Cool... I think we are on the same track then.... cause an hour of dj tools would cause me a brain hemorage too...
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Cool... I think we are on the same track then.... cause an hour of dj tools would cause me a brain hemorage too...
Abso-freakin’-lutely man!!! :clap:Quote:
Originally Posted by Komplex
it will
mixin vinyl is more fun!
the smell the feel the look the sounddddddddd
Well, I love the skills.
Rather see someone rip it up than bore the **** of of me.
Fortunately, someone who has got that good usually knows a few good tunes.
Just like Johnny Napalm wrote on his DIP release, "I love the smell of vinyl in the morning."Quote:
Originally Posted by djvartan
Vinyl is more sexy!
well, i made the transition to a laptop rig over the past several months, and i just played my first gig with it Friday.
i made the switvh because i'm moving several times this summer, eventually ending up on the opposite coast. evey time i move my vinyl, i swear it will be the last time. THIS time, it is. i have about 1300 records, and even a smallish collection like mine is a bitch to manage. i realized pretty quickly that a laptop rig was the only way i was going to be able to keep mixing wherever i may be.
all i need is the laptop, soundcard, external mixer (if needed, i can also use the software mixer), and amp & speakers. that means i can just bring my backpack to gigs, which holds the laptop, soundcard & cables, Sennheiser HD-25SPs, and a small wallet of audio CDs as backup. with this setup, i can have more music than nearly any vinyl DJ at my disposal. this past Friday, i also stuck about 20 records in the backpack, and mixed vinyl with the WAV files. the really funny part was having a line of spotters watching me mix. people frowned on technology like CD decks before, but they sure seemed ready to embrace it at that gig (let's face it- things like the iPod have made digital music cool).
for the record, i still don't know of any CD decks or software that will mix the tracks for you right out of the box. i find that most BPM counters are inaccurate enough that you HAVE to know how to beatmatch and make corrections to play a superior set. it comes down to the promoter in the end, as they need to be able to distinguish good DJs from mediocre ones (if they even care).
here's how my rig works:
my iBook runs Traktor DJ. i use an M-Audio firewire soundcard that outputs two stereo sources to an external mixer. i ripped most of my best vinyl to WAV files earlier this year, which allows me to clean up pops and crackles, or even edit them (some tunes are just too long for their own good). i can do these things using the SAME laptop, making it self-contained. when i play, i MANUALLY beatmatch everything, and i DO NOT use "beat grids" (this is something that makes the auto-sync more accurate, but you have to do it for every tune, and they can take time to do). the pitch is at least as good as CD decks, and i mix just like i mixed vinyl, by riding the pitch up and down as needed. i also buy some psytrance on CD, and i rip those tunes to MP3 using methods i researched heavily. they sound great loud, which was confirmed Friday.
now, keep in mind this is merely scratching the surface. i have only described how to use a laptop to replace your basic pair of decks. once you can do the basics, the power of Traktor becomes clear. you can loop either/both tracks, and change the loop position on the fly. you can change the loop length on the fly (creating some sick builds). you can use the built-in filter to do nice EQ effects. you can change the tempo within a HUGE range, and lock the pitch where you see fit (and it works, unlike some CD decks i've used). you can set several different cue points, and jump between them on the fly, effectively remixing tunes to your needs. hell, IIRC you can route live beats from Reason into Traktor and mix tunes with them. you can also use Traktor as a basic sampler and drop beats and others sounds at the touch of a key. this is all done with gear stored in one light backpack. oh, and Traktor now has TWO waveforms, one that shows the next few bars, and one that shows the entire track.
trust me, 1200s DO feel the best for long, solid mixes, but they are simply limited in their scope. Technics has barely changed the design in ages, and they still get premium prices.
frankly, i see CDs as a stop-gap measure, and i try to avoid using them at all. digital technology is about shrinking sizes and reducing unwanted hardware. it makes no sense to produce music on a computer, only to burn CDs and then mix the CDs with two large CD decks. it makes far more sense to produce the music, and then mix it straight from the computers.
whew, more to say, but ramble off for now.
Only been out to one night where they used CD all night - it was dull as **** automation - completely lacked any of the rawness you get from decks. software that mixes for you is like buying beat counters for your decks.
no thanks!
just for instance.. 99.9% of psy partys (free stle) only have cd decks.. but i know that vinyl still does sell.. not as much..
but the cd's just cause mass pirecey of the whole scene - one person can buy your work and copy and put it on the web - this can also be done with a vinyl.. but with cd its more common i think.
