DJTechTools’ Ean Golden discusses the steps he uses to important digital music and prepare it for DJing.

via eangolden:

How do I bring new music into my dj collection? Here are the important steps that will take a file from newly purchased to ready to play in just a few minutes.

This is a video guide to getting started with Traktor Pro.

If you’ve got your own tips or tricks for setting up Traktor Pro, leave a comment below!

via eangolden:

This video will walk new djs through the steps required to get going with Traktor Pro and a midi controller including setting up a sound card for headphone listening and setting up a controller for the first time.

This video looks at how you can streamline your Mac for DJing with one click, including quitting out of programs, shutting off Airport, Adjusting your Energy preferences and audio preferences and more.

via eangolden

Originally uploaded by adamjackson1984

Brian Transeau performs a laptop symphony in front of a iPhone Developers at Yahoo! Campus in Sunnyvale California on July 31st, 2009.

The sold out conference saw attendees from all over the world (500 in total).

More at Flickr!

DJ Mike Flores explains the basics of how to DJ with a laptop, in this two part video that looks at laptop DJ basics.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via mike71flores

Turntable lab makes the case for banning phones from the dance floor:

How many times have you gone a party and seen all these wallflowers chillin’ and texting. You can be spinning the most bad-ass jam and the biggest response you can get is people looking up from their phones and going, “That’s my jam!” before going quickly back to perfecting their wpm with their thumbs.

Talk about lame.

When most of our parents were young and going out to clubs, they were drinking, doing stimulants, screaming their heads off, sporting fashion that we can only try to “bring back,” and most of all…they were dancing.

I know if my old skool NY neighbors who partied at the house clubs in the 80’s saw this generation’s parties, they would think we’re pathetic. Going home before 4, talking to only people that you know, and texting in the club can all be filed under BORING.

That’s pretty harsh, but Turntable Lab goes on to deliver the coup de grâce:

If you can’t out-party your parents, what does that say about us?

Just food for thought the next time you see that certain guy or girl busting out her phone in the middle of the jam. Real sexy right?

It’s not just DJ’s that have to deal with texters – anybody doing music has to deal with this. 

Part of the blame has to go to the boring laptop performers. If it looks like you’re checking your email, don’t be surprised if the audience starts texting nastigrams. 

Musicians may be missing an opportunity here, too. Why not consider integrating text messages into events? 

If people are going to be texting, why not have a Twitter account people can send messages to, requesting songs or commenting on what’s going on? It could be another way to engage people at shows!

Where’s the umlaut, though, Stanton?

The Uberstand elevates your laptop, while providing a shelf for an external hard drive.

Features:

• Stable, rugged laptop stand for use by DJs and musicians
• Folds flat into a 12″ zippered bag (included)
• Metal — aircraft grade — aluminum and stainless steel
• Lightweight and small form factor when folded
• Adjustable shelf to store Final Scratch ScratchAmp or external hard-drive
• Reusable plastic ties and Velcro

The Uberstand will retail for $99.99.

MixMeister Fusion and MixMeister Studio 7.2 have been updated. This release marks the first Mac versions of MixMeister.

Version 7.2 of both packages includes the following:

• Native Mac OSX version is universal binary for PowerPC or Intel processors
• Improved time stretching accurately matches beats with fast or slow tempos
• Enhanced timeline display provides clear division of measures
• Effect automation via MIDI controllers – external hardware can now manipulate effect parameters
• Support for stored EQ settings in transition templates for advanced users
• “Fade and Cue Next” feature fades and pauses a mix then starts at the next track – prefect for voice over announcements (Fusion only)
• New master volume control for preview output – headphone and main out can be controlled independently (Fusion only)

Fusion 7.2 lets musicians maintain up to eight songs perfectly beat-matched at all times, enabling improvisation with effects to shape the music in a million ways. Fusion supports harmonic mixing, VST effects, intelligent looping, MIDI hardware controllers and more. Fusion is designed to mix complete DJ sets from full-length songs to achieve the functionality of a loop editor or digital audio workstation, and can blend songs together to create DJ performances.

