How I Play: Featuring BT

In today’s episode of “How I Play”, we talk to the talented DJ and producer, Brian Transeau – more commonly known as BT. With his years of experience and a wide range of successful albums under his belt, we were excited to see what he had to say about the state of DJing today. Click “read more” to hear what software he uses and why he thinks using the word “DJ” doesn’t cut it anymore.

Want to play more like BT? Check out the Korg nanoKONTROL2 on Amazon!

Check out BT’s wide array of work and get some of it for your own collection on his Beatport page

…or learn more about BT by visiting his website!

I Loved This Article >



  • George Hansen

    really?
     

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nan-Creationss/100002223305645 Nan Creationss

    I see…

  • Manus

    Nice video but wish it went into a little more detail.

  • http://darylfritz.com Daryl Fritz

    So… uh… he uses Ableton and a Korg Nano… that’s all I learned.

  • http://www.facebook.com/adrianrooney Adrian Rooney

    its more of a commentary on dont just play one song and fade it to the next. go out and work.

  • Remote

    Macros! Man Macros! Yeah the last vid was interesting this one was a waste of time.

  • http://www.reverbnation.com/lewislace LewisLace

    Did I miss something or was the video that short??

  • http://twitter.com/psyEDk psy/OPs

    that was so damn weak. seriously, i enjoyed the zabiela interview where he unpacked his pack and talked about how he uses club standard pioneer hardware as little more than an ableton midi controller now.

    this however was what .. just a promo vid for BT’s album?
    step it up guys..

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Grant-Reynolds/748309866 Grant Reynolds

    what……….   The………… Hell………….. Was………… That…….. DJ Techtools!!

    Poor form indeed! 

  • Morty

    Just to counter everybody here, that was the best video I’ve ever seen.

  • Tobamai

    “I’m BT and because I have a classical music background I insist on being called something more than just a dj.”

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=43200665 Speezy Speez

    lol he did not say even one sentence about “how he plays” besides that “there are 8 to 10 things going at once” and “i have complicated macros”.

  • Swag

    yeah what a faggot, lol .he is amazing. but get your ego in check big guy. he thinks he is so special. ps. bach – concerto in d minor.

  • Lauti

    I love articles where i don’t have to read, lol

  • Johncamaney

    What a douche

  • Culture shock

    Don’t blame djtt! Im sure they can’t help it if they sit someone down for an interview and the person just shoots off on a tangent the whole time.

  • RockingClub

    Actually much better than I expected from reading the comments first. Don’t know why they’re so harsh… Just my opinion…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_P3H6YTHHLE5HJQ2LGY5PVXUXGE Bman8910

    Like if you are a LR= Live remixer

  • Peterdjs

    DJTT, you guys are running out of interesting content. This week was a waste of time. Stick to selling gear.

  • http://www.facebook.com/johnmarrdj John Marr

    DUPLICATE

  • http://www.facebook.com/johnmarrdj John Marr

    What age are you?

  • Hookert

    “The knob of God”

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    I agree – the interview team could have gone into a lot more detail on this one. The video looks great, and is an interesting quick look at an artist but Dj TT is about going deeper. We will do better in the future. 

  • http://www.eangolden.com Ean Golden

    I agree with some of the comments here, we could have gone into more details on his setup and Dj TT will do better in the future. 

    That being said, the video was entertaining, interesting and a cool look at a popular artist – so in that respect I think it is a good piece even if we didn’t get as deep as usual on the tech side. 

  • Theo Void

    Cool VST BT. Thats all 

  • Ktsosie967

    He must’ve had a bad childhood….

  • Emery

    ^That’s why I love this site. Looking forward to more

  • Anonymous

    I concider myself a LESBO

    Live
    Editor of
    Samples
    Breaks &
    Oscilators

    Plus I only like girls..haha :p lol

  • Chiebs

    omg bt, you have a classical background? that’s so awesome.  who’s your favourite composer? Mine’s Beethoven or would you be more impressed if i said Ludwig van Beethoven  

     

  • http://www.facebook.com/gpollux Gena Poryes

    Why so much negativity? He produced some of the most amazing trance tracks of all time. He is entintled to stroke his ego a little bit.

  • Coaxialav

    -Live Remixing
    -Ableton Live
    -Korg Nanos
    -Knob of God
    -Classical Background
    -Mozart
    -Jagermeister
    -Make and Share Music

    Yep, that about coverts the whole thing!

    I am gonna go watch cartoons now. ( they are almost as informative ).

  • Theo Void

    Because no one likes a pretentious d-bag!

  • Jeffd

    I thought the video looked grainy… maybe bring an LED on camera light to help with those low iso’s… Looks like it was shot on an iphone.

  • Galaxymuzic

    Worst post ever

  • Boxcar

    Is this guy for real? Biggest clown of a “recontextualizer” I’ve ever seen in my life. Get over yourself bud. 

  • diaz

    lol it was a fluff piece for beatport to sell more shit. details dont move units, bullshit aesthetics move units.

