
Now that anyone can be a DJ, is the art form dead? - pmcpinto
http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/08/tables-are-turning
======
JonnieCache
> Before digitisation, mixing records in a nightclub was a technical
> discipline as difficult to master as learning chord progressions on a
> guitar.

This is not true. Learning to beatmatch vinyl or with CDJs is mainly a matter
of rewiring your brain to hear sound from each ear separately, and a little
bit of muscle memory. You can learn it with about a month of daily practice.

DJing has always been about selection, and crowd reading.

EDIT: if you're interested, everything you need to know about DJing is in this
book: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-DJ-Properly-Science-
Playing/dp/...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-DJ-Properly-Science-
Playing/dp/0593058119)

~~~
stordoff
I was taught to beatmatch on CDJs a few years ago. Going from having never
touched a CDJ before to being able to beatmatch two (fairly straightforward)
house tracks reasonably well if given enough time took about an hour. Learning
the basics is fairly easy, but that doesn't make you a DJ.

------
_Marak_
Disagree.

First off, we now have Controllerism ( see:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controllerism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controllerism)
).

Controllerism can be vastly more complex than Turntablism, requiring custom
software and several input controllers.

Second off, digging for digital tracks is just as hard ( if not harder ) then
it use to be digging for vinyl tracks. There is _so much_ new digital music
available coming out everday, that being able to dig out a good not-very-well-
known track is like finding a needle in the haystack.

Are some DJs simplying hit play on a Top 40 tracklist in Traktor? Sure. Does
that mean the art form is dead or doesn't have room for vast improvement? Not
at all.

~~~
shams93
Exactly right much harder than DJing every was. Effectively you're a one man
band and knowing the skills of both a drummer and a pianist can help. You
really need to have great music chops and knowledge to be a great
controllerist. But here in Los Angeles there is no love for controllerism we
need an outlet for this amazing art form, here people are still obsessed with
vinyl but controllerism elevates the art form far past what is even possible
with vinyl.

------
voidz
Now that anyone can be a painter, is that art form dead? Art is a form of
expression, not a popularity contest. Geez Louise, if there's nothing to write
about, _just don 't write_.

~~~
th0ma5
So now that anyone can be a writer, is writing dead?

~~~
puranjay
So now that anyone can think, is thinking dead?

~~~
chris_va
Signs point to yes

------
kowdermeister
Can't bypass the paywall, but let me guess:

\- It used to be the handmade art of a few select dedicated people, who were
very underground \- then it became more and more diluted as technology got
better and better \- first it was CD-s, then now MP3-s \- clubs are not the
same as before \- now all you have to do is press the sync button and call
yourself a DJ \- it lost it's value, because those "oldschool" DJ-s were so
dedicated that it became art

Whether my outline is correct or not, DJ-ing was never about technology or
better put, it was never about fighting with technology. Because let's admit,
mixing one track's tempo to another's is just the side effect of dealing with
vinyl. I can beatmatch perfectly and put on a horrible set.

I think being a good DJ is not about technology, it's transforming the vibe on
the dance floor from one state to another. The DJ is a pure function (for the
FP folks). It's more about knowing your tracks, your audience and having an
artistic integrity. Who cares if I use a software to help me be more creative?

