quoted 4 lines From: "Brock @ Motormouthmedia" <bmotor@pacbell.net>>From: "Brock @ Motormouthmedia" <bmotor@pacbell.net>
>To: gordona@innovaction.com, idm@hyperreal.org
>Subject: (idm) beatmatching etc.
>Date: Mon, Dec 20, 1999, 1:31 AMquoted 44 lines Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 12:50:29 -0500>Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 12:50:29 -0500
>To: idm@hyperreal.org
>From: "Allen, Gordon" <gordona@innovaction.com>
>Subject: IDM D.J.s
>
>hi,
>
>are there any IDM D.J.s out there who beatmatch their records? i'd like to
>hear from some of you - your experiences, philosophies, etc. personally, i
>started out as an IDM 'crossfading' DJ, and later picked up beatmatching
>skills by buying a wackload of techno records. now i'm matching my IDM
>records, but haven't had that many opportunities to play this to a captive
>crowd. i think that IDM that's more electro or minimal techno-based would
>be the easiest to beatmatch, and to get people dancing. but i'd love to
>hear from someone who has thrown something really strange into their set, to
>hear if people responded or stopped and scratched their heads.
>>
>>
>
>My 0.02 - it's difficult to actually DJ this stuff and do it well (simple
>crossfades don't count in my book, even ambient DJ's will do more than that,
>layering and using effects and eq's), only a few folks I know of like
>Mixmaster Morris and DJ Lovegrove (Sonic Soul, DC) can pull it off on the
>technique tip and spin interesting records at the same time.
>
>>From my own experience, it's kind of unrewarding to be an idm DJ in that you
>can't pull off a lot of the "tricks" that work so well with other
>styles...scratch-style mixing usually disturbs the flow of the track unless
>it's subtle, and doing stuff like dropping out the bass or tweaking the eq
>just isn't as effective as when you're working with bass-heavy, 4/4 rhythms.
>And while fluid beatmatching is prolly the best mixing style with this kind
>of music, it's often difficult because tracks have odd rhythms or sound so
>dissimilar it's nearly impossible to make'em blend well.
>
>On one hand, I love this music for that very reason and it's a challenge to
>spin it out. But on the other, it's hard to play idm to a crowd and get any
>kind of reaction other than a trainspotting neck craning over the decks. I
>kind of got jaded about all that a year or so ago, stopped buying as many
>straight-up idm records (the music also started to bore me), and playing
>more electro/techno/deep house sounds. Somewhat more engaging to actually
>DJ, and certainly more effective when you play it live to a crowd. So it's
>kind of a catch 22, some of the best music can be some of the most boring to
>spin as a DJ. Any other idm jocks (Lance, Teep, etc?) have opinions on
>this?
It *is* hard as hell to beatmatch IDM records, but I've
found that good transitions can be achieved by seguing
tracks that have similar synth/percussion/DSP sounds.
I've done some sets with lots of Chocolate Industries, Skam,
Schematic, Rephlex, Warp, Spymania, DHR, Force Inc and Mego releases
and succeeded in getting a good, semi-seamless flow.
That said, with IDM DJ sets, abrupt, fucked-up transitions
can be rewarding, too. I'd rather hear several great tracks
unbeatmatched than a perfectly beatmatched set of sterile
trance or cheesy house.
In IDM-land, trainspotting is the equivalent of getting dancers
to raise their arms--though a few brave, nimble souls *can*
shake it to this music.
Dave Segal
Managing Editor/Alternative Press
Reviews/BPM/Reissue Redux/Origins Of Cool
Secret Ions on WCSB Thursdays 9-11PM EST www.wcsb.org
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