Okay, so sometimes the real thing is better than digital. I work in a photolab. People rave about the digtal cameras and I wince. I have never seen a digital camera take a picture that has the same quality as film. I would much rather see a puppet creation of the Jim Hanson studio over any character created on some computer somewhere. The former always seems so much more real. But I am still a child of this so called "digital age". I do all of my production on my home computer. I like having my sequencer, snyths, and mixer all in one convient little box. I like my graphic interface that shows me everything all at once whenever I want to see it.

Truth of it is, as a person who is just beginning to produce my own music I don't care if my music is ever put out on vinyl or CD. All I care about is that people like it, and want to listen to it. That's all that any artist really wants.

quote:

Originally posted by BBC News Digital CD decks challenge vinyl Erick Morillo is a keen supporter of the new equipment The success of a digital system that allows CDs to be scratched and mixed in the same way as 12-inch records could mean the death end of DJs using vinyl, a top DJ and record producer has said. The system, called the CDJ-1000 and produced by technology company Pioneer, has been designed to replicate as much as possible a traditional vinyl deck, but taking advantage of modern digital technology. The decks, which have already won a number of awards, have been given great approval by Erick Morillo, boss of Subliminal records and one of the most influential DJs in the world. "I'm letting technology take over," Mr Morillo told BBC World Service's The Music Biz programme. "With the introduction of the CDJ-1000 I feel like there's a whole new way of DJing these days." Live remixing The key to the system - which resembles a small version of a vinyl deck - is a grooved, touch-sensitive jog wheel, which allows records to be stopped and scratched at any time. Until now, the inability to do this was one of the key reasons DJs had shunned performing with CD decks. Deck has a memory card that recalls edit points for tracks Additionally, the system has an internal memory that can remember cue and loop points, and allows tracks to be remixed live. "When I'm DJing with vinyl, I'm bored now," Mr Morillo said. "With CDJs you can loop the records at whatever point you want. "I take my filters and I'm remixing records on the fly." Pioneer say that they developed the system with DJs to try and tackle the problems encountered when using traditional CD players. "What we did here was look at all the objections that DJs had against using our existing range of DJ CD players, and basically overcome them," Pioneer spokesman Martin Docherty told The Music Biz. "That's why this product has been so successful, and it's now the industry standard across the world." Abandoning vinyl The system also has a memory card that recalls edit points for tracks, meaning that a DJ can travel with only the card and their CDs. The card is inserted into another CDJ-1000 deck and the player will recognise all cue and loop points. "Many DJs are still using vinyl, but they're now using vinyl alongside CD, simply because of the extra performance value," Mr Doherty added. The specialists will argue there's a certain sound you're missing, and absolutely, they're right Erick Morillo "DJing is becoming very competitive, and DJs are now looking for alternative pieces of hardware to enhance their set and give them the edge over the competition." Mr Morillo confirmed that he and his record label were abandoning vinyl in favour of the new technology. "It's funny because I was a spokesman for vinyl. About two years ago I said vinyl will never go away, vinyl this, vinyl that," he said. "But [the decks] really do feel like vinyl, and you can put as big a show with the CDJ-1000 as you can do with turntables. "So now, I'll probably be the person that is going to spearhead this whole changeover to CDs and being a vinyl label, it's kind of weird to hear me say that. "With each vinyl release, we're going to include a CD with all the mixes as well, because that's where it's going." Mr Morillo conceded that the complaint most often levelled against CDs by vinyl enthusiasts - that the sound is too clinical and lacks warmth - remained true. "The specialists will argue there's a certain sound you're missing, and absolutely, they're right," he noted. "But the convenience far outweighs the little sound that you may be missing."

