Production?

[Tails]

Lately it seems that all successful DJs dip into production to realize their sound. Other producers have tried their hands at DJing, with varying success (Gabriel & Dresden, BT).

What do you think? Does one naturally lead to the other?

[Jamie_G]

kinda bummed this thread got zapped when the site was down. i was hoping to hear more opinions on this.

[Tails]

Ditto... :sadblue:

[Jamie_G]

well, to reiterate, i've been playin guitar for 7.5 years, bass for 4 years, and teaching myself the basics of production for the past 3.5 years. I also draw and paint and spend a great deal of my time either working or partying. As much as i'd like to get into DJing, with all my hobbys and my limited funds I don't think it's going to possible any time soon.

[jakesmitty007]

I dunno, it's hard to push your music no matter how good it is if you don't DJ yourself. Otherwise you're just another bum handing out soon-to-be coasters at the end of a dj set. They're so many kids out there with Acid and Soundforge that you have to be able to differentiate yourself.

[Tails]

I think that means writing good music, not necessarily DJing...

DJs are so eager to get unsigned tracks that they can "break" and have exclusive copies of. If I produced even a mediocre progressive house tune, I know I could get ten DJs to play it just because I promised them no one else had it. (Of course, this becomes a matter of integrity on the part of the DJ, but I'm mostly suggesting that it isn't hard to get a DJ to play unsigned, good material with the artist's permission.)

[jakesmitty007]

Interesting point. So what's the DJ's fundamental role then ? To push or to pull?

Also another consideration I think is that a DJ probably (hopefully) has an innate sense of timing from experience, which allows him or her to optimize the structure of an arrangement to cater to a particular audience (generally one with whom he's already familiar). Sure, there's going to be a lot of variation from one set to the next, but ultimately there's a certain ebb and flow that needs to be present in dance music. Meaning, DJ/Producers might have a better sense of what elements contribute and/or detract from the overall value of the track.

I think being a DJ is analagous to being the editor of a newspaper. There's a general feeling or theme that you try to convey to your readers based on individual input from your reporters or editorials etc. You may remove paragraphs or sentences or phrases that don't contribute, or ask that certain things be developed more fully.

If all of sudden, as an editor, you started to write your own articles, they'd be far more likely to reflect your own vision for the newspaper. They would probably make the paper more effective as long as you don't end up writing all of the articles... :bookonraves:

[nickn]

I think jakesmitty007's right on the dot.

I always recommend gettin into DJing for my producer friends even if they have no intention of trying to play out. DJs are your market if you're making dance music so you should at least try and understand the music from their perspective.

On the other hand in the long run I think production is more valuable an experience than DJing because at least for myself I felt like my DJ skills eventually became reliant on getting new records and even then plateaued where as with production I feel like I could spend the rest of my life doing it and still not run out of things to learn.

[Tails]

I definitely agree that doing one can only help the development of the other, and that production, as it stands, always allows room for growth. I really like the newspaper editor analogy, thank you for that. :thumbsup:

But this reminds me of what Juliette (DJ Zelda) was talking about on the Amtrak mailing list. As DJs, there is always more to learn... but many become complacent, keeping their technique static and letting new tunes define their personal style. I think that as more bedroom DJs start doing their thing we might see an evolution of "standard" DJ technique. (What that is remains to be seen.)

I guess that what I'm saying is that this evolution is expected of our producers, but not of our DJs.

[beema]

The only way to become famous and successful as a DJ is to produce.
The only good way to make constant money as a producer in this age is to tour as a DJ.

[Tails]

What's your definition of "successful" as it applies to DJing? (Damn, I'm starting to sound like Dr. Phil in here..)

I think a lot of DJs are interested in getting their sound out there and perhaps developing a small following of people who can give them feedback, rather than touring internationally and being in magazines. This could be success for them. It could even, perhaps, be fame for them as well, on a much smaller scale.

I will agree that all the "top-tier" DJs now produce -- I started thinking about this issue when Oakenfold began working on the Planet of the Apes soundtrack, I think. More and more producers are turning to DJing, as well, even though some of them are horrible and should just stick to producing, or at least spend more time practicing before getting out in front of people (G&D).

[the sex molesters]

i want to be a successful musician. and to me, success means being able to make a living at it. production, djing, live PA... all tie in together.

[SCHLiTZ]

I get frustrated as a dj that I can find a sound that I like and get ideas of how i would like to follow and create upon that type of sounc, but don't have the resources to do so.

There are a ton of ideas that I get, but I lack the time, money, equipment to see those ideas through. If I ever have a ton of cash and time, production would be a dream come true.

[djliquidice]

I get frustrated as a dj that I can find a sound that I like and get ideas of how i would like to follow and create upon that type of sounc, but don't have the resources to do so.

There are a ton of ideas that I get, but I lack the time, money, equipment to see those ideas through. If I ever have a ton of cash and time, production would be a dream come true.

The good music is not as plentiful as it used to be. :-\

[SCHLiTZ]

that, and there are intruiging tracks that come along every once and a while which could really be spun off into some new sub-genre, but for whatever reason it never does.

[Echelon]

I have soooo much music that I love. My opinion on producing is when I run out of music that inspires and it all gets boring, that's when I'll have to make something that I like. Until then, I have too much fun with what's already out :D Right at this moment the EDM scene did kind of a decline in hype which is GREAT for the music because people are like fuck the hype I'm gonna make something I really love which tends to make for much better music. However, it seems that now the hype is coming back and it's coming fast I think. When it gets all blown up again, with lots of other people who never liked edm before now getting into it. The majority of the music being produced is gonna SUCK. But that's just my take on things. Peace

[Capsacium]

The whole DJ or Producer thing is kind of a catch-22. A DJ is a performance artist who does it live at somewhat of a risk, while a producer can work on something till its perfect. THese are two almost completly opposite disiplines, much respect to those who can really do both well. I agree that a producer really does need to DJ to become successful or they'll need a DJ that just really feels their music and plays it all the time.

[maz]

I'm a bit strange. I love to DJ and that's what got me back into music. I used to play guitar and bass years ago until I broke my arm pretty bad. It's severely crooked ;)

DJing made me interested in music again and brought on my love for hard music, techno and a lot of other things only stronger.

Last year I started going to school for audio engineering. Maybe it's the geek in me but I love the technical and talent behind the scenes of music. Right now I'm the mixing engineer for this local rap artist. If all goes well I get to become his tracking and mixing engineer. Wish me luck :)

I'm all about engineering other people's music, making it sound good straight from tape/hard disc/dat. I love routing signals all over the place and screwing with outboard gear or pluggins. It's just so much god damn fun to take something that sounds like ass because mics "hear" everything and turn it into something tha HFS would play.

With all of this I'm starting to write my own tracks again. I'm hoping after I get this first one down I'll be able to write more and more only a bit faster and then bounce them down into various loops to take my DJing to the next level. That all really depends on how much free time my stupid day job gives me.

-maz

[Reconstructed]

I've never DJed. Shrug, I've played with friends tables before but I've always been struck with the notion "why play someone elses music when I can make my own?". Production and DJ are two entirely different but intertwined proffessions.