the point is not whether there is a right or wrong way of djing, plainly there isn't if you take it, in an empirical manner, to be the technical skill of arranging tracks; the point is how to read it. i replied to this thread in the way i did because PivotTechno started this thread by moving through a description of place and time towards a kind of political stance:
quote:
GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO YOUR BODY
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
LOSE YOURSELF
SURPRISE YOURSELF!
if we are talking only about djing, then it is sure that any debate will end in the conclusion that every kind of mixing style is valid. however, once politics are included as a stance towards life and living, then real debate can happen. this is why all the talk on definitions came up -- it's important to the status of the act of djing. the reference to Kiai and that quote above give djing a (Western-influenced) buddhist lean that i don't think has anything to do with it. all this stuff about bodily experience superseding the experience of the mind & its ideals is very popular right now, and it seems to be a kind of spontaneous answer to alot of problems ("stressed out? then you should meditate or do the equivalent"). it obscures processes that happen when using the equipment to spin -- the main one being that spinning is always communal, even when the community is virtual or imagined, and the dj is one guy in his bedroom. it's never an atomic personal experience.
this is not to cut off certain styles of djing. this is to absolve djing from its responsibility as a kind of mass-aspirin and make it rise again, revolutionary and radical. and this is something PivotTechno, yourself, and many others are doing by spinning music. this revolutionary aspect drowns when djing becomes personal ("an end in itself"), something you can lose yourself in every night without end. total immersion leading to rejuvenation, a salve for aches&pains.
btw, dictionary definitions are compressed capitalist machinations:D
PivotTechno
quote:
Originally posted by enydo
Oh GOD yes, now this is a promo mix.
:D
Less debating, more chair dancing!
SYSTEM-J
Again, I don't see why self-expression is impossible if you have an audience. And my point is that your perspective on what DJing is about informs the creative decisions you make. Not just your mixing style, but the whole thing.
nefardec
quote:
Originally posted by pozz
if there is one thing to say about djing, it is that it is not about self-expression. it is never about you going up there and strutting your , even in the confines of your room. it is a communal thing, and clubs/raves/festivals are so important because they are some of the few places, or events, that bring people together. the selector is the facilitator -- the dj is the conduit between the crowd, the music, and the night vibes.
Totally disagreed.
DJing is storytelling and image-making. And sometimes DJs are hired by dance promoters or venues and they have to or want to make people dance as well.
DJing is always about both self expression and communication.
The best and most legendary DJs have always been remembered for their ability to channel their personality and emotional constitution through their selections and programming.
It's the personal touch that gives good DJ sets their character. When you can really get into someone's mind and hear the music the way that person is hearing it... THAT is communal.
pozz
quote:
Originally posted by nefardec
It's the personal touch that gives good DJ sets their character. When you can really get into someone's mind and hear the music the way that person is hearing it... THAT is communal.
for sure. but the dj spins out only what is there anyway, what is suggested by the music. when you hear that kind of development, "character", if you like, then you participate in universality. the skill of the dj is least of all about oneself. the more skill is developed, the more one is disciplined, like within martial arts, the farther one reaches out from whatever localization is called the self or the person.
@PivotTechno: the review will come soon man
enydo
quote:
Originally posted by nefardec
Totally disagreed.
DJing is storytelling and image-making. And sometimes DJs are hired by dance promoters or venues and they have to or want to make people dance as well.
DJing is always about both self expression and communication.
The best and most legendary DJs have always been remembered for their ability to channel their personality and emotional constitution through their selections and programming.
It's the personal touch that gives good DJ sets their character. When you can really get into someone's mind and hear the music the way that person is hearing it... THAT is communal.
DJing is about drugs.
It's about the ing drugs and that's it.
Shut up.
PivotTechno
quote:
Originally posted by pozz
the more skill is developed, the more one is disciplined, like within martial arts, the farther one reaches out from whatever localization is called the self or the person.
When I say self-expression, this isn't the self I'm refering to. :)
enydo:
pozz
i gotta say, overall this was a fun mix, although sometimes it got really damn messy. kept me chairhopping the whole time, apart from the occasional cringe (like when the first electro tune came in).
the movement between atmospheric and more groovy stuff was especially nice, as was the overall direction, but, goddamn man, you really gotta work on beatmatching. it's never quite as clean as it could be. the same could be said of the cuts: they are for the most part imprecise, but make a lot of sense.
how did you record this? it was in the red the whole time -- no real headroom to speak of and the sound is clipped to hell.
what is that deadly ambient number dropped around 36min?
PivotTechno
A well-balanced once-over! Totally get that the messiness (which closely paralleled my own on that evening) detracts from the whole, but figured it was still a giv'er. The recording was done from the rec outs on my Xone:32, but I realised after the fact that I'd recently tied up the mic jacks on my laptop, resulting in the recording also picking up some of the webcam mic. Sucks, but won't happen next time...
That ambient cut you're asking after is Anthony Child's "Over Napoli" on this 45.
