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Oct 18, 04
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To DJ or Produce.. that is the question..
I know you need both. The only way people know you and can see you, touch you, grope you, etc, is with djing. But if you're not the best dj you don't get gigs. Now production, everyone knows your name, but has never seen you, makes the "yeah I saw him at Fabric/Turnmills/Ministry" factor at zero. So.. what do you focus on? I can both dj, and produce, and not to gloat or nothing, but i think i'm pretty good at both. No one has ever heard of me before, and I understand that. But depending on the path you take, good things can come.
But what do you all think? I think (although no one really knows me yet) with the proper promotion, things could get burning with myself with production, because I think the production I do is pretty good. I'm like the.. popcorn in the microwave.. ready to pop. Again not gloating or promoting anything, This has been my life for years, and it's been the biggest rollercoaster. It has always been my dream to actually walk into a record store and see my own LP, or walk into a club and spin/hear my own tune. I'm not some label ass-kisser. I'm not some fake. I know what I'm doing, and actaully give a sh*t about my scene & my community. I've worked very hard to get where I am, and I stand for what I believe in. So here's the fork I face - dj'ing (so I can be like the other 10,000 dj's just in Vancouver) or production (which might not get me anywhere at all) I know you need both, but what do you focus on as you 'main thing?' 
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Oct 18, 04
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tough one man, I say you should do both man, don't limit yourself. You think your a dope producer / dj then fine do that. No law against djing and trying to get that one rekkid out. I focus mainly on production because thats where i have had the most success so far, but i also take the extra time to make mixes frequently, being new to Van city your more likely to get gigs than me anyways so keep workin and never stop!
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Oct 18, 04
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Mr Royal Phunk. yeah bruv, I know, I should do both. Everyone should do both. I guess I'm just stuck, looking at all these label addresses i've written down, and thinking, holy shit, is my dj'ing/producing good enough for this shit? Do you think you need to live in the UK (which i've done before) to get anywhere in the electronic scene? Or do you think 'fuck if there's 10,000 dj's in vancouver, there must be 100,000 in the uk..')
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Oct 18, 04
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Mr. Dr. Doom, yessss, I know that. Thats not the point though mang. Do you think all these tiestos, plumps djs, etc think "fuck i should brush up on the dj'ing' or the same with production. Do you think they focus more on one thing than another? Like I have a bunch of tracks I think 'shit dude, those are pretty dope' THEN i think holy shit, what if I ever have to spin these tracks in front on 5000+ people. That kind of scares the fuck out of me.
Last edited by firestar; Oct 18, 04 at 10:26 AM.
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Oct 18, 04
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I went through that too dude, but you need to calm down and think about yourself and NOT everyone else. Cuz getting your tune out isnt about everyone else. If you dont think your trax measure up side by side with dope trax you like then maybe take a second go back and improve yourself, you will be happier in the end when you have mad skillz rather than just putting one out when you cant back it up with another. If your are ready then u will take those labels and give them what they are looking for. Being ready i find is a state of mind, youll totally know when u r. Good luck dude.
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Oct 18, 04
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dj'ing is something start out as a hobby, for the passion or love of the music. Some people quit after awhile, some dont. theres only so much u can do with mixing records, thats why alot go the road of turntabalism as well is practicing their mixing and various tricks.
producing is a different story. It's a long road of things you can learn. using software, hardware, music theory, playing instruments, recording, mastering, etc etc..If you think your production is good post it on a forum in a low quality clip and get opinions from people who have been producing for years in ur genre of music..then they well give u feedback. if your still wondering what you should focus on, dj'ing or producing. you have a long way to go. Its all about experience. Some people study audio for decades and still learn something new or a new technique. Last edited by decypher; Oct 18, 04 at 11:27 AM.
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Oct 18, 04
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well one thing to say about DJ's.
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Oct 18, 04
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Theres really no more room for crappy djs in the scene then there are for crappy producers. Just as there is always room for wicked djs and wicked producers, so long as theyre taking the proper steps to get out there. raw talent is whats gonna get seen. so i'd have to say your situation is 50/50 unless yer producing or djing needs some workin on. so your just gonna have to juggle yer time between the two things according to what needs work on and what doesnt in your own eyes. If you love the two equally, focus on them both equally, and if yer good enough, you may eventually get recognized and "pop" in both those areas. btw, as a fellow producer i'd really like to hear some of yer stuff, i'll send you some of my stuff etc.
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Oct 18, 04
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DJ just for the sake of it or for the honeys.
Produce just for the sake of it or for the chin-scratchers. Bottom line is how much recognition for your efforts are you willing to do without. DJing is instant gratification in most cases; beatmatch two records together and you'll have a ton of people ooohing and aweing over the ability. Producing may gain you recognition over time but, even if you are good and your productions get played by the biggest DJs on the planet, probably only a fraction of trainspotters will even know the man behind the music. You'll get less fans, but they'll be far more passionate about your output.
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Oct 18, 04
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First off, you sound like you have the ego for dj'ing so. Thats a start. ;)
Production is where it's at. No if's, and's, or but's.. If you focus on your production skills and persist at it you'll get so much farther than you would if you just dj'd. Now when your production is upto par then the labels will pick up your stuff. When they pick up your stuff, you start to gain a name, when you start to gain a name then the demand for dj'ing comes into play. So don't focus on the dj'ing, practice, but don't spend all your time and money buying everything cause it's a waste. Put your time and effort where your mouth is.
