DJ Times October 2013, Vol 26 No 10

Big Numbers in AC

SHED 1988

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Detroit Swindle Jon Hopkins Shure BLX Wireless Numark Orbit Propellerhead Reason 7

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INDUSTRY EVENTS…NOTABLES…MILESTONES

NEWS

NUMBERS UP: DJ EXPO ’13 SCALES NEW HEIGHTS Atlantic City, N.J. – With its soldout exhibit hall and nearly 6,400 attendees—a new show record—the 2013 DJ Expo once again raised the stakes for an already thriving DJ industry.

Produced by DJ Times magazine and its publisher Testa Communications at the Trump Taj Mahal this past Aug.

America’s mobile entertainers. Other winners included: Pascal Lévesque of Victoriaville, Que., Canada (DJ of the Year Runner-Up & Best Dance); Darryl “Jake” Jacobsen of Affair 2 Remember Entertainment of Middletown, N.J. (Best Game); and H.Y.P.E. Productions (Best Choreography).

Also, Evan Clark of Lake Worth,

ADJ Pizzafest: DJ Kool clears his throat.

F l a . , wo n t h e a n nu a l Ultimate DJ Giveaway, which included: ADJ lighting (Quad Phase HP Moonflower); Beamz gear (Beamz Pro Interactive Laser Controller); Mackie PA system (DLM Series powered loudspeakers); Pioneer DJ gear (CDJ-2000nexus players, DJM-900nexus mixer, HDJ-2000-K headphones and RMX-1000 Remix Station); and Promo Only Subscription (to either Pool Audio Gold or Pool Video Gold via POOL, Promo Only’s Digital Delivery System).

“On behalf of ever yone at DJ Expo and DJ Times, we want to thank our exhibitors and attendees for their participation and for making this year’s show our most successful ever,” said Vinny Testa, Publisher/ President of Testa Communications.

“It’s hard to believe that we’ve been presenting this show for 23 years, but we’re always grateful for the DJ market’s confidence and support.

And as DJ Times begins to celebrate its 25th anniversary, we look forward to some very exciting developments into 2014 as well.”

Response from Expo exhibitors and exhibitors was swift and effusive.

“Another great show,” says Dave Lopez of Odyssey Innovative Designs.

“Over the many years, Odyssey and its

Morgan Page drops DJ knowledge.

DJ Premier: At Stanton booth.

partnered retailers have had nothing but success during and after the Expo—not only from the sales generated during and after the Expo, but also in gaining of valuable knowledge from the thousands of working DJs out there who

/beamzdj

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graciously give us their input.”

Mackie Designs’ John Boudreau offered: “Of all the industry seminars I’ve presented, this one at DJ Expo [‘Get Loud, Get Modern—The Benefits of Advanced Powered Loudspeaker Technology’] was my favorite.

I really liked the quality of discourse and the quality of attendees.”

DJ/attendee Rachel Lynn Oliver Donn of Brandon, Fla., perhaps summed it up best. “If you are a DJ and didn’t go to this amazing event, just remember this: Knowledge is power,” she says. “And what can you do with power? Turn it into a profit!

The benefits to attending DJ Expo are incredible.”

For more on DJ Expo, including a photo spread of events, please see next month’s issue.

Check it out!

12-15, the Expo offered attendees more than 200 exhibitor booths from more than 100 companies, showing hardware, software and specialty DJ products.

With its 28th show in 23 years, DJ Expo offered a deep schedule of exhibits, seminars and parties that saw participation from exhibitor/sponsors like ADJ, Pioneer DJ, Mackie, Chauvet, Rane, Stanton DJ and QSC Audio, among many others.

Musical legends (DJ Premier) and industry stars (Morgan Page, Krewella) offered useful information to attendees during Expo keynotes and seminar panels, while sponsored events entertained Expogoers. They included top-notch performances from DJ Kool (at ADJ’s Pizzafest), DJ Premier and Biz Markie (at Stanton DJ’s booth) and Audien (at Moodswing360’s party), plus hot sets from America’s Best DJ nominees like Skribble (at Ego Lounge), Morgan Page (at Dusk club during Moodswing’s party), and Krewella (at House of Blues during Promo Only’s Summer Sessions party).

Additionally, in winning the “DJ of the Year” competition, Jazmine of Chicago’s H.Y.P.E. Productions dethroned two-time winner Jack Bermeo, who was going for an unprecedented three-peat. Hosted by Mike Walter, the annual event bestowed awards in a variety of categories to the best of

MetromixMedia

MetromixMedia

House of Blues: Krewella wows ’em.

© 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.

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VOLUME 26 NUMBER 10

DEPARTMENTS

SAMPLINGS

7 Feedback

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

28 Making Tracks

With Pop Hooks & Big Drops, Krewella Brings Youthful Enthusiasm to Stadium-Sized EDM

BY LINA ABASCAL

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

22 Gig of the Century

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30 Sounding Off

Shure’s BLX Wireless & Numark’s Orbit Controller

32 Mobile Profile

Pa. DJ’s Fast Track to Dominance

34 Business Line Answers from DJ Expo

We Go Inside a Retirement Community & Find How DJs Are Helping Residents Locate the Fountain of Youth

BY JEFF STILES

36 Gear

24 Down the Stretch

39 Grooves

Highlights from America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ & DJ Times

BY DJ TIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS

New Products from E-V, American Audio & More Phat Tracks from Cassy, Kerri Chandler & More

40 DJ Times Marketplace

Shop Here for All Your DJ-Related Supplies

41Club Play Chart

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

8 Detroit Swindle Dutch Duo Does Motown

10 In the Studio With…

Jon Hopkins

Cover Image By Nikko La Mere

12 Alive!

Propellerhead Reason 7

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FROM THE EDITOR

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

Loss & Looking Forward

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It’s impossible to start this Editor’s Letter without acknowledging the recent events at New York’s Electric Zoo and at Boston’s House of Blues. Reportedly due to drug intake, two young people (Olivia Rotondo, 20, and Jeffrey Russ, 23) passed away at the Randall’s Island festival on Aug. 31 and another (Brittany Flannigan, 19) at a Zedd show on Aug. 27. Obviously, our hearts go out to the families during this tragic time.

DJ Times certainly isn’t an EDM-culture mag or blog—we’re a longtime magazine for professional DJs, if you get the difference. However, it would be disingenuous to pretend that the DJ business/ scene (or whatever you want to call it) isn’t connected to and certainly impacted by the recent events. A little self-examination may be in order.