  • Quality

     That being said, the video was entertaining, interesting and a cool look
    at a popular artist – so in that respect I think it is a good piece
    even if we didn’t get as deep as usual on the tech side.

    Was it? …. Was it really?

    Or was it packaged up content from your NI partner, beatport that you have to stand by? *cough* *cough*

    Either way what a underhanded way to passively assert everyone who commented is still wrong about the video. 

    Your my favorite douche these days Ean.

  • Goldenshower

    Remember how all DJ’s need to learn that “sometimes a track just doesn’t fit” ?
    Ean needs to revisit that thought because this article just not fit “How I play”.
    You forced it to fit in the “how I play” slot like a amatuer DJ that just HAS to play a certain tune next despite the context of the situation.  Booooooo

  • Swag

    yeah video didnt look very good either ian. step up the quality! we know you got the tools!

  • Swag

    lol. liked. 

  • http://twitter.com/ThePharSide Alejandro Perez

    LOL i expected better. 

  • ToOntown

    Whoa!! Ease up, Swag!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Darklight1468 Rick Berherpski Mazzante

    Cool Seeing these artist talk briefly about things, but they usually just talk about the industry and where its going instead of just talking about now and how they are playing now

  • http://www.facebook.com/4P1ay Tomii Forsythe

    I like how every troll on here isn’t logged into this site. Talk all sorts of shit behind a fake name… WOW! LOL the vid did suck tho

  • JC

    Where is the ego in saying that he is “library mixing”? He couldn’t be any less egotistical!

  • JC

    And yet you’ve managed to get at lest one “like” for that comment…. guess that proves you wrong!!

  • Vox5050

     You’re out favorite douchebag sellout, Ean. <3

  • hotmouth

    I have seen a few Bt interviews besides this one.
    That is all you get from him. Its almost as if Bt wants the limelight but wont give up any tricks or tips.
    After all that is what kinda sets him apart.
    In a way he did give a clue as to how he plays. He basically said he maps it all to be a workflow through controllers knob of god whatever. Just saying hey. its not just a couple of tracks someone else did and a couple of filters and echos throwns in.

    plus a classical background means more than most can grasp for creating what he does.
    I betcha anything if he had sat down and said a whole tutorial on how to implement his 20+ years of experience no one including me could ever get it.

    But yeah Bt probably likes you all calling him out as you have. I would if I was that good.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Weinhold/1731897292 Robert Weinhold

    BT played in my town a 3 yrs or so ago and I got to meet him after the gig. He is very down to earth and a really nice guy. Can’t say he has an ego trip or anything. OK so he has a classical education, which is even in EDM worth something. Music is Music is Music and the more you know the better.

  • moonunit

    seems like a really smart guy… I just wished he would have demoed one of his so-called “god knobs.” I need to get more into creating macros myself

  • Djdraco

    I could have given such a better interview. Come to Annapolis and interview a DJ who plays like most people on this forum. That what I think more of us want to see, someone like us so we can get possibly a different insight on something similar.

  • romanK

    Am I missing something? where is Click “read more” ??

  • v1rus

    if you are like me, you search out a lot of videos where djs/controllerists show their setups. in reference to “knobs of god”, i believe Ean, and moldover covered that somewhat before in videos (the whole macro thing), pretty much what the midi fighter can do, multiple instances of midi signals with just one button….i believe that is what he was talking about. i may be wrong.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_I6C3TRTYITQQHH5WXGCP46NQDE Paul

    Come on djtechtools…  you should have no trouble serving interesting videos instead of this bullshit. nano ctrl + live  + macros = ??! 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_I6C3TRTYITQQHH5WXGCP46NQDE Paul

    Well produce – ok I can give you that. But from my perceptive it was making the guy sound like an arrogant besserwisser and totally missing the opportunity to show how his set is arranged and performed. 

  • Konrad C.

    really, watch any DJ, or Live Remixer ,or whatever we’re callling ouselves today for 20 minutes and you have “How I Play”. This stuff isn’t rocket science, you don’t need a degree in mixology, and in the 20+ years I’ve been doing this, it’s all just a few variations on the same performance; we’re mixing (in the broadest sense of the word) pre-recorded music in real time (most of us anyway). What differentiates Ean from Tim Exile from Frankie Knuckles from Kid Capri, is the way in which we do it, our DJ ‘swagger’ if you will and that’s something that’s only developed with practice and time. Weather you’re juggling 2 pieces of vinyl or running an assload of clips peppered with effects, If “How I Play” Isn’t answered by the phrase “I have fun” then all of it is pretty pointless IMHO.

  • Lordpyro

    Jesus..the interview was only 2 minutes…Do you think he could tell all of his secrets in 2 minutes? Stop hatin’ …

    great video!! If you thought about what he said it could really change how you do music…

  • Dude

    BT diggs deeper into audio reworking then Chuck Norris. He’s the Mozart in this age. Big respect

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1063140313 Kyle Mogilev

    Hey that’s at Ruby Skye… He kills it there every time…

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