During the last few years of the 80’s I worked as a DJ. That slice of my life was one big ego trip… being under age and working along adults, watching me control hundreds of club rats with every move of a fader, having someone in a new city recognize my voice from the radio. I loved every second of it. Unfortunately, as with many childhood and teenage hobbies, life decided they would be put on hold… indefinitely. It’s now 27 years later (yes, “twenty seven”) and I’m starting to get the itch again. Granted, there’s a 99.9% probability that it’ll all be for fun. Still, why not?
So much has changed in the nearly-three decades that I’ve been out of it. It’s almost impossible to find an instrumental or A capella track to mix with. More genres exist that muddy the waters for actually finding music. Every hack out there (which, I guess would include me right now) has access to the record pools where, back in the 80’s, I remember being proud when I was finally granted access to them. Oh, and the biggest change of all is that virtually everyone has switched to digital formats with software replicating everything that was difficult to learn back when I was starting.
For me, as confusing as this is going to sound, the most challenging area is the actual music. I remember countless moments where I’d hear something… a down-tempo song, a phrase, or even a jingle from a television commercial… and I’d instantly have various mixes pop into my head. Some where comical. Most because of a natural transition between two tracks. They key is that there was no actually thought involved. I was having fun. I knew the music. It all just kinda flowed. Sadly, that’s not happening anymore.
There’s another change that I’m not sure how to describe. I’m actually finding it challenging to understand some of today’s genres. Several of them seem to blur. Various record pools classify tracks in different genres than other pools. Tracks with upbeat tempos show up in more relaxed or traditionally down-tempo genres. Back in the ’87, I never gave the genre of a track a thought. In fact, I don’t even recalling hearing the word “genre” until sometime in the mid-90’s. Back then, I was just playing what I liked and what I heard. It was a trip mixing songs together that had absolutely no business with another. For example, I remember mixing a cardboard 45 (the small records for you kids out there) of a McDonald’s promo song with the instrumentals from artists like Tone Loc and Debie Deb. And, although JJ Fad was “rap,” Salt-N-Pepa was “hip-hop,” and Jody Watley’s albums were on “R&B” charts, it was effortless to mix all and keep the party moving… all without ever having to worry about a single genre.
Wow. I’m venting quite a bit here. Not good.
Hmm… these are some fairly critical / fundamental issues to have. Kinda pathetic actually.
On a more positive note, because of where I am in life, everything else is fairly easy. Clearly, funds are not an issue at this stage in life, so I can afford good quality gear (starting out on a Pioneer DDJ-SZ with Serato DJ). Because of the years spent working with audio, running sound, and playing in ProTools, the gear and software are incredibly simple to understand and work with. And, thanks to the internet, Facebook, and folks like Johnathan Lewis (aka “Ellaskins” or “the DJ Tutor”), there is no shortage of instructional material and brainstorming forums.
So, where to begin? I guess the correct answer is “everywhere.” The challenges with the tracks and genres are from spending the past 27 years working in an office and basically losing touch with what’s out there. The skills needed to run a controller are COMPLETELY different than using sampling keyboards, turntables, and tapes. So, pretty much everything is gonna come down to actually doing it… continuously listening to what’s out there (and what’s COMING out) combined with hours each day of just playing and making mistakes.”
I guess that’s enough rambling for now. If anyone finds this post, I’d happily welcome any advice or wisdom you’d care to impart. Time to go practice and enjoy… after work, of course. =/
Edit (October 2nd @ 11:44 AM)
Small correction to my rant. The skills aren’t “completely” different. That wasn’t the right choice of words. I guess more accurately was HOW I am using the gear is different. Back then I was mixing 90% of the time and dropping in an occasional sample. Highly complex mixes where edited offline and then played back. I guess what I’m trying to do now is more live and more complex in general… probably because of what I have at my disposal compared to back then.
