The Art of Djing and Transgression to Digital Media Essay

Generally speaking, a DJ’s job is to present a series of records for the enjoyment of the audience. That applies to the radio DJ as well – they play music intermingling it with chat or some sort of comedic performance. The club DJ, on the other hand, does something much more musically creative – s/he presents records by performing them to produce a cohesive musical atmosphere. Songs are carefully chosen, strung together in an improvised story to make a continuous and flowing set. Whether the DJ chooses to dramatically juxtapose songs or unnoticeably overlay and mix them together, he creates new unique music that cannot be found anywhere else. To a large extent, it is possible thanks to the amazing advances in technology that DJs also have†¦show more content†¦In America, it is reputed that the first discotheque, named Le Club, opened on New Year’s Eve in New York in 1960 (Reighley 26). Terry Noel was the first DJ known to purposefully â€Å"progr am† a playlist, namely play a set of records in a particular order to best create and maintain the energy level of the party. Francis Grasso is the earliest known DJ to introduce the concept of â€Å"mixing† to the art of record programming. He began â€Å"slip cueing† which refers to slamming in a new record on beat with the fading record without interrupting the flow of the program. When Thoren company came out with turntables that had variable speed, called â€Å"pitch control†, the concept of blending was born. Francis Grasso quickly picked up on the possibilities offered by the new invention and is credited with the ability to keep two records on beat and in sync for over two minutes. In the meantime, new 12-inch records replaced the traditional 7-inch record and offered the chance to record more music onto the vinyl. In 1975, New York City was the hot spot in the world for dance music and to a large extent, it still is. Clubs started to achieve icon- like status and we can trace the roots of today’s prevailing dance music styles back to the early clubs and DJs, many of whom influenced the way music was to be made, recorded and played in the years to come. Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan were two other DJs and remixers who greatly contributed to the