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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Real Djs!

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I've read topic below "Djing is a feeling". And I want to add my personal opinion. I'm writting this to all (let's call them) "real" djs and newbies.
First of all dj isn't anybody. Maybe many of this pepole here that are writing in this forum are potential (good, middle, bad) djs. But only few of them are "real" djs. Now let's define "real" dj. Real dj is a modern artist. Just like a Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Hendrix... which are playing guitar. Djs are playing music which is created from musicians (now modern). Now goes that sentence "Djing is a feeling". Djing definately isn't beatmixing. It is very important part of good "playing" but it is not the only. To ease this to you, you can mix trance, techno and house at the same time all in the cue (beat), and the only person that will listen to this is you. Now goes the conclusion. "Real" dj is a talented, creative, well trained modern musician. So if you think that you have talent practise, practise and practise and let the people judge you at gigs. Atomix is the just perfect software to help you to find yourselves in the music. The only problem with atomix is the look. You have much more confidence that you are a dj with turntables (or cds). But in atomix you can do things that none of turntable djs can. So practise with atomix, and don't miss any offer that is given to you (even for free - friends...) to work at a gig. That's the modern way to become Dj - modern musician.

Hunter
 

Posted Thu 07 Feb 02 @ 10:26 pm
I have never thought of Atomix to be degrading to any DJ. If you are worried about Atomix making you look bad at a gig then you have totally missed the point of being a DJ. If you make good music and the audience loves it, then it doesn't matter if you are mixing MP3's, vinyl, CD, or heck even cassette tapes! Also if you use other mediums like vinyl, CD, and MP3s together, you show yourself to be a much more versatile DJ. That reminds me of when I went to a club where the DJ for some reason thought CDs were for wankers and only used vinyl. He had a pretty sweet setup and definatley looked stylish but he'd be lucky to mix a martini let alone music. The manager ended up cutting his act later that night because he stunk up the place. It is beyond me how he even got the gig in the first place. Therefore like said above, be a musician. Be proud of your music, not your setup! ( well not ONLY your setup... ;) )
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 12:16 am
DJ RickPRO InfinityMember since 2003
For years I was in a band. It turned out later in life that I was better at playing records than the guitar. I never stopped to think if I'm a real DJ or not. All I know is that rooms where I'm playing the music seem to be filled with people having a good time. Weather it's a dancing night, or a happy hour. I quit my day job 12 years ago because I got too busy working as a DJ. I even spent several years on the air at a local radio station. (that's not DJing) For years I carried crates of Vinyl, even some cassettes, then for a while I was carrying vinyl, cassettes, and CD's. This meant 2 turntables (heavy 1200's) 2 cassette decks, and my first home Sony CD player. It didn't take me long to figure out that CD's were lighter than Vinyl. I bought the 1st Dennon, lost the coffin console, and made my life easier, and at the same time improved the overall sound. Now it hasn't taken me long to figure out that an 80 gig firewire hard drive is a lot easier to carry than the CD crates. WHOO HOO! I don't know if I'm a real DJ or not. I do know that I continue to make a living. I know that my phone rings regularly enough that I'm not looking through the help wanted adds. I'm out playing tunes 3 nights a week, and doing a few private parties every month. People tell me I'm the best DJ they've ever seen... I think those people should probably get out more. I don't think I'm the best out there, but I do know that I'm having fun. Weather I'm a real DJ or not isn't up to me to decide. For the most part people who come up and make a request and see me move the song of their choice into the play list are BLOWN AWAY by the look of my set-up. When I look at the dance floor, and it's packed to the gills, I don't think the folks in the room care if I'm playing CD's or MP3's, or for that matter banging rocks together. They're having fun, and they come back every week. So, I have fun, then I get paid... then I come home and give the money to my wife. She's happy, I'm happy. :-)
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 12:45 am
I totally agree !!!!

Its what people hear, regardless of its source. And TOTALLY agree with what you said - DJ'ing with several formats (Cd, Vinyl, MP3) is what makes you versatile.

So what if your hitting keys on a laptop instead of hitting buttons on a CD Deck ??? You can do alot more with atomix (on a laptop), which makes you sound better ..... making the people more happy !!!!

Live performances are a different story - What if you saw Fatboy Slim DJ'ing at Brixton Acedemy using a laptop ? That'd be somethings

The topic of being a "real DJ" is just a massive grey cloud. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "real DJ" because people's definition of a "real DJ" are totally different.






 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 2:41 am
Rodie83Home userMember since 2001
Nope I do NOT agre with the above. The nicest thing of mixing is the skill which you are mixing with. With the implementation of mp3, cd etc. in a Dj's "outfit" thw whole DJ as i see a DJ is gone... Maybe vinyl is the most unhandy, but when I am on Trance Energy next weekend I do NOT want to see a DJ mixing with mp3, coz I can do that myself. And yeah...DJ'ing is A FEELING, just look at a "real" DJ. They do listen to the audience but on the otherhand sometimes they will not follow the audience. If you can listen to the audience AND you know what songs you should/could play next, then you are a good DJ. And indeed, Atomix could help you with THAT...but I do NOT want to see Johan Gielen mixing mp3s.

Thank You FOR Listening.........Roger
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 8:19 am
You know what the problem is? I like Atomixmp3 a lot but people in clubs just don't want me because they think djs should only mix cd's or vinyl... That's the only reason why i am going to buy 2 cd players...
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 1:34 pm
Give them some time to get used to computers. When the first CD players appeared, I'm not that sure that they were as popular as they are now.
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 2:03 pm
I agree that seeing a bigtime DJ mix MP3s would be bad IF he was only doing the same stuff he did before but if you use the medium to expand your skills and use new techniques then the technology becomes a blessing rather than hindering your appearance. However if your just mixing MP3s back to back with no creativity then yeah you are not exactly impressing anyone.
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 7:56 pm
i find that regardless of if your just mixing songs back to back be it vinyl or mp3 its not to impressive anyways. Beatjuggling, mixing 3 decks etc is impressive but honestly just simply beatmatching two 7 minute trance songs into each other isnt hard. I dont think anyone is really going to be impressed at simple beatmatching skills, they just notice when you suck

that being said, i think dj'ing is really about how your mix the records, overdub them etc. For example i think its wicked when i can mix in a song that has a differetn highhat pattern to the first song and while the kicks are alligned the varying hihats can create a type of psuedo delay effect. of course alot of time it sounds horrible so its all trial and error but thats dj'ing, trying 50 different ways to mix into a new song and finding the original and best sounding

also with the mp3 aspect, i purchased atomix, think its a fine product but dont use it. For me there are better softwares out there, i wont mention names out of respect since this is the atomix forum afterall. But heres what i do for live dj sets with mp3 and a laptop

i have a software that lets me have 3 or more decks and the ability to loop files. Using my mixer which has total eq kills of a infinate range (i build it myself) i can basically fine tune the hi and low limits of a sound and isolate any given part of the sound, i then work with loops of three songs at a given time and will take just the bass from one, hihats from another and then maybe the vocals from a third source, for example. Basically realtime remixing of tracks if you will. THis would be impossible with vinyl only.

Now if people think my performance of doing that with a laptop is boring or non impressive i feel it goes to show they arent true fans of the music and just will listen to whomever they think is cool on basis of image alone. To dismiss someone as being not as good if they dont have vinyl is crazy in my opinion, its just all about what you do with the medium you have.
 

Posted Fri 08 Feb 02 @ 10:46 pm
BTW atomix has all the features you mention there, why don't you use it since you bought it ? Hope you saw there is a new version out for a couple of months !
 

Posted Mon 11 Feb 02 @ 9:24 am


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