DJ Down Robot -- Manifesto

Tuesday, March 18, 1997

Now that I have been thinking about it a lot more, it seems apparent that I should want to become a DJ. Ever since my years as a rug-rat when my parents introduced me to piano lessons, I have had an undying interest in music. Those piano lessons, of course, exposed me mostly to purely classical selections. Somewhere along the line I became aware of the large selection of other, frequently better styles of music.

My first experience as a DJ was at age nine in a radio broadcasting course that I took at Oakland Community College. This course taught the very basics of creating a show that involved signing-on, playing a song, reading a fake news script, playing another song, reading fake (and in some cases quite comical) radio ads, playing more music, and then signing-off. The show did not get broadcast. It was only recorded on tape, but it was enough to get me hooked. The next summer I took the class again. Although the curriculum did not please me the second time around, I got a great thrill out of being able to play with all of those cool knobs and buttons again. That thrill has been sitting in the back of my mind ever since then.

The radio broadcasting classes must have inspired me to pull out my little dual cassette deck every now and then because I have a tape on my shelf labeled "Robbie's Mix." If I remember correctly, this "mix" was of the start-dubbing, stop-dubbing, switch-tapes, and-start dubbing-again quality.

A couple of years after those brief experiences as a DJ, something happened that would change my life forever: (suspenseful music here) puberty. Among the other standard side-effects that came with the ordeal was the loss of interest in playing the piano constantly. Around the time this was happening, my aunt started sending me the latest and greatest of alternative music on CDs. These combined events gave me a firm drop-kick out of the classical and easy listening music phase. It opened my mind to all of the more popular styles of music. The race of grunge- styled alternative followers quickly assimilated me into a die-hard member. Collective Soul and Nirvana became frequent visitors to my dad's new CD-changer. I also found the big bass of rap very attractive. Depending on my mood I would sometimes find myself tossing on some Boyz II Men or selections from the Dangerous Minds soundtrack.

The next music phase that I jumped into was computer generated sound. After MIDI sequencing, I soon discovered the MOD file format. The fact that I could download five to ten minute tracks as a relatively small file amazed me. This is how I discovered techno. The first few MODs that began my eventually enormous collection were techno mixes, the first techno that I had ever heard. I liked it. This style was new and unique to me. Its limitless supply of bass jumped out at me and slapped my bass craving right where it was asking for it.

The first rave style dance that I experienced introduced me to a new style of music, trance. It was at a friend's birthday party where a couple of my other friends were spinning a cool trance set. After experiencing trance first hand, I began to appreciate the techno style not only for the bass rush, but also for its repetitiveness. This was a valuable lesson, as techno by definition is very repetitive. By the time my MOD collection had grown to a reasonable size, I was able to distinguish between the good and bad techno that I had.

After that, one thing led to another and through my MOD collecting I learned that there were many different styles of techno, and that there were other styles of music available in the MOD format that I liked as well. My interest grew to encompass jungle. Then I started looking for jungle on CDs and started experimenting with mainstream techno. From there I made a couple of feeble attempts at mixing, which was when I decided that I definitely needed some decent equipment. That brings me up to the present.

Now that I have a solid desire to become a DJ, I am trying to find answers to the many questions that I have about DJing. The biggest issues that I need to settle before I dive into being a DJ are: Do I have what it takes to be a good DJ? What kind of DJ do I want to be? Exactly what equipment will I need? After spending an exhausting amount of time at the local libraries, I did not find the answers to any of these questions. So, I turned to my second best friend, the Internet, for help. At first I was looking in all of the wrong places, but after a couple of hours of surfing, I found a list of resources that contained everything I needed. I now have, sitting next to me in a pile of papers, and in my computer, many how-tos, manuals, and a couple of FAQs that amount to many volumes of information on DJing. I also stumbled over a news group, alt.music.makers.dj, which made me very happy. Through this news group I was able to interview six people. This was a big step in finding answers to my questions.

