The Complex World of Digging | Resident Advisor 

This is a fabulous short film about a very interesting topic. The 90's were incredible in so many ways. The machines dictated the sound to some extent, but as Duvanté said it, they were pushed to its limits and used in ways they were never attended. Music these days sounds often so much better, but just as often so much worse than in the 90's. We can't put the genie back in the bottle and there's no need for it, but I'm glad I got my electronic music start in the 90's.

Djing has become less and less about the most important element of it, an active passion (obsession) for music. It’s not about pleasing a crowd, it’s about playing music that means something to you that you honestly believe in.

Curating a journey of a set is more important than the individual records. Doesn't matter how rare or exclusive the records are. The same records in different hands will yield a different experience. That is the art of it.

I think an issue over looked here is that big DJs play unreleased tracks up and down till everybody has overheard them when they actually come out. So it’s quite difficult to generate an own sound by playing new releases so naturally you‘d turn your head to the past to maybe rediscover a forgotten gem.

90's records are so loved, because the music was raw and simple and easy to groove to. No fancy studios, no super sterile recording techniques, no artists bisecting every bass drum and clap for an hour on RU-vid. Just simple instruments and some feeling...

Every good DJ should search for music endessly, nothing beats the sensation of finding that secret weapon.

This was a good little documentary on the current house/techno digging scene. However, I can't help but feel the topic deserves a longer documentary, with a wider lens that covers all the different music digging scenes around the world and the history of collecting rare records.

Lifetime digger here, it's like this video was made for me. I'm sad that Paramida did not get a feature in this video . 😥 I 100% agree that music from the 90's still sounds fresh and experimental due to technological and financial limitations without everyone watching YT trying to make generic sounding Drumcode / Afterlife / whatever techno. Dance music is now a multi-billion dollar industry and there's too much cash flowing around that "experimental" is now a mostly a pejorative. That said I have a love-hate relationship with the current surge in popularity of vinyl. A lot of the new school of "vinyl-only" DJ's that I meet are elitist pricks, the price gouging on discogs is obscene, shipping costs have skyrocketed, major labels pushing Adele and Taylor Swift records to consumers at Target have made it near impossible for small to mid-size artists to access or afford pressing... So I bounce around to all my local record stores, stick to the dollar bins and refuse to buy records more than $5-$10 on discogs. I've also developed some of my own personal tools for digging which I will keep secret and I encourage everyone to follow the advice in this video to find music that is unique, speaks to your musical tastes, and tracks that still slap on a soundsystem. Cheers.

The part I love the most about making my sets is going into this rabbit hole, finding artists and songs I've never heard of before, those hidden gems I'm excited to share with others

As someone who resides in Brasil it is mostly impossibile to dig for 90s/Early 2000s electronic music records so I must do much of it online. It saddens me that in order for me to buy vinyls and have a collection I must raise so much money. Shipping prices on discogs are just too much also. Consider yourselves priviledged to have such access to a goldmine of records and equipment at realistic prices. Great video, loved it! Cheers

Crate digging has not stopped in the current day, your skills for crate digging work just as well with digital files online as it does with vinyl in a record shop. In fact I would say most of a DJs time is spent crate digging and listening to tracks in order to build up their library and create their "unique sound". Thankfully we have much more efficient tools today to help us with crate digging and music discovery online.

Many DJs were still playing the same records as each other back then just as now. There were less releases back then and less crap due to costs and record label gate keepers but nevertheless many DJs particularly in the UK all played very similar sets as each other in their respective genres. There were only so many imports that arrived on the UK shores each week and as soon as something became big , every big DJ had a copy. It is nice to see old tracks get a revival with todays DJs, providing they dont be snobs and hide the tracks from fans wanting an ID. Music is for sharing

90s music was so raw.

I can relate so much with everything Vera said. Good music is good music, regardless of the genre and regardless of how expensive it is. And good music should be shared, there are countless RU-vid "digger" channels publishing 90s music that contributed and still contribute to this scene.

