Virtual DJ
It seems that everything is going ‘virtual’ and the modern equivalent of the mix tape is the virtual DJ with software and specialist equipment to match. Now that every man and his dog has some variation of an mp3 player and all of i tunes at their fingertips it should be fairly easy to create playlists for every eventuality. It seems that vinyl may be consigned to the bin – or to retro clubs – as a virtual DJ needs a range of audio/video mixing software and packages to run on PC or Mac to allow computer DJs to mix music or videos.
The ‘music groups’ facility enables a virtual DJ to see what tracks other DJs have used to follow each of the track choices. The software offers suggestions as to what tracks to mix together although arguably this takes some of the skill and personal touch out of DJing.
No more jumping or scratching as the DJ fumbles to mix his or her tracks as the future of club culture is controlled by computer. At least for now the DJ might be in the room although I’m sure the technology could all be managed remotely and the DJ could be at home with a cup of tea in their pyjamas rather than in the club itself. Any requests would have to be directed by text message or via tweets to the twitter page.
At least the clubbers would be physically in a club to listen to the virtual DJ – the next step in living in a virtual world is sending your avatar out to a club whilst you stay at home on the computer. There are a number of virtual environments where this happens already and some of the more complex simulated environments include virtual clubs where you can enjoy the music without having to socialize in person. Virtual DJ sets can be broadcast to the internet for anyone to enjoy.