What Makes A Great Drum And Bass DJ?

There’s a lot of thought in regards to what makes a truly great drum and bass dj. The art of djing has been around for a long time now. It’s gone through a lot of technical, technological and theoretical changes in the time people have been doing it. As a result of this, the definition of what makes a great drum and bass dj has fluctuated quite a lot. 

This article is not meant to be a definitive guide, more of a discussion on what constitutes a great dj; and this can be used for any genre, not just drum and bass.

 

It turns out, people are quite passionate about certain things within the djing business which in turn has sparked some heated discussion as well as strong opinions on the matter. One things for certain that everyone can agree on, is that a great drum and bass dj will NEVER use the sync button…

 

A Great Drum And Bass DJ Uses Turntables

The header for this is a little misleading. However, it highlights a real challenge that arose from the research for this topic. There’s a lot of high profile dj’s who have been creating and playing music since the scene first started to evolve. All of them learned their skill and craft using vinyl turntables. 

It is vastly more difficult to learn to mix on a system that only produces sound, in comparison to one that allows you to see both BPM and wave forms in front of you; giving you additional assistance for beat matching, nevermind phrasing within a song and mix.

There are plenty of more recent dj’s who never learned on a set of vinyl decks and were blessed with the technological advantage of CDJ’s and controllers, who are highly rated and indeed very famous in the drum and bass world. Does this make them any less of a great drum and bass dj though?

 

It depends who you ask really. There are elements of nostalgia blended in with elements of truth here. Learning to mix on vinyl was and still is hard. Endless hours of practice as well as deft manipulation of the decks and records. When you learn to mix on vinyl you pick up the very fundamentals of djing, which allows you to really get to grips with a lot of djing elements that can be bypassed when using modern decks.

The real juxtaposition here is that every club and festival set up will use CDJ’s. In our opinion, whatever you use to learn or make a living with as a dnb dj doesn’t matter, as long as you are technically sound and proficient in using your tools.

 

Lower Barrier Of Entry

Some of the spikiness of people who learn to dj on CDJ’s etc… comes from the fact that there is a much lower barrier of entry into djing now, which means there are lots of people trying their hand. This also means the average capability and skill level is a lot lower than it used to be. Mixing on vinyl was expensive, hard and required all of your dedication. To be good required a real investment in all areas of your life, which meant that those who didn’t want to go the whole hog never made it that far or even took the first step. 

Now, for as low as £200 you can buy a controller, plug in to any smart device and speaker system and off you go. The investment level is low, the tools for entry are high-tech and provide maximum assistance to make a relatively good sound quickly. It’s worth noting, we are not knocking people who learn on these tools. We are simply stating a fact that it is easier to learn now than it used to be.

 

Nothing But Love

Drum and bass is a funny genre. People feel very passionately about it. That’s not to say people aren’t as passionate in other genres, but drum and bass fans are fanatical. People don’t just start playing drum and bass because they want to get famous. The first thought of every dj is to be a great drum and bass dj, even if it means they never make it to the main stage at a festival, release a track on a major label or even get to play a set at one of the big clubs up and down the country. 

What we’re trying to say here is that a great drum and bass dj will be super passionate about the music they play. They don’t just like the music they play and listen to, they love it. Drum and bass fills their personal playlists, it’s everything they think about all day long. They’ll go out of their way to find new music from all avenues everywhere so that they are able to hoard their collection with the sickest tracks known to man. 

The beautiful thing about drum and bass is the artists and producers try really hard, but not in the bad sense. They work tirelessly to produce high-quality sounds and tracks. As a result, the sets that a great drum and bass dj will play will simply be full of the songs they love. It’s difficult to find bad commercial drum and bass, or mainstream floor fillers within the genre. Being an underground scene means that artists are trying to impress their peers and those that would come to listen to their music. Having a burning passion for the music you loves means you’ll try a lot harder to perfect your skill set and sound so that you are able to share it with the people who are listening to you.

 

Feeling The Vibe

Djing isn’t a one way street. A great drum and bass dj will respond to the mood and vibe of the venue they are playing. Although, there are some caveats to this. If you go to an Andy C night, you know you’re going to be faced with wall to wall bangers all night. You don’t have much choice in the matter. Even then, if you listen to his sets, you can tell he really works the crowd and builds hype for the almighty double drop that he is famed for. 

Knowing the direction that the music and event should take is one of the great skills that dj’s have. Ironically, it’s nothing to do with technical skill. This is all about the human connection. Can you see the look on peoples faces as they dance away? What are they expressing? Having a set lined up is all well and good, and indeed a point that a great drum and bass dj will need to have in preparedness, but even the best laid plans must be subject to change. 

Being able to read a room and feel the vibe of the crowd to change the pace or direction of a set is truly an art form. There are plenty of artists out there who will simply arrive, bang out their set and leave. Whilst these dj’s are technically sound and put on a good show, it may be that it could have been even better had they felt the vibe of the event and made the subtle changes that turn a good night into a great night.

 

A Great Drum And Bass Dj Will Perform

It seems hard to imagine an artist not performing to the crowd on stage. Afterall, they are there to perform and entertain. We will come back to the entertain bit though as it’s not their sole job.

The very nature of djing means that you have to be in time with the rhythm of the music. In order for a great drum and bass dj to mix seamlessly, they will need to be counting bars and feeling when the right time to drop the next section is. 

