Piano Pilot

A successful performance by a disk jockey depends on the presence of the right equipment. This, along with along with adequate musical talents plays a very important role in the career of a DJ. Having the right equipment is the best advantage a DJ can have. Any DJ gear other than real pro gear will only throw a person’s skills and techniques off. It is always advisable to get the right DJ gear the first time. The Technics-1200/1225 turntables are industry standard and are widely recommended by most DJs as a starter kit.

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My father is sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed. My chair creaks and he stirs awake, beaming when he sees me. The bare skin on his scalp is red and swollen, signs of the invasive chemo and radiation therapies which have kept him alive. There are clear plastic tubes coming out of his nose and arms for oxygen, drugs and a liquid diet, but he’s genuinely content in his powder blue robes and slippers. I see the contents of his CD player and ask, what’s it like to hear it performed for real?

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I have worked for years in a commercial recording studio, and have observed all kinds of artists create their masterpieces, pay their tolls, and then leave. Some of these songs made deep impressions in my mind, and even many years later I can recall those pieces as if they were recorded yesterday. Others songs rapidly blurred away into obscurity. I ask you–what do you think the difference is between the two?

I say Attitude.

Today’s listeners have both precision and perfection deeply engrained into every bit of sound that enters their ears. Doing a complex technical performance really is status quo these days. It’s no big deal. Having perfect aural qualities of every instrument is standard operating procedure as well. What then,

sets one song apart from another? Well (of course) you need a well-constructed and likeable song, but the point that I am talking about here is how the song is performed in the studio. When everything just clicks and everyone is right on top of his or her game, when you just cannot believe how great everything sounds, there is a sublime element present; many call it the song’s music. It is that unexplainable great thing that is happening in the sound, song, and musicians.

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My niece loves Indian films and Indian film music. To her, as to most of the world, this exuberant, colorful, romantic and just-plain-fun genre is summed up in one word: Bollywood.

I confess that I’ve become taken with Bollywood as well, though not to the same extent as my niece, who owns a number of Indian movies and regularly rents others. The Bollywood well is so deep that I have to confine myself to watching those few of its productions that bubble up to catch the attention of American movie reviewers. Otherwise I would be lost in Indian ocean of unfamiliar movie titles, actors and actresses.

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When someone plans to be a DJ, one of the major stumbling blocks is the astoundingly steep price of the equipment. That said, DJ equipment is not one-piece equipment, but an assembly of several components. A DJ can mix and match components of different qualities and price ranges to make the entire outfit suit a budget.

The greatest margin on price can be made on the sound mixers. Sound mixers can have a great number of features; and so their prices may be as low as $200 and also as high as $2000. A DJ working within a limited budget can opt for a small mixer, which could easily be afforded at $200 to $500. These mixers can work just as

fine as big ones and are ideal buys for amateur DJs. Even big names in the DJ equipment market such as Numark, Gemini, Aiwa, Akai, etc. produce such small economy speakers.

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