how much of what you do is talent?

[Finnish_Fox]

i used to take my cdj setup to class sometimes and teach students. there was one guy he just got it. he heard it right away most people aren't like that. there are some people on here though i have heard say they picked it up quickly and were doing parties/clubs, no midi controlo i think.

You never know what someone's history and experience has taught them. My brother is a long-time bassist and drummer. Never mixed before and he got the hang of the beat-matching portion in less than an hour - but, then again, he has trained his ears with regard to rhythm... I don't think he is a prodigy.

oh and i am not just talking about the beatmatching etc. but having a "sound" and "style" of mixing.

Beat-matching is the easiest part - something I can see some people grasping fairly easily. Blending and what else to do is and has always been a matter of practice, IMO - don't know anyone that comes up and intuitively knows how to EQ blend, when to cut the bass, etc. unless they are very familiar with the music.

[c-hawk]

Zilch...mixing/blending was all practice & patience. Was decent at scratching in the 80s but that is not in the arsenal anymore Scratching a cut in and back-spinning is as far as I'm going. Never got to be a great beat juggler like the big boys (guess that's where the patience ran out and the lack of talent showed). To me, what the masters do with scratching & juggling takes some talent.

[Finnish_Fox]

Zilch...mixing/blending was all practice & patience. Was decent at scratching in the 80s but that is not in the arsenal anymore Scratching a cut in and back-spinning is as far as I'm going. Never got to be a great beat juggler like the big boys (guess that's where the patience ran out and the lack of talent showed). To me, what the masters do with scratching & juggling takes some talent.

IMO, scratching/turntablism/juggling takes a level of actual talent that straight mixing (beat-matching & blending) doesn't require.

[moyo wilde]

this isn't actually where i wanted the post to go. whether it is a "talent or not and what is a talent".

i wanted to hear more about people's experiences learning the craft not argueing semantics, damn you djf

[manoaboi]

Scratching obviously takes some natural talent. I'm no DMC champion - I'd put myself in the lower rungs of the intermediate skill level - but I see some people trying to scratch with absolutely no sense of flow or rhythm. On top of that the ability to execute scratches and have the ear for when it is appropriate takes talent IMO.

Also, track selection takes massive talent IMO. I say this because you can beatmatch, phrasematch, and EQ all day, but if you don't pick the right track off the get-go, the mix will still sound off, and you can kill the energy of a mix and dancefloor/audience. When I'm mixing I find occasionally I can "visualize" the next track I should bring in. That is, I hear a track I just mixed and immediately think "oh my god, x track would go perfectly after this one". I'll find myself silently singing the melody of the track I want to bring in, and seeing if it fits, keywise and vibewise. To me that takes talent and some people seem to be able to pick tracks perfectly almost every time, and can visualize how they'll fit in their mix and with the crowd. I can do it...sometimes...but its really hit and miss for me.

[Mahatma Coat]

Can't remember who said, but I think it was Galileo or Leonardo da Vinci or someone: Genius is working fourteen hours a day.

You can have all the talent in the world, you still have to practise and force on through to be any good at just about anything, even angry birds.

[mrkleen]

Putting together a logical set of underground dance music, that is mixed well - programmed well - and applied with the right energy management, application of loops, samples and effects etc etc most CERTAINLY takes a degree of talent that not everyone can attain....including most scratch DJs.

Q-Bert would be just as bad at programming a 6 hour set of unknown music - as Richie Hawtin would be scratching and beat juggling. Neither is more "talented" just a different kind of talent.

[Finnish_Fox]

this isn't actually where i wanted the post to go. whether it is a "talent or not and what is a talent".

Welcome to DJF!

i wanted to hear more about people's experiences learning the craft not argueing semantics, damn you djf

I think you've gotten some. People pick up certain things quicker than others, but, IMO, its a learning process for everyone in terms of honing skills.

[Finnish_Fox]

but I see some people trying to scratch with absolutely no sense of flow or rhythm.

AKA... me.

On top of that the ability to execute scratches and have the ear for when it is appropriate takes talent IMO.

Which is why I think it is different than just mixing. Apples to oranges, and what not.

Also, track selection takes massive talent IMO. I say this because you can beatmatch, phrasematch, and EQ all day, but if you don't pick the right track off the get-go, the mix will still sound off, and you can kill the energy of a mix and dancefloor/audience. When I'm mixing I find occasionally I can "visualize" the next track I should bring in. That is, I hear a track I just mixed and immediately think "oh my god, x track would go perfectly after this one". I'll find myself silently singing the melody of the track I want to bring in, and seeing if it fits, keywise and vibewise. To me that takes talent and some people seem to be able to pick tracks perfectly almost every time, and can visualize how they'll fit in their mix and with the crowd. I can do it...sometimes...but its really hit and miss for me.

I guess I am on the fence as to whether it is a A) talent, B) a skill honed with experience or C) they are the same damn thing.

[Finnish_Fox]

Putting together a logical set of underground dance music, that is mixed well - programmed well - and applied with the right energy management, application of loops, samples and effects etc etc most CERTAINLY takes a degree of talent that not everyone can attain....including most scratch DJs. Q-Bert would be just as bad at programming a 6 hour set of unknown music - as Richie Hawtin would be scratching and beat juggling. Neither is more "talented" just a different kind of talent.

Good point.

I suppose I look at turntablists like Qbert as artists and mix DJs as skilled technicians.