Does a DJ have to be able to play on shit equipment??

[roha3000]

I ask because, I know that I can mix. However, I just got back from spinning the worst set of my entire life at Pseudo.

I couldn't queue anything properly because every time I would pull the needle back to queue, it would skip. Now this would be ok, if you could just adjust the record by hand....but no, either the torque on the techs was all fucked up (which I doubt), or that friggin scratch slipmat made the slightest touch on the record fly with a ton of momentum. Either way, it was like trying to make adjustments on a belt drive piece of shit turntable.

Now combine these two things and you have the recipe for a really fucked up set. How the hell can they be recording sets played with such shit equipment? I hope they delete the one I just spun because it was horrible.

So my question is this. Am I just too inexperienced to play on shitty equipment, or should noone in their right mind be playing on crap like that?

[hoke]

Did you try adjusting the tonearm weight? I had a really hard time cueing until I got those settings right... and I'm using Techs, too.

[cintron]

first off... i'd say any DJ worth a damn SHOULD be able to play on lesser quality equipment to a POINT. When you have equipment that takes adjusting, that's fine... but if you have equipment that is just a hindrance to work with and you feel like you're playing with something so fragile and delicate... then hey it's not your fault.

My notion is... you should be able to play on bottom of the line mixers and decks that are IN GOOD CONDITION. If you're playing on equipment that performs WORSE than that, then yes you may bitch loudly.

About the needles - skratch mats (aka butter rugs) are fun to work with but mixing is an asspain. you've got to pitch whip it or only touch the spindle/side of the platter. Can't lay hands on wax - it's like driving a car on ice. You'll never mix it where you want it.

As for needle skipping, if it's a hindrance then when one of your decks is free, calibrate the needle's weight to zero, bring it up to around 3.5 grams and put the antiskid all the way up to full. that usually helps keep things stable enough to work with.

Thanks for having good decks and a good mixer @ Homegrown... you have no idea how i appreciated working with durable, reliable equipment! (except for the channel 2 fader knob - that sucker popped off on me at least three times. Did you see me under the cabinet trying to mix while i looked for it?)

[jayp]

i'd love it if i never heard the word belt-drive ever again

[echostar]

Originally posted by jayp

i'd love it if i never heard the word belt-drive ever again

i remember when i was learning to spin i didnt know what the difference between direct and belt drive was....and everyone was like, how the fuck did you use this?

[pseudoden]

hey man Iam sorry about your set we all know you are an awesome dj so dont take it to heart. You can bring in your own mats and needles next time just to be sure. I know the decks work though because I spin on them almost everyday. Even the best have their bad days. Everytime I sound horrible I just think dj-ing is like "ZEN" it only takes one little thing tip you off balance its recovering thats the hard part.

ken

[snoozi8]

Belt-drive??????? alrighty I have a lot more to learn....

[hoke]

Originally posted by snoozi8

Belt-drive??????? alrighty I have a lot more to learn....

The run-down on direct vs. belt drive

[roha3000]

Originally posted by pseudoden

hey man Iam sorry about your set we all know you are an awesome dj so dont take it to heart. You can bring in your own mats and needles next time just to be sure. I know the decks work though because I spin on them almost everyday. Even the best have their bad days. Everytime I sound horrible I just think dj-ing is like "ZEN" it only takes one little thing tip you off balance its recovering thats the hard part.

ken

You know, I think Hoke and Eric may have been right. It may have been the counterweight setting for the needles. Everyone kept switching the needles that were on those decks. It could easily have been set improperly. Too bad all I could think of doing at the time was just play through it. Oh well, I definitely haven't experienced the full gamut of improperly setup equipment yet. Its definitely not fun.

[roha3000]

Originally posted by cintron

About the needles - skratch mats (aka butter rugs) are fun to work with but mixing is an asspain. you've got to pitch whip it or only touch the spindle/side of the platter. Can't lay hands on wax - it's like driving a car on ice. You'll never mix it where you want it.

As for needle skipping, if it's a hindrance then when one of your decks is free, calibrate the needle's weight to zero, bring it up to around 3.5 grams and put the antiskid all the way up to full. that usually helps keep things stable enough to work with.

Thanks for having good decks and a good mixer @ Homegrown... you have no idea how i appreciated working with durable, reliable equipment! (except for the channel 2 fader knob - that sucker popped off on me at least three times. Did you see me under the cabinet trying to mix while i looked for it?)

I am sure you can understand that if you can't queue the record properly, it is going to be a real bitch to mix on one of those "butter rugs". Every time I let the record go I knew I was going to have to do some adjusting and the adjusting was as big a pain in the ass as the queueing.

Maybe I should play around more with pitch whipping but I don't really do that on my own equipment because I find touching the platter and record to be much more accurate.

Eric - Just what the hell kind of equipment did you think we would have at our party? You know we have to mix on that stuff too .