Talent versus Digitisation

The best DJs possess the ability within them to control the movements of thousands of people as if they were a single being, to hold the mood of a crowd while spinning, forcing them to turn with their hands up, and await further instruction.

To gain remarkable status as a DJ particularly back in the days, you had to sweat and work out your success. Before digitization, mixing records was a technical discipline as difficult to master as learning chord progressions. Beat-matching between two records, with different keys and BPM (beats-per-minutes), meant the need to create unique music in real-time which took years of practice using nothing but two turntables and a mixing desk.

In the 1990s, DJs who rose to the top had generally paid their dues spending hours preparing for a set, honing their skills in bedrooms learning the break-points of records with musical keys mostly pre-arranged and ready for gigs.

The tables though were about to turn as DJs gradually began to shift ground and embrace digital technology, swapping their ones-and-twos for zeroes and ones. The year 1999 saw the release of the first Compact Disk Jockey (CDJ), which mixed CDs instead of vinyl. CDJs eventually allowed DJs to loop music at the touch of a button and to interact with computers using MIDI, a digital interface.

DJs welcomed the change. Notwithstanding the greater functionality, it saved them lugging heavy record-boxes holding just 100 tunes. Today, modern DJs walk into venues carrying nothing more than a USB stick, on which they keep an almost unlimited selection of music. Using modern programmes on computers will automatically put DJs’ music in sync and save them for beat-matching. These modern changes include features that will also show which music is in a complementary key. Now the big question – has DJing lost its true form through digitisation?

Many DJs and music enthusiasts feel so strongly. Such advances have made it easy for those with zero talent to sound a lot like professionals. Tutorial videos show DJs miming their mixes. Their hands in a whirl of activity over the controls, but never actually alighting on any of them. For many, this confirms a long-held suspicion that mediocrity and quackery have found their way into the Djing industry allowing some to simply turn up with a pre-recorded set, press play, and rake in the cash.

Most people in the audience don’t seem to mind if someone behind the decks is a front person. The easy-to-use technology has prompted more people to declare themselves DJs and secure lucrative gigs without actually doing anything. With little fame, anyone can say that they are a DJ now. It is easy to see the charm that comes along with the profession. Celebrities now command mind-boggling fees.

DJing at its simplest form is more than just mixing records. The skill is in reading, and then reacting to a crowd. It is about how you mold the event and how you create the story. These are the reasons why building a reputation now means a lot.

Few DJs yearn for the days of ones-and-twos; the ease, possibilities, and achievements of modern technology are too appealing. Is it safe to conclude that the era of the talented DJ is over?

My recommended party pace pusher for this week is Fireboy DML – Vibration.