tell any big difference between a full quality wav and a record, at least in the clubs I've been to. Anyone else care to comment on this? (between wav and vinyl I mean, not mp3 and vinyl).

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I'd much rather go to a record store than download music. I like to browse, to look at the sleeve and find out who's the hot new producer. It keeps you fresh and keeps you ahead of the game.

Easy to say, when a) you're a superstar DJ who gets paid several thousand dollars a night, and probably gets more free vinyl in a month than most bedroom DJs will buy in their lifetimes, and b) when you actually live close to a nice vinyl shop. I love my records, but I also love playing fresh, new tunes. I can go to any record store and spend about $250-300 for two dozen records. I could buy those same two dozen tunes for about $40 on BeatPort, shipped, in full quality .wav format.

quote:

Computers have made it easier for anyone to make a record but that's also brought the quality down. It's great that technology has made music more accessible but the biggest artists will use still traditional studio equipment because you get much better quality. The people I admire -- Liam Howlett of Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers and Orbital -- they are all artists primarily. The technology is secondary.

You know, I'd take a great big studio full of nice analogue equipment over a copy of Reason and Cubase any day. You're a big rich DJ, want to loan me $15,000?

I use software out of necessity, not choice.

The music a DJ puts forth is more important than the technology on which he plays it. People don't go to a party to stand around and watch someone mix. I'd rather hear a good set come off a laptop than a poor one come off turntables. And I'd much rather hear someone like Zabiela embrace technology and play an amazing set by using it to his advantage.

Btw, when I saw JZ last July, all you could see of him was his head up there in the tall booth - I didn't really care that I couldn't watch him mix, and I don't think anyone else did either.

Oh yeah, and I'm ordering my CDJ-1000 today

i'm sure oakie would agree that zabiela is an exception to what he is saying. obviously not everyone is doing what zabiela does...and that's why he is such a popular dj at the moment.

By the way, my stance on Vinyl vs. CD is that the enlightened DJ will use both, since, at the moment, both have their advantages and disadvantages. Limiting your self to either is stupid.

I'm posting this because I don't want this thread to turn into a vinyl vs. CD debate, which are redundant anyways, for the reason I just stated. I just felt like pointing out Oakie's hypocrisy.

quote:

Originally posted by Floorfiller i don't think that is what he is saying at all. i think he's saying that its harder to dj with turntables then it is with a cd player. also, i think he's saying that with mp3s the music is available to everyone so it takes away the value in shopping for that record that you found and everyone loves.

classic business mind at work. well, business minded for the dj. Of course if there are a ton of songs people haven't heard they are gonna go crazy when they hear them. But should we keep good music from people. that means youd have to wait for this big name dj to come around again to hear your song.


plus Id have to sell my cd player i my car to put in a turntable in there.



and I dont get where cds are easier to mix than vinyl.....and what cd decks does oakie see that you just hit play? I find cds harder mainly because you can read vinyl to see where the breakdowns are. with cds (at least what I did when I played them a few times) was try to remember the entire track organization.




eh. bottom line. I think he is wrong. there is no difference in difficulty between cd and vinyl (the only one I see is the pitch adjuster for cd is incremented while vinyl can be analogue). I just don't understand why this article came out. I guess it does add to oakie's image of being the creator of all that is edm....




im rambling..food time.

quote:

Originally posted by Floorfiller i'm sure oakie would agree that zabiela is an exception to what he is saying. obviously not everyone is doing what zabiela does...and that's why he is such a popular dj at the moment.

Does it even matter though? Watching any DJ beatmatch on vinyl isn't particularly impressive, since most of the time they are hovering over the mixer tweaking knobs. I've only been spinning 5 months, and even I can pretty much match my tunes in 20-30 seconds now, while occasionally making a tiny adjustment after that.

And while I will admit that there is definately a coolness factor in pulling out a big box of records and shuffling through them... like I said, the music a DJ puts forth is a lot more important than how he does it. It's like going out to eat at one of those Habachi grills, where the chef cooks the sushi in front of you and does all those tricks, fliping the shrimp into his hat and setting the onion on fire - neat to watch, but it's just a novelty - what you came for is the food, and if the food sucks then who the hell cares what the chef is doing?

