DJing: skills vs. selection
TREW
2,037 Posts
so i've got a buddy back home in b'more who's been getting shit from his dj partners because he doesn't beat match or scratch. they're saying that he's not really djing and shouldn't get a cut of the $$.. so i'm wondering what the collective SS consciousness says about this.. what's more important skills or selection?
Comments
he doesn't have to juggle or crab but beatmatching is kind of necessary
30/70........you can get by w/ simple blends and stuff but you better choose you shit wisely.
There's nothing worse than a scratch-mad DJ w/ bad taste in music. Good selection can camoflague inadequate skills.
I mean if he is playing good music and the crowed is enjoying it then whats the problem? If he is trainwrecking mixes and sounding like ass then why would they let him dj with them? I mean I like to hear nice blends at the club, but most people don't give a fuck about that shit as long as the music is good. And too much scratching at the club is
I find I have to throw in some interesting technical type stuff so its not just people listening to my records.
and he rocks blends not beatmatches.
sidenote: part of his partner's gripe is that he didn't help them carry in the speakers last weekend because he was working a double at his restaurant gig. therefore he shouldn't get paid eventhough he put in equal time on the decks..
Yes.
but: an endless stream of music where every song goes into the next with the ease of baby food and no dynamics can be just as bad as long, messy gaps between songs.
You're not about to cite the 16 most essential elements of hip-hop, are you?
Reading this and the first post as well, I don't think your boy's skills - or lack thereof - are the real problem. His partners sound like dicks.
I could see maybe taking off like, $10, but not paying altogether? hell, my GF gives me crap cause I split the $$ evenly with my partners even if they show up late. But i'm just nice like that.
Oh, and plaese to 'splain the difference between 'blend' and 'beatmatch'? Because it's my understanding that in order to blend, one had to beatmatch, no?
blend = using the crossfader to 'blend' between tracks
beatmatching = matching the bpms
at least that's how i learned it.
The way I see myself as a DJ is a dude who has semi deep crates and moderate technical skills, but crafts cohesive sets at a higher quality than most DJs with deeper crates or more technical skills. The end product as a whole is more important to me than both those factors individually.
ahh, I see. I always thought of a blend as the precursor to the current mashup - putting an acapella over an instrumental.
Who was the that mixtape dude from the late 90s who was well known for putting hip hop acapellas over R&B beats? I remember reading an interview with him in URB or something...
very well put.
Selection first, then skills. If you're playing club music, whether it's B-More, hip-hop, house, r&b or whatever, then I'd say they're equally important. A serious club crowd will expect (and be entitled to expect) a DJ to at least have the basics down. If your selections get the crowd open, they're less likely to notice if your technique isn't super flashy.
Ron muthafuckin' G
Late 80's/early 90's, maybe? That'd be Ron G or Kid Capri, depending on who you ask I suppose. I always understood those guys to be the DJs who first did that on the mixtapes.
Another one of my favorite local DJ nights involves constant mixing on 4 turntables between two DJs who play a lot of 70bpm current rap radio jamz. It's not my favorite shit to hear, but they mix it all really well so I'm all for it. Fuck, I'd listen to them cut up Puddle of Mudd all night. OK maybe not but you get the idea.
There's no right or wrong answer to the eternal Skills VS Selection battle. I just want to hear someone who's at least very adept in one category... preferably both.
aka. gilles peterson's mantra
That was back when Mixtape Kings had those simple black and white covers.
This reminds me of going to a Blackpool Soul Weekender in the mid 90's with a bunch of friends (where, incidentally, I witnessed a fuck-awful performance by Group Home, but that's by the by.) Anyway, me and one of the girls in our party wandered into what they call "The Old Bastards Room", a.k.a. Moder Soul Heaven in Strutspeak. We were just dancing and soaking up the vibe, and she turned to me and said, "Isn't it nice to hear a record played all the way to the end for a change?"
It??s important that it works.
However, I would argue that selection is more important in general, because shitty selection cannot be covered by technical skills, while it usually works the other way round.