Everyone knows Ableton is an amazing loop sampler for creating music on the fly with Kid beyond and many others taking the concept to new heights and beyond. Did you know that you can do the same thing within Traktor Pro using a few creative tricks? I have been working on a very simple way to “record” yourself inside of Traktor and create several layers of performance on the fly. Check out the video above for a short routine that demonstrates the concept in a very simple way. Next week Monday I will break it down and show you step by step how to do this technique yourself.
The start of the video introduces another concept I am still perfecting that you could call “Pitch n Scratch” . Instead of moving the record position back and forth, the jog wheel is used to radically change the pitch in large amounts quickly. This combined with rapid sampling creates a very cool tranform effect not unlike scratching but with a different feel and sound.
Its worth mentioning that this sampler concept has been built into the latest VCI-100 TSI version 1_6 which you can download for free. We are also producing a new batch of arcade button vci-100′s next week and you can pre-order now in the web store.
Are you an expert in some area of digital djing? Perhaps you know a few cool tricks that you might like to share? We want to talk to you about it and see if your interested in writing for Dj TechTools. Even though I spend 24/7 on the subject its still impossible to know everything about all the different controllers and software out there. While I personally may be an expert in Traktor, there are many of you that may know the other dj programs just as well. You might want to contribute your knowledge to this community and get some great exposure in the process! Some of our best articles, like this one or this one, were written by people like you and have provided them with a wide audience including label managers, club owners and industry professionals. So if you have something great to share that could help other people in their quest to become better djs, drop me line.
One of your main challenges as you mix music is figuring out how to take two totally different songs and make them sound as if they were designed to fit together. Maintaining the musical pace and feel in a mix is a very important facet of DJing that everyone, beginners to advanced, need to understand. All forms of music have an ingrained pattern of rhythm, tension and release that the dancers naturally follow and expect to hear. When those patterns are broken in a mix, it can seriously throw off the groove. Using those patterns to your advantage, however, will keep the dancefloor rocking early into the morning.
In the DJ world it’s all about the name. If club owners, booking agents and the public recognize your name, then a successful career is not far away. Getting your name out there will require years of hard work, dedication and a dash of luck- but it all can go to waste if your name is not memorable. So how does one DJ set himself apart from the crowd and make his name memorable?
mem·o·ra·ble
Function: adjective
Etymology:
Middle English, from memorare to remind,
: worth remembering :notable<a memorable occasion>
So according to that definition, you need to remind people of your name and make it worth remembering. One tried and true method used by DJs and corporations alike is to make yourself a great logo. While a logo may go against everything your artistic personality stands for, the fact is that a logo WILL help people remember your DJ name and take it more seriously. Our friends over at Mixed in Key created a handy tutorial on DJ logos and here is a portion of that article:
We missed one small controller from namm that’s worth mentioning. As usual everyone in the forum was super on top of the latest news and discovered that Dj Tech worked with Kontrol Dj to build an interesting deck controller that is easy on the wallet. I know you may be thinking Dj Tech? Who is that? They are a Chinese manufacturer that basically reproduces other companies designs in more affordable packages but lower quality. This year they changed gears a little bit though and introduced a controller that is fairly unique in its layout and design so its worth taking a closer look at.
Essentially, Dj Tech is selling a 2 controller/ hardware mixer package, which at $799 with a case, might actually be a good value for many people. For everyone else one of the decks might work as a low cost auxiliary controller. There is no released price for a single deck. Lets take a closer look and see what works and what might not.
Its not the gear- its what you do with it. That’s general idea around here but still we cant help get caught up in the newest and the latest. So what is new this year in the world of Dj gear? Not as much as last year but several announcements were made including new alliances coupled with a small smattering of controllers. Albeton has added another strategic partnership and Vestax released a VCM series controller for traktor pro. The Numark NS7 was out in full force spinning at high torq as promised and Serato added some nice features to their software. Read on for a full break down of the developments at this years NAMM show in Anaheim, California.
