dnbk0d3fr33k
dnbkodefreek
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2006
- Location
- Iowa, United States
why would you use a vinyl as opposed to a cd turntable
deadaelus said:well that is a really giant question...cause arguements toward both sides have their merrits.
I can tell you that i prefer vinyl.
I like the look of vinyl, the smell of vinyl, and of course the rich sound of vinyl. I believe that mixing vinyl is a much more challenging but rewarding feat for both DJ's and clubfolk alike. You hear everything with vinyl, its raw. If the mix slides a little outta control, people can notice cause the pitch of the tune wobbles. (Some CD mixers have a pitch waiver control, so that the digital encoder inside the CD player smooths out the wobbles so you dont hear them.) The important thing about hearing these wobbles is hearing the DJ respond and edit and correct the sounds you are hearing, no DJ is perfect.
Another big reason i like vinyl is that it is visual. People can see you switch tracks, stop the record, and preform precision cuts & scratches. People are drawn to what the DJ is doing, and playing vinyl allows others to see what is going on. I know turntablism is not everybodies style of music, but i believe that most people appreciate turntablism for the art, precision and difficulty of the skills preformed. Scratching can be applied to all styles of music and is really the pinacle of DJing. Have you ever seen someone Beat Juggle 2 records? Lets see someone do that on a CD mixer, i gaurantee it is not as impressive.
The last and most important reason i like vinyl, is cause the artists retain a bigger profit on the sale of their music. The was an article on the forum a while back discussing how much producers get paid on a per record basis, and some artists get paid as much as a Pound per record sold. How much does that producer get paid when you yank his tracks of soulseek (in my opinion it is these people who are destroying the scene. If your gonna play CDs pay for your downloads)
xen said:Can I get a :note: on that - why I appreciate (and prefer) vinyl over digital, regardless of all the many rambling discussions about quality, perceived and actual, is that vinyl DJing is a much more visual thing - it engages the audience whereas CDJing... You pop the CD in, you wait for it to load (and occasionally it won't, what happens then? you're fucked, no chance of a quick mix ), and then if you have your cuepoints set up, you jump to em and hit play... Bingo.
mekim said:and then you pitch-chase the tune until it's running smoothly with the tune that's playing currently and mix it in. it's the exact same visually as pitch chasing a record except you don't see the record rotating. i don't understand how people can go on the visual thing as an argument of vinyl over digital.
xen said:Well that's it - you've hit the nail on the head, at least in the respect of the visual difference. You look at a DJ working, you can see the records turning, you can see everything they do with their hands, their body, it's really quite organic to watch if you have a DJ who's confident in what he does. I've noticed that with a lot of DJs who use CDJs at gigs, they tend to stand more in one place, or move around less - it becomes like studio mixing. You can't do this at a live event, cause part of the DJ's job aside from just laying down the beats is to get the crowd going (watch andy c when he's on form for classic examples of this, he really interacts with the crowd and they appreciate that - and reciprocate by taking the energy levels up).
With a CDJ, you as a dj might be able to to see the icon rotating or the pseudo-platter rotating if you have the Technics cdj... But to the audience, for all intents and purpose you're just hitting start and then tapping a few buttons, flicking a little rotating wheel around every so often. CDJs, imo, are generally regarded as having greatly reduced the 'visual flair' element of a DJ's set - there's something incredibly tactile, even if you're just in the audience, with watching a DJ put together a mix, dropping the needle, working teh decks and the equipment - whereas with CDJ, even if the DJ is working just as hard, it still feels a bit like a cop out.
It's really hard to put my finger on exactly how to describe the difference, but I for one always feel a bit shortchanged somehow if a DJ is only exclusively using CDJs - and I totally understand that mixing with CDJs can be just as challenging as with vinyl. (And this is discounting all the other arguments about why DJs, especially producers, should be using vinyl if they want to practice what they preach about selling copies to the punters in the shops, one standard for them and another for us etc etc)... You know what I mean?
There's just 'something about vinyl' which CDs can't live up to. CDs are just so nondescript to me, whereas a vinyl, you pick it up, it's big in your hands, you can literally see the music on it, its a contact back to the music's earliest beginnings, and its influences and inspirations in turn right back to the reggae, soul, acid house movements... I think it may also be the link to the past which some people aren't quite ready to mourn the passing of yet, including myself. long live 12"s!
mekim said:actually, the only reason why i've noticed a lot of dj's who play on cdj's to be a little less ... into it ... is they're mostly producers rather than dj's. when i've seen the pro dj's use cdj's they go just as crazy.
any dj who's touching the platter a lot on the cdj's is the same dj who would touch the platter a lot on a pair of technics, something i don't associate with being a very good dj. so in that case, the only real difference would be not visually being able to see the record and inserting a cd rather than dropping the needle.
i just find it funny that the format of music that a dj is using really matters to some people. i'd rather be able to hear someone play some fresh new tunes they just finished than watch a piece of plastic rotating.
xen said:Now mister tech itch, you'd like me to go buy your £5 a pop vinyls when they come out in the shop, which I'll happily do... But oh wait, so you're doing this set using only CD? Why should I bother buying your vinyls if you can't be bothered to promote the very format you're releasing your tunes on?
mesh said:I also think the ease with which people can play CDs is great, but quality control becomes an issue, and its hard to argue that increase cd playing isnt linked to increased piracy.
mekim said:it's pretty hard to (effectively) argue that it is linked to increased piracy as well.
xen said:Don't forget, back in t' day when this tinterweb weren't around, and I were but a nipper, DJs still cut other producers' dubs without asking their permission first, so piracy as a concept in the D&B scene isn't strictly confined to the 21st century