What are DJs doing wrong

[opendoor]

No, but I wouldn't rule it out. I don't expect anyone to be able to write poetry, it's hard, but some people do.

I think you didn't understand my dig at musicians.

 

[Rabbit]

Similarly, improvisation isn't part of a musician's core competency.

It is in genres other than classical, but you don't expect a guitarist to be able to just pick up a trumpet and improvise either. And professional musicians' schedule often conflicts with dance classes

 

[itwillhappen]

I am convinced that listening only to GA tango is not enough to develop musicality, in fact such a diet actively damages it and that's part of the reason for the low standard of tango DJs.

I am not sure whether a DJ actually needs musicality.

Naturally, there are many opinions within the elitist tango bubble:
A sound engineer will say you need a trained ear.
A dancer will say you should be able to move to the music.
A musician will say you should play an instrument.
An idler will say you should have plenty of time.
An IT specialist will say the file tags must be entered correctly.
Someone with autistic traits will say the rules must be followed precisely.
I go with the idler and IT specialist.

In reality, a DJ needs a feel for what their target audience wants to hear at that moment.
And it is easiest if they share the same taste; anything else becomes difficult and laborious.

 

[itwillhappen]

I already have a lot of vinilos but I collect those rare early studio albums, not those widely used compilations and samplers of lousily transferred shellacs that Johnny-DJ always is playing. So I'm a maverick again.

But you also have to find an audience interested in dancing to that kind of musical range. As far as I can tell, the DJs popular with proficient dancers tend to be risk-averse. Many clearly prefer dancing almost exclusively to familiar tracks. (It’s a different story with mediocre dancers; they don’t listen closely anyway and wouldn’t even notice if they missed pauses or syncopations.)

Most vinyl DJs spin with great passion, trying to improve the lackluster shellac transfers common in the past by constantly tweaking the equalizer. It is, after all, a laborious business. Since I enjoy dancing some tandas myself when DJing, I don’t mind at all that I have no passion for collecting records.

 

[opendoor]

..after all, a laborious business..

Absolutely; I was in Dortmund on Sunday to pick up a record collection I’d bought on FB — swing in this case. My back and knees are still aching. Shellac really is hard work. People back then must have felt very relieved when vinyl caught on.