what it means to be a musician...

[mayzee]

I'd agree with deamon that if a producer can do a convincing live set then they don't need to DJ I think... Matt Dear for eg can play an amazing live set... also agree that if people have no creativity then they suck as a DJ too...

However, I think if you're working solely from your own material (producers live set) you may not have so much flexibility... DJing is important because with such a huge potential body of material to work from it means you can really get in tune with your crowd and take them places and try things... throw in something different...

I think this is the important thing with DJing... you learn after a couple times of emptying a dancefloor not to play spastik after someone playing a funky house set and things like that help you learn how to make people dance... OK, it is just playing other peoples music, but you can do a lot with it to remove yourself from just being a human jukebox...

[plaster]

so, when ur playing as a dj... should you only play for yourself or for the crowd? imo, i'm always opened to the crowd, since they are in majority and i can't figure out why some people insist in paying for themselves.

[Der geile Ami]

sound engineering (the sound system) is totally different than being a musician. its less feeling and more technical.

As that kind of sound engineer, i have problems getting into the feeling when i approach my own music. turning the swing knob just doesnt cut it sometimes, hehe.

Not being a dj shouldnt hinder a producer from making dancefloor music. Digweed in particular had guys making tracks almost strictly for him because they understood hte impact he needed. The same should go for anyone that has never touched a record. I'll agree its easier. Some live guys that dont understand the similarities a good live act has wit ha good dj set do silly sh!t like focusing enough on transitions and annoying tempo changes. Aspiring producers should use established records as structure reference (but not absolute guide or everythign will sound the same) and dj sets while organizing a live pa.

[daemon]

well, there is if the market insists on that matter...well, lately all i can see are producers who only do live acts and hardly ever dj. maybe that's only the problem in minimal community. i mean, only we have netlabels, haven't seen any other genre with them, so i guess there areba lot of tangents.

aanyway, sometimes a live performance might be too expencive and the promotor would like to book you as a dj. what then... diss the gig cos u suck at it?

Well id rather dont see one of my favourite producers dj than seeing him traintracking for 2hours

[daemon]

so, when ur playing as a dj... should you only play for yourself or for the crowd? imo, i'm always opened to the crowd, since they are in majority and i can't figure out why some people insist in paying for themselves.

a dj who doesnt look at his crowd is just an ego tripper

you start your set most of the time taking over from another dj and mostly begin where the other stopped (unless you have a twad that was looking at his records for 2 hours and when he finally looked at the crowd after his set he realizes that there is nobody dancing)

so you break it down and build up again and see how the crowd reacts at the records you play so you know which records work for this particular crowd and so you know how and what to play. So for me it allways comes down to the crowd

[daemon]

Not being a dj shouldnt hinder a producer from making dancefloor music. Digweed in particular had guys making tracks almost strictly for him because they understood hte impact he needed. The same should go for anyone that has never touched a record. I'll agree its easier. Some live guys that dont understand the similarities a good live act has wit ha good dj set do silly sht like focusing enough on transitions and annoying tempo changes. Aspiring producers should use established records as structure reference (but not absolute guide or everythign will sound the same) and dj sets while organizing a live pa.

Right on!!!

i ve seen engineers who have not been at a party for years and you let them hear a few records and they know what sound you want and can produce it without a problem.

There are a lot of dj's who work like this and put their name on it

[mayzee]

so, when ur playing as a dj... should you only play for yourself or for the crowd?

Both I think...

You need to play for yourself in that you should only play music you like, not just play something because its popular/the crowd will like it... and if you're not playing partly for yourself you can't give anything of yourself through what you're doing...

You need to play for the crowd to keep them happy enough to keep dancing, after all, you're there to make theparty happen, but I think you also have a responsibility to the crowd to push their boundaries a little and let them hear something they might enjoy that they wouldn't expect to hear

[astro]

i ve seen engineers who have not been at a party for years and you let them hear a few records and they know what sound you want and can produce it without a problem.

in producing, knowing how to literally build a track from ground zero gives the possibility to create original unique tracks, this is the only way of being an actual musician (or 'composer' if you prefer) imho.
it is not needed at all knowing how to synth your own sounds to be a good dj, but i think that might be the best way to achieve a piece that is self-made for real, i mean, livepa´s definitely have a "higher artistical merit" than dj sets do have. it´s just different.