ableton live djs

Robot Criminal · Post by **Robot Criminal** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:39 pm

d-rokc wrote:what if i released a track, and then some jerk loads it as mp3 in live and applies heavy modulation to whatever parameters he decides, just because he has the abillity to do so (its all about possibilities these days huh?). i mean this guy mangles my track overtaste, and i (as the original creator) do not like that. wheres my rights then, im asking?

it's not like i'm a dj or anything of a kind but my opinion on this is like if u don't like ur tracks to be mangled in any way then don't release them or something in the way. I mean if u have your track on vinyl heavily scratched by some scratch dj and u don't like what he's doin then u walk up to him and say like don't scratch my track, I don't like it?
I mean wtf.

It seems that the line gets real hazy with heavy software usage between playing tracks and mixing them or creating something absolutely new (from them) on the fly.
But this would be allready different topic all by itself (copyright and so on).

no pun.

d-rokc · Post by **d-rokc** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:48 pm

spot on.

heavy scratching is sth that requires alot of practicing and could be called an art too. hence - if the DJ performing screws up while doing it, the crowd will be laughin only at him - what a jerk right?

with ableton its a whole different story tho. he prepares everything at home (well in most of the cases) and then when ppl hear the bad sound (synced perfectly) they dont say: 'whos that lame ass trying to mix?' but they say 'whats that lame ass track hes playing right now?'.

hope that does make it clearer.

Robot Criminal · Post by **Robot Criminal** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:59 pm

yeah i know it's a LOT of work/practice but i din't mean screwing it up but if u just don't like what he's doing with ur tracks (your post about heavy modulation lead me to this conclusion).

Der geile Ami · Post by **Der geile Ami** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:04 pm

d-rokc, your argument holds no water regarding mangling the sound.

Unless you are David Mancuso, you probably do one of several things as a dj:

1- change the original tempo and pitch so it beatmatches with other tracks.
2. Do not play certain sections so the tracks fits flow wise. Intro, outro? You play every intro and outro?
3. Dynamics changes - Did you ask ecvery producer if it was okay to change the volume or take hte bass out here or there? The producer might have spent a long, hard time mixing sounds at hte perfect levels for the track and you go in and adjust hte phase with your eqing and stick other sounds under or on top from other records.
4. Backspin or scratch?
5. One mans pioneer effect is anothers mangling.

Simply pressing the vinyl alters the original content. Anything below 500hz is summed to mono so the record wont skip and vinyl has a natural rolloff anyway.

Are remixes okay? Producers have been sampling sounds others made for a loooooong time. Are the sounds on the records completely original, or did someone sample the drums they liked off a track?

If I sell my painting and the owner decides to draw on it, I cant stop him/her. If the new owner decides decides to cut it up and rearrange it or paint lots of stuff over it, it might end up looking even cooler than the original and I would be pleased it inspired someone.

The entire point of a good dj is to present a musical experience that is more than the sum of its parts. Give 2 good djs with the same taste in music the same set of records and you will end up with 2 different sets. Give the same 2 good djs additional tools to work with and you get something further. Give a bad dj the same records and tools and you get sh!t.

Robot Criminal · Post by **Robot Criminal** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:10 pm

Der geile Ami wrote:Give a bad dj the same records and tools and you get sh!t.

period.

Der geile Ami · Post by **Der geile Ami** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:11 pm

I worked the us dmc finals some years ago and those guys prepare a lot at home. Every record is marked with tape, is played in a very particular order - even to the point of all the records intended to be played to be stacked like pancakes on the platter and simply thrown off haphazardly once played.

CD players? Pioneer had a guy demoing the cdj1000 and the guy schooled a lot of the finalists, doing tricks that turntables could never pull off in their wildest dreams. He even scratched with the unit upside down. I'm surehe worked out the loop points beforehand.

d-rokc · Post by **d-rokc** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:20 pm

thats why i dont like forums so much. everyone twists your words like they have no idea what you're talking about.

as i said in my first post, very glad you guys dig this way of working. then there will be less of us who do the real thing.

be happy

hey isabella hows goin

thx for support.

naph · Post by **naph** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:55 pm

but is all so important?

the less effort in ealrning something, the less enjoyin in bein succesful at it..

if all a wannabe digital-dj has to do is really to warp two tracks then hit play (i have a different point of view on that .. anyway..) maybe he will abandon it after 2 weeks cause it's no more fun..

if one learn how to beatmatch two records, and can do it well, for sure he invested a lot of time on it.. and will have forever the ability to understand tempos..

give a digital-dj two tracks with slightly bad warped points, at some time tracks will begin to drift.. he doesn't have the ear to understand what's goin on.. he says "heyyyy ... ableton is sh!t.. this dosn't work"

i listened before a Troy Pierce promo mix.. it was perfect.. but the beatmatch was only a minor part.. the real cool thing was the selection, how tracks layered up and down one after one... how he placed some shorts loops under the original tracks making them sounds more groovy.. it doesn't matter what he used to do it.. it was i listened that made me feel good.