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State of EDM
I have written a blog on the current state of EDM. It mainly focuses on the dj world prior to digital technology and compares that to older methods. It's just an introspective piece of literature and you may find it an interesting read.
http://tehmeadowlands.blogspot.com/...ate-of-edm.html
I think whoever wrote that needs to realize that it's just music. Go with the flow. Music is ever changing, that is the only thing constant about music is change. I personally don't see a blur with big names and people like myself. The big names will still get the CD-R's of unreleased tunes before any of us.
and this is why I choose to maintain a safe distance from standard EDM. as technology increases the rate of information transfer, everything starts to bleed together. not that everything sounds the "same". just that once a track is released, it can be reproduced instantaneously rather than having to wait for the vinyl. e.g. everyone starts playing the same shit cause it's "popular" at the time. I stopped listening to prog, house, trance, etc. cause every DJ just essentially played same tunes in a given year. just a different remix. I mean how many Delerium - Silence remixes came out? Innocente? Iio - Rapture? I mean remixes are unique in their own right but for real. I'm tired of the same shit day in and day out. these days most DJs are so fucking lazy they are just broadcasting someone else's music and not even working the wax so to speak. even for those that produce, it all just sounds the same. the same sounds effects and samples manipulated slightly different so you think that it's a new song. oh wait, that's the drugs talking. so to finish off, and to pre-empt all those haters that are gonna say "you think it all sounds the same since you don't know how to appreciate it" fuck off. if you knew me you would know not to say that to me.
my opinion of modern mainstream electronic music.
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| Originally posted by monkchichi and this is why I choose to maintain a safe distance from standard EDM. as technology increases the rate of information transfer, everything starts to bleed together. not that everything sounds the "same". just that once a track is released, it can be reproduced instantaneously rather than having to wait for the vinyl. e.g. everyone starts playing the same shit cause it's "popular" at the time. I stopped listening to prog, house, trance, etc. cause every DJ just essentially played same tunes in a given year. just a different remix. I mean how many Delerium - Silence remixes came out? Innocente? Iio - Rapture? I mean remixes are unique in their own right but for real. I'm tired of the same shit day in and day out. these days most DJs are so fucking lazy they are just broadcasting someone else's music and not even working the wax so to speak. even for those that produce, it all just sounds the same. the same sounds effects and samples manipulated slightly different so you think that it's a new song. oh wait, that's the drugs talking. so to finish off, and to pre-empt all those haters that are gonna say "you think it all sounds the same since you don't know how to appreciate it" fuck off. if you knew me you would know not to say that to me. my opinion of modern mainstream electronic music. |
As a blanket statement, I feel most trance/house DJs, amateur and professional, are too obsessive about exclusive tracks. Everyone is always trying to beat each other out for the freshest, newest track. To me that's only half of what a good DJ is about. Personally, I would be more impressed with a DJ taking an old track and putting a new spin on it. Do something more than beatmatching the track because that's just the basics. A DJ shouldn't even be playing in public if they can't beatmatch. Many DJs (even superstar ones) end their practice there and sadly the impressionable bedroom DJs are thinking that's all you need. Newflash: there is no artistry in beatmatching. There's why I'm glad there are DJs like Phil K, Zabiela, Jonathan Lisle, Richie Hawtin and even Sasha, in some respects, that strive for something more than human jukeboxes.
So in response to the blogger, people don't need new technology like Ableton Live to give their sound uniqueness. People need to think more outside the box and be more creative.
