A DJ’s primary job (or, if you prefer, “purpose”) is choosing songs. For a while it was his only job—back when turntables didn’t have pitch control and scratching was a surefire way to break your record player and destroy your vinyl all at once.*** A DJ was a one-trick pony, playing one song after another until the party ended. Hence, the only way to compare one DJ with another was by his song selection. A better DJ played better songs. (Of course, the argument “What makes a better selection of songs?” is even harder to settle. But the logic still follows that whoever played better songs was a better DJ.)
***Insert long David Foster Wallace-esque footnote here: A turntable is basically a motor that spins a metal disk at a constant speed. There are two types of turntables: belt-drive and direct-drive. A belt-drive turntable has the motor off to the side. That motor is connected to the spinning axle via an elastic band. This band isn’t strong enough to withstand any serious scratching, and over time the band deteriorates until it must be replaced. This was the standard for years, and it’s probably what your parents used when they first listened to the Beatles.
A direct-drive turntable has a motor directly underneath the spinning disc. This design makes a record reach the proper RPM much quicker; you need a direct-drive turntable if you’re going to scratch. Even better, there’s no elastic band to replace. The catch? For a long time turntable motors were loud and clunky; the motor vibrated during playback and made the needle jump. This shaking damaged the vinyl itself and created rough, irregular playback. But modern motors are quiet enough to keep the record spinning consistently and the needle firmly in the groove. Direct-drive turntables are preferred by every serious DJ, though they’re typically more expensive.
Back to the main point: DJs were choosing songs, and we were comparing them by those songs. But DJing evolved (along with the equipment) and there was another criterion by which to judge DJs: technical ability. The best DJs knew how to use the equipment. They could beatmatch perfectly; they could EQ songs with just the right amount of high, middle and low frequencies; they could use samplers or effects processors or any number of sequencers, drum machines and synthesizers. Learning to use this equipment was hard. But those who mastered the machinery were considered better DJs. Two DJs could play the exact same songs, but one could play a better set depending on how he played the songs. Technical ability mattered.
Today, software like Serato Scratch Live and Ableton Live make the technical aspect of DJing much easier to learn. Modern DJs aren’t learning to use hardware, they’re learning to use software (or some combination of hardware and software).
For example, beatmatching used to be the most important technical skill a DJ could learn. It took years to perfect that ability. Now it’s a breeze. I’m pretty sure I could teach anyone with a decent ear and a few hours of free time to beatmatch songs using Serato. Ableton literally beatmatches for you, assuming your songs are quantized correctly beforehand.
There are two main implications to the rise of software-driven DJ sets:
First, I think we’re all better off because amateur DJs don’t sound as amateurish. Nothing is more painful to listen to than shitty scratching or off-beat mixing. Software corrects some of that. It’s easier to be a mediocre DJ, and mediocre DJing is better than bad DJing. And the fact that DJing is easier to learn also means more people are doing it. That doesn’t mean they’re doing it well, but they’re still doing it. More people DJing is, on the aggregate, a good thing. Even if they’re bad DJs, they probably pay money to see other DJs or in some other way help “the scene.” On a more personal note, many of them also read this blog.
There are certainly purists (read: turntablists) who scoff at the idea of using anything more than two turntables and a mixer, but those people are in the minority. Most DJs use a laptop or, at the very least, CDJs (which, by the way, are still digital rather than analog and often have some sort of built-in software package that’s essentially just a scaled-down version of Serato). It’s both foolish and futile to oppose DJing software. If it makes the set better (“better” meaning “let’s the artist get the exact sound he wants”) then I’m all for it. But then again, there are also people who prefer an acoustic guitar to an electric guitar because that’s the sound they want. It’s just personal preference.
Second, DJs are again primarily judged by the songs they play. We’ve come full circle. Operating Serato/Ableton still requires a certain amount of “skill” (should I even include quotation marks there anymore?). But software helps level the playing field and, more importantly, adjust the learning curve. Once all DJs become the same in their ability to use the software, the only judging criterion left is—you guessed it—song selection. Technical proficiency isn’t a valid criterion for comparison anymore because everyone is technically proficient. Maybe we’ll eventually get to the point where all a DJ will be able to do is chose songs while the software takes care of the rest. Where do we go from there?
Kissy Sell Out
My favorite DJ right now? Tough to answer. But the first person who comes to mind is Kissy Sell Out. He’s got the technical ability that every great DJ has, but his song selection is top-notch. He’ll play a set with music from all over the place and somehow make it all work. For example, a recent performance of his included songs by Rusko, Cat Stevens, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, M83 and Machines Don’t Care. The tracklist reads like a total clusterfuck, as if he just hit “shuffle” and played whatever came up next. But if you listen to the mix you’ll realize he pulls it off like nobody else could.
My favorite thing about Kissy Sell Out is that he remixes songs exclusively for his live sets (appropriately titled “Kissy Klub Versions”). See him perform and you’ll hear a track that’s never been released and never will be; his hard drive must be loaded with homemade gems. It’s actually a little frustrating—much of his stuff is fantastic and the fact that I can’t get the individual songs drives me crazy. But it makes his live sets that much more exciting. I never know what he’s going to play and I’ll probably never get to hear some of those Kissy Klub Versions again. The songs add a thrilling sense of once-in-a-lifetime urgency to his performances.
Enjoy this original track from his album Youth and a fun R.E.M. bmore-inspired remix.
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Kissy Sell Out – Garden Friends
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R.E.M. – Nightswimming (Kissy Sell Out Remix)