I was a 12” buyer in the 90’s in LA. Our store Beat Non Stop was epic. The amount of records I collected from there is invaluable! I’ll never get rid them. I’m a digger forever!

I have been digging and digging my ass of in the 90’s and 2000’s. Going to the best stores in my country from morning till closing time. When I made a city trip to other countries there was always a day that you could only find me in record stores. Now I’m almost 50 years and I still spend at least 10 hours a week looking for new music. But I do it on my phone or laptop and buy it digital. My back likes me more and I can search when and where I want. Thank you technology 🎉🎉🎉.

I was buying wax up until 2008. Sometimes on discogs. It's crazy how all those records I bought and played in the 90's early 00's are now again slaying the dance floor as hard as when they came out. I only started playing them again in the last 2 years. I had to wait for the Disco and Warehouse rave sound to wind it's way down with the tastemakers. Bc I knew the 90's and early 00's house and tech was on the horizon next. And here we are now. 20 year olds playing records older than themselves. It's all a good thing in my book. That is why my radio show is named "Nu Memories" on Jolt Radio

It’s telling that todays djs don’t know the roots of their music to the point that it seems special to know the roots. One should love and respect your music scene and in so love and respect the roots of your music.

I've been buying/selling on discogs for 20+ years now, but online digging can never compare to finding a random record by chance at a record store. Ps: still wishing someone would resurrect "crate diggers" show.

In the mid-90s when I first taught myself to DJ, the only direction you had were DJ mixes like Renaissance, Essential Mixes, and Global Underground. Hunting down those tracks was at least a starting point, and from there you would branch out to other releases from those labels or other tracks from those artists. There is so much access to underground dance music now, but it still blows my mind that there are so many unknown IDs from the 90's from past live mixes that have resurfaced.

I think it's cool that Vera says it's about the music not about who played how often or how known it is. But I also gotta admit when I hear somebody play high quality tunes that I (as a digger) don't know at all like onur özer for example I have an amazing night everytime so i cannot say anything negative about this.

As a Romanian I feel the need to correct you - Sunwaves is taking place at the seaside, not in Bucharest. And it is mostly focused on rominimal, tech-house, house,

Since 1991 my vinyl collection still grows today!

A DJ should entertain the people with a nice selection of new and old music , make them dance, make them happy and creat a feeling which many can agree on. In my opinion that’s much more important then finding the most secret weapon which nobody else have. I agree in Vera’s statements. Good video RA! 🙏🏻

Appreciate the critical notes at the end. Trendy Digger-DJs (for lack of a better word) kind of get into the 2002-2006 era now and buy borderline silly 12"s just for the sake of staying "ahead". The scene turned into an echo-chamber and the futuristic aspect of the music has definitevly been sucked out and replaced by unwritten rules to a members-only club. Rare or obscure records never made an interesting set by themself. One interesting aspect though: Art/Fashion seems to be stuck in this 20-year recycling loop for the last 15+ years. So, if you want to be a trendsetter in 5 years consider buying early 2010s house music (which itself was a 90s 'inspired' recycle period lol). It's just fucked.

I worked in London in the nineties and was given so many promos as part of my jobs in the industry...sadly gave so many of them away a few years ago ...still kept the standout tracks and got to work with some really great artists..happy days

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious…. Digging goes back a lot further than an interest in 90s house and techno. The Northern Soul guys started going transatlantic to root through dusty warehouses 50+ years ago, to the hip hop guys digging for breaks in ever widening genres in the 80s and 90s, us house heads finding our roots on lists of what Larry & co played then trawling the shops around the globe. The current digging of 90s house follows this trend of course, finding something new in the past. Kids digging for early drill incoming no doubt...

Big ups to Vinyl Exchange on Oldham Street for feeding my digging addiction throughout the 00s allowing me first access to all the new promos every single Saturday. Nowadays I dig on Discogs and still find gems I’d forgotten and many I missed on release particularly in the 90s when my mind was elsewhere or on another planet in the clubs; track IDs didn’t mater then.

