hello everyone.........i am a newbie to the world of blogging..........it's not that i could not make or post my own blog.......but rather due to my having a very busy life.
i have been doing a bit of soul searching for the past few years and ended up doing what i did best and always really liked doing in the first place which going back to my being a dj/turntablist ("disc jockey" when i first started in the late 70's), and with the constant urging of my wife and daughter i did it again
it took me a while to get up to speed by upgrading to newer gear, software , a cd recorder and a dedicated personal computer just for my recording and post production needs. the days of recording on reel to reels, 8 tracks and cassettes are over now.
i have to say the digital age has made it very convenient for everyone and even for me an old skool guy. gone are the days when i have to lug crates of 12" singles, my back can't take this kind of punishment anymore. nowadays all you have to bring either one of the following items when you are doing a gig or playing at a club or a venue.
1. a cd wallet containing a dozen or so cd's
2.two mp3 cdr's
3. a usb pen drive
mixing dance music is an art by itself and you must have the ear for it, it's more like a natural inborn talent, not everyone can be a dj.
back in the disco era when i first started playing it was so hard to blend dance music as the beats are not consistent enough that you cannot leave the pitch control in the same setting for about 5 seconds or more, you had to constantly monitor it with your ear as the beats were made by a human drummer and not a drum machine.
so i you were good back then you would find it very easy with today's dance music as the remixers now had thoughtfully laid out all the necessary components of a good dance track like having a good intro, a nice long break in the middle and a long break in the end.
nowadays anybody can be a dj as all the new gear have all these electronic gizmos to aid (beat match, sampler, stutter, flanger, delay, etc..) the would be aspiring dj. 95% of all dance music now are made with drum machines, synthesizers, samplers...etc , so the beats would always be consistent so blending or segueing is a piece of cake, but that is only about 40% of the skill required to be a top notch dj.
a lot of dj's now are very technical and focus less on the artistic/creativive side of being a dj as they specialize only on one or two genre's, back in the days when i was at my peak as a dj we played all kinds of dance music ever night like disco, funk, soul, r&b and rock so making a smooth transition was very hard and you really have to be very creative to blend of those music.
the other 60% is creativity, planning on what you will play for the next couple of minutes and knowing how to read the crowd you are playing for and making sure you make seamless blending, transition and segues of the music you are playing that crowd does not notice this. so for you to be a real dj you have to keep the crowd on their feet all the time and make sure the dance floor is always packed. not that i am bragging but i have to say is i could hold my own or surpass younger dj's in this art, and they (dj's) even told me that i was very good for an old dj.
i have to say it was a long road to success for a dj to be recognized. back in the disco days we were referred to as the guys in the booth or the one man band with no instruments. now you can become a star just by being a dj. look at all the famous dj's now they even have their own concerts, mechandise etc... and they get paid really good, they are celebrities now.
some of the famous dj's (tiesto, armin van buuren, oakenfold, stonehedge, antoine clamaran etc...) all started deejaying in the late 70's and early 80's like me. unfortunately i retired early due to marital obligations, but now i'm back after a long hiatus and i have to say it is still in my blood!
i am ready to share you the music and link up with my fellow dj's all over the world again.
In this blog i have made a demo mix of what i can do, this was done and recorded on the fly no retakes whatsoever.
please click on this link:
DJ Dave Pineda Adam K and Soha Deadmau5 Kaskade Essential Mix.mp3
i did not spend countless hours practising my segues ( i listened to a lot of the latest dance music in my long drives to work so this gave me an idea of what my compilation will be) , just did this in the course of one afternoon. this sample mix was not good enough for me as i know with a little bit of time practising i could tweak it close to perfection worthy of being issued as a cd commercially.
sorry if this blog post reads like a documentary or tutorial but i had to explain it from my perspective.
peace!
dj dave pineda
*House music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed in African-American, Latino and gay communities of Chicago[1] (see Chicago house), influenced by early to mid-1970s dance music as spun by DJs in Chicago and spread to Detroit, New York, and eventually Europe. House music is strongly influenced by elements of the early to mid 1970s soul- and funk-infused dance music style of disco. House music takes disco's use of a prominent bass drum on every beat and developed a new style by mixing in a heavy electronic synthesizer bassline, electronic drums, electronic effects, funk and pop samples, and reverb- or delay-enhanced vocals.
*A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience.
There are several types of disc jockeys. Radio DJs introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, shortwave, digital or online radio stations. Club DJs select and play music in a bar, club, disco, a rave, or even a stadium. Hip hop disc jockeys select, play and create music with multiple turntables, often to back up one or more MCs. In reggae, the disc jockey (deejay) is a vocalist who raps, toasts or chats over recorded rhythm tracks while the individual choosing and playing them is referred to as a selector.[1] Mobile disc jockeys travel with portable sound systems and play at a variety of events.
se·gue
Pronunciation:
\ˈse-(ˌ)gwā, ˈsā-\
Function:
verb imperative
Etymology:
Italian, there follows, from seguire to follow, from Latin sequi — more at sue
Date:
circa 1740
1 : proceed to what follows without pause —used as a direction in music 2 : perform the music that follows like that which has preceded —used as a direction in music
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