Eclectic DJing – yes or no?

[magneze]

Eclectic DJing is great but it has to "flow" to work for me. Defining that is very difficult but it's that sense you get when you're pleasantly surprised by the next tune. By pleasantly surprised, I mean pogoing on the dancefloor of course ...

 

[Skim]

The purists have been pretty quiet on this thread so far. I'm trying to think of an argument for not being eclectic. One could be that if you have a DJ completely immersed in one style of music, then you're dealing with a DJ who really knows his/her stuff and can really master the art of playing in one style, can really do it well. They know all the history and tunes of what they're playing, and know how to best play it without breaking the mood of what that music is about.

Having said that, I can think of dnb mixes I've heard recently that are technically very impressive, but fail to build any mood for me. They start of at the tempo they end on, there's no build-up. Just starting off with a slow track or something moody can really set the scene. Everyone wants to get their rocks off in the first fifteen minutes.

 

[Blagsta]

Well yes, and no.
I think that's the point I was scrabbling for about eclectic DJing- some things are alike even though they really aren't and these are the eclectic things that go together.
Simply in terms of sounds, industrial with words is very very different to techno, IMO, though they share an ethos ? mebbe.
As I say, I'm scrabbling here...

I dunno, Nitzer Ebb were always proto-techno in my book.

 

[magneze]

I've got a great Nitzer Ebb techno remix and a few other industrial/techno hybrids. Works very well IMO.

 

[Dubversion]

The purists have been pretty quiet on this thread so far. I'm trying to think of an argument for not being eclectic. One could be that if you have a DJ completely immersed in one style of music, then you're dealing with a DJ who really knows his/her stuff and can really master the art of playing in one style, can really do it well. They know all the history and tunes of what they're playing, and know how to best play it without breaking the mood of what that music is about.

well i don't think i'll ever hear Jeff Mills throw down a Sean Paul tune (or Shaka a Jeff Mills tune) but what he does is a whole different order of DJ-ing really

 

[Blagsta]

I remember, years ago, one of the Zero Gravity DJ's (Phidget?) chucking The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog into a trance/techno set at the Que Club in Brum. Proper rocking that was.

 

[Skim]

Miss Kittin does the eclectic business very well Here's the tracklisting from her latest mix, which I need to get myself a copy of.

DISC 1 - Perfect night
1. Sting ?3 (That's good) - Si Begg
2. Shadows - Wagon Christ
3. Invisble - Monolake
4. Normal is it normal (club mix) - Baby Ford
5. Metal Slave - Donato Dozzy & Brando Lupi
6. Heart failed (Two lonesome swordsmen mix) - Saint Etienne
7. Groove - Jay Haze
8. Untitled A1 - Richard Devine
9. Aluminum rectangles - Le Car
10. Falling free (Aphex Twin Mix) - Curve
11. The knowledge - Toasty
12. Rank - Artwork
13. Another level - A/B Feat. MC Soom-T
14. 08:00 - Concept 1
15. Transfer Please, Perfect Wednesday - Sixtoo
16. Easy Lee (Cassy lee mix) - Villalobos
17. Inside your heaven - Static
18. Le grand dôme - Biosphere
19. Kalea Morning - Twine
20. Medulla Oblongata - Christ.

DISC 2 - Perfect Day
1. Perfect (Acapella) - Princess Superstar
2. Plastic People K-I Original mix - DJ K!
3. Ibiza - EL Loco
4. Percolator (Keep movin' mix) - Cajmere
5. 151 Terrace mix - Armando
6. Vakuum audio - Misc
7. Serpentine - My my
8. Avon 1 (James Ruskin remix) - Female vs. Regis
9. A walking contradiction (Part 1) - Adam Beyer
10. Freefall (The Hacker remix) - Fixmer/McCarthy
11. Base 6 - The Chemical Brothers
12. Lost Vessel - Drexciya
13. 13 (In 2 Parts) - Perspects
14. Seven Eleven - GE & GM
15. Hasir - Modeselektor
16. Paroles Original - Mike Ink
17. Don't go (Kicks like a mule remix) - Awesome 3
18. Vanilla Monkey - Milanese
19. First In, First Out - Front 242
20. Destiny - DJ Maxximus & Something J
21. My Red Hot Car - Squarepusher
22. Perfect girl - Acrosome

 

[kyser_soze]

The purists have been pretty quiet on this thread so far. I'm trying to think of an argument for not being eclectic. One could be that if you have a DJ completely immersed in one style of music, then you're dealing with a DJ who really knows his/her stuff and can really master the art of playing in one style, can really do it well. They know all the history and tunes of what they're playing, and know how to best play it without breaking the mood of what that music is about.

