Yesterday, Magnetic Magazine posted an article about the stance taken by LA club Cure And The Cause about banning the use of laptops and controllers. Subsequently, Kenny Summit from the club was interviewed clarifying his points. Yes he’s very much in favour of a more traditional laptop free approach to DJing, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s a simple solution to the issue.
Quoting the interview, Kenny says:
“The problem lies with the opening DJs (mostly), many of them show up with a laptop and controller, and that’s all they’ve ever used. That’s a problem. They don’t know what to connect with our Pioneer system; they have no clue what they’re plugging in or what plugs they’re taking out.
Now I know young DJs have to cut their teeth, and that’s why we give the promoters the opportunity to bring in their own DJs to open… but its gotten to the point where it’s like an epidemic with these DJs who haven’t bothered to go the full distance and LEARN how to set their shit up without interrupting the flow of the night. Midnight is not the ideal time to turn the mixer off, pull it out and start guessing which port to plug your Traktor into.”
So there is a problem. But reading the above as well as other comments made by Kenny Summit on social media, perhaps it’s not that DJs are using controllers and laptops, but more the booth’s ability to easily allow a controller to be plugged in without disrupting the flow of the gig. I get that trying to find mixer connections in a booth can be hard. I can also understand the disruption that pulling out whole lumps of hardware can bring. But instead of taking it out on the modern and exponentially expanding controller DJ scene, I respectfully submit the following for discussion:
MAKE BOOTHS ACCESSIBLE AND FRIENDLY TO ALL STYLES OF DJS
Here’s the thing — controllers have been around for a decade and are here to stay. And while CDJs might be the booth standard (funnily enough they never used to be – things change, including attitudes to CDJs formerly known as toys), there’s a big wide world of DJs honing their DJ skills on controllers. And by skills, I’m talking about those that translate to any type of technology like track selection, mixing, EQing, filters, effects etc. The core of DJing is exactly the same, regardless of technology.
And these new DJs should reasonably expect to be able to plug into a house system with the absolute minimum of fuss. What are we talking about in reality — a couple of balanced cables and some power points? Are you saying that a modern DJ booth can’t find space for that?
I’ve always had an issue with industry standards being imposed a creatively rich and diverse environment. This policy is hugely limiting, and by definition is enforcing strict adherence to keeping the Pioneer DJ workflow as the standard. Wouldn’t it be much better if anyone could play in any booth with any tech they choose to bring? Isn’t choice good?
So instead of enforcing technology policies, I would suggest that clubs shouldn’t shun controller DJs, but should strive to make booths an accepting environment for ANY kind of DJ. It’s time to redesign the booth for today’s DJ scene.
OVER TO YOU
I would love to hear your experiences from the booth — perhaps from DJs who have had to deal with controller DJs messing things up, or indeed from controller DJs having a hard time in the club. Maybe club sound guys could chip in with ideas on how to make the booth a better working environment and accepting of every type of DJ.