2008 Woodie Awards
Deejay Ed: Students debate mixing's credibility as course of study, hobby, career
Charlie Peppers
Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: FUSE
Originally published: 11/20/08 at 5:47 PM EST
Last update: 11/20/08 at 5:44 PM EST
More and more people are calling him "D:Vice."
Alex Davis, Plattsburgh State student, has gained a reputation through both his deejay pseudonym and proficiency. He's cut and produced a myriad of mixes. He's transformed his dorm room into a makeshift music studio. He's culminated a wealth of expensive tools: $200 headphones, a $1,500 turntable and a $1,000 home-surround system.
Davis never imagined that his interest in music would lead to his becoming a part-time deejay.
"I took piano lessons for 10 years," Davis explained. "I'd say that I'm also fluent on electric bass. Everything that I've learned is applied to electronic symphonizing. Later I decided that I wanted to (play everything I'd symphonized for a live audience)."
Sometimes he scribbles down ideas while sitting in class, Davis said. He relishes in the creative process that deejaying entails.
Davis elaborated: "Putting everything together on my own makes it my own. A lot of stuff I pick up is rap beats, I throw out rap beats - it takes the crowd by surprise. It's edgy. I cross the gap between emcee and deejay."
PSUC student Robert Inconstanti is also a part-time deejay. He works for Maggie's, the downtown bar. However, Inconstanti's deejaying style differs from Davis'. He doesn't produce his own mixes, but he does do nightly themes and takes song requests from the crowd.
"I'm trying to figure out ways for people to get up and dance," Inconstanti said. "I'm still training. I'm far from knowing everything."
Inconstanti wasn't aware of schools, such as the DJ Scratch Academy of Manhattan, that concentrated on nurturing the talents of deejays. He doesn't think that he'd enroll.
"It didn't cross my mind," he said. "This is just a hobby that I enjoy. It's not something that I'd pursue a degree for."
Davis was aware of the school.
"I've never thought about (enrolling in that deejay school)," he said. "I went to Bonnaroo, the biggest music fest in the U.S., based in Tennessee. It was four days of music. The DJ Scratch Academy commercialized at that fest."
Alex Davis, Plattsburgh State student, has gained a reputation through both his deejay pseudonym and proficiency. He's cut and produced a myriad of mixes. He's transformed his dorm room into a makeshift music studio. He's culminated a wealth of expensive tools: $200 headphones, a $1,500 turntable and a $1,000 home-surround system.
Davis never imagined that his interest in music would lead to his becoming a part-time deejay.
"I took piano lessons for 10 years," Davis explained. "I'd say that I'm also fluent on electric bass. Everything that I've learned is applied to electronic symphonizing. Later I decided that I wanted to (play everything I'd symphonized for a live audience)."
Sometimes he scribbles down ideas while sitting in class, Davis said. He relishes in the creative process that deejaying entails.
Davis elaborated: "Putting everything together on my own makes it my own. A lot of stuff I pick up is rap beats, I throw out rap beats - it takes the crowd by surprise. It's edgy. I cross the gap between emcee and deejay."
PSUC student Robert Inconstanti is also a part-time deejay. He works for Maggie's, the downtown bar. However, Inconstanti's deejaying style differs from Davis'. He doesn't produce his own mixes, but he does do nightly themes and takes song requests from the crowd.
"I'm trying to figure out ways for people to get up and dance," Inconstanti said. "I'm still training. I'm far from knowing everything."
Inconstanti wasn't aware of schools, such as the DJ Scratch Academy of Manhattan, that concentrated on nurturing the talents of deejays. He doesn't think that he'd enroll.
"It didn't cross my mind," he said. "This is just a hobby that I enjoy. It's not something that I'd pursue a degree for."
Davis was aware of the school.
"I've never thought about (enrolling in that deejay school)," he said. "I went to Bonnaroo, the biggest music fest in the U.S., based in Tennessee. It was four days of music. The DJ Scratch Academy commercialized at that fest."
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