[damon]

but anyway, we've covered burning man and mixing politics.. how about that party comin up in august?  😉

Mods suck here big time  😉

[famiable]

Paradigm wrote:
“Both Aktif and Collision are fader happy, but know when to do it, and when not to. Nicks style in particular lends itself to that anyways. Ayrick, is really good and doing some crazy sweeping eq work while playing. and likewise myself
i just find it hard to mix into a track, and stand around doing nothing for 4 minutes while i let the track ride out untill my cue for the following track comes along. I think knowing when to do it, and when to not and using restraint are very important. Too many cuts screws up flow, which in my laid out hiarchy being number 1 is a no no. But also the dj that stands around doing nothing for 5 minutes is annoying. If your not going to do active things while playing, please at least try to look busy.”

I guess the difference in opinion is whether DJs are doing a “job” when they are spinning that they have to “look busy” on the stage or whether they are there as guides that are themselves enjoying the music they spin. This goes back to the question whether people are getting together for a “party” where some people work and some people enjoy….

or a “gathering” where everyone is a participant in the gathering and takes as much responsibility as they can to make sure that the gathering goes smoothly and everybody ..”including the promoters” are able to enjoy as much as anyone else. The Dj is a participant to me and gets to enjoy as much as anyone else. He is not there on the decks to work and look busy doing something but to enjoy himself and try to make sure that he takes everyone in the gathering along with him on the same journey as himself.

The promoters are facilitators and not the bosses of the party telling people what they can and cannot do.  gatherings in Minneapolis have always followed the IDEAL of the “participant gathering” and not the party approach and hopefully will do the same in the future.

We aim to be different from the party mentality where partiers come and trash the place in the process of emjoying themselves thereby creating work for all the promoters who end up only working throughout the party and leave exhausted. thats where the policing mentality of the party promoters comes from as they are trying minimze the work for them at the end of the party. in a gathering there wouldnt be half the work to do compared to a party because the people have been responsible throughout to respect their space.

I guess it all depends on the vision of the promoters and I have always felt that the Chilluminati have been the pioneers in promoting psy culture in the Midwest. We in MSPaul will meet and hopefully exceed their standards in MSP going forward!!:) Cheers!!

[aktif]

If your not going to do active things while playing, please at least try to look busy……..ie. AKTIF

It all is a matter of personal preference.  Literally the music moves me so much that I simply can't help but to get down with me nasty self.  I am not saying that it is wrong to have someone djing that looks and acts as if they were a librarien*, but it certainly takes a little bit away from the performance.  Heres an example.  I remember at Gemini, when Paradigm was playing.  It was awsome, great energy and an even better set.  I remember a lot of instances where I would make eye contact with him while dancing, and get a monster head nod back from lawrence as he was dancing behind the decks.  This immediatly told me “Dude, chek this shit out, its about to get really wild.  Keep on grindin it out there little buddy.”  All this, literally a whole conversation that was had just because I was looking to see what he was doing because he was really gettin down during his set.  I felt as if though he needed me there and I told him that the music that he was playing was amazing.  All from eyecontact, and all because he gave me a reason to look, because he looked like he was LOVIN IT!!!!  I have a killer movie of you Str8 DESTROYING the bassbins.  Good stuff.

I think that when a dj looks like the music doesn't move them, it really takes some of the energy away from the performance.  This is why us midwesterners are so god damn crazy, its because we're all so damn crazy about the music…it moves us.  It is one of my favorate things to see, a dj who is just moppin up a dancefloor not only with blazing track selection and mixing, but also inviting the crowd into his head for an hour or two and letting the nuttyness go off.  For me it adds so much, when you see a dj who knows his musics ups and downs and acts like an air traffic controller guiding your trip throughout the aastral plane, “Bring it back, slowly slowly slowly, almost almost, THERE!  WOOOOOOO HHOOOOOOOO  TAKEOFF BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ZOOOOOOOOOOOM”

As for the mixing and DJing techniques.  DO IT.  Get in your bedroom, get into your undies, and have at it… Noone will hear you fuck up, I promise.  But when you stumble upon that fader combo or freq cut combo that makes ya change your undies.  You'll thank yourself and all that garbage following up to it will be worth it.  But it isn't something that comes overnight.  We've all heard it “anyone can beatmatch” (Well almost hehe).  Being able to do all these tricks like bass swaps and cuts takes PRACTICE.  You have to learn how to balance it out with all the other stuff that is going on.  I can only speak for myself and Chris when I say that what I do behind the mixer took countless hours behind the decs sounding like shit before I found all the little things I do out.  I think damon is right on the money.  DJ's are going to be forced to evolve as the music and technology evolves.  That means evolving your techniques for mixing the music.  I think that the key to all of it though is timing, when someone is doing little tricks and the music's mayham is competing with that it clashes.  Timing is key, and for this timing to be spot on you need to know your tracks. 

