Category Archives: editorial

Surviving a Marathon DJ Gig

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dj-turntable

Ever struggled to keep a DJ set tight for six hours? It’s a DJ gig hell-ride, to be sure…but there are a few things you can do to survive a very long set, whether you’re spinning in a club, doing on-air DJ work or playing a party or wedding. I’ve done extended sets in just about every one of these situations–on the air, parties, you name it.

Naturally the setting you’re doing your DJ work in dictates a lot about how you manage a very long night, but there are a few specifics I’ve found apply no matter what. This ain’t a guide to how to make your DJ segues flow or how to keep the club jumping, this is more about keeping your body feeling as close to top form as you can get in hour number four, five and beyond.

Blood Sugar is a huge factor. When you load up with a lot of carbs, sugar or alcohol, the crash is coming, believe it. Your DJ set will be much better if you’ve packed a protein bar or two and keep some kind of carb control snack on hand that’s formulated to level out your blood sugar. You WILL feela difference. The second your energy starts flagging, don’t go for the Red Bull, try eating a small carb control snack or a few bites of a protein bar. Don’t eat the whole thing, try 1/4 of a bar at first and see how you feel.

Foot Fatigue isn’t always a factor in a club or a radio station, but if you’re DJing a wedding, chances are you’re standing on concrete or flimsy tile in those rec halls and reception centers. When I’m on the decks for an extended period, I make sure to pack a small area rug in my DJ equipment box. You can laugh if you want, but it delays the onset of foot fatigue and makes your entire gig much more comfortable.

Hearing Protection seems like a no-brainer to me, but I am shocked by the number of DJs who don’t wear hearing protection during their gigs. If you play longer than two hours you need this more than ever–prolonged exposure to high SPLs is a major occupational hazard for DJs and no club DJ or party spinner should ever play long sets without safeguarding the ears. It saves you in so many ways, but for me personally, a DJ set with hearing protection is much less stressful overall–I find extended high volumes physically draining without the earplugs.

Technics SL-DZ1200 Digital Turntable

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by Joe Wallace
Technics says their Technics SL-DZ1200 was the world’s first Direct-Drive Digital Turntable. I don’t care if it’s the hundred and first, the idea that you can carry around your library on a removable SD card is pretty sweet–even if it does feel totally contrary to nature. While digital turntables are no longer hot-off-the-presses front page news in the DJ world, Technics is still one of the warhorse names in the business and it’s no surprise they’d try to dominate in the digital realm as well as with the analog turntables.

The Technics SL DZ1200 supports CD, MP3 and AAC formats. In light of my previous post on Christian Marclay, I do wonder how this DJ gear will enable a whole new crop of DJs who I’d label “post music” performers. Imagine doing a set comprised solely of manipulation of your library of samples rather than actual songs.

Consider that you wouldn’t even need to create a proper playlist if you were skilled enough with the manipulation of a pile of self-created samples. Sounds like a challenge waiting to be taken up by anyone with enough dosh to shell out over $1100 apiece for these digital monsters.

The specs on the Technics SL-DZ1200 digital turntable:

On-board Effects
Vibration resistant
Pitch lock
Free wheel
Adjustable speeds
Cue Point Functionality
Full scratch capable
SL Type Direct Drive Platter with Forward and Reverse Option
CD, CD-RW, CD-MP3, SD Audio Playback
SD Card Storage for Settings and Sample

While we’re on the subject, here’s a clip of the Technics SL-DZ1200 turntable at work.


Christian Marclay and Unwanted Sound

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christian-marclay-dj
by Joe Wallace

My first exposure to Christian Marclay was though my bandmates in Crevice. In 1999, some of the Crevice crew hooked up with Marclay to do an art show in San Antonio, Texas at the Art Pace gallery. The show, according to Uncle Buzz Records (the label home of Crevice, Pink Filth, Paisley Babylon, and others) to be an “audio/visual event using hundreds of Christmas records (Marclay) collected while in town.

Interesting enough to combine DJing with art galleries; moreso that the idea was to create new music from a collection of thousands of Christmas records. Ever since then I’ve been intrigued by Christian Marclay and his body of work. I don’t think DJ culture has been the same since Marclay, in the same way that tape manipulation art hasn’t been the same since John Oswald.


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Marclay has been described as a “Dadaist DJ.” He may be a DJ but is far from a club kid knob twiddler.
For starters, he studied sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston Marclay has been involved in a number of collaborations with high-profile names in music. The term DJ or turntablist is really inadequate for Marclay–he’s gone far beyond club DJing and studio recording. His concepts involve the physical manipulation of the recorded music on vinyl as well as the aural manipulation of it.

Christian Marclay has worked with John Zorn, Sonic Youth, Otomo Yoshihide and Fred Frith. His work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York among other important galleries around the world. It’s obvious that he’s a name in the business of sound, in the same manner as Eno, John Cage, Harold Budd and other experimenters/pioneers.

Check this clip about Christian Marclay and his desire for “unwanted sound”. It’s a fascinating little glimpse into the world he inhabits. “When we play a record we don’t want to hear the surface noise,” said Marclay,”But those are the sounds I’m interested in. I’m interested in the sounds I can get out of this vinyl record.”


Roy Budd: Get Carter

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Morricone rightfully gets a ton of respect for his soundtracks, but by comparison fellow soundtrack wizard Roy Budd is woefully underrated. Check out this trailer for Get Carter, which features great soundtrack sounds by Budd throughout. Budd has a nice double disc set featuring some of his best work.

Get Budd: The Soundtracks is a worthy investment if you love those 60s action/heist/gangster movie sounds, or if you want to see what else Budd got up to after Get Carter. The movie itself is excellent, Michael Caine really tops himself in this…he’s the prototype for Bruce Willis, Stallone, even Arnold had to take some cues from Caine in this film.

Chuck Norris is a toffee-nosed stripling compared to Caine in Get Carter…Nobody in the entire world comes as close. Standout moments in the trailer include the totally naked Caine chasing a couple of gangsters out of his room with a shotgun…let’s see Norris try THAT. On second thought, maybe not.