Mala - "Its getting harder and harder to play dubplates..."

[walker101]

my problem with cds/mp3s is that it tends to devalue the music, You dont cherish an mp3 like you would a single pressing of a tune , it becomes worthless imo , i enjoy the physical properties of having vinyl being able to feel the record when im mixing plus all the artwork and stuff make it the full package. to all the people saying digital sounds the same i dnt agree , all i have to do is get an old jungle 12 out and listen to the warm analog sound of those breaks and i know the difference

[wolf89]

I agree with the above post

[reprisal]

Vinyl killed lazer disks

[bigpoppalove]

This thread belongs in 2004

[JensMadsen]

ooooooh, i was just reminded what forum this is. Dubstepforum right? This thread has been done till death. And come on, even Youngsta is not a strictly vinyl-dj anymore. Times change - for the better or for the worse.

[mymatedave]

i think the whole vinyl vs cd argument is irrelevant here.
at the end of the day if you book a dj it is your job & responsibility to provide good quality equipment for them to do their job.
This is what artist riders are for, if it says 2x 1210 turntables then that doesnt mean getting your old broken decks from the loft and hoping the dj will bring back up cds.

The most upsetting thing about this is that a well respected dj might be forced to play a rubbish set due to bad turntables, monitors or whatever equipment. Then the warm up dj playing off his laptop can just use the visual displays to bypass all these problems and make the above dj look even worse.

I would rather see mala play a 1 deck set like at the last dmz than another traktor dj not using headphones.

EDIT - also want to add about the amount of djs that dont take the pitch correction off their cdjs/serato which can completely kill the sub bass frequencies on a good soundsystem.

[Area_Recordings]

i think the whole vinyl vs cd argument is irrelevant here.
at the end of the day if you book a dj it is your job & responsibility to provide good quality equipment for them to do their job.
This is what artist riders are for, if it says 2x 1210 turntables then that doesnt mean getting your old broken decks from the loft and hoping the dj will bring back up cds.

This x 10000000000000000000

the more people talk about how the promoters are muggin people off, the better chance we have of them fixing up. End of the day you wouldn't employ someone to dig up your garden and expect them to do it with a desert spoon would ya.

[DREdio]

You don't hear cinema fans up in arms that VHS is the superior format to watch movies and bemoaning its demise

its all about laser disk

[incnic]

do you think vinyl sounds warmer than digital?

[4n general]

I will support Vinyl & Dubplates till the end!! but yes i will put my hands up & say i do play cd aswell but much prefere Plates. Cotti

[wilson]

Lets not make this into vinyl vs digi. This specific thread is about promoters/clubs not fulfilling their part of the deal and us highlighting the issue and trying to put some sort of pressure on 'em to sort it. Artists like Mala deserve better than this.

[rinseballs21]

I would rather see mala play a 1 deck set like at the last dmz than another traktor dj not using headphones.

this is exactly what this thread doesn't need, as long as the music coming out of the speakers sounds fresh and good, who gives a flying fuck what medium is used seriously this argument is so pointless.

promoters not providing adequate equipment for vinyl dj's to do there job is one thing, but denouncing other mediums of presenting music to an audience is so ignorant. abelton/ traktor, serato whatever it don't matter as long as it allows the dj to do their job

[collige]

Lets not make this into vinyl vs digi. This specific thread is about promoters/clubs not fulfilling their part of the deal and us highlighting the issue and trying to put some sort of pressure on 'em to sort it. Artists like Mala deserve better than this.

Analog vs. Digital has been done to death.

[mymatedave]

I would rather see mala play a 1 deck set like at the last dmz than another traktor dj not using headphones.

this is exactly what this thread doesn't need, as long as the music coming out of the speakers sounds fresh and good, who gives a flying fuck what medium is used seriously this argument is so pointless.

promoters not providing adequate equipment for vinyl dj's to do there job is one thing, but denouncing other mediums of presenting music to an audience is so ignorant. abelton/ traktor, serato whatever it don't matter as long as it allows the dj to do their job

That is not what i am getting at & I am not ignorant. Im simply stating my opinion that legendary djs such as mala are being undermined by people that dont have any djing talent, but have a computer program that can allow them to roughly beatmatch.

