DJ Times July 2013, Vol 26 No 7

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AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988

JULY 2013

$6.95 CANADA $4.95 US

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MAJOR DIPLO’S JAMAICA JAMS MOBILE MARKETING & NEW MEDIA RBMA & EDC: NYC’S BIG MONTH HOW TO TUNE UP YOUR BRAND

PLUS: MOGUAI * EXCISION’S DESTROID DSI’S MOPHO X4 * CERWIN-VEGA! SPEAKERS * IRAQ VET GOES VJ www.djtimes.com

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INDUSTRY EVENTS…NOTABLES…MILESTONES

NEWS

AMERICA’S BEST DJ DOES DETROIT, HITS HOLLYWOOD

By Jim Tremayne

Sleepy & Boo

Dirtybird Player: Claude von Stroke in The D.

event for America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ and DJ Times.

All weekend, fans cast votes for their favorite DJs at DJ Times’ dedicated ABDJ voting booth. From the list of this year’s 100 ABDJ nominees, Movement performers included Amtrac, Carl Craig, Dennis Ferrer, Derrick May, Dubfire, François K, Green Velvet (as Cajmere), Kevin Saunderson, Louie Vega (with Masters At Work), Moby, Nicolas Jaar, Paper Diamond, Soul Clap, Stacey Pullen, and TOKiMONSTA. ABDJ-related highlights included: Soul Clap’s three-hour, Beatportstage set of ultra-vibey grooves, which mixed grinding Bambaataa beats with soulful, deep house; Moby’s tough, muscular techno set at Beatport

an evening of all-night madness with ABDJ nominee Kristina Sky, playing alongside Euro-trance mavens Andy Moor and Menno de Jong.

Also at Movement, Chicago-based

Soul Clap will play Chicago’s Wavefront fest.

afterparty at St. Andrew’s Hall; and Claude von Stroke’s electric b2b set with Justin Martin at the NightSneak presents Dirtybird Players afterparty at The Fillmore.

Other highlights included: System of Survival’s chunky grooves with acid stabs and tasty vocals at the Beatport stage; J. Phlip’s snappy/blippy techno at Electric Forest stage; Nicole Moudaber’s buzzbomb set in the madhouse that was the Underground Stage; Daniel Bell’s sublime vinyl set of techno classics at the Made in Detroit stage; and James Holden’s deeply trippy chill-tech set in the St. Andrew’s Hall basement at the Life + Death afterparty.

The following week, DJ Times ventured to Hollywood, Calif., for the Avaland party at the Avalon club for

Farina, Nicolas Jaar, Sharam, Soul Clap, and AC Slater (of Trouble & Bass).

All summer, fans who vote (in-person and online at americasbestdj.net) and fans who keep up with America’s

Douglas Wojciechowski

Stage, complete with manic crowd exhortations; Stacey Pullen’s scalding Boiler Room set on the grass in the VIP section; Maceo Plex’s whopping groovefest at the Life + Death

Cokko Swain

Detroit – Nearly 100,000 revelers hit Hart Plaza this past May 25-27 for Movement, Detroit’s electronic music festival. The Memorial Day weekend bash also served as the launch

Movement: Massive crowd in Motown.

fan Daniel Ropp won a pair of VIP tickets for the Wavefront Beachside Music Festival, an ABDJ event set for July 5-7 at the Windy City’s Montrose Beach.

ABDJ nominees playing at Wavefront include 3lau, Cedric Gervais, Danny Tenaglia, Derrick Carter, Diplo, Dubfire, Erick Morillo, Frankie Knuckles, Mark

Best DJ on Facebook and Twitter can win a slew of prizes from Pioneer DJ and DJ Times. Additionally, one lucky voter (chosen randomly) will win a trip for two to the ABDJ Award Ceremony/ Closing Event at Las Vegas’ Marquee Nightclub on Oct. 13. Vote ABDJ and win.Visit ABDJ social media and win.

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VOLUME 26 NUMBER 7

12 Riding the Wave Diplo’s New Major Lazer: The Latest Triumph from the Rare DJ Who Can Do Whatever He Wants

BY LILY MOAYERI

18 Online or Print?

Not All Mobile DJs Looking to Allocate Money for Advertising Agree That Print Is Dead

BY JEFF STILES

22 Gotham Gigs

EDC & Red Bull Music Academy Events Make for a Big Month in NYC

BY DJ TIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS

SAMPLINGS 8 Moguai

10 In the Studio With…

DEPARTMENTS 7 Feedback

As Always, the Answers to All Your DJ-Related Questions

24 Making Tracks

Dave Smith Instruments MoPho x4

26 Sounding Off

Cerwin-Vega! P-Series & Numark Mixtrack Pro II

28 Mobile Profile

Iraq Vet Makes Video Moves

30 Business Line

How to Give Your Brand a Tune-Up

32 Gear

New Products from Focusrite, Chauvet & More

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

38 Grooves

4

Phat Tracks from Frankie Knuckles, Nutritious & More

40 DJ Times Marketplace

Shop Here for All Your DJ-Related Supplies

41 Club Play Chart

The Hottest Records, As Reported by Our Top U.S. Record Pools

Tips from an EDM Vet Excision’s Destroid

FROM THE EDITOR

Stalking Diplo… Here & There If you’re a part of the DJ culture, there’s no doubt that you’re familiar with the multi-faceted music of Diplo. But even if you aren’t rocking some of the more esoteric Mad Decent-related tracks, there’s a pretty good chance that you know Diplo as well. Starring in a nationwide TV-ad campaign (for Blackberry) can do wonders for your profile, right?

So, with that in mind, we sorta stalked Diplo on two coasts (Florida and California) and two continents (North America and Europe) to score this month’s Major Lazer cover story. I saw Major Lazer’s Ultra Music Festival set in Miami, while story author Lily Moayeri caught ML’s Coachella show in Indio, Calif. And the interview… well, that’s another story that includes many abbreviated phone calls to and from Los Angeles, to and from Amsterdam. But finally, Ms. Moayeri delivered the goods and so… here we present the latest from Diplo, one of the world’s most influential DJ/producers, with another Major Lazer project.

May was a big month for DJ-related events New York City. In the middle of the month, Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival invaded Major League ballpark Citi Field in Queens with a lineup that included some of the globe’s most-influential jocks. (And considering the plight of Citi Field’s regular tenants—the New York Mets—it was probably the most enthusiasm we’ve seen at that place all year.) And running the entire month, the Red Bull Music Academy educated their selected students with seminars featuring carefully selected talent, but it also presented a slew of open-to-the-public evening events. DJ Times attended some of the more special events—like Giorgio Moroder’s DJ debut during François K’s Deep Space party. So check out the spectacular images from RBMA and EDC on Page 22.

Also on the music tip, our Samplings section takes a look at two very different DJ/producers. U.K. correspondent Ally Byers connects with German EDM vet Moguai, who doles out plenty of advice for DJ/producers. Meanwhile, Brooklyn-based Lina Abascal interviewed Canada’s Excision, who describes Destroid, his “dubstep band.”

In the mobile world, Iowa-based scribe Jeff Stiles discusses advertising and marketing with several DJs and finds that not all jocks agree that print is dead. In Business Line, we show you how to give your DJ brand a tune-up. Also, our Mobile Profile subject Joshua Carl describes how he evolved from DJ to VJ, in between two hitches in the Army—one as a combat medic in Iraq. We salute you, Josh, and we look forward to your two video-oriented seminars at DJ Expo in Atlantic City, N.J., this August 12-15. (For more info on DJ Expo, please visit www.thedjexpo.com.)

In our review columns, we take on three products. In Making Tracks, Phil Moffa—proprietor of Manhattan’s Butcha Sound Studios—dives into the MoPho x4 analog synth from Dave Smith Instruments. In Sounding Off, Denver’s Wesley Bryant-King plays with Numark’s Mixtrack Pro II controller, while Bay Area duo Mike Klasco and Tony Russell put the Cerwin-Vega! P-Series of active speakers through their paces.

In the News section, the America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ & DJ Times soldiers on. After kicking off at the Movement fest in Detroit, we quickly set out for our next event in Los Angeles, with gigs in San Francisco and Philadelphia on the horizon. Vote for your favorite DJ at one of our 20 summer events or vote online at www.americasbestdj.net. One lucky voter will win a trip for two to Las Vegas for our ABDJ Award Ceremony/Closing Part at Marquee Nightclub on Oct. 13. Also, Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter, and you can win valuable prizes from Pioneer and DJ Times. Vote and win. Follow us on social media and win.

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Cheers,

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Jim Tremayne, Editor, DJ Times

editor-in-chief Jim Tremayne jtremayne@testa.com

art director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com

editor-at-large Brian O’Connor boconnor@testa.com

production manager Steve Thorakos sthorakos@testa.com

chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Lina Abascal Jody Amos Tom Banham Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Chris Davis Justin Hampton Josh Harris Robert LaFrance Polly Lavin Michelle Loeb Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Natalie Raben Scott Rubin Jennifer Shapiro Nate Sherwood Jeff Stiles Emily Tan Phil Turnipseed Curtis Zack President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa

FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

DJ Times Sound & Communications The Music & Sound Retailer Sound & Communications Blue Book America’s Best DJ The DJ Expo IT/AV Report Convention TV News VTTV Studios

brand design & web development manager Fred Gumm fgumm@testa.com digital media manager Chris Davis cdavis@testa.com advertising manager Jon Rayvid jrayvid@testa.com art/production assistant Douglas Yelin dyelin@testa.com Circulation circulation@testa.com Classifieds classifiedsales@testa.com operations manager Robin Hazan rhazan@testa.com Editorial and Sales Office: DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, New York, USA 11050-3779. (516) 767-2500 • FAX (Editorial): (516) 944-8372 • FAX (Sales/all other business): (516) 767-9335 • DJTIMES@TESTA. COM Editorial contributions should be addressed to The Editor, DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, NY, USA, 110503779. Unsolicited manuscripts will be treated with care an d should be accompanied by return postage.

DJ Times (ISSN 1045-9693) (USPS 0004-153) is published monthly for $19.40 (US), $39.99 (Canada), and $59.99 (all other countries), by DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 110503779. Periodicals postage paid at Port Washington, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DJ Times, PO BOX 1767, LOWELL MA 01853-1767 Design and contents are copyright © 2013 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and must not be reproduced in any manner except by permission of the publisher. Websites: www. djtimes.com and www.testa.com July 2013

visit our website: www.djtimes.com

FEEDBACK

AmericA’s First mAgAzine For ProFessionAl DJs estAblisheD 1988

JUne 2013

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www.djtimes.com

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5/9/2013 11:06:34 AM

This is Feedback, a monthly feature that fields questions from you, our readers, and funnels them out to in‑ dustry professionals. If you have any questions about DJing – marketing, mixing, equipment or insurance, any at all – drop us a letter at DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Ave, Port Washington, NY 11050, fax us at (516) 944‑8372 or e‑mail us at djtimes@testa.com. If we do use your question, you’ll receive a free DJ Times T‑shirt. And remember, the only dumb question is the ques‑ tion that is not asked.

“Hey Kids! Children’s Entertainment for DJs” with Rob Peters from Rob Peters Entertainment will explore performing children’s entertainment beyond school dances and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. During this seminar, he’ll introduce ideas and concepts that will help DJs discover how performing for kids (from ages 3 to 13) can be a profitable addition to their existing DJ businesses.

