DJ Laidback Luke is recommending Deejaying with your phone now

rickryan.com said:

Exactly. If you pull up with itty-bitty speakers and DJ off your phone, it's a bad visual and most any client is going to question "Why did I pay him so much?" Delivering a good party is just part of the equation. You gotta look like a "pro DJ" to make a good impression.

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Again you can be using professional grade DJ equipment that people can marvel over. The thing is will you know what to do with the equipment that will tell people they made the right choice? No matter if the equipment being used is professional DJ equipment, it will not make you a good DJ. You will just be using professional DJ equipment. Professional DJ equipment is also subject to a DJs interpretation. What some would call professional DJ equipment, others wouldn't.

What are any of you using that works well for you? Myself VDJ, laptop, Denon DN MC MK11, DSR 115 speakers, Shure BLX H 11 dual mics and Pioneer EFX 500. I'm asking this question again so the focus can be on you. It doesn't matter what someone else uses. What that DJ uses may work great for them and another DJ can use the same thing and it not work well for them.

MIXMASTERMACHOM said:

. . . part of the art to DJING is knowing how to read a crowd.

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More importantly: the crowd is also reading you.

Simply put: whatever transpires should meet or exceed the purpose for which you were hired. If you billed yourself a landscaper would it be okay to show up with just a rake and a box of trash bags?

The gear only matters to the extent that it meets the demands of the occassion. If you show up with a line array to do a backyard pool party you'll look as equally clueless as the guy who attemps a convention social with a home stereo. Pick the right gear just as you would choose the right clothes for a given occassion.

logisticalstyles said:

The whole "using a consumer device in a professional sound system" argument is a joke considering we all use consumer laptops in our professional DJ rigs. Macbooks, even the "Pro" version are consumer grade electronics available at Best Buy. My iPad has a more advanced processor than any of my laptops. My current iPhone isn't that far behind. Remember, the Technics 1200 was a consumer device until it took over professional DJ booths for decades.

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Sounds like a litany of excuses. Can't wait to hear next how the DJ couldn't perform because his phone fell into a toilet.

You are trying to equate a laptop computer (CD player or turntable) to an extension cord when in fact, it's not the cord it's the power that matters. The difference between a home stereo and an audio console is it's capability. Our skills are suggested by the tools we choose to deploy. People using an iPod are telling us that's as deep as they get. People without DJ skills don't spend money or professional tools and Customers know that intuitively. Wannabe Djs know it too, - which is why it's easy to find some mobiles using controllers with advanced features they don't understand and never use.

For a club DJ with a fixed set I see where a phone can be a compact storage device uploading tracks and associated cues to a controller. But, the DJ still needs to be proficient with those controllers. Touring DJs specify that gear in a rider, so it's a lie to suggest that it's his phone that is the center of the DJ performance. The phone is just a hard drive with an extended edit and play out app. Touring DJ aren't in the service industry and don;t take requests.

Mobiles have to bring their own gear to every gig and it's the client who gets to choose the playlist - not the DJ. Mobiles that DJ from a phone appear no more committed than the average teenager streaming YouTube. We don't need a larger than life setup to earn credibility, but customers won't be inpired if our service setup suggests we're a middle school volunteer.

FYI: You're misinformed about the SL1200. It was designed for the high end audiophile market not the average consumer. The product failed miserably in that respect. It was an unforeseen fluke that it's high torque motor was the exact cure for an emerging DJ/Club population looking for a solution to fast and accurate record starts, and the ability to back slip without stalling the platter. The original cartridge was for high end audiophile response. not the later Stanton 680 ad other robust models that hold up to extensive cue action. At nearly 3 times the price of most consumer models - the average home user was never the intended buyer.

Here's my beef with DJ Laid-back Luke. I have no perceived with him using a phone to DJ with nor showing someone how to use a phone to DJ with. My issue is when he says a DJ should use their phone to DJ with. Bob you keep saying that a DJ using a phone to DJ with can't do a good job or to a crowd won't look like a real DJ and why did a client pay a DJ to use a phone to DJ with. Have you ever used a phone to DJ with? If you haven't, how do you know if you can DJ using a phone?

MIXMASTERMACHOM said:

Here's my beef with DJ Laid-back Luke. I have no perceived with him using a phone to DJ with nor showing someone how to use a phone to DJ with. My issue is when he says a DJ should use their phone to DJ with. Bob you keep saying that a DJ using a phone to DJ with can't do a good job or to a crowd won't look like a real DJ and why did a client pay a DJ to use a phone to DJ with. Have you ever used a phone to DJ with? If you haven't, how do you know if you can DJ using a phone?

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I can DJ using a phone, iPod, consumer turntables, Technics SL1200s or better, consumer cassette or CD players, DJ dual CD players, DJ software and Controllers.
At one time or another for various reasons I have done ALL of the above.

What I can do - and what I choose to do are not the same thing.

If you are touring in any way at all - then advance planning is what takes precedence. You can put on your rider anything you want but it takes due diligence and a clear knowledge of who you're working with for things to turn out the way you expect.

Case in point - I staged and opened an event for Skribbles some years back. He had specific player requests, and we had never met before but his rider was already in line with what I used personally. When he arrived and we spoke, he told his crew not to unload his gear and that he would use what was already setup. It's a telling point about how seriously he takes his craft that despite sending an advance rider past experience taught him to travel with at least his own preferred booth side gear.

If you make your phone the preferred content source - then you also need the means to rout that content to the all the circumstances you might encounter. I meet people all the time who have critical content on their phone or similar device and yet, they are entirely dependent on our tech to deploy it. How will you insure that your phone is deploy-able under all conditions? Is your app dependent on one DJ or brand pipeline? How will you deal when a situation requires 3.5mm, USB C, Lightning, or bluetooth?

We can't simply claim that our 'skills' will suffice for any gear that we use. There are always very real technical specifications aligned with any technology we choose and we cannot assume a world where everyone operates as we do.