On a side note from Benny Benassi, I wanted to talk a little bit about turntablism. To most people, being a DJ may seem like an easy job. You place a couple of records on the turntable, cut some patterns and let the music run—how hard can it be? Mixing music is tougher than it looks and there’s a lot more to it than just scratching a few records.
An amount of dedication and skill is required to produce those master-mixes of heavy beats and catchy descants. Turntablism is described as the ability of manipulating sounds to create music using phonograph turntables and a mixer. The turntables can be considered as a musical instrument in its own right. DJs need to be knowledgeable about how the turntables work, but DJs are also required to be familiar with the different equipment that aid in the production of feel-good tunes such as a sequencer, crossfader and the whole sound structure itself. Not only is acquainting one to all these systems challenging, but mastering the art of turntablism is a task that takes endless hours of practice and years of experience. In addition, attempting to create a unique rhythm every 15 minutes for 5 hours is a whole other obstacle a DJ must undertake. Try keeping a large diverse group of people engaged in one particular beat for an amount of time– just as I thought.
Party goers depend on the DJ to set the mood and set it right. If a Dj isn’t aware of his surroundings, the whole evening could be a disaster! DJs carry the pressure of hoping they satisfy their audience for the entire night. So, the next time you head out to the club for a little fun and relaxation, give props to the DJ and show a little appreciation. After all, DJs only go through all those hurdles to entertain you.
As an established DJ, Benny Benassi obviously has this down. He mainly uses CD players, but it’s really not much different from the turntable itself. Back in the day when I first started DJing, I ran into DJs and would ask “how often do you practice?” They would say “I don’t practice mixing anymore, I just listen to the tracks so I know where the buildups and break downs are.” I thought this was intriguing because here I was practicing and didn’t want to become rusty. Later I found that it’s just a matter of counting the beats and you could mix any song as long as they were somewhat close in beats per minute.