[Dynagroove] Some comments please

[Will Yardley]

On Tue, Jun 14, 2005 at 10:47:37AM -0700, Cade wrote:

> My biggest problem lately has been DJs who complain about the
> equipment being provided.  I have a DJM500 which i have been using for
> many years it has undergone surgery 4 times to fix channels and other
> various things like missing knobs and so such.  But now I get DJs
> coming up to me and complaining about the 500.  4 years ago you would
> be thanking the heavens for a 500.  But now I have DJs coming up to me
> and going "You should really use the rane knob mixer" or the urie.
> Both of which are like $1100.  Call my a bit jaded but most DJs have
> no regard for my equipment and tend to break it.

[ I know you're just doing this to piss people off and spark discussion
on the list, but I'll put on my asbestos underoos again ]

I can understand your point of view... and I don't think it's very
mature to show up and bitch about the equipment provided (unless it's
totally substandard). I've probably done it a time or two....

But... I can understand also that most DJs want to sound their best. A
good DJ (especially one with more experience) is going to sound pretty
decent no matter what the equipment is (within reason). It's kind of the
same as with musical instruments. A great musician will be able to play
a cheap plastic recorder and make it sound good... the same musician
will sound even better on a nice wood recorder. But put a third-grader
on the cheap plastic recorder.... we all know what that sounds like. If
you give the third-grader a good recorder, it won't make them any
better, but it will be a little less painful to listen to. Ok - so maybe
an imperfect analogy, but you get my point. People who don't play every
night of the week may need a little extra help (though they also don't
get to be as picky, since they're not famous).

I don't generally complain if I show up somewhere and the equipment is
crap, but I do think that there is a big difference between the Pioneer
gear and the Rane stuff - even the Rane gear that's a comparable price
to the Pioneer. Rane stuff may be a little more difficult to get
repaired, but Rane has a reputation of making durable gear and standing
behind their products. The new $600-900 Rane stuff is quite decent,
though I prefer the rotary.

And Ureis... well, they're built like tanks. I've played on Ureis that
have probably been in the same installation since the 70s, and still
work / sound great.

I've always thought that a lot of DJs /did/ like the Pioneers.
Personally, I'll play on them without complaining (much), but I think
the feel is too plastic and I don't think the sound is the greatest.

Granted, a lot of DJs don't pay attention to other stuff which may
affect sound quality more. Here are two things I think a lot of people
don't think about enough.

1) Poor gain-staging....
especially pushing the gain on the mixer (or on an individual channel)
to the point of distortion. If it's really not loud enough, but the
mixer is already in "the red", have the sound engineer push the gain up
on the house PA. Ideally, you don't want your levels to be too low OR
too high - you want your peaks just barely hitting the red on occasion,
on both the channel (pre-fader) and on the master out.

2) Incorrect adjustment of tonearm height for the needle.
Every cartridge / stylus has a proper height (for most, it will be "0"
or "1). If the tonearm is adjusted too high or too low, the sound will
be distorted. I saw this happen way back when some friends of mine were
playing at the club that used to be Giant - there was a great system
with EAW speakers, a decent mixer, etc - but somehow the sound was all
distorted. After noticing that the tonearms height was set to "5" or "6"
and correcting it, everything sounded great.

3) Too much / not enough compression
I've studied sound engineering, worked on my own projects, and done live
sound for various events in the past. And I still don't consider myself
to be an expert at compression. It's very tricky to do properly. With
dance music, you can get away with squashing the s--t out of it
sometimes, but I definitely see a lot of systems with less-than-optimal
compression on the house PA. As a DJ, it's useful to have a basic
understanding of how compressors / limiters work - and if you can see
the meters on the compressor from where you stand, you can often make
this knowledge work to your advantage.

Personally, my pet peeve is when there isn't a decent monitor,
preferably 2 (one on each side). For me, that means clean highs, and
hopefully a separate booth level control. I think the Mackie powered
speakers are good for this purpose - not super bassy, but good clean
highs.

Lastly, remember that even though /you/ [Cade] are a DJ yourself, a lot
of promoters aren't. As DJs, most of us have played events where the
promoter hasn't setup a proper system... which often makes us look bad.
I'm sure you have been in that position a time or two. I think this is a
big reason that DJs start to become picky about sound equipment -
because we're the ones who look bad if everything doesn't sound right.

I think there's a fine line here, somewhere between not giving a crap at
all, and being a total David Mancuso. And as I said before, some of it
has to do with how established / well known you are as a DJ. I'll be the
first to admit that if I were a superstar DJ, I'd have a very detailed
rider explaining my exact technical requirements.

> I find the pioneer may not be the best sounding mixer but most DJs are
> familiar with it and it is rugged. 

My other gripe with the Pioneer is the built in effects. I think they
sound like crap. AND, I think they encourage abuse. I've definitely
heard DJs do interesting / tasteful things with effects, but for the
most part, I just hear stuff that makes me wince.

I've been playing for a while now (11 years or something), and I still
don't feel like I've totally reached the limit of what I can do with 2-3
turntables to the point where I need to have built in effects on my DJ
mixer.

> Another problem I have is with needles.  I use ortophone needles to
> cut down on feedback and prevent skipping.  Again they may not sound
> the best but they are rugged.  A DJ arrives and will start
> complaining.  In this matter I believe a DJ should supply their own
> needles.

Absolutely... Don't share needles! I think it's always smart to bring
your own needles with you, even if you don't end up using them. If the
house needles work as well as / better than yours, no problem - but
bringing your own needles (at least one) is a really, really good idea.
My needles aren't that great, but I always have 2-3 along with me.

And now that Shure and other companies are making those awesome cases
for needles, there's no excuse not to bring them with you.

w