RU-vid premium is great for dishing out new gems to me, regardless of their popularity

My manz Titonton Duvante, love you! 😊

For me its all about the labor. I'm a grad student and there is still a sense that a thesis is not complete unless you did the labor of travelling, going to an archive, and sifting through junk to get to the good stuff. Good art is about process, and digging should be included in that.

In all honesty some DJs need to drop the idea of trying to get some exclusivity to stand out from the rest. To this day I still memorize the monologue from Coone's "Words from the gang", and while some of the topics of it got dated over the years (ringtone commercials are long gone, being a DJ is no longer believed to be an easy way to get laid and barely anyone wants to be a DJ these days), one thing still sticks out to me that I feel resonates with the topic of this video: "If you're in the scene, being a DJ seems like a natural path to follow, and back in the day, DJs were weird people who like music in a weird way. Back then you'd have to be a NERD to become a DJ." So yes, while not trying to gatekeep the different types of DJs out there, I do believe the real kind of DJs are those with a nerd-like obsession for music, the kind that only the known tracks aren't enough, that they feel compelled to dig through and find underappreciated/overlooked gems, but that kind I feel isn't the kind to hoard what they find like a dragon and instead wants to (again as a nerd) gush about their findings and show the world what was being slept on, and that's something I can resonate with completely.

I love getting bargains and finding hidden gems I hate the elitism of some people with records. Where people fervently hide what they are playing, put stickers or tear off labels off records so people can't peep during their set. Music is for everyone. Music should be shared. I LOVE it when someone goes "that's a great song, who did it?" because I can then tell them and they can discover their new fav artist. Maybe that person is still producing, and has just made another essential sale so they are encouraged to carry on doing what they love. I'm definitely a newer record collector, I also don't shy away from new releases, but I just like a bargain (shoutout to Rarekind Records 5 for £10 bin in Brighton) Vinyl is more expensive, more annoying to carry around and often with poorer sound due to scratches, but I still love it, and the ability to flip through something physical allows me to connect with the music far more than reading text on a screen.

I’m glad I was buying records at the end of the 80s / early 90s, there were no rules! Simpler times for sure, but it’s great that today’s young DJs are still discovering the music that we equally discovered back in the day.

I firmly believe it's better for DJ's to be open about what artists they're spinning. Sharing the knowledge is much more a Positive than a negative thing.

5:08 hes exactly right. Learn your own taste and represent your own taste and energy. You get what you deserve in art quality.

True words from Vera, love how she stays positive overall ❤

Discogs definitely changed everything. It certainly inflated the value of my record collection by a few hundred percent.

The 1990s was the bomb. I grew up in that decade. everything from the Manchester groups to Britpop and the emergence of House and Tech.

Shhhhh :) Its more addictive than any drug out there. Nice video!

This is without a doubt one of the very best videos that I have ever seen on this topic!!!💥💜💜💜👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Excellent video! Great job on this guys!

FULL ON RECORD GEEK!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU REAL DIGGER'S WORLDWIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!❤❤❤❤

This was fantastic. It's been a while since I had a proper dig, this has inspired me to get out there again. I was particularly struck by the concept of "rarity being a commodity" - it sounds so similar to the ethos of the Northern Soul movement back in the 60s.

well this has to be the greatest video i've seen on youtube in the last few years

Thank you Resident Advisor 🎥 🖤

Just gave away what I think was the biggest collection of Rainbow Bridge on the west coast. Such rare and incredible bears. Glad to see the new crop of diggers are looking back to the 90’s

Dope video, Moxie on the narrative front! When it comes to digging for me, I'm all about what sounds good to me and whether it give me those 'goosebumps'/make me make that stank face immediately once I hear it. I can care less what's being played repeatedly by various DJs, its all about if I like it, and if its something I'll listen to outside of just playing it at a gig. If its on repeat in my headphones before a gig, its in my set at some point during a gig!

