DJ'ing with records - Could you do it?

[Eyeball]

Ya know - I think what sparked my question was the implication that Swing DJ's are merely nerds without any personality to speak of, so I wondered if said geeks could deal with the 'openness'' of simply placing a record on a platter and letting it spin w/o all the trappings or the facades of technology acting as clothing and could they just sit there and not be twisting knobs and looking at dials and watching meters and fiddling with numerous controls - the cigarettes of the nervous DJ - and simply be naked with little to do except to swap and cue up discs?

[djstarr]

...trappings or the facades of technology acting as clothing...

Even with records there were a lot of trappings and facades. I remember being a little put off with all the fuss of the audiophile - the "best" needle, the care needed to keep the vinyl clean, making sure the sound system was up to par etc. I think the trappings and facades have just changed over time, they were always present.

[Mr Awesomer]

I think the trappings and facades have just changed over time, they were always present.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Toon Town Dave]

Not to go too off rack, but when I read something for pleasure, I really prefer that it be printed on some type of wood pulp product...like a book or even an LP album cover. I like the feel of the book or LP cover in my hands and the warmth (or non-coldness!) of the paper and the way I can make contact with it. I hate that aspect of CDs and 'removed media' - very cold, very stand-off-ish. I never read anything of an extended nature on line.

And at least vinyl has its own deep, lustrous warmth.

Music can be a very hands on experience. Ask the man who makes it. Even though it is aural, it is very touchy-feely.

Regardless of the media; be it vinyl, CD, MP3 or a piano roll, it's just a representation of the music. I can see how record collectors may feel more attachment and look at a record differently. Just like a numismatist looks at pocket change differently or an aviation fan looks at aircraft differently.

I think the general trend of media is to improve density which means more music to deal with in the same space more music can be harder to manage however newer formats (like mp3) can mitigate that with instant, searchable access to music. For DJ quality, I can't see vinyl as either inferior or better, just different.

[CafeSavoy]

For DJ quality, I can't see vinyl as either inferior or better, just different.

Any truth to the claim that vinyl will survive an EMP whereas cds won't?

[Swifty]

I'm sure vinyl would survive an EMP, and since CD/DVD are optically written (not magnetically stored like tapes) they should be fine as well.

CD players, on the other hand, probably wouldn't fare as well.

[Toon Town Dave]

Pressed CD's should survive just as well as vinyl. I'm not sure if burned CD's would, if the EMP was strong enough and enough energy was within the same spectrum used to burn the CD, I can see it essentially over-burning the CD to the point where it is un-useable.

Solid state amplifiers probably wouldn't survive either. I'm pretty sure the drum kit, string instruments and horns would. Another reason live music is superior to recorded music.

[dogpossum]

I ride my bike to most of my DJing gigs, otherwise I'm on the tram with a zillion Friday night party-goers.
Laptop bag on my back v crate of LPs on my bike's parcel rack? I just know I'd have a massive stack right in the middle of a busy intersection and see all that lovely vinyl smashed up...

[Eyeball]

...trappings or the facades of technology acting as clothing...

Even with records there were a lot of trappings and facades. I remember being a little put off with all the fuss of the audiophile - the "best" needle, the care needed to keep the vinyl clean, making sure the sound system was up to par etc. I think the trappings and facades have just changed over time, they were always present.

Yeah, but.....

Those were the obsessives...and most music collectors were not. Most people had consumer grade turntables and audio gear and off the shelf cartridges and styli and some LP cleaning clothes or one of this basic DiscWasher kits...and that was it.

It was the 'sound collectors' who want all out much of the time. The music meant little to them. It was the sound of the music that they liked. Whatever....

There was really very little involved in keeping your LPs in good shape. I still have playable LPs that I bought back in the 60s...,they survived fairly well considering some of the cheap-jack phonographs they were played on.

And none of that comes into play during the act of DJ'ing in the manner described by the various posts on here.

[djstarr]

...And none of that comes into play during the act of DJ'ing in the manner described by the various posts on here.

