Beatportal Interview:

DJs were confined to the turntable for a quarter of a century. They were slaves to the music. Rhythmically matching two records together was all they could do to help people dance. Then technology set them free.

CD players with loop functionality, FX units, and sophisticated mixers all helped DJs to seize control of the music in the 1990s. Software was the next phase and it is changing the very meaning of the word ‘DJ’.

Dutch producer and DJ Joris Voorn has embraced technology. His ‘Balance 14’ mix CD, released in February, saw Voorn mix over 100 tracks across two CDs, with each different track a layered construction of three or four different songs.

With mixing in parts (or molecular mixing) becoming more and more common, Beatportal decided to meet Joris Voorn to find out his opinion about what is the definition of a DJ today.

Your ‘Balance 14’ mix CD was mixed using parts. Do you do this in a live setting?
Yes, I do. There have been such huge improvements in technology recently so it has become a lot more viable in a live environment. I use Traktor and a lot of what I do is playing loops and re-editing in real time. It works very well.

Do you prepare a lot of those edits beforehand? With so much going on it must be difficult to keep track.
You get into certain habits when playing and get to know which loops fit together and what will work. Some of it is improvisational, and some of it I do in Ableton prior to the gig. I make edits offline to play out live. Those edits are always inspired by real-time live performances on stage, so it all feeds back.

You’re a producer. Other producers have said that they feel it’s disrespectful to break a track down into micro parts as it undermines their hard work. What do you think?
I wouldn’t be disappointed if someone played something from my music, no matter how small it was. If someone liked the first four beats of ‘Sweep The Floor’ and looped it to mix with other loops I wouldn’t mind. If it works, and it sounds good, that’s great. Technology allows us to explore more avenues and I think we should embrace it.

When did you get into the idea to mixing in parts?
I first got into the idea of editing music whilst DJing when I started playing CDs. The Pioneer CDJ1000 had a loop function which opened up the door to this new world for me. That was the start of me rearranging tracks live. Then Traktor took things to the next level. I started properly playing loops about one and half years ago.

Do you still beatmatch?
No I don’t do any pitching at all. All my tracks have beat markers and the computer beatmatches for me.

People say that’s not the true essence of DJing. Beatmatching is something DJs should do.
What is the definition of DJing?
That is a question that we, as a scene, are trying to answer now. I’ll admit it did feel quite awkward when I stood on stage for the first time after so many years of playing CDs and vinyl, and didn’t have to beatmatch. I suddenly had a lot more time on my hands. The weird thing is that people think DJing is beatmatching. But by letting the computer take care of timing, you can concentrate on the music.

So what’s your definition of DJing?
DJing is playing music for people. It is knowing what music to play, and when to play it. It’s about being creative with the music you play and making it your own. It’s about making people dance, that’s it. Some things about DJing will never change. For instance, it will always have to be done in real-time. You will always have to plan two or three records ahead.

Couldn’t the computer just do it all? You could just turn up and press ‘play’?
At the end of the day, you’re also there for your own fun. If you ever find yourself just pressing ‘play’ and not controlling the music in real-time, then you should probably find something else to do.

Have you noticed any significant impact on the crowds that you play for, having adopted this new way of playing?
I think I’ve been able to keep the vibe and attention of the floor much better since the switch. If the crowd aren’t feeling a particular beat or track, I can change it up quickly. I can jump cue points, or repeat a breakdown if I feel they want it. I feel more interactive than ever before. I’m much faster at reacting to a crowd. It’s like you direct the music, rather than the music direct you.

Like a conductor with an orchestra of electronic sounds?
Yeah, something like that. You can do so much to the music now, and can control so many aspects of it. There are endless possibilities.

What set up do you use for your live performances?
I still use an outboard DJ mixer as I don’t like using the internal mixer of Traktor or any software. Analogue mixers just sound better and they are easier to use. I also have an Allen & Heath Xone:1D MIDI controller and a touchscreen Jazzmutant Lemur.

What do you use the touchscreen for?
The Jazzmutant is a very nice piece of kit. It’s my interface for Traktor and I use it to control everything in the software. I don’t have to touch my laptop at all, if I don’t want to. The Lemur comes with Traktor templates, but I designed my own custom set up.

Why’s that?
Everyone has their own favorite way of playing. The great thing about the Lemur is that you can customize everything. So for instance I can make extra large buttons for the important controls. I can make it look however I want.

Do you think touchscreen interfaces will become more popular with the DJ community?
There are still lots of improvements the touchscreen could get. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s still incredibly exciting.

What improvements are needed, do you think?
The touchscreen has sliders, which I think is not needed. Having sliders on a screen is weird because you have to watch exactly where your finger is heading otherwise you might hit another button by mistake. What touchscreens need is some type of physical feedback so that your fingers know the boundaries. Like with an analogue mixer, you can just feel where the maximum input is – it’s tangible. Touchscreens need that.

What do you think?

What is the definition of a DJ? Joris Voorn doesn’t have the answer. No one does.

via: Beatportal.