Dj ing software

[Trancelvania]

[Nino]

[Nino]

[DIONYSOS]

Well I got here rather late with all the usual arguments already spilled out, some respectably (cheers to those, they know who they are), some aggressively (which would've entailed a Warning had I arrived earlier), and some with so much ego dripping from their letters that it made me sick.

This issue has been discussed over, and over again, in a multitude of forums, and a conclusion was never reached. No, I'm not saying that all discussions must result in a conclusion, I'm just saying that there really is no need to let out so much negative energy on a discussion where no one can hold the one winning argument.

In brief, first there were turntables, and people who mastered their technique were called DJs (foregoing the pre-turntable DJ). Then there were CDs, which made things simpler and more cost-effective for current vinyl DJs and other people who wanted to learn the ART (I cannot believe Crow stripped off that defining characteristic from DJing... I don't know if you're a DJ or not, but if you fail to perceive the craft as an art then I hope you don't call yourself a DJ!). Back then, turntable DJs started ridiculing the "CD bandwagon", and refused to label those rising CD DJs as "DJs", clearly refusing to embark on the wagon, with the exception of a few avantgardists who saw the potential of CDs. But then they slowly began accepting the new technology, and the vast majority of those old jocks are hardcore CD DJs today. The same thing is happening today with software, and the same thing will happen later with future technology... "eternal recurrence"!

Whether you love it or hate it, whether you accept it or refuse it, software is the future of DJing. Personally, I don't have a problem with software per se. I'm not a software DJ myself, for the same reason why I have not ventured into production: NO TIME. But from I've read and seen, software does offer a whole different outlook at DJing, and offers wide, almost infinite potential for creativity, so why should we refuse that? Sure, analog feel is special, CD feel is special, being used to either one gives the DJ a sense of security, but be open to technology and innovation, there really is no harm in that. What I do have a problem with, however, is that software makes a self-proclaimed "DJ" out of every 13 year old with a cracked version of Mixmeister and access to an MP3-sharing forum in Russia (the image I always use), and how everyone is calling themselves a DJ now, while if you throw them in front of a crowd at a gig they won't be able to do shit.

Being a DJ is much, much more than mixing tracks together. And I wonder: all you software "DJs" out there, if you're so good that you get called up for a gig, but the club's got a pair of MKIIIs and a DJM800, what would do? Drag your laptop with you? What if they don't allow that, you turn down the gig? What if it's a really important gig, like a warmup for some bigshot DJ, you'd throw that away?

The point I am trying to deliver is this: some hardware DJs are still in denial when it comes to software and software DJs, but most software DJs think it's so cool and modern and futuristic that they're not even bothering themselves to learn hardware mixing. It's like learning to drive on an automatic car, then when emergency calls and you're forced to drive your mom's manual car to get your dad to the hospital because he just had a seizure, you can't do shit!

So hardware DJs: get exposed to software. And software DJs: get back the roots, because you WILL need it. The oldschoolers should stop enjoying the safety of their bubble and think outside the box, and the newschoolers should take it easy with their "I'm a software DJ, I'm more modern than you" attitude, but in the past couple of years I have come to the conclusion that most DJs have bigger egos than rockstars, talk more behind eachothers' backs than teen girls, and tend to lose sight of what really matters at the end of the day: getting your music out there... that has always been the MAIN criterion of judgement for a DJ, throughout history. Don't forget what the DJ is initially all about: playing music to people. How he plays it is merely the means, but the music itself is the end.

A-Cube & co., I am just as pissed off with idiots adding those two letters before their nickname without earning them, and I do believe that the ideal path to learn DJing the right way is through hardware.
Crow & co., I do believe that software has potential which hardware DJs can exploit to their benefit, and that it is the inevitable destiny of the craft.
But both parties (Hardware DJs vs Software DJs) just need to CHILL, and learn from eachother.

[Fawzi]

Speaking from the point of vue of someone who has NO IDEA whatsover of mixing & DJing & how its done... I gotta say its more attractive to see a DJ using Hardware rather than Software.. When a DJ is using his hardware, you see him moving & tinkering & playing with all the stuff in front of him, makes you go "Wow, what is he doing?" & makes you want to become a DJ yourself... Whilst software doesnt have this, you just see the DJ moving his mouse around...

[crow]

[Nino]

[3aly]

[crow]

[sip]

[samer]

ya3ne sorry to burst your bubbles guys but you are arguing pointlessly.. why you ask?!

well because i was there when the same debate started many years ago between Vinyl and CD and many started claiming that vinyl is the real deal whereas others argued that CDs were the solution.
oh well eventually the natural evolution of life prevailed and CDs won because they had the advantage of better quality and more compact space..

now it's very similar between mixing on turntables and using software (and by software we dont mean using a beatmatching program.. some ppl need to read more about it and get to know what technology has to offer!!). The natural flow of life will be going toward mixing using softwares whether you guys accept it or not! it's just how life is, we get evolved and progress with time.. so does DJing itself!!
back in the days DJing was mixing tracks, beatmatching and using few effects, later on DJing progressed to building a set, creating a specific flow, taking the crowd into a journey and interacting with ppl.. it was no longer just the few basic skills.. and now DJing is still evolving with the use of software that opened up more opportunities and potentials with programs like ableton live where DJs are able to play music LIVE and create their own music spontaneously..
to cut the reply short.. for the ones who DJ in here my humble advice is not to stick to what you know and defend it by saying "it's the right thing and everything new is wrong" coz u'll end up being absolete, try to learn the new techniques and catch on with the evolution if you want to keep up in this fast forwarding life just like in everything else..

[3aly]

[Raneem]

FULL RESPECT SAMER! ! ! !

[Fawzi]

[3aly]

^you didn't have to tell us that you have no idea, your signature does it!