I've been watching a few videos but I can't figure out what is it that electronic music producers are doing live that makes it worth it to pay hundreds to see them, that others cannot do?
I know producing the song itself is hard but what's the difference between Skrillex/David Guetta/ Deadmau5 live and some other decent guy who's also taking their songs and making a mix while throwing in a few sounds from the MPC and twisting some EQs or filters here and there?
I'd totally understand wanting to watch something like this live
but what makes watching him so special aside from seeing the guy behind the music and maybe the atmosphere? Is there a musical reason?
I think Guetta is mixing here, he's not producing the music live. There is no real difference between him and another DJ besides hype and tickets sold imo. There is a difference between a talented DJ like Deadmau and a purely hyped guy who is just putting some CD's like guetta tho. (not talking about production here, Guetta is a good producer I guess if you like his style). It's the same difference between 2 pianists playing the same song.
A lot of what I've noticed about what makes for a good live DJ performance is how they control the crowd. Sure, anybody can just play the popular songs from a playlist, but the good DJ's are much better about which tracks to use when in order to build excitement.
I'm not talking about how good the music is at all. Ok so take this
it just looks to me like he's playing out the parts of the song that he prepared while fine tuning some stuff. I don't know the term for it but I'd imagine it's like pressing record on Ableton and then pressing play on the different parts that you prepared earlier
like this guy
On October 30 2012 05:35 Tobyone wrote: A lot of what I've noticed about what makes for a good live DJ performance is how they control the crowd. Sure, anybody can just play the popular songs from a playlist, but the good DJ's are much better about which tracks to use when in order to build excitement.
ok are you sure people are paying the money because they are thinking that he has good song selection?
On October 30 2012 05:26 MrCon wrote: It's the same difference between 2 pianists playing the same song.
On October 30 2012 05:44 itsjustatank wrote: There's something to be said about the experience of being part of a huge crowd, listening to music you like, and feeling as one with them.
I get wanting the atmosphere and to see the guy, as I mentioned.
Well yeah, mixing is taking existing tracks to make one long track, but it's an art and a live experience, listening to livesets on a home sound system can't really make you feel this. In your deadmau video he's mostly mixing existing tracks and fine tuning stuff, but that doesn't mean everyone will be able to do it with the same talent. I can play a Jimmy Hendrix track with my guitar, I still won't be Jimmy Hendrix.
I am a little confused why people produce music but choose to perform it by themselves when they could easily make it into more of a show. If you are just one person you should probably have a pretty amazing show or the most amazing songs anyone has heard, or maybe a mix of the two. I am probably reaching a bit much but it seems really egotistical to not have a band simply because technology makes it so you don't need them.
Realistically I think this could be an argument about what is more difficult (we like to talk about that on starcraft forums XD)? Is it more difficult to see one person playing all the instruments or more difficult for 4-5 people to play all their instruments together? In the end a show is a show is a show. Its about being entertaining the people that like your music in this case.
I play an instrument so I enjoy watching people play them, that being said I would go bat shit if I had tickets for Daft Punk
I am a little confused why people produce music but choose to perform it by themselves when they could easily make it into more of a show. If you are just one person you should probably have a pretty amazing show or the most amazing songs anyone has heard, or maybe a mix of the two. I am probably reaching a bit much but it seems really egotistical to not have a band simply because technology makes it so you don't need them.
Realistically I think this could be an argument about what is more difficult (we like to talk about that on starcraft forums XD)? Is it more difficult to see one person playing all the instruments or more difficult for 4-5 people to play all their instruments together? In the end a show is a show is a show. Its about being entertaining the people that like your music in this case.
I play an instrument so I enjoy watching people play them, that being said I would go bat shit if I had tickets for Daft Punk
Agreed with every word. I watched few electronic live shows, and the best and most explosive show I have ever seen is Infected Mushroom, the guitarist(s in high profile live shows) and the cord guy are always improvising on stage and with the almost overly loud bass it makes quiet of an experience.
Here is a advice to understand what kind of performance you can expect.
Live : Playing the music in front of the crowd, either completely (with Synthetiser, Composer, Drum machines etc) or partially (using pre-recorded samples)
Set / DJ Set : Playing the songs in a sort of mashup without leaving a blank in the performance.
VJ : Visual artist creating the videos for famous artist - It's done a lot in Germany.
Endy and ApocAlypsE007, I definitely understand and see the "added value" in watching them live based on your videos, (thought I doubt anyone was thinking about the lights when they buy the tickets) however that's not what I'm trying to ask, People like Birdy nam nam and people who get a band together are obviously hard to imitate. I'm not bashing the genre.
On October 30 2012 05:59 MrCon wrote: Well yeah, mixing is taking existing tracks to make one long track, but it's an art and a live experience, listening to livesets on a home sound system can't really make you feel this. In your deadmau video he's mostly mixing existing tracks and fine tuning stuff, but that doesn't mean everyone will be able to do it with the same talent. I can play a Jimmy Hendrix track with my guitar, I still won't be Jimmy Hendrix.
Out of curiosity can you really play a Jimmy Hendrix song with your guitar? Because it would mean that you actually understand how hard it is. Or maybe if you have tried playing something as simple as fur elise perfectly and comparing it to how a pro sounds like. Because right now as an instrument player who's interested in music production I'm finding it hard to believe but at the same time I know that I don't know much about it.