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Originally posted by nrjizer Well, no shit. Is it a big suprise to anyone that a compressed sound format is going to sound poor on a club system? I honestly can't tell any big difference between a full quality wav and a record, at least in the clubs I've been to. Anyone else care to comment on this? (between wav and vinyl I mean, not mp3 and vinyl).

There is no loss in quality with wav files as long as they're coming from a digital source and not decoded from an mp3. So playing a wav burned to a CD will sound better on a club system than a 192kbps mp3, which is what most download sites offer for purchase and probably what Oakenfold was referring to. Like you said, Beatport is great because they will send you a wav on CD.

Many people say vinyl has a warmer sound, but the average listener probably couldn't care less. I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference between vinyl and wav, but vinyl and mp3 is a different story especially on a big system.

quote:

Originally posted by nrjizer And while I will admit that there is definately a coolness factor in pulling out a big box of records and shuffling through them... like I said, the music a DJ puts forth is a lot more important than how he does it. It's like going out to eat at one of those Habachi grills, where the chef cooks the sushi in front of you and does all those tricks, fliping the shrimp into his hat and setting the onion on fire - neat to watch, but it's just a novelty - what you came for is the food, and if the food sucks then who the hell cares what the chef is doing?

What a tasty analogy.

well i guess i'll just say this...i know what you both are saying...but...this is how i see it:

the problem with everyone having the same music is that is practically negates the purpose of the dj. i think the problem with things like digital downloads is that it takes away the unique sound of a dj and encourages everyone to play the same stuff. look no further then our own dj promotion section to find everyone and their cousin playing there combination of ASOT and GDJB. that's not what i want to hear and i garauntee that isn't going to help them move their djing to a level they want it at.

you know what i do when i listen to a dj...i listen to them and i pick the few tracks that are just completely awesome...and those are the ones i want to buy. now if people do that with a bunch of different djs and then add the stuff they find out on their own ...you'd be a pretty badass dj in my view.

i just see a problem with everyone wanting to pretend to be armin or tiesto or markus and all downloading the same music and all the producers attempting to make the same sound and feel for their songs...its just really tired and a waste of good talent.

what is this article doing on CNN?

i could careless what medium a dj uses as long as he/she plays good stuff...thats all that matters. if oakey hates cds so much then why does he keep putting them out? im not complaining or anything because hes put out some great cds. ive noticed a lot of the djs coming through have been using cds and i dont think that it takes anything away from their set...if anything it allows them to be more flexible because they can tweek a song and then put it onto a cd to use in their set rather than having to go have a vinyl made.

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Originally posted by Floorfiller the problem with everyone having the same music is that is practically negates the purpose of the dj.

Well, if it forces the big name DJ to work harder to be unique, then it's good for us

But it won't ever negate the DJ (well... maybe the bad, boring DJ, but who's complaining then?), because partying out is still a lot more fun when there's a good DJ guiding the party.

This is really ironic, oakey speaking of mixing finesse

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Originally posted by Nou But yea, most of what he says is true tho. I think he was talking about jocks that cheat with CD players really, using automatic functions instead of doing the old fashioned and real way.

But oakie isn't exactly known for his mixing now, is he? I recall the thread posted a month or so ago, about how oakie trainwrecked 7 times (the poster kept a tally with a pen) and thrice just let one track run out then start the next.... all this within a 90 minute set. I mean, mixing 2 tracks together on turntables isn't THAT hard, and someone who's been around over 10 years like he has should be able to do it in their sleep.

Holy shit, this is in 3 different areas...

Anyways, its all music, it doesnt really matter. They both have their ups and downs. I prefer vinyl as a medium, but i prefer cdjs just because they are more fun to me.

quote:

Originally posted by nrjizer But oakie isn't exactly known for his mixing now, is he? I recall the thread posted a month or so ago, about how oakie trainwrecked 7 times (the poster kept a tally with a pen) and thrice just let one track run out then start the next.... all this within a 90 minute set. I mean, mixing 2 tracks together on turntables isn't THAT hard, and someone who's been around over 10 years like he has should be able to do it in their sleep.

*goes on bullshit rant*

but he mixes terrible now because he is so dissolutioned with the industry becoming what it has become

quote:

Originally posted by Floorfiller *goes on bullshit rant* but he mixes terrible now because he is so dissolutioned with the industry becoming what it has become

his 'mixing' was never that great.. he was superb with playing/introducing tracks no one had yet and his arrangement/programming of tracks and placement.

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