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Click: Corderoy - Sweetest Dreams or or or

1. Buy two discmans and pull the lids off.
2. Buy the cheapest mixer you can find.
3. Design and build variable 16 MHz oscillator, to over/underclock the discmans. This is your pitch control.
4. Mix until thoroughly addicted and you need to upgrade

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I am artificially intelligent.

quote:

Originally posted by nebbian 1. Buy two discmans and pull the lids off. 2. Buy the cheapest mixer you can find. 3. Design and build variable 16 MHz oscillator, to over/underclock the discmans. This is your pitch control. 4. Mix until thoroughly addicted and you need to upgrade

omg if thats not a ghetto blaster they dont exsist

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quote:

Originally posted by nebbian 1. Buy two discmans and pull the lids off. 2. Buy the cheapest mixer you can find. 3. Design and build variable 16 MHz oscillator, to over/underclock the discmans. This is your pitch control. 4. Mix until thoroughly addicted and you need to upgrade

I hereby proclaim you the Greatest Genius in the World. I am NOT kidding!!! That is *such* a cool setup!! Just shows how much passion you have for spinning -- "Can't afford decks? I don't need decks -- I BUILD decks."



EDIT: I also see you like Goa. Haha even better!

For everyone reading this thread and considering CD's vs. vinyl, and you spin psytrance/goa, it is much better to spin with CD's because most good psy releases are on CD's. Also it is much harder to find quality tracks on vinyl (will cost you a fortune looking for hard-to-find, out of print goa gems). Furthermore, goa dj's tend to spin in absurd locations like forests so it's not the best thing to carry around an immensely heavy crate or bag of vinyl.

Just my $0.02!

quote:

That is *such* a cool setup!! Just shows how much passion you have for spinning -- "Can't afford decks? I don't need decks -- I BUILD decks."

Cheers man!

Yeah I have to admit I didn't like the vibe of some of the posts here, they seem to think that DJ'ing is all about the image you present, so you have to spin vinyl and buy the most expensive gear possible 'cos that's what the "pro's" do. Well, it might be what some people do but really for me it's all about the music. CD's let me get into DJ'ing, and let me go spastic with the electronics (which I LOVE) so it's all good. Vinyl just doesn't have the capacity to muck around with, besides you can't spin all your old favourites.

You're into goa as well? Man it rules hey! If you haven't come across some CD's by Raja Ram entitled "Raja Ram's Stash Bag" (volumes 1 and 2) then GET THEM! They are 10/10, no, more like 11/10. Volume 1 got me hooked on Goa, and Volume 2 arrived a couple of weeks ago, and it's redefined the meaning of 'farkin awesome'!
http://goatrance.free.fr/reviews/rajarams.htm
http://goatrance.free.fr/reviews/CHI00121.htm
What's your favourite Goa artists? here's a quick list of some of mine: GMS, Zorba, Asterix, 1200 micrograms. I'm looking for new stuff, so let me know OK???

I suppose I'd better get this back on topic and say CD decks let you do some really funky stuff, my favourite trick at the moment is to get the FX unit to delay the sound by 4 beats, then loop the output back to the input so it echoes once every 4 beats. Now as the track gets towards the big "Whoosh" that means it's about to go into the chorus, slowly fade the FX unit in so that it's doing all the sound, and the CD deck isn't going through to the speakers. Right as the chorus comes in, hit "Pause" on the CD deck. The sound still goes out to the speakers, as it's coming from the FX unit. Now put more and more 'jet' into the FX, so the sound goes from looping bass to big bad-ass white noise, and at the critical point turn the FX unit off as you hit "Play" on the CD deck!! Try doing that on vinyl without smearing the sound all over the place :-)

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I am artificially intelligent.

quote:

Originally posted by nebbian Yeah I have to admit I didn't like the vibe of some of the posts here, they seem to think that DJ'ing is all about the image you present, so you have to spin vinyl and buy the most expensive gear possible 'cos that's what the "pro's" do. Well, it might be what some people do but really for me it's all about the music. CD's let me get into DJ'ing, and let me go spastic with the electronics (which I LOVE) so it's all good. Vinyl just doesn't have the capacity to muck around with, besides you can't spin all your old favourites.

How about scratching? j/k

I see what you are saying; however, when spinning with vinyl, there is a great joy associated with it. I don't know exactly what it is, but it seems to be a mix of the "novelty" of records coupled with the smell, the feel, the sense of control over the record, etc.

