A word on DJs

These days everyone and their grandmother is a DJ. It’s very empowering. DJs don’t just play music. We liberate it. We perform it. We live it and we breath it.

Western culture has alienated the masses from music. In most “primitive” cultures music is participatory and inclusive. The tribe would gather and everyone would sing, dance and celebrate. Modern western culture has elevated the musician onto a false pedestal. The common conception among those ensnared in Western thought-patterns is that you are either a one-in-a-million gifted prodigy, or a passive listener devoid of creativity and imagination. The electronic music revolution is slowly eroding these boundaries. With modern music skills and techniques tend to be transferred freely through passion, affinity and camaraderie, rather than through years of expensive (and exclusive) formal tuition. Much of the snobbery of classical, formal music is entirely absent from today’s musical culture.

From the subtle textures of tech and house, to the filthy vibes of hiphop and dubstep, djs liberate music in a democratic non-capitalistic way. Djs - and their behind-the-scenes counterparts producers - are the Beethovens and Bachs of the modern era. We write and compose music, and when snuggly ensconced in our studios, we assume the role of every single member of our elaborate orchestras.

Not only is Electronic music production a modern equivalent of orchestral composition, it is also the most fashionable branch of mathematics. Yes, that’s right. Mathematics. When someone dismissively remarks that creating electronic music is “easy” ask them if they know the difference between a sine wave and a low frequency oscillator. Then ask them the difference between additive synthesis, modular synthesis and subtractive synthesis. Most consumers don’t realise that the theory of electronic music is grounded in deep maths and physics. Any producer worth his or her salt will be au fait with the science of sound. A working knowledge of melodic theory is also essential, although, admittedly, some producers don’t seem to worry too much about that one!

Electronic dance or club music is as much an art form as classical or jazz. It can be just as rich in melody and it elicits the same startling range of emotional responses. Both mediums of music - electronic and organic – potentially contain an infinite number of different sounds and noises, but what’s interesting is the different nature of these two infinities. With an organic instrument such as a guitar, every pluck of the string is different from the last, thus even with a one-stringed guitar one could produce an infinity of sounds. However one is bound by the overall timbre of the guitar. With digital sound you can engineer any timbre that you can imagine. You can turn your synthesizer into a thousand different instruments, but once it’s programmed, every time you hit middle c it’ll produce exactly the same sound. As someone who has attempted (not very successfully) to master the art of creating electronic music, as well as dabbled in “real” instruments, I can safely state that both require scholarly dedication as well as immense passion and a mighty endurance!

Electronic music also represents a successful marriage between the creativity and emotion of music on the one hand and the ever-accelerating sphere of technology on the other. Despite traditional music’s reluctance to embrace its modern counterpart, electronic music readily blends with traditional sounds, to great effect. Goldfish are one of South Africa’s recent musical success stories, and much of their influence has been gained through their cunning fusions of cutting edge electro with retro blues grooves. Johannesburg-based twin brothers Revolution use music as a bridge between past and future, merging timeless tribal melodies with contemporary synthetic funk.

The point I’m striving towards is that electronic music is a serious musical discipline and, much like piano, bass guitar or didgeridoo, one can happily dedicate one’s entire life to it, without ever feeling a twinge of regret.

Mike Whyle

Deputy New Media Editor @ Grocott's Mail