What, Excactly, Is A Dj?

I've heard some background of DJ's today, one buddy of mine told me
it actually started way back in 70's in Detroit US, he's on some music-university and learned from there, cant be all BS i guess.

The thing was to make song with some sorta sequenzer, first 8 bars from any song,
then the next bars from another song, etc, build it up and then gradually build the
song down, im talking 'bout intros, high-points, outros etc.

Im just curious here, not dissing any DJ's. ;)

In local bars there's DJ's whos just playing the "top-40" songs
during the night, anyone can do that but i found there's more than
meets the eye, especially in the history.
I'd like to know where this DJ bisnes comes from, maybe i could gain
more respect for them DJ's.

Any one got any "original" DJ" music so i could get? (if there is such...)
Or some links for stuff to read.
Im not after these everyday DJ's whos just spinning cd's.
Heck, im sorta DJ too ;) i got a cd player! :P
j/k, im more into mp3's... :lol:

I'd be interested to hear some of this. It makes sense what you're saying GS.

dj is a disc jockey.

there are many types of Dj, from club trance, to garage to R&B.

a dj is someone who mix's songs on vinal disc using decks and a mixer. it involves getting the BPM (beats per minute) to match and then mixing the songs together so they sound like 1 continuous song and not like two seperate songs. many Dj's can mix for hours and there will be no noticable change, e.g music stopping.

Dj's do not make their own music, they simply mix other peoples music

http://www.di.fm

there you'll find cool dj music

Quote:

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Originally posted by yyiryyib@11 July 2003 - 18:55
(a) dj is a disc jockey

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your kidding right? :P

Now, more often than not, even the turntables are gone. One can create3 a mix right there
in their living room at 3am while eating CornNuts and drinking Pepsi. Samples, beats, snippets of
news programs, commercials..
Just using something like Fruity Loops or ProTools, you can make anything if you're handy enough.
I've always been bothered by the fact that the dude who just plays the cds at a club is called
the DJ, and in some places, treated with a certain type of fame. Like "Tonight DJ Steve Dog",
and then you go there, and it&#39;s just some guy that plays CDs. <_<
As far as that goes, I&#39;m a DJ when I&#39;m in my car, or at home with the stereo.

Look out, here I come.


*Tonight* DJ Sparsely

Quote:

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Originally posted by Sparsely@12 July 2003 - 05:15
I&#39;ve always been bothered by the fact that the dude who just plays the cds at a club is called
the DJ, and in some places, treated with a certain type of fame. Like "Tonight DJ Steve Dog",
and then you go there, and it&#39;s just some guy that plays CDs. <_<
As far as that goes, I&#39;m a DJ when I&#39;m in my car, or at home with the stereo.

Look out, here I come.


*Tonight* DJ Sparsely

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DJ-Slinger greets DJ Sparsely:

Yep, you got that right, what really is twisting my nipples is the fact
that these CD-spinners in my local pub gets paid pretty
much per night for spinning CD&#39;s.
There&#39;s also a addvert in the papers, DJ-this and DJ-that like they are
Great Musicians.
fact is, i dont have much respect for todays DJ&#39;s, its
just way too easy. Or maybe i envy them a bit, after all,
its easy cash.
But damn if i have to pay extra to get in
the pub as there is some DJ. Thats just not fair.
Of course, I have learned to avoid those pubs. ;)

Anyways, im more interested about how the whole DJ thingie got started,
i know what is about right now, but how it was in late 70&#39;s?
There wasnt Fruity Loops or PC&#39;s.
So, what was the "original" DJ using? What kinda sequenser etc...
Who came with the idea? etc...
Those guys with rappers spinning their vinyls, are they DJ&#39;s?
And, if i find more info about DJ&#39;s, maybe i understand the thing better, hence,
respect them more also.
Im not here to Diss them, just need the info. :)
Thanks for feedback:
-GS-

Quote:

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Originally posted by Some Article
GrandWizzard Theodore, by all accounts, invented the idea of scratching a record by moving it back and forth. Grand Master Flash had first pioneered the concept of "rubbing" a record to enhance a DJ&#39;s segue into a new track, but Theodore gave the backward sound a percussive, rhythmic personality. In the late &#39;70s, he was a DJ with the L Brothers (along with his brother Mean Gene who played with Grand Master Flash). He then started the Fantastic Five (a.k.a. Fantastic Freaks) a crew who figures large in the history of "old-school" hip-hop. Theodore also created the musical score for the groundbreaking 1982 film "Wild Style". That low-budget dramatic film, directed by Charlie Ahearn, features everyone from The Cold Crush Brothers, Fantastic Five, Busy Bee, Grand Master Flash and a host of influential graffiti writers and hip-hop dancers, is regarded as the most accurate portrayal of early hip-hop in existence.

