Re: what's a good D.J.?

Tony Reid (t-bird@salata.com)
18 Jun 96 21:44:50 -0800


uc> Hi you all!!
uc> I'd like to start a discussion about the acidjazz/tr*p-h*p/jungle/...
uc> D.J.s When i saw James "Mo' wax" Lavelle (who is suppossed to be one
uc> of the best D.J.s)

possibly in terms of tune selection/flow...

uc> i realized he didn't mix anything, he just played one track after
uc> another one. No technical exhibitions, no mixing masterlessons,...

mixing isn't a requirement of dj'ing--i heard about a night @ "bossanova"
(jason bentley/bruno guez's club in l.a.) where tricky was spinning, and he
only used 1 turntable!

uc> just a fine selection of tunes that take everybody to the dancefloor.

if you don't mix, you better come w/the PHAT ASS tracks!

uc> One of them said (and i agree) the most important thing is not the
uc> mixing thing but to play the right stuff at the right time.

an excellent dj from l.a. marques wyatt can definitely mix, but the 1st time
i heard him, he didn't mix at all (he was playing rare groove), so i guess it
was by choice.

uc> Another d.j. replied that is quite easy for people, like James Lavelle,
uc> receive lots of free white labels, promos,.. everyday, and he

this is a "sour grapes" cop out. i have never received a white label, and i
often have people (other dj's included) asking me about selections i play.

uc> opinion. What do you do on the turntables? Do you try to mix and to be
uc> creative or just to pay attention to the tunes selection?

i try to be creative whether i'm mixing or not. there are always neat ways
of getting from track to track. i've cut in bits from the tune i'm going to
next that isn't beat matched, but the "lick" i'm cutting will work.
sometimes there is a long intro w/o a strong "time" feel to it that i will
layer over another record. i believe in either getting from tune to tune as
smoothly as possible, or making a drastic change. sometimes i'll cut to me
scratching a record (w/o a groove underneath) and then drop that track in if
there's too big a tempo difference to mix. something i'm getting better at
is speeding up or slowing down (this takes practise) the tempo w/o being
obvious. while i would say that you can be a great dj w/o mixing (the
ultimate thing is whether the people enjoy what you do), being able to mix
can only add to your appeal. the other thing i'm getting better at is being
conscious of energy levels in my sets. what i mean is moving from playing
tracks merely because they're great, to knowing how this track will affect
the crowd (will it take them over the top, or bring them back to earth) and
when/how to change directions. i have friends that can do this w/o mixing
and i consider them to be great djs--but they both wish they could mix!

t-bird

... ...and that's the t-bird opinion (whether you asked or not!)