As far as Trance (i.e. uplifting, hard, etc. -- anything but psy) is concerned, I would say vinyl is preferrable due to a better selection. However, psy is the complete opposite. Because of that I'm building on my CD collection now on top of vinyl. It's not an issue of one being "better" than the other; the main issue is spinning music. With goa/psy, it is easier to spin what you want with CD's. (Since I already have a vinyl collection though, there is no point in ditching all of it -- I might as well go with both)

Definitely agree with the image thing. It's unfortunate that CDJ's are frowned upon, HOWEVER that is not always the case. *Especially* with psytrance, there is no problem whatsoever. A whole bunch of psy dj's are CDJ's!

quote:

You're into goa as well? Man it rules hey! If you haven't come across some CD's by Raja Ram entitled "Raja Ram's Stash Bag" (volumes 1 and 2) then GET THEM! They are 10/10, no, more like 11/10. Volume 1 got me hooked on Goa, and Volume 2 arrived a couple of weeks ago, and it's redefined the meaning of 'farkin awesome'! http://goatrance.free.fr/reviews/rajarams.htm http://goatrance.free.fr/reviews/CHI00121.htm What's your favourite Goa artists? here's a quick list of some of mine: GMS, Zorba, Asterix, 1200 micrograms. I'm looking for new stuff, so let me know OK???

Yeah I'm a big goahead now. Actually I was really looking into getting Raja Ram's Stash #2 but at the time it was sold out, so I ventured into other albums. Looking back at the tracklist, though, I have (or am in the process of acquiring) most of the interesting tracks there, so I don't know if I'm going to get Raja's stash 2; ditto with the first.

I'm more into the old-school goa stuff, or rather that AND anything new that is in that spirit, melodic, etc. Not a big fan of the minimalistic psytechno and progressive psy.

Fav. artists include: Pleiadians, Etnica, Infected Mushroom, Juno Reactor, Dark Soho, 1200 mics, Electric Universe, Space Tribe, ...

I recommend these oldies but goodies if you don't already have them (they're all albums):

Pleiadians - Identified Flying Object
Hallucinogen - Twisted
Total Eclipse - Violent Relaxation
Ominus - Progressive Trance (<- not prog by a long shot heh)

Some newer good ones:

V/A - Assassi-Nations (TIP World)
V/A - Inca-Nations (TIP World)
Space Tribe - Heartbeat
Electric Universe - Unify (<-- I really like this one)
Talamasca - Musica Divinorum


.
.
Can you say, hijacked thread?

quote:

How about scratching? j/k I see what you are saying; however, when spinning with vinyl, there is a great joy associated with it. I don't know exactly what it is, but it seems to be a mix of the "novelty" of records coupled with the smell, the feel, the sense of control over the record, etc.

I know what you mean -- at a couple of house parties the other DJ's there were spinning vinyl, and I had a couple of goes. I have to admit you do feel like you're more in touch with the raw music, it's a lot more sensual. A friend of mine describes the difference like this:
"CDJ's are like watching a porno and having a slap, vinyl is like the real thing." I wouldn't have put it quite so crudely but you get the idea. The other DJ's couldn't believe how similar the two experiences were when they had a go of my CD decks (decent ones, I've retired my ghetto setup), I'm not sure they'd come across pitch control on CD's before.

But hey CD's float my boat so it's what I'll stick to. I've got a record or two for that track that's only available on vinyl, but to tell the truth I'm used to CD's and feel more comfortable with them, without always worrying that I'm going to hit that damn tonearm again accidentally!!

Cheers for the CD suggestions -- I've got Assassi - nations already and LOVE "Zorba - the rush" on that one. It was my favourite track of all time until I got Zorba the album, the last track "Datora" is too good to be legal. Seriously! If that track doesn't get your dancefloor fluttering around like leaves in a breeze then I don't know what will

I just ordered your last three suggestions, so in a week or two I'll let you know what I think of them.

quote:

Can you say, hijacked thread?

