The History of DJ Equipment

Little Intro

The development of DJ equipment in the past century has been huge. From single deck DJing set-ups to as many as four or more decks at once. The advancements in technology allowed the turntables to develop to such an extent that DJ would be able to produce new and interesting music just by a few quick finger motions. New technology such as samplers and drum sequencers allowed DJs to easily manipulate their music to a really wide extent causing a massive

Pre-DJing (19th Century - 1930s)

A man in 1857, named Leon Scott, invented the phonautograph, the first device to be able to record sound. Soon after Thomas Edison invents the phonograph, which starts off the history of DJing because it is the first device to allow playback of recorded sounds. The first ever DJs soon appeared on audio radio broadcasts playing vinyl disks (now more widely known simply as records.) The first ever Disk Jockey was Ray Newby at the age of 16 in 1909. While being a student in college he regularly played records on a small spark transmitter. It was able of producing radio waves which could then be sent to a local radio station. The transmitters were not capable of creating strong enough to be carried very long distances so they were limited in range. Another thing about these transmitters is that the signal they produced could be easily disturbed by other radio frequencies and in rainy conditions transmissions were made impossible because of how weak the technology was then. DJ's would play songs and would then have to change records to play the next song most likely doing an announcement of the next song using a microphone before hand. Around the 1910s it became very common for radio announcers to be know as Disk Jockeys because of their role in the radio station but the first person to actually take on the the term DJ was a man an American radio commentator named Walter Winchell. At this point in time the equipment that DJ's used would be limited to a single deck and small, low range and easily disreputable transmitters.

Early DJing (1940s - 1950s)

A late 20th Century record turntable

In 1943, Jimmy Savile was the person to make the world's first DJ dance party and in 1947, he claimed to have become the first DJ to use twin turntables for continuous play of songs without stop. This is a rather big development in DJ set-up from the earlier single deck playing. If we look back at the earlier single deck set-up, the DJ would have to announce the next song by using a microphone and change the record after making the announcement. This makes is much slower than having two decks at once because if you have two going at the same time you can simply prepare the song beforehand and play it as soon as the other song finished. This is more time efficient

During this time radio DJ's would tend to not use a live drummer or other live players and would mainly play records of pre-recorded music.

Development

Some More DJing (1960s - 1970s)

So whats with all this turntable stuff..?

Turntables were the instruments of the DJs. They played them and used them to their highest possibilities and limits to try and create new and exciting music. The Art of Turntablism was just around the corner. The most popular turntable in the 70s was the Technic SL-1200. A direct-drive turntable that was perfects for DJ because it was more durable than a belt drive and had a faster response and start up than the belt drive turn tables. The belt drive would have a plate on a spindle and a belt that would be connected to a motor to cause the plate to move a bit like a bicycle chain but with the chain always going unless you stop. The belt drive turn tables had a bit of a delay when pressing play and would stop if you held on them for too long or too hard where as the direct drive turntables would keep spinning but you would just hold the record to prevent it from moving.

Technic's SL-1200 Turntable. The most popular turntable that let the future happen.

The basic features of a turntable are a play button for obvious reasons, a pitch fader, usually a small slider on the right side of a turntable that would be used for beat matching song together for smooth transitions, a 33.3 rpm and 44 rpm setting for how fast the motor should spin depending on different records, a plate to put the record on and a tone arm with a stylus or needle.

The basic features of a mixer were a cross fader, a slider in the middle of the mixer that would allow the the DJ to change which deck is playing out of the speakers, High, mid and low EQ knobs to allow the DJ to cut out certain frequencies to create certain effects such as suspense or excitement. More modern mixers would allow for much more than just these simple features. Things such as sample loops, EQ effects such as delay or reverb and filters would be implemented into mixers to give DJs the ability to be more creative and for other DJs to be able to DJ more efficiently.