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| Originally posted by Scottaculous As a blanket statement, I feel most trance/house DJs, amateur and professional, are too obsessive about exclusive tracks. Everyone is always trying to beat each other out for the freshest, newest track. To me that's only half of what a good DJ is about. Personally, I would be more impressed with a DJ taking an old track and putting a new spin on it. Do something more than beatmatching the track because that's just the basics. A DJ shouldn't even be playing in public if they can't beatmatch. Many DJs (even superstar ones) end their practice there and sadly the impressionable bedroom DJs are thinking that's all you need. Newflash: there is no artistry in beatmatching. There's why I'm glad there are DJs like Phil K, Zabiela, Jonathan Lisle, Richie Hawtin and even Sasha, in some respects, that strive for something more than human jukeboxes. So in response to the blogger, people don't need new technology like Ableton Live to give their sound uniqueness. People need to think more outside the box and be more creative. |
just FYI:
bith = Chris Meadows
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| Originally posted by Pete K I think whoever wrote that needs to realize that it's just music. Go with the flow. Music is ever changing, that is the only thing constant about music is change. I personally don't see a blur with big names and people like myself. The big names will still get the CD-R's of unreleased tunes before any of us. |
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| Originally posted by Scottaculous There's why I'm glad there are DJs like Phil K, Zabiela, Jonathan Lisle, Richie Hawtin and even Sasha, in some respects, that strive for something more than human jukeboxes. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Pete K I think whoever wrote that needs to realize that it's just music. Go with the flow. Music is ever changing, that is the only thing constant about music is change. I personally don't see a blur with big names and people like myself. The big names will still get the CD-R's of unreleased tunes before any of us. |
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| Originally posted by monkchichi everyone starts playing the same shit cause it's "popular" at the time. I stopped listening to prog, house, trance, etc. cause every DJ just essentially played same tunes in a given year. just a different remix. I mean how many Delerium - Silence remixes came out? Innocente? Iio - Rapture? I mean remixes are unique in their own right but for real. I'm tired of the same shit day in and day out. these days most DJs are so fucking lazy they are just broadcasting someone else's music and not even working the wax so to speak. even for those that produce, it all just sounds the same. |
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| Originally posted by Xyzpdq0121 So you do not like the music that is out right now in the EDM world, find some lesser known DJ who is creating new stuff. Most of my music collection is DJs that no one has heard of... Keeps things from getting too old, listening to the same Digweed sets for weeks on end! |
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| Originally posted by Scottaculous So in response to the blogger, people don't need new technology like Ableton Live to give their sound uniqueness. People need to think more outside the box and be more creative. |
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| Originally posted by KristineClub On the topic, I totally embrace new technology but at the same time, I'm still nostalgic. I don't think just some kid with a laptop should be playing in big clubs even if he does have lots of talent. A DJ who doesn't know how to work a turntable is not a DJ IMO. When I see guys using only CDs or laptops, I assume a large percentage of the music they play has been downloaded for free without their ass leaving their seat. There is something about finding unique records that nobody else has, new or old. |
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| Originally posted by monkchichi I stopped listening to prog, house, trance, etc. cause every DJ just essentially played same tunes in a given year. just a different remix. I mean how many Delerium - Silence remixes came out? Innocente? Iio - Rapture? |
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| Originally posted by bith I do not play stuff because it is popular. I play tracks as I discover them, no matter how old they are. |
Tis a glorious time to be in love with music.
Never before has such a quantity and quality been available to mankind as now.
I enjoy alot of the stuff people are doing with their computers right now, even the older computer stuff I've been finding lately has been great fun. I am just thrilled that there is so much of it available for free download, legally! There is so much friggin stuff out there, that no single person has any hope of hearing it all, there is always more to find, every time I go looking I stumble upon something I like that I had never even heard of before.
I like digital because there are no decent record stores around me, I feel like I can finally participate in this scene in spite of the region that I live in. There is so much great stuff floating around cyberspace, it is rediculous. I couldn't care less what a DJ does to make the sounds in a club.
The club industry seems to be suffering, the music industry seems to be falling apart, but I dont give a fuck about these industries, the music itself is really good right now. The clubs are sucking quite badly though, with their fashion and their prices, going out seems to be all about looking pretty and standing in line for the drink special these days, like nobody shows up for music anymore. I'm ok with this though, I have plenty of music and plenty of firends to enjoy it with, I dont need to go to a club, any sort of gethering around loud music and people will satisfy me.
Say what you will about ableton, about digital media, and any of that, but these kids on their computers are doing incredible things. I still like vinyl sets too but I dont demand to see it when I go to a party. The only rule of music is that I must be astonished.
