UC San Diego

197 Pages·2015·18.01 MB·English

by  Kate Levitt

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
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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:

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Chair

University of California, San Diego
2016

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DEDICATION

For my family

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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