[/quote] it don't matter as long as it allows the dj to do their job[/quote]

I am a user of cdjs & vinyl & I used serato a few years back. I have seen enough djs turn up and simply play a mix they have already made on a laptop, or roughly aline tunes that have been beat matched in ableton or using the beatmatch features in traktor. In my opinion their mixing always sounds lifeless and stale.
In my opinion this is not 'doing their job.'

But like i said above, this isnt about a vinyl vs cd debate, simply about promoters & club owners not doing their job and making professional djs look bad by not suppling them with good quality tools. The comment about laptop djs is suggesting that it makes a dj look even worse when someone uses the same setup but plugs in a lapotp and doesnt suffer the same problems.

[wooda916]

I use vinyl and CD's and vinyl is 100% better in every way in my opinion. Mixing on CDJ's is like playing with a toy. Nothing beats having a nice vinyl collection that you can take to your pals house and crack out a plate that you've dug up from years gone by or a fresh new cut that you've just picked up, or flicking through other peoples collections and coming across a favourite that you wished you owned but is no longer in press.

Promoters definitely need to fix up, it should be no.1 on the list to make sure all equipment is in full working order. There is no excuse for broken or shoddy turntables / needles, surely 99% of promoters either own or know someone who owns a decent set of turntables that can be used if the club set up isn't up to scratch? I cant understand how this is such a problem. Especially in large clubs that clearly make a sizeable profit. A brand new pair of 1210's cost what, a grand? surely clubs can afford to replace their turntables when they get busted? How can clubs take so little pride in what they do that they can let their equipment get into such a state?

[dj cal cutta]

The most upsetting thing about this is that a well respected dj might be forced to play a rubbish set due to bad turntables, monitors or whatever equipment. Then the warm up dj playing off his laptop can just use the visual displays to bypass all these problems and make the above dj look even worse.

2 things in the above quote really rubbed me the wrong way

1) It is *incredibly* assumptive that a "warm up" DJ is somehow going to make a headliner look worse, and frankly, kinda baffling...

2) I have, from experience, seen 4 big-name DJ's(Mala being one of them...), be able to play full acetates without skipping, proving the needles they were playing on were not damaged, but then drop another dub and have it skip...'cause they've either overplayed it over time or treated it like shit. Now this, to me, overrides any possible argument that could be made in this thread about the supremacy of vinyl. This, to me, is not something I'm going to accept as "oh but it's a dubplate, it happens!", while simultaneously crucifying another DJ on that same night playing cd's or control vinyl that played fine the whole time(or, God Forbid, a laptop set...). This is a scenario that always annoys me, a lot. I don't think it's cute, I don't consider it a "part of the culture" that's even remotely worth saving. It's a small element, but one that's bothered me on a few occasions.


Oh, and for those saying "the sound quality is better" with vinyl, while there may be certain frequency ranges which some extremely discerning ears can hear in vinyl that they can't hear in a digital file. However, that same piece of wax will attract a surface noise, which a not-so-discerning ear can hear just as clearly.

I've got multiple crates of vinyl stuffing my closet, so before assumptive types start writing me off, I've been on both sides of the fence here. I use Traktor with control vinyl myself, so I *definitely* agree with the idea that there's a better tactile feel to vinyl. I have heard examples of superior vinyl sound quality, so I won't say that argument's bullshit, either, but that argument, truth be told, is only temporary(the vinyl won't be superior forever, use sees to that).

[mymatedave]

The most upsetting thing about this is that a well respected dj might be forced to play a rubbish set due to bad turntables, monitors or whatever equipment. Then the warm up dj playing off his laptop can just use the visual displays to bypass all these problems and make the above dj look even worse.

2 things in the above quote really rubbed me the wrong way

1) It is *incredibly* assumptive that a "warm up" DJ is somehow going to make a headliner look worse, and frankly, kinda baffling...

