Time to Dust off the Decks

My DJ setup is still in what used to be the "music room".  Now it is two thirds toy room and one wall music room.

So, I have been in there fighting for a bit of space and have got everything plugged up again.

Those who know me, but not well, always assume that I was garrulous party DJ who liked the sound of his own voice, but that is as far from the truth as possible.  I DJ ed funky house club music, which was about continuous mixing of music and didn't involve any microphone work at all.

It was my passion for the music that got me into the DJing and that stemmed from the dance floors of the Ibiza "super clubs" such as Pacha and Space.  These clubs are a far cry from the 18-30s San Antonio image with which most are familiar and the "superclubs" are a mix of the hedonistic and outrageous as well as being a "Mecca" for the world's leading DJs and "musos".  You can be in Space and within half an hour talk to people from the whole of Europe as well as North and South America.

When I started DJing I just wanted to try and understand how the music worked, how it was put together seamlessly and how the DJs were able to control the dynamic of it so that it rose and fell on a roller coaster of which you were a willing passenger.

It was a long journey for me and I put in a lot of hard work.  What I lacked in natural music talent, I made up for in drive, analytical technique and the simple ability to bang out a big tune.  Having spent years on the dance floor I didn't lose the feeling for what worked.

What I enjoyed about DJing was the dynamics of it.  Every night was a different crowd and a different feeling but, because I was playing an established genre of music, there was an understanding that I was working within limited parameters that allows for a mixture of preparation and spontaneity.

In some ways the preparation was as much fun as the playing. Constantly buying new records, getting them home, listening to them and seeing how they fit into the existing material was a thing for a noisy jam in the music room, where Kitten struggled to hear the television in the front room.  There is  a real value to that period of experimentation that lifts the spirits as you sense that you have struck gold.

The thing about mixing music is that you often get more than the sum of the parts. You can blend records together without been ostentatious or you can go all out for effect in creating a synergistic sound using the dynamics of the different pieces. That may not be so noticeable in your music room but you get to know what works in a club when you have 10KW of sound stuck behind you.

When you play in a club you have to be in good nick because the atmosphere is always messy, but at home working with the decks is like therapy and it offers an opportunity to work in a way which is gentle but also rewarding.

So it's time to take advantage of a skill that I already have and I imagine that Boogle will be itching to get in on the act.