- For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation).
A disc jockey (often DJ or deejay) is an individual who selects and plays pre-recorded music for the enjoyment of others.
In circles and cultures where reggae and related musical styles are prevalent such as Jamaica, Panama, and other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America, the word "DJ" refers to an MC or rapper and the word "selector" is used as the title of the person commonly performing the roles of the disc jockey. Thus what Jamaicans call dee jaying, chatting, or toasting is called rapping in most other parts of the world. Recently, reggae artists who sing in styles similar to rap have also been called DJs.
DJs can be heard on the radio and at any number of social gatherings, such as weddings, nightclubs, art openings, warehouse parties, and high school dances. As a result there are many different types of DJ, each fitting into a particular niche defined by performance setting (broadcast booth or nightclub) and intended audience (jazz or hip hop fans). A DJ's performance style and the techniques he or she employs must reflect these considerations. For instance, wedding DJs play music but are often expected to act as a masters of ceremony who introduce the bride and groom, lead dances, or invite guests to play games. A DJ at a rave would instead be expected to introduce a greater technical element to their performance by manipulating the songs they play in order to maintain a given tempo and energy level.
Some consider deejaying to be not a single action but rather a series of actions that depend on situation and expectations. However, whether talk radio shock jocks like Howard Stern and Don Imus that do not play music ought to be referred to as DJs or "on-air personalities" is often debated.
Technique
See audio mixing, cueing, slip-cueing, phrasing, cutting, beat juggling, scratching, body tricks, beatmatching, needle drops, and phasing.
Equipment
See turntables, CD players, mixers, headphones, slipmats, samplers, drum machines, effects processors, and laptop computers. Two turntables and a microphone comprise DJs' most basic equipment, although recently, new advances in digital media have enabled DJs to use computers, and CD players, with specialized software in much the same manner as with turntables. Turntables (aka. phonographs) and a microphone are connected to a mixer. DJs use a mixer's crossfader to fade between two songs playing in the turntables. Fading often includes beatmatching. Live hip hop music also has often MC rapping to the microphone. In nightclubs the microphone is usually used only for announcements.
The DJ as an artist
A phenomenon in the music community (but primarily within the sphere of popular music) is DJs who are not simply "playing records" but are in fact creating new music out of the playback and mixing of pre-recorded media. Begun and developed in Jamaica in the 1960s by such influential DJs as Count Matchukie, King Stitts and U-Roy working with some of the most innovative sound recording engineers of the century including Coxsone, King Tubby, and the legendary Lee "Scratch" Perry, the DJs employ various techniques as phrasing, sampling, scratching, the application of effects (e.g., delay, flanging, etc.), but most importantly, they speak or toast or rap over the music. In effect they are developing an aural montage that may be spontaneous/improvised or carefully crafted. This movement is dubbed turntablism. There are parallels in surrealism and the visual arts.
Yet, even simply "playing records" allows for the DJ to bring his own creative ideas to bare upon the pre-recorded music. Playing songs in sequence offers the opportunity to observe relationships forming between different songs. Given careful attention and control, the DJ can create these relations and encourage them to become more expressive, beautiful and telling. If successful, it allows the listener or audience a way in towards a deeper and more complete experience of the music as well as insight into the person choosing the music sequence. This is called the art of "programming," or track selection. It can require technical skill and/or knowledge of music.
DJ control and economics
Throughout the 1950s, payola was an ongoing problem. Part of the fallout from that payola scandal was tighter control of the music by station management. Very few DJs in the United States have any control over what is played on the air. Playlists are very tightly regulated, and the DJ is often not allowed to make any changes or additions.
Disc vs Disk
The name "Disc jockey" developed in the era when the only sound recordings available were disc records. For the reason it's disc jockey rather than disk jockey, see disk or disc. Disc is more often spelled "Disk" in the USA.
The people
Radio DJs
DJ John Peel. (BBC Photo) - Jim Ladd, called "The last DJ" by Tom Petty. One of the last remaining free-form rock 'n' roll disc jockey's in a major market. Currently found on KLOS in Los Angeles.
- Jimmy Savile, the first DJ to use twin turntables in 1946.
- John Landecker, also known as "Records" Landecker, was a star for WLS in Chicago, Illinois. He started in 1972 on a high powered AM station that reached 38 states and Canada.
- John Peel, One of the original DJs of BBC Radio 1 in 1967 and the only one still on Radio 1 until his death on October 25, 2004. Known for the extraordinary range of his taste in music and the not infrequent blunders (for example playing records at the wrong speed) which mark his shows, John Peel was one of the most popular and respected DJs in the United Kingdom.
- Murray the K, successor to Freed, often claimed to be the "Fifth Beatle"
- Wolfman Jack, internationally famous for his howls and patter on high-powered Mexican station XERF; later hosted early syndicated radio show
- Rick Shaw, the legend of Rock and Roll/Top 40 in South Florida since the early 60's. Rick is now co-hosting the morning drive show on WMXJ, MAJIC 102.7 out of Miami
Club DJs
Hip hop DJs
The DJ as teacher
Another DJ who has been widely renowned is Christian Marclay who taught at the European Graduate School
DJs in rock bands
In the late '90s Nu metal bands started to introduce DJs into their band to give their music a hip-hop style.Usually their role in the band is minor on live shows but they usually have a large influence in the recording stages.
Bands which include DJs are:
External links
- The DJ List (http://www.thedjlist.com/) - rates the top DJs in the world
- Internet DJ (http://www.internetdj.com/) - DJ community
- Illegal-Art.org (http://www.illegal-art.org/) - features controversial mixes from artists like DJ Danger Mouse
Bibliography
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Disc jockey
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