Dubstepforum.com

an especially embarrassing recent moment had to do with lack of love towards mala along with cpki.

Ed G wrote:

drifterman_ wrote:on a level

dj what you're feelings first and foremost

crowd come second

rags.

This.

Why would I want to see a DJ play to the crowd? A) 90% of most crowds are fucking morons. B) If all Djs played to the crowd you would get identical sets - what's the point in going to a dance then?

The best DJs I go to see play the same stuff they play when they're in their bedroom - That's why I go to see them...I want to see what they're into and be exposed to new stuff.

There's nothing more annoying than when you go see a DJ, who you know plays the sickest deep sets when they are at FWD, but feels they have to water their selection down because they are somewhere else.

i think once again, it doesn't have to come down to either/or. i am not sure why we feel we have to be in one camp or the other, hard and dark or deep and meditational, dj for yourself or dj for the crowd...

it really is about balance, regardless of which argument you are addressing. if you play solely for the crowd and the accolades, you probably WILL end up watering things down, but if you disregard the crowd completely...well...honestly...why are you outside your bedroom? because without people coming through the door and wanting to hear what you do, your night/party/whatever is just an empty dancefloor exercise in wankery and little more.

again, the key is balance. recognizing what moves a crowd, giving them a little of that, and then giving them something new/adventurous mixed in. honestly, i can't think of a better definition for what a dj does. you ARE there to entertain, not create a masturbatory opus, and you ARE there to educate musically as well, no matter how much that one guy in the crowd wants to hear "some rap" (or whatever).

it is a balancing act, plain and simple, and sometimes, it's really damn difficult. but it's worth it when you have played a set that showcases many aspects of the sound, and the people are grooving right along with you, dontcha think?

lovin the deeper vibes!!
Anti social
TRG
Martyn
J Kenzo
etc..

andreamia wrote:

Kastor wrote:
Dj's decide what direction this music goes to. And if you keep filtering things out because of the crowd you'll end up with banal and superflous music.

This has happened with every music I fell in love with and it bothers me. The crowd always wants harder and bigger drops but that shouldn't happen. People should appreciate the minimal bass pressure from eg. Shackleton as well. Closing your eyes, not caring about anything in the world and just getting in the zone. And then, when that one tune drops you'll truly appreciate the power of the dark side (ergh, I mean wob-wob )

Now flame me for being elitist or whatever ... :/

which is precisely why the night i tried to get going never went anywhere. in my experience, the crowd wants to be herded like cattle into a hyphy beat and stay there .. not much appreciation for variety .. but then, what do you do? do you hold fast to wanting to play lots of different kinds of music and wait till it just gets too expensive to have your own night (because you aren't selling drinks at the bar), or do you make a name for yourself playing a banger tune night week after week after week and get murderously bored (and contribute to the homogenity of nightlife)? obviously i prefer the former. fuck it, i'll roast too.

IMO there is a pretty easy solution to that. You save the bangers for the last hour or two of the event. Or in the middle for an all nighter. There is nothing more annoying than walking into a spot early and the dj is dropping smashers for the 10 people that are there. The opening spot is perfect for the deepness. I enjoy playing those spots because there isn't the pressure of keeping the dancefloor happy but you get to slowly put the crowd in the mood to throw shapes as the place fills up. And you get play a lot of nice tunes that might sound out of place at peak hour. All the styles have a time and place.

If your good at what you do though you can for sure drop some deep stuff without losing the floor. As long as the system sounds good and the tune has some sub, it's all good. I am basically the only dj that represents dubstep fulltime in pittsburgh so I feel like I have a duty to bring a wide selection every time. I don't want to turn people away from the sound because they think it all sounds a certain way.

I would love somebody to actually define 'deep' in real terms, without going off into that nebulous, intangible drug-addled nonsense.

abZ wrote: I am basically the only dj that represents dubstep fulltime in pittsburgh so I feel like I have a duty to bring a wide selection every time. I don't want to turn people away from the sound because they think it all sounds a certain way.

honestly, i sincerely think this is the ADVANTAGE (if there is one) of being a dj in an area where the sound is not popular.

a) no one wants to hear just one aspect of the music, because they don't know much about it to begin with.

b) you want to represent the MUSIC as a whole, instead of a subgenre, because you have to build your audience from scratch. it actually gives you MORE leeway to experiment than if you are playing for an audience that has some experience with the sound.

the advantages to living in bumblefuck, eh?

deep = boring. good enough definition?

two oh one wrote:I would love somebody to actually define 'deep' in real terms, without going off into that nebulous, intangible drug-addled nonsense.

to me, deep is a much more spacious sound. it can be halfstep, steppy 4x4, 2 step beats...but still less cramped beat structures, dubbed out pads and synths, but not overly complicating or cramping the tune...kinda minimal structurally i guess, but with a definite underlying groove/funk. it's a pretty wide term really, and you are right, kinda hard to define...

i would put scuba, geiom, mala, pinch, shackleton, kode 9, vaccine, and cyrus in there as examples...