I can see vinyl dying - but the cd needs to be good enougth - anybody else read about the cd's that have started to rust, lol what the f*ck - i did'nt know they had any metal element in them.. :crackup:
CDs just don't make sense in the big picture. if vinyl does go away, then i really believe that software solutions will be the answer.
one of the coolest things about Mac rigs is that you can bring your own harddrive loaded with the OS, programs, and your music, plug it into the venue's Mac using firewire or maybe USB 2.0, then boot from your hard drive and have everything all set to play. that's an amazing idea. ONE external hard drive could be all you need to bring, and it would allow you silly amounts of music.
re: the psy scene, i'm still a bit puzzled as to why they stopped supporting vinyl. most of the vinyl that releases is the progressive stuff, with a few major labels like TIP World that also put out vinyl of their big releases. i still get London techno vinyl, and i fail to see how a globally thriving scene like psy can't support vinyl. if the tiny London acid techno scene can still use vinyl, what happened in psy? the advantage for the psy scene is that so much music releases these days. with CDs, it's pretty cheap for homebrew labels to release albums. i adopted the laptop partly because of this change, as i knew most psy parties wouldn't even have vinyl decks installed, and i dislike CD decks.
and for the record, i don't think vinyl makes it that much more difficult to pirate music. there are groups dedicated to releasing new music for download, and they just rip straight from the vinyl. the techno scene lacks any such pirates from what i've seen.
I just thought of something while going through all these posts.. As more and more people continue to mix with CD's, which I see happening no matter what... The people who are mixing vinyl NOW, will be called the "old school" DJ's, and they'll continue to make records for DJ's who stick by their turntables...
Just think about it, 20 years from now and EVERYONE is mixing with CD's except for the ones who were mixing in the late 80's early 90's... We'll become like a special act, hahaha...I may be dreaming, but the way things are now, and the way things are GOING to be, I can definitally see this happening.
well the piano has been around for a few hundred years
and vinyl is an instrument so.........
heh decks are..........
i think the catering has been going on for a long time already, but mostly in "live" music. i remember how Pearl Jam championed vinyl back in their good days.
i love to use 1200s, and i'll always keep them dear, but just look at how the digital revolution has changed every other form of media. (and it hasn't taken long at all, so try to imagine what will happen as technology keeps evolving at greater rates)
vinyl is just too expensive. over here, we pay $10-11 for a single record, which often means $10 or $11 for ONE good track. compare that to paying $15 for a compilation CD with 10 tracks included, and you can see how skewed things are.
let's be honest- the only people who really "need" vinyl are the turntablists. i have trouble imagining software or CDs being able to match vinyl for their needs, though i HAVE seen DJ Shadow do his live act using CD decks.
uh, anyone interested in offering their own opinions based on personal experience? i know Henry has started using Live in his sets. anyone else, or is this really the home of vinyl junkies?
last year for the first time ever (here in oz), turntables out sold accoustic guitars :rambo:
Now that's some good news :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by sash
Vinyl sales are on the increase again...
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/l...host=5&dir=231
CD will be dead before vinyl.
Now that whats we like to hear
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
My 2 cents on CD's (as theres been a lot of talk on CD's been the main media on this thread)
A lot of people have been talking about embracing new technology to be more creative. Sounds to me that if you want to be that creative then you should setup a live pa and do your own thing. As sunil said, its all about selection/playing 2-3 tracks, bringing them in and taking them out with passion. Not singing along to music or jamming along on a keyboard. There seems to be some confusion between the jocks and the PA's on this thread. I dont seem why DJ's seem to feel they have to be somekinda technological front man. All they are there to do is play the music they love. Its the music itself that really matters
True but this brings a lot of problems. I would much rather people use vinyl, CD's seem a bit tacky to me (seriously). You have a lot of people who seem willing to play out mp3's from as low as 128kb/s which does more damage than good imo. Its easy for artists to try out now mixes on the latest piece of software which is a good thing but....Quote:
Originally Posted by dirty_bass
You have a lot a artists using digital kit for mixdown, digital softsynths, softsamplers, digital mixers, digital sounding fruity loops :P. The final mix will sound digital, thats not the problem. You get all that really high 16k and above (not sure the exact freq) cymblant/irritant sound. What if you dont know how to warm it all up or don’t feel the need to. The thought of having to go out and hear all that come out of the latest digital toy is a nightmare (for me). Yea people press from CD masters, but its the pressing which take off those really high freq's that **** your ears and it does warm it up a little. The pressing makes it more analog imo. I am with Jonnyspeed, CD’s sound a lot colder to me too. Do we really need that little bit of extra bandwidth to move things forwards?
Also if its sold on cd as the main media then its going to have a set tempo. It will be copied via soulseek etc. There’s no control on piracy so artists will get less in a scene that already pays peanuts.
I love Pa's, I love technology. I love CD's/ been able to have something played of cd out live!! I dont like digital sounding kits, crap DAC's.
Bring on the hardware, bring on the pa's. Keep the vinyl :lol:
As for autolocking bpms and auto beatmatching = I like to think that some effort is been put into not just the track selection but the mixing. Not something a 5 year old can operate but to add to that not a mission impossible dj booth that some clubs have.
I am not too sure about it tho, sure I think its really important that things dont get too easy, you need to be able to feel that buzz when you bring something in and its tight. You feel it more and get more into it. Take that away and its as simple as pressing play on device A, play on device B "yawn" move crossfader, blah, blah.
But does that really matter ?? Is making it easier taking away its soul if at the end of the day it sounds good or the same? If you make it too easy will the next gen bored even quicker??
I dont know :crackup:
monitoring - another story!!! :doh: