DJ

While CDs may be dying, it looks like vinyl is back in a big way.
ION Audio has shipped its one millionth USB turntable.
ION’s USB turntables let you convert the music on vinyl records to digital files on a computer.
ION Audio USB turntables come software that lets you digitize tracks from vinyl directly to iTunes, where [...]

Daft Punk is working on a live concert DVD, created from footage shot by the audience at the Bercy Live Show in Paris.
The Daft Punk Alive 2007 DVD looks like it will be the Cloverfield of concert DVDs. It will feature high-quality sound recorded by Daft Punk synced to audience footage.
A preview is available at [...]

EM’s Geary Yelton has an interesting review of the Tenori-On.
Their take:
You could easily argue that the Tenori-on is not suitable for professional music production. It has no filters, LFOs, envelope generators, nor any of the user-programmable parameters you’d expect in a real synthesizer. It has only one oscillator per voice, and it provides no access [...]

djDecks is a computer mixing program for both beginning and professional dj’s designed to let you mix mp3, ogg, wma, flac, wav files or audio cd’s.
This release brings support for the Denon DN-HC4500, Vestax VCM-100 and Numark Total Control controllers. There also have been some improvements for using 4 decks, the autoplay modes have been [...]

One of the interesting stories to come out of this year’s Movement 08 is the story of Grandma Techno, Patricia Lay-Dorsey.
She’s not a biological grandma - though she looks the part. She’s in her 60’s, gets around in a mobility scooter - and she rocks. She’s a social activist, a blogger, an artist, she’s [...]

Trailer for the Loveparade 2008 in Dortmund, July 19th - what some call “the greatest Party in the world”.
Announced artists include: Richie Hawtin, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Carl Craig, Dubfire, Anja Schneider, Audion and Underworld.

Here’s a roundup of some of the coolest images from Movement ‘08, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival.
If you’ve posted images from DEMF, add a post in the comments!

Detroit’s Freep.com, says that Movement 08 took the Detroit Electronic Music Festival mainstream:
Eight years into Detroit’s electronic-music festival tradition, the event seems to have secured its future. At Hart Plaza this weekend, the fest audience was younger than ever, packed with teens and early twentysomethings who seemed eager to stamp their own mark on the [...]

Gadget.Brando.Com.HK has a DJ Plasma Light that reacts to music to create an interactive light show.
They are super-cheap - $18. Cheap enough to tempt me to get several.
Let me know if you’ve used these and, if so, what you think.
Features:

DJ Plasma Indication Tube
ON/OFF power switch
Lightning or Music/Sonic switch
Music/Sonic with Line [...]

The Doepfer CTM64 is a universal contact-to-MIDI interface that can be used as the basis for custom MIDI controllers.
Here are a few examples of what people have built using the CTM64:

More examples of custom MIDI controllers, including custom DJ controllers for Richie Hawtin & Monolake, are available at the Doepfer site.

The ATTIGO TT is a futuristic DJ controller, created by Scott Hobbs, a student at Dundee University studying innovative product design.
He’s created a touch screen turntable that’s pretty f****** awesome! It lets you loop, sample and scratch wave forms just as you would a record. The size of the touchtable is approximately the same as [...]

Here’s a round-up of info for Movement 08: the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, May 24-26, 2008:

Movement 08 Schedule (pdf)
Movement 08 Hart Plaza Map
Movement 08 MySpace page
Official Movement 08 blog
Real Detroit Weekly coverage
Detroit info
Official afterparties
Movement 08 afterparty list (official and unofficial)
Movement 08 coverage at Synthopia
Movement 08 video previews

See the Official Movement 08 blog for updated info!

Today Intelligence has announced the official launch of DJ Intelligence Version 6.0, a service for DJs that allows them to add interactive client booking and event-planning tools to their existing Website.
Version 6.0 adds:

the ability to display song lyrics for any song in the DJ’s music library with a single click
the ability for DJs to [...]

ArKaos is looking for people to beta test its new VJ software, GrandVJ.
We’re extremely glad to offer you the first public beta version of GrandVJ.

This version is a demo version that doesn’t allow saving and has a splash screen here and there in the output.
There’s a very quick description PDF included in the installer.
Download links:
PC: [...]

The Thievery Corporation has announced plans for the Outernational Music Tour, beginning June 20 in San Francisco and ending in Washington, DC on June 28.
The tour will have an international vibe. The tour will feature:

he Brazilian roots rhythms of Seu Jorge;
Federico Aubele’s Argentinean soul;
Venezuelan funk of Los Amigos Invisibles;
the Brazilian bossa nova of Bebel Gilberto;
Gnarls [...]