I don't get the fine tuning part because wouldn't he have already tuned it while producing the track earlier? Maybe small changes to suit the sound system and venue? So are you trying so say that he has a huge talent in EQing and adjusting levels that you can clearly distinguish from him vs another decent guy with talent? Otherwise what is it that he does live that makes him so special?
Can you distinguish him from another guy like you can with people's voices (like you'd know your sister from your other sister just by hearing their voice)?
On October 30 2012 06:21 Wrongspeedy wrote: I like bands :S
I am a little confused why people produce music but choose to perform it by themselves when they could easily make it into more of a show. If you are just one person you should probably have a pretty amazing show or the most amazing songs anyone has heard, or maybe a mix of the two. I am probably reaching a bit much but it seems really egotistical to not have a band simply because technology makes it so you don't need them.
Realistically I think this could be an argument about what is more difficult (we like to talk about that on starcraft forums XD)? Is it more difficult to see one person playing all the instruments or more difficult for 4-5 people to play all their instruments together? In the end a show is a show is a show. Its about being entertaining the people that like your music in this case.
I play an instrument so I enjoy watching people play them, that being said I would go bat shit if I had tickets for Daft Punk
Even if they wanted to get a band, I'm sure it'll be really hard to find people who can make the crazy sounds in dubstep or trance...... or even want to, for that matter haha.
I'm not arguing to see which is harder because my other intention is to understand it and also know what else I can do with my tracks live, if the time comes, aside from the obvious (playing instruments along with it), so I don't see that arguement going anywhere.
DJ Worship is obscene, I'm looking at the people that bum Tiesto and always vote in that farcical "Top 100 DJs". What DJs do isn't particularly special, it should be about the music, not the DJ. If you don't go to events just because they don't have big names on the lineups then you're really missing out. Having said that, what the DJ should do is have some sort of progression to his/her set, and you get to know what sort of music certain DJs play.
However what is even more obscene than DJ Worship are DJs that only play their own tunes. The ones that are all in it for their own promotion so they can sell their records and buy fancy cars.
THANK you, finally. I thought his question was pretty obvious lol. What exactly do the DJs do, and what separates elite from normal DJs in skill level etc. Not "I don't understand the appeal of attending live shows". I've been wondering this too, thanks for the straightforward answer still a bit confused but I guess I know a bit more.
After looking it up, this seems to be a good summary as well:
1. The DJ replays existing music.
2. The producer creates music that is not yet in existence.
3. A DJ is hired to play at one venue, for a specified audience and period of time.
4. The average income of the producer is higher than that of a typical DJ.
5. The typical DJ will be required to purchase his or her own equipment, while this can usually be optional for the producer.
im constrained to work on a set timeline because of the SMPTE
I'm being a noob here but I don't get this, or what it is
Actually while looking through several live videos I hear him changing some stuff here. Nothing too great to be fair but at least he does something to the track.
Quite frankly, I'm learning to produce tracks and it doesn't feel right to me if I were to just press play and EQ stuff. That's why I'm thinking about what I can do.
On October 31 2012 09:15 3Form wrote: However what is even more obscene than DJ Worship are DJs that only play their own tunes. The ones that are all in it for their own promotion so they can sell their records and buy fancy cars.
You know for normal bands, that's why they tour, to promote themselves haha and people usually take more pride in playing their own songs than badly done covers. I'm surprised to find out that it's different for DJs
I know one perk of going to a live show is that you may hear particular mashups / VIP mixes / unreleased tracks etc. which haven't been released (and may never be released, for that matter).
The DJing producers who do this reserve this material to create a more 'exclusive' experience for the live audience - and many will play out upcoming releases for a long while before they hit iTunes (or Beatport).
On October 31 2012 15:01 Ryalnos wrote: I know one perk of going to a live show is that you may hear particular mashups / VIP mixes / unreleased tracks etc. which haven't been released (and may never be released, for that matter).
The DJing producers who do this reserve this material to create a more 'exclusive' experience for the live audience - and many will play out upcoming releases for a long while before they hit iTunes (or Beatport).
Ah ya... that's what some bands do too :D
I missed that part because I was focusing on what they do with what they already have. Because to be fair I'd assume most people go to live shows wanting to hear the songs that they are familiar with.
On October 31 2012 14:51 JieXian wrote: You know for normal bands, that's why they tour, to promote themselves haha and people usually take more pride in playing their own songs than badly done covers. I'm surprised to find out that it's different for DJs
Well the idea is you're going for the music, the party, the other people, not just for the DJ, but this has been corrupted as of late with all the mainstreamers getting interested in "EDM" (what a terrible term). All these mainstream artists have such popularity and appeal they can hold their own gigs/concerts.
Still all the real events are out there, you should have a look once you've sorted out what sort of genres you like. There's this one underground house night I've been to a few times, small venue, small crowd, with DJs that love the music (rather than themselves) and it's in fact just as good, if not better than the big raves I've been to. I suppose the nearest thing to seeing someone like Tiesto or Skrillex "perform" is when I went to see The Prodigy live, and I can't remember any of that hahah.
Honestly I like the aforementioned house night because I don't know much about the genre, I don't know what tune is coming next, I can't name every track so it is genuinely interesting. What's the point in paying £40+ to watch DeadMau5 or whoever play for an hour, when you know all the tunes already, when you could instead pay at most £15 for a whole night of interesting music.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/yesjp.png)
