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09.07.03 08:40 PM
musically speaking
Today an old friend asked when I would DJ again, b/c he hadn't heard me announce any gigs in quite some time. I explained I didn't really have the time nowadays, but that I'd be down to do special events. When I actually used to do gigs, I used LPs. But man, carrying around those crates and bags happened to be a bitch. So then I finally started exploring the whole CD mixing aspect...and I did a gig or two. The major problem I had was being able to capture some of what I did and recording it so I could distrubute CDs or cassettes. I was always mixing to MD in the house, and never copied any of the stuff I did outside. One event I did years ago, mixing vinyl, with Qool Marv and his freinds (including DJ Spinna, Stormin' Norman, and others) when he celebrated an anniversary at Ludlow Bar, happened to be recorded on MD and then recorded to CD. I saw this as a prospect, but got to thinking I'd rather just go directly to the Mac from the stereo.
I'm over the vinyl days, though I love the textural feel, the crackling and the hiss. But no longer feel the need to scratch and spin back. I just want to put on good music and do some solid beat matching and blending. The proprietor at the Brooklyn Moon Cafe has often asked me to come over and practice and share my craft, or better yet song selection, on his Pioneer CDJ 100 set up. I keep passing, but as I sit here listening to one of my old mixes on MD, I'm like damn, I'd sure love to start doing that again. I used to practice almost every night with simply a portable CD player, CD changer, and mixer. The mix of music on this joint I'm listening to right now is so damn funky, and I don't even remember most of the music. And nowadays, since my gig has me in a space where I'm listening to mainly popular music...I don't even know I'd have the same touch. What I'm listening to right now is of the nu-jazz, neo-soul, beats, electronica variety. I feel so out of touch with that music right now, because I spend so much time evaluating the popular. As I sit here listening, I realize this is my life's blood, my heart throb. What many folks don't realize about me is that jazz is actually my first love of music, with funk following, house probably follows next, and let's not even begin to mention the classics. Yes I am still a hip-hop head, but I see it as an evolutionary process when considering Black Music in general.
I think the only thing that's going to make me devote time to this craft again is the ability to record to something other than MD. If I go straight to the Mac, then I can burn CDs and share with folks, put it on iTunes or even download to the iPod. So I ran across Audiocorder and from the reviews I read, it's a cool little tool. But it seems to record in AIFF format, and I'm not sure I'll get the sound quality I need with that format nor do I know that I'll be able to then convert to MP3 or AAC even. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
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» How Do I Become A Hip-Hop DJ? | Hip Hop Blogs
"I love hip-hop and music in general. I enjoy that feeling of playing a new record for my friends and having them enjoy it. I spend way too many hours, dollars, and energy listening and enjoying music. So why ain't..." [read more]
tracked on June 19, 2004 2:53 PM
