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A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a
person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience.
Originally, disk referred to phonograph
records, while disc referred to the Compact
Disc, and has become the more common spelling. Today, the term
includes all forms of music playback, no matter the source.
There are several types of disc jockeys. Radio DJs introduce and play
music that is broadcast on AM, FM, shortwave, digital,
or internet radio stations. Club DJs select and
play music in bars, nightclubs,
discothèques, at raves, or even
in a stadium.
Hip hop
disc jockeys select and play music using multiple turntables,
often to back up one or more MCs, and they may also do
turntable scratching to create percussive sounds. In reggae,
the disc jockey (deejay) is a vocalist who raps, "toasts",
or chats over pre-recorded rhythm tracks while the individual choosing
and playing them is referred to as a selector.[1]
Mobile DJs travel with portable sound systems and play recorded music
at a variety of events. Equipment
and techniques
DJ equipment may consist of:
- Sound recordings in a DJ's preferred medium (e.g., vinyl records, Compact Discs, computer media
files, etc.);
- A combination of two devices (or only one, if playback is digital)
to play sound recordings, for alternating back and forth to create a
continuous playback of music (e.g., record players, Compact Disc
players, computer media players such as an MP3 player,
etc.);
- A multiple Sequencer which can mix MIDI tracks with Digital Audio
- A sound system for amplification or
broadcasting of the recordings (e.g., portable audio system, PA system) or a radio broadcasting system;
- A DJ
mixer, which is an electronic (usually 2- or 4-channel) audio mixer usually equipped with a crossfader used to smoothly go from
one song to another, using two or more playback devices;
- Headphones,
used to listen to one recording while the other recording is being
played to the audience; and
- Optionally, a microphone, so that the DJ can introduce songs
and speak to the audience.
Other equipment could or can be added to the basic DJ setup (above),
providing unique sound manipulations. Such devices include, but are not
limited to:
- Electronic effects units (delay, reverb, octave, equalizer,
chorus, etc.). Some club DJs use a sub-harmonic synthesizer
effect which either doubles low frequencies with energy added an octave
lower or synthesizes harmonics such that the impression of a very low
bass sound is added to the mix.
- A computerised performance system, which can be used with vinyl emulation software to
manipulate digital files on the computer in real time.
- Multi-stylus headshells, which allow a DJ to play different grooves
of the same record at the same time.
- Special DJ digital controller hardware can
manipulate digital files on a PC or laptop;
- Samplers, sequencers,
electronic musical keyboards (synthesizers), or drum
machines.
Several techniques are used by DJs as a means to better mix and blend
recorded music. These techniques primarily include the cueing, equalization,
and audio mixing of two or more
sound sources. The complexity and frequency of special techniques
depends largely on the setting in which a DJ is working. Radio DJs are
less likely to focus on music-mixing procedures than club DJs, who rely
on a smooth transition between songs using a range of techniques.
Club DJ turntable techniques include beatmatching,
phrasing, and slip-cueing
to preserve energy on a dancefloor. Turntablism
embodies the art of cutting, beat
juggling, scratching, needle drops, phase shifting, back
spinning, and more to perform the transitions and overdubs of samples in a more creative manner (although turntablism is
often considered a use of the turntable as a musical instrument rather than a tool for blending
recorded music). Professional DJs may use harmonic mixing to choose songs that are in compatible
musical keys.
[edit] History
[edit] 19th century to 1920s
In 1857, Leon Scott invented the phonoautograph in France,
the first device to record sound. In 1877, Charles
Cros invented the phonograph in France (it was patented before
Edison's invention but never built) and Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph cylinder, the first device to
play back recorded sound, in the United
States. In 1892, Emile Berliner began commercial production of his
gramophone records, the first disc records to be offered to the public.
In 1906, Reginald Fessenden transmitted the first
audio radio broadcast in history also playing the first
record, that of a contralto singing Handel's Largo from Xerxes.[2]
The world's first radio disc jockey was Ray Newby, of Stockton,
California. In 1909, at 16 years of age, Newby began regularly playing
records on a small spark transmitter while a student
at Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless, located in San Jose,
California, under the authority of radio pioneer Charles "Doc" Herrold Though it was really called Disco
Jockey.It has been changed through the years to Disc Jockey but it can
be referred as DISCO or DISC Jockey.[3][4]
We used popular records at that time, mainly Caruso records,
because they were very good and loud; we needed a boost… we started on
an experimental basis and then, because this is novel, we stayed on
schedule continually without leaving the air at any time from that time
on except for a very short time during World War I, when the government
required us to remove the antenna… Most of our programming was records,
I'll admit, but of course we gave out news as we could obtain it…[3]
—Ray Newby, I've Got a Secret
(1965)
By 1910, regular radio broadcasting had started to use "live" as well
as prerecorded sound. In the early radio age, content typically
included comedy, drama, news, music, and sports reporting. The on-air
announcers and programmers would later be known as disc jockeys. In the
1920s, juke joints became popular as places for dancing and drinking
to recorded jukebox music. In 1927, Christopher Stone became the
first radio announcer and programmer in the United Kingdom, on the BBC radio
station. In 1929, Thomas Edison ceased phonograph cylinder manufacture,
ending the disc and cylinder rivalry.
