Virtual DJ Software

[slothrop]

I'm not trying to start a war with vinyl vs digital...it's been done before, but I think it's no contest that using solely vinyl requires more skill then digital, unless you're doing unique shit with digital. Each is its own art form, but as a base, digital definitely requires much less skill as anyone can use a program to do the beat matching for them, but not just anyone can get on a set of decks and beat match records. You're a fool if you think otherwise. Perfecting beat matching on decks can take years for some people, perfecting it on digital takes a session with the software.

Yeah, it's obviously harder to beat match on decks than it is to beat match on a computer ie it's actually hard to learn to beat match on decks. But once you can beat match perfectly, you can basically get two records playing at the same tempo, ie exactly what any other DJ in the world would do if they were beat matching. And if you use fancy shmancy software to get the two records playing at the same tempo, then that'll sound exactly the same as if you use years of skill and experience - in sync is in sync, it doesn't matter how good a DJ you are.

But there are shedloads of people who can get two records in time happily enough but are lousy DJ's anyway. They don't have the selection, they can't read the crowd, they don't know how to make a mix and when and all that sort of stuff. And there's no software that can do that for you. IMO, that's where the art is for most DJ's, not in playing a record at the right speed.

[relik]

Word...my main beef is people who are digital only that completely disrespect everything that was laid out before them...people that only use digital because they don't have to pay for tracks...people that use digital to be lazy. I just think you should have a vinyl background as well, but it's not totally necessary. Technically the end result is all that matters.

Reading a crowd...track selection...mixing/cutting style are all more important than anything in order to be successful. How you go about that can be done with whatever tools you may have in your arsenal...but if you do go about it using automated beat matching programs and what not...a lot of heads will look down upon it regardless of how crazy the mixing and track selection is because you're just running a program and not actually doing anything. Knowing that everything is going to be perfectly matched and dropped isn't very exciting. The slip ups, catches, and how a dj corrects their matches with vinyl will always be more interesting and entertaining. Watching someone click a mouse is boring unless they are doing some live shit.

Maybe it's just me, but I prefer digging and finding old and rare vinyl compared to just downloading some shit off the net. That's what being a dj is about...it's not about trying to find the latest bit torrent. I have no harsh feelings towards those who use digital respectfully...there are just too many people that are using it in the wrong way and that's where my beef comes from.

Think of it this way...you have 2 djs...one all vinyl...one strictly digital (doesn't even own the vinyl for the shit they're playing). Both have all the same tracks, lets say some classic ragga and jungle. Both play the same exact sets exactly the same (not really possible, but just an example). Who do you respect more?

[slothrop]

The thing is, I don't go to a club to watch the DJ beatmatching and think "ooh, that was very impressive, the way he nearly lost that one but mnaged to keep it in", I go to hear music and dance to it.

If you find a night boring because the DJ is just someone clicking a mouse, I'd respectfully suggest that you spend too much time craning your neck over the DJ booth and not enough time dancing and feeling the music...

And yeah, I've got no respect to people who set themselves up as DJs but aren't supporting the scene by actually buying stuff. Likewise I'm not particularly interested in seeing any wasteman with a laptop claiming to be a DJ because they can play records in time if the software does it for them. But IMO if you put together a good set that rocks the crowd you're a good DJ, regardless of the tools you use.

[tempest]

the end.