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Boring mixing (pg. 5)
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by the_gamemaster
But it means the DJ is not actually doing anything. It requires zero skill or experience. |
Ever use Ableton? |
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| Zild |
| You still have to mix regardless of whether the program holds the tracks in time for you, so saying it takes no skill or experience is not true. I've heard terrible mixes done with software. The tracks are severely out of key, the flow is all over the place and incoherent, the levels aren't solid but go up and down, etc... |
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| callme:gsmile: |
ableton wont cue for you
ableton wont phrase properly by itself
ableton won eq for you
ableton wont pick the tracks for you (and i say this as someone who doesnt give a about harmonic mixing)
beatmatching is less retarded than warping tracks (relax poindexters...for some of us its more effort to warp than not)
ableton can't read the dancefloor and adapt if the songs are failing
ableton won't do a fist pump to work up the minors wearing a tight skirt and making you want to break laws.
i dont use ableton even, but people need to realize:
end result > what some music geek who doesn't represent 2% of the paying clientele thinks is cheating or not.
Some of the guys who play cd's edit the pitch of tracks so they dont have to do anything...you know what it might be lazy...but its not cheating. Whats more important to you, effort or smiles on the dancefloor. Priority number one over anything else. Playing a pre made 5et is lame ;) People dancing is more important than pleasing the geeky guy who takes up prime real estate on the dancefloor because he wants to watch the dj twiddle some knobs.
Feet on the floor, back to the dj, tear some ass, and if your hands are in the air someone better have pulled a gun on you. Because thats way lamer than ableton...(well glow sticks beat it too.)
Geeks |
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| Az |
| quote: | Originally posted by the_gamemaster
But it means the DJ is not actually doing anything. It requires zero skill or experience. |
you ing retard :stongue: |
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| Alex |
| Wow game-master, never post here EVER again. |
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| Clovis |
| quote: | Originally posted by the_gamemaster
I DUNNO WHAT TEH IM TALKING ABOUT HEYOOOO!!!!!111 :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: |
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| Alex |
I am beginning to think that DJ'ing is solely based on ones ability to beatmatch.
Awful, awful Djs get away with murder at big gigs by playing truly heinous songs. What do they all have in common? The ability to beatmatch!!!
After all, so long as people don't hear the infamous "double kick drum" of bad beatmatching, they will continue to worship that DJ until he/she switches over to Ableton. EVEN IF that DJ performs live DVJ sets of Meatspin.com for 3 hours. |
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| nrjizer |
Different genres, individual styles, and even crowd energy are what dictate mixing style. I don't think any one "style" can be praised or dismissed, as each mix is inherently different and can only be judged individually and subjectively. You could grab a crate full of minimal techno and go nuts on 4 decks like Jeff Milligan, or you could simply work 2 decks with care and precision like Burridge or Howells tend to do--if you're a skillful DJ, you'll play a great set regardless.
Sometimes there's absolutely nothing wrong with a plain old two deck set. If you have time to kill before your next transition, why not spend it digging through your records for that perfect selection instead of just staring at the crowd? You can't automatically write off a DJ just because they have 5 or 6 minutes between their transitions (even if you ultimately can, more often than not).
Playing on 3 or 4 decks is fun, effects units are fun, layering tracks and sampling is fun... BUT if you start doing these things just for the sake of doing them, then your set ends up sounding no more interesting than some idiot with a crate full of trance sending texts between his off-key transitions. I would love to buy a load of minimal techno and just go nuts on all 4 of my decks, but my heart is just not with that genre. The type of music I play doesn't always lend itself to layering and mucking around. I add as much as I can, but I am careful to make it sound like it's part of the music, never forcing anything. Sometimes I'll cut and sample and work the EQs. Other times I'll be mixing carefully and smoothly. Sometimes that means I'll have a couple of minutes to just stand and wait... and that's just when I grab my CD wallet and start digging. |
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| callme:gsmile: |
| i like your post |
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| Breeze |
| boring mixing usually means boring tracks to me. |
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| Nemesis44 |
I have to admit that during the last three years I have yet to see an exciting laptop DJ that will justify the use of laptops for me. I haven't heard a mix by anyone that blew me away and truth be told I am unimpressed from the DJ stand point. And it's not like I spin with DJ Dodgy Dave Dinamite week in week out either.
Sadly for the laptop DJs the above comment is something that I have even heard voiced amongst clubbers in the UK.
