by Rifki Rostum
The DJ console has come a long way since Francis Grasso plied his trade with the first stereo mixers.  Today DJs have digital, analog, midi, and hybrid mixers. For hybrids, where analog, digital and midi are married among the available controls, great possibilities await.  Well that’s what the advertising promises.  DO they live up to the hype?  Lets break down the available hybrids and see if any of them show promise.
Continue reading Midi Enabled DJ Mixers

Djing is not just picking the next song, but planning how your songs will flow for the entire night.  There are 2 critical time-lines we will look at in this article that you should keep in mind when planning the flow of a  night: the drink line and the tempo line. Understanding and playing with these principles will mean happier dancers and happier owners!

Continue reading The Time-Line of a Dance Floor

Today we get back to the basics with a good old fashioned Traktor tutorial. After months of requests, we finally address a common problem- how to get the BPM for and beatgrid an acapella. If you have any questions, post them in the comments and we will update the post.

NI just released a teaser video featuring Dubfire rocking Space, Ibiza with an un-identified Traktor controller and software. Learn what we know about this new release along with some high resolution screen grabs after the jump!

Continue reading A New Traktor Controller is Coming

The ad from the local paper says it all: looking for a multi-skilled DJ to bring in a crowd, and we’re not too worried about your mixing skills.  What has gone wrong in the club scene that having mix skills is no longer a priority?  In case you have been living under a rock, draw power is high on the list of promoters criteria now. Being able to bring in the crowd is considered by some to be greater than being able to keep the crowd.  How do you keep up with the Jones’ and get gigs in this type of club climate?  Read on…

Continue reading Wanted: DJ – Mixing Optional

Dj TechTools spent some time with Glitch Mob, the Ableton dj crew turned live band, and dug into the details on how they make their new bombastic show work technically. Read on after the break for the full interview on what they like and don’t like about Lemurs and more!

Continue reading Glitch Mob- Live Footage and Interview

An audio issue is every DJ’s worst nightmare, after all audio is our art!  For digital DJs, there are two sets of audio to worry about: analogue and digital, with USB being the most popular means for our digital hook-up.  For MacBook and MacBook Pro users, the choice of which of the two available USB ports to use for your sound card hook-up may have never occurred to you.  New evidence is showing, that especially with the new i5 and i7 models, you might be missing out on performance by choosing the wrong port.

Continue reading MacBook USB Port Inequality

You’ve just put together a killer  re-mix  and spent weeks making everything perfect but its still not bumping like the big club bangers.  Don’t worry-  You need professional quality mastering and we are here to try and help.

Last month we brought you Part I of our DJ mastering guide, Pump up the Jam, which discussed the concept of mastering with industry experts. This month, we will take you through the process detailing what to look for in each step along the road to mastering perfection.

Finally, as if that was not enough, read on for a chance to win 2 of the top mastering plug-ins out there.  A free copy of The Glue and T-RackS 3 mastering plug-ins!

Continue reading Make It loud! DJ’s guide to Mastering Pt 2

Over the past few years, we have shown everyone a fair number of controllerism tricks and techniques on this site. Through that time, everyone has consistently expressed a desire to see them used in the context of a real dj set. While it’s not realistic to beat juggle for 30 minutes and keep a dance floor rocking it IS realistic to sprinkle the mix with some amazingly fun routines.  In the video above I condense a 30 minute set into 10 minutes of quick mixes that use controllerism as a tool for creative transitions.

Read on after the jump for the full 20 minute mix, and a contest in which you can win the midi-fighter controllers.

Continue reading Ean Golden’s 10 Minute Mini-Set