Many, many times I have heard people say: “gosh how did you become a professional dj? That must be so hard!” Or other djs complaining that they could never go full time because the competition is too tight. Well, I can tell you first hand that its not hard to make money, get gigs and even go pro. Naysayers might point out: “Your just lucky or you have special talent- not everyone can get the gigs you have gotten”. Nope, wrong on both accounts. I am not lucky and not even that “talented”, just terribly persistent and painfully stubborn. You see by putting yourself in the frame of mind where you can accept the possibility of easily making good money by doing something you love (sharing music with others). You have taken the first and most important step to making it happen.
Archive for the 'Digital Dj Tips- Advanced' Category Page 5 of 6
All those beautiful adverts you see for controllers and music gear always show the shiny devices floating freely in a wonderland of white space and light. Once you actually get the thing home you’re faced with using it in on a real-life table filled with cables, cups of tea and other pieces of electronic junk. I like to keep my laptop front and center instead of to the side, so mixing involved a lot of leaning over a table for extended amounts of time. There had to be a better way, so I started looking around for the ultimate laptop stand.
An inexpensive way to add advanced midi technology to a simple controller
One of our active users, Matt, brought this great little device to our attention. Its a stick on touch pad that is designed to duplicate a mouse surface on your keyboard. Great for your Aunt sally’s desk job but its not quite enough to get djs in a tizzy. However, if you consider that this device is a HID (or human interface device) and you happen to know about a handy little program called Junxion. Well, then wheels start turning very quickly and my nerd side runs around the house excitedly. You see, Junxion will take ANY HID and turn it into very usable midi data. Translation. Stick this bad boy on your midi controller, program it with a HID to MIDI software program and bingo- instant X/Y pad on any midi controller.
This one is for the Traktor users out there although some other software may have similar tools. Lets say you are using a VCi-100 to control decks A and B. Everything is working well expect that every control is used up and now you also want to get your hands on decks C or D. How do you do that without buying a 2nd VCi-100? Its easy- and all you need is ONE free button.
Continue reading ‘Double your Controls in Traktor- with one button.’
With the advent of “controllerism” and the meteoric rise of DJ software, some may assume that the art of turntablism is fading fast. Attendance at the large competitions continues to drop, and the 20-year-old art form appears to need a breath of fresh air. Ironically, it may just be digital technology that brings it. Software like Serato Scratch Live is making the bread and butter of turntablists — scratch records — more accessible to everyone and opening creative doors to exciting new ideas.
For years, having your own scratch record to manipulate was a luxury afforded to a precious few. The technology and techniques that went into a DMC-winning performance were shrouded in secrecy as each performer tried to one-up the next. These days, you don’t have to drop $100 on a dub plate or be a former DMC champion to make your scratch sentences and routines completely original. With digital vinyl technology, a decent DAW and some minor technical know-how, you can make your own personal scratch “record” in just a few hours.
I am happy to report that several writers here at dj tech tools are now going to be offering insight, recommendations and reviews on the emerging dj-video world. Although it remains to be seen if people really want to embrace this upcoming trend, the technology is starting to look exciting. One of the most promising programs is Serato Scratch Live Video. Its an $180 optional plug-in for the Scratch Live platform that works seamlessly with Rane’s TTM-57SL. Check out the following video for more info and to see what it looks like when we apply a little controllerism to music videos.
Not inside or outside the house smart guy, inside or outside the computer! If the right controller was out there, would you like it to control all the functions inside the software including mixing? Or, would you prefer to mix on a real mixer and use all the functions of devices like the VCI-100 for other purposes?
By now a few of you may have seen my performance at the Vestax Extravaganza in Tokyo. Several people on stage all said the same thing: “Man, none of us could figure out what the hell you are doing in your videos, we thought we could figure it out by being here- now we really have no idea!” Although I certainly did step up the level of performance for that gig the core principles are very simple and have not changed in several years. Everything in the Japan video is just different ways of “cue point juggling” or jumping between different points in a song instantly. There are 2 different kinds of cue point juggling: direct play and sample play.
Some older djs seem to have a sixth sense about mixing tracks. They will often mix similar songs to other djs but for some reason the sequence and timing results in a completely different feel. Promoters and dancers are left happy as the dance floor consistently explodes on the big tracks and chugs along between without any energy drops. There is no secret to their formula, many guys have just developed a keen ear and sense of when to play the rights tracks. Take a closer look by examining the musical structure of their sets and you might find they are often mixing in key and don’t even realize it.
So how you reliably tap into that knowledge without waiting for those random perfect mixes to pop up in your sets? Figure out all the keys of your songs and then learn how to wield that information to create a powerful dance-floor.
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