DJ in a rock band

ChairmanSizzles said:

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Bro, here is where you face a padicament. I realize that there is almost an unspoken consensus "to keep it real" with the turntables, and I see nothing wrong with honoring the craft. But as a musician you have to evolve with technology. Through out history, any entity that opposes or hinders the progression of technology gets conquered or becomes extinct...or ends up living in a trailer park and hunts for food.

But if you must have it in 12's, you can go the closest wax/vinyl factory and have your digital media pressed into vinyl for about $40 bucks a pop(ouch!) Good luck man!
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If you want the best of both worlds there's Rane/Serato ScratchLive and a few other products that I couldn't speak for other than Stanton FinalScratch - I hope version 2 is better than version 1). But ScratchLive lets you control MP3, WAV, AIFF, and Oog/Vorbis with your turntables using their coded vinyl. Jazzy Jeff, A-Trak, and DJ Revolution are using ScratchLive. Plus you can still play your real vinyl with the flick of a switch on your mixer.
 
dangit-
i use a laptop as part of my setup fo sho, get a cheapy with a good soundcard and your set, it's much better than dishing out the cash for a sampler, i use it for triggering samples & such basically, and keeping masses of beats/songs on... i dunno, it's part of my setup, but i guess if i didn't do dances & such, i dunno if i'd have it...


"Originally posted by ChairmanSizzles:

Bro, here is where you face a padicament. I realize that there is almost an unspoken consensus "to keep it real" with the turntables, and I see nothing wrong with honoring the craft. But as a musician you have to evolve with technology. Through out history, any entity that opposes or hinders the progression of technology gets conquered or becomes extinct...or ends up living in a trailer park and hunts for food."

yo, aight, don't ignore technology and cancel it out right away but i don't agree with saying cats'll become extinct because they do either... right now, i'd say you're better to stick to then decks, cuz the cd/mp3 options can't step to the real thing yet, there's still bugs, and there's still a lag between the execution & the sound... i'll switch over when there's an alternative that is a perfect replica/improvement of analog, vinyl turntables... until then, it's all vinyl for me, right now i'd say switching over's a waste of money... pz!
 
hey neo

so you use both ur laptop and ur sp-505 as samplers? what kinda soundcard you use and do you use a midi controller to trigger samples? also wut program do u use ?
 
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For all you talking about using computers in your setups, I'm in the proposal stage of building a full out sampler in Max/MSP for one of my courses at school. I'll post more details later on when I start getting underway, plus I'll get everyone's input on features they'd like to see and hopefully make it really flexible and useful.

I'm not sure that it would be laptop compatible because one of my main concepts involes having multiple audio outs, one for composing/monitoring/tweaking the samples in realtime with mute and solo features, and the other is the actual audio that is getting outputted/looped, so that you can get the exact sound you're looking for before you drop it into the final Mix.
The idea is to basically have many many layers of audio that you can turn on/off or schedule for on/off (or throw in a fill) after 4 bars etc. and have it loop a phrases, have it MIDI compatible, hopefully some granular synthesis for time stretching, effects & filter and other goodies!

Like i said, I'll keep you guys posted when i break ground, but hopefully with your guys' help I can devellop a tool that will be uber-handy.

KJ
 
Ive been in numerous rock bands as a turntablist and i would spin samples and wouls scratch at certian breaks.


remember not to scratch over the vocals. And stick to the less is more theory. Don't give em everything you got in the first few minutes. Make em beg for more
 
you can scratch over vocals as long as you're not scratching vocal sounds generally, if you're scratching instrument sounds, or fx, by all means, scratch whenever you want, it changes band to band, track to track

dangit-

for live ish, mostly my sampler is used for triggering, cuz it's way easier, so i jus have sample on there but if it's like a loop through the track, i use my laptop, and for jamming my laptop, cuz it's much easier to use/holds much more, but for triggering it's hard with the mouse, & i don't have a midi device. i use sound forge/fruity loops generally for that sort of stuff, but all my own samples

i have an audigy 2 external, for sound quality/good price, pz!
 
lol, fuxor, i'm just saying you can cut over vocals if you want, it all depends, don't limit yourself

the actual technical reasoning behind not cutting over vocals in songs, is basically because they take up the same 'headspace' or sound frequencies sort of

so sure, if you're scratching vocals over vocals, it's gonna conflict and not sound nice, but if you're scratching instruments sounds, like transforming a trumpet line, or flutes, then why would you not do those over the vocals? there's no reason, unless of course it didn't sound good, haha

but yeah, don't listen to me, NEVER scratch over vocals in any circumstance, listen to fuxor, he's been on 13 different albums.

pz!
 
Neokinetik said:

but yeah, don't listen to me, NEVER scratch over vocals in any circumstance, listen to fuxor, he's been on 13 different albums.

pz!
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lol :D
 
Hey, i'd like to up this thread and see if anyone else has advice on any front to DJ's who would like to spin in rock bands.

thanks
 
i dj in a rock, folk, celtic, band with some electronic elements...

for setup I use one turntable (tech 1200), dj mixer (pioneer djm707), and my g4 powerbook with oxygen 8 midi controller. I use ableton live to trigger samples and play live beats and basslines i have programmed. i use the turntable for cutting and scratching. it all depends on the tempo of the song, the space between instrumental parts etc...but if your creative and think outside of the box and think like a musician you can add turntables at any time depending on the track... as long as u have a good sound make sure the levels are ok. the turntable can be used like a percussive instrument, like a horn, like a lead guitar, and like live sample triggerer, and like nothing any one has ever heard before... keep it as real as you want, just be true to your own creative level and do what works for you and what you believe in...and that is keeping it real. personally i like the fact that i use both the computer and vinyl. and the fact that im brining touches of hip hop into one of the last genres to be blessed by it.

peace
 
djs in rock bands

Check out Lifer, lost prophets,and older Incubus
Jaako said:
Hey FP,

I just got my tables recently and a buddy inquired about me spinning for his rock band.

Now, besides the fact that I still have no clue what i'm doing on the decks! (learning, slowly.... ) it raised an interesting question...

What exactly does a DJ do in a rock band?

What kind of samples? route any signals through the DJ mixer? techniques? how big of a role ...these kinds of things

Thanks guys,
KJ
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it really depends on the band's artistic project, you can do scratch for example, and you would be considered pretty more a percussionist than a DJ, or you can play samples or tapes from a launchpad or mpc. Sometimes, you can replace a drummer, like araab muzik do !
 
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