The Pezman Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 So I'm making a DJ thread. It came up in the Membership card thread so I figured it's time for a bona fide DJ thread. I knew what a DJ was in concept before then, but it was really during my freshman year when Jon (q-pa) told me he dabbled in it that I started thinking about it. He's invested in vinyl and mixers and all that stuff. Since I'm no professional, there's no damn way I'm doing that. Whatever tactile benefits exist are not worth it for me to hunt down vinyl when more and more digital options become available every day. And I think I've reached the point where I may actually buy something: Look at this thing. Hasn't actually been released yet, but it's close. It's a MIDI turntable controller, so I can access all my tracks from straight off my computer. That's infinitely better than vinyl, and better than CDs too, because this thing is cheaper, not nearly as bulky, and it means you can organize your playlist on the fly. Numark has got a competing one coming out: but I think I like Vestax's better. Numark's is motorized, which to me seems like an unnecessary feature and adds power consumption. Plus, Vestax's VCI 100 looked great, though the 300 was announced before I got too acquainted with the 100 model. But are these digital turntables the last of a dying breed? There are a number of new-wave touch controllers out now, including the lemur and the Granted, they're expensive as all hell and don't advertise scratching as such, but these guys, with their OpenSoundControl, look like they could very well be the future.Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V___ Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 I dont like the full digital setup. I cant imagine it 'feeling' the same, especially seeing as if you have a compy there for a performance, why not do a truely live set. On the plus, youd have alot more control over what your playing, and if your a producer, you can have a bit more fun. That said, not a fan of vinyl (outdated imo). With so many good tracks available as MP3/FLAC (seriously, check out Beatport <3) why limit yourself to the medium. Personally, I got 2 x CDJ1000 and a DJM-800, and I'm happy with that. I'm just an amateur bedroom DJ, but I think the setup gives me versitility and I'm confident I can use other equiptment (cept vinyl, need more practice there). I'd highly recommend them, however depending on your type of music the DJM600 might be preferable (sampler vs additional effects). I mix chunky electro and electro trance mostly, so I like abusing the effects (added bonus: it sounds good!) My biggest problem is sorting tracks Theres actually a thread in the tech section if anyone can help... http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=387143 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Numark's is motorized, which to me seems like an unnecessary feature and adds power consumption But a turntable does not turn without a motor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygecko Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Digital DJ'ing is the future in will eventually phase out the old vinyl turntables. And I don't mean that in the usual cliché sense, I really mean it. Digital/online distribution of music is much, much cheaper and more accessible than printing vinyl, which is often riddled with limited and hard-to-get releases. Downloading tracks from services like Beatport onto your laptop, and using that along with some controller hardware can only be healthy for the club culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V___ Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Downloading tracks from services like Beatport onto your laptop, and using that along with some controller hardware can only be healthy for the club culture. Agreed, that as a concept is excellent and should logically happen. However, lets look at reality: We'l find alot more music pirates getting their way onto the stage to play the tried-and-tested tunes of last year. Granted, with the US club scene as I know it, that would still be a step up, but internationally it'd be backward.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 But a turntable does not turn without a motor... Yes, but with a MIDI turntable it's not necessary. The VCI-100 didn't turn on its own, and people could scratch fine with it. That's why I'm probably leaning towards the 300, so long as it doesn't turn out to be as expensive as the monome. Seriously, that shit is dope. The lemur moreso, but that's a full 3 grand and the monome goes for about half that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Keep in mind I'm a scratching n00b, but wouldn't having a motor allow you to do some... totally radical scratching tricks? I feel like an old fart right now, I just use my turntable to listen to music I've completely missed the point of turntablism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 Then with all due respect, good sir, why are you posting in this thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Then with all due respect, good sir, why are you posting in this thread? it is a secret :3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 No wai! Any opinions about these newer controllers (Monome, Lemur)? The more I research I do into them the more curious I become... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global-Trance Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Hey guys. Did somebody say say DJ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 About ten thousand times, man. I was waiting for you to show up. Fill me in, and we can be on topic this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global-Trance Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I'm equipped with... Technics SL1200 x 2 Pioneer DJM-500 Pioneer HDJ-1000 headphones A crate and a half or so of vinyl. 