On Jun 7, 2004, at 1:48 PM, David Powers wrote:
All I can say is that if you don't like that style of mixing, you really don't enjoy "DETROIT STYLE" DJ-ing, as that is a style that is very associated with 313. If you listen to the way Detroit ghettotech DJs mix especially (who IMO represent the authentic "street sound" of Detroit), it sounds very cut up and mixed quickly. Certainly The Wizard helped popularize this style but plenty of others associated with the D do related things (Terrence Parker sometimes, for instance).
Exactly, well said. Derrick May is crazy in the mix sometimes too, moreso when he was doing stuff with reel-to-reel within his radio sets too, but definitely very physical in a club too, and almost 'pushing' the sounds the room as he mixes from track to track. When he was on the radio too, crazy fast, effects and doubles.
Shake has been known to cut it up like this too, drop-ins, phasing, doubles, rough & tumble cut-n-scratch style across different styles (house, techno, whatever) within the same DJ set, and Claude has described Shake as his "teacher" when it came to DJing. Dan Sicko said it best IMHO: Claude's style is kind of an absorption of ALL the different detroit styles of DJing. I think those lucky enough to hear some of this when this style of mixing was heard on detroit radio in the mid-to-late 80s... perhaps we just got used to it (and took it for granted?). To me it doesn't sound that weird or showy, honestly, i think it's just the creation of something new that's greater (and much funkier) than the sum of it's parts. Claude has an artistic flair in his mixes that is very much all his own...
I mean all taste is subjective, of course, but the historical "Detroitness" of that style I think was well worth noting!
peace -- Matt MacQueen http://SonicSunset.com