While it must be said that no matter how much festival promoters take care to make their events safe for their patrons—and I can tell you that Electric Zoo had a massive police presence and plenty of “extra attention” at its entrance gates—it’s really up to individuals to monitor their own behavior when it comes to their level of party participation. But, I believe it’s also true that the ideas of pro-active education and “harm-reduction” should be embraced by venues, promoters and, yes, DJs. (Jocks like Kaskade have been urging safe behavior via heartfelt PSAs for years.) With more large-scale events like Atlanta’s TomorrowWorld on the immediate horizon, it’s been encouraging to see promoters react by welcoming groups like DanceSafe to their parties. Let’s hope that we all learn from these recent tragic events and react in ways that can help keep DJ events safer for all.

OK, off the soapbox… and onto this issue where we present Krewella as our new cover subject. In the past 15 months or so, we’ve seen the trio’s profile rise at a quick pace—from playing side stages at Denver’s Global Dance Festival and Miami’s Ultra Music Festival to playing DJ Expo and headlining its own 44-city tour, in support of its hit-filled debut, Get Wet (Columbia). Once again, we see a youthful crew learn how to beatmix, produce and write songs, and now it’s breaking out in a big way. Our own youthful correspondent Lina Abascal connected with Krewella’s Jahan Yousaf, Yasmine Yousaf and Kris Trindl and, in separate interviews, they reveal a few of their studio and performance secrets.

Also, it should be noted that we just wrapped up DJ Expo this past Aug. 12-15 in Atlantic City, N.J. Once again, it was a smashing success, as we set new attendance and exhibitor records. We’d like to thank everyone who supported and attended the show. As it’s the 28th show we’ve done in 23 years, we’re deeply grateful to everyone who participates in what has become the DJ industry’s top show.

Come back next month and we’ll show you how it looked with a big photo spread.

In our Samplings section, our LA correspondent Lily Moayeri connects with DJ/electronic musician Jon Hopkins, who breaks down his studio approach, but also explains what it’s like to DJ an opening set for arena act Coldplay. Also, our Detroit scribe Rachel Skotarczyk (quite properly) interviews house revivalists Detroit Swindle, who are actually a pair of Dutch guys.

In product reviews, our always-busy Wesley Bryant-King handles Propellerhead’s Reason 7 software in the Making Tracks column. He also reviews Numark’s unique Orbit controller in Sounding Off, which also includes Paul Dailey’s take on Shure’s BLX wireless microphone systems.

From the mobile entertainer world, Jeff Stiles finds out how DJs are helping those living in retirement communities find their fountain of youth. In Mobile Profile, we connect with Jason Klock of Harrisburg, Pa., and examine how he’s managed to rise to the top of his market in three short years. In Business Line, business pro Joe Molineaux reprises his DJ Expo tutorial and explains how America’s Small Business Development Centers can help you.

And, as our America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ & DJ Times hits the home stretch, we present photo highlights from a variety of those events. This go-round, we hit: Mariaville, N.Y., for Camp Bisco; Minneapolis for Bassgasm 9 at First Avenue; Denver for Global Dance Festival at Red Rocks Amphitheatre; Columbus, Ga., at Mix Ultra Lounge; Las Vegas at Marquee Nightclub and Dayclub; and Manhattan at Marquee New York. By the time, you read this our winner should be revealed. Please check americasbestdj.net and we hope to see you at Marquee Vegas on Oct. 13 for the America’s Best DJ Closing Party/Award Ceremony.

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 October 2013

Cheers,

Jim Tremayne Editor, DJ Times

visit our website: www.djtimes.com

FEEDBACK ’13 ISSUE AmericA’s First mAgAzine For ProFessionAl DJs estAblisheD 1988

September 2013

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$4.95 US

Kaskade

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TOKiMONSTA Adrian Lux Elektron’s Analog Four 5 Key Success Strategies Jersey Jock Brings the Funk

Summer Lovin’ & Beyond

HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR DJ EXPO iOS SOLUTIONS FOR DJs

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– Steve Moody, Entertainment Connection, Ridgely, Md.

Great show. DJ Expo is extremely wellproduced and, for me as an artist/DJ manager, it allows me to stay informed of the newest software, equipment and trends. DJ Times does a phenomenal job putting it all together.

It was great having our client Morgan Page involved in the Expo’s Keynote Q&A. Having that direct dialog in a room full of DJs at every level made for one of the most enlightening and memorable moments of the Expo.

– Kelvin Taitt, stadiumred, NYC

– Jared Barboza, Abbot Monroe, Los Angeles

$6.95 CANADA

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Thank you, DJ Times. This entire DJ Expo experience has helped me take my business to a level that will allow me to support my wife and children, while do‑ ing something that I love so much.

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The following are emails that we received immediately after DJ Expo, which ran Aug. 12-15 at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.:

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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.

DJ TIMES, As a nightclub consultant, I am ada‑ mant about club DJs becoming VJs. The use of artist videos that not only project the music but the visual, in‑ tended to connect to fans and club‑ bers, is vital. No longer can club DJs just spin in a corner or from a space away from the dancefloor.

Owners have to make the investment in screens and DJs need to join VJs’ video exchanges, so that their perfor‑ mance is at its peak not its past.

What do you think?

– Rich Unger, PromotingNightclubs. com, Sarasota, Fla.

RICH, I could not agree more. Bringing the visual aspect to one’s performance is a must.

With technology being as it is, that ability now can reside within one performer and open up so many cre‑ ative doors as an artist, as well as countless doors that will intensify the patron’s experience on an unprec‑ edented level.

But it’s certainly not simple. While prices for technology continue to go down, it’s not something that can be whipped together haphazardly and cheaply to yield impressive results.

The VJ must put the time in to ac‑ quire and/or create quality content and then perform accordingly.

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SAMPLINGS

DJ TIMES

SEPTEMBER 2013

DETROIT SWINDLE’S BOUNCE

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Swindlers: (from left) Lars Dales & Maarten Smeets.

Musically speaking, Maarten Smeets and Lars Dales stand like a totem between the Detroit of today and the Detroit of yore. But what gives these Dutch DJ/producers and house revivalists the chutzpah to actually call themselves Detroit Swindle?

“We wanted to honor our musical heritage, but not be too artistically correct or serious about it,” says Dales. “The ‘Swindle’ is our way of saying, ‘Hey man, who cares if we’re two white kids from Amsterdam? We just love funk.’ A bit tongue in cheek, but with a nice ring to it.”

The Dutch duo met in 2004, as Smeets and Dales were programming electronic and hip-hop nights, respectively, at the same club in Amsterdam.

