Laptop crashes during set, is vinyl still best.

P

Paul Newman

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 27, 2011
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In a glasshouse, so i try not to throw stones,but
This week i read that two highly respected djs laptops had crashed whilst they were performing sets last month spoiling them slightly and as one of them was the original trance don Sasha my mind wandered back to those heady days where i would spend many a weekend madly dancing away to beat perfect sets he and others like him would perform with upmost skill in the cavernous temple that was Cream liverpool. Nobody can accuse me of a wasted youth.
What made me think was the modern dj has pretty much removed the skill and aestheticness of his performance with computers but can also be stumped by them.
Now i am not one of these people who believe that vinyl is the only way but comparing performances behind the decks then to performances now with most djs, something has been lost, some go batshit but most just stand there now clicking a mouse.
What i am trying to say is now when i go clubbing part of the emotion we got with waiting for the mix to come in and hearing that perfect beat mix come in would send us crackers, now they tap a mouse button and there you have it.
Am i right, are modern djs lazier and less crazy behind the decks?
 
^^^
*sighs


i crave cuing, and back cuing, the releasing and pitch-whipping, juggling etc.
its just plain ol' sensuous.
the stuff you dont notice listening, but you bust your balls to accomplish -
it carries through - and there is more chance of making precious mistakes.

having access to so many sounds/songs on the fly is a powerful thing, and opens up a means of endless access to creativity.


i learned on some "shitty"(they called them) Geminis for years, and then when i finally was in-front of some Tech12's, it was so so much easier!



you know???
this is a big inner debate of mine, something i think about a lot.
so i will refrain from going on and on so i will just say from here --
AWESOME thread- lol

<3
=D
 
Yes, vinyl is king.

Now, what we need is a way to rapidly put digital tracks onto vinyl, because unfortunately a bunch of great tracks are being released digitally, and not making it to vinyl.
 
panic in paradise said:
buy a Vestax Vinyl press.

;-)
they were relatively inexpensive um, oh geez, heh, 12 years ago...
Click to expand...

I know, I know, I did try to not sound a stick in the mud but I just think there is more of an art to vinyl djing, traktor do mp3 to vinyl i think where you use vinyl plates with the tune on mp3 but fuck man I aint a millionaire.
I want to embrace the new but with memories like Brandon block at the crystal rooms going mental and getting asked to leave for snorting coke off the decks and seeing TDV blowing the speakers new years cutting up s-express into louise naked remix and back to some mental hoover banger, to then seeing tiesto twice just doing the jesus stance every half hour, sorry i shut up, get back in the delorean and go back to 98, ooh the firs lot of mitsis and strong as fuck doves, byeeee.
 
i spin vinyl records, because i love it. the look, the feeling when you spin it around, going to your record bag to look for that tune you're going to drop.

but: i want to try this out soon >> http://www.xwax.co.uk/

it is a DVS (digital vinyl system) like serato or Traktor scratch, but open source and reduced to the absolute minimum needs, like no loops, fx, no sync, cuepoints and stuff like that. but that's why i want to try it to complement my setup, i just want to play some digital tunes just like normal records, nothing else. i'm not interessted in fooling around with a lot of fx and bullshit like that. only effect i rarely use is a filter. there are lots of tracks i like and love which are unlikely to impossible to get on vinyl (really rare tunes and also netlabel stuff).

also this one appears to work rock solid. never read of anyone crashing it while spinning. it's of course a bit tricky to implement and you need to be somehow into linux or be friends with a linux geek.
 
I will always spin vinyl simply because I enjoy it. The smell of records, the artwork.. i will never give it up.

Not only is it my passion, it's an investment. The value of my collection has been seeing a steady increase over the past 20 years and I am pretty confident that trend will continue as there will always be collectors. The decks themselves will become a collectors item at some point also. Look at how much techs are going for now since they stopped making them, used in good condition they are going for 400-800 a pop now! New 1000-1200 a piece! Imagine in 10 or 15 years. Sure there are other brands out there but I have yet to see one that is built as well and stands the test of time. Aside from recalibration here and there all I have had to do is replace the bulbs on mine, it's hard for me to think of any other device in my entire house that lasted so long.
 
It's just a personal thing.

I learnt on vinyl, but moved on to CDJs pretty quickly because I preferred being able to browse music online and download it. I then moved on to Ableton, but I still mix on CDJs a lot too, because unlike the comparison with spinning vinyl, laptop DJ'ing is very different.

If you like vinyl, then that's great and I would never try and say one format is better than another for someone else. I can totally get the whole fascination with it. You "own" your tunes more than with a digital version, and you get a more natural experience DJ'ing. I think the more technology you put between you and the dancefloor, the harder it is to connect with the crowd.

However, I also see many benefits of CDJs and laptops. Not least of all is the one I already mentioned: heavily discounted music that you can browse and download almost instantly. I also prefer beat matching on CDJs as I can listen to the beats, and within a few seconds know what percentage pitch increment I need to find. On vinyl I tend to find I'm nursing the beats a lot more.

I also like to make some re-edits of tunes, such as remove a cheesy vocal from a breakdown, which I can't do on vinyl. In Ableton (laptop DJ'ing), I don't have to beat match at all (although I do have to warp each tune, which in a way is beat matching, just that you only do it once and then it is always in sync), so if I mixed tunes the same as decks, it would almost be a bit boring to do. However, with decent software you can do so much more than vinyl or CD. Sometimes I will play a set that really has no tunes in it at all, just loops, samples and effects - so that the mix is almost one giant tune being made live.

You are right though, things are more likely to go wrong as soon as you introduce computers. I don't think I have ever seen a vinyl deck fail, but I have seen CDJs fail. I have seen laptops fail a lot. Many of my sets I have had minor sound drop outs, luckily only a second or two maximum so no big deal. Sasha had a laptop crash when I saw him last in Birmingham, but he runs 2 laptops together which are MIDI clocked, so he can see arrangement and session view simultaneously in Ableton. This gives him a life line sometimes, and this instance there was no sound failure - he just couldnt bring in a new tune. Luckily he was b2b with his good pal, and John saved him ;-)

Sasha actually moved back on to CDJs for most nights a while ago. He said when he first went on to a laptop he was doing all sorts of crazy stuff, but fairly predictably the crowds just wanted to hear the banging tunes like he used to play. More and more he moved back to his old style, and I think eventually he realised a laptop was not necessary. I actually think I'm veering back to CDJs more. I love tinkering with all the gear, but I get better reactions to my CDJ sets, and ultimately, the crowd are king.
 
if i begin, i'm afraid i wont stop...........

erm.......

a great DJ will master the roots of his/her profession.
A great DJ will gain as much knowledge and experience of all areas of their trade.
A great DJ will move with technology and embrace these advances and the potential they hold.
A great DJ will master any bit of hardware or software before they perform to a paying audience.
A great DJ will use as diverse a range of mediums as necessary in order to give the best performance and musical enjoyment possible.
A great DJ is flexible.
IF a great DJ is to use their notebook in order to further their delivery of great music, then they ought to know how to choose/set up/ use a pc so that it never crashes.

thats all im gonna say.
 
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