A controversial study into the art of DJing has revealed that DJing while you’re being paid and are supposed to be DJing actually improves the experience for everyone.
“I’m gobsmacked,” claimed study leader, Dr. Paul Garland, from the New York University Music Department. “I’ve always suspected that if DJs actually DJed when they were getting paid to DJ that it might be better but standing behind the desk and miming the actions of DJing always just seemed so ubiquitous in EDM that I never really followed it through.”
The study showed that when a DJ actually does their job live that the crowd appreciates the experience a whopping 78% more than if the DJ was just playing a pre-recorded set. It was also suggested that the physical act of live mixing makes the whole experience more enjoyable for the DJ because it’s a rewarding skill that requires actual talent and practice.
“Throughout the course of my research I discovered that some DJs out there are actually very stringent and particular – only ever DJing live,” continued Dr. Garland. “I’ve been a fan of EDM for nearly a year and a half now during which time I’ve met tonnes of EDM DJs and they’ve tended to consider the whole fascination with playing live to be a bit weird – claiming that the kids dance either way so why bother.”
“In some parts of the world, mainly Europe, DJs are always expected to actually DJ on the night,” explained Dr. Gannon shockingly. “I know it’s weird but that’s just the way they’ve always done it over there. I always thought that was backward and that it failed to appreciate the true skill of the DJ in warming up the crowd through onstage antics, sub-par emceeing and foam cannons but I guess I was wrong.”
Dr. Gannon claims to have attended gigs by DJs from several different scenes and reported that those gigs where DJs like Q-Bert (pictured) or Ricardo Villalobos DJed live the experience rated higher for everybody in attendance than it did for EDM gigs where the DJs played a pre-recorded set that was synced to onstage light shows and spectacles.
“It was surprising, nobody really noticed the lack of light shows or lasers at the smaller gigs,” claimed Dr. Gannon. “Often it was just a DJ behind the decks in a dark room with a strobe light and yet people enjoyed it more than seeing Steve Aoki’s stage turn into robots before pissing cake mix on them.”
“To think that the audience would appreciate and respond to a genuine effort on the part of the DJ to mix skillfully is frankly mind blowing to me,” concluded Dr. Gannon. “I’m no slouch at watching DJs either, I’ve seen Tiesto, Guetta and Harris live, I’ve also been to EDC and Ultra ever held but I never in a million years suspected that what they do could be topped by people actually mixing live.”