To start tackling the point of whether or not I am of DJ material I must first ask, what does it take to be a good DJ? Could anyone become a DJ? When asked these questions, Paul Roark (interview, March 9, 1997) replied by saying that, "There is a certain amount of talent that makes a great DJ." Everyone involved in the interviews seemed to agree that if you really want to be a DJ, you can make up for any lack of musical talent with practice. Ryan Weispfenning (interview, March 7, 1997) said, "You have to love it or you would never do it." Greg Smith (interview, March 6, 1997) pointed out that "A DJ has to be very inspirational, up beat, and have a generally fun attitude in everything he/she does ... and he/she must keep that happy go lucky attitude all the while he/she may think that the world is falling down around their ears." Almost everyone mentioned that a good DJ needs, "the ability to `read' the crowd and understand what music they will like and get energized by," (Thomas Wright, interview, March 11, 1997) as well as a unique "style."

With my current musical background and level of enthusiasm, I would say that I could probably become a successful DJ without spending an unreasonable amount of time practicing. "Reading" a crowd is an aspect of good DJing that must be self-taught. I do not think that anyone could walk up to a turntable for the first time and pretend to know what everyone wants to hear. This is one ability that separates music playing from professional DJing. With time, learning to "read" a crowd will probably become an intuition.

"DJing is the world's
best, most expensive,
safe and legal drug . . .
the rush is unattainable
any other way."

--Greg Smith

When I have an enthusiasm attack and start to tell someone that I want to be a DJ, they seem to automatically assume that I want to be a radio DJ. I think that this is because most people do not realize there are a few different kinds of DJs. The three major types are mobile DJ, club DJ, and radio DJ. According to Steve Shah (1997) radio DJs are actually the least common of the three. "Mobile DJs are the most common. They generally work parties and special events. Club DJs can be found, but aren't nearly as prominent as mobile DJs." The kind of DJ that I want to be is probably less common than these. I want to be a rave DJ, which is a very specialized type of mobile DJ. A rave DJ usually spins only one style of music (e.g., techno, trance, jungle) and has to be able to last through a very long party.

I am still trying to decide which styles of music I want to spin. I hope to be able to spin mostly underground jungle, but at the same time I also want to try trance and maybe even a little mainstream dance. I will probably end up settling with one style and then leaving the rest for "bedroom" DJing or personal listening.

Now that I have a reasonable idea of what I want to do as a DJ, I have to get the equipment that I will need. For help with this I turned to my friend, Jeff Harris (DJ HBomb), who has been an amateur rave DJ for the past few years. To start out, I know that I will need a pair of turntables, a mixer, and lots of music. DJ HBomb (personal communications, March, 1997) recommended the Technics SL-1200-MK2 as a very nice table. I looked around in alt.music.makers.dj to confirm that these would be worth the $450 or more apiece. I found that it is accepted that these tables are the minimum standard and that anything less is worthless for DJing. For a mixer, DJ HBomb says that any two channel model will be fine. I will probably end up with a mixer from Gemini, as they are a popular name in audio equipment. As far as music goes, well, that's something that I will just have to go out and buy.

I found out that I will probably also end up investing quite a bit of money on little odds and ends. These little things include: cartridges, styli, record cleaners, headphones, and wires. Do not forget tax and shipping on anything that is mail-ordered. The extra costs add up quickly, and I realized that it is important not to overlook them. When I am ready I will order the hardware, but what happens after that? The next step is to learn how to be a DJ.