But it wasn’t until 2011, amidst a blur of camaraderie, alcohol and enthusiasm that Detroit Swindle emerged.

“We didn’t start out with an idea of making a specific type or genre of music,” says Smeets. “We stay away from defining something before it’s been created.”

Despite being wary of genres, the duo had common musical denominators. According to Dales, it was “a bit of sleaze and a swing that makes you want to keep on dancing forever” and, of course, bounce. It’s what some are calling “jackin’ house” or “swing house” (in reference to modern house, with a classic twist and a newskool flavor), and it’s a sound that’s fast becoming the Detroit Swindle stamp.

According to the duo, the DS music-making method starts with inspiration, but certainly incorporates tasty sample packs, some nice controllers like the Native Instruments Maschine and other studio gems like a MiniMoog Voyager, a gritty MFB 523 drum machine, and a Dave Smith Mopho synth. “And if we’re spaced out from too much studio work,” says Smeets, “we yell at each other during a game of FIFA [video soccer].”

Keeping the studio vibe light certainly helps, and it seems to allow them to thrive off an intuitive sense of musicality, which is good because neither has enjoyed formal musical education. Much of their studio training comes in crash courses and tons of tutorial watching.

“It takes a lot of time to figure out what chords to play to get that melody that’s been stuck in your head all day,” says Dales. “And every time you see someone who can actually rock an instrument, it’s humbling.”

Though the guys become accustomed to working within their means in the studio, they were barely ready for the attention that their first EP

(Starvin’) received. “We were quite happy with the tracks,” says Smeets, “but just didn’t think they were good enough to put out.”

But 2012’s The Wrap Around EP (Saints & Sonnets), took off with fire.

As S&S owner Huxley was no stranger to the media himself, the Dutch duo started to gain some profile in dance-music circles. Still, they realized that they were still evolving as artists.

“We learned quite soon afterwards that the music’s never really ready,” says Smeets. “You could fiddle around with your tracks forever and never put anything, but that’s not for us.”

Dirt Crew kept the boys in the hot seat with their next release, Guess What EP, and two months later they were performing live sets at Berlin’s Panorama Bar and playing Ibiza, despite their relative DJing inexperience. Says Dales: “We wanted to get out there, play our stuff, so we’re glad we decided to go for it.”

Possibly the biggest accomplishment was the duo’s fifth release, the “Creep” single on Freerange Records, which included the popular thumper “Brotherman.” Still, it’s hard to settle on favorites with Detroit Swindle, as virtually every track is as infectious as the next, but here are some to start your collection: “Her Song” (Murmur Records); their recent remix of Zoo Look’s “Over Me”; their 2012 remix of Medlar’s “Knockard Pearl”; and “The Break Up”—released in 2013 with the launch of Swindle’s new label, Heist Recordings.

In only three years since their first release and relatively quick move into DJing, Detroit Swindle is enjoying its status as an underground darling, cranking out one hot jam after another. Just don’t ever think that they consider themselves above it all.

“We feel completely comfortable the one day and like total amateurs the other,” admits Dales, “but yeah, that’s how it works. We’re really happy we started this, though—wouldn’t want to change it for the world.”

– Rachel Skotarczyk

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DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

IN THE STUDIO WITH

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JON HOPKINS: GETTING IMMUNITY

Jon Hopkins, it seems, has a mental block about DJing.

“I don’t actually do that,” claims Hopkins. But when the British pianist/producer is reminded that, in fact, it is what he does for arenas full of expectant fans at Coldplay shows, he admits, “I forget about that.”

Easy to do, considering that the formally trained musician’s ventures are mainly confined to the studio, like when he’s creating his own albums—Immunity (Domino) being his latest. Or when he’s working on film scores—he’s been nominated for an Ivor Novello Award (Britain’s honor for songwriting and composition). Or when he’s recording with other U.K. talents like King Creosote, David Holmes, Brian Eno, and yes, Coldplay.

“DJing is such a skill,” he says. “When I see it done properly, I think, ‘I don’t even try to approach that,’ so I don’t call myself one professionally. Still, for gear, I use a Hercules DJ Console Rmx controller and Virtual DJ [software]. I’m not a record collector, so I don’t search for music. I have to plan it in advance.”

And when he’s opening for Coldplay, for example, he fully realizes that the band’s fans aren’t there for him.

“Coldplay has a broad audience,” he says. “They might not be listening to me, but they’re feeling it. It’s a builder of tension, so I play melodic, accessible, dance-y stuff to increase the tension: Luke Abbott, Todd Terje, Four Tet, Gold Panda, Apparat, Moderat—things like that.”

With its strong, trackb a s e d e n e r g y, I m m u n i t y would easily fit into Hopkins’ warm-up sets. Half the album’s songs clock in around the 10-minute mark, but don’t drag for one second.

Hypnotic and relentlessness, numbers such as “Collider,” “Open Eye Signal,” and “Abandoned Window” engage the senses, yet remain minimal and spare.

Hopkins’ East London studio includes a cornucopia of digital and analog synths: Korg Trinity (a staple on all four Hopkins albums); Casiotone 101 organ; Roland SH-09; Korg MS-20 (featured heavily on “Open Eye Sig-

nal”); Clavia Nord Lead; and Virus Access. A piano, a panoply of pre-amps, harmonizers and Korg Kaoss Pads, plus Focal studio monitors all add to Hopkins’ sound.

While virtual instruments are not always Hopkins’ way, virtual processing is, although with an untraditional approach. Immunity saw him using Apple’s Logic software for the first time on a solo project. But he also has Sound Forge, which he has used from the beginning of his career, running within Parallels Desktop, a unique software that allows producers to run Windows apps in Mac. So, sounds playing in Logic can be opened in Sound Forge and changed with an incredible amount of processing, but not using any CPUs. The Trinity workstation has been his main workhorse up until now. But with a move in a rhythmic, techno direction, Hopkins was looking for synths with more life and capabilities. In discussing the mindbending “Collider,” Hopkins explains his approach.

“I always wanted to do a track like Chemical Brothers’ ‘It Doesn’t Matter,’ a track with a single bass note on every bass drum,” he says.

“It would be amazing to hear a note for five minutes and then it goes up a note. On a dancefloor, it’s like the floor is lifted. “‘Collider’ started about 10 BPM faster, but it wasn’t working. Sometimes when you’re trying to make something energetic with a lot of major keys, it just sounds ridiculous. I tore it to pieces with distortion, dropped the speed, and I had this amazing subharmonic stretchingdown. I had this genesis for something that might actually not be rubbish. ” Needing a couple of months’ distance before he could mix the tune, he replaced some of the sounds with analog ones to make things as punchy as possible.