I love seeing djs add their own sauce on top of the juicy beats, it makes the music come to life in a different form than previously intended.  True, having a laptop sync 4 tracks together is possible, and it even prolly could be easy (I dont know, I use CDJ), but try that shit on 4 cd decs and you'll get the picture.  Madness.  Not to say that there isn't a whole world of technicalities related to laptop djing.  Its different.  But the most important thing is how shit sounds.  I give almost no mercy to laptop djs.  Sorry.  I expect so much more due to all of the computing power that is being used.  But that's my prob.  no worries mates, CDJ's or Compu's while smokin J's, IT DOESNT MATTER!  What matters is the love, devotion, and sheer awsome joy that the individual is channeling through their music.  I hear it all the time, and let me tell you, that's some damn good music to my ears.  You KNOW when you are hearing a DJ who is just as if not more excited to play and hear music that they love.  It really shows. 

my .02, and all my love to you all.

[paradigm]

Preach on Brother Nick, can i get an amen !!!

[acidity]

As a listener and partier only, for me the most important thing is flow. I love the buildups and then the crazy thing that goes after that. I dont really care if the DJ is doing it or its in the track….Flow should not be broken. Too many crazy things sometimes break the flow which breaks my concentration and I hate that 🙂

[HARDKORNATE]

Some music DEMANDS cutting. Not doing it is just lazy and if you know a track is going to drop for a beat while the other plays, you have to cut or have it exposed as a mix.

[aktif]

With proper use of phrasing, I don't see a reason to cut.  Of course there are exeptions.  Generaly speaking all psy tracks have a sort of familiar structure.  Somewhere in the last two min. of a track there is a spot which blends perfectly with the intro and 1st part of your new track.  If you mix these two at these points (ya gots to know your music GOOD, and basically have some good mixes memorized) there is no need to fade out the other played track.  Because when it ends there is the first big break of your cued track.  That is phrasing, it not only sounds awsome, but it really adds to the flow.  Despite how different the two tracks may be.  Again, this doesn't work with all tracks, but generally is a good thing to watch for.  Some tracks phrase so perfectly together its spooky, like one ends as another breaks into psylence, and then, BAM the new one in full force.  I dont know, I really try to do this and cut throughout the track.  It makes for much more cohesive mixes, but you still got some mixadellic nuttyness in between.  I've noticed that some dj's who used to spin techno, almost always cut psy.  I guess its a techno mixing thing.

I had a shitty monday.  I really did.  I hope Tuesday is gonna rock.

peace

[damon]

I've noticed that some dj's who used to spin techno, almost always cut psy.  I guess its a techno mixing thing.

Techno/hardtrance/hard nrg/acid d'n'b …

That's exactly what I was doing@the beginning. Later I realized it sounds better in my ears when tracks are being just blended.

[HARDKORNATE]

I guess you misunderstand me. I play 2-4 at a time and if I have more than one going and I see a spot coming up where its going to drop down to just one track with bass, I cut the track with bass and let the others do their break together.Also, when you have tracks that do a bunch of bass trickery its often appropriate to juggle them a bit(only works if you have the keys tuned.) As far as phrasing goes, if you use traktor you can adjust how long each section plays and force the phrasing to line up perfectly.

[Psygomin]

wow i wish i would have read this thread earlyer. 

i agree alot with what has been said.  and so im going to add my 2 cents worth of opinion.

Me being almost always surrounded by other genera djs, most of who really dont get what i am doing but enjoy the music, has been interesting.  i have never really had any one show me how to do anything when it comes to mixing.  i have taught myself what i know and then started to watch other dj's and try to pickup and improve on what i am doing.  i very quickly learned psy phrasing.  i have had several dj's tell me that “i should be mixing longer”.  but what they wanted is not possible with the phrasing in psy.  another valuable lesson i learned was at the Irene show i played at.  that show was one of the first times i played along with PrO-LiN and being that we where playing on cdjs and we dont own them it was alittle hard but nothing we couldnt manage.  i was dissapointed with irene, she didnt mix all that well, and played alot of old tracks.  but the energy she put twards the crowd was amazing.  then there was one of the top techno djs in wisco who played after us and befor irene, and he is very technical and does alot of mixer tricks, but not much for crowd interaction.  i then decited that to be an awsome dj one needs to be good with flow, mixing, and interaction with the crowd.  PrO-LiN and I have taken the show aspect to another level.  our sets have been good anyway due to our interaction with eachother and we both are always doing something eather with the mixer (sometimes both at once) and the decks.  but that next level was enforced at Naughty Or Nice 2 in stevens point wisco.  we decited to call up my makeup artist from the haunted house i work at and get our faces done up for this show.  it was done up in UV makeup so we glowed.  people could see us when we got there but they all had no idea what was instore.  its hard to start a psy set after a house set.  so we let the track die out.  the second of silence was enough to kill all the lights in the venue and we started.  then everyone could see what was going on.  the room was almost packed with in the fisrt few minutes of the first track, and was packed the rest of our set.  i really dont think any one really knew what we where playing, or what they where dancing to but they loved it.  we (PSI Control (Psygomin N PrO-LiN)) have heard from several people that where at that event something to the effect that we are the only act anyone remembered from that party.  that is a nice fealing.  it will be interesting to see what we end up doing for Future Perfect.  though some of the ideas are quite interesting. 

well this looks more like one cent and a off tangent

[HARDKORNATE]

wow i wish i would have read this thread earlyer. 

i agree alot with what has been said.  and so im going to add my 2 cents worth of opinion.

