Re: [rumori] Live vs. preRecorded - Blurb from Roland


Mr. Fodder (thebranflakesAThotmail.com)
Fri, 03 Dec 1999 02:50:37 PST


>When Are DJs Musicians and Vice Versa?

Since the mid 80's I have considered myself a musician personally. my main
instruments on stage are turntables, tape decks and cd players.

We can define a disc jockey in the traditional sense as someone who simply
plays records. one after another and maybe does a little bit of beat mixing
in-between.

We can define a turntablist as someone who makes something brand new out of
bits and pieces. just like a collage artist works with found objects, a
turntablist culls his objects from vinyl records.

Also groups like ISP (w/ mixmaster mike and dj qbert) don't use any kind of
midi technology and their mixers and turntables do not have the fancy bells
and whistles. like the old saying goes, "skills to pay the bills"

This is interesting because it all comes down to skills. Just like someone
playing guitar will work years upon years to define a skill, so will the DJ
as he progresses to be called a 'turntablist'.

>it's important to consider the new breed of DJ-musicians that are becoming
>more
>popular. These performers take a new path toward composing and performance,
>and they need new tools to accomplish what they want to achieve on stage.

this *new* breed of DJ-musicians is not new at all. this has been going on
since the 80's.... but it is only "new" in regards to popular culture as a
whole (i.e. - mtv, vh1, billboard, etc...).

>Many of these artists combine turntables and analog-type synthesizers to
>create a new interactive style of music. For examples of this sound, check
>out "new breed" performers like the Chemical Brothers, Propellerheads and
>Q-Burns Abstract Message artists who break the boundaries between DJ?s and
>musicians.

Again, this is not "new"

Let us not forget that this was going on in the late 80's with Coldcut and
others who were toting up analog gear onstage with turntables.

Even earlier than that.... Afrika Bambatta and Soulsonic Force (Planet Rock)
  used to have all kinds of analog equipment on stage with turntables,
reel-to-reel machines, casio keyboards and even live percussion with the
rapper flowing over it all. This was in 1983.

and before DR. Dre was all hardcore... he used to play parties in the L.A.
area and sell mix tapes at the Rodium Swap Meet in southern cali. When Dre
used to play onstage (just dj'ing) he would have keyboards and an SP-1200
with the tables. This was circa 1983-1986 when he was in the
techno-breakdance group "World Class Wreckin' Cru"
I have a number of these early mixtapes he did ... pretty cool for the time.

East coast hip hop dj's also were active in fusing turntables with equipment
in the early 80's. Like Grandmixer DST, Grandmaster Flash and others.

>Where do the sounds in a Roland GrooveProduct come from? Musicians?
>Engineers? Why aren't they're names in big,
>bold letters on the box? Do sample CDs give credit (er, maybe noone
>reading rumori has bought one, er....)?

I don't buy sample cd's personally. but East/West is one of the big
samplehouses for getting them. I think it's always more fun to dig through
dusty crates of vinyl at garage sales for that middle percussion break than
to find it on a cd when tons of other folks are using it also.

a lot of the sample cd's do not give credit, but they do pay fees where
applicable. now when i mention paying fees... sometimes they have to and
other times the producer can slip by. it really all depends on if the
sample has been tweaked considerably or not. I know that I love to clip off
snares and kicks from songs to use in my own cuts and make my own beats, and
i'd like to see someone try to recognize a snare i took from a rolling
stones song tuned to d minor fitted into a new beat.

>Are the engineers of Roland Inc., avant-garde composers?

avant-garde? I doubt it. Has anyone taken a peek at their monthly magazine
"The Roland Magazine" they put out. They are about as avant-garde as Disc
Makers (the cd dupe house) is! and if you've ever seen a monthly newsletter
for disc makers you'll know what i mean.

chow,

Otis

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