MixMeister Studio 7.2 is the only digital audio application designed for high-end mix production projects. Studio gives DJs the ability to make nanosecond tempo adjustments, shift the key of any song, add beat loops and plug-in special effects and much more. MixMeister’s innovative visual display allows zoom in on individual beats and measures to make precise adjustments until the mix sounds exactly right.

Both MixMeister Fusion and MixMeister Studio offer the ability to manipulate tempo, volume and EQ in real time, on-the-fly. Musicians can also add effects and experiment with looping features. Both also record all actions (not just the resulting audio), so DJs can go back, listen to the mix, and make precise adjustments with studio-style editing capabilities.

MixMeister Fusion has a suggested retail price of $329.95, while MixMeister Studio lists at $169.95 Both are perfect for aspiring DJs and professionals alike.

Apple has an interesting profile on DJ Paul Van Dyk. It looks at how he’s working now, and also provides a current look at the gear he uses:

“I’ve developed the same passion I have for making music as I have for DJing over the last 15 years,” he says. “It’s the ultimate thing to be able to combine both. I can use my production skills as well as my skills as a DJ together to create new things live. The whole experience of me playing music is much more intense because it fits the atmosphere of the moment, of the set, of the venue, and of the crowd.”
Paul Van Dyk’s Studio Gear

When he’s not on the road, van Dyk turns out tracks at his Berlin studio. The electronic music laboratory is packed with old analog gear and the latest Macs running Logic Studio.

Hardware

• MacBook Pro
• Mac Pro (in the studio)
• Logic Studio
• Ableton Live
• Spectrasonics

Outboard Gear

• Euphonix EuCon Console
• Allen & Heath 3D Mixer
• Evolution UC33e USB MIDI Controller
• Akai MIDI controllers

Vintage Outboard Gear:

• Roland Juno 60
• Roland Juno 106
• Roland TR-808
• Roland TR-909
• Roland TB-303

“My music production starts in Logic,” he says. “I usually nail down a speed, then get a nice drum loop going for some rhythm. Then I lay down chords or a bass line or some piano—some stuff like that. When I feel the musical idea I have is coming across, and I can feel it, I get to properly blowing it up and doing drum programming and better bass line sequences.”

Van Dyk grabs sounds from the Logic Studio library and records riffs from his old gear. “Most of the stuff is not samples,” he says. “It’s all tweaked synthesizer. In Logic I use the ES1, ES2, EVP88 and the like.”

“It provides the perfect surrounding for searching for the right sound,” says van Dyk. “It’s great how you can dive into the synthesizers, grab those different sort of resonances and look through the library to find exactly what you need. And once you’ve found what you’re looking for, there are a lot of possibilities to produce a unique song. You can use filters—put a gate on it or use the envelope or compression to make it crisp and shine through whatever else is going on.”

Paul Van Dyk’s Touring Rig

On tour for his latest album, In Between, Van Dyk uses two 17-inch MacBook Pros running Logic Studio and Ableton Live.

“One computer is for the audio library, the other computer is where the software synthesizers are for sequencing,” he says. “The computers are connected through an interface and an Allen & Heath 3D mixer, which is also a MIDI controller. I have 19 software synths installed and I have two MIDI keyboards, so I play a lot of things live. I also have a UC-33 controller, an Akai controller and some other things that I can play with when I’m up there. With all these things I’m able to do some crazy stuff.”

Van Dyk essentially creates remixes of his tracks live, tweaking them to suit the vibe. “I could play your favorite tune and it sounds completely different—different bass line, different drums,” he says, “but it would sound so much better at that particular moment of the set.”

New remixes are often born out of that spontaneous intensity. “Some of the remixes I’ve done in the last few years are basically the outcome of me playing a certain track live,” he says. “Then I just redid exactly what I did live in the studio and it was a remix. The live performance is influencing the production work and vice versa. When you go to the studio to do a remix you think about it a lot. When you create it in front of people, it’s part of the set, an element of the journey. You don’t really think so much about it, you’re just influenced by the vibe. You may do things that you never come up with [in the studio] because you’re in the flow. It’s very inspiring.”

It’s a far cry from the days of vinyl. “I’m so busy when I play now,” says van Dyk. “The other day I was wondering, what did I actually do once the record was playing? Wait for eight minutes to mix in the next one? How boring.”