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| quote: | Originally posted by stevėsto
Another reason is because this music is hard to work with. Think about it: you could play some popular mainstream dance classics that all you have to do is hit play on the cd player and even your grandma will get up and dance, like "baby got back" or "groove is in the heart" etc. On the opposite end of the spectrum, very long repetitive trancey tracks ... do not work on their own, at 0+ pitch. The artsier and trancier, the more talented the DJ needs to be to make it work. That's exactly the problem, you have a million djs that are not talented enough to play the music they are playing. |
I'll concede, as a producer, that I ought to make it a "DJ friendly" tune, hence I show up at TA and attempt to interact with DJ's. I take issue, however, with the fact that because music is hard and unwieldy, particularly in the hands of an amateur musician, such as a DJ, that it shouldn't be complex.
Now, I realize that not every DJ is an amateur, and in general, most of the DJ's I've heard have a great deal of my respect. My problem, in a way, is that you're right. There are a lot of DJ's who simply don't know much about music. For a while, in the late nineties, it seemed like turn-tables were the answer to 1950's bongo drum ubiquity. I have had the misfortune of knowing one person who saw turn-tables as his ticket to self-aggrandizement.
My point is that being a DJ is something of a powerful position, and as such, it ought to be one which has some test to it, other than simple beat-matching. I've heard DJ's with an affinity of complex tunes just role them, back to back, as soon as a majority of the melodies had subsided. There was no grace given to harmonic cross-pollination. I've also heard them steam-roll over a track's integrity without any regard for the producer's intent, in order to mix into the next track.
Now, I realize, as a producer, that I lose my license to complain about how much butchery goes on behind the decks. I'm not taking on producer rights, here. I am referring to, however, an over-all lack of musicianship that seems lack-lustre with regard to what the music could actually be, were it in the hands of qualified individuals.
My argument is that a DJ, like any other musical artist, ought to be a musician, first, and a DJ second. They ought to be able to fathom cross-fades in and out of complex tunes and be able to work them into a set that isn't simply mindlessly bopping from one track to another.
Is it a lot to ask of anyone? Surely. Metropolitan orchestras, however, don't just let someone who's been playing the violin for less than five years into their ensemble. Why should a DJ be subject to any less scrutiny?
The answer to that question is because, currently, it's easier and people will fork over a lot of money to dance, mingle, look for anonymous hook-ups, get into fights, take too much MDMA, etc. etc. Unfortunately, it is that sort of attitude - that DJ's are a dime a dozen and that people will fork over gobs of cash for simpleton dalliance - that causes a lot of people not to respect the music, or worse, think of it as simple button pushing.
I'm not that militant about my point of view, but I feel that it is the ideal one. I am dubious about it being fully realized.
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