~~~
miloshadzic
Can't really be a pure function if it's changing state

~~~
kowdermeister
I've read a different definition :)

------
hellofunk
Ridiculous question, if you ask me. Everyone has access to pen and paper, so
does that mean anyone can be a novelist? Or even wants to?

------
api
There is and was an art form called turntablism. It's always been more common
in hip hop than club and rave, though it showed up in all those places. You
can search YouTube for examples of "scratch competitions" and that kind of
thing.

There are also a good number of techno and hip hop DJS who take mixing with
vinyl to amazing levels of agility.

That stuff's really hard, and those folks actually became "virtuosos" on
turntables.

Just hitting beat match on an mp3 player or a dual CD deck... not so much.
About the only thing you can call those is showmen and great self promoters.

------
thatswrong0
Definitely not. So much more is possible with DJing now that you don't need to
swing vinyl or beatmatch.. and it's still easy to tell the difference between
an okay DJ and a great one. I'll paste some words from one of my favorite DJs:

> And its sad, if your sport was showing off how wonderfully you can beat
> match, because that has really become obsolete. Although i can beat match as
> instantaneously as the next DJ, i don’t give an at’s rasss about doing it
> and making people watch me do it. I’m rather much more interested in
> creating and collecting awesome sounds, and layering, combining and
> broadcasting them as a means to conjur up an energetically cathartic
> experience for other humans.

More details: [http://www.bassnectar.net/2012/06/pushing-buttons-or-
pushing...](http://www.bassnectar.net/2012/06/pushing-buttons-or-pushing-
boundaries/)

------
epa
Maybe - but the same argument can be made for photography. In my opinion when
you have more people engaging in something the bell curve tends to expand,
with outlier individuals having natural talent and abilities at the highest
ends being uncovered. This is similar to sports, where the genetically gifted
can only be found if they participate.

------
andyidsinga
The title itself implies a kind of answer. If you boil the question down to
art: "anyone" has been able to do art for a very long time, and art is not
dead. So, for any particular art form the same might be true.

Seem to me when more people participate in an art form, the art form will
evolve and become more diverse.

~~~
tnecniv
> If you boil the question down to art: "anyone" has been able to do art for a
> very long time, and art is not dead.

No, but it can change. Centuries ago, there was a certain magnificence to
seeing a famous work of art. Reprinting was difficult and there was no
internet. Now, I can load up everything in the Louvre on my laptop.

The growth of DJs post digitalization is not necessarily good or bad, but it
does change the experience.

------
antoniuschan99
The article is pretty spot on, except for the title.

DJs today are a combination of DJ and Producer. The article doesn't mention it
but a lot of DJs outsource that job to 'ghost producers'.

It also seems that some groups work together in that sense too. One focuses
more on Djing and the other on Producing.

Compared to Vinyl, CDJs and Controllers such as Traktor give you more freedom
to manipulate the sound. With Vinyl, I've always felt limited to the sound
compared to a traditional instrument. With Traktor I have more ways to
manipulate the sound.

DJing has always been using technology to transcend the medium. I don't
understand the argument with Digital vs. Analog. The fact that people don't
have to carry crates full of songs anymore is because of Digital.

------
Theodores
DJ-ing with decks has died. DJ-ing lives on. 1210s are no longer made and
although there is plenty of vinyl out there, it is not the same. Not the same?
You cannot buy new stuff on a constant basis, you don't have friends that only
know vinyl and times have moved on from the 90's. People have got older.

Incidentally CD came along earlier than the article states, standard equipment
from the early 90's with lots of beatmatching gizmos.

DJ-ing was an analog skill. Original early dance music was analog production
of digital instruments.

Kids today are using digital technology for the whole chain of music creation
including DJ-ing.

~~~
lostgame
>> You cannot buy new stuff on a constant basis

Uh, yes I can. Play de Record, where I live here in Toronto alone would have
more than enough to satisfy my lust for both brand new releases... I have
'Views' by Drake, I have 'To Pimp a Butterfly' by Kendrick Lamar, I have 'A
Moon Shaped Pool' by Radiohead...I haven't been able to find a new release
that I have lusted after for I haven't been able to get...not to mention the
scores of breaks and house/techno I'm able to score that would be hard to find
online...

>> you don't have friends that only know vinyl

Again, not true at all. Not 'only' vinyl, but a lot of our friends are really
getting into it and don't consider a lot of other stuff, especially in
conversation.

Vinyl has made a huge resurgence in the last 5-10 years. Our band is looking
at pressing ourselves. <3

~~~
ntaenta
> _' Views' by Drake, I have 'To Pimp a Butterfly' by Kendrick Lamar, I have
> 'A Moon Shaped Pool' by Radiohead_

These are some of the most popular musicians on earth though, not surprising
that you can still find their music available in physical stores.

