The History of DJ Equipment

There are many types of DJ, the most common being a radio DJ and a Club DJ. The first DJ was a radio DJ called Ray Newby who used a spark transmitter to generate radio waves in 1909. In 1877 Thomas Edison invented the Phonograph which was a device that could record and re-play the recorded sound. However, Emile Berliners invention which enabled people to record sound onto a flat disc dominated the market as it was easier and cheaper to mass produce. This then lead to his invention of the Gramophone dominating the market in 1894 after the first model was built in 1888. After years of development it has turned into the Turntable.

Timeline

1930 -1950’s:

From 1920, up until 1930, British dance band was the main genre of music played by DJ’s. The whiskey go-go, the first commercial club, opened in Paris in 1947 – this could be considered the start of Club DJing culture as clubs then started to only play pre-recorded music. In 1948 LP’s were invented which enabled more audio data to be recorded on the slower rotating disc. In the early 1950’s radio DJ’s would be hired to play at parties to impersonate the role of a juke box by playing current music. As there were breaks between songs, a drummer would also be hired to fill in the gaps and keep people on the dance floor. In 1955 Bob Casey brought the two-turntable system to the US which sped up the process of changing between two songs, instead of having to flip the vinyl, the track was ready on a parallel turntable. During the late 1950’s PA systems were developed in Jamaica which led to huge block parties, where multiple DJ’s would perform pre-recorded music live to an audience.

1960’s:

In the mid 60’s clubs became rife and new specialized DJ equipment was made to ensure clubbers with music all of the time. For example, when Rudy Bozaks CMA-10-2DL mixer was invented it enabled Club DJs to smoothly transition from song to song without having a gap that had to be filled by hiring a drummer like in the early 1950’s. The smooth transition from song to song was done by using a cross fader on the mixer, which over time had to be developed to be stronger as techniques such as beat juggling – going between two tracks – became more competitive and DJs began doing it faster and faster which lead to many broken cross faders. This also encouraged DJs develop a new technique called ‘Beat-matching’ which allowed them to match 2 songs with different tempos. By 1968 clubs had died down, and those that were still running only featured live bands. This then brought up the era of block parties in Europe and boroughs of New York such as the Bronx where famous DJ’s such as Kool Herc performed.

1970’s:

In the early 70’s the technique of turntablism started because in Disco music there are two sections (Melodic and the break beat), and people would dance the most to the break beat so Kool Herc used two of the same records and played the same break beat between them to extend the time. In the mid 70’s whilst Disco became mainstream – Hip hop music and culture was growing. In 1975, hip hop DJ Grand Wizard Theodore invented the scratching technique by accident as he was talking to his mum and he held the vinyl still and as he moved it he noticed it made a rhythmic noise. This then enabled DJs to make pre-recorded music even more their own, by adding rhythmic scratching fills over the track.

1980’s:

In the early 80s House music emerged from Chicago thanks to Frankie Knuckles who started it off by mixing old disco songs with eurosynth pop. In the mid 80s wedding and party entertainment changed from having a live band to having a DJ. This then encouraged some to start up DJ companies.  Mobile DJs would bring their whole System - (Turntables, records, PA system) - to the events that were performing at, like a live band would their instruments. This could be said to be when DJing became an actual musical art form as it was performed live and techniques were used to make the music played, their own.

1990’s - Present:

Although invented in the mid 70s, CDs became big in the market during the early 90s and outnumbered the amount of sales the gramophone got which then slowed down its production rate. The first mp3 played was released in 1998 – the Eiger Labs MPMan F10. Final scratch was a DJ tool created by N2IT, which enabled DJs to control mp3 audio files through time-coded vinyl or CDs. This is the digital DJ setup which is currently more popular than using vinyl as it is, personally, much easier to manage and use.

