Sync

A few weeks back I asked your thoughts on the sync button and why is it still frowned upon by some, so here’s my view.

A DJ should be armed, skilled, and knowledgeable to deal with any situation they are presented with, ranging from technical aspects like identifying problems in the booth, switching out leads/equipment, and speakers, to reading a dance floor and instantly changing the vibe to connect with the crowd in front of them. This includes being able to mix tracks without relying on sync. In some cases, the LAN connection might fail, or sync buttons might malfunction, requiring manual mixing. Each scenario could potentially kill the vibe, or stop the music in the worse case.

We constantly hear the argument that you’re not a DJ until some vinyl decks are put in front of you, but as I just mentioned it’s a collective of many things that makes a great DJ. This leads to the big question, is beat matching the most important aspect? Well, if a DJ mixes flawlessly manually without sync, but plays the wrong tracks, they will clear the dance floor. However if a DJ plays all the right tracks, at the perfect time, even though they will make a hash of each mix, they still will have a packed dance floor it. So maybe there’s your answer of priority….and we’ve seen plenty of superstar DJ’s that have forged their careers this way using the later as case proof!

Ultimately, being a great DJ requires proficiency in various aspects, not just one. This includes DJs who use sync in clever technical ways, like myself. Embrace technology and let it open your mind to more creative possibilities, but importantly keep your A game when it comes to finding music, preparation and art of reading the dance floor.

I’ll soon post some insights on how I use these tools to my advantage.