Richie´s Setup ...

[markenstien]

Just one question to all the people that are against this set up.

Lets say 10 years ago you were sat in your room mixing some records and listening to music, then some dude walks in with a laptop, the A&H mixer and traktor scratch and says, "hey man check this out, you can have it if you want".

Would you be so disgusted at it and tell him to get out, how dare he violate the idea of traditional mixing? or would you go, wow jesus christ thats amazing, i could do so much with all this equipment!

I for one love the idea of the future and technology and always thought thats what techno is all about, you know, sci-fi, futurism, technology, new ideas, forward thinking.

C'mon guys a Dj isnt a visual performer, when i go to a club i dont stand there staring at him/her looking for entertainment, i dance, i close my eyes, i listen and get locked in a groove. The reason i see a Dj isnt to watch him, its to listen, i go cos i want to hear what records he has found and hear his personal style/tastes i want to hear how he chooses to build a set. If you expect to see a performance (a guy touching some vinyl and a mixer?) then you cant be that interested in the music.

Now perhaps in this moment in time whats being done doesnt sound so great or you dont like it so much but you have to admit that when things first begin they arent that great, people need to practice and get better and develop style and technique.

I take my hat off to a guy that is willing to put his entire reputation on the line for the sake of trying something new. I think the most common thing i hear in the forum world of techno is people complaining that everyone is doing the same thing and that people need to experiment. Well here it is, new technology, new ideas, new methods, lets just give it time and understand that it isnt an assault on the traditional methods, no one is saying this is how it should be, vinyl must die and beatmatching is for loosers, its just a different take on an old idea.

I understand peoples points and i sympathise completely, but i dont see why they need to take offence, theres plenty of people out there mixing in the traditional way,no one is telling anyone to stop it.

Embrace the future and you wont fall behind, the future doesnt hate you it just wants to help make things better somehow.

Is that really so bad?

[lostinmusiq]

i remember this lecture from rich at the michigan university in 2002 ...
where he give record of the new final scratch programm / ableton etc ... for that time nobody ever heard of this programms ...
a very forward thinking dj to that time and now he plays without turntables / vinyl and so on and i think the PLASTIKMAN must nowadays not give proof to somebody with beatmaching ... lol

he reach everything he want ...

[miroslav]

As a guitarist, drummer and DJ/producer for over 15 years, I can safely say there is nothing similar about playing live instruments versus DJ'ing.

As a classically trained flute player who spent his high school and college years playing with a large city symphony youth orchestra, and also as a guitar player, I just disagree. I know the differences, but I think there are many more similarities than most people recognize. At the very least, you should play the mixer as closely as you would an instrument. But that's ok. We'll just have to leave this at that.

No offense dude but like everyone else is saying, a concert pianist and a DJ are two completely different things. One performs composed music live, and one is playing records of pre-recorded material. I admire both for what they bring to the table but don't fool yourself; they bring very different elements. Yes, they both "perform", but that is where the similarity stops.

But the "perform" part is all the similarity you need. That's the part that says everything! And that part simply says: the human element - the one that is driven by spontaneity, creativity, and "in the moment" risk - is the one that really makes the essense of the performance, and not the equipment used. In other words, it's how you use it.

I can see I'm about the only person who thinks this way, so I'll drop this now. I'd just like to say one more thing in closing: those of you who think I'm just trying to defend beatmatching or say anything about Richie have obviously completely missed the point. I'm not anti-technology; I just challenge this notion that you're somehow "forward-thinking" or "advanced" just because you've incorporated digital technology into your setup. The reality is that you may be advancing or regressing as an artist and a performer. And I think that really depends on you, not the equipment you use.

I'm all done here!

[tettezak]

I can see I'm about the only person who thinks this way, so I'll drop this now. I'd just like to say one more thing in closing: those of you who think I'm just trying to defend beatmatching or say anything about Richie have obviously completely missed the point. I'm not anti-technology; I just challenge this notion that you're somehow "forward-thinking" or "advanced" just because you've incorporated digital technology into your setup. The reality is that you may be advancing or regressing as an artist and a performer. And I think that really depends on you, not the equipment you use.

I guess I missed that point because you never really made this clear until just now, and I'm totally with you that it depends on the person using the equipment..
But still I think the whole "the human element - the one that is driven by spontaneity, creativity, and in the moment risk" explanation is a bit vague. The way I see it, going digital only takes away 1 human aspect, and that's beatmatching, all the rest is still there. So what is it that you're talking about then, could you give me a specific example of something else that's lost?

[MagpieIndustries]

Richies video on looping really is impressive. He does exactly what everyone does within their first 15mins of discovering how to turn looping on and off in Traktor. Cutting edge performance, indeed.

[John Clees]

one thing to point out as well..

if your at a concert: you play specific notes at specific time(s)... in the end (ideally) the EXACT same performance is given day in and day out..

even if rich doesn't use beat matching, that is: one of say 5 elements: to an approach that goes into a performance. timing is everything. you still have eq'ing, you have track selection, not to mention live edits on the fly...

which is more live: rich beat matching sets that are completely different or an old school detroit dj that plays the EXACT same records, mixes them exactly at the same spot in every track... and also has the same performance over and over : year after year.. who is the real robot?

in closure: rich gives a different performance every time you seem him. instead of trying to pin point doing something live is only beat matching, which is not the case, he is still very much live selecting tracks on the fly, bring in effects at certain times, and also using/creating loops on the fly...

sure people can jump to the "beat matching only makes it live" : but that is only one element of several during a performance. this is electronic music and evolution. it's separate from a live band, group effort, and playing the drums live. one is a group thing - the other is using technology and being solo..

in the case of dj'ing your computer (for many) is your instrument . .. if things have [already] crossed over to that point - it seems as if people may still be in a self debate with the computer concept all together at this point.

same with a (live pa) set with ableton... are people going to say next: that's not live because it's beat matched - same /same

I think hands down rich is blending the old fashion dj set and a live pa - together at the same time with this approach..

which (still) is live even with beat matching on both accounts - (imo)

[Evad]

one thing to point out as well..

if your at a concert: you play specific notes at specific time(s)... in the end (ideally) the EXACT same performance is given day in and day out..

even if rich doesn't use beat matching, that is: one of say 5 elements: to an approach that goes into a performance. timing is everything. you still have eq'ing, you have track selection, not to mention live edits on the fly...

which is more live: rich beat matching sets that are completely different or an old school detroit dj that plays the EXACT same records, mixes them exactly at the same spot in every track... and also has the same performance over and over : year after year.. who is the real robot?

in closure: rich gives a different performance every time you seem him. instead of trying to pin point doing something live is only beat matching, which is not the case, he is still very much live selecting tracks on the fly, bring in effects at certain times, and also using/creating loops on the fly...

sure people can jump to the "beat matching only makes it live" : but that is only one element of several during a performance. this is electronic music and evolution. it's separate from a live band, group effort, and playing the drums live. one is a group thing - the other is using technology and being solo..

in the case of dj'ing your computer (for many) is your instrument . .. if things have [already] crossed over to that point - it seems as if people may still be in a self debate with the computer concept all together at this point.

same with a (live pa) set with ableton... are people going to say next: that's not live because it's beat matched - same /same

I think hands down rich is blending the old fashion dj set and a live pa - together at the same time with this approach..

which (still) is live even with beat matching on both accounts - (imo)

I think the discussion can end here, after your post John. In my eyes you made the perfect conclusion.

[tettezak]

even if rich doesn't use beat matching, that is: one of say 5 elements: to an approach that goes into a performance. timing is everything. you still have eq'ing, you have track selection, not to mention live edits on the fly...

Exactly my point..