DJ Equipment development:

When two DJ turntables began being used – it became the main set up for all DJ’s, whether they used vinyl or digital as it enabled every DJ technique known to be performed. When the Technics SL1200 was invented in 1972 – it became popular with DJ’s as it enabled them to match beats with different tempos more effectively because it had quartz rotation and a pitch control. Original turntables consisted of just the Platter (where the record sits and spins), Tonearm (where the needle is held) and the motor. The platter has been developed to take more impact  as new techniques of  DJ’ing such as scratching need to support the extra weight of ones hand. Tone arms and needles have also been developed by strengthening them as scratching used to break the needles very easily and the tonearm would move out of position from the grooves of the record. Motors in turntables used to be AC, although an AC motor has been said to be better due to the fact that it lasts longer and are well built – people have started to use DC motors because they are smaller and cheaper.

DJ setups have changed over the years. For example Dj Craze, in his 1999 DMC Final – he used 2 vinyl turntables and a mixer. However at VEMF in 2012, he used 2 turntables that were linked to a Laptop and instead of using vinyl’s he used tracktor to play his music. On the side, he used a drum machine to play his own rhythms over the songs he was Djing. This could be considered modern turntablism as he uses the pre recorded music and makes new beats over it. Likewise, In 1997 David Rodigan used vinyl turntables, mixer and a microphone to perform his sets. By using a microphone he engages with the crowd and becomes his own hype man. The fact that not many DJ’s use microphones is that using a mic to talk over the tracks would make the DJ a selector – as David Rodigan is known for.  In 2005 David Rodigan was still using the same set up in a DJ battle against Tony Matterhorn. However in the 2012 carnival, David Rodigans setup changed dramatically as he now uses a digital setup that consists of  time coded turntables – a mixer and a laptop with Traktor running to play his tracks.

In conclusion, I personally prefer the digital DJ setup as it allows newer music to be performed as music of this era would not be pressed onto vinyl. Also, there are more possibilities to excel in a set as a digital turntable has cue buttons which skip the track to a selected point, and a sync button that automatically beat matches the two different tracks which would enable the DJ to focus more on techniques such as turntablism. It also does not have a tone arm or needle which makes scratching – to add rhythm – much easier to do. Although vinyl turntables have a more authentic sound – Digital turntables provide a crisp and clear sound. Also, attaching a laptop to a DJ setup can allow the DJ to control visuals, lighting and smoke effects which would make the whole performance more engaging which is what DJ Andy C has done. With a digital setup, the components are much stronger and would last longer than an analogue set up. Whereas, using vinyl turntables would cost more expense as one would have to buy the needles – and if they scratch a lot that will become pricey. Also, vinyl is expensive to buy. The fact that a DJ would have to carry a box of vinyl to each of their gigs would be exhausting, however if a digital setup was used, all of the music needed would be on a laptop. Mixers for digital setups enable the DJ to control a vast range of the music as effects such as EQ and delay can be added. The gain and pitch of a track can too be altered which ultimately changes the original sound of the song instantly.

Hear and identify

The worse version of the song is badly recorded both musically and technically. At the beginning of the song there is a recorded cough which lowers the professional standard that the recording should have. This cough can be cut out of the audio through editing the vocals.
Also, the fact that the vocalist is standing too close to the pop filter - there is popping in the recording. This muffles the vocals and makes them hard to understand. This fault can be prevented by standing a few centimeters more away from the pop filter.
The backing vocals and main singers vocals went out of time with eachother at points which created a droning mesh of vocals. This could be prevented by either rehearsing the performance better or editing the vocals to fit better together.
In the bridge section of the song - the vocals sound muffled by the music. This could too be changed by the singer singing clearer or a better edit of the song.
At the end of the song, the music cut off too soong and the vocals did not end on a perfect cadence. This made the song feel unfinished and is not a professional ending ; it could be improved by editing the music to carry on after the vocals have finished.
Overall, the music quality was poor as i could not recognise or hear any other instrument other than the piano and drums - as in the better version i could hear a sort of synth piano and bass. This could be adjusted through editing the levels of volume on each recorded track. Also, by paning the sounds into groups (instruments and vocals) , the sound may be clearer.                                                                                   In the worse version of the song, the panning of instruments in the headphones were slightly distorted as instruments were grouped together wrongly and the vocals were most affected due to this.