The 'Sync' button – ADE Conference 2011 Discussion.

So far, the purists in that video arguing are the ones living in the past.

Seriously. I don’t knock anyone who loves their vinyl (analog or timecode), but this logic that one isn’t a “real DJ” unless they play vinyl is ridiculous. Times have changed. I remember when musicians first came down on DJs in general when the occupation first began. I’m talking in the early to mid 1900s…before the whole DJ thing that blew up in the 70s and 80s.

I remember when musicians and artists came down on groups like Depeche Mode and New Order for going into electronic instruments so much when they felt analog was the true art. I remember when folk people came down on Bob Dylan because he wanted to take folk into directions outside of the typical single singer with a normal guitar and harmonica.

These people can complain all they want, but I say “change or die”. You either get with the times or fall behind and find yourself struggling to make a living. I know if I lived in the past in regards to web design, I’d be unemployed.

I ‘ll agree with all the posters above and I will only add my usual “counter-arguement” when talking with these so-called “purists”.

purist: “Djing with Sync button is fake DJing”.
me: “Is DJing only beatmatching?”
purist: “Of course not, the DJ has to “feel” his audience, get the vibes going, become one with the crowd, give the crowd what it needs, create a musical trip with his set…etc…etc….etc”
me: “Are any of all these things related to simple beat-matching? Of course not…You need to have way more skills in way more areas than simple beatmatching….Saying that the sync button is fake DJing is like admitting that you didnt do any of the above in the first place…you were simpy relying on beatmatching”
purist: “…..”

Sincerely speaking? I believe (generally speaking) that the ones who are afraid of evolution and change, the ones who accuse evolution of making things too easy for the rest of the world, are usually the ones who are most insecure about their own skills, or do not really feel they are doing something special, skillful. Ask a skilled, down-to-earth, psychologically healthy vinyl DJ who knows his profesion and he ‘ll probably say “Idont use that stuff, Im happy with my vinyls” and thats all you ll get from him, no bashing, in fact, no opinion because in the end digital is equipment he hasnt used so he doesnt have an opinion on it. For me, any bashing or accusation is initially treated with suspicions.

PS: I fully agree though with the already posted article here in DDJT that a digital DJ should know/learn how to beatmatch manually.

P.S. Doesn’t the same thing apply to harmonic mixing?

Yeah, and not only that! I don’t remember anyone accusing Pioneer of helping fake DJs when they released that “space-ship looking” DJM 2000 mixer with the eq-crossfading touch screen thing which practically eliminates the need for the DJ to use his ears and EQ the tracks. It was presented as a great innovation (and indeed it is) but noone said : “Hey this is fake DJing”

You had me at

Dj iceman, post: 9061 wrote: ok time for some “my life is worse than yours” banter lol.

😉

I can totally understand it, because to some degree I think it also goes into the very essence of Hip-Hop…
I think Guru explained it in the outro of Loungin’, but then again… (and I realise I’m preaching to the choir here as well :p) shouldn’t your choice in technology be disregarded as long as you remain true to that creative spirit? I mean, creating a whole new sound from 2 (or more) records instead of focussing on the turntables.

Sometimes in order to see the point in something and be able to look beyond the technology, they need to see the motivation and respect behind it. Instead of turntables, you’ve got the jogwheels on your controller, and as you said:

Dj iceman, post: 9061 wrote: people forget that sync ONLY matches up the bpms of 2 songs,the dj has to make them sound right

, the software doesn’t pick records, scratches, or mixes it. Plus, you get extra creativity! Different tools, same platform. It’s not pre-recorded; you don’t do DAT, you do it live!

(Sorry for putting up another bit of text, but I hope this might help you out as well. This is just how I tend to look at it.)

It’s not the size of the tool, but how you use it! 😉
(Haters compensating much? ;))

(And props btw, I’ve always had huge respect for the hip-hop community for that “hackers”-mentality, taking something and combining it to something new. The only limit being your own creativity and imagination. Especially with some of the intelligent lyrics, using it as an expressive means. Kind of reminds me of Capoeira, but that’s a different story.)

And A-Trak up to a certain extent I guess, saw him live 2 years ago mixing turntablism with house, but the whole music industry is evolving in some weird way.

Where are the good old times with J5 mashing it up live… 🙂

WOW! Oo

I agree, but with hip hop DJs it seems it is just so embedded in their culture that they are having the hardest time adjusting to the change in the DJ culture as a whole. I was listening to a DJ the other night and she was (yes, SHE) was going hard! – great song choices, VERY smooth transitions – NO scratching even though she was using Pioneer CDJs w/ Serato timecode. Anyway, another DJ was standing next to me and I mentioned that she is doing great and his response was – “yeah but she’s just playing music, I like to actually DJ.” – emphasis on the DJ portion like what she was doing wasn’t actually DJing. I know the guy and he is a very scratch heavy DJ and labels everything (house, dubstep, trance etc.) “techno” – so I feel that once they put themselves in the hip hop category there is a heavy tendency to write everything else off.