Day 84: All you ever wanted to know about DJing with Ableton (and a little bit more).

'Whaaaaaaaaat' I hear you say. Abletons not Djing... blah blah blah.

OK, this is a hot potato in DJing circles I guess. I obviously have my own views on it. Seriously though, in this case, I really can see both sides of the story, to the point where it seems insane that people can't see it my way (I get that a lot, but this time I reeeally mean it :)

Back in the 70s/80s DJing was a pioneering art form. Two records, beat matched? WTF!!! Then it went mental with all the scratch hip hop DJs etc. Then Acid house and rave bought its tricks to the table, making beat matching a fine art and pushing things even further.

Then it seemed like Vinyl would rule for ever, never would technology achieve what you could do with Vinyl. Seems laughable now really as clearly Vinyl is seriously licking it's wounds right now.

Anyways, the point is... at what point did DJs go from pioneers, to beardy retro ass holes. Seriously, nothing more annoying than scouring some forum to see some bile spouting from some 17 year old knob end who probably doesn't even DJ whinging that if you use software you're a fraud etc.

Don't get me wrong, I think ALL DJs should have to be able to beat match. It's essential. And it is a fine pleasure to create a wonderful blend using just your hands and ears. Very satisfying indeed.

Two things tho:

Once you see what you can achieve with an Ableton DJ set up, you might want to rethink your stance.

Anyone who has tried DJing with Ableton will know right now that it actually DOESN'T do it all for you. At best, it tries. But almost always gets it wrong, or slightly off. So you still have to correct it anyway. So really you still need to know how to beat match, what a bar is, what a phrase is, and what kills are, and why you might want them.

Some vinyl boys don't even know that.

To sum up... and this is what I don't understand that other people can't see as being so obvious... why are they exclusive? Isn't the best thing to use them both... combine them. Explore the possibilities, mash everything up.

Make a session, remix on the fly, jam for a section, then drop back in to the mix. NOW who's the daddy. Not you you beardy nostalgia junky still trying to blend that outtro with that intro...

Anyway, here is everything you could possibly ever want to know about DJing in Ableton live

2/365

p&&l

bang!