Sync Buttons, Pitch Faders And The Senseless Beating Of A Dead Horse: A Comprehensive Guide To “Real DJing”

Pull Up A Chair And Get Comfortable, This Dead Horse Is In For A Ride…

First things first, in order for you to know where I get my perspective: I started playing on vinyl about 20 years ago. I love vinyl. And I have a clean set of 1200 MK5’s that I love playing on. But I also play on CDJs and controllers with computers too.

So why are some of my old school peers so adamant about this purist, “real DJs only play vinyl” perspective? I’d say it’s due to several reasons…some being quite legit actually!

But before you immediately discount the thought of me legitimizing vinyl purists by replying to this post with “OK boomer!”…I think you might be able to glean some new insight as to why there’s some legitimacy (and yes, fallacy as well) to that perspective… So, let’s dive in!

First of all, in order to determine what “real DJing” is, we would all have to agree upon one clear, concise definition for the term “DJ”. And that’s the problem. We can’t all do that.

But for all intents and purposes, I think we can all at least agree that the term DJ is an abbreviation of the words Disc Jockey. You know…back when music was actually stored on discs and played on phonographs and record players.

Of course, over the years, the methods in which recorded music is stored and gets played has changed. Physical discs are no longer the medium most commonly used to save and play recorded music. So, there lies the conundrum… Doing what disc jockeys have always done no longer requires actual discs.

So then…Is a DJ someone who plays physical discs specifically? Or is a DJ simply anyone who performs the act of playing or mixing recorded music, no matter the means? I’ll give you my detailed answer later. But first…

Allow Me To Don My Purist DJ Hat And Share That Perspective First:

Let me start off by shaking my fist in the air and saying: Back in my day, it took months to get proficient at turntables and to be able to pull off a clean set! And referring to yourself as a “DJ” before then would result in being publicly ridiculed and labeled as a fake-ass wannabe within the scene. Not good.

This was due to the huge amount of respect people used to have for the art of DJing. Remember, DJing (in our context) was born as one of the 5 elements of Hip Hop – a space where fakeness was not tolerated the least bit. You had to actually EARN your title to make it concrete…(Not just by listing it on some social media page!)

It’s much different today. Nowadays, who’s revered and lauded as a great DJ is determined more by marketing budgets and popularity on social media. (As opposed to who can do the most amazing things on vinyl.) A shit new standard if you ask me…DJ Mag’s top 100? Don’t get me started….

Today’s “DJ’s” don’t have to go through such a rigorous and dedicated journey in order to legitimately earn the title of “DJ”. Anyone with a laptop, no talent, and a free music program can now be a “DJ” and cleanly mix 90 minutes worth of music, amirite?

This, I think is one of the main reasons purists have some resentment towards today’s commonly accepted criteria for being a DJ. Not to mention, they see some of these young kids who have never even touched a piece of vinyl blowing up and supporting themselves through their music. A bit of jealousy perhaps? (Actually, I feel personally attacked by that question!) LOL But I do think that the talent bar has been lowered substantially over the years.

Now let’s talk about DJs acquiring their music: Back in the day, we would congregate at the record shops on the days they got in new shipments. Standing room only! We’d be flipping through the bins and throwing records on the turntables, frantically auditioning tracks to nab the good ones before the next person. The art of digging was real…and competitive!

We could easily spend $10 on one record with only one track on each side. Sometimes more! This budget issue forced us to choose our tunes wisely and curate our sets with more love, focused intent and purpose.

The vast majority of discovering and acquiring music is done online now. That feeling of community and physical contact with one another has diminished quite a bit. It has been replaced by the world wide interwebs of Photoshopped profile pics, fake followers and a sea of mediocre tracks that make it nearly impossible to find a gem.

Today’s DJs are burdened with information overload. When you have 40,000 tracks on your computer, (most of which you’ve never even heard), you never really get to know your music collection. Remember, less can be more. And knowing your tracks, (or at least a good number of them) intimately is a huge part of delivering a well programmed, technical and clean set. (Whether done on vinyl or not.)

It used to take knowing your tracks inside and out and hours upon hours of bedroom practice to be able to line up double drops and perfectly timed breakdowns throughout a set. Respect! No looping within tracks to change arrangement timing…no visual screen or cue points to use for crutches. Nope! Those didn’t exist.

Your only tool was pure planning, preparation and countless hours of love poured into every live performance. Not to mention, it took a constant intense focus to remain beat matched. And this magnetic, highly focused energy the DJ had to bring shined through in their sets.

Sync button / digital DJs lack the same requirement of constant intense focus in order to simply keep the mix going clean. And it shows through. That’s the main difference I see. With a click of a button, their tracks are perfectly synced for the whole mix and they can spend most of their time tweaking knobs, throwing up heart signs and doing Jesus poses!

Not to mention, watching a DJ stare at a laptop for an hour and a half, completely ignoring the crowd in front of them makes me scratch my head. (Sorry laptop DJs.)

