We’ve already seen a small backlash from DJs who remain loyal to vinyl despite advances in CD and laptop DJ technology. Do you think we’ll see another split as people react against controllers and the sync button?
Bottom line – yes.
Did you have similar feelings about CDJs at any point?
No. Because, in the end, there was still a tactile feel to the jog wheel and the anxiety of train-wrecking a mix. I went through that explanation when I went from vinyl to CDs myself. It seems like everyone is afraid of showing up on YouTube train-wrecking. It’s understandable, though, because it possibly could affect your bottom line monetarily. Still, it’s being lazy, and if you’re an entertainer making big money then shame on you.
Is there a danger that we might let the technology overshadow the music?
Not at all. Skill sets are a commodity. I believe if the trend continues then those with the skill set will be able to charge a premium.
What do you think the most important features of a good DJ set are today? Have your thoughts on what makes a great DJ set changed over the years?
My views have never changed. Track selection and crowd reading are tied for number one. Anything else after that is a bonus.
Do we have our priorities right when it comes to DJs and how they play to a crowd? Is part of the problem that our expectations of DJs have become warped? A lot of people turn up to clubs now expecting the DJ to mix flawlessly, play to the crowd, dance behind the decks and put on a very different kind of show to what people might have expected 20 or even 10 years ago. Is that just a natural progression?
In a way we’ve all been spoiled rotten by technology. I can’t expect it to go backwards, but I’d prefer to see the technological advances in an area where it’s not making the DJ become a manual operator of a laptop jukebox. A monkey cranking the box. I mean, why even bother having someone stand up in the booth in the first place then? What the fuck are we getting paid for? To look cute? As I’ve said before, have some fucking pride, y’all!
Defected In The House hits Electric Brixton, London, on New Year’s Eve with Dennis Ferrer, Deetron, Noir, Copyright, Simon Dunmore and Sam Divine. Full event info and tickets here.
03.24 PM
In the same way as the mainstream latching onto (and flogging to death) a musical genre is cyclical, so is the argument against those taking advantage of new technology not being DJs. Remember when CDJs first appeared?
04.57 PM
Massive respect to Dennis Ferrer, but I’m going to have to disagree (somewhat). I do agree that you can’t just hit sync and mix in the “traditional sense,” but most DJs who use controllers do use effects, loops, etc. It’s simply just a new way of doing things, and if your selections and blends are tight I don’t really care how you get there. Wasn’t DJing originally supposed to be all about the music in the first place? Again, much respect though.
05.35 PM
^this guy here is a sync dj 🙂
05.40 PM
S1re, if it’s “all about the music”, then why are you defending the controller-ists’ activity? Sorry, but caking your outputs with attention-defecit levels of tacky Traktor effects and loops is not keeping it “about the music”. If anything, it draws attention away from the tunes (i.e. someone else’s creativity) and draws it into the fact that you’re using a little digital toy. I’m fully behind controllers as an exploration of live-MIDI performance (‘controller-ism’), and as an entry-level affordable solution for people interested in DJ’ing – people who otherwise can’t afford or don’t want to take the risk on an expensive vinyl or CD-J set-up. But they really are poor substitutes for DJ’ing qua DJ’ing, in its purest sense. The jogwheels and tactile feedback on all but the highest-end controllers is terrible… so the user ends up using Sync and FX merely as a crutch, rather than a creative tool. Of course, as with all technologies and applications, there will be some that come use it for great creative advantage – the Richie Hawtin’s, say, of the industry – but let’s not pretend that the vast majority of controller users are bottom-line inept kiddies with a new toy.
06.55 PM
For a laptop DJ to just hit the sync and play buttons, he needs to prepare the mp3s correctly (because computer programs still get thrown off when reading waveforms), if not, he’ll have to manually beatmatch the songs the same way a vinyl/CD DJ does. Bitching about laptop DJs who don’t have their mp3s prepared is like bitching about the fact that they’re getting from point A to point B using a different platform. Like the interview mentioned, the top points are (and will always be, in my opinion) track selection and crowd reading.
07.07 PM
DJing used to be a manual skill, now it’s not. That said, there were plenty of shit vinyl DJs “back in the day”……believe it. Big respect to Dennis Ferrer, the guy is a really amazing DJ and producer.
