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Cutting songs out of other mixes?

What do you think about cutting songs out of other peoples mixes to use in your own mixes?

I don't know much about djing, but my friend is trying this and I tried to tell him it won't work because you wont have the breakdown in the song cause the dj will of already started mixing the next song when it comes.. but for rare songs you can't find anywhere else is this ok?

I you have to resort to that, you're probably a pretty poor excuse for a DJ yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian I you have to resort to that, you're probably a pretty poor excuse for a DJ yourself.

+1

cutting songs from live sets to use in your own = bad
cutting songs from live sets to use as ring tones = Ok i guess

but yeah, you are right, another reason for not doing that is because you dont have a clean start or end to a track, even if you did, you could probably only mix in a bit of the track for a very short time, before the original transition just decides to make itself evident.

On the other hand if the track is, say, really rare like one of Oakie's whitelabels from way back when, I don't see a problem with chopping a section out to use in a mix, just as long as you mix out before the next track starts mixing in.

No, it's still stupid.

Being a DJ isn't about mixing tracks together. Anyone can learn to do that. Good DJs are judged by their abilities to search for music, have access to rare tracks, or spend hours browsing through catalogs full of crap only to find one good tune.

If you're cutting out someone else's find, you're not only undermining all the dedication they might've put in looking for it, but you're showing that you don't have what it takes to be a good DJ, and that you have to copy off others.

thats also considered stealing music...so its illegal

however if you cut it out so you can listen to it in the car or wherever...thats ok

but yeah, i spend hours a day looking online for records and new tracks and it sucks when another guy just steals or copies what I looked so long for but, on the other hand, its part of life. People always choose the easy way out. Also i don't understand why would you ask this question (i say it in a non-rude fashion with no intention to offend)? there are no rules to mixing except you can't mix tracks you stole because its illegal...its how your mix sounds that matters...

Isn't finally finding that one Uber track the whole fun in DJ'ing?

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian No, it's still stupid. Being a DJ isn't about mixing tracks together. Anyone can learn to do that. Good DJs are judged by their abilities to search for music, have access to rare tracks, or spend hours browsing through catalogs full of crap only to find one good tune. If you're cutting out someone else's find, you're not only undermining all the dedication they might've put in looking for it, but you're showing that you don't have what it takes to be a good DJ, and that you have to copy off others.

+ it shows laziness IMO

Keep in mind he's not trying to release his mix.. He just wants to use the song for parties etc.

quote:

Originally posted by mysticalninja Keep in mind he's not trying to release his mix.. He just wants to use the song for parties etc.

Exactly, if you're just playing a house party or bedroom djing, I don't see the big deal. If you're playing a club gig, that's another story of course.

i think cutting up previously recorded mixes takes the fun out of the search for tracks...im sure there are a lot of people on here who search months, even years for certain releases...and once you find it...its almost orgasmic...i suppose...o_O

bah, you guys are taking this wayyyy to seriously.

if he is willing to cut it out of a set, because he can't buy it, he'd be willing to download it as well. and since downloading is a LOT easier than making a proper cut, this would tell us that the track is neither for sale, or for download.

so, he can't get it, either way. WHATS SO BAD about cutting it?

if you're going to cut it, it should be a bit more work than just cutting and pasting from soundforge. to make this work right, you should do a full reconstruction. this means, taking the whole thing, you know, the 'meat' of the track, and then deleting the bits where it is mixed. then, with some smart editting, cutting, chopping and looping, you should find the more empty beats and other elements, and structure your edit to have a bit of an intro section. in other words, you have to re-edit the thing as best you can to make it sound as close to a full track as you can for mixing purposes. get this right, and it's the next best thing.

i have a friend who has done this for a few tracks he will not get in any way for a long time. he's done it for unreleased material/whitelabels, and basically now has tracks that are unique (due to his editing) and no one else has.

also, to my knowledge, this is not 'stealing music' per se, as you are editing yourself. this is as illegal as playing your own re-edit of a track. it would be illegal to sell/release without a license, but not to play out.

Re: Cutting songs out of other mixes?

quote:

Originally posted by mysticalninja it won't work because you wont have the breakdown in the song cause the dj will of already started mixing the next song when it comes

do you have any idea what you're talking about? (rhetorical question)

I don't give a shit as long as what hits my ears sounds good.

I may do it if necessary, probably wouldn't as I don't have many livesets in the first place.. but I'd definetely edit it before I played it.

have you thought of the increase/decrease of tempo that's in the intro/middle/outro of the cut track...

quote:

Originally posted by Allied Nations I don't give a shit as long as what hits my ears sounds good.

