Keep It Real Society

Just some guys that have no credibility to try and prove credibility? Yeah, that will work 😛

The thing is, no matter if there are respectable DJs in this group (even if I myself would be in it):
How are they rated?
How can you assume that each DJ is judged the same way by them?
How can you be sure that they have the same standards, as all of them seem to apply differently?

So before you can expose something, you need a standard on which you can measure or audit the whole thing.
This however would mean you would need a “minimal DJ requirements standard” with a fool proof test sheet, that even a non-DJ that learned how to assess it can fill out. (Similar to IEEE, ISO, ISC,… standards)
If for one would not even like such a standard. If someone who is really cool can keep a crowd happy with an iTunes playlist, then by all means he should do it.

Everything else is just another site, giving opinions about other people that they might not like and hence vote down, or know personally and hence squeeze an eye etc.

Hence the whole system of rating DJs (as well as Bands etc.) is bogus. If they have an audience, they do something right, even if they do not mix live. The only thing that actually matters: does it bother you? If so then do not go there and give them an audience.

Here I may quote the Dalai Lama: Let no action of others endanger your inner peace.

Funny thing: I totally agree with you.

The thing I am just putting in perspective is, that while this groups intentions are noble, I doubt it will reach the customer/raver/clubber.
There is a slim chance it will reach some promoters and gain some followers on facebook (which sadly is not the real world).

I do not think that faking is tolerable (for me, when I go to a gig), but sadly I guess that many people just do not care. Which is sad for me, but is also the truth.

Then there is the guys that actually create something else, with totally different tools. For example I would not call Deadmau5 a good DJ, but his shows are fun and he is a good producer. How would you rate him?

On the other hand arab muzic is a button pusher and totally improvises many of his sets on his MPCs. But this is not really DJing either.

So what I was going for (and I do want a discussion about this, just please do not get angry) is how to rate everyone really. I mean there are obvious fakes like Paris Hilton etc. which are sad to be there. But I guess there are many acts that count as “borderline” and I just would not know how to judge them and give them good or bad credit?

Please keep posting Louis and do not get me wrong, we are prolly on the same side. I guess it is just the methods that differ.

For one what I am trying to do with my friends and the fans I have gathered is to educate them about DJing.
So what I try to achieve is from the other side around: I do not want to discover fakes and point them out to people -> this is a fake.
I want to educate people about DJing and EDM in any form and then recognise by themselves and make a more clear decision if they go to that gig/event/rave or not.

Not being a native English speaker sometimes gets in my way, I hope you get my point Louis, that make sense to you?
(We do not need to agree on the methods, I guess it is the same discussion as with Traktor vs Serato. I would just like you to understand my point of view…)

I mixed 3 tracks (two vocal, one music) into my “intro track” for my dj set. Am I using a partially prerecorded set? I suppose I could set up the 2 vocal tracks in my serato sample decks and trigger them manually. Hmmmm……

I have to agree with Terry in that I can see this group mainly being DJs who will be seen by the rest of the world as “haters” or “jealous” or “holding on to the past”.

A friend of mine went to see Afrojack play at the local concert hall, and told me his DJ set wasn’t anything spectacular, but more just about popping on a big epic hit with the light show going crazy. I look at all the people who went to that as well as those who go to those big summer fests loaded with these “all flash, no substance” headliners, and really believe that for most people, it’s about the EXPERIENCE.

The average person just wants to be in a big space full of interesting and/or hot-looking people. They might want to be sorted on an E or A, but they all want the experience of the big massive well-lit over-the-top event.

EDC is coming to my hometown, and already I’m seeing local DJs bashing on it, claiming “people should support their local scene”. However, I jokingly tossed in how much of our local scene are “Vegas-style” bottle service clubs. Even the once cool jazz venue Green Dolphin is going to reopen now as a big glam venue.

Like it or not, the “all about the music” events and such that DJs love can exist…but the real trick is getting the average person to appreciate that…which is hard. This is why I try to urge on you all when I write articles about promoting that the crowd is king…and that’s why these “fakers” have managed to win in this environment.

Look at Tomorrowland. Yes, it was loaded with major names…but I think most simply wanted to be a part of this:

Not going to lie, when I go to a club as a patron the only things on my mind are the feel of the club/who I’m going to scope out/ style of music. When I’m buying drinks or dancing with someone, very rarely do I say “hold on hun, I need to go to the booth to make sure the dj is manually doing his job.”

I am part of the problem =(.

Very interesting thread. In reading all the responses and thinking about this issue, it occurs to me that there might be an even deeper difference between a DJ who pre-records a set and a DJ who mixes manually, beyond how important it is to be authentic. I don’t manually mix just to keep it real – I manually mix because I actually enjoy the work. I enjoy the experience. When I practice, it’s because I like thinking about my next track and I like manually mixing, and for the one gig I’ve played out so far, most of the fun for me was actually doing the work, doing the programming and mixing in the moment. Reading the crowd, feeling how to drop a new tune in at the appropriate time, etc. I wouldn’t really know how to convince a DJ who pre-records a set that he shouldn’t, because while I think there are arguments to be made about keeping it real vs. faking it, I think it likely stems from something deeper. If a DJ would feel okay pre-recording a set, I suppose that means that being able to play a mix that has been tooled with until it sounds “perfect” is the most enjoyable part of the job for that DJ. More enjoyable for him/her, on a basic level, than the actual action of selecting tracks and performing mixes in the moment, which is the most fun part for me. And perhaps the position of the pre-recorded DJ isn’t just selfish, or lazy; perhaps it has more to do with a DJ trying to give a crowd the best experience he/she can, and for him/her, that means pre-recording part or all of a set. But for me, and for most of the people on this thread it seems, the actual enjoyment is in the in-the-moment track selection and mixing, and so DJing–the action, not the concept–does not exist in a pre-recorded set.

So yeah, I don’t know if the question is “how important is it to keep it real?” I think it might be “what do you enjoy most about DJing?”