But the laptop is an enabling device and therefore evil.Lawrence wrote:The problem there is not the laptop, but the DJ.penguin wrote:There is one huge disadvantage of laptop DJ'ing though.
It encourages irresponsible DJ'ing. It's way too easy to set up a playlist and go off and have a few dances. The number of times I have seen unattended laptops just sitting there chugging away while the DJ cuts a rug....
I totally agree that it encourages thoughtless playlist playing. UNLESS that playlist is SCRAPPED and uniquely REBUILT for every performance, a repetition that defines the DJ occurs. Once people know they're not getting anything outside of that, the excitement is gone. And if the DJ's a regular, the venue is gone.
Momentum is everything.
True. I don't advocate any laziness. Three burned discs did the Atomic Dog in. But laptops killed the other venues.That problem is possible (and has happened) with CD's too. Not only can you burn a specific set beforehand and let it run unattended, a truly lazy DJ can just burn a bunch of mix CDs that they play over and over end-to-end.
Effort is everything.
I find that laptop DJs are less accomodating of requests. They're stuck with what they have. They can't accomodate CDs, and it's often too hard to do equipment swaps.Moreover, with a laptop, you can change a pre-selected set on the fly, whereas you can't change a pre-burned CD.
Accomodation is everything.
I have yet to see it happen. That playlist is like the Titanic's rudder-- it doesn't make a big enough turn to avoid the Iceberg. At least, you can make a last second swap of a bad selection with a CD that has several good tunes to choose from, and choose the track at the last possible second. Laptop DJ's don't have that slew rate.The laptop at least allows the lazy DJs to change it up if the DJ notices that he needs to change it up or if someone complains.
Computers suck. I am very bitter about the resulting laziness.
To me, that means everything.