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| Originally posted by Zombie0915 Tis a glorious time to be in love with music. Never before has such a quantity and quality been available to mankind as now. I enjoy alot of the stuff people are doing with their computers right now, even the older computer stuff I've been finding lately has been great fun. I am just thrilled that there is so much of it available for free download, legally! There is so much friggin stuff out there, that no single person has any hope of hearing it all, there is always more to find, every time I go looking I stumble upon something I like that I had never even heard of before. I like digital because there are no decent record stores around me, I feel like I can finally participate in this scene in spite of the region that I live in. There is so much great stuff floating around cyberspace, it is rediculous. I couldn't care less what a DJ does to make the sounds in a club. The club industry seems to be suffering, the music industry seems to be falling apart, but I dont give a fuck about these industries, the music itself is really good right now. The clubs are sucking quite badly though, with their fashion and their prices, going out seems to be all about looking pretty and standing in line for the drink special these days, like nobody shows up for music anymore. I'm ok with this though, I have plenty of music and plenty of firends to enjoy it with, I dont need to go to a club, any sort of gethering around loud music and people will satisfy me. Say what you will about ableton, about digital media, and any of that, but these kids on their computers are doing incredible things. I still like vinyl sets too but I dont demand to see it when I go to a party. The only rule of music is that I must be astonished. |
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| Originally posted by KristineClub On the topic, I totally embrace new technology but at the same time, I'm still nostalgic. I don't think just some kid with a laptop should be playing in big clubs even if he does have lots of talent. A DJ who doesn't know how to work a turntable is not a DJ IMO. When I see guys using only CDs or laptops, I assume a large percentage of the music they play has been downloaded for free without their ass leaving their seat. There is something about finding unique records that nobody else has, new or old. I have lots more to say about this but I'm feeling lazy today. |
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| Originally posted by Scottaculous You say you embrace new technology yet none of the new technology seems to have any form of credit in your eyes. |
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| Originally posted by Scottaculous Last time I checked, talent resides within the person, not the medium the person uses. |
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| Originally posted by Scottaculous I think some vinyl DJs feel threatened, not by CD players and laptops, but by their own personal inadequacies. They are always quick to jump at the chance to discredit the legitimacy of CDJs and laptops with subjective reasons like nostalgia or "it feels better" or piracy. |
yikes, this argument sounds so much like an older one within the computer industry, when the machintosh came out and then when windows followed, the existing command line experts argued much the same thing, that these new GUI monkeys were useless because they didn't learn to manupilate a command line. Now everybody uses win and mac and the command line kids are all but extinct. It is the same logic, a new technology comes out that no longer requires that the users learn something, it enables them to learn other neat things instead, but the people who learned the old skill disrespect the new talent because they didn't learn that old skill that wasn't relevent to them, and nothing new that these new people learned to replace that old skill could earn their blessing.
That stuff doesn't happen anymore, a kid working a GUI productively gets just as much appreciation as a command line ninja.
We could find another parallel that is kinda funny. Way back in the day, in the time of Jesus, they began spreading the gospel to gentiles, people who weren't Jews. The Jews who converted to Christ did not respect the gentile christians because they were uncircumcised, because they ate pork, because they didn't follow the old testament laws. Christ comes along and forgives everybody, and the old Jews don't like the gentiles because they had to work hard to follow the old testament law but now all they needed to do was accept Jesus. They didn't need to be circumsized, didn't need to memorize scripture and have a bar mitsfah, didn't need to follow the diet rules, and people were excluding gentiles from the church because of this. Now you can't find many christians anywhere that aren't gentiles, you don't walk into a church and find anybody enforcing the Jewish diet or requiring circumcision. People think that things like diet and circumsision are petty issues that are not worth arguing over.
Are you really gonna refuse to give your blessing to anyone who uses a different form of music performance just because they aren't curcumcized, because they don't know the command line, because they don't know how to beatmatch turntables? I think that a computer DJ can be talented, his talents might not be in tactile manipulation of a turntable, which is a sexy skill to have, but they are in manipulating symbols in insanely complex ways which can be equally sexy if you would only give it a chance.
That said some people are using their computers as an excuse not to have any talent, but it is unfair to judge everybody in this way.
No, I hear you man and I agree with you. Like the thread-starter said though, if someone uses Ableton to mix, they better blow the fucking roof off.
Speaking of turntables and computers and how sexy they can be, I know of a man who has mastered both, making him extra SEXY...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY CHRIS MEADOWS!!! 
AH! That picture is everywhere!
