“No more laptops in the DJ booth.  Unless you’re using it to control VINYL to do a turntablist type of set, a’la Jazzy Jeff type shit, or if you’re doing a LIVE thing where you’re actually programming shit on the fly. Keep your controller in your crib, dont come to work with training wheels. LEARN THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE already. Pioneer isn’t going anywhere any time soon, they ARE the industry standard, so brush up on how to use the CDJs already, get Rekordbox (its FREE) and buy a good USB stick for $40 that will store THOUSANDS of hours of music on it. We opened this place to showcase talent. So, show us your talent.”

Hold your fire, Digital DJs.

The new rule enacted by Glendale’s Cure and a Cause Nightclub that seems to have spread across the internet like wildfire concerns the lack of technical knowledge from most new DJs, as opposed to people who use the technology to enhance their live sets.

When programming a club night, this and many other clubs like it have a lot to worry about from sales to production to making sure the vibes of the night are right for everyone- and club owner Kenny Summit wants to preserve said vibes by keeping things consistent from act to act:

“Now I know young DJs have to cut their teeth, and that’s why we give the promoters the opportunity to bring in their own DJs to open… but its gotten to the point where it’s like an epidemic with these DJs who haven’t bothered to go the full distance and LEARN how to set their shit up without interrupting the flow of the night. Midnight is not the ideal time to turn the mixer off, pull it out and start guessing which port to plug your Traktor into.”

Again, there is no disrespect coming from club owners with this decision; this is simply a way to enforce professional behavior from young DJs who should want to learn the industry standard for the gigs they want to book.

Read How Richie Hawtin & Seth Troxler Weigh In On Los Angeles Nightclub’s “No More Laptops In The DJ Booth” Policy

SOURCE

44 Responses

    • Cornell

      I love it so many people just puah u ng buttons now days my days carrying creates blending beats all night !!!! Non stop.

      Reply
    • Aj

      I’m a vinyl fundamentalist. Only went digital as far as Cdj two years ago but looking happy to see the talent and taste to come back hopefully bringing the Solid-state back into the music industry. #funandnogames

      Reply
  1. Reticuli

    This seems more for appearance than anything else, or this guy is ignorant. I agree that laptops should be out of the booth, but the CDJ2000 is just a premium pair of training wheels. It’s basically a very expensive controller and computer turnkey system. We need to get back to sub-$1000 decks without sync, moving waveforms, or bpm readouts.

    Reply
  2. Erol Sabadosh

    What we need is good music, regardless of what it’s played on. Good DJs can play on anything from an iPad to a set of turntables… you should be able to beatmatch, mix, scratch and also keep people dancing no matter what format you use. I’ve seen DJs at vinyl only venues who still don’t know what they’re doing.

    Reply
    • Jason

      You’re insane. You might as well strap a blow up doll to a jukebox and call it djing….

      Reply
    • Dynez Dennis

      This is about the best comment I’ve seen for this dumb article

      Reply
    • Bodine

      I concur. If been DJing since 1988 and can say with authority that old equipment doesn’t make a DJ good or bad. There has been sucky DJ’s since the begininng. It’s not the tools it’s the music selection and ability to read a crowd.

      Reply
    • James

      How does “DJ” & “iPod” go in the same sentence? If you’re using an iPod, you’re just playing music. That’s not DJing. Big difference between being a music provider and a DJ.

      Reply
      • James

        I’m sorry, iPad….but just about the same thing.

      • Sean

        So a “DJ” using two turntables and/or two cdjs who mixes for 30 seconds (16 bars) between two tracks is more of a dj than someone who uses some sort of controller and is constantly layering sounds from 2 or more sources?

        I’m sorry but a cdj (or a turntable for that matter) is just as much a “music provider” as an iPod or iPad if the person controlling it is making quick fades between two sources.

        Personally I find the only reason why this issue has become such a hot topic as of late is because every “DJ” has their own opinion and most like to make themselves feel better about how they present their own music by belittling those that do it differently.

  3. DJ Technical

    If the young rookie djs you give a chance to are not professional enough to show up early and know how to set up their set, stop hiring them and letting them play in your club. His excuse has nothing to do with the “art of djing”. I dj using serato. I’ve been djing over 20 years. I can plug into a pioneer mixer blindfolded. If you own a club and want professional djs then hire professional djs. I don’t feel like skimming through a usb key to look for a song when I’m tearing a party down banging out tracks. Stop being cheap and hire professionals.