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it also goes on to talk about how techno and electronic music are offshoots of that...how they take
samples of this and that, mixing them together, creating new sound. I think of The Beach
Boys "Good Vibrations" or the "Pet Sounds" album...at the time they were produced they were
enormously expensive to make. Layering was not nearly as simple then. If they wanted
to record voices and instruments seperately, they had to splice sometimes miles of tape for
an entire album, and do so with high accuracy.

Calling Disc Spinners DJ&#39;s probably came from radio more than anything else.
I would consider DJ Shadow, Moby, etc. real DJs. The disc changer guy at the club...
they just call him that cause it&#39;s shorter than "the guy with all the CDs and expensive sound
equipment." Plus, it&#39;s probably in his contract that they have to call him that. They know they&#39;ll get at least a couple of dumb groupies. :P

Djs don&#39;t always mix music. They only have to play one song after another. Mixing is extra. The guys on the music radio stations are Djs and almost all of the don&#39;t mix.

which raises an intresting question...are people with mp3 players and a playlist Djs? Is an audience required? Are people with turntables by themselves actually Djs or are they practing to be a Dj at a later time?

Im not so sure anymore.

One last question, do you need a disk to be a Dj? (hard drives have disks)

Quote:

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Originally posted by wienerschnitzel@12 July 2003 - 11:18
Djs don&#39;t always mix music.&nbsp; They only have to play one song after another.&nbsp; Mixing is extra.&nbsp; The guys on the music radio stations are Djs and almost all of the don&#39;t mix.

which raises an intresting question...are people with mp3 players and a playlist Djs?&nbsp; Is an audience required?&nbsp; Are people with turntables by themselves actually Djs or are they practing to be a Dj at a later time?

Im not so sure anymore.

One last question, do you need a disk to be a Dj?&nbsp; (hard drives have disks)

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:D :D :D

we are getting to the bottom of this matter &#33; &#33;

:D :D :D

Allthought, only new interesting questions arises,
but is there anyone who really knows about DJ&#39;s ? :blink:

Anyways, thanks for posting:
-GS-

What a shroud of mystery it lives in&#33;
It&#39;s beginning to seem like some sort of cover-up&#33;
It was probably that damn Kennedy family.

Dj Tiesto world&#39;s best dj

Deejay Biz...The best eva turntabler who doesn&#39;t even know what one iz...

(yeah people payed me out for being one)...Meh my band recorded a couple of songs...Then we knew nu-metal would die in the ass...so we decided to not go on with it...and choose a life that wouldn&#39;t lead to becoming broke...Note at the moment we are all university students living below the poverty line...

The term DJ means completely different things depending on the context in which you use it.

In dance music it involves seamlessly mixing records to create a continuous mix, in radio it involves a lot of talking and entertaining the listeners, in pubs/clubs, it ogten just involves choosing what songs to play on a CD player. In hip hop, it can range from scratching and beat juggling to creating completely new music with samples from records, utilising anything up to 5 turntables, although they often prefer the term turntablist due to the vagueness of the term "DJ".

In reggae, where the term originated, it actually referred to the guy who used singing and "rapping" to hype up the crowd: what&#39;s now known as an MC.

If you want to see why some of these guys have REAL talent, check out the dmc mixing championships, truly amazing stuff, or listen to DJ Shadow to see what can be done. It is a true skill.

Go to dropthatbass.com There you will find out about the best DJ around, SHARAZ&#33;

One entry found for disc jockey.


Main Entry: disc jockey
Function: noun
Date: 1941
: an announcer of a radio show of popular recorded music; also : one who plays recorded music for dancing at a nightclub or party

B) i gave up discussing about what music is good and what is not, and as a hiphop- or rock- or a drum n bass-dj are different things, it&#39;s difficult to determine what&#39;s their use to YOUR world of music. Cause to me a dj is someone who ads some feeling to music. His value and style are depending on what you hear, meaning better or worse than the original &#33; Compare with a cook&#39;s meal, or people putting salt on it.

Mixing on bpm for hours is like riding a bike, a child learns it and never forgets). Although i&#39;ve heard people calling themself dj even without controling this simple technique. As said, let software mix your songs ... it&#39;s when you put these songs in a special order, without getting bored, a headache or falling asleep, then you can talk shit &#33; :D And nothing beats vinyl, to me the hiphop scene has the most wizzardous dj&#39;s; scratching is making me itch. Don&#39;t eat spam, eat vinyl.

But leave the dj behind and party ? Ofcourse if you want to. Or you play song after 2 seconds song after 2 seconds or you even can play mixes of unlimited length &#33; :D