“Mock Mitzvah with Big Daddy” will show you how to take your mitzvah

skills to a new level and it will feature six of the finest mobile talents any‑ where—including Sean “Big Daddy” McKee, Bobby Morganstein, Ricky G from Double G, Anthony Vennera, and Jeffrey Craig from Total Entertain‑ ment.

On “50 Ways to Up Your Game” with Beantown Sound’s Sam Lurie, learn how to improve your business and increase your income with ideas that range from the simple to the impossi‑ ble-sounding.

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At presstime, we have several semi‑ nars and panels prepared for DJ Expo, which is set for Aug. 12-15 at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. They include: From the video angle, Boston’s Joshua Carl—this month’s Mobile Profile sub‑ ject on Page 28—will present a pair. “I Am a Video DJ” will bring in some of the industry’s top talents, like Roonie G, and they’ll share their experiences on the current state of the video jock.

Topics will include performance, sell‑ ing video services to new venues, video in clubs and mobile events, and all the emerging technologies.

Additionally, he’ll helm “Remix the Video! An Introduction to Basic Video Editing.” Carl and company will demonstrate to attendees how to get started in making original video con‑ tent for performances. Join the remix‑ ing elite of the video-DJ world at this Expo-only workshop and get a solid foundation in video.

Of course, the mobile slate will be full as well. On “Nightmare DJs: Don’t Do That!” Joe Bunn from Joe Bunn DJ Company will begin this seminar with a self-produced video of the tactics employed by a nightmare DJ. From appearance to follow-up snafus, Bunn outlines what not to do.

On “How the DJ Expo Grew My Business—And How It Can for Yours,” Steve Moody from Steve Moody’s En‑ tertainment Connection will talk about the trajectory of his business and how the Expo has impacted it.

Of course, DJ Expo will also feature three days of DJ-related exhibits and three evenings of sponsored events, like ADJ’s Pizzafest (with DJ Kool), set for Aug. 13.

For the very latest on DJ Expo, please visit www.thedjexpo.com.

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Odyssey Innovative Designs, also known as ODY-USA. is an industry-leading design and manufacturer of professional mobile accessory solutions for the DJ, musical instruments, and pro audio markets. Founded in 1995, Odyssey has brought to market hundreds of unique products and continues to lead the industry with innovative patented products. With numerous technology and design awards, Odyssey has established a worldwide reputation for innovation , quality and design. The Odyssey group of companies include Show Solutions and BC Cases

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SAMPLINGS

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

MOGUAI: TIPS FROM AN EDM VET

8

Growing up in Germany, André Tegeler started out as a skate punk. Two decades later, he’s well known to the European electronic-music scene as Moguai, the DJ/ producer responsible for two albums on Mau5trap, four radio shows, countless remixes and collaborations, and his own Punx imprint.

Though his production output has evolved greatly over the years—techno, progressive, some crossover, etc.—he seems to have settled nicely into a very crowdpleasing brand of electro-house.

So, as he looked forward to a summer full of club and festival events, we connected with the Recklinghausen-based Moguai just before he took the decks at London’s legendary Ministry of Sound.

DJ Times: You’ve been in electronic music for more almost 20 years. For you, what’s changed the most in that time?

Moguai: Musically, it’s been the transition from really hard techno down into minimal, deep house and all these sub-genres.

For me, personally, it’s the final full changeover of my production and performance from analog to digital—from vinyl to CDJs and software.

DJ Times: You’re well-known as a producer, but you started purely as a DJ. Nowadays many big names start out as producers, then move to DJing. Do think that’s changed the way DJing now functions?

Moguai: Indeed. I see the results time and time again where an individual will make one record and then that’s them on a main stage, a major biller and so on.

They’ve never DJed to big crowds before this and so they don’t play a functional set—most of them are just dropping one big tune after another.

DJ Times: Similarly, does being a DJ outright first mean you approach production differently?

Moguai: Definitely. I do all my stuff just for my sets. Then, when the second part comes in—the commercial release with the vo-

cal in it—then that’s cool, but it has to fit. It has to make sense for the record, not just for the record company. When we start releasing and charting on Beatport, labels begin approaching us with, “Now bring it out with a vocal on.” I’ve always insisted if I don’t have the right one, I don’t do it.

DJ Times: It’s interesting because you play quite a progressive sound— which is has been particularly popular in areas of mainland Europe. Do you think your sound would’ve been different if you were brought up elsewhere?

Moguai: I think so. I toured America for the last one and a half years or so—over 80 shows. I changed my sound because of this touring. But it’s a good thing: I feel I lost an edge for a little while. I got too into just straight techno, but because of the U.S., I’m back into fun electronic music, with quality, and a nice vibe. Americans particularly, they wanna hear

tracks they know and they wanna party. They wanna forget about their week. It’s not meant to be educational—or at least not in a contrived way.

DJ Times: You’ve mentioned that punk was a big early influence. But your music is quite a departure from that…

Moguai: I grew up surrounded by people who listened to punk and we all went out every week to punk venues—then techno blew up in Germany. Clubs where they played punk music before now played techno. I saw this and saw people playing vinyl, wearing camouflage, with these serious faces and thought, “This could be my thing!” I’d always wanted to be in a band, but never had done it, so I just started buying and playing vinyl and it went from there.

Well, in some cases you can see punk—the remix of Fatboy Slim’s “Ya Mama,” or the “Mpire” track on my first album on Mau5trap. I

guess they show bits of it!

DJ Times: It took you eight years to make your first album.

Moguai: Ages! Ever ybody taught me that when you’re going to bring out an album, you need to have one particular big single—without that you can’t release an album—and that’s why I stopped myself over and over.

But then, I said to myself when starting to release on Mau5trap: “I don’t care. I’ll just do what I like and if it goes onto Billboard or into the official German charts or doesn’t… whatever.”

DJ Times: You were an early signing to Mau5trap—what motivated you to go with that label?

Moguai: I felt it was the right label for me. When I produce a track, I have in mind which label it’s for. With Mau5trap, I had these tracks, I had one EP, then a second, then an album came along.

I thought, if they don’t take the album, I won’t release it, because I have set out to do this for this purpose only.

DJ Times: Tell us about your re-launched label, Punx.

Moguai: I stopped it 2005 or 2006. Vinyl broke down, and even years later, people were still freaked about 9/11 and there just seemed to be less demand in music. I was also unsure whether to go further into hard techno, or look at something else. Now it’s re-launching right now with Spinnin’ Records. They approached me and, as it was with Mau5trap, it just sort of felt like the right time, and I had decided I didn’t care what people thought—I was going to release fun music.

DJ Times: What are your plans for the rest of 2013?

Moguai: I have three EPs out on my re-launched Punx out in June, I have some TBC collaborations in the pipeline and I’m sort of just working out a wider strategy going forward. It’s a lot of work!

DJ Times: What advice would you give aspiring DJs? Moguai: Never ever give up— ever. Do play and release what you like because, no matter what, some people will always disapprove anyway—especially in the music industry!

– Ally Byers

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Shaking the continent from coast to coast with his shattering bass, Canadian DJ/producer Excision has brought new meaning to the womp- and wobble-filled genre of dubstep with his new project, Destroid.

Rocking its all-encompassing “X-Vision” show, the “dubstep band”—Excision, DJ/producer Downlink and drummer KJ Sawka—combines its studio and stage chops to create a live bass-music performance unlike anything else. Fans get a set of all-original tracks played through a massive PK Sound system with dizzying visual enhancements that include movie-grade animation and powerful lighting. (Summer shows include a high-profile gig at Camp Bisco, which runs July 11-13 in upstate New York.)

We discussed Destroid and more with Excision (aka Jeff Abel) as his own solo “Execution Tour” began this past spring.

DJ Times: Tell us about your new project, Destroid?

Excision: Destroid is the culmination of three years of hard work putting together a “best-ofboth-worlds” group. It’s heavy bass music combined with an exciting live show that allows us, as a band, to be spontaneous and creative, making every show unique.

DJ Times: You are currently on your solo “Execution Tour”— what makes this tour different?

Excision: The “Execution Tour” builds on last year’s “X Tour.” We brought out a 100,000-watt sound system and it really blew people away. Sound isn’t just for your ears. It’s a feeling that can shake you to the core and dramatically enhance your experience. This year we wanted to really up the ante in the visual department and with the Executioner Stage we have definitely done it. With fully 3D cinema-grade animations, each built specifically for one song, an insane lighting show, transforming parts, and effects from CO2 to snow, it truly makes the entire show exciting for all of your senses.

DJ Times: Is this music made to be seen live or will listening at home evoke a similar experience?

Excision: Listening at home is not even comparable. While you may get the gist of what it looks like, it will definitely sound horrible on YouTube. The sound is 100-percent something you need to feel in person. Even still, with the sheer size of the visual experience being reduced to a tiny laptop screen— the stage being 28-feet-wide and 420-square-feet of projection surface—you just won’t “get it” unless you see it in person.

DJ Times: For this “live dubstep” set, what do you use onstage?

Excision: An electronic drum kit combined with two MIDI guitars designed to our exact shape and spec. They look awesome, function perfectly and offer us far more control over every element of the songs we play than any DJ could even dream to have.

DJ Times: What’s in your studio and where do you typically produce?

Excision: I use a combination of both Cubase and Logic these days, depending on what I’m trying to do. I have a pro studio that took a few years to build back in my hometown of Kelowna, B.C., Canada. But sadly, I’m on tour so much nowadays I hardly get to use it! Nowadays I’m forced to crank most things out on headphones in the tour bus or airport, then saving the final stages of mixing for the next time I make it back home.

—Lina Abscal

Photo: Rukes.com

IN THE STUDIO WITH

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

EXCISION’S DESTROID

10

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DJ TIMES

By Lily Moayeri

12

Indio, Calif. – Just before 6 p.m. on the Saturday of this year’s Coachella Arts and Music Festival, the main stage area becomes almost deserted, as a large number of festival-goers migrate to the Mojave Tent on the far end of the venue. What’s all the fuss?

Major Lazer is preparing to hit the stage.

And, as with all things these days, the ubiquitous DJ/producer’s reggae-fied project is enjoying its own level of notoriety in the lead up to America’s premier music festival. With a bumpin’ new album on the immediate horizon and a fresh new stage show promised, the buzz is tangible. And, lucky for the massive Coachella crowd, the current incarnation of Major Lazer—, DJ/producer Jillionaire, hype man Walshy Fire, and dancers Mela and Lafayette—does not disappoint.

Right away, the vibe becomes hedonistic.

The sweaty crowd spills out of the tent’s sides, stretching to neighboring tents—which are really not that close. The audience gets a synchronized dance going, bobbing like it has been rehearsing for a month prior to the show.

The guys have their T-shirts twirling like scarves in an Arabic dance, while the girls are either bottomless or topless—at least in the conventional sense. No one is fully naked, but they’re veering in that direction. When Fire tells them to “go low,” they all do, getting on the ground like a legion of pre-schoolers. They quiver with the anticipation of getting the command to jump. When it comes, they all leap, in impressive unison. Ultimately, crowd-walks inside a big plastic ball—Flaming Lips-style.

This being the first of Coachella’s two consecutive weekends, Major Lazer’s latest album, Free the Universe (Secretly Canadian), hasn’t been released yet—it will hit the stores a few days later. Nonetheless, the hyper-aware crowd already knows all the songs. And the album’s namedropper-y list of collaborators makes you want to have a long scroll through ’s Blackberry contact list: Bruno Mars and Tyga (“Bubblebutt”); Wyclef Jean (“Reach For The Stars”); Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig (“Jessica”); Santigold (“You’re No Good”); Peaches (“Scare Me”); Laidback Luke and Ms. Dynamite (“Sweat”); Flux Pavilion (“Jah No Partial”)—and that’s not the half of it.