    Reply
    • Vinny knows All

      Skimming through a usb but you skimming through serato so there’s no difference only you look reduculious plugged into a perfectly good NXS set up and staring at a laptop only to play on a lousy controller…..call mencrazy but that’s exactly what is wrong with the industry and what is not wanted at that club or really any club…s

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      This a real talk I support wat u are saying clubs owners are cheaters they always look for cheap djs which are not professional

      Reply
  4. RIDDIC

    I have to completely agree with the statement “Midnight isn’t the time to turn off the mixer!” Any real artist will agree that once you have music going Dead Air is not acceptable. You should be able to get set up in about 5 mins. If not upgrade ur gear or your doing something wrong.

    Reply
    • Sean

      This has been important both then and now regardless of the equipment used. The number one rule is “the music doesn’t stop”. On top of that you have to get your gear set up in a way that does not bother the act that is playing while you are getting it set up or the act that is playing when you are taking it down.

      Reply
  5. Lordblanca

    This is a joke. It appears that pioneer I’d trying to force Dj’s to only use their equipment ONLY. It is a standard but it’s not the best. The djm 900 should be changed out for an Allen and Heath DB4. The DB4 is sonically superior and a much better build quality. This club owner(s) should be boycotted. If you really want to have authentic Dj’s. Get ride of the digital all together and go back to analog. This will get rid of 90-95% of the digital Dj’s. Digital is here to stay and the club owners should make accommodation for Dj’s to and rock on what ever. From Cdj’s to controllers. It’s about rocking the crowd not controlling the DJ’s really

    Reply
    • Vinny knows All

      Ha ha ha he DB4 is tells tri piece of shit. It is not sonically proven to be better infact it’s Been proven to not sound better. Have latency and not even have the same output boltage as a pioner mixer. We are an independent lab and we have tested the db4 next to a DJM 900 and a DJM 850 the Allen and Heath is a pile of fancy lights is all it is it is not even close to being a better mixer . For some reason techno heads like it but most of them don’t even understand why other then that it says Allen and health on it not pioneer. Unless we got a poorly made db4 for testing it didn’t match pioneers quality at all and we aren’t the only ones that have said this.

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      Problem with that.. Record labels don’t put out remixes on a vinyl record anymore… Unless you play 70s, 80s, 90s and early 2000s music for the rest of your life, or if for some reason record labels start producing vinyl again which I would not hold my breath on ..

      Reply
    • DJ Core

      YOU HAVE GOOD POINTS BUT THE CONTROLLER PORTION IS FLAT OUT WRONG IN A STANDARD CLUB…bring a Laptop and use the cdjs and Mixer they have or USB Keys…Djs should learn to use Rane or pioneer Mixers at the venue….my problem is DJ’s who show up at 11:30pm – 12am with their controllers,it’s very unprofessional not to know how to use what the Club has….a CDJ2000 is a computer too…

      Reply
  6. Vinny knows All

    Let’s get this straight fellas. Pioner is the technics 1200 of today. It’s in every club and it will be for the rest of eternity. If youngsters want to play on laptops that’s great but in a club you want to be looking at the club not a laptop screen. It looks absolutly reduculious to see a DJ in a booth with a laptop dead staring the DJ in the face. Yes even if it’s off to one side it looks stupid. In the days of turntables the DJ had his tools and a clear view of the crowd as well as the crowd looking back at the DJ. Now that’s the way it should be and it is with a full pioneer rig. Keep your bloody laptops out of the booth or keep your self outbid the booth if you walk in with a laptop under your arm. You shouldn’t be disconnecting a clubs system to plug your bullshit in. When a club is built its built with a working sound system leave it a lone and play on what’s there already.

    Reply
  7. Dj Smuve

    I know I have just over 2 decades in the game. I use Serato Scratch live. Serato still isn’t as solid to me but I digress. I will not note will. I be forced to use a USB key to skim thru my music. A laptop for is so I don’t have to haul my crates of records to every gig. With that said I use the technology to enhance and set me apart from every other Dj that’s in my state. It takes me all of 15 minutes to set up. (I bring a lot of gear to my gig) I have my setup down to a science. Shoot put me in that club and I’ll show how this Dj from Eugene, OR gets down.

