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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Turning the Tables: Nightlife, DJing, and the Rise of Digital DJ Technologies Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3fs4b8q3 Author Levitt, Kate R. Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Turning the Tables: Nightlife, DJing, and the Rise of Digital DJ Technologies A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Communication by Kate R. Levitt Committee in Charge: Professor Chandra Mukerji, Chair Professor Fernando Dominguez Rubio Professor Kelly Gates Professor Christo Sims Professor Timothy D. Taylor Professor K. Wayne Yang 2016 Copyright Kate R. Levitt, 2016 All rights reserved The Dissertation of Kate R. Levitt is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2016 iii DEDICATION For my family iv TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE……………………………………………………………….........iii DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………….......iv TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………...v LIST OF IMAGES………………………………………………………………….......vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………….viii VITA……………………………………………………………………………………...xii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION……………………………………………...xiii Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..1 Methodologies………………………………………………………………….11 On Music, Technology, Culture………………………………………….......17 Overview of Dissertation………………………………………………….......24 Chapter One: The Freaks Come Out at Night, A History of Nighttime Entertainment……………………………………………………………32 Way Back, Back into Time……………………………………………………34 Industrialization and the Urban Nightlife Explosion………………………..36 Golden Age of Dreams, Pleasures, and Consumption…………………….41 Towards 24-Hour Party People………………………………………….......48 Tonight’s going to be a good night, and how the DJ saved my life………57 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………….66 Chapter Two: Adventures on the Wheels of Steel…………………………....69 An Interlude on Format, Innovation, and the History of DJ Equipment Radiowaves, Disc Jockeys, & the earliest ripples of DJ technologies…...70 Disco inferno……………………………………………………………………72 Hip-hop and the street-grown high-tech…………………………………….75 Conclusions and summaries…………………………………………………85 Chapter Three: Plug + Play …………………………………………………………88 Producing the Magic of and Markets for Digital DJing Phase 1: CDJs, a “Digital Gateway Drug” ………………………………….93 v Phase 2: Simulated Vinyl Systems…………………………………………100 Phase 3: Button-Pushing……………………………………………………110 Chapter Four: I Love Vinyl, Vinyl Wars, and Waxing Nostalgic on Analog………………………………………………………………..121 Vinyl: Return of the Object…………………………………………………..129 Warm Crackles: Analog Sound and Fidelity……………………………...132 Old Friends, History, and Vinyl’s Other Tangible/Sensory Qualities.......137 History, Memory and Vinyl…………………………………………………..141 Vinyl and the Work of the DJ………………………………………………..143 Conclusion: Why does vinyl matter? ……………………………………...153 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...156 DJs and the symbolism of the dazzling night……………………………..161 User-Producer Dynamics in Technology Development …………………164 Changes in worlds to overcome gaps in art………………………………167 Works Cited.………………………………………………………………………....170 Appendix List of DJs and others interviewed………………………...…………..180 vi LIST OF IMAGES Image 1.1: Online ad for Beamz DJ featuring “the legendary” Grandmaster Jay………………………………………………………..2 Image 2.1: Kool Herc, the block party, and the early DJ music rig…………….79 Image 3.1: Rane 62 Mixer for Digital DJing………………………………….......91 Image 3.2: Numark MixDeck Express for Digital DJing…………………….......91 Image 3.3: Evolution of Pioneer’s CDJs 1992-2012…………………………….95 Image 3.4: Digital Vinyl Simulation System Diagram ………………………….105 Image 3.5: Closeup of timecode record…………………………………………105 Image 3.6: Serato DVS Software on Laptop Screen…………………………..108 Image 3.7: Closeup of Serato DVS Software soundwaves and cue points………………………………………………………...108 Image 3.8: Traktor Kontrol F1, a button-based DJ controller ………………...110 Image 3.9: DJ Mouse Advertisement……………………………………….......115 Image 3.10: PokketMixer website…………………………………………….......115 Image 4.1: DJ OP and Twilite Tone at I Love Vinyl party in New York City, Summer 2013………………………………………121 Image 4.2: One wall of record shelves in DJ Scribe’s apartment…………….126 Image 4.3: Rob Swift’s “Vinyl War” post on Facebook, Jan 2014……………128 Image 4.4: DJ Domewrecka Searching for Records at Rock & Soul.