David Guetta has hit back at Deadmau5 for calling him a ''button pusher''.

deadmau5 - real name Joel Zimmerman - had slammed David saying he only required ''two iPods and a mixer'' to perform his live sets, but the 'Titanium' hitmaker has shrugged off the accusations, saying he meticulously learned his craft.

David, 44, told Vibe magazine: ''For so many years I DJed in clubs and learned the hard way. The big DJs start by being bedroom producers and they have a hit and suddenly start playing in front of thousands of people.

''But the way I did it was by working six nights, playing eight hours sets every night. I've learned a lot about how to communicate with the crowd, so when my music crossed over that stayed. The connection with the people is what makes the difference for me.''

The 'When Love Takes Over' hitmaker added there is a big element of performance and skill to all his live sets.

He said: ''If you listen to a hip-hop DJ, he's not playing his own music. It makes a huge difference. When I perform, everything you hear is me playing my own music. You'll hear unreleased music; every record I play, I will edit and use parts of another record to make it unique. I'm not gonna play what you hear on the radio.''

deadmau5, 31, had previously praised David, as well as Lady GaGa, for helping house music reach the mainstream.

He said in 2010: ''Dance wasn't always considered pop, and people like Lady Gaga and Guetta and those guys really brought it out to the commercial market.

''I'm just getting a lot more fans and God bless it, and that's the goal of being an artist is to get yourself heard by any means possible.''