The Use Of Serato In DJ Battles – What Do You Think?
After the DJ battle in Wellington this weekend, I have been thinking about Serato and the use in a DJ battle.
In Wellington during the weekend you were allowed to use Serato. In the battle were also DJ’s who used records. The unfair advantage to the Serato users in the battle was Reletive Mode. DJ’s using records were prone to needles skipping and the likes. As we all know, if your shit skips then you get marked down on the points.
I think that it is cool to use Serato especially in the sense that you can make your own Custom battle routine. DJ’s in the DMC’s, IDA’s and other battles make custom 12″ records for their routines because they can’t use their Serato setup.
The only issue here is I think that if you are allowed to use Serato in a battle, then you should only be allowed to use it in Absolute Mode to make it fair all around to all the DJ’s involved. The only exemption here would be a DJ battle where everyone is using Serato.
I am in no way having a moan because I don’t have Serato, I’m just taking a look at the bigger picture of it’s place in future battles.
What do you think?
Posted December 4th, 2008 by Joe Turksta
Explore posts in the same categories: Battles, DJ Equipment, DJ Talk
December 4th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Yeah I agree on the Absolute tip, but I don’t think it’ll ever be brought into those battles in the future, i reckon they’ll wanna keep it real with the vinyl. It’s a nightmare/hassle, it’s not reliable… they introduced Serato into the DMC World Teams Finals this year and i remember a couple of the teams laptops crashing and they had to start again. Custom records are all good though!
December 4th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Interesting…
I dont agree with yous on the absolute matter because the cue points feature cant be used. Cue point are almost equivalent stickers/markers on vinyl. Maybe serato should make a battle mode and get experts to write rules like no looping functions or instant doubles..etc.
Something needs to happen to push these comps into the future….
December 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Yeah but you dont even need to use stickers/cue points hardly these days, you can build your custom records/serato routines to flow right from the start of the track till the end without even lifting the needle off to cue or push buttons for cuepoints.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I Like the Fact Serato might be used in a battle you are always gonna get skips with vynal no matter how good you are thats just the nature of the beast the thing is you could use serato but still not have a tight routine regardless if you used it in absolute mode or relative the issue should be if your using serato and no doubt you will be using custom records how well have you put everything together how well is your routine structured i used serato for my elimination set because i had all the Euro battle records on serato and i wanted to use them shit if i had them on vynal i would of used vynal
December 4th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Impact is right. Using Serato is the same as how DJ’s use Custom 12″ records in the DMC’s. You would structure your routine in order of the samples you’re going to use. This is what dudes like Netik, Rafik etc. do in the DMC’s. No issues with that.
My only issue is needle jumps when using vinyl. With Reletive mode on Serato if your needle jumps you’re sweet, but with Absolute mode, it is essentially the same as using Vinyl right?
December 4th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m not really too concerned about the Serato thing in battling eh. As long as the end product is tight, I’m not fussed about how it is delivered. No matter what format you’re using if you’ve got mad skills, that should show through regardless.
If I was still battling I’d probably use vinyl, just out of personal preference, I reckon vinyl is still better to juggle with.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
any rule regarding Absolute mode would be bloody hard to enforce, it’s really not hard to hit a short cut and flick to Relative mode mid set is it? you’d need someone looking over peoples shoulders and that’d be distracting wouldn’t it??
December 4th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Yogi has a point? Maybe a Laptop distance rule from the Decks or DJ? Sounds stupid I know… But yeah.. good call.
It’s interesting to see some of you older DJ’s (no disrespect with the term “older”) to be wanting to use Vinyl if you were still in it.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
HMMMM CHUR I DNT REALLY GIVE A CARE ITS ALL UP TO DA ORGINISERS IM JUST THERE TO JAM AND TRY AND SUS A CLEAN SET.GOOD TOPIC THO BIG UPS!
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:11 am
I’m strictly a fan. I don’t even know what serato is. But I’ve been a casual observer of DJ’ing for years.
I’m just now becoming aware of these custom 12″ records being used in competitions. I found out about this trend by watching YouTube videos.
As a fan, I’m VERY disappointed in having to watch Dj’s go through an entire set or routine and not once have to switch records. It defeats the entire purpose of having the competition. The Challenge should always be: Who can gather together a group of records and mix, scratch and beat juggle the best. Using actual records is the High Wire Act, The Big Leagues of DJ’ing. Watching these custom records used looks like the guys are playing a mixtape while faking hand gestures and movements. The fun of watching is to see who can juggle all these elements together with the least amount of mistakes and still create a powerful musical set and overall sound.
Custom Vinyl looks lazy and amateurish. I respect the time, energy, expense, and effort it takes to assemble a collection of records to put on a set. Versus hearing a few good tracks and having them all put on one record then scratching here and there. When it comes to an actual DJ competition less is not more. Having to use multiple records separates the Men from the Boys.
Custom Vinyl in competition is not a good development.
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I reckon they should keep the digital DJ battles separate from the vinyl ones (or make a category)
although I am certainly not against digital formats I do respect and admire a well put together set from existing records (even excluding battle recs actually) – that brings the whole digging and sourcing element into it that custom and digital styles simply bypass…
February 4th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Nice… Thanks for stopping by bro