Hey John - I find this discussion interesting, so I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative.

You claim that DJ'ing records is more "open" and somehow less technical and less geeky than DJ'ing from a computer. I don't think this is true, I think if this same set of DJs all Dj'ed off of records we would have a big thread about what is the best needle to use. I'm sure of that And the nervous DJ would be sifting through their boxes of LPs trying to find the next song to play. I am getting more and more fond of clicking on my music library columns to find what I want.

Speaking of records, here is a sad story - When I was a freshman in college I lost my record collection via my well meaning roommate rearranging our room [she is a graphic designer] and putting the records up against the window. I came home that sunny day to find all my records warped. So while vinyl may withstand an EMP it doesn't withstand sunshine........

[Toon Town Dave]

Once again, I'm pretty sure a trumpet would have survived. +2 for live music.

[Lawrence]

I have about fifty Swing LPs, and most of them are in those Time-Life Swing Era sets. And I probably have 90-100% more on LP records than most people. So, no, we couldn't. We don't have enough music on LP.

The other problem most people overlooked is the time it takes to set the turntable to the correct start point. Although we could adjust, it would cut down the amount of time we have to find the next track, which would screw up most of our normal cadences, requiring us to settle for a less-than-perfect next song instead of take the extra time to find a better next song.

Reuben is also correct that LPs on the right system are superior to CDs; I can tell the difference, as well. The problem is that very few of the sound systems we use can perceive and amplify that difference, and certainly even the most audiophile of dancers would not notice it, either, in the middle of a dance. CDs and MP3s are so much easier to use, search, store, transport, cue, and rearrange that shifting back to LPs just wouldn't be a good idea.

[Eyeball]

...And none of that comes into play during the act of DJ'ing in the manner described by the various posts on here.

Hey John - I find this discussion interesting, so I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative.

You claim that DJ'ing records is more "open" and somehow less technical and less geeky than DJ'ing from a computer. I don't think this is true, I think if this same set of DJs all Dj'ed off of records we would have a big thread about what is the best needle to use. I'm sure of that And the nervous DJ would be sifting through their boxes of LPs trying to find the next song to play. I am getting more and more fond of clicking on my music library columns to find what I want.

Speaking of records, here is a sad story - When I was a freshman in college I lost my record collection via my well meaning roommate rearranging our room [she is a graphic designer] and putting the records up against the window. I came home that sunny day to find all my records warped. So while vinyl may withstand an EMP it doesn't withstand sunshine........

No worries - you're not coming across that way.

Well - based on what I know and what I once knew, I dont remember the JAzz and Swing fans being obsessives about their stereo gear. They were realists and some guys were using ancient 50s stuff even in the 70s.

Ummmm......there *might* be a 'best needle' thread here if the topic was a hot one, but I am not sure that this crop of DJs would have been at it in another era. They seem firmly rooted in what has come to be.

I think thinking and looking for and about what you are going to pay next is a basic part of the task for any medium in use. I think the Swing DJ and his computer is very time/place specific.

Are there any so called "Swing DJ's" operating outside of the Swing dance world? I know one. There must be more.

We all have our sad record stories. I have been lucky though..BUT I can still see that Gene Krupa OKeh 78 sliding off the hassock in my room at hiome back on LI in the early 70s. Apparently, it was one of the few unlaminated OKeh 78s from the period and it took a hairline crack from the edge to the run-off grooves. Nice and tight, though and I was able to play it. MIght have been a re-issue of a Brunswick, so the hell with it.

[Eyeball]

Obsessive - I've read some 1940s Jazz record collector magazines and the true 'agonizer' then was the collector who would use sharpened cactus needles as phonograph needles in lieu of some of the unforgiving steel needles of the era.

[djstarr]

The other problem most people overlooked is the time it takes to set the turntable to the correct start point.

....ha ha - I'm tempted to start a "could we DJ off of cassette tapes" thread. Could you imagine trying to cue up the right song on a tape [whirr whirr].