In the end, things worked out just fine. “To me, it sounds like the end of the world,” says Hopkins. “It’s not malevolent.

It’s sad, a melancholy meltdown. All I know is, something heavy was being exorcised for me in that track.”

– Lily Moayeri

Photos by MertoMix Media

As many of us know, a night of clubbing can be separated into three phases.

You have: The Pregame—warming up, getting ready, getting to the club, getting in; The Party—the sweat, the crowd, the dancing; and The Aftermath—the cool down, getting home, sitting in your car exchanging stories, perhaps seeing the sunrise.

It’s fairly apparent that Krewella fully understands all this because the group’s debut album, Get Wet (Columbia), plays like a journey through a crazy, party night with a trio of youthful friends and siblings—which is exactly what they are.

Krewella was born when Kris “Rain Man” Trindl, 25, met Jahan Yousaf, 24, at a frat party in college.

The two added Jahan’s sister Yasmine, 21, to the mix and they eventually got to making beats. And now, the Chicago-bred threesome’s recently finished debut brings its pop-punk roots to the forefront of stadium-sized electronic-dance music. On Get Wet, they take the listener on an adventure with feelgood, hands-in-the-air singles like “Alive” and aggressive party-starting tunes like “Live for the Night,” moving along with a tracklist that imitates the progression of another wild night.

Rather than following in the footsteps of producer peers like David Guetta who commission pop stars to sing over their beats, Krewella’s Yousaf sisters write and record tender rave ballads and hard-hitting dubstep tracks over Trindl’s original music. A former “ghost producer” for other artists, Trindl says that Skrillex was his major EDM influence.

Inspired to DJ after noticing the lack of females in the industry, Yasmine and Jahan reached out to members of their local Chicago club scene to show them the ropes. In June 2012, their EP “Play Hard,” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Radio Chart and placed on the Pop Radio Chart as well. Scoring bookings around the world at festivals from Stereosonic to Electric Daisy Carnival, the group’s ultimate game changer was a hybrid DJ-live vocal set at Ultra Miami 2013.

As we approached the album’s release, the group was preparing to embark on a promotional tour with a stage set-up that includes live vocals, live guitar, and a full stage production with an electronic rock show feel. Despite moving to the front of the DJ booth, microphones in hand, the Yousaf sisters insist that Krewella’s show will be the furthest thing from packaged pop—no choreography, just raging fun.

Patrick Tiu

Krewella: (from left) Jahan Yousaf, Yasmine Yousaf & Kris Trindl.

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

We caught up with the Krewella’s members in three separate interviews. They went like this:

14

YASMINE YOUSAF DJ Times: How would you describe the dynamic of Krewella— what’s each person’s role?

Yasmine Yousaf: It started out a long time ago with Kris producing beats for us, and us DJing. But over time, we’ve really morphed into a collaborative trio, though Kris is the one engineering—Jahan and I are sidelining and passenger-seat producing.

We’re always saying what needs to go here, what needs to go there. It’s the same thing with our songwriting.

Whenever we bring a song to Kris, he will mess with melodies, help change lyrics. We all have our hand in everything—it works really well.

DJ Times: So, what’s the breakdown for the live shows?

Yasmine: We all really DJ with each other. There are a lot of things that are going on—we all have each other’s back. When our live show starts, Jahan and I will be in front of the stage a lot, while Kris will be DJing. We’ll be everywhere at different points. Also, Kris might be on guitar while we’re DJing.

DJ Times: How did you take inter-

est in DJing and how did you learn?

Yasmine: Our older sister, when we lived in Chicago… she was dating a known Chicago DJ and we were talking about how there weren’t enough female DJs in the world. We were saying our music is electronic, but how would we perform? We got it in our heads that DJing was the way to get our foot in the door to performing our music. We already loved dance music. We were going to all the shows. Three or four years ago, we pretty much taught ourselves to DJ with some help from people in the scene in Chicago. Over time, perfecting our mixes is something you just have to do yourself. No one can really teach you that.

DJ Times: How are you finding the shows so far?

Yasmine: Right now, we’ve had a few shows where we’re using the microphone. At Ultra Fest in Miami, we did a hybrid live set. When we go on our fall tour, it’s going to be 80-percent Krewella songs—we’re going to be singing all of them. We’re going to have stage production—it’s going to have more of a rock-show feel. We come from rock and metal music and are trying to pull more of those roots back into what we do. It’s still going to be electronic, but there’s still going to be DJing. We want people to feel in-the-moment, how they feel at a rock show, but with the world of electronic music.

DJ Times: While listening to Get Wet, I see the songs sort of divide between rave-y ballads and harder dubstep tracks. Which of these sounds did you bring to the table?

Yasmine: I love talking about our roots. It’s such an important part of what we’re doing now. I have a poppunk background. I was in a band. I grew up listening to Good Charlotte and Sum 41. But, on the other hand, I was listening to Chromeo and Justice.

We’ve always had this mixed love of rock and electronic. We love beautiful ballads that make people wanna put their hands up. When I think about our new album, there’s melodic songs that will touch your heart, and then there’s dubstep songs that just make you wanna fucking rage. We wanted to make an album that felt reminiscent of albums we would have listened to when we were 12 or 13.

DJ Times: I know you think of Krewella as almost a band. Do people ever take you less seriously because of the vocals? Do people ever think of you as pop stars rather than electronic musicians?

Yasmine: In the beginning, we didn’t want to do any vocals. We thought people would think we were fucking Britney Spears. We thought we were just going to DJ, but we still desired that live-show aspect. We felt like that’s what was missing, and we knew we had to do that and show

Yasmine: It’s the right choice because it’s what I wanted to do more than anything. Fall Out Boy has been one of my favorite bands since I was 13, I can’t even talk about this without getting emotional. To get the attention of your favorite band in the entire world, and them want to do a song with you, I freaked out. We actually got to get in the studio with him. Our management asked us, “Who do you picture yourself working with on this album?” And we wanted to do a really heavy collab that people would be excited about before they even heard it.

Krewella’s 44-city “Get Wet” tour runs until mid-November.

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people what we are.

DJ Times: What changed?

Yasmine: I think the turning point was Ultra Fest in Miami. That was the most live performance we had ever put on, and I think people walked away loving it. There’s no choreography, no dancers, no glitter and sparkles. It’s sweaty and grimy. We get on the floor. We want to show people what we’re about and, despite haters, they’re going to get it. They will feel the passion, if it’s there.

