D.J.? Who says so?

I just had to run this post that I found on scratchworx posted by Gizmo back in May. This topic drew all sorts of comments from D.J's all over the country and I thought some of them made a lot of sense. This is a hot topic and I'm sure you have probably heard this before if you DJ or you know someone in the business.
Since the dawn of the day the first popular digital DJ product hit the scene, a unified cry of "Fake DJs" has reverberated from the generation being replaced by said shiny new technology. Vinyl DJs dissed CDJs and DVSs, who in turn heaped hate upon controllerist, who are all ganging up on anyone who dare to use an iPad to play a tune to a crowd. But dispite the basic principle of a DJ being the same - playing tracks one after another to keep the crowd on the dancefloor - subsequent generations are looked down upon from an ivory tower for daring to use anything new.

Let me pose some examples:

• A truly gifted turntablist can be pulling amazing tricks but be clearing the dancefloor with each flarey click they perform. Are they a DJ?

• A coked up Jesus posing VIP can be miming knob twiddles to a premade mixtape yet filling a stadium. Are they a DJ?

• DJ Dave Doubledecks can be spinning Cher and Bruce Springstein on their iPod mixer to a floor full of wedding revellers. Are they a DJ?

• A bedroom DJ who only mixes and scratches for their own enjoyment without ever playing to more than a few mates in their room. Are they a DJ?

There seems to be a feeling that technology defines the DJ. But the irony of skratchworx is that despite pushing nextlevelness under your nose, it's all rather useless in the wrong hands. For me, a DJ is defined by their music choices, knowing what to mix and when and their technical skills in doing so, and most definitely not the gear they use or the format they spin. There are notable cultural exceptions of course, but generally speaking technology doesn't make you a DJ. Knowing your music and your crowd however does.

So the fact remains that there are all kinds of DJs playing with all kinds of technology and music old and new, and yet floors are still filled and all these different styles of DJs keep getting gigs. So all of them are "real DJs" right?

You can read some of the replys to this topic on the skratchworx post dated May 30,2010 by Gizmo.(there were way too many) for me to include in this post and I had a little trouble trying to decide which one's were the best. But as I said this is a hot topic. So that's it for now, but as always "Stay In The Mix."

A New Toy That Slices and Dices (I'm Not Talking Veggies)

As ever, closely guarded technology secrets are leakier than BP's oil pipes. Such is the case with Novation's new MIDI controller. Rather than being a controller that DJs seem to adopt, Dicer is aimed directly at DJs, and quite specifically Scratch Live DJs using Technics turntables.

So what is Dicer? Well it's a 2 part high quality plastic and rubber buttoned MIDI controller - one for each deck - that are daisy chained via a minijack cable. There's even provision for a Kensington lock, because if it ain't nailed down someone will attempt to relieve them from you for sure.

Out of the box they have 3 mapped functions: hot cues, auto loops and loop rolls, each of which is accessible via the 3 preset buttons. When each is selected, the buttons change colour to match so you know which mode you're in.

They sit very happily in the 45 adaptor slot on your Technics, but the peg unscrews from the Dicer leaving you to sit it in whatever space you choose. This could be in the corner of a deck, or on the faceplate of a mixer for example. And while the units do have rubber feet, they also supply some really aggressive black putty to keep the controllers in place. My Numark TTXs for example have curved surfaces, but with the putty they stay in place.

Price wise, Dicer is priced at about $99.99. Granted it's a little more than the Korg and Akai controllers, but it's designed to integrate better with turntables. You'll just have to decide if it's for you or not.
And just so you know, Dicer used to have 6 buttons which explains the name.

Until next time, "Stay In The Mix"
(Taken from Scratchworx)Posted by Gizmo June 3, 2010)