+ ONE F***ING MILLION


I think too many people forget thats the most important thing.

What's the big deal.

Just so you know, the majority of name DJs will actually chop the tracks of the moment around anyway to get a version that suits their style of DJing better, i.e. for artistic purposes. It's not much different. I also do this as lets face it, if you can give the crowd something extra and just give them the unexpected then that is a good thing.

If he was doing this because he is too lazy to go out and buy music then the only issue would be in the end that he will be limited to what he can do in his mixes because of having weird edits in his collection.

If I remember correctly even Tiesto played a track from a compilation on his first DVD that he couldn't get hold of. He was number one in the world at that time and still couldn't get the track so... ey... if it works for him then what's to stop the rest of us?

Something to remember gentlemen is that with DJing, especially now, there is no rule book anymore. It's gone. Digital has broken the cast and we are now entering uncharted territory.
You might as well embrace it or you are going to drive yourself insane.

Cheers
Nem

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian Good DJs are judged by their abilities to search for music, have access to rare tracks bla bla bla

What?


So if I go out and find a really rare obscure tune that no one else has played yet, that makes me a good DJ?


Nah.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian No, it's still stupid. Being a DJ isn't about mixing tracks together. Anyone can learn to do that. Good DJs are judged by their abilities to search for music, have access to rare tracks, or spend hours browsing through catalogs full of crap only to find one good tune.

which is why most of the known trance djs are shit. all they play are each others tunes.

quote:

Originally posted by Rebel Brown What? So if I go out and find a really rare obscure tune that no one else has played yet, that makes me a good DJ? Nah.

rofl@blablabla yeah i thought that was complete BS too

quote:

Originally posted by Rebel Brown What? So if I go out and find a really rare obscure tune that no one else has played yet, that makes me a good DJ? Nah.

If it's very good, then yes. What's the point of DJing if this isn't it? Mixing records? Anyone can do that. Heck - computer programs can do that.

Cutting out a track out of another DJ's set is no different than copying an article and claiming to have written it. It's plagirism. If you want the track, find a way to track it down, because as a DJ, it's your job. If you're too lazy to do that, you shouldn't claim to be a DJ in the first place.

For those of you who say there's nothing wrong with it;

If a DJ gets booked for a paid gig and just plays a really good set by another DJ that he found on the internet, is that wrong? If so, what's the difference, not considering the mixing?

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian What's the point of DJing if this isn't it? Mixing records?

Yes, actually.

quote:

Originally posted by Aquarian For those of you who say there's nothing wrong with it; If a DJ gets booked for a paid gig and just plays a really good set by another DJ that he found on the internet, is that wrong? If so, what's the difference, not considering the mixing?

Yeah there's a truck load of difference.
If you are playing another DJs set then you are a cheap skate and also ripping the crowd off.

But if it's the question of one track that you could not get in any other way, and you felt you just had to play it then that's ok in my book.

The crowd are not judging you on how much time and money you spent getting your music, if you have the original or not or even if you downloaded the whole lot.
The crowd want to hear good music, and you as a DJ have to mix it and make sure you drop it at the right time in the night.

You are only taking one track, but you are breaking copyright laws if you don't play it from the orignal source (presumably CD).

Besides, what's to stop you duplicating a DJs set with orignals... just as bad in my book.

If you do mix from a compilation, if you catch the mix in the right place you can get some cool results and some very fat sounds if done correctly.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of mixing from complilations and wouldn't generally recomend this, but I do accept that if there is a track that must be played then do it.

Cheers
Nem

I've done it twice I think, but only with tracks that were/are never going to be released, which I then didn't chart or include in a demo (cos that would be a bit daft), just to play out a couple of times. Both times I made an intro and outro from parts of the track to make an easier to mix version.

I don't think there's anything really wrong with doing it every now and again for unreleased stuff (although it is a bit cheeky) unless you do it all of the time - what is particularly cheeky/daft is doing it for tracks that have been released as you might as well either buy it (which would of course be the right thing to do) or if you must, download a full version with p2p cos it's just as legal.

Remember eBay's bloody good for getting hold of old tracks - for an example, I just searched for the armand van helden mix of professional widow (a track I remember having loads of trouble getting hold of a few years ago when I used to get everything through record shops) and it came up with a dozen results on vinyl... that's just in the UK, you fellas across the pond would probably get loads more than that. Try it with some more obscure stuff yourself

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