01/12/2011 - Review of DJ Bishop

Our friend Kevin, from Showtime Music and The Omaha DJ Academy and gives OmahaNightOutGuide a little glimpse into Omaha's Nightclub scene. Thank you Kevin for dropping by and letting us use your review.

The Bar Fly has been in Omaha for several years and has gone through several Omaha DJ's, Several which I know personally.

Going into the review of DJ Bishop I already knew he had a rep of being a top DJ.

When we greeted, he was setting up so I went into what he was using for DJ equipment. Bishop uses all digital equipment. (no turntables)

The night started slow but by the time I left there were over 80 people in the club.

There is nothing worse than a bar that isn't very busy,because most DJ's feel the pressure of having people show up. AKA THE FOLLOWING....

During the time I was there a lot of people would come up and give requests and pay homage to there DJ. The people that were there seemed very fond of DJ Bishop.

Q & A

K: What kind of music do you like playing?

Bishop: Top 40

I was surprised by his answer because there a lot of street DJ's out there that are anti top 40. This was refreshing because that means he likes playing what the masses like which is pretty good dance music. In Omaha there are a few pocket areas that either like top 40, country/rock, Hood/hip hop or techno. At one point I took a request for him, but it didn't take long to know he wasn't going to play it.

Q & A

K: Are you going to play that request in here?

B: No man, I am not gonna go hard up in here like that.

That tells me he is in the bar to play to the majority, which if your a smart DJ and want to keep your job you will do that. Don't get confused I am sure Bishop likes Hood/Hip Hop too, He is smart enough and a seasoned enough DJ to know better.

DJ Gigs are hard to come by and if you want to stay the house DJ you better know where it's at.

After watching a bit I could tell Bishop was going hard, the average person wouldn't have a clue, he was only wearing an ear bud on the left side which at that view nobody could see. So if you had to guess you would have thought he did all this mixing prior to coming to the gig.

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The last time I saw somebody working there hands that fast between the CPU, mixer, and Pioneers was a typist going over 150 words per min. (DJ Scottie Pimpn' likeness when going over controls; see my review of Scottie Pimpin'.

Yes that is very fast. All that being said he still had time to get on the mic or just get into the groove of the moment.

On the mixer nothing special as far as hand technique, which I am sure you DJ's reading this know what I mean. What blows you away about Bishop is his effortless command of the equipment he is using. -Digital Master. If I was in the crowd I could have sworn it was all pre-programed. His loops and drops were the freshest I have heard. He has a musicians ear and I wouldn't be surprised if he could guess the BPM'S, he also has an extensive song library in his mind, and it covers most genres.

There were a lot of things I admired about DJ Bishop, he wasn't afraid to go hard hit after hit to the point of a sista about collapsing on the dance floor, yes I am a witness.

I appreciate a lot of different DJ's styles, but as far as music knowledge and reading a crowd perfectl I would put DJ Bishop up there with DJ Skyscraper another Omaha DJ which practices at the Omaha DJ Academy.

I have a lot of respect for DJ's that are into all kinds of music, and to me it can only make you better.I like a DJ that Say's, "yea I like country, disco,rap, hip hop," without worrying what another DJ may think. To me being closed minded can only hurt your growth as a DJ.

Q&A

K: When did you start DJ'ng

B: 1995

K: Do you play on turntables?

B: No but I am gonna start soon.

K: Do you know, so -n- so DJ's?

B: No I don't, to busy to get out.

To me this is very Interesting because for a DJ, everyone knows and admires Bishop. He only knew a hand full or just met a few DJ's I named to him. That tells me he is a working DJ and doesn't have time to socialize.

During the day DJ Bishop sells commercial real estate and has a family with a 12 year old son.

All in all this was a great experience to write DJ Bishop up, I not only met a Master DJ but I think I made a new friend. For those of you who want to go get your groove on and listen to an amazing DJ do his thing, GO TO BAR FLY AND DO IT NOW!!!!!! You will not be disappointed, I can personally guarantee it.

THE DJ GEAR

Dual Pioneer 1000 MK2,

This piece of equipment is very useful when it comes to playing music that was never pressed on vinyl or just isn't available yet. The scratching mechanism makes the CD player very much compatible with the turntable when using them interchangeably plus, you can adjust the speed of the start & stop functions.

In addition, there is a feature that keeps the master tempo voice pitch while changing the speed itself which is very helpful when doing remixes live. On top of all this, the CDJ reads most CDs, CDRs, and even CDRWs. The CDJ allows a DJ to set 3 different cue points so he/she can bounce back and forth to different parts of the song which can be useful to actually change the rhythm of the song itself. All of this combined with many other features including a digital output jack makes this piece of equipment top notch in the realm of DJing. Bishop has been using this piece of equipment for over 5 years, He also stated Pioneer is the best, they are made to last.

RANE 57 SL mixer with scratch live

the Serato Scratch Live software will recognize recognize iTunes library right away, The magnetic faders on the mixer are smooth as butter, and they made Bishops mixing very pleasurable.
The best thing about this unit is the amount of controls on the mixer that can be assigned to the software parameters in Scratch Live. These can be assigned with a simple right-click, and each button has a long list of parameters that it can be assigned to.

DICER

A cue point and looping button based USB interface that works with Serato Scratch Live and other digital DJ software.

Bishop used this alot for effects and drops, great tool if used tastefully

DJ Bishop Profile

Master Digital DJ

Very good to excellent MC Skillz

Master Crowd Reader

Master Music Knowledge

Crowd Rocka DJ

The Core DJ's

From Chicago lives in Omaha

Find out more about DJ Bishop

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Kevin Spracklin

ShowTime Music/Omaha DJ Academy