Live PA vs. Djs

silentscience

silentscience

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
3,486
Location
Uterus, Vagina
What would you rather see?

Personally I prefer to see Live PA, because it's original composition and the performer can interact with the crowd much more.
 
Who would rather see a producer spin other peoples' records? It astounds me that producers even do DJ sets to begin with. I could understand if its an intimate gathering and everybody is amped to see tracks their fave producer selects but that's about it. When I see for example, Simian Mobile Disco or Basement Jaxx doing a DJ set while everyone else on the bill is doing a live PA, it almost comes across as lazy.

I can't be too critical though b/c nobody pays me to play music whether it be mine or somebody else's.
 
saw baby d do "let me be your fantasy"+a couple of other tracks and she killed it!
 
silentscience said:
What would you rather see?

Personally I prefer to see Live PA, because it's original composition and the performer can interact with the crowd much more.
Click to expand...
i tend not to do a lot of seeing at these types of gigs - more hearing :)

to be honest, i could not care if it's a dj set or a live show - all i care about is the net effect music coming out of the speakers. i've been to incredible dj sets and poor dj sets, incredible live sets and poor live sets. and everything in between...

alasdair
 
When I see for example, Simian Mobile Disco or Basement Jaxx doing a DJ set while everyone else on the bill is doing a live PA, it almost comes across as lazy.
Click to expand...

Then you've never seen a DJ set by them
Their DJ sets are out of this world
I can definitely see where you're coming from though.

I'm very on the fence about this topic as i've seen some producers give amazing DJ set.

I think it depends on the artist for me personally.

Example:

I'd much rather see a live Prodigy set vs a Prodigy DJ set, however The Chem Bro's, Basement Jaxx, and Simian Mobile Disco can give a DJ set that'll knock you into next week which would make it hard to choose.
 
Then you've never seen a DJ set by them
Click to expand...
B/c of the preconceived notions I shared, this is true. I'm glad you have reassured me that it wouldn't be a waste of time. Perhaps I won't miss out on a good show next time they come to town.
 
jpgrdnr said:
What's the difference?
Click to expand...

Live PA, at least in the traditional sense, is when you have an artist/producer playing mainly their own productions on hardware such as synths, drum machines and samplers all being controlled by a sequencer. A PA (meaning Personal Appearance) can also include software such as Ableton.

Djing is mainly one person using different formats of ready made tracks and blending them together.
 
That is a stellar DJ. Nice to see he's married too. Maybe I can show my wife this and convince her to let me devote more time to music. I'm sure it helps that this guy's music brings home a paycheck too. Either way, that's pretty dope. I'd call this a live PA b/c it's using more than a laptop and turntables but I'm less interested in arguing about semantics and more interested in watching this performance to pick up some new tricks.
 
live PAs suck cuz they shud of learnt how to beatmatch and just stand in front of there cmputers and check there emails lol
 
It depends on the artist, I haven't seen many live pas. But I do remember skylab 2000 putting on great shows when I saw him between 01' and 04'

I guess I prefer dj sets because out of the small group of live pa sets I have seen. Only 2 knew how to execute the set properly and get me dancing
 
I have often pondered whether, if I were to become a successful producer, I would play live sets or DJ sets. I think I would choose to play DJ sets, and here's why:


1) As a solo performer, it simply isn't possible to have much improvisation when performing a 'live' set. Yes, I know Abledon Live has revolutionised 'live sets', but I still beleive that you need at least 2 people performing in order to make it truly live - 1 person to operate the sequencer, and another person to operate the mixing desk/effects units.

A case in point is Alex Smoke (one of my absolute favourite producers) - I saw him 'live' (using Abledon) in Melbourne in both 2007 and 2008, and whilst both sets were incredible, there wasn't really much difference between them.

Contrast this with Underworld, who have 3 people performing at once - Karl Hyde singing and playing guitar, and Rick Smith and Darren Price operating the sequencer, mixing desk and effects units. I have seen Underworld live twice, I also own their 'Everything Everything' live DVD, and I have also downloaded several of their more recent live sets, and, amazingly, all of their live sets are completely different! They recently announced on their Facebook page that, during their gig in South Korea, they performed an improvised, 25-minute long version of Rez/Cowgirl!!! - just imagine how good that must have been!!!


2) Why would I want to restrict myself to just playing my own music? - there is so much good music out there, it would be a shame not to share it with the crowd in a club. Sure, I could also drop a few of my own tracks into my DJ set, but that's my choice - a DJ set would give me total freedom in what I play.

I think that people who belittle DJ sets are missing the point - the main skill in DJing isn't anything technical; the main skill is TRACK SELECTION, and it's a skill I rate very highly indeed.
 
I generally prefer live PA to dj. I don't feel like a PA set limits you to your own tracks, nor do I feel a dj set limits you to other peoples tracks.

People who favor dj sets just because you have to know how to beatmatch are totally missing the point imo. In both cases, its all about track selection that leads to a good or bad set.

I see live PA as being more versatile than vinyl or cdjs, and for me, thats the end of the story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top