[edit] 1930s–1950s
In 1935, American commentator Walter Winchell coined the term "disc jockey" (the
combination of "disc" (referring to the disc records) and "jockey"
(which is an operator of a machine) as a description of radio announcer Martin
Block, the first announcer to become a star. While his audience was
awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block played
records and created the illusion that he was broadcasting from a
ballroom, with the nation’s top dance bands performing live. The show,
which he called Make Believe Ballroom, was an instant hit. The
term "disc jockey" appeared in print in Variety in 1941.[5]
In 1943, Jimmy Savile launched the world's first DJ
dance party by playing jazz records in the upstairs function room of the Loyal Order
of Ancient Shepherds in Otley, England.
In 1947, he claims to have become the first DJ to use twin turntables
for continuous play. Also in 1947, the Whiskey à Go-Go nightclub opened
in Paris, France, considered to be the
world's first discothèque, or disco (deriving its name from the French
word meaning a nightclub where the featured entertainment is recorded
music rather than an on-stage band). Discos began appearing across
Europe and the United States. From the late 1940s to early 1950s, the
introduction of television eroded the popularity of radio's early
format, causing it to take on the general form it has today, with a
strong focus on music, news, and sports.
In the 1950s, American radio DJs would appear live at "sock hops" and
"platter parties" and assume the role of a human jukebox. They would
usually play 45-rpm records, featuring hit singles on one turntable
while talking between songs. In some cases, a live drummer was hired to
play beats between songs to maintain the dance floor. In 1955, Bob Casey,
a well-known "sock hop" DJ, brought the two-turntable system to the
U.S. Throughout the 1950s, payola payments by record companies to DJs in return
for airplay were an ongoing problem. Part of the fallout from the
payola scandal was tighter control of the music by station management.
The Top 40
format emerged, where popular songs are played repeatedly.
In the late 1950s, sound systems, a new form of
public entertainment, were developed in the ghettos of
Kingston, Jamaica. Promoters, who called
themselves DJs, would throw large parties in the streets that centered
on the disc jockey, called the "selector," who played dance music from
large, loud PA systems and bantered over the music
with a boastful, rhythmic chanting style called "toasting."
These parties quickly became profitable for the promoters, who would
sell admission, food, and alcohol, leading to fierce competition between
DJs for the biggest sound systems and newest records.
[edit] 1960s and 1970s
A DJ nicknamed "Captain PJ" performing at the Spectra club in 1977.
In the mid-1960s, nightclubs and discothèques continued to grow in
Europe and the United States. Specialized DJ equipment, such as Rudy
Bozak's classic CMA-10-2DL mixer, began to appear on the market. In
1969, American club DJ Francis Grasso popularized beatmatching at New York's
Sanctuary nightclub. Beatmatching is the technique of creating seamless
transitions between records with matching beats, or
tempos. Grasso also developed slip-cuing,
the technique of holding a record still while the turntable is
revolving underneath, releasing it at the desired moment to create a
sudden transition from the previous record.
By 1968, the number of dance clubs started to decline; most American
clubs either closed or were transformed into clubs featuring live bands.
Neighborhood block parties that were modelled after Jamaican sound
systems gained popularity in Europe and in the boroughs
of New York City.
In 1973, Jamaican-born DJ
Kool Herc, widely regarded as the "godfather of hip-hop culture,"
performed at block parties in his Bronx neighborhood and developed a technique of
mixing back and forth between two identical records to extend the
rhythmic instrumental segment, or break. Turntablism, the art of using turntables not
only to play music but to manipulate sound and create original music,
began to develop.
In 1974, Technics released the first SL-1200 turntable, which evolved into the SL-1200 MK2 in
1979—which, as of the mid-2000s, remains the industry standard for
deejaying. In 1974, German electronic music band Kraftwerk
released the 22-minute song "Autobahn," which takes up the entire first
side of that LP. Years later, Kraftwerk would become a significant
influence on hip-hop artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and house
music pioneer Frankie Knuckles. During the mid-1970s, Hip-hop
music and culture began to emerge, originating among urban African Americans and Latinos in New York City. The four main elements
of hip-hop
culture were MCing (rapping), DJing, graffiti,
and breakdancing.
