DJ Mixtape Ethics
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- Frosty_spl
I have been spinning for about 15 years for fun, on and off. I'm trying to get serious now and have been recording alot, but I keep having a few mistakes on my mixes.
I spoke with a local DJ that plays a lot of clubs. He suggested just doing a mixtape in Abelton, rather than the old fashioned way. That way it will be perfect.
What say you?
- mcmillions0
sounds preeeeetty cool
- jk if you're going to make a mixtape, you should do it via whatever format you normally DJ live.mcmillions
- otherwise promoters will hear an immaculate ableton mix, book you, and find out you work on decks with a few mistakes.mcmillions
- ukit0
I don't DJ as much anymore in clubs and stuff but the impression I get is that most professional DJs have moved to using CDs. And many others play using software (Ableton etc), so nothing wrong with it.
But don't you think what you record should be representative of how you sound when you play? Maybe the solution is just not to make mistakes:)
- Frosty_spl0
Every DJ I hear live, makes a few mistakes though. Nothing terrible.
I started playing dubstep. It's harder than just blending house back and forth.
- ukit0
I dunno, I remember recording tapes where I didn't make mistakes. If you record youself playing at home it's easier than in front of an audience.
- acescence0
another option is to stop where you made a mistake, rewind the tune back a bit and splice it all together later to remove the mistakes.
- discoduro0
I dj vinyl and cds (been djing around 14 years) haven't ventured into the realm of software yet. I have to agree with ukit, nothing necessarily wrong with it but I think there's better satisfaction and representation of yourself when you don't use software to make it "perfect". Hearing the dj work lets me know he's into what he's doing and if what he's doing works or not.
- Frosty_spl0
My friend also said to only make a 30 minute mix, because it gives a good representation of your style, and most promoters won't listen to a whole hour mix anyway.
It will be less stressful to make a shorter mix too I think.
- I would get more satisfaction out of doing it straight on the tables. Thanks for your input guys.Frosty_spl
- Raniator0
Don't use Ableton unless that is what you use when you play out. It needs to be a fair representation of your style as well as music. I'd rather hear a mix that wasn't 100% perfect knowing that is how the person will sound live, rather than knowing they have blagged it.
- MikeColdFusion0
using abelton to make a mix is lame unless you're going to do crazy fake beat juggling the whole time and actually do that live. the whole point of a mix tape is to show your dj skills and track selection skills.
I remember back in the early days of CD burners, some rave promoters would only listen to tapes to make sure the dj didn't fix the mix on the computer.
- because an 1/8" line-out on a computer wasn't invented until 2008?mcmillions
- you were probably in grade school...MikeColdFusion
- Miguex0
mixtape ethics?
if you really cared about ethics for a mixtape in the first place, you would be licensing all the tracks on it.
No one will ever care how it was put together, you do understand that right? there is no way that someone is going to play your mix and be like...
WAAAAAIT A SECOND WAAAAAIT A SECOND... This track sound like it was warped in ableton, someone get me lighter fluid and a match I'm going to burn myself.
That never happens, never.
If anything, it will help you show you are professional and that you care about your sound.Unless you do scratching, there is no need to prove anything other than the music you selected.
- acescence0
the way i've always looked at it, djing live and making a mixtape are two wholly separate things. a band goes into the studio and meticulously records their album, doing many takes and overdubs and getting it exactly the way they want it. it's not that they can't perform the whole song live all the way thru, they're two different things experienced in different ways. now, if you go and get gigs based on something so far off from what you're able to achieve live, that's a different story, but i expect a mixtape to be near perfect while live i'm aware that mistakes will likely be made. loud sound systems mask a lot of errors anyway.
- ukit0
Out of all the mix CDs I like, one of my favorite is Jeff Mills "Live At The Liquid Room." There it's obviously capturing him live and in fact the sound quality is even a bit shitty and muffled at times, but its still awesome because it captures the performance.