I think DJs who do this are completely missing the whole point of playing live. (Not that every single laptop DJ has Serato face their entire set.) But many do I’ve noticed… Only laptop DJs at the highest level of ability and performance can do their sets and still maintain a good degree of crowd interaction and project that live energy vibe and feel, in my opinion.

One could even argue that when a computer or sync button is in control of the tempo and timing of each track, it’s not real DJing…If one’s definition of “real DJing” includes *must beat match live. So is beat matching an Ableton set at home before your performance still “beat matching”?

Here’s what I think: Beat matching is the act of dropping tracks into a mix and tuning their pitch and tempo BY EAR, LIVE, IN REAL TIME and making the adjustments on the fly with a physical pitch control in order to match BPM’s and mix the tracks together on beat and measure.

Lining up grids on a computer when you’re not mixing live isn’t beat matching in my humble opinion, sorry. But you don’t have to be offended by or agree with my perspective. After all…I’ll proudly admit that I have a fair amount of purist in me!

Unlike laptop mixing, with vinyl, (and even CDJs to a large extent) there’s more of a live and intimate connection with the people in front of you.

A human is in charge of the timing of the records. Not a computer. And said human is therefore subject to the real time flow of energy reflected to them by the crowd. This effects their presence, energy level and how they well they mix each track.

The subtle swaying of slight variations heard in the timing of the two tracks, and how they make small adjustments to bring them back in time tells a story in and of itself.

It’s all part of the live energy exchange between the DJ and the crowd. This subtlety of character adds color to the performance and is completely absent in most laptop or digital sets.

The vinyl DJ had to be much more tuned into this energy. The DJ and crowd mutually determined how the set went because they fed off each other more and effected one another to a larger degree. It was an equal exchange. Not to say that it doesn’t happen to some degree with digital DJs, it’s just diminished with digitally synced tracks.

DJs who don’t use pre-programmed sets can adjust the vibe on the fly to embrace the constantly evolving feeling of the room. This gives you more of freedom of expression than Ableton Live DJs, who give that up in exchange for a robotic, mechanical ease of performance.

As vinyl DJs, you’re forced to be more aware of and sensitive to the energy of the crowd. (And god forbid you lose your focus for one second and train wreck!) This performance standard forces you to have 10 times the amount of self-awareness that these damn digital kids today have! (*Shakes fist in air again.)

And speaking of the energy in the room: Nothing kills the vibe and constantly derails a smooth energy progression throughout the night like every single DJ having to set up their own controller to play on.

Old school DJs all shared the same set up: Technics 1200’s and a mixer. And stepping up to take over from the person before you was an excellent way to showcase how expert you were at embracing unfamiliar music and adapting to keep the energy flowing.

This was fun and a good challenge! Just doing it in a manner that took the torch respectfully and allowed the building of the energy of the room to continue was grounds for getting “the nod!”

It’s hard to keep smooth energy flowing throughout the night when everyone uses different gear to perform on. It’s very disjointed actually. Not to mention, you’ve got people plugging in these shitty, third-world audio cards on $150 controllers into high end sound systems. Kinda like converting a 96 kbps MP3 into a WAV file for more clarity. Amirite??!

One of my biggest pet peeves about controller shows is that there’s someone interrupting the last 15 minutes (usually the very peak) of the DJ’s set by fumbling around them plugging in their cords and gear, setting up their controller. Total buzz kill when a DJ is deep in the mix! (Not to mention, quite disrespectful to the person who is performing.)

Many of my laptop-dependent friends might argue that this subtlety is a minor inconvenience and completely irrelevant. But I would beg to differ.

Personally, I prefer when everyone uses the same gear. And there are no swap outs with equipment. CDJs are great for this.

And oh my god…hearing the music completely stop in between DJs is like listening to Freddy Krueger claws scratching a chalkboard! Hearing this at large festivals is bad enough, but inside nightclubs is way worse. It completely kills the vibe. Sometimes no sound is the worst sound!

I think that being brought up within this old school standard of prioritizing the vibe of the room often makes older DJs more sensitive to it. We HAD to be. It also provided better training grounds on how to continuously build the energy of the night.

Nowadays, it’s the norm for everyone to be completely oblivious to their surroundings and caught up in their own little world on some digital device. This cultural norm has infected the DJ scene.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen laptop DJs completely disregard the existing vibe and clear a dancefloor with an abrupt change…and not even bother making any adjustments after doing so. Sure, any DJ can do this….but I’ve noticed that it’s way more common with today’s digital DJs.

Also, it breaks my heart to see them open a show at 9:00 PM by beating people over the head with a sledge hammer of peak-hour dubstep bangers! Ugh…Zero situational awareness. Perhaps they should Google the word foreplay?

Back in my day…(*Shakes fist in the air one last time), it was important to make sure the night was curated properly. Special attention would be given to the genres and set times.

I think that all of these stereotypes combined: instant gratification, lack of beat matching ability, lack of self awareness, and disjointed sets and set ups make purists resentful towards the newer generation of digital DJs.