07.11 PM
I see what you’re saying aaroninky and I agree that most “controllerists” are pretty awful at what they do. But Juan makes a good point in that an argument about different methods of getting from point A to point B is just stupid in my eyes. Assuming that anyone who DJs with a controller has a bad ear or doesn’t play good tracks is ridiculous as are the people who will rag on an otherwise excellent set simply because they know it’s being played on a controller. And yes, I do play with a Traktor S4. It’s also true that I am fairly new to electronic music and bought the s4 because it was much cheaper than buying a mixer, a pair of CDJs, and monitors. Still, I can use it with sync off which isn’t all that different from playing with CDJs, and I don’t play crap music (really). Trainwrecking is still entirely possible if you don’t have your files setup perfectly. Do I consider myself a DJ? I guess, it doesn’t really matter in the end. I can blend, play high quality electronic music, and make people move. It’s just really not all that different and doesn’t matter that much.
10.57 PM
Keep the selector off the stage. Dj, controller-ist. Whatever. Keep them off the stage. Put them where they can see the crowd, but the crowd cannot see them.. Put them up the stairs and in a booth. Put them in the back of the room on the dance floor and let the crowd figure out what to do with the stage, and keep the person selecting and playing the music off of it.
09.05 AM
Lot of negativity in this interview. DJs using CDs would be “more DJ” than those who use mp3s? Come on, the risk of “train wrecking” is so low anyway …I think my grandma could learn to mix with CDJs in a couple of hour. There’s no skill other than crowd reading, track selection, and creative transitions.
01.32 PM
Dude has some good points, mad respect for his career, but he comes off like a giant douche.
06.45 PM
boring discussion.. of course you need to reject to something again..
playing with cdj’s or ableton. the difference is really small.
a vinyl dj turning back from his crowd to select a record. spending minutes to sync it… goodbye interaction and crow reading. a dj who plays digital doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad dj. the screen should be put aside. see it as a record box. the musical selection is what counts and the way he brings this to the people. you could say that the medium is not the message in anymore. it’s the music and enthousiasm. there’s always uninspiring dj’s, music and bad quality sound combined in clubs… it’s never one thing.
there’s even uninspiring vinyl dj’s. yeeeeeesss they exist.. do they?? yeaaaahh.
playing that holy medium?? yeaaahhhh
the electronic music landschape is saturated by possibilities just like many creative industries are over saturated by technology… but the discussion about the medium is really outdated. people are not stupid anymore. they feel it if it’s genuine. there’s plenty of well known techno dj’s that play digital these days. energetic, passionate. and people keep crying.
vinyl is wonderful. timeless, but that’s just one medium. a digital dj can be just as selective as a vinyl dj. it’s a matter of taste and discipline
.
and besides wasting your hearing on a beat match with crappy monitors next to you is middle aged. just like going to a club without earplugs.
some dj’s are wise enought to see that and safe their hearing. you could say it’s part of the job but that is very naive to think.
not every person has a rock solid tank hearing as mr ferrer. hear me ??
for the love of dj’ing/entertainment but i’m not gonna spend the rest of my life deaf on the couch with my children.
i think mr ferrer played in too many uninspiring environments recently.
05.06 AM
“[if] all you did was select a track and push sync then you are not DJing!”
Tune selection is the important thing (what to play, when to play it, and what tracks to mix) – who cares if they use sync or not?
DJs, historically, are people who choose what music to play and they did this for decades before tempo matching became the norm. That the process of beat matching is now automated does not negate the act of DJing.
The reality is that syncing cannot turn someone who is clueless about music into a DJ .
01.47 PM
^ phishu is a button pusher lol
“There are no ifs and buts about it. In the end the only ones bitching about this, of course, are the button pushers claiming to be DJs.” (Dennis Ferrer)
spot on D
11.43 AM
the guys frustrated about something….
02.32 PM
I don’t think he’s saying he’s against the sync button, more against the uncreative and lazy use of it. I think the point he’s making is that most DJs who don’t bother to learn to beatmatch the traditional way (even if it’s easy) also don’t put effort in other aspects of DJing as well such as record dogging to find really good tunes, so they buy comercial compilations instead. I would actually agree on that with him.