In 1973,DJ Kool Herc, widely regarded as the "father of hip-hop culture," performed at block parties in his Bronx neighbourhood and developed a technique of mixing back and forth between two identical records to extend the rhythmic instrumental sections also known as the 'break' This was a big and important development from other techniques such as simple beat matching because now song weren't just being mixed into each other with a cross fader. It became much more than just playing the songs that people like.
It became a friendly competition to see who could do really amazing techniques or tricks to then be proven wrong by someone else. It helped change the Bronx neighbourhood into a less gang violence filled place and more of a great big family united by the art of Turntabalism and DJing

In 1975, hip-hop DJ Grand Wizard Theodore claimed to have invented the scratching technique, by accident. It seems almost crazy that one of the most influential and most used technique in DJing, at the time, was invented by accident. He was at home practising on some decks like any normal DJ would. His mum came in the room because he was playing too loud and so while she was shouting at him he was 'scratching' the record back and forth by hold the recording. 'Scratching', the most used technique we know and love in this hip-hop era of DJing, was born. He experimented with it at home for a couple of months to perfect his technique to then show it to the rest of the world. His accidental invention would soon become one of the most important points in Turntabalism which is the art of using turntables not only to play music but to manipulate sound and songs to create original music and mixes.

CDs And More 1980s- 2000s

With technology going further and further each year, vinyl would soon start slightly dying out. A new way of storing music easily and more cheap was created. Compact Disks. Compact disks got on the market in 1982, a new, cheap and easy way to store over 60 minutes of music on a single little disc. At first CDs were only able of being burned only once but soon after rewritable disks and specifically designed discs for other purposes such as storing video, media and photos would be made to keep them at the top of the market. Heavily advanced technology would appear near the 2000s that would change the progression of music genres and create new ones at the same time. More possibilities, more music, more history for DJing being made.

So how did this affect the DJ world?

First of all, a new way of storing music meant people started wanting to be able to store their favourite vinyl records on a small, easily portable and easily storable disk. DJs could hold more music but having to carry less stuff. A new set up for DJing was created.
Using new decks that would allow the manipulation of mp3 files like using a turntable deck would become the next advance in DJing technology. This was a real advancement in technology because more music being stored meant DJing became more simple. Soon anyone would be able to learn the basic fundamentals of DJing. It was only a matter of time now. The first digital DJ system came out in 1998 it was called "Final Scratch"
"Traktor DJ Studio" coming out in 2000 and Serrato in 2004.

Traktor Pro 2, the latest version of Traktor right now.

Quick, easy to learn but difficult to master programs, became and industry standard incredibly fast. They countless possibilities to manipulate data using MIDI controllers became the future. Millions of songs easily accessed through the vast amount of music sharing websites and other sites to buy music from. Sometimes causing a fight between what "real" DJing was. With the huge change from analogue to digital some people were left confused. At first most DJs didn't embrace the change but as time past famous people such as David Rodigan who would originally play vinyl's embraced the change and got a whole new audience out of it. New interesting styles were born from all types of genres. Lots of

Conclusion

At the end of all of this, both analogue and digital set-up have the ups and downs. The analogue having a unique sound of the needle gently pressing on top of the vinyl and the rich and ambient sound that comes with it as well as being cheaper by a huge load at the current time. But analogue set-ups having less freedom and creativity in them.

Digital set up being more expensive, the sound quality being amazing but still not the same as the natural vinyl sound. But allowing the user to manipulate the music to unlimited ends. From simple EQ's to difficult special effects being made by the most masterful. Another problem with modern digital DJs sometimes is that they become lazy. They become used to the technology so much that if a sync button breaks they become lost of what to do.

For me personally, I'd want to use and have both. To have the unique sounds of the vinyl's and the ability to improvise and manipulate freely just like an mp3 file.

Only the guys behind the scenes who are making the software and hardware that DJs use know what's to come in the next decade. I'm sure the next decade will be even more crazy.

Bibliography:

"Scratch" A Feature length Hip-Hop Documentary made in 2001 and Directed by Doug Pray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_SL-1200#Features
 
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1909
by Jordan Rothlein Published onWednesday, 21 August 2013

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/02/11/the-history-of-traktor/
http://www.discmakers.co.uk/history-of-the-compact-disc
http://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/evolution-of-dj-technology
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/bein_k/history.html
http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/08/25/future-dj-a-brief-history/
http://audiojunkies.com/forum/blog/4483-turntable-basics-beginners-guide-turntables-vinyl-records.html 
The images used in this are not mine and are used for educational and research purposes only.