The Desire for the Hybrid Performance
In tracing the evolution of technological advancements and electronic dance music, there have been numerous ways to deliver the performer's artistic medium to an audience. Butler (2014) describes that this “increasing technological mediation of performance has led to complex tensions between the expectations audience members bring to events, the technologies performers choose to use, and how they perform” (Butler, 2014, p.6).As a DJ, live artist, and performer, I wish to make my sets as authentic as possible – to be able to stand out, and be a unique and original club music DJ. For me, a large part of this is being able to see more of the potential in the songs I choose to play, and to expand on them by adding live elements on top.
The term “hybrid” refers to something that is combined with two or more components. A commonly known term in biology, it is also used in music and for DJing. Some people refer to hybrid DJing as a combination of using vinyl records and digital music files, or combining very different genres. However, more commonly it is associated with incorporating other digital technologies into the DJ set.As the music mentoring website Beat-Fabrik states: “Hybrid DJing mixes traditional DJing and other instruments to create original sounds while performing” (beatfabrik, 2020).
Doing a hybrid set can be as simple as adding a drum machine to a DJ set. In a way, when Juan Atkins from The Belleville Three started adding the TR-808 drum machine to the vinyl tracks he played on the turntables – thus forming the early sounds of techno – he unwittingly pioneered the concept of a hybrid performance. While my setup doesn't involve using vinyl records, it combines playing others' music on DJ decks with my compositions and live elements integrated through my live setup.
Some artists in the same music pool as myself are LP Giobbi (DJ with live keyboard), Sam Shure (DJ with live vocals, and midi-equipment), and Nicole Moudaber (DJ with Ableton Push, midi-controllers, laptop). The producer-DJ LP Giobbi has especially inspired me on how she plays live keyboard on top of the tracks from the DJ decks.
The concept of the hybrid set, defined as the combination of DJing and live performance, is what piqued my interest for this Master project. How could one merge both a live set with a DJ set? In the next chapter, I will explain some key moments of how I learned to combine these two different ways of playing. The chapter is not to be looked upon as an extensive guide or tutorial, but rather as an insight into some of my essential findings.