What DJs REALLY do

Or what they SHOULD be doing with their time, when they are not playing a pre-recorded set!

After the video of Laidback Luke, Steve Aoki, and Sander van Doorn from a festival went viral, where all 3 were "DJing" together, and Art Department criticized them for it, and someone made a similar video of them to a make them eat their words, I thought it would be fun to show people what DJs REALLY do, or what they SHOULD be doing instead of playing air guitar, twiddling knobs necessarily, or generally doing the same thing the crowd is doing but in the DJ booth.

For everyone that has been asking, the tracks are:

1) Hot Since 82 - Knee Deep in Louise
2) Green Velvet - Bigger than Prince (Hot Since 82 remix)

[schaf]

The hardest part isnt the mixing itself but knowing which songs can be mixed well together

[luny]

People who don't appreciate good DJs have never heard a really bad one!!! I've encountered so many at college parties. It was actually painful to hear the tracks change.

[elliotlamprecht]

'i'm really dying to touch some knobs'...

[elephantsong]

most dingdongs dont understand that the main aspect of being a dj is their track selection and music depth and knowledge..techhnical skills are only secondary

[rebeccamamane]

As a professor and ex-DJ once told me: DJing is principally a performance. The DJ will turn knobs to impress the public, to give the impression that he/she is modifying the music. In truth, the talent of the DJ resides in his/her selection of tracks and his/her ability to keep a steady flow between the tracks without interruption. The goal is to keep the people dancing with strong beats, integrating well-calculated moments of higher and lower energy. A good DJ studies his/her audience. The beat-maker is a composer; he/she creates a collage of sounds. I've seen the terms "producer" and "beat-maker" used interchangeably with regards to electronic music, so I'm not really certain about the differences between the two. In traditional rock 'n roll, the producer is not the composer; he/she helps artists achieve the correct "sound" that they want. In this context, the producer can take on a similar role to a sound engineer. My impression is that this may be a bit different with electronic music which has a very different work-flow. There are also DJs who do live performances where they use pre-recorded sounds that they have to trigger themselves, and sometimes they also play keyboards or other instruments.

[droney_baloney]

Wow... just wow. Not wow at the video. Dude can mix just fine. I'm wowing at the obnoxious amounts of hate and ignorance in the comments section. Most of which is probably from a bunch of people who have never touched ANY DJ equipment in their life. Dudes not using sync. You see him adjust the pitch, you see him move the jog with his hand to correct the track. He's not syncing... oh and lets just pull out our sticks and beat the "if you're not using vinyl your not a real dj" horse some more. People with that mentality will never progress. This is the digital age. I grew up on turntables and vinyl myself but you know what? My vinyl sits in the crates in my closet now and doesn't come out. You know why? Because that shit was expensive and it wears everytime you drop a needle on it. Not to mention vinyl is fucking HEAVY. Mad respect for turntable djs and people who still get down like that but damn! Vinyl isnt the only way.

Anyway, this popped up in my feed and I decided to watch it. Keep doing what you do and let the haters, hate.

[ryandriesatria]

All I know DJs now just do filter cutoff and said "Make some noise!", done.

[BrainExploder]

I just came here to read the comments.

[mr.ckie]

he was really excited to turn those knobs ;)

[eddiegreif]

Hey Arman, just wanted to say. DJing has been a childhood dream of mine. I have watched this video for fun all the time for the last 8 years because of how insightful it was, and last week I finally started DJing myself. None of my friends can believe that I immediately knew exactly what to do the first try, and neither could I until I realized that I had visually retained everything this video taught me. I can't express my gratitude enough for this video, I just played my first show last night and got overwhelmingly positive response. Thanks so much for your talent Arman 💖

[PONYBOYonline]

Honestly all the bashing and hate in the DJ community is getting old. First off let's look at the term "DJ". It means Disc Jockey (obviously), and anyone who plays recorded music for an audience is a DJ. You don't even need to mix. You can literally just play one song after another just like a radio DJ. So basically, the term "DJ" is super generic and covers a broad range of applications. With that said, it isn't hard to be a DJ. But it is hard to make a lot of money DJing, it is hard to become famous DJing, and it's even harder to gain respect DJing. But those are all separate entities, and that's where people get caught up. Some people enjoy talented and technical performers and think that should automatically equate to big stages, lots of fans, fame, and money. Wrong. That equates to respect. Big stages, money, and fame are a result of supply and demand, and the demand is decided by the masses. DJs in the DJ Mag Top 100 are entertainers, and if people weren't entertained, then they wouldn't go to their shows. Like I said, DJing covers a huge spectrum, so just because someone is DJing in a certain manner does not mean that defines the entire group of DJs.

[janewilmont]

I was very cautious with my mixes and transitions until I realised nobody cares cuz they all faded in the club

[grindstone]

For like the first minute and a half, I literally could not tell that any of his actions were making any difference.

[ziggyplay]

What good Djs really do is knowing good music and knowing what to deliver and at the right time. The technical aspect is just a detail.

[zacharygardner]

So many buttons, I don't think I can do this.

[AgLDeeJay]

The songs:
Hot Since 82 - Knee Deep in Louise
Green Velvet - Bigger Than Prince (Hot Since 82 Remix)

[TC-ziyp]

When the fuck did people start thinking that spending 6g on Pioneer dj setup makes u a good dj? I just witnessed some kid drag his grandpa into the music store to drop 3 grand on a gold edition pioneer CONTROLLER and I bet he doesn't even know how to install a god damn driver.

[baldbeardedbassist]

The thing about DJing that most people don't understand is that it's much DIFFERENT than learning an instrument and playing in a band. You're pretty much completely on your own and completely responsible for the overall vibe of the party or show or whatever kind of event you're at. You need to have the knowledge of an entire library of music and how the songs mix with each other, and a good ear for frequencies so that your transitions will be clean and graceful. You need to be able to vibe with the crowd and take the set in a different direction if they're not feeling it. The list of skills that are exclusive to DJs goes on

[leonapoleon]

This is helpful for me. I want to learn how to dj and I have always been curious of what DJs really do being a bassist.

[patheticattemptforcurtbrog]

Why am I searching this when I already know how to DJ