05.14 PM
Interesting how whenever this topic gets discussed, people always seem to indicate that beat-matching and blending is a very easy skill to master. I’d like to see some of those claiming it to be ‘so easy their grandmother can do it’ actually performing under pressure to a massive clued-up crowd for hours on end. I reckon the ‘ease’ to which they refer would suddenly seem all the more difficult. I appreciate all good dj’s whatever the medium, however I appreciate a dj actually ‘working’ the mix much more. The art of careful and accurate mixing all adds to the tension and ultimately the excitement of the performance. Imagine a drummer just having some automated mechanical arms bashing away on the drums, to some pre-set arrangement? Slightly boring…….
04.11 PM
EXCUSE ME– as a dj From NY City who grew up in the 80’s where the art of real djing began primarily in HIP-HOP, –the dj’s job was to read and excite the crowd with timely selections and manipulations-of all genres of music not just hip hop as it is referred to today. When I went to a Africa Bambatta dj set— he would mix run dmc, blondie, james brown, talking heads, fat boys, the clash, aretha franklin, kraftwerk– in that order ! seamlessly transitioning from genre to genre and selecting the funkiest parts of each record —that SKILL is what made it hip hop. Im baffled at how this generation of EDM djs get so much money for mixing basically the SAME uptempo bpms which is SO EASY with sync or manual. Blending mainly instrumentals between 126 and 140 is the simplest of tasks., thats why you see the edm djs dancing and prancing behind the decks cuz they have nothing else to do! You guys are lucky that this generation of listeners are musically uneducated , undemanding and non critical–(especially with the help of drugs)– hip hop crowds tend to be a lil more discerning and it takes a skilled dj to get them on the dancefloor
Now lemme see you go from 100 bpm to 60 to 118 to 170 and back to 80 — SMOOTHLY. this is what GOOD hip hop djs are required to do nightly. ..and without a snyc button or efx. tiesto would break his thumbs trying to get thru a playlist like this!
I cant be mad at yall for riding the wave and getting that money where u can, cuz its not about djing SKILLS in edm , rather its about your MARKETING, IMAGING, and REMIXES that will determine success. These traits are actually a skill in itself i guess, the same as a good publicist.
07.47 PM
i think same way technics were a new toy for most of djs who had
the opportunity to beat matching using pitch control instead of just
finding the right groove and tempo to mix,nowadays,the sync on traktor
is doing the same thing but without the manual feeling of touching vinyl.
its very simple.i understand dennis ferrer as i prefer vinyl to play my sets but
honestly speaking you need to adapt to new technologies in djing.
08.16 AM
Love Dennis’ music. If track selection and reading a crowd top the list [which I agree with], then does it matter what the vehicle for music delivery is?
09.58 PM
Technology…what a wonderful thing it is…you can do anything and everything with it with a touch of a button,and yup,you can become an instant DJ these days….,but in my opinion,I could never categorize today’s commercial DANCE music with House.Call me a sad Old has been if you like who has a fair few records tucked away,but the core of House music will never fade,and in terms of House music it has changed into different genres and styles which is great to a point.When I think of 808 state and early stuff,it blew my mind,but still felt very underground and so it grew,but still managed to stay underground for a fair few years.I got lost in it and still do.Call me a minority if you like,but I hear the same Synth sound over and over these days,which I know is popular and gets you going if you’re 20 years younger than me which is great if you like that stuff,but I don’t find it all that creative to be honest,and most of all,all that ORIGINAL!it’s a bit like Digital mixing,and using your skills on the turntables.
Like I said before,each to there own,and what you like is what you like,and without being anal about House music with today’s commercial Dance music,you should really split the two up.Us grumpy oldies love our Underground House Music,it’s buried within deep down with a passion,so we kinda don’t like it being categorized with Commercial Dance,it bugs us no end.And the skills we worked so hard on with are tun tables which takes a few years to develop and create has been lost a bit due to technology.
So heres one more final grumble,only because it’s not my own personal taste,maybe Electro House should have been called ‘Electro Dance’,just simply because it’s not really what House music is or was!Don’t have a go now…it’s just my own opinion,that’s all!…p.s,Dennis Ferrer,you’re a legend in House,along with Frankie Knuckles and Todd Terry to name but a few!