True DJs

[Thijs]

Sven Väth

[tope]

Guy J shared it today...
http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/57150/Guest_Editorial_Danny_Tenaglia_on_Five_things_Ive_ learnt_from_30_years_of_DJing

[RaphB]

Sven Vath
Dixon
Tale Of Us
Eduardo De La Calle

[N7pSTR]

Tube & Berger


Still asking about Armin! DJ or Producer?

[FJV]

Tube & Berger


Still asking about Armin! DJ or Producer?

DJ fo shoe, well he started as one.

[Phael]

Guy J shared it today...
http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/...ve_things_Ive_ learnt_from_30_years_of_DJing

was a nice read, thanks for sharing!
i like danny since his out of this world remix from blondie

[eklove]

Hernán Cattáneo..

[Heshan]

i will list some that have not been mentioned here,

Ricardo Villalobos
DJ Krush
DJ Rush
The Timewriter
Theo Parrish

[N7pSTR]

I was curious about the trance DJ's but it seems most of them are producers.

Same with "new generation artists".. Hardwell, Martin Garrix.. they are far away from skill & mixing creativity :S

[DylanGuedes]

nick warren

[Puppetmaster]

Not really active anymore these days but I remember Cliff Coenraad being a true DJ.

[Nangle]

Not really active anymore these days but I remember Cliff Coenraad being a true DJ.

Supposedly he is going to make a big comeback this year, according to my mate who is pretty friendly with him.

[Puppetmaster]

Supposedly he is going to make a big comeback this year, according to my mate who is pretty friendly with him.

More the 'EDM' direction Im guessing. He was never into too much Trance, always bit crossover to other sounds.

[Nangle]

More the 'EDM' direction Im guessing. He was never into too much Trance, always bit crossover to other sounds.

This is true. 'Booty shakin' music' as he reffers to it.

[NanoMusikTV]

Can I just ask, what makes a 'good'/'true' DJ? I'll admit, I'm ignorant, but what makes one DJ better than another? For me, DJing comes down to 2 things:

1) Track selection (subjective of course, but doesn't require any technical knowledge)
2) Order of playing (or to make it sound complex, 'programming') - again, no technical knowledge is required.

Ultinately, there is very little technical skill in simple DJing: if you're prepared (ie set cue points & know the key/tempo of each track), thn what is the actual 'skill'? Adjusting volume controls/EQ knobs is effectively like working a remote control - it's hardly rocket science.

Now I've never actually had the chance to see any big-name play yet, but other than the excitement/anticipation of seeing them, what separates them from your bedroom DJ? Now I know it's different for live sets, but personally I find many DJs tend to throw the order of playing tracks out the window and concentrate solely on mixing in key - if they've only got a limited number of tracks to work with (as it's a radio show), then I'd rather see them mix in-harmonically (though starting the incoming track 8 or 16 bars earlier to avoid melodic-clashes), but ensuring the tracks build-on/have a similar theme/mood. Again, it's all subjective, but personally there's nothing I hate more than the start of an uplifting mix being melodic/emotional/orchestral and then the end being the bangin', not particularly melodic Monster Tunes/style stuff. In the same way every film comes to a natural conclusion (be it happy or sad), a mix (in my opinion) should have an emotional end. Too often DJs live by the holy, unbreakable rule that all songs must be mixed harmonically, thus making their order of playing effectively random.

If anyone reads that rant, congratulations! My main question though is very simple: other than the Placebo effect, what actually makes a 'great' DJ great?