Skill-Set vs Set-Up: what matters most to a DJ?
What matters most to a DJ in training, their innate skill-set or the set-up they own?
Some say it’s down to the DJ. Without the passion and vision of someone who knows their God given potential, there’s only so much a start of the art DVS system can do for you.
Others bend towards the “quality of equipment” side of the debate. Granted, they’ll admit that a skilled DJ will give you a top notch performance on Turntables or Controllers. But these are the same people that will argue that a professional grade laptop can be the difference between falling behind the DJ scene or catching up to it.
So which is it to be: the workman or his tools?
My opinion is just that, an opinion. Roc Raida’s career trajectory serves as a much better barometer so we’ll go with that. Roc Raida made the decision to become a DJ during a point in his life where his mom couldn’t afford to buy him turntables. What’s more, Raida was 12 and too young to work. So, he couldn’t purchase them himself. If I may be direct, Raida grew up like any other impoverished kid in Harlem, NY. But what he lacked in money he made up for in will. Raida’s tenacity to learn how to DJ was strong enough that he would practice at the home’s of friends he knew owned turntables. If you have the determination and persistence to figure out a way to get on turntables, even when you don’t own them, your DJ mindset is ahead of those who sleep next to their gear.
Some DJs invest in expensive gadgets to fuel their love for being creative. Technology definitely has facilitated new ways of testing out ideas. Other DJs buy this or that because they mentally bought into the narrative that high grade equipment will make them more skilled. But that’s not so.
Yes, a tricked out Laptop or Controller, for example, can make mechanics of DJing easier. But believing the more money you spend the more time you can save perfecting your technique as a DJ would be a mistake! If this weren’t true, how do you explain a kid like Raida starting out with no equipment in 1984 to buying a pair of B1s (belt drive turntables) in 1990 to winning the world DMC Championship in 1995?
If you can afford it, by all means, get it! But if you can’t, don’t let that stop you. Your gear can only take you so far. In the end, being resourceful, adapting to the machinery you do have and honing your skills is going to prove much more valuable than any piece of DJ gear. Learning by having might get you a bunch of IG followers and allow for some glossy photo ops from your bedroom, but learning by doing will be your greatest asset as a DJ. Mastering the art of dropping, mixing, scratching and juggling are the aspects of DJing that will help you craft your own style over anything else.