------
jwatte
Now that everyone can buy paint and canvas, are the visual arts dead?

------
dvtv75
A few years back, I was out with some friends - one's a drummer. We were
sitting there, in a nightclub, drinking our way through the evening when the
DJ mixed tracks with different rhythms and time signatures. The one thing that
sticks in my mind about it was his physical shudder as it happened.

------
znpy
My guess is that now that anyone can be a DJ, true "art" is not dead, is just
a lot more diluted.

------
vorotato
Even if anyone could be a DJ, which is doubtful, not everyone can be a good
DJ, and certainly even more so some people would be better more creative dj's.

------
SixSigma
Anyone has always been able to be a DJ

~~~
bodyfour
I don't think that's quite true.

When I first started in the early 1990s, it was pretty expensive to get into
as a hobby. I could have been fairly economically comfortable in my college
years, but was constantly making myself broke by pouring every dollar I could
spare into records.

The flipside of this was that the people who _did_ take it up tended to be
serious about it. From time to time there would be some rich kid who would
blow a few grand of daddy's money on gear and music, declare himself a DJ, and
then get bored a month later. For the most part, though, the financial burden
meant that new arrivals would take it seriously and were interested in
improving.

As CD decks and CD-Rs became common I thought we'd see a lot of fresh talent
from people who wouldn't have been able to afford starting out when I did.
Instead there was a flood of people who just wanted to call themselves a "DJ"
but had negligible interest in learning much about their music genre or
developing any technical skills. Instead of stronger wheat, we got buried in a
ton of chaff.

The other underappreciated change was to how clubnight promotion works. In the
olden days, the promoter would take care of making flyers and getting people
in the door. They'd seek out DJs that they thought would keep this crowd
happy. So as a newb DJ, if you would work yourself up the ladder by impressing
the local promoters and developing a good reputation with them. They would
provide the crowds that you'd make your name with.

Today, with effectively all promotion being done online the biggest thing that
a rookie DJ can bring is a built-in audience. There is a huge advantage to the
social butterflies of the world, who can now effectively self-promote their
appearances to a wide circle of acquaintances, saving the club promoter work.

That might seem like a small shift (or just sound like sour grapes from an old
geezer), but it has been a striking difference in who gets started. For a long
time a lot of DJs fit a certain archetype of music nerds.. often the most
introverted people at the nightclub. Once when I met rookie DJs I felt like I
saw a younger version of myself in them. Now I don't get that feeling... it's
just a different set of people who take it up.

It's certainly possible that there could be a renaissance. The technology
available today lets DJs do live manipulation that the best turntabilists a
generation ago couldn't have dreamt of. However, I'm not optimistic -- I think
that realistically 95% of the people showing up simply don't care about what
part of the process is being done live. I think increasingly clubs are just
going to move to playing livestreams or pre-recorded sets and avoid the cost
of an onsite DJ entirely. As long as people still show up and buy alcohol that
works fine for them. I think ultimately the notion of a nightclub paying
someone to haul in music, select what to play, and mix it live will be an
anachronism.

~~~
jmcgough
"That might seem like a small shift (or just sound like sour grapes from an
old geezer), but it has been a striking difference in who gets started. For a
long time a lot of DJs fit a certain archetype of music nerds.. often the most
introverted people at the nightclub."

I'm pretty new to DJing, but that's what I've seen too. The people I know who
are hardcore music nerds, introverted, and have found some success doing
performances are those who get good with FL Studio and write their own music
or do complex premade mixes.

------
gadders
"art form"

~~~
jungletek
Feel free to argue why you think it's not an art form, otherwise your snarky
opinion is of little value other than to highlight the likelihood of you being
both ignorant (of the topic) and closed-minded (in general).

