Is DJing an expressive artform? How?

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One thing that maybe links artforms together is the work of art is a way for the artist to express himself. My preferred medium to work in is the DJ mix. Now, at the bottom of it all, the DJ is 'just playing other people's records' but still, I feel like I am somehow expressing myself when doing it. Now, this may be because I'm shallow and don't have a lot to express, but I don't think this is the case. Each one of my mixes feels very personal, and I feel like they reflect me in a way. Am I fooling myself? Is there some line at which point doing a DJ mix crosses over from simple curation into self expression? What techniques (technics) are used to express specific things?

― tylero (tylero), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:00 (nineteen years ago)

Sometimes I DJ in a real 'involved' style, with a lot of effort put in (cuts, multiple layering, scratching, heavy manipulation of the source material) but sometimes I have a real light hand, but both methods can feel pretty expressive to me?

TS: Ritchie Hawtin 'Transitions' vs Michael Mayer 'Fabric 13'

― tylero (tylero), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:02 (nineteen years ago)

I was certain that this thread would have PEW's myspace blog posted in it.

So happy to be wrong.

― John Justen waitin to get his W2s back so he can file his tax and ball out (john, Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:04 (nineteen years ago)

^^^
otm

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:05 (nineteen years ago)

Given a DJ's ability to transform and order sounds as they happen I'd probably argue that a DJ is expressing herself to the same degree a conductor is expressing himself. Song choice, sequence, and transformation are all very expressive things.

Not sure if I'm clear on the question though. Are you asking if a DJ can "saying something" with a set or if he's "expressing himself" to the same degree a (say) guitarist would?

cue rockist gif etc

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:12 (nineteen years ago)

We tend not to quibble with the idea that you can "express yourself" through, say, the way you decorate your home, even though you probably didn't design the furniture or paint the art yourself.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:15 (nineteen years ago)

peep an Oakey or Tietso mix and you will understand how a DJ can be more than an artists

― Wrinklecause for Applause! (Wrinklepaws), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:18 (nineteen years ago)

It's definitely tough to pick a favorite Coltrane solo.

One that stands out in my mind, if mainly just because it's a bit different, is the one on Well You Needn't from Monk's Music - he's much more sparse than usual and kind of dances around the changes instead of shredding them.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:22 (nineteen years ago)

Haha, wrong thread.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:23 (nineteen years ago)

nice.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:23 (nineteen years ago)

Thought the thread title was "Is DJing an expensive artform?"

In which case my answer would be yes.

― gnippiks (gnippiks), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:59 (nineteen years ago)

lol wrong thread

that's hilarious!

― surmounter (rra123), Thursday, 1 February 2007 03:50 (nineteen years ago)

it is very expensive.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:23 (nineteen years ago)

but in terms of the question, i don't really think there's any question that DJing is an expressive artform. it is.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:24 (nineteen years ago)

It's definitely tough to pick a favorite Coltrane solo.

http://www.barriga.co.uk/images/gallery/3_DJ_nightclub_glos10.jpg

― Confounded (Confounded), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:24 (nineteen years ago)

peep an Oakey or Tietso mix and you will understand how a DJ can be more than an artists
-- Wrinklecause for Applause! (wrinklepaw...), January 31st, 2007. (Wrinklepaws) (link)

brav-oh, wrinklepaws.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:25 (nineteen years ago)

DJ'ing is a job where you make the nice people dance for fun

― PappaWheelie MMCMXL (PappaWheelie 2), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:39 (nineteen years ago)

or mean people not dance out of spite.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 1 February 2007 06:14 (nineteen years ago)

I'm curious: Are we differentiating between DJing in the radio/dance club sense and in the rap/hiphop sense? Are both artforms, or neither, or one or the other?

(I'm way-ignorant about this sort of thing but it interests me nonetheless...)

― Monty Von Byonga (Monty Von Byonga), Thursday, 1 February 2007 06:31 (nineteen years ago)

go back to canada fag

― UART variations (ex machina), Thursday, 1 February 2007 06:32 (nineteen years ago)

absolutely not!

Now a dude singing folk on an acoustic guitar, that is expression.

― Disco Nihilist (mjt), Thursday, 1 February 2007 08:11 (nineteen years ago)

Symphony vs Movement. Both are expressive just operating on different timescales and with different building blocks.

― Jacob (Jacob), Thursday, 1 February 2007 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

there are as many records/tunes out there as there are words in language. the selection spells out a sentence.

― lukeeluke (soulex45), Friday, 2 February 2007 18:04 (nineteen years ago)

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