I think it depends, though, what kind of DJ you are. If DJing for you involves lots of scratching and tricks, then it would be silly not to record it live. On the other hand, if its more about seamlessly mixing tracks together in a more or less invisible way then all the elements that are important - sequencing and track selection - will be present even in a totally non-live Ableton sequenced mix.
- Miguex0
and for those saying that it should be a representation of how you sound live, sorry but I disagree. If you really cared about ethics, even you shouldn't know how you are going to sound live, you should read the crowd as the night goes by, and IMPROVISE, if you have a set already planned and you are going to spin records (or play tracks in ableton) then you might as well be this guy
- hahah Peter Hookukit
- What's the story on him? Does he play a recorded set live?Frosty_spl
- yeah man, there's video oh him showing a 30 minute set on turntables and he never changed a single record hahaMiguex
- people in the crowd going nuts dancing like it was realMiguex
- ukit0
- that movie was amazingMiguex
- I haven't seen it, what movie?Frosty_spl
- It's All Gone Pete Tong, its like a Spinal Tap of dance musicukit
- rent it, ist pretty funny shitMiguex
- It is really funnyukit
- OH yea I keep forgetting about it.Frosty_spl
- Miguex0
ukit:
you laugh about Peter Hook, because you "know" he is the living proof that the average person doesn't care, look at the crowd going nuts. All those people probably payed at least $50 a pop to go see him (big festival) and they are all happily jumping. No one gives a shit, the guy goes to the mixer, places his finger tips on one of the knobs in the mixer every now and then, and goes jumping on stage, and people love him.
That guy gets a plane ticket, hotel room, groupies, drugs, and a big check for doing that.
Of course this is the extreme, but that goes to show you, if you play good tracks, that's all it matters, no one cares about how it was done.
- Miguex0
Different situation, if you do stuff like this:
- therealfunkygraffish0
i say just do what you do...record on garage band. dont know...but you know, what do i know. what works for you may not work for me and vice versa.
but i wish you the best, and if you are truly serious about getting gigs, i hope you get them. just keep mixing and never give up.
peace!
ill be djing at avalon on april 22nd. so if you want to roll let me know. its in los angeles. doorly and nero will be there that same night. peace!.
- Frosty_spl0
I made a few mixes so far:
http://soundcloud.com/user631621…
I had a few rough spots, and cropped out one bad one. I think it came out pretty good though.
I played my first "real" gig at this small bar in ATL that is always PACKED. It was storming and hailing really bad that night, so only a few of my friends showed up, but it was still really crowded. I played mostly electro house remixes and some A-trak songs. Everyone seemed to like it, and I didn't trainwreck too noticeably haha. Now I'm working on getting my second gig.
- sounds good. just keep it going. never give up, dont get lazy, dont get caught up with the partying. but im sure you are working hard.therealfunkygraffish
- Frosty_spl0
At the gig, my friend said some songs didn't have as much bass. I guess my levels were off or something, they all seem loud, but I didn't have a monitor.
- There's your problem, you need a monitor, sound can be way off what you think it is in a club.BuddhaHat
- neue75_bold0
The bar for mixtapes has been raised dramatically in the past 5-10 years with all the digital technology now involved with live sets.. I remember seeing coldcut play off laptops about 10 years ago and nobody was really impressed, this was still very much the days of turntablists, and at the most, the use of samplers and such, was kinda pushing boundaries... nowadays you actually kinda feel like a schmuck lugging a record bag around, anyways, not really the point, but as a strictly vinyl hobbiest, there's no way I can compete with what a lot of guys/gals are doing digitally, but that's ok..
I tend to make mixes solely for me, when I'm walking around or for working to, I play out every once in a while, but that's usually quite a different set list than a mixtape.. For me it's just about pulling a good track selection and some solid mixing.. I actually find it kinda endearing to hear some mistakes in a mix, keeps it human feeling..