Can you DJ using just 78 RPM records? Yes. Yes, you can.
Being a DJ these days can involve everything from premixing material on a laptop, to live mixing digital tracks using a program like Serato, or going old s
Then there’s Matt Rivera. “Old school” doesn’t do justice to what this guy does. He collects 78 RPM jazz records–some up to one hundred years old–and mixes them for the crowd.
This is a lot trickier than it first sounds. First, you need to amass the records, all of which are made with a fragile shellac-based material. Second, they can only be played on turntables equipped with a nail-sized stylus.
Matt has gigs in and around the NYC area. Here’s a bit of what things look and sound like.
Matt’s next gig is in Brooklyn this coming Tuesday. (Via Caleb)