In the mid-1970s, the soul-funk blend of dance pop known as disco
took off in the mainstream pop charts in the United
States and Europe, causing discothèques to experience a rebirth.
Unlike many late-1960s clubs, which featured live bands, discothèques
used the DJ's selection and mixing of records as the entertainment. In
1975, record pools began, providing disc jockeys
access to newer music from the industry in an efficient method.
In 1975,[6]
hip-hop DJ Grand Wizard Theodore invented the
scratching technique by accident. In 1976, American DJ, editor, and
producer Walter Gibbons remixed "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure, one of the earliest
commercially released 12″ singles (aka "maxi-single"). In 1979, the Sugar Hill Gang released "Rapper's Delight," the first hip-hop record to become a
hit. It was also the first real breakthrough for sampling, as the bassline of Chic's
"Good Times" laid the foundation for
the song.
In 1977, Saratoga Springs, NY
disc jockey Tom L. Lewis introduced the Disco Bible (later renamed
Disco Beats), which published hit disco songs listed by beats per minute
(tempo), as well as by either artist or song title. Billboard ran an
article on the new publication, and it went national relatively quickly.
The list made it easier for beginning DJs to learn how to create
seamless transitions between songs without dancers having to change
their rhythm on the dance floor. Today, DJs can find the beats per
minute of songs in the BPM List.
In 1981, the cable television network MTV was
launched, originally devoted to music videos, especially popular rock
music. The term "video jockey," or VJ, was
used to describe the fresh-faced youth who introduced the music videos.
In 1982, the demise of disco in the mainstream by the summer of 1982
forced many nightclubs to either close or change entertainment styles,
such as by providing MTV-style video dancing or live bands. Released in
1982, the song "Planet Rock" by DJ Afrika Bambaataa was the first hip-hop song to feature synthesizers.
The song melded electronic hip-hop beats with the melody from
Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express." In 1982, the Compact Disc reached
the public market in Asia, and early the following year in other
markets. This event is often seen as the "Big Bang" of the digital
audio revolution.
In the early 1980s, NYC disco DJ Larry
Levan, known for his eclectic mixes, gained a cult following, and
the Paradise Garage, the nightclub at which he
spun, became the prototype for the modern dance club where the music and
the DJ were showcased. Around the same time, the disco-influenced
electronic style of dance music called house
music emerged in Chicago. The name was derived from the Warehouse Club
in Chicago,
where resident DJ Frankie Knuckles mixed old disco classics and Eurosynth
pop. House music is essentially disco music with electronic drum machine
beats. The common element of most house music is a 4/4 beat generated
by a drum machine or other electronic means (such as a sampler),
together with a solid (usually also electronically generated) synth bassline.
In 1983, Jesse Saunders released what some consider
the first house music track, "On & On." The mid-1980s also saw the
emergence of New York Garage, a house
music hybrid that was inspired by Levan's style and sometimes eschewed
the accentuated high-hats of the Chicago
house sound.
During the mid-1980s, techno music emerged from the Detroit
club scene. Being geographically located between Chicago and New York,
Detroit techno artists combined elements of Chicago house and New York
garage along with European imports. Techno distanced itself from disco's
roots by becoming almost purely electronic with synthesized beats. In
1985, the Winter Music Conference started in Fort Lauderdale Florida and became the premier
electronic music conference for dance music disc jockeys.
In 1985, TRAX Dance Music Guide was launched by American
Record Pool in Beverly Hills. It was the first national
DJ-published music magazine, created on the Macintosh
computer using extensive music market research and early desktop
publishing tools. In 1986, "Walk
This Way," a rap/rock collaboration by Run DMC and Aerosmith,
became the first hip-hop song to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was the first exposure of
hip-hop music, as well as the concept of the disc jockey as band member
and artist, to many mainstream audiences. In 1988, DJ Times
magazine was first published. It was the first US-based magazine
specifically geared toward the professional mobile and club DJ.
Starting in the mid-1980s, the wedding and banquet business changed
dramatically with the introduction of DJ music, replacing the bands that
had been the norm. Bandleaders, like Jerry Perell and others, started
DJ companies, such as NY Rhythm DJ Entertainers. Using their knowledge
of audience participation, MC charisma, and "crowd-pleasing" repertory
selection, the wedding music industry became almost all DJ while
combining the class and elegance of the traditional band presentation.
