Earlier this week the Japanese turntable manufacturer, Panasonic, issued a statement to the Tokyo Reporter officially stating they will be discontinuing the Technics 1200mk6 turntable. After years of speculation that it would be going the way of the dodo, the economic hammer finally dropped and ended a solid 30 year run. Even though this site is decidedly controller focused, there is no question that the original dj controller was fantastic tool and will be well missed by all.
Archive for October, 2010
The Science Of Djing- Music Chills and Pop Cycles
Ever wondered why you get chills when listening to music? Perhaps you might have suspected cycles of pop music seem to follow economic cycles. Well, writer Yale Fox has an entire blog dedicated to studying the “science of nightlife culture” called Darwin Vs The Machine that has looked at both subjects. In today’s article he goes into the chill theory and why popular music may pick up in pace as the economy slows down.
Continue reading The Science Of Djing- Music Chills and Pop Cycles
USB 3.0- Ready For DJs?
With the onslaught of new controllers, there remains an old friend common to just about all of them, the USB connection. And just as our DJ equipment keeps evolving and improving, the folks behind the USB protocol are ever pushing to keep up too. With the now old announcement of USB 3.0 and it’s failure to show up on new equipment, DJTT dug into the background a little to see what gives and when we too can look forward to some new USB zoom-zoom.
T-Shirt Contest Finals- Get your Vote in
After 1 month of uploads, thousands of votes and a little controversy in the design community- we now have 10 great finalists that you can choose from that will be printed and sold in the Dj TechTools web store. The 5 shirts above are just a few of the creative designs submitted by fans, designers, djs and regular folks like you that make up this great online community. Show your support, head over to the forum, and place your vote now!
Rhythm Techniques for Djs/Controllerists
This month our resident rhythm expert, Ryan Lucero- a professional drum instructor and performer, brings us another set of lessons on ways to improve your time and rhythm. Last month’s metronome basics provided a solid foundation for daily practice and now we dive into 3 specific voices that can be used in a set.
How to launch a Club Night: Part 1.
In my last article, Building Your Club Night and DJ Career with Guest DJs, I showed you how to fast-track your DJing through booking guest DJs for your club night. Your feedback showed that many of you would love to start your own nights, but need a bit more help getting going. So for the next series of articles, we are going to try and give you that help by starting at the basics. These articles will use lots of examples and lessons from my own experiences, and those of other promoter/DJs who have thrown very successful parties. In this first part, I’ll help you to answer five important questions that DJs planning their own club nights regularly ask (or should ask, at least), before they begin.
Dj Booths are Getting Crazy!
With Djs playing bigger and bigger festivals, some top names have gone beyond the music to put together visually astounding shows that can be enjoyed by thousands of people, all at once. Top acts including Daft Punk, Deadmau5, DJ Shadow, Vitalic, and Etienne De Crecy are all equipped with next level visual systems/dj booths that give the audience a unique look into their performance. Continue reading for some mind bending videos including DJ Shadow’s brand new “Sphere concept” (above) and a simple way to create a similar effect without a giant budget.
The Best In-Ear Monitors for DJs
Over-ear DJ-style headphones have been an industry icon for decades but their time as the de facto DJ standard might be over. With the rise in popularity of digital DJ software and new automated mixing methods such as clip warping and sync, over-ear headphones may no longer have a good technical reason for remaining in your DJ arsenal other than their professional appearance. Aesthetics aside, in-ear monitors, or IEMs, offer better performance, several technical advantages and may potentially save your DJ career – three excellent reasons to consider using them. In this article we will look at some of top models available to help you choose which IEMs might be a good fit for your rig.
Jog Wheel Maintenance on VCI-100 and VCI-300
In today’s video Chris, A.K.A. PhotoJojo, takes us through the process of fixing a VCI-100 jog wheel that spins unevenly or wobbles. This technique can also apply to fixing VCI-300 jog wheels, which have the same mechanical structure and similar issues. Be sure to also check out our writer’s last video log, where he demonstrates how to get your faders sliding silky smooth again.
Continue reading Jog Wheel Maintenance on VCI-100 and VCI-300
Why DJ With Ableton Live?
When it comes to DJ software, Ableton Live can sometimes look like a neglected child compared to its older, more DJ-friendly siblings Serato and Traktor. It’s pretty common to find lengthy lists of features that Live users think Ableton should integrate into the next version (DJTechTools author Zettt has a handy list here) but despite this, I still believe that Live can be a great platform for digital DJing. Given all the negative publicity, you might well ask, ‘Why bother DJing with Ableton Live at all?’ There are some very compelling reasons to use Live, but before we get into that, it may help to look into what, exactly, Live is and isn’t.
BPM 2010 DJ Show – Gear Wrap Up
Written By: Brad Cousins
We have to admit that it’s been a bit hectic with the gear announcements this week at DJ TechTools. The flurry of activity had everything to do with the BPM DJ show in the UK where a number of DJ equipment manufacturers were announcing or showing off new gear for the first time. Continue reading for my personal impressions on everything from Native Instruments’ Traktor Kontrol S4 controller, the Vestax VCI-100 MKII and a new Vestax controller called PAD-One.
