Vinyl vs. MP3, phisical vs. digital Djing. Are you dealing with this long term discussion within the dj Culture, sometimes being told that your are just a conservative vinyl fanatic being afraid of progress? Or have you been accused of not being a proper DJ because you play with Traktor Skratch and use the revolutionary Sync button only? Wish to know about scientific views on this? Then read „Should one applaud? Breaches and Boundaries in the Reception of New Technology in Music“ by Pinch & Bijsterveld (2003) in general terms. And the article „How do you know he’s not playing Pac-Man while he’s supposed to be DJing?“ by Australian popular music scientist Ed Montano (2010) especially on the dj culture. Both are really worth it ! One is free on the net, the other one has to be paid for. Enjoy
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Montano, Ed. 2010. “How Do You Know He’s Not Playing Pac-Man While He’s Supposed to Be DJing?: Technology, Formats and the Digital Future of DJ Culture.” Popular Music 29:397-416.
Abstract: In light of the growing literature on DJ culture, this article explores how technological change is having a significant impact on specific areas of music production and distribution within contemporary electronic dance music culture. An ethnographic methodology is employed, based around research conducted in the Sydney dance music scene between 2002 and 2007. The aim of the article is to reveal some of the discourses and reactions in DJ practice that result from shifts in Technology. With the increasing use of CDs, mp3s and computer programs such as Ableton Live, the notion that vinyl and turntables represent the authentic technology of DJ culture seems somewhat redundant. The physical movement required to mix vinyl records has meant that the associated skills of DJing have become bound up in notions of physical and visible manipulation of technology, and so the use of technology that does not require and afford such physical expression has raised questions around the fundamental skills of DJing. As such, it would seem that there needs to be a redefinition of the concept of DJing, and a reframing of the skills and abilities seen as being essential to DJ practice. (Source)
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Pinch, T. J. (Trevor J.), und Karin Bijsterveld. 2003. “Should One Applaud? Breaches and Boundaries in the Reception of New Technology in Music.” Technology and Culture 44:536-559. Abstract: The debate surrounding the introduction of new musical instruments is examined as a way to elicit norms underlying musical practice and culture. The paper details the introduction of three twentieth century instruments: the player piano, the „noise instruments“ of the futurists and the electronic music synthesizer. The responses to these new instruments both among classical performers and in the realm of popular culture reveal how traditional norms of musical creativity associated with personal achievement have been supplemented with new norms of democratized leisure and how with the emergence of the noise instruments and synthesizer a new value has been placed upon „uncertainty recontrolled“. The paper explores the tension between continuity and change in regard to these musical norms and values. (Source, buy article here)
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