Made without former ML studio collaborator Switch, Free the Universe is ’s love letter to Jamaica—one that picks up where ML’s 2009 debut, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, and its much-sampled single “Pon de Floor” left off.

Recorded wholly at studios in and around Kingston, the album wears its reggae and dancehall stripes proudly. It may not be a “dance record,” but there’s still a party going on.

And yes, it’s another artistic triumph for — aka 34-year-old Thomas Wesley Pentz—who’s made a career of them. After gaining notice as a prime musical promoter of Brazilian baile funk and hit-producer for international superstar M.I.A., kept it going by founding his deeply influential Mad Decent imprint and doing more high-profile studio work—for Beyoncé, Usher, and now Snoop Lion, Snoop Dogg’s reggae in-

Nicole Cussell

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E Diplo’s New Major Lazer: The Latest Triumph from the Rare DJ Who Can Do Whatever He Wants

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carnation. (Plus, there was that national television ad for Blackberry.)

And it must be noted that Mad Decent has taken on a life of its own. Jeffree’s—its web-only subsidiary that gives away carefully curated singles and ultimately repackages them for iTunes—gave us Baauer’s chart-topping “Harlem Shake,” the biggest YouTube sensation since “Gangham Style.” (According to , the omnipresent single helped put the label back in the black financially.) And this summer’s Mad Decent Block party will extend its reach to 13 cities with a line-up that includes Major Lazer, Dillon Francis, Baauer, and Flosstradamus.

So, as you can see, this Major Lazer project is another chapter in the story of a DJ who has put himself in a position to do just about anything he wants, artistically. What more can a DJ ask for, right?

So we did our best to catch up with Diplo to discuss Major Lazer and his other upcoming projects. But locking down Diplo long enough to have a few questions answered is no easy feat. The following Q&A is the result of: two rushed phone calls on the way to Los Angeles International Airport; three missed or unanswered calls from LA and Paris; one aborted call while sitting down to dinner in Amsterdam; another aborted call, while catching a ride to the venue in Amsterdam; and finally, a call 30 minutes before show time in Amsterdam. So, with all that in mind, here’s the one and only Diplo: DJ Times: The reaction of the crowd at Coachella seemed almost trained.

Diplo: Most people don’t expect that.

Kids are so up-to-date and smart with the music. Coachella is a great place for live shows. A lot of the side-stage music is great. Our music is diluted in dance music because it’s all the same thing and all the marketing goes to the headliners.

DJ Times: What are you using when you’re playing live?

Diplo: We use a video programmer of Cartridges on our iPad that we’re controlling. We use Traktor and assemble all the tracks so we can go crazy in between songs. We use a Native Instruments sampler and trigger all kinds of things like bombs. We use two CDJs with the Traktor and MIDI controllers and another CDJ with a USB to trigger extra sounds.

DJ Times: How are you dividing up the on-stage tasks?

Diplo: It’s a mix between me and Jillionaire, half and half. He DJs and I come in when I want to. It starts out with him DJing and me intro-ing the show. I bring on Major Lazer. I organize the crowd.

DJ Times: What are you using when you’re only DJing?

Diplo: I might use Serato. I might use

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a USB key. I use Traktor to do a solo set. The main reason I use Traktor is to have everything ready so I can switch up the DJ sets faster.

DJ Times: Going back awhile, what was the first system you spun on?

Diplo: It was Gemini turntables and mixer that had a small sampler on it. I kept selling it and buying it back again from the pawn shop. This is when I was 16 or 17 in Florida.

DJ Times: Who were some of the DJs that influenced you at the time?

Diplo: Definitely DJ Laz, one of the first DJs on the radio whose [club] shows I saw in South Florida.

DJ Khaled—he was big in Orlando

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when I was there. Before he became a producer, he was a radio DJ. And there was a pirate-radio station with a DJ called White Dog, who was a white guy who sold mixtapes. Then there was another guy, System D-128, who came from my neighborhood, and I loved his stuff.

DJ Times: It sounds like radio DJs had a bigger impact on you than club DJs. Diplo: The only club DJs I saw in Florida were DJ Shadow—loved his stuff—and DJ Icey.That’s all I knew. As a producer, DJ Premier, Plastikman, Attica Blues, and stuff on Mo’ Wax, a lot of U.K. stuff. Portishead was really big for me, and the RZA. All that

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JULY 2013

DJ TIMES 16

Darren Harris Frisby

stuff helped me get interested in production. I started producing my first music 12 years ago. I started taking it seriously as a job eight years ago.

DJ Times: You have a lot of specialized tracks in your DJ sets.

Diplo: It’s kind of like playing Tetris. Since we make everything from track records to straight dancehall to roots-reggae music, it’s like making mixtapes as a kid. As a DJ, you want to introduce brand-new things, be on top of your game, ahead of all the other DJs. As for things that people give you, hot new records and mixes along the way, for example, we play “Harlem Shake,” but we’ll mix in a dancehall version that we did. Like Macklemore, we use our own mix of it. We like to make our own mixes of hot, big records, like party squads. We want to play as much of our records.

Ninety-percent of the set is our records or our remixes or dubplates of other people’s songs that we’ve done for our show, and the other 10-percent is songs we’ve done because it’s cool. There’s a couple of pieces that connect the whole set.

DJ Times: How does your set go down in Jamaica since it’s so Jamaican-based?

Diplo: We got a lot of songs that get a lot of airplay in Jamaica on the radio. We did two shows there. It was one of the craziest shows we’ve ever had—to this day.

DJ Times: Do they react to your music like it is authentically Jamaican?

Diplo: It’s definitely the younger kids who come to see our shows. For them, we represent the new thing, what they’re into, which is dance stuff.

We’re not authentic at all, but, Jamaica’s never cared about authenticity.

They’ve always cared about what’s big. The biggest artists I’ve ever seen play shows in Jamaica are Celine Dion and frickin’—the old dude, I can never remember his name—Kenny Rogers.

DJ Times: What studios did you record in while in Jamaica? Were you already familiar with these studios?

Did they have specific things you were looking for?

Diplo: We recorded everywhere from Tuff Gong International [founded by Bob Marley] to Geejam Recording Studio to Big Yard to people’s bedrooms whom I’ve met over the years and grown to trust—or if [a studio] was near the hotel. I didn’t really care where I worked. Like any producer nowadays, I have my laptop and I need an SSL board. I plug in the headphone jack. It’s not about the location. The studios offer us a home base. We can do stuff anywhere.

DJ Times: What are some of the key programs you are relying on for production?

Diplo: I use Ableton 8 mixed in

Logic and Pro Tools. For this album I recorded some stuff on reel-to-reel and some of the vocals came off of old tapes.

DJ Times: With Switch no longer in the picture, has that changed what you’re doing production-wise?

Diplo: No, I did everything before anyway. I was reading that [on Free the Universe] you can tell there’s not another “Pon De Floor” because Switch isn’t involved. Switch didn’t even have a hand in that—it was me and Afrojack who made that record.

[Switch and I] didn’t really do anything together on the first album.

Switch just helped me mix it. He helped me mix “Get Free” on this record. But everything I’ve done myself, from scratch.

DJ Times: Are you doing the mixing yourself now?

Diplo: Some of it, I am. Some of it, I am asking other mixers.

DJ Times: What are you using to mix records?

Diplo: I use Logic and Ableton Live 9, which is a lot better for mixing.

I’ve even been using Fruity Loops on my iPad. DJ Times: Were you able to work with all the vocalists on Free the Universe yourself?

Diplo: It was a mix. Some of the people we recorded in Jamaica. Some of the stuff we recorded in-studio with artists. Sometimes we went back and forth and finished it together in the studio. About 80-per-

cent I recorded with people, the other 20-percent they recorded on their own. I learned recording with people is much more important for the sound.

DJ Times: How do you get a good performance out of the vocalists?

Diplo: Sometimes you might do more than one version of the same song. When the vibe is there, it works. Sometimes, they just don’t get it. You can’t force something to happen with an artist. Dancehall guys are pretty standard, the way they write rhythms. With a record like “Watch Out For This” [featuring Busy Signal, The Flexican & FS Green], we wrote it to sound like an international song.

It wasn’t just about reggae and sound systems and parties. It was more commercial. Sometimes it might be a love song like “Jessica” [featuring Ezra Koenig]. We just vibe in the studio and we write it. There’s no real formula.

DJ Times: Was there a lot of writing songs on the spot?

Diplo: Some people might already have something and we track it in my studio. Sometimes we write on the spot. Straight dancehall stuff, artists like to improvise. They don’t like to write anything down. They run the lyrics off their mouths, backtrack and change things, improvise the song and fix it up as they sing.

DJ Times: What do you bring to the vocalists for them to work from? (continued on page 42)

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Online or NOT ALL MOBILE DJS LOOKING TO ALLOCATE

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JULY 2013

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hen he first started his DJ company in the mid-1990s, Mike Lenstra of Alexxus Entertainment in Dubuque, Iowa, says he had the foresight to choose a name that began with the letter A—knowing that showing up early in a Yellow Pages listing would be a huge plus for his budding business.

As Lenstra’s business grew, he increased the size of his Yellow Pages ad, but by the turn of the last century the Internet had changed all of that.

“Our latest survey, at the beginning of 2012, showed that over two-thirds of our business came from referrals and online searches, while less than 5-percent was attributed to any print media ads,” he explains. “Needless to say, our Yellow Pages ad that grew from a one-liner to an eighth of a page has returned to one line again.”

We recently gathered input from DJs throughout the United States on whether, in 2013, they prefer online advertising or print advertising. What are the benefits of each, and which sites—beyond the usual Wedding Wire and The Knot—are the preferable ones to use?

“Shane McMurray from The Wedding Report supports the earlier percentages I experienced,” reports Lenstra. “For example, 78-percent of couples use an Internet search to find products and services for their wedding—1.63 million couples.

“In fact, wedding or bridal websites are the second-most-used resource, followed by wedding or bridal magazines, and then friend or family recommendations. The least-used is radio and newspaper.

“Bottom line is: The old methods of marketing will not get you to today’s couples. In my opinion, spending advertising dollars on radio, newspaper, postal mail, phone book (Yellow Pages) or television is wasted money.”

A little closer to the East Coast, Rob Randall of Buckeye Sounds in Columbus, Ohio, says he likewise utilizes as little print advertising as possible.

“I’m only in one wedding magazine, because I’m of the belief that today’s brides only look online, not in print,” says Randall, who says almost all his advertising budget is spent online. “I

MONEY FOR ADVERTISING AGREE THAT PRINT IS DEAD.

BY JEFF STILES

mostly invest in Google AdWords. I’ve been doing this for about two years and I believe I can use online marketing to really target my ‘ideal client’—whether that be for a wedding, a school dance or a bar/bat mitzvah.”

Randall claims that advertising online also helps him control how much he spends on a monthly basis. “ I f my c a s h f l ow t h re e months from now appears to be tight, therefore, I can lower my expenditures to compensate for it,” he says. “On the other hand, I can raise my budget in months when brides are just getting engaged, such as December and January.”

Randall says his experiences and observations make it clear that print advertising appears to be a dying and therefore ineffective medium.

