Are DJs Musicians ?

[tpivette]

Or are they just tts playing other folks tunes? Discuss please.

I play the old fashioned stuff; drums, bit o' guitar, got a 4 string bass and a keyboard or two stashed away. Use modern computer based synths and plug-ins Reason, Cubase, Guitar Rig etc.
Was quite happy twiddling away in isolation, never been any good and never will be, but thats OK, I have accepted it.
Then I tried Traktor with an MP3 mixing console, what fun!
I had always thought DJs were a bit second rate and were probably failed/frustrated musicians. Now i'm not so sure, trying to get a beatmatched, in key, mix is quite difficult and takes a bit of know how.

Anyone else a convert to the darkside?

Edited by tpivette on Tuesday 22 January 12:17

[dustybottoms]

tpivette said:

Or are they just tts playing other folks tunes? Discuss please.

Yes.

[PJR]

There is definitely a lot of skill involved with being a truly good DJ. But in my opinion, this doesn't make them a musician.
Good DJ's deserve some honest credit, but many of them rake in way too much credit for what they do.

P,

[whygee02]

PJR said:

There is definitely a lot of skill involved with being a truly good DJ. But in my opinion, this doesn't make them a musician.
Good DJ's deserve some honest credit, but many of them rake in way too much credit for what they do.

P,

I agree. the wikipedia definition of a musician reads

"...a musician or instrumentalist plays a musical instrument..."

So is a turntable/CD classed as a musical instrument? I dont know the answer.

Agree with your comments, its an impressive skill to be able to do it well, and deserves credit in its own right, probably taken years and years of practice to become a dab hand, but at the same time think they're receiving the hype and glory for playing someone elses stuff using someone elses technology to assist (ie Kaoss pads and the like)

Good subject for debate though.

[tpivette]

I am absolutely itching to get back home and try a mix. and I havent been like that about my music in ages....

This is laughable, but last night I was looping the intro to Def Leppards Hysteria, you know the "dum dum dum dumm dum dum dum dum dum" intro with Jesus Jones's "right here right now" and it was great fun.

Then I stuck Bowie's "Modern Love" big drum intro with Feeders "Lost and Found" I know, Im sad, but it kinda worked.

MP3ing all my old CDs as well. More ammo you see!

[whygee02]

I use a Korg Triton. Its not designed for use by a DJ live on set, but does allow me to overlay samples, and has good filters, resonance, cutoff, and two particularly useful functions
1) Ability to change tempo whilst keeping the same pitch
2) Ability to change pitch whilst keeping the same tempo.

(within reason)

[tpivette]

There a fair bit more to it than i thought.
Once you get the basic beats/timing togethor (timestretching without key change) I try and get a couple of musical pieces that sound harmonious togethor. A bit of EQ kill on one track with a boost on the other really makes them blend.
If anyone has any tips then fire them at me.

[timbob]

No, DJs aren't musicians. Sure, being able to beatmatch, and get two tunes mixing into each other is a skill, and one that takes some practice to master, but it's nowhere near the level of practice needed to be a "proper" musician - we're talking being really quite good here - scales, arpeggios, technical exercises, patterns, melodies... Playing everything round all 12 keys, all the knowledge of theory you need to be able to play, the list is endless.

I once played a couple of sax gigs with some "funky house" DJs, who were unaware of the fact that slowing down or speeding up their records to match them in would throw them out of tune ("what's out of tune mean?&quot so I spent the entire gigs lipping up or down, or even retuning as the songs changed...

But. I did once see a DJ play with a live jazz/funk band who was playing his decks as a musical instrument. There was no bass player, he had a vinyl record with a plain sine wave on it, and by pulling it round the turntable at various speeds, he was playing basslines. That was impressive, and shows a degree of "being musical".

[Don1]

Having played in a band, and now being a DJ, I can say 'mainly not'.

Some do transcend the boundry, though. Eddie Halliwell for example.

[alphadog]

Some DJs are musicians, some are more engineers/producers, and some are just DJs.

Some rock it - some don't, regardless of the above.

[Plotloss]

Proper DJs without question, yes.

[timbob]

Plotloss said:

Proper DJs without question, yes.

Ahh, but to throw a spanner in the works, would a "proper DJ" be able to tell you the correct way for a Gm7-C7 chord progression to resolve? Or what notes you could play over that chord progression to be "in key"?

[deevlash]

I wouldnt count beat matchers as musicians but some of the hip hop scratch guys certainly are, the skill involved is mind boggling at times!
q-bert doing some drumming;
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZKD0dJvaPOU&feature...

[deevlash]

or with just buttons;
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IQcyLMa716k&feature...

[KB_S1]

timbob said:

Plotloss said:

Proper DJs without question, yes.

Ahh, but to throw a spanner in the works, would a "proper DJ" be able to tell you the correct way for a Gm7-C7 chord progression to resolve? Or what notes you could play over that chord progression to be "in key"?

I know a lot of very very good musicians who couldn't tell you that.

They would be able to play it though.

[timbob]

deevlash said:

or with just buttons;
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IQcyLMa716k&feature...

That's not particularly impressive really - the guy tapping the buttons on the drum sampler can't even keep his 8th and 16th notes evenly spaced.

Check this out http://youtube.com/watch?v=4dWb-aCWR8U, his groove is just SO tight, and solid to begin with. Simple playing but just precise. Then he goes a little crazy...

[timbob]

KB_S1 said:

I know a lot of very very good musicians who couldn't tell you that.

They would be able to play it though.

Ahh, I agree entirely - but that's a different kettle of fish altogether, one for the reading vs. non-reading musicians debate.

[The Dude]

DJs musicians?

Fashionable organ grinders. Nothing more, nothing less.

They have a skill, yes, but it isn't being a musician.

Edited by The Dude on Tuesday 22 January 23:40

[Evil Jack]

KB_S1 said:

timbob said:

Plotloss said:

Proper DJs without question, yes.

Ahh, but to throw a spanner in the works, would a "proper DJ" be able to tell you the correct way for a Gm7-C7 chord progression to resolve? Or what notes you could play over that chord progression to be "in key"?

I know a lot of very very good musicians who couldn't tell you that.

They would be able to play it though.

That's very true.

(F major )

[Plotloss]

The Dude said:

DJs musicians?

Fashionable organ grinders. Nothing more, nothing less.

They have a skill, yes, but it isn't being a musician.

Go and listen to Smokebelch II

I'll look forward to your retraction...