Well its that time again. That special month when all the manufactures pack up their goods from around the world, fly to LA and shop their new products to the hungry stores. Its also great place for running shoes and ear plugs if you plan on walking through football fields of perpetual noise. Somehow though, from the din of 100 dj booths all vying for sonic space there usually arises interesting new products that hold promise for the future of djing. Last year we discovered the Otus from EKS, what will it be this time?
Dj TT will be there for all 4 days, cameras in hand, talking to folks and searching for anything you might be interested in. Check on the site Friday morning when all the news will be posted. If you find yourself at NAMM, stop by and check out my sets on Friday and Saturday at the Vestax booth.
Several months ago we wrote about getting gigs in hard times and a reader commented: “I am worried because when the US gets sick the rest of the world gets a cold.” Well, it looks like the world has certainly caught the flu so what will that mean for the coming years and new developments in dj technology?
We asked Jim Mazur ( head of new product development at Stanton) if he thought this would be affecting the products new companies bring out.
” You will certainly see companies playing it safe, and releasing products they know will have a market- and taking less risks”.
Right off the bat- big props to everyone for pulling out the cameras and really putting yourself out there. Even though there are only 3 prizes, everyone really was a winner as this contest brought us together and created a lot of dialogue among the members of our community. This contest was also an amazing opportunity for me to see how each of you use technology in your own personal way.
Every video was watched by the judges and then given a score from 1-5 in several areas based on the following scale:
1- needs some work
2- bellow average
3- consistent with the quality of the competition
4- better than average
5- really exceptional
Apple made 2 big announcements today at the Mac world conference in San Francisco that mean good news for digital djs:
The price of digital downloads will be lowered to as little as .69 cents
All songs will be DRM free!
If you started digital djing 5 years ago, iTunes was the only place to reliably buy new mp3′s but it was a major hassle. They were in AAC format at 128kbs and had to be burned to a disc, then re-imported to strip them of the DRM so the file could be played in dj software. The physical inconvenience aside, this was an important development in music- and many of us considered DRM to be a very dangerous precedent for the future. In response I created the poster above for the CRFTP project (now retired) and it became a battle cry against DRM with appearances all over the net. Its with great pride and excitement that I now get to tell you that we have won and DRM (at least on the apple store) has finally given way to the power of the people.
Now that the songs in the iTunes music store are going to be high quality and DRM free it might become your new favorite place to discover new tunes.
Two men sit side by side on a dock, their lines drifting in the sea while each waits for a catch. One nimbly works with an older rod that is simple and broken down but well used. The younger man uses a much newer rod equipped with the best technology available to help a man catch fish. After sitting for several hours in silence, the younger fisherman strikes up a conversation and suggests “Hey there, you should think about upgrading your gear. Here, try this: it’s the newest available, it’s got everything you need it makes fishing a million times better!” The wiser of the two acquiesces, takes the newer rod in hand and attempts to cast it into the perfect spot where he knows fish are to be waiting. Alas, after many tries, he can’t seem to get the same results out of the newer rod even though it possess many more functions that should make his experience an easier one. Respectfully, the older man returns the rod to his neighbor and taking up the old, makes a perfect cast into the exact spot he wanted the first time.
There is a reason so many DJs have continued to stick with turntables even when newer, more powerful technology has emerged.
Because it is a familiar interface that the user doesn’t have to think about operating. When the actions required to use an instrument become natural and subconscious, then the player is free to truly play.
The MK-1200 turntable is well-built with a natural mapping so the controls look, feel, and respond how you expect them to. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with new technology where very little time and energy is spent developing intuitive mappings.
Although creating a controller from scratch is out of the reach for most of you, remapping your controller so it’s more natural and easy to use is within the reach of every digital DJ. Therefore, here are just a few principles for creating intuitive, functional mappings that allow uninhibited personal creativity. Continue reading Enable Creativity
Both Mix Vibes and M-Audio have released new versions of their respective software’s with updated features that sound promising. While not the most popular kids in class, both pieces of software bring new options to the table with the Torq release really taking some bold leaps forward by offering Re-wire support among other updates. There is also a new bag on the market that will fit the increasingly large controllers.
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