………..139 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to take this section to acknowledge three groups of people who have contributed to this project in important ways. First, to those who nurtured and inspired my intellectual development. Most importantly, my advisor, Chandra Mukerji, who stuck with me and patiently supported my meandering path towards completion. She introduced me to a vibrant community of researchers and thinkers, shared suggestions and advice when I felt defeated, and endured my radio silence when I needed space to work out my own writing and research processes. But what I have appreciated most of all were the meetings in her office or over lunch, and occasional phone calls or Skype chats once I had moved away from San Diego, in which she engaged with my ideas, offered up suggestions and connections I could never have imagined, and reignited my passion for this work. There are many others at UCSD who have provided so much help and guidance along the way. First and foremost, Gayle Aruta, whose kindness, understanding, competency, and determination make her an extraordinary advocate for graduate students – she truly helped pave the way for me to complete this degree. Nitin Govil, Elana Zilberg, Teddy Cruz, and Marcel Henaff, I thank you for advising me through my qualifying exams. To Mike Cole, thank you for supporting my work as research-practitioner and for introducing me to the joys of working with youth. And to Robert Horwitz, whose candor, sense of viii humor, and sharp wisdom has been totally grounding and wonderfully refreshing throughout my graduate studies. I am deeply grateful for Kelly Gates – I was so thrilled when she joined the department, elated when she agreed to be on my committee, and I continue to be amazed by her work. In addition, I can’t express enough gratitude to my newer committee members, Fernando Dominguez Rubio, Christo Sims, Timothy D. Taylor, and K. Wayne Yang, who all agreed to the task with humbling enthusiasm on fairly short notice. Beyond UC faculty, Gina Neff and Fred Turner were role models and sounding boards for these ideas in their earliest and most awkward stages. Josh Kun advised me to stick with the research, even when it felt frivolous. Oliver Wang played a key role in helping me to formulate my final attempt at research. And to Dennis Dalton, my undergraduate advisor and the person who inspired me to blaze my own path in this world, I would be totally lost had I not taken your Political Theory class all those years ago, and I am so happy to call you a friend now. My decision to pursue a PhD in Communication introduced me to a group of smart and talented graduate students who remain not only colleagues but an extended family. Without a doubt, they are a huge part of the reason that I am finishing the program. Thank you Carl McKinney, Reece Peck, Stephanie Ann Martin, and my roomie Lauren Berliner, for this wild ride. And to Camille Campion, Andrew Whitworth-Smith, Erin Cory, and Rebecca Kinney, I am ix grateful for all your kindness, love, and support, not to mention all the good food, drink, and music we have shared. Second, to those who nurtured and inspired my musical development. This dissertation would have been impossible without the many DJs who took the time to meet with me and share their insights, and whose passion for DJing and love of music has been a joy to document. I want to shout out a few whose influence on this work and also my own DJ practices is profound: Tabu, Eddyplenty, Domewrecka, Rabbi Darkside, Rob Swift, and Nickodemus. And to Danny Krivit, for Body&Soul and the soundtrack to almost every academic paper I have written. Third, to those who nurtured and inspired my soul. My parents, Bonnie and Dan, have been the definition of unconditional – but tough – love. What a journey it has been. You know, and I know, I would not be here without you. My brother Jesse has teased me for years about my decision to get a PhD in Communication, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for keeping me on my toes, and for bringing Yasmin and Ajax into the family. Christina Zanfagna is the friend who became a sister who became a colleague and co-conspirator. Many of the seeds for this dissertation emerged in both our late night wanderings and intellectual collaborations. Courtney Martin, Raya Duenas, and D’Lonra Ellis have been critical supports and sounding boards x along the way, exemplars of balancing life and work whose reminders to “embrace the crazy” pulled me out of self-doubt. And finally, Arnold, for being everything I never knew I needed. You brought Andre, Mateo, and Rosa into my life. And you helped me return me to myself. Chapter Four in part contains