Do you consider DJs/EDM artists to be musicians (lifted from another thread)

Yeah but that can be said about any genre. Not everyone can be an innovative musical genius. Even in rock or Jazz, or whatever, you will have artists that arent doing anything new or creative. The creativity of an artist is always subjective to different people and is a topic of major debates on this board.

But isnt the general notion that if someone says they are a musician, we assume, even if weve never heard them, that they practiced for at least a few years at their instrument? If someone has a guitar hanging up in their house and you ask "hey nice guitar, do you play?" If they say no, that its there for decoration, well thats okay.... but its kind of a letdown. If someone said they were a musician, but they dont own any instruments or never practiced anything, they just pluck the strings once in a while when they go to Sam Ash, what do you think? I'd think, well maybe he thinks hes a musician, and Id walk away, lol. The standard is always set based on artists we are familiar with or witness, and give credit to their success. I think the certain level of skill, depending on the genre is assumed.

But someone who usually plays instruments in bands and doesnt listen to EDM nor cares to find out the amount of work it takes to create an EDM composition, could you call it deliberate ignorance? But this will always happen. Not everyone will care to learn all aspects of all genres, you just shrug it off and move on.

 

Are we ready to segue into a "do you consider people who play guitar in punk bands to be musicians" thread?

 

id rather segue into are folks who 'tap a laptop then break dance up a storm before coming back rapidly to tap again on the computer before it goes milli vanilli on you' musicians thread. that would be a nice thread to have.

 

A bad drummer who can't keep a steady tempo or count to 4 has almost no chance of hitting a stage. A bad drummer with Ableton can easily drag and drop a loop into a 4 or 8 bar phrase. You can randomize arpeggiator and create cool lines with a keystroke. It's way easier to fake it with electronic music. And while I agree that there is tons of awful stuff in the real musician world, the electronic genre is just overflowing with it from a sheer quantity standpoint.

 

I hope not. I will be doing a search for fusion jazz threads and see what they say there...lol

 

By your own logic, then, DJs have to be musicians because they use an external tool to create music.
So if a drummer, say, starts pounding their chest to make sounds, they then switch from a musician to a non-musician, right?

 

Lol! Ask Bobby McFerrin!

 

So are you going to continue littering this thread with silly posts, hoping to rile some of us up? If you are that bored, why not use the time and look up the difference between EDM and Hip Hop.

 

are you aware that i inspired this thread? secondly, the post you quote was based on a true story.

 

don't bother plenty of research was already hand wrapped earlier in the thread, but it seems trolling is his only intent in the thread

 

Nope. Don't care either.

Proving what exactly?

 

Thank you for your response, but nope: if someone is "DJing" it doesn't necessarily mean they're "creating music"--the definition of which, again, is open to interpretation. If you're hammering a nail, it doesn't necessarily mean you're "creating music"--but further, it doesn't necessarily mean you're not either, see?

Good point. In my mind, a drummer is a musician. A percussionist who uses their own body to make sounds is...crazy?? Lol just kidding. I don't know! I think I'd call them a "percussionist" or something, honestly. I'm not trying to dance around the issue here, it's just that at that point I think we're overanalyzing the issue and unnecessarily getting into philosophy of language. If a singer says "I'm a musician", I'm not going to be like "no you're not!" That's totally fine. If I were writing an article about that person, for example, I probably would refer to them as a singer, not a musician, and I would hope they wouldn't be offended by that haha--you see what I'm saying? This is all kind of silly.

I think my point is if someone doesn't call a DJ, a singer, or someone who beats on their body a musician, it's not necessarily an insult, and I think a lot of people in this thread are 1. assuming it is, and/or 2. believe that there is an objective definition of the word "musician", that they know it, and they need to "enlighten" everyone else on what that is...give me a break, really.

 

This thread is slowly melting into a mushy pile of misunderstanding and confusion.

 

It was that way from the very beginning with the original "inspiration" poster.

Not even that, just willful ignorance.

 

troll food tends to be kinda soggy to begin with.

 

It seems like some people are like, "People who press play aren't musicians!", and other people are yelling back, "You're wrong, turntablists are musicians!" It seems like a lot of you aren't really disagreeing with each other, but because of either ignorance or a failure to clearly define the term "DJ" you actually think you are.

 

I've seen that movie, and still think this is a bad implied comparison. DJ Q-Bert is mind-blowingly skilled, no question, and DJ's can execute some amazing on-the-fly sonic constructions. But are they musicians in the sense of Hendrix or Page? Well...with those guys, when they come to play, there is only this inert assemblage of wood and metal that they need to manipulate to create the sounds that constitute the music. But Q-bert? What can he do without pre-recorded music to process? One can make various noises with a record player from scraping the needle with your finger or bouncing it off the turntable mat, but without records a DJ is pretty much dead in the water.

So ultimately: no, I don't think DJ's are musicians, if we define "muisician" as "one who plays/can play a musical instrument" - and that's the standard definition I generally work with. DJs can make original collage-based music and contribute to larger ensembles, but at the end of the day a turntable is a playback instrument that can't be used profitably in the absence of records to be played.

If we're going with a much more catholic definition of "one who makes music", though: then yeah, why not.

 

Are you talking about the thread that preceded this one? I didn't see it.

 

It was in the "wise words from Tom Petty" thread, I believe.

 

Interesting debate, good idea for a thread!

I did remind me of a picture I just saw:

 

Are you just trying to prove how little you understand about electronic music ? You're doing a great job. There isn't a single statement you've made which bears any resemblance to reality.

 

I saw this guy playing at the Philharmonic Hall here in Liverpool a few years ago. Incredible !

 

Being a DJ doesn't make one a musician. But most DJ's these days are producers. It's pretty much a requirement to get booked at the big events. They produce original music artist CD's. Most of the tracks being played at EDM events are made by themselves and other EDM DJ/producers. Many of them have pretty impressive studios filled with all sorts of instruments. Mainly keyboards and can play quite well. Not that I like him but check out Gareth Emery for a talented DJ/producer/musician. There are boatloads of bad producer/DJs out there. I live in LA and 90% of my male friends all DJ. When I was growing up, most of my friends were in bands (most were really bad).

This thread is pretty amusing seeing what people think EDM is. Being a good DJ takes talent. It's a hell of a lot more than just button pushing. Scratching? Break dancing? Really lol? I don't go to EDM events thinking I am seeing musicianship. I am there to dance with my friends with music I love. Sitting at Café del Mar in Ibiza at sunset while a DJ spins some beautiful deep house is an experience that can't be duplicated by a band.

My one pet peeve with EDM these days is that the DJ is a rockstar and everyone wants to watch them do a job that is pretty boring to watch lol. Eveyone faces the DJ. Look at the picture BluesOvertookMe for example. Funny thing about that picture is it's Deadmou5 who is pretty straight up on the fact that he doesn't DJ up there. Just plays off the laptop. No one really cares. And he produces some pretty damn good music too despite being a bit of a douche.