New DJs as well as bandleaders with years of experience and
professionalism transformed the entire industry.
During the early 1990s, the rave scene built on the acid
house scene. The rave scene changed dance music, the image of DJs,
and the nature of promoting. The innovative marketing surrounding the
rave scene created the first superstar
DJs who established marketable "brands" around their names and sound.
Some of these celebrity DJs toured around the world and were able to
branch out into other music-related activities. During the early 1990s,
the Compact Disc surpassed the gramophone record in popularity, but
gramophone records continued to be made (although in very limited
quantities) into the 21st century—particularly for club DJs and for
local acts recording on small regional labels. During the mid-1990s, trance
music, having run rampant in the German underground for several
years, emerged as a major force in dance music throughout Europe and the
UK. It became one of the world's most dominant forms dance music by the
end of the 1990s, thanks to a trend away from its repetitive, hypnotic
roots, and towards commercialized song structure.
In 1991, Mobile Beat magazine, geared specifically toward
mobile DJs, began publishing. In 1992, MPEG which stands for the Moving Picture Experts Group,
released The MPEG-1 standard, designed to produce reasonable sound at
low bit rates. The lossy compression scheme MPEG-1 Layer-3, popularly
known as MP3,
later revolutionized the digital music domain. In 1993, the first internet
"radio station", Internet Talk Radio, was developed by Carl
Malamud. Because the audio was relayed over the internet, it was
possible to access internet radio stations from anywhere in the world.
This made it a popular service for both amateur and professional disc
jockeys operating from a personal computer.
In 1995, the first full-time, internet-only radio station, Radio HK,
began broadcasting the music of independent bands. In 1996, Mobile Beat had its first
national mobile DJ convention in Las Vegas. During the late 1990s, nu metal
bands, such as Korn,
Limp
Bizkit, and Linkin Park, reached the height of their
popularity. This new subgenre of alternative rock bore some influence from hip-hop because
rhythmic innovation and syncopation are primary, often featuring DJs as
band members. As well, during the late 1990s, various DJ and VJ software
programs were developed, allowing personal computer users to deejay or
veejay using his or her personal music or video files.
In 1998, the first MP3 digital audio player was released, the Eiger
Labs MPMan F10. Final Scratch debuted at the BE Developer
Conference, marking the first digital DJ system to allow DJs control of
MP3 files through special time-coded vinyl records or CDs. While it would take
sometime for this novel concept to catch on with the "die hard Vinyl
DJs", This would soon become the first step in the new Digital DJ
revolution. Manufacturers joined with computer
DJing pioneers to offer professional endorsements, the first being
Professor Jam, who went on to develop the industry's first dedicated
computer DJ convention and learning program, the "CPS (Computerized
Performance System) DJ Summit", to help spread the word about the
advantages of this emerging technology.
In 1999, Shawn Fanning released Napster,
the first of the massively popular peer-to-peer
file sharing systems. During this period, the AVLA (Audio
Video Licensing Agency) of Canada announced an MP3 DJing license,
administered by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. This meant
that DJs could apply for a license giving them the right to perform
publicly using music stored on a hard drive, instead of having to cart
their whole CD collections around to their gigs.
By the 2000s, new technologies such as voice tracking, allowed single DJs to
send announcements across many stations.[7]
Commercial radio DJs were increasingly limited in their freedom to
select which songs to play. Some music aficionados sought freeform stations that put the DJs
back in control, or chose instead to listen to satellite radio services or portable music players. College
radio stations and other public radio outlets continued to be the most
common places for freeform play lists in the U.S.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the convenience and popularity of
the MP3 and the increasing power of laptops spawned a new type of DJ,
the "MP3J". In 2004 Serato introduced its own version of the digital
vinyl DJ system Serato Scratch Live making
improvements in overall system stability and more closely emulating the
feel of true vinyl. Rane has since licensed the software as well as
collaborated with Serato to bring out a hardware mixer version in 2006.[8]
Soon afterward, many nightclub deejays that had remained true vinyl
record aficionados began the transition to becoming digital vinyl users.
Serato Scratch Live has since become the most popular MP3 manipulation
software/hardware, and can be found pre-installed in famous clubs around
the world. In 2006, the concept of DJ had its 100-year anniversary. In
January 2008, Serato introduced Video-SL, which is a plug-in for the
popular Serato Scratch Live software. This plug-in gives DJs the ability
to manipulate music videos in the same way they have been manipulating
music, spawning a new generation of "VJs" (Video Jockeys).[9]
In the late 2000s, topless female DJs have appeared in special
nightclubs, primarily in Finland and Russia.[10][11]
[edit] See also
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