Back in the days as a DJ you needed the records. Even now i'm digging in thrift stores, record stores and fairs irl to find records that after al those years i'm still searching. Yes i can do click click and buy on discogs but somehow that isn't that fun. Sometimes i buy like everyone on discogs too i admit. But i'm still the wax nerd that i was 20+ years ago

Hahahaha that Outernational Wah is a record which I covered up the label back when it came out. Was one of those tunes back in the day, seemed to be only in a select few DJs out here in California who played it at that time. Great little film. Big ups.

Sunwaves takes place at the seaside in Romania (usually Mamaia/Constanta), not Bucharest.

3 min in & this Def summarizes my upbringing!

5:16 💯 searching and listening to what moves you is the way to go

I didn't know *digging* was a thing until i saw this video. The 90's were an amazing time for electronic music.

I don't know... I think there's still enough forward thinking in electronic music but the pioneering days are simply over. It was way, way, way easier to create stuff that sounded radically new back in the days but there are still many artists out there who innovate and constantly contribute great new ideas and fresh vibes - just more subtle. And also it has to be noted that artists kind of perfected their styles pretty early on and this (now "classic") music still works extremely well today. What was effective back then, is basically still triggering the same biochemical reactions in a dancing audience today. Certainly the reason why it's becoming more popular again now, is still a side effect of the Covid-dark ages and most likey also due to the many serious crisis the world is currently facing. Escapism, the urge to release pressure and get away from it all for a few hours - raves are made for it, aren't they? A bit of rosy tinted (remembered or imagined) "better times" helps with that too.

yeah, what joe delon said. if you are good at your job you curate tracks from everywhere, telling a story of that moment or how you got to that place to play. it's like art, some people just bosh on tracks drunkenly and sound amazing that one moment in time. and that moment is talked about until the end of time. i have sold on ebay and discogs but i have never bought a record from either.

90s music sounds different because the machines we used really had quality audio conversion to it(Sound Mattered), example remember when everyone did not like the SP 1200 but then it became the sound of hiphop, your interaction with the machine you were working with had a soul to soul feel, another example, how that filter effect which was always there on the S950 captured the imagination of jungle producers. Since the late 2000s everyone has moved to the computer, there is no soul when you working in the box, because everyday someone is coming up with a new app, and you spent hours with the mouse, this is why the number one search on youtube for bedroom music producers is "How To Finish Your Track". Human beings are Analog, our ears love variations, dynamics, constant hammering of pristine sound from CDj, USB, Laptops(god knows what converter is being used) will eventually make you walk away from it, but that does not happen with vinyl, because it is very dynamic and Mastering Engineers that cut all these records in the lates 80s until the mid 2000s had a lot to do with it because of the limitation of the cutting lathe, this limitation was finally pushed to the brink when we started trying to use extreme limiting to cut louder vinyl records, but for who ? Ever wonder why everyone who went to the Paraside Garage in the early 80s they said the sound was something out of this world, well they did not have the technology of the early 90s and onwards, so what was going on? I let you guys discover that, maybe watch the second DVD of Maestro the movie, that can really make the light bulbs go off in your head. In this video they are talking about that if everyone has the same records then they sound the same, this is FALSE, this type of miss information does not help the new Djs. The modern day Dj does not really challenge itself, being a Dj means you have to intoxicate and put s spell on the people who have come to dance, you need to reel them in and then unleash the feeling you have inside on to the dance floor, so its BS about everyone sounding the same with the same records. No one will play them in the same sequence, no one will mix at the same points, the question is can you find the frequency to resonate with people that night or you just gone come in and play some songs get paid and leave because you are super star Dj ? Lastly the Eurorack Modular world is giving you tools that no generation really had, therefore you can make your own sounds, so NO we are not going back, we just taking a small holiday seeing what happened until the next big explosion. The possibilities of new analog and digital sounds is just beginning, we just dont have enough young producers who want to put the work in.

Vera makes a stock market analogy, but it's really more like the real estate market. Landlords lobby against new housing construction (represses), while raising the rent on the limited housing supply year after year...

