I don’t really know much about the process of remixing a song but I can imagine it is a process that is like editing a video – layering tracks, adding beats, etc. They are clearly not doing that kind of editing live so they are basically playing something that’s already had some amount of that already done.
So what are they doing live besides maybe mixing between songs?
I just don’t understand what all the knob fiddling is about.
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To quote Deadmau5 “I get paid to show up to a gig and hit play” which is him joking about how people assume DJs do nothing but show up and hit play on a playlist.
Of course artists like him are also musicians and producers that make their own music, but the nature of EDM is that tracks are rarely played ‘live’ but instead pre-recorded which causes a lot of live musicians to look down on them unfairly. Pop musicians very often don’t play live either with much or all of the set being pre-recorded.
In addition to being the guy that owns the gear and manages the crew to set it all up etc…
A DJs skills are having a encyclopedic knowing of different tracks, ordering them properly so that there’s a flow to the concert, and mixing them so that they flow together properly. In a sense they are a conductor for the dance party and there job to make sure the crowd are enjoying the music.
Bad DJs are the ones that just play random songs with bad volume discrepancies between them.
Boyinaband made a pretty hilarious video about it.
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