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Oct 18, 04
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I went through the same thing, and I decided production... the money you spend on a dj set up could go straight to producing actual music... $1500 will get you mediocre turntables and a mixer... you could get an athlon 2.8Ghz laptop for that, which you could also use for djing if you really desire to... $150 more and you got an Oxygen 8 midi keyboard...
production... without a doubt...
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Oct 19, 04
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I love producing music more than I love doing anything else... the feeling of having a new track done is immensely satisfying... obviously not everyone will like it, but just the simple fact that when you listen to it and think 'this is dope'... that shit is YOU... YOU DID IT nothing could give me more satisfaction... except maybe a blowjob while listening to a new tune I made, while stoned... that would be pretty good too... LoL (shameless plug) check out the shit I posted in Personal Promo if you love hard breaks with insane basslines (shameless plug end) sorry couldn't resist :195:
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Oct 19, 04
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Oct 19, 04
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So you can Dj to your hearts content, but really, Djing is like riding a bike, you never forget. Whereas, Producing is a hell of a lot more complicated and expensive. Some guy commented earlier that buying tables was too expensive and production was better financially. Yeah that's true if you got the latest crack of Reason and Cubase w/plugins and softsynths, but consider this; I spent 10's of thousands of dollars investing in gear and recording studio time, hundreds of hours composing beats and synthlines, etc.. The true musicians standout from the kandi kids messin around on fruityloops with mom's computer and a sample. To be true to the game, you must really choose; Do I want to be a glory boy up on stage or do I want to sit in my independents and stay up all night on redbull so that the bassline fits my kick?
That is why some shit sounds like freesch and some shits forgetable. I am also glad that you feel that your stuff is awesome. I feel the same way as I assume many artists do, but lets look at the logistics of this, is your stuff studio fucking " I am a sony rep and this is fuckin dope," good. I hate to say it but I am seeing so many artists making these ridiculous tracks on Reason and then throwing it through TR-racks and mixing it on ACID 4. I am SORRY your not going to make it. Now a good producare will take the time to buy the Roland Jupiter and a 909, mix down using a tube preamp/compressor, master properly, etc..Thats my opinion.
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Oct 19, 04
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Heh
you can do both...honestly, if you are persistent enough (DONT cross into the ASS KISSING PHASE) then you can be seriously succesful at both. Take a majority of producers that have reached world fame status. They worked years and years at it, just to get a name (that includes local gigs, self-promo, producing tracks, releasing shit, getting connections through people, getting established... etc). I think of this two ways... the djing is good way to pass the time as a producer, and producing is a good way at getting big in the local scene fast. If your stuff seems to grab some serious attention...thats when you know you have done something right. I would personally say do it as a hobby, as a small investment of some sort... the honeys as menchioned above, and just for the fun of it...cuase hey....YOU NEVER KNOW! edit: I am currently playing around with simple Midi producing, using a school studio... Roland Sc-880 Synth Module (most sickest patches and presets ever!) wired to a Roland keyboard (this is a U- something something...I know the rest of the stations have XP-10's but this specific computer has a different keyboard) all wired up to a 6 Channel Mackie Mixing Board with an Imac...containing Cubase...the VST version...sx...I think. All great...we also have a seperate recording room for vocals and/or live instrument recording, and hella rock school stuff for all the rockers in the school. Last edited by BenGiovanni; Oct 19, 04 at 02:49 PM.
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Oct 19, 04
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Well I had written a huge ass letter in reply to maany things here and to bug jason from (influenza as well)lol
but this is a long story much shorter. You have to work your ass off very hard to even get one record pressed, just imagine how hard you have to work to get respect. Don't every stop working at it and never let it go to your head cause if you let it go to your head you may aswell stop there. Cinto NNP Eric J +7 year of music for me and still working my ass off! 5 records and well over 150 DJ passes so far, I would say I am content with what I have don't but still SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH WORK TO DO. most important tip of all: "IF IT WASN'T FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DANCIN AND SUPPORTING BE IT 22, 35, 15 or 40 THERE WOULD BE NO US"
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Oct 19, 04
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Oct 20, 04
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Hey P.a.r.t.y.
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This guy's got it nailed on the head. Doesn't matter if you're using software, hardware, it's the amount of time and effort you put into learning that tool. Infact it's my opinion that you're more versitile with a piece of software than you are with hardware. Reason is a toy, I'll give you that. But some producers have really mastered that toy. But take programs like Cubase SX 2.0 and Logic, very powerful machines. Plus VSTi's these days are gaining some serious balls to them. If you think you have to spend $10,000-$100,000 on gear, you've got too much money. Because you can do just is well with $2000 in software. All our music is done software based. Please tell me it sounds like "kandi kids messin around on fruityloops with mom's computer and a sample". http://www.sickbeats.ca ez, jase.
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Oct 20, 04
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no worries... just really hard to find a bass that actually has bass in it :P... and filtering can't do everything...
edit: can you recommend a good bass plugin... doesn't have to be your signature one... just a solid bass... gracias :)
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Oct 22, 04
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Oct 22, 04
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I would say to produce. Anyone can become a good DJ. Not every can make a platinum track, although it is nice to think that some of us can.
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