So sparse(ish), sound depth cues (Verb, Delay) and lush to buggery pads.

New Age music with a different name.

two oh one wrote:So sparse(ish), sound depth cues (Verb, Delay) and lush to buggery pads.

New Age music with a different name.

i dunno much new age music that rattles my chest cavity...LOL.

sapphic_beats wrote:

two oh one wrote:So sparse(ish), sound depth cues (Verb, Delay) and lush to buggery pads.

New Age music with a different name.

i dunno much new age music that rattles my chest cavity...LOL.

Maybe not, but essentially the same thing, but with a bass line, it seems.

two oh one wrote:

sapphic_beats wrote:

two oh one wrote:So sparse(ish), sound depth cues (Verb, Delay) and lush to buggery pads.

New Age music with a different name.

i dunno much new age music that rattles my chest cavity...LOL.

Maybe not, but essentially the same thing, but with a bass line, it seems.

i suppose one could look at it that way, but i think it's all in how it's played. a whole set of it, prolly best saved for opening or closing an evening, sure. but i wouldn't exactly call mala or pinch "new age music". i dunno. i don't even really care, so i don't know why i am writing this post. LOL. i don't need to defend music, really.

so i will stop. hehe...

it took me a while to "get it."

opening or warm up sets are defo the time to play the scuba, hot flush, martyn, skull disco types.

save the caspa/spongebob double drops for the peak time set.

i did exactly that and had a really good set last week.
felt good, sounded good and was the right look for the warm up set.

sapphic_beats wrote:

abZ wrote: I am basically the only dj that represents dubstep fulltime in pittsburgh so I feel like I have a duty to bring a wide selection every time. I don't want to turn people away from the sound because they think it all sounds a certain way.

honestly, i sincerely think this is the ADVANTAGE (if there is one) of being a dj in an area where the sound is not popular.

a) no one wants to hear just one aspect of the music, because they don't know much about it to begin with.

b) you want to represent the MUSIC as a whole, instead of a subgenre, because you have to build your audience from scratch. it actually gives you MORE leeway to experiment than if you are playing for an audience that has some experience with the sound.

the advantages to living in bumblefuck, eh?

I think the advantage is you get to play rinsed to fuck tracks from 3 years ago and it still sounds fresh to your audience LOL

abZ wrote:

sapphic_beats wrote:

abZ wrote: I am basically the only dj that represents dubstep fulltime in pittsburgh so I feel like I have a duty to bring a wide selection every time. I don't want to turn people away from the sound because they think it all sounds a certain way.

honestly, i sincerely think this is the ADVANTAGE (if there is one) of being a dj in an area where the sound is not popular.

a) no one wants to hear just one aspect of the music, because they don't know much about it to begin with.

b) you want to represent the MUSIC as a whole, instead of a subgenre, because you have to build your audience from scratch. it actually gives you MORE leeway to experiment than if you are playing for an audience that has some experience with the sound.

the advantages to living in bumblefuck, eh?

I think the advantage is you get to play rinsed to fuck tracks from 3 years ago and it still sounds fresh to your audience LOL

or entire sets of dmz & hyperdub! ; )

I like it OK, then. I guess. It's fine mixed into a very varied set, but to hear more than a few chill tracks of the same genre bores the tits off me.

If I want to chill out, I prefer a more varied set moving outside of Dubstep, like Mixmaster Morris or Kruder and Dorfmeister who put a lot of different genres together.

Variety, please.

Misk wrote:anyone else here besides me?

you are not alone.

two oh one wrote:I like it OK, then. I guess. It's fine mixed into a very varied set, but to hear more than a few chill tracks of the same genre bores the tits off me.

If I want to chill out, I prefer a more varied set moving outside of Dubstep, like Mixmaster Morris or Kruder and Dorfmeister who put a lot of different genres together.

Variety, please.

well, i think that's kind of what i have been trying to say for about...oh...forever. lol. any set that just goes in one linear direction kinda bores the crap out of me too. i want to go from one place to another and everywhere in between, as much as possible. stagnation is boring, linearity is boring, too much of one thing is always boring.

as richie hawtin aka plastikman once said: "just because you like chocolate cake, doesn't mean you should eat it every day."

South3rn wrote:i stopped playing shackleton live a while back

people just leave

wounded, people got nuts if you drop a shack track here in notts!

wierd how different places can grow a collective opinion without really trying/noticing

if i was "playing" for the floor here in my neck of the woods then 90% of the time i wouldn't be playing dubstep at all. i've cleared many a floor dropping a shackleton tune and i will continue to do so...on the flip i've had fists pumping in the air/people screaming as a reaction to the same fucking tune at 1am.

timing and structure aside, i'm going to play the shit i'm feeling and makes me move atm. anyway, i'd like to think that's what most expect when they come out to hear me.


i think this discussion has gone a bit off topic though...

yeah, i likes the "deep" stuff.

and to answer your question two oh one...

deep=soul