Chances are high you want to make music a full time career, but right now, DJing is not yet paying the bills. Many DJs maintain two jobs, their daytime gig (to keep the rent paid) and their night time job (the passion). For most people becoming a full-time touring DJ is the ultimate dream, so in the meantime is there a day job that will help you get there?
Archive for October, 2011
Track or Treat: Halloween Tools for DJs
While Halloween is predominantly celebrated in the US, many of our readers enjoy the Mexican equivalent, Día de los Muertos, and many European countries get into the fun by donning costumes and letting their alter egos free. Like any holiday festivity, the amateurs come out to play – but it also presents an opportunity to lace your sets with a fun theme. DJ TechTools helps by providing a short but juicy list of Halloween DJ jams that are perfect for any ghouly party this weekend.
The iOS DJ Has Arrived
In less than 18 months, the iPad has successfully built a strong foundation on innovation and ease of use, qualities that resonate with a market that, prior to its release, never even existed. Of course, a limitlessly morphing touch screen would be the medium of choice for forward-thinking developers, creating beautifully powerful apps on the monolith-like device’s blank, depthless canvas.
It’s easy to dismiss the iPad as a gimmicky, ubiquitous unit that sits beside all your other gear to “wow” an unassuming audience member, but before we dismiss this new form of “DJing” as a flash in the pan (remember those mixers with twin iPod docks?), let’s not forget that this was also the same sentiment when CD players came out. Ditto when the first generation of laptop software made its clunky debut all those years ago!
Looking into SYNC – Power Functions in Traktor Pro 2
SYNC is a highly debated but often miss-understood function. Many people get the general concept but fail to understand exactly what sync actually does and how to customize it for their own needs. In this article, we delve into every nuance of the SYNC command including a complete description of the three different possible sync behaviors that can be unlocked in Trakor. We’ll also explain the elusive SNAP and QUANT functions.
Continue reading Looking into SYNC – Power Functions in Traktor Pro 2
Traktor Tricks: Double up effects with a loop for a cleaner build.
The Beatslicer and Beatmasher are some of the most useful effects in Traktor Pro. They can be used subtly to create fills that sound almost like they’re part of the original track, or so boldly that it disrupts the mix completely beyond recognition, and all the gradations in between. After a while, chopping up a beat can not only get repetitive but also disrupt the dance floor. Many producers will often chop-up a song momentarily and at the same time introduce a rhythmic loop to maintain the groove before snapping back to the original song. Fortunately for you , the same result can be achieved with a clever mapping trick that will produce studio quality fills in DJ software. Continue reading Traktor Tricks: Double up effects with a loop for a cleaner build.
Review: Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S2
While it’s not the game-changer the Kontrol S4 was, the 2-channel Kontrol S2 delivers a formidable all-in-one Traktor Pro 2 package for budding digital DJs, as well as experienced controllerists. On one hand, it’s tempting to call the S2 the S4 Lite, and on the other hand, that’s not such a bad thing to be. Let’s check out this little brother and decide if it deserves a pat on the back or a vicious noogie.
Continue reading Review: Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S2
Review: iKaossilator for iPhone and iPad
We’ve seen a number of DJs make substantial use of the Kaossilator in a DJ set, including the impressive James Zabiela (see our interview with him). Korg today announced the release of their iOS version of the device – check out the video after the jump. Continue reading Review: iKaossilator for iPhone and iPad
How To: Create a Professional DJ Booth from IKEA Parts.
We taught you how to get your foot into the clubs and rock them but there’s still a good chance most DJs will spend the majority of their time in a home, bedroom or studio. It’s expected that most of you have invested a lot of your hard-earned cash in the latest and greatest DJ gear, so you probably dont have much left to spend on a fancy DJ booth. Fortunatly, we have you covered. Today I am going to walk you through a fantastic design for a home DJ booth that rivals most clubs but is suprisignly affordable- all using readilly available IKEA parts. It can cost anywhere from $125-$250 for a fully souped up model.
Continue reading How To: Create a Professional DJ Booth from IKEA Parts.
Video Spotlight: Fader Fest Interview with Ean
DJ City sent over this awesome video and interview with Ean at last month’s Fader Fest in San Francisco. We wanted to share it with all of you – hear Ean talk about performing, and what drives him to work so hard on our blog and products in the video after the jump!
Continue reading Video Spotlight: Fader Fest Interview with Ean
Monome/Battle Mixer Mashup
The smart folks over at create digital music ran a story on a new MIDI mixer prototype that is half monome, half battle mixer. This unique concept is an open source prototype based on the Japanese-based PICnome project. While not commercially available at this time, we have been wondering if there is a market for this style of mixer. We like the concept! Do you?
New Stands for Controllers and Laptops from Aviiq
In our quest to smoothly integrate laptops and controllers on stage we regularly bump up against ergonomic obstacles. It should feel totally natural and easy to use your digital gear live, but too often they sit awkwardly and at uncomfortable angles. In my regular practice and performance sessions, I have found that by angling my gear (both laptop and controller) I not only achieve a much more comfortable work flow, but also connect more with the audience by showing them the performance – not the back of my gear. Surprisingly, there was no simple and portable controller stand that would prop up my controllers on the market – so we went out and found the perfect one.
Continue reading New Stands for Controllers and Laptops from Aviiq
