Thanks Diego.

I found these two answers pretty interesting:

"hold 2 beats together for 10 minutes". He must be a DRM DJ. lol

Seriously, if DJ'ing involves two very important factors: Ability to mix and music selection and if he thinks beat-matching is going to"be one of the next abilities that goes out the windows" then he doesn't know any better.

It's especially true in the EDM scene where DJs are using software such as Ableton Live. I mean you wouldn't want SSL to go that way as it is vinyl emulation software. It will be interesting if Traktor can move its vinyl control seamlessly over 4 virtual decks though.

Traktor Scratch can't do 4 timecode decks at once, only 2. But you can swap timecode between any of the 4.

I agree with his answer on beatmatching not being as important in the future. The main reason for this is the new trend of mixing different genres together. you're just not going to be able to match a 90 bpm to a song with a 128 bpm, so it becomes more about knowing where to transition them. usually over the break of one song.

New trend? Where you've been? lol

lol. you always love to dissect my posts.

new trend to the mainstream. yes, i know mash ups have been around for a long time.

Have you ever watched the movie Phenomenon with John Travolta? "Specifics Bob". :P

Point is beat-matching is the first thing you learn (or should learn) when you are learning djing. A monkey can be taught to match beats. It's really not a skill that could be considered on par with say playing a Bach concerto on a ukulele.

It's everything that comes after that that makes a dj. Think about it, there is just so much more to it. Yeah, maybe some cat can match beats but his track selection and programming are wack, he can;t work the eq's, can't work the faders, he can't mix properly, he can't read a room, can't transition.

Hawtins a deep cat and has always been ahead of the curve. I think he does know better, and if you don't know that, well.. no disrespect but you just don't know any better.

What he's saying is that djing, and specifically where he is trying to go with it, is much deeper than just matching beats and 100% software solutions are removing the need to worry about matching beats at all, allowing dj's to focus on other, more important things...

Personally I tried going 100% software. I've bee using Ableton since version 1 but it never quite felt right to me for djing, then I used traktor for a few years, and in the end I just missed the feeling of those 1200's under my hands.

peace

beat matching is becoming less and less part of dj'ing as the software generation of music and live production takes over. There isn't a need when it's done for you. The crowd goes apeshit over this new style, but hip hop isn't leaning to these technologies..... yet.

So true. Hip hop is still and will remain very turntable oriented (as it should). Richie Hawtin's comment is true for electronic music though.....there's no beat juggling or scratching commonly found in the genre. But, electronic music is much more conducive to live production and remixing. Big electronic artists like Sasha and Paul van Dyk are already ditching the tables at most of their shows in favor of Ableton, soft synths, and the like. I think it's a good move honestly (for electronic music). The genre needs something new; beat matching and blending two existing EDM beats together just doesn't cut it these days because there's not much that hasn't already been done before.

I'm sure this will cause some controversy with my fellow electronic DJs, but it's just an opinion so don't hate.

To be honest, i prefer a 'vanilla dj set' i.e. 2 decks as opposed to a complete ableton set. Just gives a bit more of a human feel.
In saying that though, i don't care if people solely use ableton or whatever, it's all about the music and the transition more than anything else.

I can deffinetely agree with that. I am using SSL with Ableton a lot more for my electronic gigs now, but I always find myself using Ableton a higher percentage of the time.

Hey may be a deep cat but he ain't no hip hop DJ and if you don't know anything about Hip Hop... you'll find out that hip hop turntablists aren't giving up on mixing yet. That's an essential skill.... so, yes. Maybe, you just don't know any better and neither does he.

He's is not a hip hop DJ at all.....and thus I don't think he intended his remarks to apply to hip hop at all, so take them with a grain of salt.

Correct and I agree. I think he should've been more specific when he said DJ... cause there are waaaay too many different types of DJ's out there.

true true

Now all i spin is EDM, and yes i have ableton.................

But if i am at a club what i really want to see and hear is no cdjs and no ableton, just the dj on 2, 3 or 4 TT

I personnaly could not give a fuck if a remix is done on the fly or if it is pre-recorded!

Richie Hawtin is a pioneer of the techno scene and i have the upmost respect for him but imo he plays absolute shit tunes!

FYI, no one is talking about giving up on mixing. The question is how important is beat matching to mixing? Depends on the genre, but for EDM it's just a means to an end. Personally if I'm in the crowd it doesn't matter to me if the dj is using serato, wax, cdj's ableton or traktor, as long as the set is banging what else really matters? It's about the music. Don't get me wrong, I need to see some type

I think maybe you are just reading into the guys comments a little too much, but for what its worth I agree with you, as far as what (I think) you mean by "not giving up on mixing".

I'm a techno head, though and through but like I said earlier, I just can't get down with a computer and a midi controller for djing. I've tried it.

I've got 2 1200's and a djm 500, I own Ableton and Traktor. Ableton never seemed to work for m as a dj solution, maybe because I started out on decks so it just didn't feel right. I wanted to take advantage of digital media so I copped Traktor and used that for about 2 years, with a 4 in 4 out sound card so I could use my mixer instead of a midi controller, it worked for a little while but mixing just lost all of its fun.

I've got repsect for all the heads that are trying out new stuff and pushing the limits, regardless of genre or medium, but in the end I copped Serato because for me, (even though I said a monkey can do it) I need to keep those decks matched up, I need that hands on of 2 turntables and a mixer. Otherwise it's just not fun for me.

I use Ableton for making my own stuff, and for Live performance. I may eventually use it to supplement serato, as an effects box or a third deck for running loops. Traktor has been deleted from my HD and I use serato for djing.

Sorry if the end of that first paragraph didn't make sense. Trying to post at wrk while dodging my boss.. :-)

Basically was going to say I need to see some tpye of skill and creativity, but ultimately it's all about the music.

peace

my .02

growing up in detroit, i've seen ritchie play on some rediculous setups way before cats figured out what the heck he was doing. he and his opinion are respected in the technology world when it comes to future trends. rarely ever does he just play a record out cause he's manipulating loops and re-sampling on the fly, live production... kind of a computer nerd. he's way into technology and knows his ish.

ritchie also was one of the first to use final scratch when it first came out, so technically he may be under contract with NI, so they may have paid him to plug the product in an interview, but he still uses serato cause it's stable. he will always use a combination of products because one program or one piece of gear just can't do what his mind projects. until he puts out his own product, nothing will.

i admire his knowledge and skill, but i don't necessarily agree with where his style is going these days. he's a pioneer of the EDM genre, but IMO he's thinning out a bit. please stay ahead of the curve ritch... think future, not candy.

Spot on mate! You have just told them exactly how i fell:)