“When talking with brides who book me, I always ask how they found out about our company, and fewer and fewer of them are mentioning the local bridal magazine,” he says.

“In fact, I can’t remember the last time one of them told me that. Every month our local bride magazine sends me a list of names, and the number of names on that list has dropped significantly over the past few years.

“And to pound the final nail in the coffin, we hear all the time how much trouble the print industry is in, and we all see newspapers closing their doors. Even our local paper has greatly reduced the size of its daily newspaper, and it’s sure not because more people are reading it.” ve r i n t h e Northwestern state o f Wa s h ington, JD Fields of Catch the Beat Pro-

O

ductions in Snohomish explains that we are at the unique stage wherein the younger generation prefers email over snail-mail and online over the printed word, while the older generation still prefers print.

Online can sure be easier and much cheaper, “JD the DJ” says, but then again, out-and-about technology can present its own difficulties.

“Being in the Seattle market with Microsoft, we have a lot of techsavvy people. But the other day I was running a wedding rehearsal and asked for the vows,” recalls Fields. “It literally took the groom 10 minutes to find it on his phone and download everything, so the bride went to her car and got the hardcopy.

“I still always give out a hardcopy of my wedding planner—two copies, one for the bride and one for myself—when we meet oneon-one. It’s more personal and we can take quick notes in the planner, rather than playing on the computer.”

Fields says the same concept applies to deciding on advertising choices. ow many people get 150 emails a day and just delete them?” he poses. “When you go to the post office and you see a hand-addressed envelope, you open it first because it’s personalized. Even if you get a postcard, you can glance at it while you’re walking and spend more time looking at it than a quick email.

“On the other hand, if you’re seriously interested and know exactly what you’re looking for in terms of ‘search terms,’ then you can search on the internet.”

According to Fields, a DJ company proclaiming itself to be a personalized service needs to be careful to avoid getting too wrapped up with “online stuff” and lose its social perspective.

“H

“You caught my attention on this topic, because there is the ‘Brideslive’ where you can Skype your brides, but I feel that isn’t personalized enough,” he says. “Also, I just met with a bride 28-years old, who said she doesn’t have a Facebook account because she hates all the email junk.”

Fields says it’s 50/50 to him, depending on the audience and the age of the client.

“I laugh when I see people taking photos of a first dance and they’re on Facebook before the dance is over,” he says. “So are they actually paying attention to the first dance or too busy playing on Facebook?”

Meanwhile, back over in the Northeast, Gregg Hollmann of Ambient DJ Service in East Windsor, N.J., says he has never enjoyed a satisfactory experience with print advertising.

“My efforts throughout the years have included busi-

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NOT ALL MOBILE DJS LOOKING TO ALLOCATE MONEY FOR ADVERTISING AGREE THAT PRINT IS DEAD. ness directories, a local party-planning magazines, the phone book and even a golf lifestyle magazine,” says Hollmann. “As a sign of the times, I threw out the new phone book when it was delivered, knowing that all of this information is readily available on the Internet. Prices for display advertising also tend to be high on an absolute basis, making these campaigns a riskier proposition should they flop.”

In his market, Hollmann says people planning a party tend to collect information primarily via Internet research, bridal shows and recommendations from family members and friends.

“Pinterest is also extremely hot at present here, with brides-to-be pinning ideas like crazy,” he adds. “For weddings, our two go-to programs are traditional standouts The Knot and WeddingWire, both of which work extremely well in our particular market.

“But we’ve also noticed that it’s easier to book weddings if brides have heard of us from multiple sources—for example, if their florist recommends our services, and then they notice our ad on The Knot, and then they love one of our pins on Pinter-

est. A DJ company’s accumulated presence helps to validate their worth to a consumer and results in a booking.” eanwhile, back over in the Seattle market, Adam Tiegs of Adam’s Professional Disc Jockey claims Yelp is one of the online places he’s invested money in, as the CPC (cost-per-click) advertising has been great.

“I believe it’s mainly because of the combination of having some great reviews,” Tiegs says. “Advertising with The Knot and WeddingWire is a plus, but advertising with them gets you into their affiliate sites. For example, when you advertise with WeddingWire.com, your ad is also put on MitzvahWire.com or GayWeddings.com.

“I do some print, only because I don’t do trade shows anymore, so I’m at least in some of the major magazines distributed at the shows and in the local area. I really haven’t had success with print, but I know potential clients are reading these magazines, so it’s just another impression when they even glance at your ad. Then, when someone they’ve hired recommends you, or they go back to that ‘portal’ site and see you and your reviews, it helps them make sense of it all and they contact you.”

Tiegs adds that it’s best to advertise both online and in print, at least to some extent. “Just don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” he urges.

Back over in the Northeast, Jerry Bazata of DJ Jaz Music & Entertainment in Ogunquit, Maine, says it’s clear to him that digital advertising is nowadays the leader in reaching potential clients—though it truly depends on both the regional market and the audience.

“The Yellow Pages—for those who remember—has

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JULY 2013

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definitely been relegated to the History Pages,” jokes Bazata. “Then again, taking the path of one of the other media can be a critical marketing error for any DJ who strictly relies upon a website, Facebook and/or the top three wedding search sites.

“After careful observation at bridal events, I’ve noticed that not all brides are iPad-driven and still like the security of the bridal magazines with the rabbit-eared pages. Knowing this and seeking alternatives to the massively accepted sources of new clients, I’ve found success in advertising both digitally and print.”

Bazata is quick to name three top advertising successes, both online and print, within his market.

“Maine Wedding Pages is a wedding search site for vendors specifically in Maine, with a look and feel that’s vendor-driven and not just an advertising portal,” he explains. “It’s a good source of vendor information and features stories of weddings that have been held in Maine.

The cost is very reasonable and the leads are qualified with a high response rate.

“Secondly, the local Chambers of Commerce in any market can be a strong networking opportunity for both digital and print. For destination weddings, this is a key resource to develop referral sources, and often the brides like to seek the experience of someone in their market to help with the planning process. nd thirdly, with your local church or parish bulletin, a small print ad can be very powerful and is seen by more than you might have anticipated. In fact, running an advertisement during the holiday season yielded me over a dozen inquires in less than 30 days.”

In spite of the networking and advertising options outside of the traditional print media such as newspapers, Bazata says it’s also nonetheless important to note that print advertising is not to be underestimated.

“The first thing a bride does when she gets engaged is run to a newsstand and buy bridal magazines such as The Knot, Brides or Weddings. Since she’s probably never had to plan a wedding before, every page (editorial or ads) is an incredibly valuable source of inspiration and ideas—unlike a fashion magazine such as Lucky or In Style, where she could also go.”

Bazata is therefore hesitant to discount the potential of including bridal magazines in an advertising budget.

“Almost three in four brides use magazines, and that millennial age is more likely to read magazines than their parents,” he says. “Of course, this is from the Magazine Publishers of America, so beware the source, but still it’s an interesting finding.

“But whatever you do, the most important thing in any media is to track where your customers come from. It might be a manual process, or as simple as asking brides where they found you when she calls.” n

“A

Dreams Come True: DFA at Grand Prospect.

Red Bull Content Pool

GothamEDC & Red Bull Music Academy

Hands Up: 12th Planet at EDC. Ashley Suszczynski

Let’s Go: Calvin Harris at EDC. Ashley Suszczynski

Culture Clash: Just Blaze & Young Guru Red Bull Content Pool

New York City – This past May, Gotham was graced with a pair of big events—one running over a short weekend, the other taking up the entire month.

On May 17-18, Insomniac’s New York edition of Electric Daisy Carnival drew a reported 90,000 fans to Citi Field’s massive parking lot in Flushing, Queens. DJ/performers like Afrojack, Porter Robinson, 12th Planet and Art Department rocked EDC’s five stages.

Red Bull Music Academy was another story. In addition to presenting daily tutorials for its selected group of students, RBMA also offered nightly entertainment featuring several DJ-specific events.They included the Culture Clash DJ battle at Manhattan’s Roseland Ballroom, the DFA Records party at Brooklyn’s Grand Prospect Hall, Giorgio Moroder

Deep Space: Giorgio Moroder at Output.

Red Bull Content Pool

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Going Deep: DJ Spinna at Round Robin.

Red Bull Content Pool

Round Robin: Bernie Worrell & Andrew W.K. Red Bull Content Pool

Hard With Style: Headhunterz at EDC. Ashley Suszczynski

u.

Massive: Electric Daisy Carnival NYC Insomniac

Events Make for a Big Month in NYC

Gigs At EDC: Seven Lions drops the bass.

Ashley Suszczynski

Selecta: Afrojack gets it going.

Ashley Suszczynski

DFA Party: James Murphy on the decks.

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playing with François K at his Deep Space party at Brooklyn’s Output club, and the unique Round Robin event at Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple, which saw a variety of music-makers mixing and matching their skills.

It all looked like this:

EDC Scene: Happy fans at Citi Field.

Insomniac

Big Fun: Ballpark carnival scene.

Insomniac Champs: Trouble & Bass win Culture Clash.

Red Bull Content Pool

Farewell: Dash Berlin at EDC. Ashley Suszczynski

23

MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

MoPho x4: All-analog signal, 4-voice polyphony.

DAVE SMITH’S BAD MOPHO

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JULY 2013

By Phil Moffa

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Dave Smith is no stranger to electronic musical instrument design. He invented MIDI in the early 1980s, in addition to designing some legendary synthesizers that bore the Sequential Circuits brand name.

In recent years, Dave Smith Instruments has been at the forefront of developing polyphonic analog synths, starting with the Polyevolver, to the Prophet 08, then the Tetra module, and now a 4-voice upgrade to the MoPho. As the prices of beat-up, older analog synths continue to rise on the second-hand market, maybe a brand new one with modern features is seriously worth considering.

The MoPho x4 is a compact and sleek 44-key synth with some classy wood side panels. The top panel is clearly laid out and is not cluttered with too many controls. This is not due to deep, intimidating menu diving or a lack of features. Rather, there’s a dedicated set of controls for all envelopes, one for all modulators (and there are lots of them), and one for both oscillators.

Each voice is assigned 2 DCOs, or digitally controlled oscillators, with four selectable wave shapes. There is also a square wave sub oscillator one octave below oscillator one and two octaves below oscillator two. Glide, or portamento, has four different ways of responding, something not normally seen on most synths. Another interesting feature is oscillator slop, or a very subtle tuning drift. Since the DCO tuning is very accurate, this is a good way to get a vintage sound. In the mixer section, one knob blends the oscillator levels, another is a white-noise volume, and the middle one is used for feedback amount and gain. This feedback is pretty unique sounding and unpredictable.

In some cases unpleasant and unusable, but in others it really takes the sound to another level.

The lowpass filter has a really wide 13-octave range and can be set to 4-pole or 2-pole configurations. Of course, it sounds great and analog like all of Dave Smith’s synths. I really wish that more manufacturers would incorporate a high-pass into the signal chain, though. With a second filter, the possibilities are so much greater. At least there is the neat audio-mod feature where the frequency of oscillator one can be used to modulate the filter cutoff. Like the feedback, this opens the patches to a very wide palette.