DJ Times: What’s your creative process, then?

Yasmine: It’s different for every track. Sometimes Jahan and I write together, sometimes separate. We’ll bring an a cappella over to a piano.

Kris will either like it or hate it. If he likes it, we’ll send him a demo of vocals and he’ll write around it.

Sometimes it’s the complete opposite—Kris will give us something and we’ll write around it.

DJ Times: I know you were discussing your relation to pop punk and metal, and I know you have a song [“Dancing with the Devil”] with Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy [and Travis Barker of Blink-182]. How did you get in touch with Stump and how did you decide he was the right choice to work with?

16 Sound Productions DJ TIMES Ad 4,125 x 4,375.indd 1

2/1/2013 7:36:20 AM

JAHAN YOUSAF DJ Times: You guys have been playing a lot of huge festivals and haven’t had as much time for smaller shows. What do you like about each type of performance?

Jahan Yousaf: I actually really love intimate shows, with really small crowds—like, under 500. You can really pay attention to each face in the crowd and see people singing along to your songs. It’s the most gratifying feeling as an artist. We always stay after those shows and try to meet every person we possibly can. Also, festivals are extremely fun. We’re always curious about what to expect.

DJ Times: When was the moment when you realized that Krewella was really taking off, and you could do this full-time?

Jahan: When we started playing bigger festivals, when we started having crowds before we even began to play. Now we’re at the point where were more confident. We can see Tweets and Facebook comments and know where we’ll draw a crowd.

When we’d sell more tickets to shows and have a crowd fill a venue, we realized that we could have a long-lasting career off this. But more than that, that people really do love our music.

DJ Times: When did you get involved with Sony and has signing with a major label changed things?

Jahan: They reached out to us when they saw us on a site called We Are Hunted—we had no idea we were even on there. At the time, we had our “Killin’ It” video out, which cost us $45 to make. We had been working on our “Play Hard” EP, which we had actually finished before we signed to Sony. Being on a major label has made it possible to put our career under a magnifying glass and help us branch out internationally and do things we probably wouldn’t have been able to on our own. We’re still doing our thing. We’re still making the music and videos we want to make. The label is just there to help promote that.

DJ Times: Lyrically, what themes are consistent through your songs?

Jahan: For Get Wet, we were actually really inspired by this united feel(continued on page 42)

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OCTOBER 2013

DJ TIMES 22

According to Jeffrey Greene of Party Time DJs in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the ultimate midweek gig would be performing for seniors living in what he refers to as the “Retirement Mecca” of the United States.

“In South Florida, not surprisingly, most retirement communities here promote themselves as being for the ‘active retirement lifestyle’ and have complete activity staff on the premises,” he explains. “I visited one a few years back and was pleasantly surprised at the volume of activities they offered.

“It makes you look forward to retirement—if you can afford it. One local retirement community even has a hip-hop dance team that performs at the Miami Heat games, and they rock it. Many of us aging DJs and MCs can learn a thing or two from these folks.”

Greene’s thoughts are echoed by Blake Eckelbarger (a.k.a. DJ Sticky Boots) in South Bend, Ind., who says his DJs currently lead parties at a nursing home twice a year (at a retirement community where his mother works).

“We used to find that Big Band and the Rat Pack/crooner-type genres are generally biggest with nursing homes and retirement communities,” he says, “but now many of those folks have passed on and the current crop of retirees is into ’50s-’60s music. That can make the events a lot of fun and it’s always great to see the smiles those classic hits can bring to the faces of older people.

“You can definitely see how the music takes them back and stirs fun memories of their youth. We don’t market to these groups specifically, but usually have booked events just through word-of-mouth or via employees that used us for other types of events.”

In America, people are simply living longer. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the United States currently has the greatest number of known centenarians of any nation, with 53,364 according to the latest census, or 1.73 per 10,000 people (83-percent are female). In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarians worldwide.

Supercentenarian status—a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more—is reached by one in 1,000 centenarians. Even rarer is a person who has lived to age 115. As of July 2013, there are only 30 people in recorded history who have indisputably reached this age.

In many countries, people receive a gift or congratulations on their 100th birthday. In the United States, centenarians traditionally receive a letter from the U.S. president, congratulating them for their longevity.

NBC’s Today Show has also named new centenarians on-air since 1983.

With that in mind, mobile jocks, let us introduce you to Randi Rae of Randi Rae Major Productions in Edison, N.J.—who actually earns a fulltime living from doing elderly parties seven days a week, and as a result no longer depends on entertaining at wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs to pay her monthly bills.

Rae says it’s great to celebrate these special events with the elders, and especially when she’s helping celebrate someone’s 100th, 101st, 102nd, 103rd and 104th birthdays.

“It’s great doing senior events, especially in nursing homes,” explains Rae, who over 20 years ago did her first event at a nursing home.

“Sometimes it’s as simple as BBQ parties for residents, staff and their families,” she says. “It’s not just DJing, but karaoke, fashion shows, games, carnivals, casino games and talent shows. It’s mostly mid-day and midweek work; very fun and rewarding, with no pressure.”

Rae says these gigs require very little prep work or extensive music libraries, and she reports that she never has to bring along lights.

“A lot of referrals come from staff for private events,” she says, “and you usually get all the holiday staff parties and awards and retirement dinners afterwards. It’s a simple set-up, and most events are for one hour only.

Some special events could be oneand-a-half to two, but it’s never more than three.”

She says her prices range from $100 to $150 per hour. And remember, this is for mid-week work!

Rae says there are many differ-

ent kinds of senior places—from 55-and-over communities to resident housing to senior centers to adult daycare to assisted living to nursing homes—and the people and budgets are all different.

“The most recent 100th birthday party I just did on a recent Friday for Estelle,” says Rae. “Miss Estelle got her hair done right there at the nursing home, where a beautician and a barber come in regularly during the month. She was dressed in her best dress and a staff member wheeled her into a room filled with residents who clapped and sang ‘Happy Birthday.’

“It’s not really a surprise because she knew it was her birthday and she had spent all morning getting all dolled up, but it was the thrill and excitement of everyone being there and the decorations, with balloons and paper tablecloths everyone had signed with her name. They sat her at a long 6-foot table in front of the room by herself.”

Rae recalls that she played “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder, and

who have cancer, MS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and all other sorts of elderly and other health issues.

“Now, from pediatrics to geriatrics, I have a company with integrated wellness and therapies,” she says.

