question about edits and efx in the current climate

[tone-def]

when i was new to electronic music and started DJing, i thought all these effects were really cool. but after i had heard it a few times the novelty factor went away and it started sounding really cheesy.

as for edits, i think they can be good as long as the editor knows why they are do it. just looping a couple of bars is not an edit.

[upekah]

I think you should make your tracks how you want them..

if a dj wants to add fx or make an edit so he likes it more.. why not!

[patrick bateman]

Just because a producer have made the perfect track, doesn't mean that it will fit every situation and time at every party, so if a DJ needs to EQ it a bit different, add a bit of efx or something else, I can't see this should be a problem, but of course it shouldn't be one big efx mix.

I don't have a problem with DJ's using tools, as long as it's used so it flows with the music, instead of being a mix of tracks on one side and efx on the other side.

i dont see it as a problem either, its just that i dont consider it when writing a tune thats all.
i have no control over what DJs do with my tunes once they are out there, the good ones will try to get my signal across to the floor, others will put a 1 bar loop on a tune which was never written that way and bang a load of effects on, and the integrity of the music is lost.
i know which ones i book for my party.

I think we agree

[db2]

I originally wrote the post because I don't think that we can deny that a techno dj has become an essential part of the experience of the set, whether blending, effecting, looping, or what not, the genre moved the dj beyond just someone being a human jukebox.

I'm from the Detroit area and remember when Hawtin played more like mills, lots of tracks very quickly, lots of mixing action (believe it or not, he was a turntablist, pulling all kinds of crazy manual tricks), now he's moved onto edits and effects. But it seems with so many professional dj's using Traktor and such so much now that they are more akin to doing these things (effects, etc) to tracks themselves.

I've always been one to write tracks just as they are, and are meant to be played as they are, but in my younger years I would sometimes do more effects and edits that it seems todays dj's are just really frequently doing themselves, so I wanted to hear some points of view on the subject. Thanks for the feedback so far.

[mizzdirekt]

Turn it around for a second. Would it be O.K. for me to load a bunch of tunes into ableton and just fade them into each other with no effects or edits? If not, is it because it's no longer about the music? Is the music NOT the most important thing to d.j.'s anymore? And I guess you cannot call them disk jockeys anymore, sense they don't jockey disks. What do you call them now? If easy is what you want you will soon have it all. There are already thought control/mind control devices being used for synthesis. Pretty soon you will just imagine a tune and it will magically appear. there will be technology companies that advertise it. "Don't be held back by the hassles of learning an instrument, just imagine a tune and our mind control devices will automagically push your jam into every living room in (state your country). Learning music is for losers...be heard now (insert half naked chick)!"

[db2]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm ALL about more control over the music you play. I love that you can edit, effect, loop, max, etc. when DJing, especially if done tastefully. I just wanted to throw out the question as for production, if people find themselves doing less obvious edits/tricks, because the dj can now do it quite easily. That is all. Just my curiosity about peoples opinions.

[oblioblioblio]

i think it's possible to do quite involved djing, using ableton or whatever.

music is all kinds of things.

it could be a finished track, with little bits either side to help the dj.

there haven't been that many people doing stuff with Ableton. You could release a piece of music that was lego peices to fit into a dj set. I don't see any reason why that has less potential than other options.

I dunno. There's always a some invisible but personally obvious line between stuff that sucks and stuff that doesn't.

There have been a few projects made that cross boundaries of what music can be. The Flaming Lips releasead an album called Zaireeka, that came on 4 cds that were designed to be plaed together. The idea was to create a new situtation where people had to bring their hifis round to a friends house. I don't think it worked commercially but the idea was interesting. It was based on some experiments in car parking lots using many many tape decks and Wayne Coyne barking orders on a loudspeaker.

There is an album released this year by Allesandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails. You can buy a small music machine which is related to the album, which has some samples from the album loaded into this fucked up stuttering loop player kind of thing. I like the idea.

[Robot Criminal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpYIFsHRV3w