I go to bars and nightclubs on a semi-regular basis. And although I tout that I have an appreciation of all kinds of music, the typical music playing at these venues just isn't my thing.
This evening, I was on one of my huge Wikipedia-reading binges and came across the term "house music". Out of curiosity, I read the entry for the term, like I do for any other thing on Wikipedia.
So I hit Youtube for some house music to hear what it should sound like. I came up with this:
Okay, that sounds like the music at some of the nightclubs I go to. Fine.
But what struck me silly was that the DJ in the video wasn't doing ANYTHING impressive. After studying the video a bit, the only real sonic differences I could hear in the music was when she was shifting some of the frequencies by turning some of the knobs.
Most of the time, turning the various knobs and playing with the vinyl did absolutely nothing. Am I blind, or deaf, or what?
Can someone explain what's going on when someone is mixing/DJing and playing with all those controls, but I'm not hearing any differences in the music?
When I watch a guitar-playing video, I like seeing fingers and strings moving to create the exact sounds I hear. When I watch a piano-playing video, I like seeing fingers moving across the keyboard and depressing keys to create the exact sounds I hear. I see/hear NONE of this correlation in DJing.
I swear, a nightclub owner could save money by not hiring a DJ and just programming his own playlist on the computer in his office and it would do the same thing: PLAY A NON-STOP STREAM OF LOUD MUSIC ALL NIGHT LONG.
I understand the need for radio DJs; they gotta talk. Same with stripclub DJs; they gotta coordinate the place. A nightclub DJ does NOT regularly talk. I can't help but think the job of a nightclub DJ is completely redundant.
One of these days, I'm going to own a nightclub that plays rock exclusively (not counting live concert venues). With no friggin' DJ either. I'll press the play button and let the tunes blast.
This evening, I was on one of my huge Wikipedia-reading binges and came across the term "house music". Out of curiosity, I read the entry for the term, like I do for any other thing on Wikipedia.
So I hit Youtube for some house music to hear what it should sound like. I came up with this:
Okay, that sounds like the music at some of the nightclubs I go to. Fine.
But what struck me silly was that the DJ in the video wasn't doing ANYTHING impressive. After studying the video a bit, the only real sonic differences I could hear in the music was when she was shifting some of the frequencies by turning some of the knobs.
Most of the time, turning the various knobs and playing with the vinyl did absolutely nothing. Am I blind, or deaf, or what?
Can someone explain what's going on when someone is mixing/DJing and playing with all those controls, but I'm not hearing any differences in the music?
When I watch a guitar-playing video, I like seeing fingers and strings moving to create the exact sounds I hear. When I watch a piano-playing video, I like seeing fingers moving across the keyboard and depressing keys to create the exact sounds I hear. I see/hear NONE of this correlation in DJing.
I swear, a nightclub owner could save money by not hiring a DJ and just programming his own playlist on the computer in his office and it would do the same thing: PLAY A NON-STOP STREAM OF LOUD MUSIC ALL NIGHT LONG.
I understand the need for radio DJs; they gotta talk. Same with stripclub DJs; they gotta coordinate the place. A nightclub DJ does NOT regularly talk. I can't help but think the job of a nightclub DJ is completely redundant.
One of these days, I'm going to own a nightclub that plays rock exclusively (not counting live concert venues). With no friggin' DJ either. I'll press the play button and let the tunes blast.
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