“Fitness, massage, art therapy, pet therapy, aroma therapy, music therapy, cognitive games—so those bar/bat mitzvah games I’ve turned into games for these new parties.

“And, of course, there are all your TV game shows, too. I went to school to become a trainer and began my retirement career with wellness health and nutrition. So now I consult and train for the seminars and programs, and this all happened from DJing at nursing homes.

“If you play an instrument, sing, dance, tell some jokes or do a little cabaret show, you can do it for this elderly community with fun and love.”

Rae says this means she’s often working seven days and nights— “which is kinda nuts, but I love it.”

“As far as getting these jobs, you can market call, send flyers, attend Expos and conventions, just like your

regular business. For me it works just like my regular business—all referralbased. I never had to do anything.

Great service, good price, they call.

“You do need to know your demographics and music genre, and you must perform for the residents. You can’t just play the music, as dancing is a must.”

Rae says her philosophy on aging is simple: “From birth to your teen years, you want to be older, so you add half your age to every number,” she explains. “From teen to 29 you lie to be older, and from 30 to 60 you lie to be younger.

“From 60 to 75 you brag, but from 75- 100 you tell it loud and proud!

“When I work at a nursing home and I’m dancing with a resident— whether they’re standing or sitting— someone will always say she’s 98 years old or she’s gonna be 100.

“It is hard to tell that someone is that old anymore. When you do that special 100th birthday they may not have much family left and usually are not jitterbugging, but they’re always enjoying the attention.” n

OCTOBER 2013

was born.

“Great songs for this crowd were your typical party favorites: ‘Celebration,’ ‘We Are Family,’ ‘The Twist’ and Motown tunes by artists such as Michael Jackson.

“Some of the residents and even staff will dance on the floor. They love ‘The Electric Slide’ and ‘The Wobble.’

And when I see who’s shaking it up, I play ’90s dance songs such as Crystal Waters’ ‘100% Pure Love.’

“There was a wide range of ages at this facility, so the younger crowd likes to shake it up.”

Rae said she’s seen people at these events sometimes do dance interpretations, with readings of poems and even Psalms from the Bible.

“Very often residents and staff become like family, because they’re together for a very long time, even years,” she says.

All of these senior facilities have budgets and state regulations to follow, and therefore are required to provide entertainment. Rae says she has branched out, and now does events for those with special needs,

DJ TIMES

everyone was clapping and singing (and standing, if they could).

“There was lots of picture-taking with different staff members and the pastor, along with other residents and community leaders,” she recalls. “This party was completely run by the recreation director and his staff. They began with the welcome speeches, the pastor gave a sermon and, just like any other event we DJ at, every party has its own style.

“This was in Newark, so there were a lot of speeches and songs sung a cappella. They gave her a beautiful bouquet of roses and giant cards were signed by all the residents and staff. Many staff members from her floor spoke so lovely about her.”

Next Rae played Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday,” with more singing and clapping and dancing.

“There were lots of pictures taken, again with the cake and flowers,” she says. “That’s when you get to do your thing as a DJ-entertainer. While they served cake I played ‘Georgia On My Mind’ by Ray Charles because Georgia was where this birthday girl

23

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

The final leg of America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ & DJ Times took us to nine events in seven different U.S. cities.

In Mariaville, N.Y., on July 11-13, Camp Bisco jocks included Bassnectar, Baauer, Crizzly, Designer Drugs, Dillon Francis, Paper Diamond, RL Grime, Seven Lions and Wolfgang Gartner. In Minneapolis on July 13, Bassgasm 9 at First Avenue saw local fave Soviet Panda rocking a ninehour rave. At Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver on July 19-21, Global Dance

24

Festival presented Seven Lions, RL Grime and Baauer. In Columbus, Ga., at Mix Ultra Lounge on July 27, Roonie G rocked the Fountain City. In Las Vegas on Aug. 3, we caught Tritonal at Marquee Dayclub, then Kaskade that evening at Marquee Nightclub. In New York at Marquee on Aug. 9, Mark Farina housed us. In Atlantic City, N.J., at DJ Expo on Aug. 14, DJ Skribble wowed the Ego Lounge. Then, back in New York at Marquee on Aug. 30, Dennis Ferrer dropped a set full of deep grooves.

Marquee NYC: Sleepy & Boo flank Mark Farina.

Pearcey Proper

At The Mix: Roonie G in Georgia.

Brian Parton

At Bassgasm: Twin Cities triplets.

Denis Plaster

Global Dance Fest: This is Red Rocks.

Simon Alexander

Feeling It: Kaskade at Marquee Vegas.

DJ Times

Bassgasm 9: Soviet Panda at First Avenue.

Denis Plaster

B2B: Baauer & RL Grime at Red Rocks.

Simon Alexander

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

Voting Rights: Casting her ballot.

Pearcey Proper

25

At Camp Bisco: Wolfgang Gartner.

Ashley Suszczynski

Marquee Dayclub: Tritonal in Vegas.

DJ Times

The Drop: Crizzly at Camp Bisco.

Ashley Suszczynski

Raging: Camp Bisco fans let loose.

Ashley Suszczynski

Marquee NYC: Dennis Ferrer in the mix.

Pearcey Proper Vegas: Posing at Marquee Dayclub.

DJ Times

Global Fest: MiMOSA at Red Rocks.

Simon Alexander

OCTOBER 2013

Red Rocks: Seven Lions at GDF. Simon Alexander

27

MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

Reason 7: A self-contained music-making machine.

REASON 7: MORE CREATIVE CONTROL

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

By Wesley Bryant-King

28

Sweden’s Propellerhead Software has been a fixture on the electronic music scene since the mid-1990’s, when the company released its first version of ReCycle, a looping tool which—nearly 20 years on—is still in the company’s product line-up. Propellerhead catapulted itself to wider acclaim with the release of Reason, a DAW (digital audio workstation) with a unique user interface and approach, in late 2000.

Mid-year in 2013 the company proudly shipped its seventh iteration of the venerable software. I recently had a chance to kick the tires on Reason 7, alongside the company’s first hardware offering, Balance—a desktop digital audio interface.

I have to confess that I’m not a day-to-day Reason user.

But I do believe it’s never a bad idea to expose one’s self to what’s out there, and it was with that attitude I excitedly jumped into this review.

I went through the learning curve head-first, embracing the mental scrapes and bruises along the way. Like anyone using sophisticated software for the first time, there was a fair amount of manual reading coupled with trial-and-error, but to Reason’s credit, I did find the software reasonably intuitive despite its unique user interface approach.

