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“So i’m feeling like people have accepted the Laptop as a means of DJing, i do remember a time when it was very frowned upon… For me i just got kinda bored mixing one record into the next and Ableton allows me to combine loops and tracks together in a more exciting way. I think 90% of people on the dance floor want to hear the records they like regardless of how they are performed… thoughts?” – Max Graham

I’m going to be honest here and say that the majority of the DJs who use this method are just lame. Why? They usually have no skills, no music feeling and no methods for mixing. Picking your favourite songs, putting them in order and beatmatching does not make you a DJ. I’m serious.

Djing is about feeling your crowd, knowing what the audience wants before they even know it. That’s the beauty of it and that is what makes a DJ stand out. And once and for all: DJ IS NOT ABOUT BEATMATCHING, ok? Beatmatching is the first thing you learn and it’s the most basic part of DJing, it’s so essential, that has become an inseparable part of your job, but it does not define it. It’s like driving a car: does knowing how to change your transmission manually make you a good driver? There you go!

Ok, now you tell me, “but laptop DJs don’t do anything. They just push play and get drunk”. If you are actually DJing there, that’s not truth. You have to go through all the trouble even before your gig, to prepare each track – or do you really think DJs just copy them into the software? – and experiment loads of possibilities of gig progression. You have to be prepared to change your plans according to your audience’s response.

Another fundamental improvement of mixing with your laptop – and the new CDJ2000 also do the tricks – is the opportunity to bring your monster library to your every gig. Normally, if you’re mixing CDs, you design the progression your going to have in the night, and burn CDs with your chosen songs, throwing a couple of spare tunes because the night usually doesn’t go straight as it planned. But what if you feel like playing THAT one song in the middle of your gig that you didn’t bring? Oh well…

During your performance, mixing with laptop can also give you the chance to change the song in real time, adding loops, effects, filters, vocal samples, playing with the speakers. And, yes, you can do those things with a powerful mixer, but the possibilities are not so endless, and, again, it’s something you will have to think way before your gig or you will not be able to accomplish.

“I put a lot more effort into combining loops on top of a record to make it sound more pumping than i do beatmatching a cd then waiting 5 mins to do it again… yawn” – Max Graham

MIDI controllers
I see a lot of people complaining how Laptop DJs keep staring at the screen instead of interacting with the audience. That’s completely not truth! When you know your tracks and the software you chose, there’s actually very few time spent in that area. Let’s say it’s the same time a DJ spends browsing his CD wallet, plus, he can do it while facing the dance floor.

But there’s another thing that takes you a step further into DJing with your laptop: MIDI controllers. If you hate having to use your mouse to throw your effects, you’ll love this. They are hardware with knobs, sliders and pads that you can map to control your favourite software.

The one I fell in love with it’s AKAI APC 40. It not only boots your live performances, but it facilitates your productions too. Since it was specially designed for Ableton live, you don’t need to map its controls to talk to the software – when you connect it, it automatically does it for you. But you can still customize it as you wish.

And if you miss the turntable, cause you could do scratches and laptop DJing seems to take that away from you, you’re wrong. You can simulate scratches using the APC 40 with its endless possibilities of sound effects.

Fakers
Despite of all the good side of laptop DJing, that only makes you a good one, if you actually explores it and push your performance further. Let’s say that what really happens in the clubs is not exactly that. Many, many, many DJs are paid to deliver a live performance and what do they do? They prepare everything and just push play and get drunk, while pretending to throw in some effects, which have already been placed in the right spot before the gig.

There’s not only disrespectful with your audience, but with the guys who hired you, I mean, they could’ve put someone who is willing to give a little more effort in a performance. At the same time, does the audience REALLY care?

Let’s say that most of the people go out to have a good time, listen to good music and, no, I’m sorry, the majority of them don’t have a clue (or care) how you do what you do in the DJ booth. The most demanding audience is other musicians. They are the ones who will go “WOW” when you show your uniqueness up there. Either way, when you PRETEND you’re rolling the knobs, pressing the buttons and choosing your next song, it’s just sad.

I see why the majority think is mixing with your laptop is cheating, because is so much easier to fake there and harder to fail. It’s clearer to spot an error when a DJ beatmatches the wrong way, but that’s not the only way you can ruin your performance, plus, let’s face it, the aesthetics of CDJs and mixers is incomparable.

Vinyl DJs said CDJ’s were cheating, CDJ DJs said Laptops are cheating. But I definitely think that CD mixing is slowing fading out. Digital music is the future, we can see that with the new Pioneer CDJs 2000, in which you can mix with your pen drive or usb card.

Posted in: Special | Posted on July 20, 2010 by Carol