Definitely one of the most powerful aspects of the MoPho x4 is the extremely deep modulation possibilities. This includes three envelopes, four LFOs, an amazing sequencer, four additional modulators, and a few miscellaneous ones if those weren’t enough. The ADSR (with key velocity) envelopes are used to control the amplitude and filter in the traditional sense and a third, labeled Aux, is assignable to the long list of 48 destinations that most modulators can affect. The Envelope Amount control goes both positive and negative for inverting all envelopes. The four LFOs are all assignable to the list of destinations

and have five possible wave shapes: Triangle; Reverse Sawtooth; Sawtooth; Square; and Sample & Hold.

The speed has a range of 30 seconds per cycle up to 261 Hz, a very wide range indeed. The LFOs, of course, can be synced to external beat clock with a range of 32 steps to 1/16 step. Traditional controllers like the modwheel and aftertouch are great for expressive playing and most presets make good use of them.

Although programmable in 16step fashion, the sequencer is not necessarily a note sequencer for writing melodies; it is more of a modulation sequencer. Yes, if assigned to the oscillator frequency, you can create a melody, but there are many interesting timbral possibilities here worth exploring.

For example , it can be programmed to have a different filter cutoff position or resonance amount every 1/16 note for an interesting filter sequence. It syncs to MIDI clock, but I found that the timing varied a little bit when connected to hardware sequencers like the Elektron Octatrack or Akai MPC3000, and it got to be frustrating when trying to record some parts in sync to the samplers.

Available on two of the sequencers are Slew mode, which is like a glide between settings so the steps do not sound like they are jumping from one step to the next.

Also very cool is the ability to have all four sequences run at different lengths, not just the full 16 steps before looping, so that interesting timbre polyrhythms can be created. The arpeggiator has a lot to offer as well with 5 different styles of patterns in 1, 2, or

3 octave modes for a total of 15 patterns.

Another modern benefit of the MoPho x4 is that it is a USB classcompliant piece. Simply plug it into a computer and you have MIDI in both directions. This also gives easy access to the MoPho x4 editor software, downloaded for free from third-party SoundTower Software. Editing complicated patches and sequencer patterns can certainly be easier when you can see all parameters on a big screen. The unlimited patch storage is nice, too.

The third MIDI port can be used as a MIDI out or for polychaining to other Dave Smith synths, like the Tetra, Prophet ‘08, and original MoPho, for a maximum of 20 voices.

Dave Smith Instruments is one of the few companies making analog polyphonic synths and they do it well. The MoPho x4 has a nice, rich sound, deep sound-design possibilities, and a decent build. I wish the knobs were more in the smooth potentiometer style and I could use fifth voice, so 4-voice chords and a bass note can be played simultaneously. The only feature I see missing from the original MoPho is the audio input, something I found rather useful. These gripes aside, the MoPho x4 ($1,429 list) is a beautiful instrument that offers a great deal in the sound department.

If you have any questions for Phil Moffa or Making Tracks, please send them to djtimes@testa.com

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

ACTIVE SPEAKERS & SERATO CONTROLLER

P-Series: Powerful PA from Cerwin-Vega!

By Mike Klasco, Tony Russell & Wesley Byrant-King This month, our Bay Area contributors Mike Klasco and Tony Russell handle the P-Series of active speakers from Cerwin-Vega! Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain man Wesley Bryant-King puts Numark’s Mixtrack Pro II controller through its paces.

Cerwin-Vega! P-Series

After all these years, Cerwin-Vega! remains a well-known brand to club and mobile jocks.

In fact, for me, it goes way back to the early days of the discothèque industry. I first used the speakers (when they called themselves “VEGA”) in some early projects with the legendary club installer Richard Long around 1970! Now, like their sister brand Stanton DJ, Cerwin-Vega! has become part of the Gibson group.

The P-Series: The C-V P-1500X is an integrated bi-amped powered mixer/speaker that’s matched with the P-1800SX powered subwoofer.

While the system’s transportable, I have to say the weight—53 pounds for the P-1500X, 84 for the sub—is as serious as its sound. Mounting and suspension for permanent installs is integrated into the high-grade plastic enclosure. Pole-mounting on the bottom anchors into the P1800SX sub for mobile work.

The mixer section provides for three inputs, microphones, amplified instruments, and the output of your favorite music mixer. Input/outputs are the Neutrik combi XLR/TRS phone plug connectors.

Power is a cool-running Class D with fan for when things get hot.

Behind the P1500X steel grille you’ll find both the woofer and a waveguide horn whose design and sound boast clarity rather than some of the more raucous output of some of its industry competitors. DJs also get optional Vega bass boost for when the P1500X is run without the P1800SX sub.

The P1800SX delivers 2 kilowatts (that’s 2,000 watts, folks), Class D with fan, and also offers the Vega Bass Boost feature.

Dual inputs are provided for use with a pair of P1500X units.

In The Field: For testing, San Francisco DJ vet Tony Russell (aka Tony Roxxx) used the portable, self-powered system on a few jobs. So, here’s Tony: “From years of DJing, it’s been my experience that Cerwin-Vega! makes great-sounding speakers—so how did the new P-Series stack up?

“Out of the box, it’s obvious that the speakers are not exactly light. But, given that the 15-inch 2-way has a 1,500-watt amplifier, that’s to be expected. What also would be expected is a lot of punch, and this speaker definitely has that as well.

Not only does this speaker hit and hit hard, but when matched up with the P1800SX 18-inch sub, you get a booming low end that’s perfect for adding more sound to larger gigs or venues.

“The speakers are built in a sturdy enclosure and

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Numark Mixtrack Pro II

26

look fairly sharp. There’s nothing out of the ordinary with regards to appearance—that’s usually a good thing—but they should hold up for a good, long time due to its excellent construction.

“Speaking of venues, as the 15-inch P1500X comes with a built-in mixer, these speakers are quite versatile.

With just the mixer on the back, I could hook in, say, an electric guitar, a keyboard and an iPod—and still have room for one more device. That’s not bad for one speaker. I see this feature coming in handy for streetperformance-band needs or maybe a public-speaking engagement—situations where multiple microphones are being used. As Borat might say, ‘Very nice.’

“Other features—some that we have come to expect—include the capability to daisy-chain these portable speakers together in a variety of configurations and built-in EQ and filters.”

From Tony’s perspective, here we have one of the best audio systems in this class. It’s priced well and more power than the competition. At $799 MAP for the top and $999 MAP for the sub, it’s more bang for your buck, it seems—or should I say boom? Nice work, Cerwin-Vega!

Like many of the big names in the business, Numark offers a range of controllers for today’s digital-centric DJ landscape, including the subject of this review: The Mixtrack Pro II—an updated version of the previous Mixtrack Pro, a combination controller and two-channel audio interface, with bundled software.

The Mixtrack Pro II is paired with Serato DJ Intro, the evolution of what was until last year known as Serato Itch. As I’ve written before on these pages, Serato appears to have bowed to market and pricing pressures in retooling Serato Itch as Serato DJ, and offering it both as a bundled “Intro” version, as well as a full version as an upgrade path. By offering limited functionality in their bundled version, it seems, hardware makers can better contain costs and keep retail pricing competitive, while Serato still has an opportunity to benefit from users who opt for the upgrade. (This is in contrast to Serato Itch, for which the “full” version was offered with the hardware.) That said, Serato DJ Intro is reasonably fully-featured, and may be all many DJs want or need.

First Impressions: The Mixtrack Pro II makes a good first impression. Like most products in its class (the street price of the Mixtrack Pro II is roughly $300), the construction is all plastic. But size of the unit provides a nice balance between form and function, and the aesthetics are pleasing, with a black and silver motif and a range of backlight controls.

One first impression that is potentially disappointing to DJs with professional aspirations is the availability solely of RCA jacks for the master outs. While it doesn’t preclude the Mixtrack Pro II’s use in a club or mobile setting, XLR or ¼-inch outputs would be more customary. The unit does include a mic input (a plus for the mobile jock who might consider this unit), with a ¼-inch jack. Dual headphone jacks are provided as well.

Set-Up & Use: Installation of Serato DJ Intro is quick and painless, and once the controller is connected via the usual USB connection, you’ve attached powered speakers or PA to the rear-mounted RCA jacks, and plugged-in a pair of headphones, you’re pretty well good to go (other than pointing the software to your digital music collection).

In terms of use, the arrangement of controls on the Mixtrack Pro II is “industry standard” in virtually every way, making for a natural transition for more experienced DJs, while ensuring a good foundation on the basics for new DJs. While I can hardly fault Numark for this—given that their competitors generally handle things in a very similar manner—my only real complaint with the controls is the blending of operations into 16 rubberized “drum-pad” style buttons (eight on

Mixtrack Pro II: Good value, solid platform.

each side) for controlling looping, sampling, hot cues, and some of the effects operations. Like any DJ set-up at any price point, most of this is simply a matter of getting used to your device of choice, and then practice, practice, practice to make it second nature. But for new users, even experienced ones, combining overlapping functionality into a single control set with screen-printed legends that are a bit difficult to see, frankly, makes for an error-prone time ramping-up that familiarity. There’s a shift button that allows for two functions for each of several of the individual knob or button controls, and the functions associated with the shift button are printed in low-contrast red ink. I think I’d have made a different design

choice.

That aside, I found the controls themselves to be solid and pleasing overall to use. While the tactile center detent position on some of the knobs could perhaps be a bit more definite, Numark’s rotary encoder platters on the Mixtrack Pro II are an absolute treat to use. The unit defaults to scratch/vinyl mode, enabling the encoders’ dual-mode functionality that provides the customary “touch-on-top-to-stop-and-scratch” function, with an ability to adjust pitch and beat match by touching and moving the outer ring on the encoders. Because the platters themselves are very low profile—much lower than the CDJs I’m accustomed to using—I found the process of using

them to be less error-prone.

As for Serato DJ Intro, as I said earlier, it provides virtually everything most DJs might ever need.

Once you get used to the control functions, loops and effects are quite easy and straightforward to control, and the Mixtrack Pro II provides nice, intuitive, one-to-one hardware correspondence to the virtual controls shown on-screen. I’ve always liked Serato’s effects controls in Itch, and now, in Serato DJ as well. Each one is simplified, easy-to-use, and effective.

While it’s nice to be able to control various aspects of a specific effect in other solutions I’ve used, frankly, it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to get the desired sound in the heat of the mix. The combination of the software and hardware in this case makes it easy and fast to dial in a little aural seasoning when you need it.

Finally, because the Mixtrack Pro II uses standard MIDI for control, it is possible to map its controls to other DJ-software applications if desired— and, provided you have the desire, go through the control mapping process with your software of choice.

Conclusions: Numark’s Mixtrack Pro II represents a nice evolution from the original Mixtrack Pro, providing an affordable, effective, and powerful combination with the bundled Serato DJ Intro.

Check it out!

DJ With Lasers... Really.

Yes, laser beams. With the Virtual DJ Beamz “skin” and its pre-programmed commands, Beamz DJ controllers are setup so that aspiring DJs and Pro DJs can easily get started. And mapping software is also included so you can use the Beamz to control any other application.

Get Beamz DJ for $199 © 2013 Beamz Interactive, Inc. The Beamz logo is a registered trademark of Beamz Interactive, Inc. Light Up Your Creative Genius is a trademark of Beamz Interactive, Inc. All other marks are property of their respective owners.

/beamzdj @beamzdj

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

Boston—VJ/DJ remixer/producer Joshua Carl has always been around music.

As a child he was told about some grandaunts, a small group of famous singers from the turn of the century; his grandfather owned a set of keyboards and his mother was always singing.

“I even heard amazing stories of my father walking the streets of my hometown as a roadie in full ’70s regalia,” says Carl, “with a guitar slung across his back walking gig to gig as if Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper were going to drive by any moment and adopt him for another adventure.”

