One of the dirtiest jobs in the DJ business is marketing and promotion. If you already have a big following, you could probably hire a publicist to do the promo grunt work for you. But how do you get a following without promotion? There’s the catch. Although DJing is good work if you can get it, it is still work. You’ve got to be your own hype man before you hit the big time. Luckily, the wonders of the modern world – technology and outsourcing – have your back. Read on to discover tools and services that will help you spice up your Facebook page, create a personal iPhone app with no coding required, and blast a press release to the music media masses.
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Self-Promotion Tools for DJs
Drivers Wanted – Audio on Macs and PCs
A recent DJ TechTools round up of soundcards sparked some queries about whether latency is a bigger problem on Mac or Windows machines, or if it’s a moot issue these days. Latency is a murky issue with many factors affecting it: the number of audio channels and effects being used, CPU power, and more. However, one of the most important factors is the audio driver at work. To get a better handle on what the differences are when creating audio drivers for both Mac and PC, we asked a couple of third-party audio hardware developers who produce products for both platforms. Continue reading Drivers Wanted – Audio on Macs and PCs
Akai APC20 and APC40 – Review
Last year, Akai dropped a game changer with the APC40, a dedicated controller for Ableton Live performances. Now, with a price drop to the APC40 and its new little brother, the APC20, Akai has made it even more attractive for DJs and aspiring music producers to jump into the Ableton Live arena. Read on to find out just how much these controllers allow you to do, and how they stack up in terms of function and value against a growing field of competitors.
Dj Soundcards for Less Than $200
You may have to decide whether to fill up your gas tank or fill up your belly far too often these days, but luckily, one area where you still get more for your money than you did 2 years ago is technology. Since the last DJ Tech Tools budget soundcard romp in Feb. 2008, 2 Benjamins now gets you a considerably more impressive array of audio interfaces with which to weave your magical musical tapestry. Whether you spin DVS control discs or rock controllers, you have to get your tunes from the computer to the soundsystem somehow. So because those gallons of milk and 87-octane aren’t getting any cheaper, we went shopping for the best DJ soundcard values, and passed the time savings on to you.
Tiefschwarz Interview: The Death of Vinyl and Big Labels
The brothers that make up the electro-house duo, Tiefschwarz (“deep black” in German), Ali and Basti Schwarz, started DJing in Stuttgart, Germany in the early ’90s. Since then they have risen from local club promoters to worldwide club culture celebrities. Through it all they witnessed several sea changes in the way that dance music is produced, distributed and DJ’d, yet continue to thrive. On a recent solo stop to San Francisco, Ali Schwarz sat down with Ean Golden to discuss the acceptance of digital DJing, the merits of Internet distribution, the importance of personal style, the questionable necessity of big music labels and the one single constant in the world of DJing: that no matter what happens, it’s always about the music.
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Music Discovery Tips
Even though many DJs have an insatiable desire for new music, the Internet is so awash with listening and downloading options that without direction, you could fritter away many hours of screening music without netting anything to use in your sets. While everyone has favorite recording artists, there are many online tools that will help you keep up with those artists and find new music in similar styles that you’re likely to enjoy. We pulled together the music discovery habits of several DJ Tech Tools contributors to compile a list of sites and tips that is sure to keep you flush with usable new tracks. You may already know and use at least some of these, but a more well-rounded and complete routine will definitely keep you covered with all the new tunes you can handle.
Melodyne Editor’s Direct Note Access for DJs
After more than a year of big-time hype, Celemony’s Melodyne Editor software with Direct Note Access (DNA) is here. So… should you have believed said hype? DNA promised to allow Melodyne Editor users to manipulate the pitch, length and timing of individual notes within polyphonic material. In the case of this version of the software, that polyphonic material is meant to be chords played on a piano, synthesizer, guitar, other stringed instruments, etc. However, it’s tempting to get one’s hopes up about Melodyne Editor as the be all and end all of isolating vocals and instrument parts from stereo mixes, so that DJs and remixers could have carte blanche to any part of any track they desire. After the jump, we explore and the can-dos and the can’t-dos of Melodyne Editor.
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Playable Holiday Songs and New Year’s Tools
The DJ TechTools staff spent most of the day cracking up over terrible christmas covers and collecting our favorite holiday songs that might be useful over the coming weeks. We found some good Christmas remixes, holiday covers, classic favorites and even a few New Years tools that will help you make the countdown smooth and easy. Download them all after the break.
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DJ Laptop Stand Comparison
As laptop DJs, we love blazing fast new computers, DJ software updates and new, innovative MIDI controllers. However, some of the most pivotal gear for a laptop DJ is also most often overlooked. Laptop stands can be critical components to a DJ’s setup, as you may also be using them to hold your MIDI controllers or CDJs, as well.
We have compared three laptop stands that are designed specifically for DJs — The Crane Stand, the Odyssey L Stand M and the Stanton Uberstand — to see which one has the edge for portability, ease of set-up, sturdiness and flexibility. Read the full review after the jump.
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