Regular Reason users no doubt have already read the scoop on what’s new in this release, but to briefly recap the highlights: >> External MIDI hardware is now supported >> Improved support for audio recordings, including slicing and converting audio to Reason’s own REX format >> General usability improvements (better control placement, etc.) >> Built-in spectrum analysis tool >> Expanded factory sound bank >> Greater support for audio importing.

Of course, full details are available from Propellerhead’s web site. But let’s jump straight in to Reason from this newbie’s perspective.

First Impressions: The most striking first impression of Reason is its entirely skeuomorphic user interface. (Skeuomorphism is an approach to designing digital user interfaces that model real-world objects; Steve Jobs was famously a proponent of the approach, believing that it made technology more approachable by non-geeks.)

Skeuomorphism has its supporters—and its detractors— and, as someone who’s done a fair amount of user experience design during the years I was in software application developer, it’s not an approach I personally tend to favor. Perhaps 13 years ago when Reason made its first appearance on the scene, designing the product this way made a lot of sense; I’m not sure it still does. (Even Apple is abandoning skeuomorphism in iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks.)

That being said, it’s also what makes Reason, well… Reason, and once you get used to the approach, it has a certain charm and a fair amount of logic, and I doubt it hinders usability for seasoned Reason users. In fact, Propellerhead would have us believe precisely the opposite; the company makes a pretty big deal about its perceived creative workflow advantages, purported to allow the musician or producer to focus more easily on the music.

I’m not sure I’m completely convinced; like any sophisticated software application these days, there’s a learning curve (as I already mentioned). But I will say that creating a basic foundation track in Reason was outlandishly simple using its stock virtual instruments and factory sounds. Dr. Octo Rex, Reason’s loop player, makes it incredibly quick, fun and fast

to lay down some percussion, while NN-XT, one of Reason’s samplers, gave me a quick source for a bassline.

From that foundation, during my evaluation, I was able to record some acoustic rhythm guitar and vocals—made even easier with Reason’s Balance audio interface—and I had a quite reasonable demo song laid down in well under an hour from a standing start.

Set-Up & Use: Starting with the hardware, Reason’s Balance couldn’t be any easier to deal with. Testing on Mac under OS X Mountain Lion, “installation” of the device was basically this: pull out the USB cable, connect one end to Balance and the other to the Mac. End. For the software, things were hardly any more difficult. I downloaded the necessary files from Propellerhead’s web site, and ran the installer, following the simple directions. Like most software today, Reason has copy-protection systems built-in, which are arguably a bit more aggressive than their competitors, but not any more onerous to deal with.You can authorize any given computer itself; you can use a hardware device (namely Propellerhead’s own Ignition Key, available separately); you can use Internet-verification; or finally, the Balance itself functions as an Ignition Key. With the Ignition Key approach, you can install Reason where you need it, and move the hardware device around to ensure full functionality. In any event, it’s nice to have a range of options to suit a range of end-user needs or wants.

Once everything was installed, I went to work (which I already covered above). As mentioned, I was struck by the efficiency and simplicity of getting a project going.

It’s important to understand that Reason is a bit of a walled garden. There is no support for third party plug-ins—at least not using de-facto industry-standard interfaces, such as VST or Audio Units. How big an issue that is depends on your point of view. For users new to Reason, or those completely sold on the approach and workflow, it’s not a big deal. For those of us

coming to the product from outside, it means giving up all the third-party synths and effects we’ve come to depend on, and that may not be a tradeoff I’d be willing to readily make.

Of course, Propellerhead is the company behind the ReWire de-facto standard, which is supported by numerous other DAWs, so you can easily blend the workflows of Reason with things like Ableton Live, Cubase, Logic Pro, and many others to still work your VSTs into your Reason projects in a roundabout way, or leverage Reason’s capabilities into other DAWs. Additionally, Reason offers equivalent extensibility via Rack Extensions, essentially Reason’s answer to VST, and there’s a range (albeit limited) of Extensions from Propellerhead and other vendors.

Extensibility is also provided by what Propellerhead calls ReFills.

Essentially these are sound-content libraries compatible with several of the included synths and samplers.

Speaking of sound content, this is where Reason’s architecture and walled garden pays some real dividends. One of the ongoing challenges in crafting competent mixes is always finding and tuning the right sound. This can be difficult when your sound library is spread between and among factory sound content for

things included in your DAW, as well as across a host of VST (or other plug-in) instruments. With Reason, the all-in-one nature of things makes this easier. When you load patches or sounds, Reason automatically displays the right types of items from the library for the instrument you’re using. I found the factory library to be quite logically organized, and it was intuitive to find what I wanted.

When Rack Extensions or ReFills are added, this same intuitive mechanism is leveraged, merely expanding the range of goodies you have to work with. The end result is tough to beat in terms of its logic and usability.

While Reason supports virtually any audio interface, the Balance was (not surprisingly) a nice fit for Reason.

Aesthetically, the unit looks great. Ins and outs are logically presented on the back panel (all ¼-inch except the XLR inputs for mics), with easy-to-use top panel controls. The unique, wedge design makes a modern-art statement of its own sitting atop the studio desk, while keeping frequently needed controls within easy reach. With one master out, one headphone out, and a pair each of mic, guitar, and dualing line ins, it’s bound to suit the needs of most home-studio musicians. While I’m not an audio engineer with a rack full of diagnostic gear to evaluate its deep

Read youR copy of Read youR copy of

technical merits and specs, empirically, the Balance does a great job. Playback of known material rendered familiar results, suggesting D/A conversion was doing what’s intended, while recordings made through the Balance (the A/D part of the equation) produced good results as well that were on-par with gear I’ve used in the recent past.

Finally, beyond Reason’s great “speed to market” (so to speak) in terms of putting a new track together, I found a number of other things I particularly liked: Subtractor. As a bit of an analog head, this polyphonic analog-modeler is a blast to tinker with. Present in Reason since Version 1, long-time Reason users are no doubt intimately familiar. But new users like me will appreciate its versatility and range of great sounds.

Malström. While Propellerhead refers to this as a “graintable” synthesizer, I fail to grasp the distinction from what everyone else calls “granular” synthesis; ostensibly the pre-processing of the samples utilized. In any case, semantics aside, I’ve not spent tons of time with granular synthesizers, but find the concept intriguing, and Malström indeed generates some incredible sounds while providing a healthy dose of tweakability for those who like to dig into

their sound creation.

Reason is not just about the synths.

Included is a comprehensive range of effects as well, covering everything from reverb and compression, to vocoders and various types of transformation effects. Everything’s present and accounted for to take you from concept to final mastering.

