Comments on: Your Favorite [Cassette] DJ Savior

Your Favorite [Cassette] DJ Savior

basicchannel — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:08:51 -0800

Dual cassette deck DJ. DJ Ramsey of Scottsdale, Arizona does with cassettes what DJ's have done for decades with vinyl records, CDs and mp3s.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:18:17 -0800

DJ "Ruthless Ramsey" Higgins.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:20:19 -0800

That is just wicked cool.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:20:22 -0800

There's another video on there, btw.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:31:17 -0800

Strange skill set to develop...kind of like someone who can bust a move with Palm Graffiti or something.

By: ninjew

ninjew — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:41:57 -0800

That's at least 8 kinds of awesome.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:59:36 -0800

Cool, but not all that impressive as a DJ. Making those scratching noises is ridiculously easy with the right sources/samples. The beatmatching is spotty, at best, and he relies on the old "use the same tracks in both decks so you don't have to pitchbend" trick. You can do the same thing with turntables. Just drop two identical records on the decks, zero out the pitch control, place the needles wherever and pingpong the crossfader. Hey, look! New breakbeats! However, I learned to DJ with cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes. My first experiences with tempo-matching beats was with portable cassette-recorders or reel-to-reel decks with pitch control wheels. What he's doing takes some skill, but 90% of what he's doing is what I call a bad case of "fancy elbow". It's a lot of flashy, distracting movements. Now I do all of that with WAV and MP3 files I can't even actually see or touch. No, doing good software DJing isn't easier - it's harder. I do it because it's more flexible, it has more options for creative control, and I get to carry ALL of my music to any gigs. (See my profile for a link to a free download of a live mix set.)

By: Squid Voltaire

Squid Voltaire — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:05:48 -0800

Brings back memories of the 2003 Cassette Jockey championship at Camp Gay, in Chicago. Quite possibly the hippist event I will ever attend in my life.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:21:34 -0800

Longtime Kansas City musician, horn sculpturist, and instrument inventor Mark Southerland (TJ Dovebelly, Malachy Papers, Eugene Chadbourne, Snuff Jazz) does scratching with some old 8-track players, although I've never seen him beat juggle with them. Also, I remember Mix Master Mike saying that's how he started DJing because he couldn't afford turntables. I think it was in Scratch.

By: Unicorn on the cob

Unicorn on the cob — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:00:02 -0800

Loquacious, yeah, I was about to say that at least two friends of mine learned to dj with tape decks that had pitch control... the funniest set I ever saw was dj'ed entirely on two fisher-price players and the guy was using two 45's. It's still nice to see that some people will do anything to play music, technology notwithstanding.

By: everichon

everichon — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:29:18 -0800

Put a smile on my face like Ultra Brite.

By: basilwhite

basilwhite — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:32:55 -0800

I've heard a tape jockey once, but I didn't get to watch how he did it. Thanks for posting this.

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:59:43 -0800

Congratulations, you produced a crabby fucking scratch with a tape deck.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:05:15 -0800

Now I do all of that with WAV and MP3 files I can't even actually see or touch. No, doing good software DJing isn't easier - it's harder. Agree with that. I found dj'ing turntables so much easier than cds because they have a concrete feel, like playing a drum or another instrument. Digital manipulation can be much more unpredictable.

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:06:55 -0800

Oh, and Loquacious: the "old trick" you are referring to is the very first DJ skill ever developed, looping the "get down part" a/k/a breakbeat. It's not some way of avoiding beatmatching between different songs.

By: jeffmik

jeffmik — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:07:07 -0800

First vinyl, now cassette tapes. Next thing you'll want to tell me that DJs are using cds... or even digital music files.

By: geekhorde

geekhorde — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:19:20 -0800

rxrfrx, that's incredibly debatable. Djs that played Disco records in clubs would beat match different records and crossfade. That's pre-hip hop innovation of playing breakbeat back to back with breakbeat to continue a groove for a rapper to spit over.

By: geekhorde

geekhorde — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:52:28 -0800

Oh and loquacious, that's a great mix. What did you use? Ableton? Traktor?

By: loquacious

loquacious — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:22:27 -0800

That's Traktor vs. vinyl in a free-for-all 2x4 set. D.syn is carrying a lot of weight in that mix, because he owns way too much good vinyl and it's hard for me to keep up or not otherwise just be outright schooled, but it worked well.

By: o0o0o

o0o0o — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:24:49 -0800

There was a russian dj that did this a few years ago, here's an up-close view of one of his decks.