 

This means they will be moving to the beat, pretty much dancing along with you, but this in itself isn’t a performance. This is a dj ensuring that everything goes smoothly and a continuous mix is played. If you’re in the crowd, you want to see the dj interacting with you, showing they are feeling the same emotion and excitement for the music playing as you do. A prime example of a dj who plays up to and performs for the crowd is Andy C. His sets are full of energy, he encourages the crowd to go harder and perfectly builds and slows the crowd down according to their energy. 

There is discussion on how much performing is too much. Getting on the mic and constantly talking to the crowd as well as standing on the DJ booth and waving flags or even dancing around draws some polar opinions. It gets liked to EDM dj’s who appear to be more interested in hype than playing music for the fans, having said that, dj’s who do this are really interacting with the crowd, showing them they are having a good time and enjoying being there with them. Like we said, it draws strong opinions either way, but maybe there’s a little bit of dnb snobbery coating the dislike side of that argument?

 

Big Tune Selectah…

How could we not include tune selection as part of being a great drum and bass dj? The selection of tunes in a dj’s set is massively important. This again comes down to the artists style and persuasion of which end of the drum and bass spectrum they spend most of their time in. Cranking out samey tune after samey tune is a surefire way to bring the vibe of a room down, so it’s really important that a dj has a varied selection in their set list. This doesn’t mean it should be filled randomly though.

If you go to enough raves you will doubtlessly come across a few tunes that are the same in every set. If you go to a festival, it is likely you will hear the same tune several times over the course of the weekend. Artists release new dubplates and exclusives to their circle of fellow artists and performers so that they can promote it. If you go to enough events, you will hear it played. However, just rinsing out all the latest tracks and promos doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good set. Having something different about the sound, knowing which tracks blend well with others and showcasing a bit of musical ingenuity is what many a great drum and bass dj will strive to do.

 

A Musical Odyssey

Leading on from this, and again there is debate about what the dj’s role as a performer actually is here, a great drum and bass dj should provide a musical journey. Taking their audience on a trip either through time with sound or creating a new audio experience. 

Some dj’s say it is their job to educate people who come to see them play. Other’s strongly deny it is their responsibility at all to educate anyone, especially if they are paying to come and see them play.

 

The experience is what makes a set great. There are many sets that the Amen Breaks team have been to have left us with a lasting impression; unforgettable nights that have stuck in the mind. There have also been sets that whilst good, well executed and performed, were not ones that would make an eternal impact in our list of great gigs attended. 

 

Preparedness Makes A Great Drum And Bass Dj

You’d be surprised at the lack of professionalism at all levels in the drum and bass world. Not that we are privy to the inner workings of every artist, nor are we saying that unprofessionalism is rife. However, the top talent is close enough in this world that you get to meet either them, their representation or at the very least people who have had to deal with them in a professional sense. 

Some stories are about gross unprofessionalism and others are more so of basic readiness. 

Ultimately, and this goes for all dj’s not just drum and bass dj’s, ensuring that you are ready to roll, have backups of everything and know what you will be doing when on stage makes it a whole lot easier for people to work with you.

As your average punter, we don’t get to see what happens beyond the stage, but rest assured, there are eyes from all areas of the industry watching. Peers, promoters, record labels, managers, you name it they’re watching. The spotlight is harsh from the other end of the booth and being prepared and demonstrating professionalism will go a long way. 

You can listen to our podcast on professionalism in drum and bass here.

Practice Makes Perfect

We spoke about how hard it used to be to become a great drum and bass dj. We’ve also noted that it is easier to get into and improve as a dj through the use of improved technology. But talent will only get you so far. This is a topic that links back to the preparedness section.

You’d be surprised at how many top level dj’s don’t practice their craft. Staying on top of your game is what helps you to improve and truly master the more difficult aspects of djing. This is what separates the wannabes who rely heavily on technology from the good, and the good from true masters of their craft. 

Technology, techniques and styles all evolve so maintaining top level status requires constant practice. Someone who is not afraid to push their boundaries of what their capabilities are and then put them into practice in a live set, taking risks, and pulling it off is truly a great drum and bass dj.

 

Maybe They’re Born With It…

The great thing about practicing is that it enables you to improve your skill set, as well as make really difficult things look super easy; like using 4 CDJ’s to double drop. 

A truly great drum and bass dj will be able to do all the basics, read the room, feel and feed the vibe of the crowd, perform to and for them whilst making it look like they can do it with their eyes closed. 

True craftsmanship in any area of life is the ability to make something that takes years of practice and is indeed very difficult, look like falling off a log. If you look at the greats of any industry: sport, music, art etc… true beauty and style seems to come to them with ease. Those that are remembered as the very best of their generation are constantly favoured with terminology like ease, guile, deftness, feather-like, divine and so forth. It’s almost as the talent and ease with which they wield it is some god given gift that other mortals weren’t bestowed with.

The speed at which they work, the effortlessness of their task in hand and near robotic execution of nefariously difficult acts is a reflection of true greatness. You might think that this explanation is a bit over the top, but really it’s a combination of all of the things that have been mentioned. True greatness is devotion to your chosen path and a great drum and bass dj is devoted to the pursuit of perfection.

 

Your Opinion

This is all, of course, simply our opinion. From speaking to other dj’s reading plenty of articles and having lots of conversation, it appears to us that, really, being a great drum and bass dj is as much about the stuff you do off the decks, as it is when you are on them. The end product is the applause from the crowd of all of the things they do before they get in front of them.

What do you think? What makes a truly great drum and bass dj? Leave us a comment in the section below.