Carl’s early days, on Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, were spent being schooled

remixes. And now, with the Internet, and remix sites, one of my favorite parlor tricks was now standard practice. I was no longer looking for hours for that dareto-be-great record. And that left a hole in me.”

This hole was filled by video. “I was once again looking for hard-to-find, rare and cheeky solutions to match the audio counterparts,” he says. “I started video when there was only one non-DVD method to spinning them, and that was with Virtual DJ. It was only a few months after that that Serato came out with Video SL and, knowing from my years with their gear that Rane was spearheading the hardware side of the venture, it was a no-brainer for me.

Places ate it up, and I honestly had more Joshua Carl will helm 2 VJ panels at DJ Expo. work than I knew what to do with. It was fresh, and it was new.”

He’s brought this VJ enthusiasm to the DJ Expo in Atlantic City, N.J., where he regularly speaks about this craft. In fact, at the 2013 Expo—set for Aug. 12-15 at The Taj—Carl will helm a panel of VJs (“I Am a Video DJ”) and conduct a workshop easier to demand a wage and back it up with the (“Remix the Video! An Introduction to Basic Video ideology that I’m lugging all these records, which I Editing”). paid $10 a piece for, and all this gear.”

“It’s simply standard that I go now—it’s exHe began scoring more gigs, on reputation, and pected,” he says. “It’s probably the most productive from handing cards to people, bartenders mostly, at four days of my year. I remember the first few years gigs at the end of the night. “They usually bartended not knowing anyone; I was doing some work with at another spot, and I’d get a call on Monday from a DJ Chat for a few years later and got some passes. bar manager asking my rates and for potential start I remember that feeling of taking a step into a bigdates. In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I ger world. can tell you I was employing a few basic principles “So many friendships, so much networking and that at the time I really didn’t know I was even donow for the past three years I’m able to give back ing.” They are: with my seminars. I remember being a young DJ, n Be Professional. “Yes sir, no sir, always on time, being at the Expo and being intimidated to talk to never getting hammered or bringing my drama into the guest speakers. Now that I’m on the other side the bar.” of the podium I say to new Expo people: ‘Stop me n To hell with the dudes, play for the women! “A in my tracks! Ask me questions!’ Please, I want to bar with no women is an empty bar.” give back just a little from what the Expo has given n Know when it’s time to show off, and when it’s me over the years.” time to be in the background. “The whole night Today, Carl fancies himself a club DJ, but does get shouldn’t be about insanely difficult execution of a fair amount of work from people who see him turntable skills, but don’t just push play and stand there: People who have seen the video sets and there, either. Walking that line is an exact science.” want it for their Christmas party, owners, managers n My catch phrase: “I don’t take myself too seriand staff who want him to “do that Motown set” at ously, but I take what I do very seriously” their weddings.

After 9/11, Carl re-enlisted and served in Iraq Looking towards the future, more and more as an Army Combat Medic. Upon his return to the he’s getting approached by companies to make States, he returned to DJing, this time with a special them special edits and videos. “I love making video interest in video. remixes, it’s an amazing creative outlet, but I prefer “Lucky me, I left the USA with subtle hints of spinning more. So in five years, I’ll probably still be Final Scratch and came home to everyone I know cherry-picking the best of the best, making people being on Serato and Virtual DJ,” he recalls. “All my dance, smile, laugh and forget their lives for a few record stores were gone, and here I was with zero hours at a time. Let’s be honest—as deep and digital media and crates and crates of future backbrooding as we might all try to be, we are the ache. Dance music was completely different, hip escapism for a world of people looking to enjoy hop was almost dead and the open-format thing themselves, find love, forget work or maybe just was huge. So that’s where I re-sank my teeth. One hear their favorite song. And I have no problem of my favorite skills was finding rare and cheeky skippering that boat for another decade or two.”

IRAQ VET MAKES VIDEO MOVES

By Stu Kearns

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

on the classics of rock, and on Sundays it was the blues, roots reggae and The Beatles. “Growing up, I thought it was corny—what kid doesn’t roll his eyes at his parent’s music? But in retrospect, having Led Zeppelin and its connection to the blues explained things I would never trade. I raided my dad’s vinyl collection as well.”

But “it,” the DJ bug, really all started with the dual-deck mix tape. “In those days, money was thin for a high-school kid and the year I got a dual-deck boom box I figured out a very basic way to sort of remix songs and record them onto another tape,” he says. “At the time I swore I had stumbled onto the same genius as Quincy Jones, but looking back it’s more than laughable obviously.”

After a stint in the Army, he moved back to Boston, doing odd jobs and bouncing at a popular Irish pub. That’s where he met DJ Massi (Mass-eye), who had heard about Carl’s DJ talent, and needed some help filling in occasional gigs in local venues.

“He plugged me into the Irish Pub pipeline in Boston,” says Carl, “and it wasn’t long before I was spinning five to seven nights a week, making a fair wage, too.”

Back then, in the mid-1990s, says Carl, “it was

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BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

HAVE YOU GIVEN YOUR

A TUNE -UP LATELY?

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

By George Hamer

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Are you purpose-inspired and benefit-driven?

Yo u r b u s i n e s s i s yo u r brand, and your brand needs an edge . In other words, your brand should be different, relevant—and have energy (meaning that your brand must be able to adapt to change).

So says Allen P. Adamson in The Edge, 50 Tips from Brands That Lead. In the book, the author—a leading brand consultant—reveals what the best companies know and practice to keep their brands successful in an increasingly competitive marketplace. It’s no different for DJs, who exist in an ever-changing market where consumer tastes change and the competitive landscape always gets younger.

Here are a handful of tips that any DJ business owner can use to align business goals in an authentic way: Identify something that consumers have never seen before.

Your brand, according to Adamson, must start with a simple idea based on “who” and “why,” not just “what” and “how.” Meaning: Know who you are and why you do what you do. A brand’s persona must stem from the hearts and the minds of those in the organization.

Here are some questions to ask to help determine yours: * What is your brand’s

reason for being beyond the obvious (to make money)?

What other companies do you admire or aspire to be like? How can you re-frame the DJ category to influence how consumers think about your brand? If you’re multiop, what purpose will unite your team?

Yo u r b r a n d ’s a c t i o n s should tell your story.

Increasingly, consumers of all ages want a better world and are motivated to choose brands that improve lives beyond their own. Actively seeking out brands that do right by the world, consumers want to do business with companies that share a deeper purpose. While it’s critical that this purpose not be a fad—but intrinsically linked to the idea on which the brand is built— to be effective it must identify some social good that is relevant to your business and its customers. The belief is that companies that link “goodness” with their brands’ essential meaning— what it stands for in the mind of the owner and customers and fellow vendors—will be companies whose brand experiences both stronger brand equity and long-term financial gain.

So ask yourself, are you purpose-inspired and benefit-driven?

Let your actions tell your story. u Establish a clear understanding of your brand’s purpose. Ensure that your branding unlocks this purpose in ways that exceed consumer expectations. u Remember that brand experience must align with a brand’s purpose to be seen as credible. u Feel the data. Use research to guide your branding initiatives, but use your gut to determine what’s on-brand and off-brand. u Clarity of brand meaning is efficient. Lack of clarity is expensive. Make sure everyone in your organization understands what it means to “be the brand.” u Brilliant executing eats strategy for lunch. Make sure your brand idea is brought to life in a powerful way across all points of touch, no matter the scale or scope. u One unfortunate experience with a brand can erase one hundred positive ones. u Don’t let your competition define you. Let your actions define you. u Great branding is like conducting an orchestra—all must come together in harmony. Just because you have a great first violin doesn’t mean you’ll sell tickets.

Your brand’s customers should want to tell its story. u Word-of-mouth will happen with or without you. Use it to learn what you’re doing right, and use it to learn how you can improve the brand experience. u Brief jokes are easier to tell than long ones. Consumers can only tell your brand story the way you want it told if you’ve sharply defined it for them. u Always remember: When something impacts a consumer’s life on a personal level, they’re more likely to share it. u For people to want to pass along a brand experience it must be extraordinary. Make sure you give them something to talk about. u Make it easy for consumers to share your brand story with others. Give them a platform or forum to pass along their input. u Consumers like to be recognized and thanked for their loyalty.

Acknowledge consumers who have something nice to say about your brand. Reward their support. u Consumers vote with their wallets. Treat your brand’s advocates like the shareholders they are.

Gear up for a marathon, not a sprint. u Being around a long time is only an asset if your brand maintains its relevance. u Consumers can rarely tell you what they want. Do your homework. Keep going back to square one to look at your category from a fresh perspective. u Live life in beta mode. Constantly tweak your “versions.” Reinvention is not just for brands in the technology lane, but in every lane. u You can’t drive by looking at the curb. Look at the horizon in front of you. Be ready to zig when others zag. u While evolution is critical to success, keep your balance. Don’t lose sight of your core brand meaning. u If you think there’s a finish line, there will be.

Your brand must know where it can play and win. u Make sure you are clear about the objectives of each branding initiative. u Know what branding signals you own. Keep them your own. u Play where others aren’t playing. Look for channels that reinforce your brand story in unexpected ways. u While everyone else is chasing shiny new objects, don’t overlook the value of traditional options. u The medium, the moment and the message must work in unison. Creativity without focus may be interesting, but it’s not motivating.

“The Edge, 50 Tips from Brands That Lead” by Allen P. Adamson is published by Palgrave Macmillan.

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GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

It Takes Tube ADJ Products 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.americandj.com The LED Pixel Tube 360 from ADJ Products includes 64 highoutput TRI LEDs for shadow-free RGB color. The LEDs are visible at all angles thanks to the transparent UV-resistant polycarbonate tubing that houses them. The unit has a 50,000-hour LED lifespan and draws only 15 watts of energy. Additional features—accessible by using either the LED Pixel 4C or the LED Pixel 10C controller—include RGB color mixing, an LED strobe and pulse effect, 0-100% electronic dimming, built-in color macros, and sound-active operation.

Connect Four

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Pioneer DJ 1925 E. Dominguez St. Long Beach, CA 90810 (310) 952-2000 www.pioneerdjusa.com

32

The DJM-750 is a new four-channel digital DJ mixer from Pioneer that is available in both black and silver models. It comes with a built-in 24bit/96kHz USB soundcard that supports 96kHz, 48kHz and 44.1kHz sampling rates, as well as ASIO/Core Audio standards. The unit also features Boost Color FX, which lets users change the parameters of any integrated mixer effect with the varying rotation speed of the integrated controller knob. The feature includes four different types of effects: Filter, Crush, Noise and Jet.

Pump up the Bass Station Focusrite Novation Inc. 840 Apollo St., Ste 312 El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 322-5500 www.focusrite.com Novation has updated its classic Bass Station. Called Bass Station II, the synth comes equipped with a two-octave, 25-note, velocity-sensitive keyboard with full-sized keys. The unit features two oscillators, a sub-oscillator, patch save, step- sequencer, arpeggiator, a fullyanalog effects section, MIDI I/O and USB connectivity. It also comes with two filters--the original Classic Bass Station filter and the new Acid diode ladder filter for “squelchy 303-esque bass sounds.”