Sure, as an old school DJ, I would prefer to look out into a crowd and see countless smiling faces intently focused on our energy exchange as opposed to seeing the backs of 100 cell phones being held up…And as a party goer, I would much rather see a DJ fully embracing the crowd with eye contact and interaction as opposed to staring at a laptop the whole time…But hey…the damn kids these days will be saying something similar in 20 years about the damn kids of the future! </end rant>

Ok Now, Switching Hats To My Non-Purist Perspective:

It’s not the equipment, it’s the music you play and the vibe you put out. DJ technology has developed so much at this point that there are literally 100’s of methods of DJing. And people should pick the one they resonate with most to perform on.

I’m tired of you old school, has-been gate keepers stuck in your ways, trying to get one up on younger DJs who are just trying to share good music. Leave them alone. Just because you guys can’t manage to stay relevant doesn’t mean you should avoid change with some fake-ass superiority complex. (*Sips a low-fat, organic, sugar-free soy milk blonde latte)

The art of DJing has moved way past two turntables and a mixer. The vast majority of music that people have is in digital form. And digital players are what is relevant today. Electronic music has always been about pushing the envelope of technology and music genres. So “real DJing” is any DJing done with good music choice and solid execution.

And all the subtleties involved in playing vinyl are equivalent to all of the subtleties and tricks you can incorporate with digital systems. With a decent controller you can easily play four tracks at once with effects added, loops going and do live remixes on the fly like nothing. This stuff is literally impossible with just vinyl only.

Keeping the equipment standard among performers and only having one set up to share prevents the uniqueness and variation that different people can offer by mastering various mixers, programs and hardware. Stifling progress by clinging on to antiquated equipment and methods is the exact opposite of what electronic music is about.

In fact, most people listening today don’t even care about the equipment being used. They just want to hear a great set by an amazing DJ and get down on the dancefloor. Besides, a laptop and controller are much easier to carry around compared to turntables or CDJs and a mixer. Furthermore, (yes, I said furthermore), who has 5 grand plus to buy all that gear? I can get a decent controller for a couple hundred dollars and hell, everyone already has a laptop. And boom! I’m off and mixing immediately!

The massive growth of the electronic music industry in the last two decades is largely attributed to the expansion and availability of DJ technology and sound systems. All boats rise with the tide. So the fact that the market for this stuff is way bigger than ever before is a win for all of us. And encouraging new DJs to get started by any means they can is a good way to continue fostering the scene’s growth.

A real DJ simply uses any and all equipment available that allows them to perform the best they can.

People like A-Trak and Carl Cox have used controllers in their performances. Does that mean they’re not “real DJs”? (*Sips a low-fat, organic, sugar-free soy milk blonde latte again)

And what about CDJs? They have sync buttons. And they’re the industry standard equipment supplied at all major clubs and festivals. But they’re digital and have screens. Does that make them less than turntables? Or is playing on them fine as long as you don’t touch the sync button?

There are far too many grey areas and personal preference dynamics to draw any clear line for what constitutes “real DJing”. But hating on other people is definitely not “real DJing”. And if you have to hate on others due to their choice of equipment, then you might consider the notion that you’re not much of a “real DJ” yourself. (*Guzzles rest of the low-fat, organic, sugar-free soy milk blonde latte)

The “Real DJing” Conclusion

“Real DJing” is whatever the hell one wants to define it as…No one person has the monopoly on determining what that definition is for everyone else. Concurrently, no one has the right to force others to adopt their personal perspective on it. After all, if the electronic music scene isn’t about inclusion and acceptance of other lifestyles and opinions, then what is?

My personal opinion: Real DJing covers all of the above. However…the letters D and J have different meanings. For people who use vinyl, control vinyl and CDJs and beat match live: they’re DJs…as in disc jockey’s. (Yes, even if they’re using flashdrives on CDJs rather than actual CDs, they’re still disc jockeys.)

And everyone else using digital controllers, launch pads, laptops and software: They’re DJs too…Only the letters DJ in their case is an abbreviation for Data Jockey!

So I look at people’s performances in more of a sliding scale of skill as opposed to a black and white, “real DJ”, “not-a-real DJ” context. I’ve heard some amazing sets that have been done with laptops and a simple controller by someone I consider a real DJ.

So here’s my personal sliding scale graphic of the varying degrees of “real DJing”.

Both extremes have their advantages and hinderances. Besides, no one is in the position to dictate the value of something so subjective to anyone other than themselves. If I’m playing a silent disco, give me a laptop and controller over vinyl or CDJs any day!

So I say listen to, support, book and promote the DJs you appreciate most based on your own preferences and criteria. And allow others to have their own preferences and criteria too.

We all have something to offer. I’m just thankful that I do have the experience and perspective of being around in the vinyl only days to add that extra layer of flavor and understanding to my sets. I consider that a blessing.

But those days are long gone now and they’re not coming back. And the people who missed out on them will never be able to gain that perspective and insight. So rather than faulting them for it, I simply choose to embody what I feel being a “real DJ” is.

PS: Check out my Soundcloud, bro!!