Me being almost always surrounded by other genera djs, most of who really dont get what i am doing but enjoy the music, has been interesting.  i have never really had any one show me how to do anything when it comes to mixing.  i have taught myself what i know and then started to watch other dj's and try to pickup and improve on what i am doing.  i very quickly learned psy phrasing.  i have had several dj's tell me that “i should be mixing longer”.  but what they wanted is not possible with the phrasing in psy.  another valuable lesson i learned was at the Irene show i played at.  that show was one of the first times i played along with PrO-LiN and being that we where playing on cdjs and we dont own them it was alittle hard but nothing we couldnt manage.  i was dissapointed with irene, she didnt mix all that well, and played alot of old tracks.  but the energy she put twards the crowd was amazing.  then there was one of the top techno djs in wisco who played after us and befor irene, and he is very technical and does alot of mixer tricks, but not much for crowd interaction.  i then decited that to be an awsome dj one needs to be good with flow, mixing, and interaction with the crowd.  PrO-LiN and I have taken the show aspect to another level.  our sets have been good anyway due to our interaction with eachother and we both are always doing something eather with the mixer (sometimes both at once) and the decks.  but that next level was enforced at Naughty Or Nice 2 in stevens point wisco.  we decited to call up my makeup artist from the haunted house i work at and get our faces done up for this show.  it was done up in UV makeup so we glowed.  people could see us when we got there but they all had no idea what was instore.  its hard to start a psy set after a house set.  so we let the track die out.  the second of silence was enough to kill all the lights in the venue and we started.  then everyone could see what was going on.  the room was almost packed with in the fisrt few minutes of the first track, and was packed the rest of our set.  i really dont think any one really knew what we where playing, or what they where dancing to but they loved it.  we (PSI Control (Psygomin N PrO-LiN)) have heard from several people that where at that event something to the effect that we are the only act anyone remembered from that party.  that is a nice fealing.  it will be interesting to see what we end up doing for Future Perfect.  though some of the ideas are quite interesting. 

well this looks more like one cent and a off tangent

Tim is going to make baloon animals while we play. I might pee on him while hes mixing. Not sure yet… 😉

[damon]

Tim is going to make baloon animals while we play. I might pee on him while hes mixing. Not sure yet… 😉

;D

[underfoot]

I think this is officially my favorite Chilluminati thread.

Miss you guys a lot.

[Nameless One]

Yes, this is geeky all right… my kind of language!

A few ad hoc points from my little book of wisdom:
– adapt your mixing technique to the style you are playing
– mix harmonically, especially when there are strong melodies
– chart a course from point A to point B; stagnation is boring
– the steady upward climb is by no means the only effective route
– try to incorporate a few old favourites whenever possible
– know when to let the music speak without interference
– show your enthusiasm; it's contagious
– get to know (and love) your music
– play for the crowd, not other DJs

[Prolin]

Now I think I am can really Only add a half a cent.  😛
Jim has been at the “PSY” scene Alot longer then me. I Am a vinyl purist
and at one time all vinyl background. But I will tell you this much
Since being introduced into the psy community I have found more love
and admoration,appreciation for one selves. The entire community has
all the energy focused on learning,teaching, and bettering one another.
In the “rave” scence most of the dj's don't get it. Promoters just “WANT”
and money and drugs fuels a fire. Dj's in that realm are only focused on themselves
and are in the momement ego eaters. In the world of psytrance and it's
elements of LOVE,LIGHT, AND A DIVINE BALANCE FOR LEARNING AND SEEKING OUT.
THIS IS what it's all about. Color, scent, vision, and insight are the fuels for this culture.
To me that is love. I must thank each one of you each time I see you. And why ?
Because this music and this culture after all these years was never understood.
YOu are the people that are ever shaping this community. And We also have become the thinkers.
I am proud to say I am a part of all this and involved in a ever growing genre of music.
The talent involved in all of this rivals some of the worlds top notch performers as well.
Most importantly I thank my best friend Jim ( psygomin ) For ” CONVERTING ME ”
And showing me the way. I can't wait to see what the future holds For me among all of this and all of you.
And for PSI CONTROL.
See ya all real soon.

Anthony ( PrO-LiN )
PSI CONTROL

[Author]

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