But I love it just the same 
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| Originally posted by Zombie0915 yikes, this argument sounds so much like an older one within the computer industry, when the machintosh came out and then when windows followed, the existing command line experts argued much the same thing, that these new GUI monkeys were useless because they didn't learn to manupilate a command line. Now everybody uses win and mac and the command line kids are all but extinct. It is the same logic, a new technology comes out that no longer requires that the users learn something, it enables them to learn other neat things instead, but the people who learned the old skill disrespect the new talent because they didn't learn that old skill that wasn't relevent to them, and nothing new that these new people learned to replace that old skill could earn their blessing. That stuff doesn't happen anymore, a kid working a GUI productively gets just as much appreciation as a command line ninja. We could find another parallel that is kinda funny. Way back in the day, in the time of Jesus, they began spreading the gospel to gentiles, people who weren't Jews. The Jews who converted to Christ did not respect the gentile christians because they were uncircumcised, because they ate pork, because they didn't follow the old testament laws. Christ comes along and forgives everybody, and the old Jews don't like the gentiles because they had to work hard to follow the old testament law but now all they needed to do was accept Jesus. They didn't need to be circumsized, didn't need to memorize scripture and have a bar mitsfah, didn't need to follow the diet rules, and people were excluding gentiles from the church because of this. Now you can't find many christians anywhere that aren't gentiles, you don't walk into a church and find anybody enforcing the Jewish diet or requiring circumcision. People think that things like diet and circumsision are petty issues that are not worth arguing over. Are you really gonna refuse to give your blessing to anyone who uses a different form of music performance just because they aren't curcumcized, because they don't know the command line, because they don't know how to beatmatch turntables? I think that a computer DJ can be talented, his talents might not be in tactile manipulation of a turntable, which is a sexy skill to have, but they are in manipulating symbols in insanely complex ways which can be equally sexy if you would only give it a chance. That said some people are using their computers as an excuse not to have any talent, but it is unfair to judge everybody in this way. |
I like the idea that something will come up in the future that all sides will be happy with.
Personally, I hate how most DJ's are all about the new tracks. They are worse than middle school girls about that. "Oh, that track is SOOO last week..." Once they hear it in a club, or on radio broadcast or even their friend plays it, the track they loved a week ago somehow loses its sparkle. People have turned it into a competition, and get lost in the battle for Top Dog when they've forgotten that its about the music, a feel-good thing!
Scott made a good point about how bringing an old track back in a mix is awesome thing. I totally agree.
New music is very cool indeed. I think people get obsessed about it and lose sight of the greater goal.
Now I am still pretty much a n00b when it comes to DJing, I have only been mixing for a year but this is what I have seen near and far.
As far as technology, our world will always be replacing it and things become obsolete given enough time. I love spinning vinyl because that's what I learned on and that's what I am most comfortable with and best at. But if I'm in a club, I don't care if he's mixing from a PDA as long as his sound is good. I'm not really critical at all about big-name DJ's messing up a mix either, we're all humans, we mess up sometimes. I feel bad for the person who ends up not have a good time because they are over-anaylzing a DJ's performance, like an olympics judge. 6.8!
For those of us who still pursue vinyl you must realize that we are a dying breed. It's cool finding new stuff on mp3 but it's also cool finding new stuff on white label. Problem is (for me at least) there's not a record store out here in the cornfields of SC so I have to order things, one of the coolest things about vinyl is going to the record store for 6 hours crate-digging to end up blowing your entire paycheck! Good times.
Oh the pain of living in the bible belt! I am near a store that does hip hop and some DnB, three hours driving from another hiphop/DnB/Breaks shop that has a trance/house/prog corner that has a small and random selection, and that is all that we get.
I like the internet because it makes me feel like I can enjoy music without having to put up with the "industry" of music. Being far away from record stores and clubs is much less of an issue when you are online, and you can more easily isolate the sound from the marketing.
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| Originally posted by Zombie0915 I like the internet because it makes me feel like I can enjoy music without having to put up with the "industry" of music. Being far away from record stores and clubs is much less of an issue when you are online, and you can more easily isolate the sound from the marketing. |
that is interesting
what stuff have you enjoyed the most when you listen to music in this way?
And how do you go about gathering music without first figuring out artist and title?
What I used to do, was get on the tracklisting forums and p2p every tune mentioned that I could find. Just go through the top10 lists and the setlists and stuff then weed out annoying stuff. I can't do that anymore though, p2p is too hard, and I dont have a giant hard drive that I can use to trade stuff. What I have to do these days is listen to livesets and stuff like digitally imported, and pick out the stuff that stands out the most, but gathering tunes this way takes much longer.
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