Fairly easy - you can take people thru the moods and most importantly, it's easier to keep everyone jumpin and happy (all those berating those who stepped away when Peel dropped Status Quo in the mix...yeah, all well and good but iot fucks up yer dancin (unless you've got a highly developed sense of irony of course))

 

[milesy]

one argument for not being eclectic is giving the punters what they've paid for - if i pay £15 to go to a drum n bass night and want to hear drum n bass all night i expect to hear bloody drum n bass all bloody night

 

[kakuma]

i do quite like it when you go to a biggish night and the drumnbass room is full of drumnbass, then you can go to the hip hop room or chillout room for a break, then go back to the dnb room and they're still playing dnb

god, i havn't been to a decent club since february

 

[Pieface]

but that's jolly eclectic room movement you've got going on there ninja....perhaps indicating that you like the eclecticism....hmmm

 

[northernhord]

I think you gotta be careful with eclectic spinnin or else it sounds like a School Disco, I play drum and bass, breakbeat and dub tunes when I play out even though they are different styles they have some sense of commonality which works well when they are combined.

 

[perplexis]

I think you gotta be careful with eclectic spinnin or else it sounds like a School Disco, I play drum and bass, breakbeat and dub tunes when I play out even though they are different styles they have some sense of commonality which works well when they are combined.

Nah, it only sounds like a school disco if you can't segue things properly and your tune selection is duff.
I can see where you're coming from, but eclectic doesn't necessarily mean no flow...

 

[northernhord]

Nah, it only sounds like a school disco if you can't segue things properly and your tune selection is duff.
I can see where you're coming from, but eclectic doesn't necessarily mean no flow...

Oh yeah it can work I just think its gotta be done with a bit of thought.

 

[kakuma]

but that's jolly eclectic room movement you've got going on there ninja....perhaps indicating that you like the eclecticism....hmmm

but it's nice to know that the dnb room is still playing dnb, even when i am sitting on the stairs completely fucking sick of dnb......

 

[ddraig]

i love eclectic sets, and skim yours are a great example
great thread and posts so far.
wish i could do it meself and have tried by dropping the odd 'grime' tune at the start or end of a set. or had to do it at parties where it's getting really messy on a sunday and someones just been playing some 80's/punk or the wurzels! hehe.
managed by pure fluke to mix in an amen tune into the last dying bars of wang chun 'dancehall days' or something, once.

can't think of many sets not mentioned allready atm but that series of 'timelines' OU posted are amazing as is jerome's 'ear stretch'. also jerome playing one time at the arches blew me away, so effortless. same with the dexorcist as well.

it's great when someone drops something totally unexpected that brings everyone out in grins and the party picks up again. even 'simple' things like a gabba tune chopped in with a jungle set done well is often enough to get the crowd whooping.

it's all good, more please

 

[kakuma]

Oh yeah it can work I just think its gotta be done with a bit of thought.

nearly all music mixes into about 90/180bpm or 60/120bpm so you can mix all types of music if you don't 'cross the streams'

 

[ddraig]

but it's nice to know that the dnb room is still playing dnb, even when i am sitting on the stairs completely fucking sick of dnb......

me too soldier

 

[DaveCinzano]

nearly all music mixes into about 90/180bpm or 60/120bpm so you can mix all types of music if you don't 'cross the streams'

check email

 

[northernhord]

nearly all music mixes into about 90/180bpm or 60/120bpm so you can mix all types of music if you don't 'cross the streams'

Its not the mixing that's a problem that's a doddle

 

[Boogie Boy]

I find taking an eclectic approach works well, and it can be quite challenging in a way that working within a single genre can't. There does seem to be an increase in the general number of DJs being eclectic - but I also suspect that this has much to do with the corresponding rise in DJs using software programmes like Ableton - where all the hard work is pretty much done for you. The other important element is the audience - when you have an audience that are willing to 'go' with you, and you can offer them an eclectic and coherent set - the results can be pretty magical.

BB

(This is not to say that I have not been accused of staying within a particular musical mode - one individual came up to me and remarked 'You only play black music......')

 

[kakuma]

I find taking an eclectic approach works well, and it can be quite challenging in a way that working within a single genre can't. There does seem to be an increase in the general number of DJs being eclectic - but I also suspect that this has much to do with the corresponding rise in DJs using software programmes like Ableton - where all the hard work is pretty much done for you. The other important element is the audience - when you have an audience that are willing to 'go' with you, and you can offer them an eclectic and coherent set - the results can be pretty magical.

