‘How do you know he's not playing Pac-Man while he's supposed to be DJing?’: technology, formats and the digital future of DJ culture

Abstract

In light of the growing literature on DJ culture, this article explores how technological change is having a significant impact on specific areas of music production and distribution within contemporary electronic dance music culture. An ethnographic methodology is employed, based around research conducted in the Sydney dance music scene between 2002 and 2007. The aim of the article is to reveal some of the discourses and reactions in DJ practice that result from shifts in technology. With the increasing use of CDs, mp3s and computer programs such as Ableton Live, the notion that vinyl and turntables represent the authentic technology of DJ culture seems somewhat redundant. The physical movement required to mix vinyl records has meant that the associated skills of DJing have become bound up in notions of physical and visible manipulation of technology, and so the use of technology that does not require and afford such physical expression has raised questions around the fundamental skills of DJing. As such, it would seem that there needs to be a redefinition of the concept of DJing, and a reframing of the skills and abilities seen as being essential to DJ practice.

Mixtapes and Turntablism: DJs’ Perspectives on Musical Shape

“…Identifying appropriate samples is fundamental to scratching techniques (see Hansen, 2010) so it is not surprising that they focused intently on this. Recent research has discussed the role of technological developments in changing DJ practices (Farrugia & Swiss, 2005;Hansen, 2010;Montano, 2010) and the current findings provide supplementary evidence for these debates. Rich and Tony use the digital software Serato which provides a visual representation of the tracks in real-time; both lauded the colour distribution of the software for identifying cue points quickly (the colours of the waveform represent frequencies [e.g., bass is red], the size of waveform represents volume, and the transparency of the waveform indicates whether the sound is transmitted from one or two channels).…”

Ser DJ não é só Soltar o Play: a pedagogização de uma nova profissão de sonho

“…Prolific in quite varied sub-styles (techno, house, trance, drum'n bass etc. ), with historical matrices in constant expansion (Assef, 2010;Broughton, 2006;2010), the electronic music dance has in common the fact of creating sonorities with technological and digital equipment of sound production and synthesis, which have come to be more sophisticated -as samplers, CDJs, computers, controllers, sequencers, equalizers, synths, mixers and other tools that allow the clipping, the assembly, the creation and the overlapping of songs and sounds.…”

“…Presently, their protagonism exceeds the more underground youth scenes, ascending to the limelight in the social landscape: in fact, nowadays, many DJs acquire the social statute of a celebrity, of a super star (Phillips, 2009;Broughton, 2006;2010). They travel all over the world in tours among the major clubs, parties and music festivals, obtaining money, pleasure, personal accomplishment and social recognition of their activity.…”

“…However, the sped up technological changes of the equipment manipulated by the DJ have had relevant impacts on the knowledge and know-how implied in their activity, in terms of structure and volume of the skills that are demanded from them (Attias;Gavanas;Rietveld, 2013;Bacal, 2012;Montano, 2010;. In face of a provision of increasingly sophisticated and complex technological equipment, the manipulation of the effects available by them becomes increasingly harder in conditions of self-learning or informal learning among peers:…”

Girlhood and the Politics of Place

“…At the heart of these protean developments, we fi nd the DJ oft en a selfsuffi cient amateur artist, musician, performer (Prior 2008(Prior , 2010, with the demonstrated ability to control and infl uence his experiential music community through his skills, knowledge, taste, and enthusiasm (Prior 2008;Herman 2006;Montano 2010). Yet the role that girls and young women can play in this world is still fraught with diffi culties (Velosa 2012).…”