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Big Names Syncing During Live Sets
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| Guest |
| I’m old now. Have any big names crossed over to pure syncing during dj sets? Sasha, Digweed etc? Carl Cox? |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| Coxy uses sync these days. There's a YouTube video called "How I Play", which I can't embed because I'm on my phone, in which he explains his live setup. Nick Warren is another I've spotted using it, and honestly he plays much better now. J00F uses it, probably plenty of others. Honestly though, who cares? |
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| Guest |
Cool thanks for the intel. You ending your post with “who cares” is essentially why I asked.
I think the new rules of the game are just play perfect. Get in get out. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
I'm a bigger DJ geek than most and while it is nice to hear a vinyl DJ riding mixes and making those little corrections, it doesn't make the set more fun to dance to. And modern CDJs with Rekordbox are so easy to play on even without sync that it's not really impressive to beatmatch on them. So who does it really benefit, apart from the DJ's ego?
Nick Warren is a perfect example of a DJ who plays better with it. He was never a tight mixer and a lot of his transitions were very risk averse back in the day, which meant he often lost the energy between tunes. Now he mixes more adventurously and confidently and his sets flow better. I saw him back in April playing all night long and it was one of the best sets I've heard all year - banger after banger. That's what matters to me in a club. |
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| Guest |
| Yea noted. Just wondering what it would take to be impressive now. If mixing doesn’t factor in it has to be pogramming |
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| Guest |
| Saw Cox at Brooklyn Mirage 2 years ago. Was really underwhelmed despite being with great friends and a supreme sound system. 3 stars out of 5 at best due to just playing wack music. Really basic “public facing” track selection. I wouldn’t go see him again. He mixed well though |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Guest
Yea noted. Just wondering what it would take to be impressive now. If mixing doesn’t factor in it has to be pogramming |
There is far, far more to good mixing than just lining the beats up. But setting that aside, it's about the same thing it's always been about : blowing it up, structuring a proper set and playing killer tunes all the way through. I go see so many DJs playing on all kinds of formats, and they wank around, lose the energy, send the crowd flat, play a banger that gets things going and then lose the vibe five minutes later. They have no gameplan at all, no control over what they're doing. The sync button doesn't give you that. |
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| Guest |
I was at a friend’s house this past summer. We were in his studio bs chatting and while we were talking he was casually mixing on his controller with the sync enabled. He wasn’t really looking at his setup. He was doing everything with his right hand.
He was looking at me to the point that I didn’t realize he was mixing for the first 20 mins or so. He sounded pretty damn good too. He’s a producer not a dj.
If you go to a basketball game you want to see someone dunk from the foul line right? You want to see the special thing. If they lower the net to 8 feet and everyone can dunk from the foul line, you have to expect some fans are going to stop buying tickets. |
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| Guest |
On deeper thought. The idea of Cox or Nick Warren syncing doesn’t really perturb me. I saw Black Coffee do an amaze balls set at Mirage and it was one of my best nights out ever. He probably syncs the whole time (guessing).
I think the scenario that bothers me most is the casual fan stepping into the scene and being able to mix at a decent level basically on day 1. Going back to my basketball analogy. Not only is the net down at 8 feet but basically any fan can walk on the court and dunk.
So once that’s the case dj sets begin to morph into bottled water rather than high end scotch. |
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| planetaryplayer |
| No one dunks from the free throw line in game |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Guest
If you go to a basketball game you want to see someone dunk from the foul line right? You want to see the special thing. If they lower the net to 8 feet and everyone can dunk from the foul line, you have to expect some fans are going to stop buying tickets. |
Nobody goes to a nightclub just to hear the DJ beatmatch. Your average clubber doesn't have a clue what a DJ actually does. The only DJs people really go to see for the technical difficulty of what they're doing are the 3 and 4 deck guys like Jeff Mills.
I don't want to throw shade here, but let's look at your last Youtube mix you shared - the dark progressive one. Nice tunes and your transitions are pretty tight, but you're doing 60-90 second mixes, just mixing on the percussive intro, then pretty much taking the track out entirely once the new bassline comes in. That is not going to wow anyone in a club. Nobody is going to stop buying a ticket if you automate that.
Like I say, it's about the DJ's ego. The skill of beatmatching on vinyl to do those transitions probably took you a couple of years of practise to master, and it's still something you have to concentrate on every time you do it. It's uncomfortable for you that someone can come in and do just as a good a job immediately by pressing a button. But what you really need to think about now is what sets you apart from everyone else now that little button has made it easy to do the 60 second blend. How are you going to raise your mixing game and focus on the other aspects of a transition? How are you going to rock a dancefloor? Because let's face it, the guy coming in on day one using sync button hasn't spent 25 years buying records and listening to dance music, structuring a set, playing to a crowd in different scenarios. If he's doing just as good a job as you on day one, what exactly have you been doing? |
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| the-sixth |
Northern Exposure, despite being mixed/looped with the help of pro tools, really opened my eyes early to how mixes should be and I have always tried to mix at least 2-3 mins minimum, layering sounds over the top that compliment each other. The sync button only aids that letting you focus on picking the right music so I see it as a positive thing.
I think the novelty of being able to mix by ear only has long since wore off. It's not difficult and those who never tried could give a when they are drunk, high and trying to hookup on the dancefloor. |
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