Great doc, I can dig it. 👌

Woaaaa this seems so COMPLEX

Complex is correct! I've seen a lot of elitism among vinyl DJs, I've also seen a lot of elitism among newer "only digital" DJs. For example ask a new york DJ what they think of Xone92s and they will complain endlessly lol. I think it's ambitious (and maybe a bit impossible) to fully describe the process of digging in a video, because I also think that all DJs (and music fans in general) are diggers to a certain extent, whether its on bandcamp or soundcloud or discogs or whatever. Digging is really just that, it's digging deeper into new areas of virtual and physical music. It's also talking to your friends and other DJs about music. That could have been nice to explore a bit in this video, I think the video over-emphasizes digging as something "reserved" for the nu-minimal/mudd show/vinyl heads but in reality thats not the full scope really. Digging is the personal part of DJing for me, its where I get excited about discovering new music, and yes people can take their possessiveness too far when it comes to discovering stuff. But I do think it's a pretty beautiful thing in general.

When the talk is of rediscovering old tracks and re issues...the concept is around 50 years old...the northern soul scene did exactly this ..history repeating itself...just go out and find those tracks people...be on the curve..be one step ahead I was lucky enough to be on the pre Public enemy breakbeat days...my oh my some of the rare tracks we found in charity shops in the midlands in early eighties for 10p was ..now part of my collection..still got them

I thought I liked techno for years then I heard earlier releases from acts like Mijk Van Dijk and Takkyu Ishino and thought, this is real techno. Now I'm changing my mind again and thinking it's really more about doing as much as you can to create a hypnotic but compelling dance track all whilst sticking to a limited set of electronic instruments and effects.

Great Insert

Full tracklist please??🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I GOTTA KEEP MY FINGERS DUSTY.....NO BETTER WAY TO DO IT! AND I DON'T LOOK UP ANYTHING BEFORE HAND, I LOVE THE ENERGY OF NOT KNOWING WHAT I'LL FIND EVERY TIME I GO DIGGIN'.

a nigga like me just goes on soulseek and gets the rip.

Discogs sharks rubbing their hands together after this video

A part of what Vera is talking about is artists like Quest and Del Garda find a good nug they buy every copy. Slimey af. In their case though it's so they're the only ones that can play it.

I don't disagree with gene, but as a listener I use track id's to discover new dj's/producers to support/follow.

I didn't even watch this. A fucking 12 minute video about collecting tunes? Damn. This was standard fucking procedure for kids who grew up pre-2000s and were into the underground. Spending hours record shopping multiple times a week at multiple record shops was just a part of life for us.

7:45 Could not have put it any better myself. The commodification of the underground scene sickens me. People are not buying records they love anymore, they are just looking at the prices and jumping on the hype train.

So the only solution is to keep on digging 💪

Interesting feature. A few personal comments : - it is a little late in the trend as the genres mentioned in here (techhouse, electro, minimal...) have now been quite rinsed for a few years and the current cool "digger DJs" (Quest, FDG etc) have long now gone into supposedly "borderline" territories such as progressive, trance, breaks, tribal, piano/italian etc ; and also way past 2000 as the electrohouse and electrotechno digging trend has been rising. More risky stylewise but often interesting also for blurring the good taste/bad taste line that was firmly established at the time. Also gives you an indication of who is a "real DJ" by daring to play "mediocre" records and making them shine like never. ie N. Lutz and F Del Garda play stuff that only they can make sound good, unfortunately for the many followers forking fortunes for records they won't have the vibe and skills to make sound exciting. - the way these records are played and blended these days are nothing like it was back in the days, esp as all styles from back then are now accessible altogether (nobody had access and time to dig all available styles which meant going to stores in all global areas...interesting intw of Desyn Masiello on that topic I read somewhere online). Also you hear in current productions hints of many styles of the past but blended in a totally new dosage and mélange. Often excellently produced/executed, perfect dynamics, perhaps sometimes lacking a bit thrill/emotion for my taste but generally really interesting - about the roots of digger DJs blending styles and taking risks imo : Derrick Carter, Weatherall, Harvey, Derrick May, Garnier, Doc Martin etc in the 90s ; Villalobos, Zip, but also people like Kittin in the late 90s/early 00s ; then Arpiar, Desyn...as far as I know Lutz only came with his own style less than 10 years ago or did I miss something? Exceptional DJ anyway. - and finally check my @phunk_sub Instagram for regular digging discoveries :)))

Good music is good music, exactly that!