2) I have, from experience, seen 4 big-name DJ's(Mala being one of them...), be able to play full acetates without skipping, proving the needles they were playing on were not damaged, but then drop another dub and have it skip...'cause they've either overplayed it over time or treated it like shit. Now this, to me, overrides any possible argument that could be made in this thread about the supremacy of vinyl. This, to me, is not something I'm going to accept as "oh but it's a dubplate, it happens!", while simultaneously crucifying another DJ on that same night playing cd's or control vinyl that played fine the whole time(or, God Forbid, a laptop set...). This is a scenario that always annoys me, a lot. I don't think it's cute, I don't consider it a "part of the culture" that's even remotely worth saving. It's a small element, but one that's bothered me on a few occasions.


Oh, and for those saying "the sound quality is better" with vinyl, while there may be certain frequency ranges which some extremely discerning ears can hear in vinyl that they can't hear in a digital file. However, that same piece of wax will attract a surface noise, which a not-so-discerning ear can hear just as clearly.

I've got multiple crates of vinyl stuffing my closet, so before assumptive types start writing me off, I've been on both sides of the fence here. I use Traktor with control vinyl myself, so I *definitely* agree with the idea that there's a better tactile feel to vinyl. I have heard examples of superior vinyl sound quality, so I won't say that argument's bullshit, either, but that argument, truth be told, is only temporary(the vinyl won't be superior forever, use sees to that).

fair enough bro, like i said its just my opinion based on my experiences & its not just the same vinyl vs digital debate.

I do agree with your points, but that wasnt what i meant by what i wrote.
i wasnt suggesting all warm up djs dont deserve credit, and i dont really see how your second point is aimed at what i said as im not talking about how vinyl is greater than everything else. Like i said i use cdjs & vinyl.
Was just tryna say its a shame to see good djs not being able to do their job to the best of their abilities due to technical problems that are overlooked by club owners and promoters.

And with my comments regarding laptop djs (NOT ALL LAPTOP DJS just some) - like i said I used serato for a bit and im not slating these programs, but SOME peoples dependancy on them and ability to not need a good dj setup is a shame.
Iv seen people just turn up and play an hour mix they made earlier, or not even touch their headphones to mix, whilst the dj after them is struggling to use the broken turntables and cutting out dj monitors, making them look bad in comparison. In some cases the promoters might not worry about fixing their turntables as the laptop djs set sounded much better, so they will just book him again and not the other guy.

But like i said above, this isnt about a vinyl vs cd debate, simply about promoters & club owners not doing their job and making professional djs look bad by not suppling them with good quality tools. The comment about laptop djs is suggesting that it makes a dj look even worse when someone uses the same setup but plugs in a lapotp and doesnt suffer the same problems.

[wilson]

Not related but thought a few vinyl junkies prowling this thread might be interested in this radio show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010wv5g

[abZ]

I still buy vinyl but only second hand. Most new music isn't even worth the vinyl it's cut into.

That's a pretty outlandish statement to make when you consider Tempa, Chestplate, DMZ, Deep Medi and tons of other labels are putting out quality material, still...

I am into that stuff. I did say most didn't I? That stuff you mentioned is hardly most of the music coming out. Still I buy the digi...

[jay-mee]

'its getting harder to play dubplates....'

4 pages and 80 comments......and all thats happening is the same old argument which will nevar get anyone anywhere....anyone have any suggestions how as a Dubstep/DJ community we can play a part in resolving ths issue?

This is dubstep forum 90% of dubstep DJ's, Producers and Lovers visit this site....Would it not be a good Idea for the admin's to make some sort of list of venues and promotors accross the county and even the world (kind of like the events pages) where people can note their experiances good or bad, giving DJ's an insite into weather or not its worth their time/effort in going to play or if its a case of keeping on the promotors tail to get it right.....

It's not gunna be a quick process but nouthing is simple and could go a long way to naming and shameing shoddy nights and boost DJ's confidence to pull off a mental set/night....