BB

(This is not to say that I have not been accused of staying within a particular musical mode - one individual came up to me and remarked 'You only play black music......')

i don't think that computers take the skill out of djing at all. my friend learned to beatmatch with one night and lots of speed, the 'skill' bit of dj'ing is really overrated. it's all about finding tunes and playing the right tunes

you can still be a shite dj on a computer with every beat matched to the 1000th of a second.....if you are playing a straight house set etc then you can do it loads easier on a computer, but picking the tunes is the skill

 

[DaveCinzano]

check email

 

[free spirit]

tried and tested method of eclectic djing is the 3's technique... basically doing 3 shit hot tunes of one style, then 3 of another linked bu differnt style, then 3 of another linked but different style etc. with the last one of the three either moving in the direction of the next 3 you'r gonna play, or really peaking the style of that particularly 3 if you've got a proper stand out track ready for the next 3 to just kinda drop in that people will just get so much that they won't even notice the change in style.

doing it this way keeps the sets moving, and keeps people interested and dancing without the disjointedness that happens when you just randomly chop and change styles each record. PLaying like this you can cover anything from reggae to breaks to techno to acid house to drum and bass etc all in the space of an hour without anyone really being able to put there finger on where the set changes... obviously this works best in backrooms and house parties etc. not the main room of a specialist club, but it does work

eta: whatever you're doing you have to actually or it becomes way more obvious where the changes are, and basically you ain't djing anyway

 

[Skim]

jerome's 'ear stretch'. also jerome playing one time at the arches blew me away, so effortless.

Yeah, that's a fantastic mix. I still haven't seen Jerome live, but would love to.

As for the threes technique that Free Spirit mentioned, that has proved a pretty good way of working around a set. It doesn't have to necessarily be three tracks, it could be more, but they will all have something in common and then the final one will let you segue into the next stage of the mix/set. The worse thing is when styles are chopping and changing really quickly without any feel for the mood, just eclectic for the sake of it.

 

[free spirit]

yeah can be 2 or 4, but I find basing it around 3ish is good, doesn't give people time to get really bored of a style and leave the dancefloor before it changes you see

 

[Skim]

i don't think that computers take the skill out of djing at all. my friend learned to beatmatch with one night and lots of speed, the 'skill' bit of dj'ing is really overrated. it's all about finding tunes and playing the right tunes

you can still be a shite dj on a computer with every beat matched to the 1000th of a second.....if you are playing a straight house set etc then you can do it loads easier on a computer, but picking the tunes is the skill

I can't see any joy in DJing using Ableton or some other such software. It's not physical enough for me – I like picking CDs and records out of a bag and putting them on. And when you watch a DJ on a laptop, it's like watching someone check their emails.

But it's true that choosing the tunes is the most important skill, it's what everything hangs on. It doesn't matter what fancy software you've got if you're playing shite tunes with no feeling for them.

I hope laptop DJing doesn't lead to an expectation that everything should be perfectly mixed and technically flawless. That's the kind of thing hard house audiences are pretty exacting about – but then again, what would they know? I think there's always room for imperfection, a little wobble here and there. Not a trainwreck, more like leaves on the line (I'm trying to cover myself here – I'm not technically perfect by any means.)

 

[kakuma]

I can't see any joy in DJing using Ableton or some other such software. It's not physical enough for me – I like picking CDs and records out of a bag and putting them on. And when you watch a DJ on a laptop, it's like watching someone check their emails.

But it's true that choosing the tunes is the most important skill, it's what everything hangs on. It doesn't matter what fancy software you've got if you're playing shite tunes with no feeling for them.

I hope laptop DJing doesn't lead to an expectation that everything should be perfectly mixed and technically flawless. That's the kind of thing hard house audiences are pretty exacting about – but then again, what would they know? I think there's always room for imperfection, a little wobble here and there. Not a trainwreck, more like leaves on the line (I'm trying to cover myself here – I'm not technically perfect by any means.)

it's totally different. you just can't scratch properly without decks, a lot of purists would have a go at you for using cds since you can't actually touch the plates. and shit, if you get one of those superseal records you could get away with scratching away and putting tunes on......

i've never played a set on my laptop out, but i have made some blinding mixes that would be literally impossible on vinyl but i would just be playing them and not mixing live, which could suck if they didn't come off

and noone gives a fuck about hard house, they would be going to gabba nights if they weren't twats imo

 

[art of fact]

yeah agree with you about people that just "DJ" with their laptops. but some new people doing live stuff nowdays with software, midi controllers etc etc is really quite exciting to watch sometimes. But i have definately seen a trend of people who play stuff on their laptop and calling it a live set which also makes people think that they should be paid more money than someone sticking on some records alot of these breakcore/stroke-ya-chincore type nights nowdays dont even need a set of decks at the venue... its almost seems refreshing when you see someone like DJ/Rupture at such events

 

[kakuma]

.. its almost seems refreshing when you see someone like DJ/Rupture at such events

but dj rupture is a fucking genius

there are a lot of fucking excellent djs on that scene, but rupture is something else