what it means to be a musician...

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astro
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what it means to be a musician...

Post by astro »

lately i´ve been thinking about how much it takes to be a dj/producer/musician. it´s not just about how much you feel you like it, it´s all the research and equipment you always must have, and the real understanding of what the sound (properly speaking) is.
i think it´s not just about spinning a record or pushing some buttons on a computer program, it´s almost like being a sound engineer or something.... in order to really improve and do real cool stuff i mean...

i don´t really dj but this is how it feels, what do you think? what do you consider it takes to be a dj/producer/musician in a whole?
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sohrab
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Post by sohrab »

well youre right.maybe many djs and artists out there do it just because its fun and...or even many started with love but lost it after some time and it became a routine.
my hero in this case is Mr John Digweed!its easy for me to say:hey I love music,its in my soul!...but poeple like john are the real lovers.
its been a year since I've started producing but I still haven't find the proper way to do it,I've started because I thought its fun to have a release and...but now Im doing it beacuse I've fell in love with it!(althought I suck)I spin rarely these days.
about how long it takes to be a artist,well its not like astudy wich after four years you finish it and say:hey,Im an artist from now on!it starts from the moment you begin to work in your field and it will never stop I think.
you know,I think about things like you said very much,but after all its all about feeling and its hard to explain feelings through words
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Post by plaster »

i think that the most important thing is to feel the music...like, djing is a bit different than production for me, but in both ways you need to understand what will you do. hm, kinda hard to explain, but in production i tend to have these states where you are the track...which is a great feeling.


...same as when the dancer becomes the dance or when the music stops be the sound you hear.
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sohrab
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Post by sohrab »

plaster wrote:...same as when the dancer becomes the dance or when the music stops be the sound you hear.
philosophical!
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Post by plaster »

sohrab wrote:
plaster wrote:...same as when the dancer becomes the dance or when the music stops be the sound you hear.
philosophical!


couldn't think of any other example...hehe.


but i don't know if someone can really explain what is it like to be a musician or a dj if you never felt that.

especially workin with someone as a duo...that's like the best thing you could ever wish. that feeling of bonding, thinking the same and actualy not having the need to talk to much cos you know the other one likes what you like aswell. tottaly great.
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Post by mayzee »

plaster - know what you mean, sometimes when DJing I get in 'the zone'... everything happens completely on reflex, from choosing which record to play next, to the way its mixed in, grabbing loops on the fly with my cycloops and adding effects and stuff... all just seems to happen naturally... as soon as you start to think about it too much or try and do something it all goes wrong... its a bit like that zen state people get in when driving... its only when you've mastered the mechanical operation that you can free yourself
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Post by plaster »

yeah mayzee...i always tell ppl when they come to me about djing that they first need to learn how to capture the music and not let if control your creative part. like, you need to know that ur the one who controls the music and u musn't let it slide (beatmatching). music is a universal feeling and ur the guidance to where that feeling will go and struck.


and as far as producing goes... i think bands have a better insight of their work, primary because of the link between the instrument and the player. it's very important to feel it in order to know how to play it. so when digital making comes in question i know to have a hard time, because the whole enviroment does the experience and ur only contact with it is the mouse. really funny, but sometimes i know to have a dead end just because of the mice and bars in ableton. hahaha.


perception perception.
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astro
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Post by astro »

its only when you've mastered the mechanical operation that you can free yourself
i´m into producing, don´t really like djing particulary, anyway i think this you´re saying is right. it´s not just about the "mechanicals" of djing that are to be learnt but also it has an 'academical' side (in producing specially) that you really must get into.
i mean, for breakingthrough you can´t just get (eq.) reason and writte some sequence and that´s it, i mean, you gotta do your own sounds (i don´t know, reaktor, soundforge or similar. and there comes a lot of physics when talking about sound, waves, much mathematics, i don´t know, it´s just something it has to be known by that one who takes music production seriously) like in a first step which should not be avoided, i´ve seen many guys who claim therselves to be producers and all they actually do is playing with loops or samples that have in fact no creativity, and for me, no value as an artist work.

and, in order to be a good producer you also should know how to spin records, it´s two faces of the same coin, like you shouldn´t really be producing if you don´t know how to dj (just djing not producing is somewhat different). it is a need, even when you´re not considering djing as your main goal you should at least know how it is done...

i think it isn´t just about creativity, if you´re not creative don´t try to produce, and if you are, you gotta do research.
(and i haven´t mention any of the hardware any musician has to take over too).

it´s not only about how much you love it... it feels like a big challenge, that´s what i feel.
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