The first thing that jumped out at me during my research was the apparent lack of print materials available on the subject of being a DJ. This means to me that learning to be a DJ is not something that you can do at school. That narrows the learning process down to teaching yourself or having a personal DJ mentor. So, which is better? In my interviews I asked each DJ a few questions about the learning process involved in becoming a DJ. I received mixed responses. DJ Poindexter (Thomas Wright) claimed that, "The real learning process is trying yourself," and Christian Behnke (interview, March 10, 1997) said that, "I think having another established DJ show you what to do is very important." Paul Roark replied, "Both. You need to have your own `style' and that is best if you are self taught." Greg Smith also compromised, "You can't learn everything from another DJ, and you can't learn everything by yourself." Basically, a beginning DJ can avoid a lot of headaches by having an experienced DJ show them the ropes. At the same time, most of the learning process should take place through experimenting to exercise the little bit of musical talent that being a DJ requires.

It seems like a wing-it, then-collaborate-with-fellow-DJs-every-now-and-then type of hobby. With the above advice, my plan is to dive right in to being a DJ and let DJ HBomb enlighten me with his knowledge as necessary.

Now that I know how I am going to learn how to be a DJ, what am I going to learn? By definition, being a DJ is, "Providing an entertainment for a wide variety of people through various means, mostly however, through music." (Shah, 1997) Obviously, anyone can play music. The difference between a person that is just playing music and a DJ, is mixing. The basic idea of mixing is that you match the tempo of two songs, then line up the beats until they are indistinguishable from each other. The intention is to make it impossible for your audience to tell that you have switched songs on them. This allows a skilled DJ to keep the music coming nonstop all night, which is very important for a rave DJ.

At the end of my interviews, I asked each DJ if there were any points that they would like to re-emphasize for beginners. Greg Smith edified, "I know from experience that you can get a bigger roar out of a crowd if you do the human juke box thing but play what they want and what is appropriate than if you mix it up till the dogs come home but you play crap for music." DJ XetriX (Christian Behnke) concluded by stressing that you should, "Create your own style. Don't be afraid to try new things, learn new things. Keep an open mind to styles, and music. Practice Practice Practice."

Through the interviews and research that I conducted for this project, I have learned a lot about what being a DJ will involve. If all goes well, I will be able to apply my musical talents to give me a head-start in becoming a DJ. I look forward to spending a lot of time with my new turntables, and I hope that someday I will be able to entertain crowds of people with professional quality DJing.

GLOSSARY

jungle

This style of music is also called drum & bass. It evolved from hard-core techno but is strongly influenced by reggae and hip-hop. Jungle has a very fast beat (150-180bpm) and is easily recognized by fast percussion breaks.

MIDI

Musical Instrument Digital Interface. These protocol specs. include a very flexible computer file format that, among other things, allows you to play fairly realistic instrumental music on your computer without filling up your hard drive.

MOD

As far as I can tell, this stands for module. This file format is in many ways identical to the MIDI format. The major difference is that the MOD format lacks the robustness that allows the MIDI format to be so flexible and widely used. This allows MODs to be very easily created and distributed with a stand-alone computer and leaves the MIDI format for people that want to use their computer to communicate directly with actual instruments / synthesizers / sequencers.

news group

In this case, a public discussion area on the Internet. (Usenet specifically) It is a cross between on-line chatting and e-mail.

techno

Definitions of this style of dance music vary greatly. It evolved from the house style in Detroit around 1986. Since then techno has become more and more popular and has recently started working its way into the mainstream market.
The main elements of the style include:

A relatively fast beat. Usually 130-160bpm.
Little or no vocals.
Usually in a minor key.
Very repetitive.

There are many styles other than true techno which can fall into the techno category. These include acid, hard-core techno, ambient techno and trance.

trance

A style of techno that stresses repetitiveness. Combined with strobe lights, the desired effect is a trance, or sleep- like state, while dancing.

REFERENCES

Knight-Ridder, L.M. (1996, May 24). `Messiah of dance' Junior Vasquez rearranges the beat -- and sound -- of pop. Knight-Ridder Newspapers.

Rothkin, S. (1996). DJ tips & notes. http://members.aol.com/srdjstuff/djinfo.htm

Shah, S. (1997). Alt.music.makers.dj FAQ. http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~sshah/dj/ammdj_faq.html