Heh heh they're always the most interesting, aren't they?

Cheers matey

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I am artificially intelligent.

This has to be about the coolest setup that I have ever seen.

Although I am not a big fan of CDs I do use them when necessary (for my own tracks or something I have not managed to get on vinyl).

Some of the things I like about vinyl though are as mentioned before the warmth of the analog sound. Which is ironic as it's actually a recording of digital sound in the first place.
I also like the fact that you can 'read' a record, I find that although I may know a song well on CD it just doesn't feel as reasuring as it does when you look over at vinyl and see as well as hear where you are in the track.

Someone mentioned that you can't do as many tricks with records as you can with a CD. Well in my humble opinion I think they are wrong. I started out as a Hip Hop/Electro DJ in the mid 80's and have taken a lot of the skills learned with me (Although I must admit I don't scratch with trance as that would sound pants). I have some things like putting melodies and basslines from two different songs together (live remix if you will) and then mixing a third record in to the remaining bassline etc and CDs take to long to search and que for this purpose. When you place a CD in a turntable it doesn't become playable imeadiately it does some TOC reading first and that messes with the timing.

What I don't like about this thread is that some people are suggesting that CDJs are lesser DJs than vinyl DJs. The bottom line is that most people who come to a club want to hear good music and are really not too fussy about how it's delivered or even how well you mix. It's about picking the right tune at the right time plain and simple. Unless you are really big most people are not even there to see you (But it feels freaking amazing when they are!)
As for people talking about the lack of respect for people who have CDs and not having spent the time to track down tracks is utter cack! You might as well take it to the next level and complain about people having re-issues too.

I don't however think that CDs will take over from vinyl. For me and many others there is just a certain magic about it. Also with trance for something to come out on CD it has to be fairly big. Vinyl offers more choice.

Each to his/her own

Cheers
Nemesis44

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

quote:

Originally posted by nebbian Cheers man! Yeah I have to admit I didn't like the vibe of some of the posts here, they seem to think that DJ'ing is all about the image you present, so you have to spin vinyl and buy the most expensive gear possible 'cos that's what the "pro's" do. Well, it might be what some people do but really for me it's all about the music. CD's let me get into DJ'ing, and let me go spastic with the electronics (which I LOVE) so it's all good. Vinyl just doesn't have the capacity to muck around with, besides you can't spin all your old favourites.

This statement brings up a very good point. I think that there are three main reasons that people get into DJing.

First, people do it for the wrong reason of getting "popular". Fame, money, women, which ever. That is the worst reason ever.

The other two reasons are pretty good and show the dichotomy of why people get into DJing in the first place. These two main reasons are love of music, or the love of manipulating music through electronics.

Those who love the raw music, the trance and melodies them selves, and wish to bring it to anyone willing to listen, are those DJs like Oakenfold, Tiesto, PVD etc.

Then there are those that love taking great music and manipulating it such that it becomes their own. These are artists, rather, turntablists like QBert etc that manipulate vinyl like a musician rather than a DJ.

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When you dance, the DJ takes you on a journey, but he or she is usually not the focus of your experience at a club or festival or wherever you hear the music. Dancing is. Music is.

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Flesch This statement brings up a very good point. I think that there are three main reasons that people get into DJing. First, people do it for the wrong reason of getting "popular". Fame, money, women, which ever. That is the worst reason ever. The other two reasons are pretty good and show the dichotomy of why people get into DJing in the first place. These two main reasons are love of music, or the love of manipulating music through electronics. Those who love the raw music, the trance and melodies them selves, and wish to bring it to anyone willing to listen, are those DJs like Oakenfold, Tiesto, PVD etc. Then there are those that love taking great music and manipulating it such that it becomes their own. These are artists, rather, turntablists like QBert etc that manipulate vinyl like a musician rather than a DJ.

Spot on!
Love of music and seeing people react by dancing should be your motivation.

Cheers
Nemesis44

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

12" for life.