Cleanse Your Auralex Auralex Acoustics 9955 Westpoint Dr., Ste 101 Indianapolis, IN 46256 (800) 959-3343 www.auralex.com Auralex released two versions of its Monitor Isolation Pads— ProPAD and ProPAD XL. Sold in stereo pairs, the ProPAD features a durable, three layer highly damped construction. It comes with six stick-on feet for flat or angled applications. The ProPAD XL speaker isolation product is a larger version designed to work with horizontally oriented, twin woofer monitors. The ProPAD measures 8x13 while the ProPAD XL measures 19x13.

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Lend Me Your In-Ear You Won’t Believe Your Urban Ears Zound Industries Torsgatan 2 11123 Stockholm Stockholm, Sweden +46841079510 www.urbanears.com

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Slussen from Urban Ears—“the world’s tiniest DJ kit”—combines pocketsized hardware and free software for a new listening experience. Users get an adapter that plugs into an iPhone, iPod or other iOS device on one side and on the other side, via two 3.5mm jacks, it plugs into headphones or a sound system. Users then launch the app, which includes a scratch function, crossfader, headphone crossfader, sync button, kill EQ and cue feature. Slussen hangs on a key chain and comes with a one-year warranty.

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JH AUDIO 2513-2519 East Semoran Blvd.

Apopka, FL 32703 (866) 485-9111 www.jhaudio.com JH16Pro and JH13Pro in-ear monitors now come equipped with the Freqphase Time|Phase Waveguide, which JH Audio says delivers “all frequencies to the ear within .01 of a millisecond” to make the sound come through “in-sync for a more realistic, true sound.”

The JH16Pro is a 3-way, 8-driver, in-ear monitor with dual high, dual mid and quad low-frequency drivers, while the JH13Pro is a 3-way, 6-driver monitor with dual high, mid and low frequency drivers.

Don’t Be Intimidated

Tale of the Reloop Tape

Chauvet 5200 NW 108th Ave. Sunrise, FL 33351 (800) 762-1084 www.chauvetlighting.com

Mixware LLC 11070 Fleetwood St, Unit F Sun Valley, CA 91352 (786) 362-5757 www.mixware.net

Chauvet has expanded its Intimidator series to include the Intimidator Spot Duo and Intimidator Spot LED 450. The former is outfitted with two independently controllable moving heads, each with a 10-watt LED. There are separate color and gobo wheels, as well as pan and tilt functions. The latter features three 60-watt white LEDs, separate color and gobo wheels, and a rotating, three-facet prism. The unit also has a high-contrast LCD screen with a full text display.

The Reloop Tape handheld USB recorder creates mixes in MP3 format and records them straight to the USB drive. It comes with a phono/line switch for digitizing vinyl and users have the option of recording at 192 or 320 kbps quality. Additional features include an LED status indicator and a smart thru port that routes the signal to the amplifier or speakers when a mixer doesn’t have a USB connection.

JOHN LYONS AND CROWN: PARTNERS IN EXCLUSIVE CLUBS.

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MACRO-TECH® I SERIES

A LEGACY OF UNPARALLELED SONIC ACCURACY With over 30 years of experience in the highly competitive club business, John Lyons is an international success. And, from hot spots in Hollywood to Las Vegas, from Atlantic City to Dubai, he’s turned to the unparalleled sonic accuracy and superb reliability of Crown’s Macro-Tech i Series amplifiers to power the sound in his popular clubs.

“The robust construction of the Macro-Tech i Series amps make them a good choice for a club where failure during the show is not an option.”

- JOHN LYONS

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Number 9 Dream Mr. 3000 Peavey Electronics 5022 Hartley Peavey Dr. Meridian, MS 39305 (601) 483-5365 www.peavey.com Peavey’s Escort 3000 Portable Sound Reinforcement System is a 300-watt unit designed for schools, churches, DJs and small bands. The seven-channel system is outfitted with a two-way speaker system, 10inch woofer, six combination XLR ¼-inch inputs and Mid-Morph EQ. It also features digital multi-effects and a USB MP3 player. The Escort comes with a built-in carrying case with luggage-style wheels, folding speaker stands and storage space for microphones, cables and other accessories.

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Criss CrossDJ

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Native Instruments North America 6725 Sunset Blvd, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 (866) 556-6487 www.native-instruments.com The KOMPLETE 9 instrument and effects bundle from Native Instruments includes 33 instruments and effects. Among them are the brand-new MONARK monosynth and the redesigned BATTERY 4 drum sampler, which has 70 new and exclusive contemporary kits. The company also released the KOMPLETE 9 ULTIMATE, an all-inclusive production package loaded with all 65 current KOMPLETE instruments and effects. That adds up to 16,000 sounds, and 370 GB of content.

Simply the Vestax

MixVibes 4 rue de la sablière 92230 Gennevilliers, France +33 (0)1 58 37 33 61 www.mixvibes.com

American Music & Sound 22020 Clarendon St, Ste 305 Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (800) 431-2609 www.americanmusicandsound.com m

Mixvibes’ CrossDJ Free is now available in an updated version 2.3 for both PC and Mac. Among the changes are improved graphics, an autoplay mode and direct access to iTunes tracks. The software, which works with iPhone and iPad, features echo, flanger and chopper effects. Additional features include auto loops, pitch fader, pitch bend, beatmatcher, and eight hot cues per track. It also includes a complete DJ mixer with three-band EQ and built-in bi-filter.

The VCI-400DJ from Vestax is a professional four-channel DJ MIDI controller and two-channel mixer. The VCI-400DJ produces lowlatency, bit-perfect audio at 24-bit/48 kHz resolution using a studiograde asynchronous USB streaming system, and users can also pre mix external inputs such from CD players and DVS interfaces. Features include a three-band EQ and high-resolution JOG wheels with torque and sensitivity control. The controller comes bundled with Serato DJ.

Air ▼ CrAig DAviD ▼

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GROOVES TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

Dawn Tallman

Mike Kiraly

Two Armadillos

Kings of Tomorrow

Frankie Knuckles

Duke Dumont

Nutritious

“BELIEVE IN LOVE”

“EVERYTHING”

u Dawn Tallman u Quantize

u Ralf GUM feat. Jocelyn Mathieu u GOGO

There’s no mistaking the sound of DJ Spen and Gary Hudgins all over this, as Tallman delivers a sterling vocal performance. Skippy beats, swinging synths and a host of mixes to pick from make this an essential cut.

A masterfully crafted deep, soulful male vocal house piece here with seductive rhythms, moving keys and tenacious grooves. Ezel’s mixes add a touch of musicality with some harmonious horns and chic, classy pianos. This smooth single is sure to rock the summer dancefloor.

– Curtis Zack

– Shawn Christopher

“EVERYBODY WANTS SOMETHING” “LET YOURSELF GO”

Dave Lee delivers yet again—this time under his Akabu guise. A superb bassline and Jupiter-style stabs underpin the vocal to great effect.

u Frankie Knuckles feat. Sybil u Nocturnal Digital

“IT’S YOU” u FCL u Defected This “Essential Tune” is an obvious rising star. “It’s You” was born in the underground, but it’s crossing over quickly. The simple vocals, borrowed from ESP’s classic house track, are finding an intoxicating new home with FCL, most notably on San Soda’s “Panorama Bar Acca Version.”

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Download

Corner

38

– Natalie Raben

– Chris Davis “GET INVOLVED” u DBow u Beatdown Everything that the Director’s Cut (aka Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper) are involved in these days seems to hit the spot and “Get Involved” fits the mold perfectly and takes the track to another level.

– Curtis Zack

u Akabu u Z

– Curtis Zack

comes the biting refrain, which mellows out into a blissful, smoke-filled mixdown. Satisfying.

Already causing massive damage in its original guise, this one has now been taken to another level courtesy of Joey Negro’s mix. A terrific wobbly bass, added to the unmistakable voice of Sybil, mean this is destined to get even bigger.

– Curtis Zack “FLASH IT” u Nutritious u SpinSpinNYC This debut single conducts a romp through the sheets on a rainy day. The bassline’s sonic foreplay slowly brings the song to a climax as the lowpass filter reveals what’s hiding underneath. Next

Each month in this space, DJ Times digs through the virtual crates to give you a quick sample of the plethora of extraordinary tracks available exclusively on legal download—care of our favorite next-generation “record” stores (e.g. Beatport, iTunes, etc).

“Roller Skate” (Original Mix) by Two Armadillos [Two Armadillos]: Written just before Martin Dawson’s passing, this track is taken from the final part four of the “Golden Age Thinking” EP series. Here, they seamlessly blend dusty and emotive deep-house chords with a bubbly, angular acid 303 line giving both elements the necessary space to stretch out and breathe. Found at beatport.com.

“One Day In Crazies (Original Mix) by Mike Kiraly [Radio Science]: “Original Mix” is a proper moniker as originality—of sound design, of structure, even the title—is on full display here. Kiraly defines his identity with meticulously crafted and rarely repeated swirling echoes, round and full analog-style bass and a weird underlying energy for such a thoughtful party for your ears. Found at beatport.com.

“Garbage DJs” (John Creamer Lacoste NYC Remix) by Randall Jones & Will Haltom [Riff Raff]: An engagingly deliberate and dark journey with a chopped and effected hip-hop vocal, a cavernous, solo, chord stab in the break that is accented by a melodic, filtered bassline that hits you after the drop. True class! Found at beatport.com.

– Robert LaFrance

“DO OR DON’T” u Yogi u Swing City A throwback to the halcyon days of Swing City as Random Soul’s Yogi delivers a piece of good-time house music. Both the original and Rob Hayes remix are perfect for the summer and will see plenty of action in the sun.

– Curtis Zack “NEED U (100%)” (REMIXES)

u Duke Dumont u Downtown This one offers quintessential house catchiness without standing the chance of growing stale.

Close your eyes and press play on Skreamix’s take, the clear and obvious leader of the remix pack, and you’re transported to a proverbial—and immediate—disco. No going back now.

– Natalie Raben “THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE”

u Julien Chaptal u Defected Simplistic in its approach, Julien Chaptal heads down the vibey route and, backed by crisp beats, this should do well.

– Curtis Zack “THE GETTUP”

u Eats Everything & Justin Martin u dirtybird The dirtybird label continues its onslaught of fantastically bizarre house music with this sultry club thumper that can only be described as a battle of jungle house between two elephant fighter pilots.

