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I used to like Oakenfold a lot but his skills and sound are outdated now in my opinion.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.

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Helping girls make bad decisions since 1979

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

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NEW MIX [Feb/March 2008]

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!

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

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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.

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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.

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NEW MIX [Feb/March 2008]

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...

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3. John Digweed at Eventshall 30/04/2005

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