That does not mean that I don't believe that these guys have skill, for the most part the people I have seen have been good DJs if not world class when they used CDs or Vinyl. And I can definately appreciate what they are doing from the musical sense in terms of their musical understanding and creativity. The problem is that I don't see it doing anything that just playing the original track would have done... sometimes people actually feel that they didn't like what the DJ did to the track no matter how clever.
That said, Ableton is awesome for doing re-edits and ading bits at home. Just because someone does a pre-rehearsed trick in a live set isn't enough to float my boat.
But you also have to look at it in the sense that a lot of the DJs who use Ableton were also pretty dull as regular DJs. That's more a personality issue and not the fault of the tools.
Ableton however does not do everything for you and most certainly requires skill and knowledge of music just as a regular DJ needs.
Djing is so much more than beat matching alone. But Ableton for me equals boring.
However, if a DJ enjoys using Ableton and does indeed rock the crowd then I don't see a problem with that, but I can't help but feel that a lot of young guys who have jumped straight into Laptop stuff have missed the fundamentals of being a DJ and this is to the detrament of the industry.
During the time that a traditional DJ practices his skills to be able to beat match he also unearths a greater knowledge of music in terms of tempo and track placement as he has less options to work with, not saying that a laptop DJ couldn't do this, but the whole MP3 thing has just made music so much more disposable.
Our whole relationship with music has changed and we are getting less attatched to the tracks that we play, this can also be said for CDs but the skill set is the same as a traditional DJ i.e. vinyl.
With regards to boring mixing, that has everything to do with the DJ and nothing to do with the tools that he is using. Just because you play tunes back to back doesn't mean the set you are playing is dull (Although I do consider this to be a pointless exercise with Ableton, overkill of capabilities if you see what I mean).
As stated earlier though, the ulitmate difference between a good and a bad DJ is that amount of feet on the dance floor and smiles on faces pure and simple, all the rest is secondary.
Cheers
Nem |
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| Jarvmeister |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nemesis44
I have to admit that during the last three years I have yet to see an exciting laptop DJ that will justify the use of laptops for me. I haven't heard a mix by anyone that blew me away and truth be told I am unimpressed from the DJ stand point. And it's not like I spin with DJ Dodgy Dave Dinamite week in week out either.
Sadly for the laptop DJs the above comment is something that I have even heard voiced amongst clubbers in the UK.
That does not mean that I don't believe that these guys have skill, for the most part the people I have seen have been good DJs if not world class when they used CDs or Vinyl. And I can definately appreciate what they are doing from the musical sense in terms of their musical understanding and creativity. The problem is that I don't see it doing anything that just playing the original track would have done... sometimes people actually feel that they didn't like what the DJ did to the track no matter how clever.
That said, Ableton is awesome for doing re-edits and ading bits at home. Just because someone does a pre-rehearsed trick in a live set isn't enough to float my boat.
But you also have to look at it in the sense that a lot of the DJs who use Ableton were also pretty dull as regular DJs. That's more a personality issue and not the fault of the tools.
Ableton however does not do everything for you and most certainly requires skill and knowledge of music just as a regular DJ needs.
Djing is so much more than beat matching alone. But Ableton for me equals boring.
However, if a DJ enjoys using Ableton and does indeed rock the crowd then I don't see a problem with that, but I can't help but feel that a lot of young guys who have jumped straight into Laptop stuff have missed the fundamentals of being a DJ and this is to the detrament of the industry.
During the time that a traditional DJ practices his skills to be able to beat match he also unearths a greater knowledge of music in terms of tempo and track placement as he has less options to work with, not saying that a laptop DJ couldn't do this, but the whole MP3 thing has just made music so much more disposable.
Our whole relationship with music has changed and we are getting less attatched to the tracks that we play, this can also be said for CDs but the skill set is the same as a traditional DJ i.e. vinyl.
With regards to boring mixing, that has everything to do with the DJ and nothing to do with the tools that he is using. Just because you play tunes back to back doesn't mean the set you are playing is dull (Although I do consider this to be a pointless exercise with Ableton, overkill of capabilities if you see what I mean).
As stated earlier though, the ulitmate difference between a good and a bad DJ is that amount of feet on the dance floor and smiles on faces pure and simple, all the rest is secondary.
Cheers
Nem |
One of the best posts I've seen EVER, let alone in a long time. If you don't already why don't you consider getting involved in DJ/Musical journalism? You've just put loads of points across that I'd never considered, and I think from your vantage point in the industry you have an ability to communicate to those, like me, without such an insight - it's extremely interesting!
[/sucking dick] |
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