– Chris Davis

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MP3s in 56

Compiled As Of May 1, 2013

National Crossover Pool Chart 1 Emeli Sande 2 Justin Timberlake F/ Jay Z 3 Suzanne Palmer 4 Will I Am F/ Britney Spears 5 Katrina 6 Christina Aguilera 7 Jay Sean 8 Icona Pop 9 BEX 10 Stacey Jackson 11 Depeche Mode 12 Pitbull F/ Christina Aguilera 13 Kelly Clarkson 14 Tony Moran F/ Anastacia 15 Justin Bieber F/ Nicky Minaj 16 Passion Pit 17 Daft Punk 18 Calvin Harris F/ Florence Welch 19 Tori Amos 20 Britt Nicole 21 David Guetta F/ NE-YO 22 Carley Rae Jepsen 23 Kwanza Jones 24 Esquille 25 Calvin Harris F/ Ellie Goulding 26 Vic Cologne 27 Rihanna 28 Delonda Harvey 29 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis F/Wanz 30 Muzik Box 31 Alexis Jordan 32 Eric Prydz 33 Pink 34 Sarah Brightman 35 Tegan And Sara 36 Ke$ha 37 Miasha 38 Daddys Groove 39 Duncan Morley 40 The Wanted

Next To Me Suit And Tie Joy Scream & Shout Ready To Love Let There Be Love So High I Love It What You Are Pointing Fingers Heaven Feel This Moment Catch My Breath If I Was Your Boyfriend Beauty & A Beat Carried Away Get Lucky Sweet Nothing Flavor Gold Play Hard This Kiss Supercharged I Take U Higher I Need Your Love One More Time Stay Dancer Thrift Shop Ear Candy Acid Rain Every Day Try Angel Closer C’Mon Everybody’s Beautiful Stellar If Time Runs Out I Found You

National Urban Pool Chart Capitol RCA Music Plant Interscope Red Red RCA Universal Big Beat Sybasonic 3B1G Sony RCA RCA Go Deeva Light Mercury Columbia Columbia Ultra Mercury Capitol Capitol Interscope Innovation Global Groove Sony Music Plant Def Jam Music Plant Macklemore Control Voltage Sony Astralwerks Jive Simba Warner Brothers RCA MAF Robbins Global Groove Universal

Most Added Tracks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Daft Punk Grace Valerie Duncan Morley David Guetta F/ NE-YO & Akon Yulianna Esquille Kelly Clarkson Adam Barta & Angelina Pivarnick Chris Cortes Nikki Williams

Get Lucky Dont Wanna Be Waiting If Time Runs Out Play Hard Don’t Take Your Love Away HEYO! People Like Us Serendipity Awake Glowing

Columbia Dream Merchant 21 Global Groove Capitol Zvon Global Groove RCA Aquetra Global Groove Island/Def Jam

Reporting Pools

n Flamingo - Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Julio n Lets Dance / IRS - Chicago, IL; Lorri Annarella n Next Music Pool - Los Angeles, CA; Bob Ketchter n Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n OMAP - Washington, DC; Al Chasen n Pittsburgh DJ - Pittsburgh, PA; Jim Kolich n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - Levittown, NY; Jackie McCloy n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis n Majik Boys Mix - Los Angeles, CA; Jeremy Martarano

Looking for these titles? You can hear them and buy them at www.dancekings.com. Just click on the links in the chart. DDK has limited memberships available for qualified DJs in the US. We service CDs and MP3s in dance and urban formats. Feedback and membership dues required.

770-740-0356

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Justin Timberlake F/ Jay Z Kendrick Lamar F/ Drake Rihanna Lil Wayne F/ Drake & Future Wale F/ Tiara Thomas Ace Hood F/Future & Rick Ross Drake Macklemore & Ryan Lewis F/Wanz Kendrick Lamar Chris Brown Tamar Braxton Miguel B.O.B. F/ T.I. & Juicy J French Montana F/ Nicki Minaj Trinidad James Young Jeezy F/ 2 Chainz Brandy Rihanna F/ Future The Weekend Lil Wayne F/ Detail

Suit And Tie Poetic Justice Pour It Up Love Me Bad Bugatti Started From The Bottom Thrift Shop Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe Fine China Love And War How Many Drinks We Still In This B**** Freaks All Gold Everything R.I.P. Wildest Dreams Loveeeee Song Wicked Games No Worries

RCA Interscope Island/Def Jam Republic Atlantic Cash Money Cash Money Macklemore Interscope RCA Epic RCA Atlantic Interscope Island/Def Jam Island/Def Jam RCA Island/Def Jam Universal Republic Universal Republic

Most Added Tracks 1 2 3 4 5

J. Cole F/ Miguel Lil Wayne F/ 2 Chainz Rich Gang/Lil Wayne Nicki Minaj F/ Lil Wayne A$ap Rocky F/ Skrillex

Power Trip Rich As F**k TapOut High School Wild For The Night

Columbia Republic Republic Republic RCA

NEW National Latin Dance Pool Chart 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Hector Acosta “El Torito” Widy Juanes - Cumbia Sexy (Remixes) Toby Love Alsikiatra Ephrem J feat. Alexandra Don Omar Karlos Rose Ruina Nueva feat. Los Adolecentes Thalia feat Prince Royce Carlos Vives J King Y Maximan Joey Montana Victor Manuelle feat Gocho Tito Nieves Francisco Toscano Papi Sanchez Jerry Rivera Fulanito feat. Matatanes Edgard Daniel

NO Soy Un Hombre Malo Baby Baby (Remix) Universal Lejos El Gordo Noche De Maravillas Zumba Infiel Yo La Amo Te Perdistes Mi Amor Volvi A Nacer La Noche Esta De Fiesta Unico Me Llamare Tuyo Que Seas Feliz Decidete (Remixes) Te Amare El Amor Existe Mueve El Eskeleto Enfermedad

Venemusic Widy Music Top Stop Music Loqra Mayimba Music Universal Universal Papa Grande Sony WJ Ent. Universal Universal Sony Top Stop Music Unison Prod.

Sanchez Fam. Venemusic Soundcheck La Lirica

Most Added Tracks 1 2 3 4 5

Adassa Alex Mato Marlon Olga Tañon Pitbull

La Gata (Remixes) Que Pena Me Duele Todo Lo Que Sube ECha Pa’ Lla

DCP Matos Music M.E.D. Mia Musa Music Mr. 305

Reporting Latin Pools n Latinos Unidos – N. Arlington, NJ; William Otero n Salsamania Latin – Houston, TX; Alex Carmenates n Lobo/Bass – Los Angeles; Justino Guerrero n Urban Tropics – E. Northport, NY; Manny Soba n North East – Revere, MA; Justin Testa n Mixx Hitts – Clermont, FL; Danny Peguero n Ritmo Camacho – Ashburn, VA; Jorge Camacho n Ritmo Internacional – Antioch, CA; Tony Orellana n DJ Latinos – Medford, MA; Antonio Ortiz n MassPool – Saugus, MA; Gary Cannavo n Record Pool Latino – W. Palm Beach, FL; Tony Torres n VIP Chicago – Chicago, IL; Hector Vargas

Diplo

(continued from page 16) Diplo: On the first record, we experimented with cutting things off of records or cutting off demos we never used or cutting lines out of songs, chopping things up and making new hooks. Like the song we made, “When You Hear the Bassline” [featuring Ms. Thing, from the first ML album]. On this record, we did the same thing off another demo from this song called “Wind Up” and made it into a song called “Behaving Bad” featuring Machel Montano that’s going to be off the next EP after this album. That’s going to be more of a crazier punk record that I thought could be in concept for this album.

That’s how I would help; otherwise I fine-tune it with the guys, word for word.

DJ Times: Are there particular plug-ins that you tend to use over and over?

Diplo: For a lot of the cool vocal stuff, I used vocoders, Bitcrushers, Audio Ease Speakerphone and Sonic Charge Bitspeek, lots of voice effects and some good Logic chains. I like Melodyne to alter and create new melodies. For drum sounds, I use a lot of the Native Instruments plugins—everything from Battery 2 soft synthesizer to Simpler in Ableton. I use lots of Universal Audio plug-ins and compressors, like FATSO—they are the best. It might be the only time I use a plug-in, but it might be the centerpiece of the song.

DJ Times: You produced the Snoop Lion album, Reincarnated. How did that come about?

Diplo: They wanted to switch up completely, to do something different. To be honest, I think the only dude they knew that did reggae music was me. I played them “Get Free” and told them, “I don’t know if you guys

want to do this, but this is what I’m on right now. I’m not doing ‘Pon De Floor’ or anything like that. I’m not doing dance music—I’m doing this kind of stuff,” and they loved it. He believed in us. He spent all his money on the studio down in Jamaica for three or four weeks and we wrote all the records. It took me almost a year to produce everything.

DJ Times: Was it a different way of working for you?

Diplo: It was the first time I had money to work. I go into studios and sometimes I don’t finish anything. It was weird to have somebody invest in us completely to make all the music. That’s really cool.

DJ Times: How was it different from what you would do for yourself?

Diplo: I float with reggae music.

Because the whole record was going to be 100-percent reggae, I got to do different ideas. I did rock steady, ska, rolled a bunch of stuff. Some of the stuff I already had was demos for Major Lazer that didn’t fit on our album, and it’s on his.

DJ Times: What studios did you work in for Snoop Lion?

Diplo: All the places we used for Major Lazer, and Strawberry Hill, the hotel. Chris Blackwell made a studio out of one of the rooms. Those are the best ones to use in Jamaica.

DJ Times: Do you have details on the EDM movie you’re part of?

Diplo: I don’t have any detail on it so far. They’re still writing it. They based it loosely on a book I did, 128 BPM. One of the stories I told them was about the things I’d seen when I’d travel. They built it around a rave and I’m one of the characters in the end, but I don’t know how it’s being produced. I’m not writing or producing it.

DJ Times: You’ve started a You-

Tube channel with Skrillex and ATrak called Potato. What’s the idea behind that?

Diplo: Our personalities and attitudes is one of the draws, but it’s mostly electronic music and trying to be somewhat interesting and creative. We have shows about the history of the music, culture shows. I have a series—it’s got 10 episodes now—called Blow Your Head with my photographer Shane McCauley.

We feature everybody from Dave Nada to MikeQ to Drop the Lime to 3BallMTY, anything about the culture that’s happening that’s exciting to us.

It’s edutainment.

DJ Times: How do you process all the music out there? Do you have time to listen to everything brought your way?

Diplo: I listen to stuff all the time. I give my intern a bunch of stuff to listen to. I leave it in my car so my girlfriend can listen to it. The Jeffree’s is a good example of all kinds of random stuff I get sent. Some of the things we put out on Jeffree’s—for example, The Reef—he only had 20 followers on SoundCloud and we released his record. Some people are brand-new and they’re part of our crew for life when we do that because they know that we believe in them from the beginning. We didn’t wait for someone to tell us they were good.

DJ Times: For good or ill, Likes and Followers are huge parts of the music business these days.

Diplo:That’s the problem from the jump. People aren’t looking at what people want in the neighborhood— they’re just looking at the greatest common denominator. That’s hurting the music scene more than anything: Book homogenous things that have a bunch of Likes—that’s just superficial.

You would never book a guy like DJ Sega, who is from Baltimore. He’ll book a show in Philly and 1,000 kids will turn out. Because he doesn’t have a big fanpage on Facebook, international shows aren’t going to book him because they don’t know he’s big outside that area. If you wait for people to be popular, you’re a loser.

That’s going to happen with all these corporations. It’s going to be a numbers game. This whole scene of DJs being popular in America is eventually going to die because of that. When they stop caring about the actual music, it’s going to be become a business 100-percent and it needs music to survive.

DJ Times: What would you say is the best thing about DJ culture at the moment?

Diplo: Best thing is that everybody is paying attention. People are listening to music that I make who wouldn’t usually listen to it.

DJ Times: And what is the worst thing?

Diplo: The worst thing is it’s becoming homogenous. People are copying styles that are popular and they’re not doing anything new.

DJ Times: For DJs who want to move up in the world, what’s the best thing for them to do right now?

Diplo: Trust their instinct and do what they want. If it’s not popular, influence your style differently—but don’t copy what’s big. That’s making the whole thing one giant cookiecutter version of the music. Some of the styles I do may not be popular, but it’s what I’m good at: Making the music crazy or giving it to people in a different way. I’m doing what excites me. Just be yourself. Don’t be someone else. Just be who you are. n

Summer Fests: Inside the EDM Bubble

DJ TIMES

JULY 2013

Maybe… but not right now, OK?

42

This EDM fanbase just keeps expanding.

Will the support ever go away?

Summer Festivals, Next Month in DJ Times

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