150-200 GB of 320 kbps / FLAC / wavs of progressive/house/trance of all sorts of variations. I would have had Pioneer CDJ-1000 x 2 by now but I spent $5000 of my student wages on photography equipment. Feel free to check out my photography / DJing at my site. http://global-trance.com My sets online were mixed digitally on the computer, but it mimics my live mixing style greatly. I am mostly a bedroom DJ myself. I've only played out a few times on the radio and college house parties. It's definitely a nice feeling to see 200 people all trying to cram into a HOUSE to dance to your set. Really awesome feeling. As for the current discussion, I see digital DJing as the way of the future as well. It's just REALLY convenient. You don't have to worry about lugging a 75 lb. crate of vinyl. You don't have to worry about your digital master copies of tracks deteriorating with every time you play the song. You just have yourself clean crisp audio (assuming you have the right stuff) without a whole lot of luggage. At any half-way decent club, you'll find Technics turntables and Pioneer CDJ-1000s and easy to set up rigs for laptop DJing. Also Pez, you are never on AIM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 Also Pez, you are never on AIM. Yeah, I'm no good at holding a real-time conversation while working (which is pretty much what I'm doing all the time now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global-Trance Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I'm sure there's more to talk about. So talk guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 My brother dj's for fun and profit. He also uses a digital set-up and some big-ass speakers. I'm very proud of him and always wanted to listen in on one of his sets but I doubt I'll ever get the chance to because he's probably moving to London this month. I bet the club scene in Europe awesome though. (Not that he went to Europe for the club scene. His job just happens to be relocating.) Anyway DJing is cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC Ricers Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 As of now I'm just bedroom mixing for the sake of mixing. I've put some mixes online before, but nothing that I think makes me think I'm good enough to play out live yet. My equipment is 1 Technics SL-1210 and 1 Stanton Str8-100 with a cheap-ass Gemini mixer. The mixer is the first thing to go, replace it with a nice Ecler when I have the money for one next month. I agree that digital DJing is much more convenient when you're live, though nothing beats the feeling of purchasing actual vinyl records. My collection is small compared to regular vinyl DJs (between 60 and 70 records) but I consider them my most valuable possessions (I guess, along with the computer). If my home catches on fire, the hell with the turntables. I'm taking the records first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 I guess some people feel that way, and it's their perogative. Personally I don't like a lot of physical objects cluttering up my life. I never have. That's why I didn't get into music until iTunes became available. And it's why I'm considering hopping on this DJ bandwagon only now that a controller exists which regulates most functionality to my computer, which I use for just about everything. Anyone tried the monome or lemur? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 The lemur is just a boutique product... it's too expensive to be feasible at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 That's true. I said as much in my starting post. But I was wondering whether anyone had tried it and, if so, whether it lived up to the hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadix Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 I've considered dabbling in the art to pull in some extra money. I was relatively pissed off though when I discovered that not only is it very difficult for DJs to make decent money (honestly, if it's better than being a friggin busboy), but DJ enthusiast communities get freaking pissed with the capitalist DJ. (Makes it kindof hard to get information on what is actually good, what is necessary for a rig, and what matters.) I figure, scratching my own tunes, and working out of Deckadance with a mixer board could be a pretty fun venture for some extra cash, as I'm desperately in need of it to construct my recording studio and augment my sample library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 Okay, how much did you imagine DJing would net you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global-Trance Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 If you do club play in good clubs and radio play on a consistent basis, it's not bad. There's a local DJ here in the city that makes over $50K and as far as I know he's a full time DJ on both radio and in the clubs. I don't know if he does anything else though. Edit: Also Deckadance is horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC Ricers Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Here's an example of properly incorporating DJing with midi. 6AIofhC6A38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 What I don't understand is why he needs that many peripherals. I think that, once I learn everything I need to, I should be able to accomplish something similar with a new high-performance laptop (with a mouse peripheral), the VCI 300 and a single MIDI keyboard. Delegating most of the control to the laptopmeans I know what's coming out, and any sounds I want to add on top of that can be triggered by the keyboard, which can map to a separate program. It would be quite easy to incorporate video as well. Anyone know when the VCI 300 is due out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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