Do you think that DJ's classify as musicians?

Question

When I meet people and they ask what I do I tell them that I am a semi pro musician. (I play drums as a session musician and also in a band). A lot of people reply with 'I'm a musician too'. Some people play instruments but other quote that they are DJ's. Is a DJ really classed as a musician though, as they can't play anything.

Answer 1

When you say DJ what do you mean? There are two aspects to DJ-ing.

The first type of DJ is the DJ who purely plays records. He/she would fall into the category of performer.

There is another class of DJ, more often called the turntablist who deconstructs existing music pieces and re-assembles them into new pieces of music using methods like scratching and cutting. Segments of existing music are taken and combined with bits and pieces from another piece of music and a "new piece" of music is "created"

Is the turntable an instrument? Minimal and modern classical composers like Steve Reich and Phillip Glass experimented with the turntable as an instrument and used them as instruments in certain pieces that they wrote.

A more recent example of the turntable as an instrument and the DJ as a musician is the performance of the three-movement Concerto For Turntable by DJ Radar and sixty collegiate orchestra members at Carnegie Hall.

With a full symphony orchestra in accompaniment, this
landmark piece features the turntable as the lead solo instrument. Unlike a typical turntable performance, this piece does not include any prerecorded music. All of the turntables' melodic and
rhythmic notes in the concerto are crafted completely live and the music is written around all of the various scratch techniques that can be produced on a turntable. Radar developed a system called "scratch notation," which documents all of the scratching techniques that can be performed on a turntable and translates them into Western musical notation.

To come back to the first type of DJ I mentioned, you may find that some of them are indeed "musicians" but albeit in a different way. Many DJ's, particularly club DJ's, also produce and make their own electronic music from home studios or have a successfull career in producing and creating dance music.

You can view a short segment of the DJ Radar performance here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPsbSEJqYCI

And more turntablist with orchestra videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6jKQBOOYJs&mode=related&search=

Answer 2

Artiste; though not exactly musician (conventionally).

When was the last time you listened to radio? Without radio DJs, the world would be boring.

Without reggae toasters and hip-hop street DJs, hip-hop stars wouldn’t be where they are today.

Without club DJs, club managers would probably be entertaining crowds with their own poor DJ skills or boring the crowds with cover bands!

DJs may not play conventional instruments – but they are artistes of another kind.

A deft mix works like magic to the ears.

Many renowned deejays release their mixes on Cds. These make for a much more enjoyable listen than your average unmixed compilation.

This is especially true with drum & bass DJ mixes, in which there are myriads of ways to layer different sounds over one another to give the listener a unique, non-stop sonic collage. This is art and technique.

Many DJs also remix hit songs for famous singers and bands.

Many deejays are producers and composers. DJs select, produce, mix, remix and often engineer their own DJ sets and albums. They don’t need to be told how to make records by other people!

The next time you flail madly on the dance floor with your loved ones – thank the DJ. If anybody thinks he / she can do better – try spinning on the decks!

Answer 3

I think DJ's are musicians. They take sounds and rearrange them into a new combination to create the music that appeals. All musicians do this, the difference may simply be that traditional "musicians" do it note by note, where a DJ (i.e. musician) uses blocks of sound. Just because you don't play a "traditional" instrument doesn't mean you aren't a musician. Back in the early 20th century photographers weren't considered artists either....they were just reproducing what already existed....i think it's a good similarity.

Answer 4

I guess some DJs could be classed as musicians, it depends on what type of DJ. You have some charting artists these days who began their careers as DJs, such as Fatboy Slim. You have the DJs who's names pop up on nearly everybody's remixes (Ben Liebrand). Then you have the likes of me. I've been a DJ for over 25 years, working at roller rinks, retro clubs, and performing at weddings and school discos. I would class myself as a performer or entertainer before "musician".
What saddens me though, is the general attitude here towards DJs. We're not morons (not most of us, anyway). Many club DJs are constrained by what the management of the club have told them to play. Club DJs usually play dance music (that's their job), and if you've listened lately to any late 80's or early 90's dance songs, you'd realise that dance music doesn't age very well. That's why they play the new stuff, and much as you might not like it, the crowded club you are in would suggest that others do like it.

Answer 5

Depends what you classify a musician as. To me they make music. In my own opinion that is what a musician does. Their instruments are their decks and Cd's or records. I know a DJ and i have seen him work. To say that i wasn't blown away would be an understatement!! it was amazing to watch and i never realised how much went in to it.It is not as 'raw' a talent as yours maybe, it is not always original and you get good and bad, but it is imagination and ability that creates top sounds, just like you!! I have had the same pleasure from watching pianos and singers etc. as i have watching a DJ. You could try and have ago, see what playing 'nothing' is like!!!

Answer 6

Most Definatly!!!! I believe Djs are amazing, especially when the can create music that the listen to and be able to change in a diffrent way that everyone else can enjoy. There are so many styles and so much creativity that goes into it. I think Djs actually feel the music, and can take it and use and take it that on step further than the actual musician took it.

Answer 7

Yes DJ is classed a musician. The Musicians can be classified by their role in creating or performing music. Which you are doing. The scientific word for DJ is Turntablism which is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and an audio mixer.

Answer 8

lol a drummer ! lol shall we start going through some of the joke about drummers! lol no I'm sure you've heard them all before! Oh. Just one! my fav is how can ya tell when a drumers drum riser is level? Because he dripples out of both sides of his mouth!!! DJ' are most def not musicians, although there is a skill to it. Drummers are however! I have played myself in band for years and the one thing I've noticed is a band sounds real **** if you take the drums away!! I play bass so would be truley buggered without you! I have trouble using 2 hand so high hats off to you guys who can use four!!! ( well three in the case of Rick Allen)

Answer 9

DJ's are wannabe musicians, which is not the same thing at all. As for being "entertainers", a lot of DJ's are far less entertaining than they think. Shut up and play the music, guys!

Answer 10

Are yoou kidding all Musicians are tone deaf can you imagine a DJ playing classical music it would be like Stevie Wonder playing the cheese grater and trying to sing