Thanks Moxie!

Well ironically I want all the track ids played in this video. Jeez they all sound amazing what the heck I’d be more focused on the background track over what they were saying

This Video makes me want to get back in to music and purchase a few technics sl 1200's Gemini 626 mixer and - well 2000 or so records again... and do it all over!! with a better state of mind!

I have something to say to YOU, MR. TITONTON DUVANTE!! One night YOU were playing and EVERYONE WAS DANCING! I asked you what you were playing. And you told me DAVID SYLVIAN!! I LATER PLAYED THAT SAME DAVID SYLVIAN SONG AT THE HOTTEST BOTTLE SERVICE CLUB IN CHICAGO AND GOT FIRED… YOU OWE ME $3000 BRO

You know what they say: There is people with taste, people with money, and people with the repress

Track at 03:00? Yes I’m digging while watching this doc on digging

Digging is way more than techno I’d argue it’s more of a hip hop thing . Producers digging for “samples” from every era. I’ve found stuff from the 1920s

SO COOL

I love digging for music. It’s the only way to dj

regardless of your craft; defining your limitations will set you free

I used to go to Trade every week and would ask the DJ what he just played and write it down (with a pencil, lol). If I was quick I'd usually find it that week in Soho. Many had just dropped on white label or promo so usually only a few hundred of that release were pressed. Some later went out on general release or Maxi, compilations, etc. Does anyone remember Digital Domain on Rabbid City Records 003, or Observing The Earth by Dyewitness, or He never Lost His Hardcore by NRG?

Man, I’m a dude from the younger generation and have only been spinning for the last 3 years, but I have sooooo much respect for the “old school” way of doing things. That’s one of the main things that I found so fascinating about the music and djing culture in general. The “old school” way of mixing (where less is usually more), the way of digging (where you actually spend time looking for tracks that resonate with you and not just go to beatport top 40 and download all of them). That “older” generation of djs & producers is just so fascinating and there’s so much we can learn from them. Great video RA, really really appreciate you shedding light on the proper way of doing things. Oh and when I say old school, I don’t mean like it’s old as in outdated or anything. You can tell that music had such a different impact on people, it was a feeling, an emotion, a way of expressing yourself. Not to say that doesn’t exist nowadays, but as most people can probably agree, there’s so much mediocre stuff out there now that it does more harm than good to the whole music industry. Forever grateful for all of the DJs & producers from the past for showing us all how it’s done. Absolute legends! Rant over. Lol

Play good music. It transcends time periods and current trends. Records don't go stale or get deleted. Some tracks are perfect right outta the gate. All that said, there's always new music that may be just as good or better, but now with an incredible amount of music released with such small qulaity control barriers (intentional or not) it makes those things harder to find...despite the ease of digital everything.

Why only digging for 90s tunes? What about the last 23 years and before 1990?

Gee that was a well done piece. It was thought out, touched on the important themes, and supported with insightful additions from your guests. They should show this one in schools.❤

To add to this, I think the proliferation of CDJs has also homogenised the scene and vinyl represents a serious step up in terms of dedication to your own unique sound.

To find GOOD music you have to listen to a lot of BAD music. That's the sacrifice real diggers (not an algorithm) have to deal with.

So, the techno scene became the northern soul scene 😂

Fun. And i got inspired creating beats rhytm

Quality > Quantity. The best dance music is still being pressed on 12" by dedicated labels and music lovers. Much of them at a loss due to prohibitive distribution costs and general greed within the industry.

If you like this intro song, listen to the classic Scott Henry Time To Get Ill Volume 1 Fever mixtape.

Shout outs dj life! Melbourne’s frog house prince

Nice

the medium is the answer, it shapes everything it contains

@0:24 what is this record store called?