    Reply
  8. jeremy bastard

    its not about the laptops, its about interrupting the flow of the night. period. maybe they should consider paying real money to hire djs who know what the hell they’re doing.

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    Ive been a dj for 15 years and i started on vinyl ,moved to cdj and then onto digital later on! To be hating on Digital DJS that use controllers is not only arrogant ! but is this club owner a dj ? probably not so what gives him the right to dictate what kind of equipment djs should use! Im in agreeance that djs should not interrupt the flow of the night with the change over hands down im with you there but if they dont know how to use there gear properly why did you book them ? Your putting the blame on the deejays when you as a manager in control of what happens in your club! You make the choice on who plays and you make the choice to let it happen. You can produce the same sounds of a digital setup the same as using cdjs. It doesnt matter if they have a laptop or not its the artist behind the decks that makes the sounds if they cant mix again why did you book them . Sounds like this club owner should have looked into his talent a little better before booking his friends buddy of his resident dj. Every artist has there own way of playing ! Just cause your a digital dj and use a laptop does not mean that you dont possess talent or know what your doing ! Your mixing ability and your stage presence and performance is what makes people dance ! Not the gear you play on ! Again you can get the same sound off a ddj sr as you can from a cdj setup.

    Reply
  10. Dj Steele

    If the club is setup right the dj shouldn’t have to unplug anything. He should just be able to plug into a board, 5 minutes at the most. As far as the USB, what’s the difference between that and a laptop, they’re both digitally stored music. Using cdj’s and a USB stick is the same as using an interface with a laptop.

    Reply
  11. Dj Steele

    Ive been DJ’ing for close to 30 yrs and I’ve played on vinyl, cds, and digital. Digital just happens to be easier. If the club is setup right the dj shouldn’t have to unplug anything. He should just be able to plug into a board, 5 minutes at the most. As far as the USB, what’s the difference between that and a laptop, they’re both digitally stored music. Using cdj’s and a USB stick is the same as using an interface with a laptop.

    Reply
  12. Michael Smith

    I’ve been DJing well over 30 years and all Serato only keeps me from seeing the chiropractor. It also saves me money, because how much money is spent sending crates of records on a plane from the east coast to the west coast and back?

    Reply
  13. DJ JAYROCK

    Everybody seems to miss the point here. The club owner can care less what’s being used he just doesn’t want the music stopped at 12:30 by a DJ that can’t make a smooth transition for the DJ going or coming. This post has nothing to do with the music . It’s about people walking out because of dead air. Lol.

    Reply
  14. DJ See

    I have been DJ’ing for over 35 years and I have plenty different types of styles and sets. I now use a Traktor S4 controller with an f1 and 2 D2’s. Yes it makes things easier but make no mistake I still do all of my own work. I never use the sync button and I think it to be foolish for me not to use a new tool presented to me. I can remember countless nights sitting down with a stop watch and recording my bpm, placing a sticker on my records so I would know where they were. Then Transposing all of it into a book that I was writing. Then came the palm pilot where I could catalog my music there. When the computer came out with tractor it prolonged my career. I know that I wouldn’t be able to remember all of the music that I play if not for the computer. I can go back to Turntables if I had to but I’d rather not shoot a bow and arrow when I have a Glock. and i challenge any one of you’ll to test my knowledge of sound system set up or the history of DJ’ing.

    Reply
  15. Mzwah

    Ooooops guys….the owner was perfectly right…you need to master each and every key on that Pioneer deck to deliver quality mixing – Listen to South African Djs, like Dj Black Coffee, Dj Kent and Culoe de Song…you veterans shouldn’t have any excuses on these fancy decks.

    Reply
  16. DJ A-TROIT

    Maybe I might misunderstood this column but what the fuck is this club-now I can truly say I’m a push button dj at this moment and 4ever how long,and I have spun on vinyl b4 digital came out,as long as my blends are not off point,but my point is the dj is at the club 2 entertain and keep the crowd moving,not 2 have a dj contest–so I say damn that club and any others that wants 2 follow

    Reply

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