It all started back in February this year, when I rediscovered my CD collection, bought a CD5 and began listening to those silver discs again.
I then realised that I had loads of jazz/hip-hop, but also some limited House and Drum&Bass CDs. I purchased those during my late student years.
I started buying old House/Deep House and Jazz/Electronica CDs, which you can now get at fairly reasonable used prices.
This then opened to flood gates to a new frontier: creating “mixtapes” (ie using Mixcloud) with a rudimentary mixer, which I can connect to Mac, iPhone and iPad, depending on how mobile I want to be.
To cut a longer journey short, I am now thoroughly enjoying playing around with this little toy. As a result, I have started to develop a much deeper appreciation for the job of a DJ. Until recently, I thought it was mainly about moving some sliders from right to left and vice versa.
It’s a lovely discovery and I am deeply enjoying it. Anybody else on here with a similar experience?
Much of course depends on what you consider is a DJ’s function… All too many DJs seem to think either that a gig/show is a show about them, so babbling inanely, while some DJs believe they are somehow there to create “music” by messing with tempo, “scratching” or sandwiching samples from different tracks etc. My own view is rather different, namely that the DJ’s jpb is to pick music that meshes effectively with what has gone before, which might follow from it with similar tempo or style, or at some points during the gig/show contrast with what came before, the art being to get the change to just seem right, never a jolt. In doing this the DJ must be sensitive to and strive to balance both the mood of the audience and whatever might be a theme for the gig. A DJ should also introduce the music so people know what is playing, especially with something new or uncommon, but of course never talking over singing pr key parts of the music like a distinctive intro and generally avoiding cutting tracks short. Faders are simply tools to manage the changes of tracks.
What you’re describing is pretty much the way how I see DJing, too. At least at this point in time.
I think the beauty lies in great, smooth transitions. Making it all blend well. There’s real skill in finding the right tracks to work together, without turning the music into a dogs breakfast. I find listening to a track with the intention to blend it well with another track is similar like sitting down in front of speakers and listening deeply to music. It’s another, wonderful musical journey.
When I ran a rock disco, a good few years ago now, I would usually plan two or three tracks ahead - but it was not uncommon part of a wat through a track to suddenly think something different would work better. Actually that is also how I play at home, except normally albums rather than tracks. And is why I can’t stand random play.
Wherever I travel in Europe and find myself in a town or city I am drawn to churches - not for any religious reason, but as interesting buildings- and part of that is seeing the organs, the icing on the cake being to find it being played. In Reykavik recently I went in the “spaceship” church, and thoroughly enjoyed a medley being played, sitting down for a while to immerse in it. If they did that centuries ago (as opposed to only playing as part of a religious ceremony) it would have been unique entertainment - as you say, the orGanist effectively being the DJ of the day.
Re means to get closer: that’s the idea for me. I’ll never learn to play any instrument properly, never mind an organ. But something like this scratches (no pun intended) the itch just enough.