Conclusions: Reason clearly continues to earn its spot in the hearts and minds of many a musician and producer. With a unique and usable—if proprietary—approach to its library of instruments, effects and sounds, Reason is a self-contained, end-to-end music-making machine.

Priced at $449 ($559 with the Balance audio interface included), it’s priced competitively with other DAWs, and if the factory sound content and numerous YouTube videos are any indication, it’s suitable for a wide range of music styles from pounding electronica to soft rock singer/songwriter material. Existing Reason users will no doubt find good reasons to upgrade to the new Version 7 (priced at $129) given its general improvements and additional sound-making capabilities.

Bottom line? It’s already well on its way to becoming a fixture in my own studio.

the way you want! the way you want!

AmericA’s First mAgAzine For ProFessionAl DJs estAblisheD 1988 AmericA’s First mAgAzine For ProFessionAl DJs estAblisheD 1988

For print or digital go to www.djtimes.com/subscribe For print or digital go to www.djtimes.com/subscribe

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

WIRELESS WONDER & COOL CONTROL

By Paul Dailey & Wesley Bryant-King

Orbit: Numark’s unique controller.

Shure BLX: Quality wireless system.

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

This month finds our scribes taking on a pair of DJ-related items. Boston jock Paul Dailey reviews Shure’s BLX wireless microphone system, while Denver DJ Wesley Bryant-King handles Numark’s Orbit controller.

Shure BLX Wireless System When it comes to multi-purpose microphones, for me, most discussions begin and end with Shure.

While I have used a ton of different mics over the years, I always seem to gravitate back to Shure products.

30

The oldest member of my collection of trusty SM58 mics has been in my gig bag for two decades—and, aside from the obligatory dent at the hands of a drunken best man, it works like the day it was purchased.

New for 2013, Shure has rolled out the BLX Series—a line of wireless microphones focused on the entrylevel DJ and PA market. This series brings features and options previously found only on more expensive models to users at a reasonable price point.

(System prices begin at $374 retail.)

You can choose a body pack transmitter with headsets and lavaliere (BLX1), or handheld (BLX 2), then select the microphone you want on your unit (PG 58, SM58 or Beta 58) and the type of receiver that best suits your needs—the single-channel BLX 4, the single-channel, rack-mount BLX4R and the dual-channel, rackmount BLX88. For this review, I was provided with a BLX4R, along with a handheld equipped with a Beta 58.

The BLX-4R receiver is clean. The box is lightweight and the hi-res LCD display provides quick view of all of the data you need, in a well-considered, easy-to-read format. Everything from setting up your microphone to finding a new channel and seeing where you stand in terms of battery life has been simplified, without sacrificing performance or expandability.

A proprietary feature called Quick Scan allows you to swiftly and effortlessly scan both channels and groups to find the cleanest frequency—not simply the next open frequency, but truly the optimum frequency for the location. For those familiar with the tedious task of step adjusting through 10 or 15 channels without knowing which is best, this is a major step forward, particularly at this price point ($261 retail). Battery life has also been dramatically improved, with more than 14 hours of use off a pair of AA batteries (vs. standard seven to eight you find with most wireless units).

The sound quality of my BLX-4R with Beta 58 microphone was exceptional, delivering rich lows, smooth highs and plenty of gain. And the clarity

of the unit in general blew away my expectations and made my five-yearold system mic sound like a muffled mess in comparison. One thing that threw me off a bit was the weight (or lack thereof) of the mic—as it’s less than a third of the weight of my trusty SM58 wired unit. But after holding it through a long introduction and multiple announcements, I came to truly appreciate the nimble design.

Shure has set the bar pretty high with this new entry to the wireless market. Tasked with a simple idea—bring high-quality sound to the masses in an affordable and intuitive package—the engineers at Shure have succeeded in spades. The Niles, Ill.-based company designed a package that not only looks and sounds great, but also is easy to set up and simple to use. Shure R&D people have taken the most common pain points of wireless mics (noisy channels and interference, trouble with clipping, a battery dying during the wedding toasts) and added safeguards to automate and improve those situations.

I liked my new BLX 4 so much I am adding it permanently to my mobile rig—can’t give a much higher recommendation than that. Well-done, Shure.

Numark Orbit Controller This past January, when I attended Winter NAMM with the rest of the DJ Times crew, it was clear that there’s always a lot happening in the realm of DJ gear, but also that much of it appeared to be of the incrementalimprovement variety. Mixers and controllers keep getting better and more capable and CDJs now double as multimedia player/controller hybrids, able

to play just about any type of media from any type of disc, while enabling better control of digital applications.

There was, however, at least one example of “completely out-of-thebox” thinking that the folks at inMusic Brands were particularly interested in showing us: Numark’s Orbit controller.

First Impressions: So what is it, exactly? In short, the Orbit is a wireless game controller for your DJ software. That one sentence is probably more than enough to get your juices flowing with ideas, and chances are, your imagination is right on-track.

The Orbit looks, holds and feels like a game controller, sporting a total of 26 buttons: 24 of them on the main surface of the device, all of which are translucent and backed with LEDs, and two of them chrome-plated on the front or top (depending on how you’re holding the unit). Of the illuminated buttons, 16 are primary (eight left, eight right), and have multi-color LEDs, while four of the others correspond to “banks,” and the remaining four work with the rotary encoder (discussed in a moment) to provide four “virtual” knobs per-bank, resulting in some 84 performance controls.

In the middle is a large rotary encoder, encircled by a multi-segment LED illuminated ring that indicates

the position of the encoder.

There’s more, however. The unit contains accelerometers, much like today’s smartphones, and knows its three-dimensional position in space.

The left-right motion can be applied to one variable MIDI parameter, while forward-backward can be applied to another. Starting to get the potential here?

When you turn the device on, you can’t help but smile while the buttons become awash in color. The device is packaged with a USB cable, and can be used “tethered” to your computer, but a wireless dongle is also bundled, which enables the real fun (in my view).

The unit is predominantly plastic, and of a weight that’s suitable for its intended use cases; it’s not fatiguing to hold onto for extended periods.

The plastic body is largely rubberized to make it easy to hold onto. How well the device might wear under the sort of abuse I’ve often seen DJ gear subjected to is an open question at this point, but given its roughly $100 street price, perhaps it’s a moot point—anyone adopting this for regular use should easily be able to afford a back-up unit “just in case.”

Set-Up & Use: It’s important to bear in mind that, at its core, the Orbit is a MIDI controller—and one that’s got an amazing array of con-

figurability. While Numark provides pre-made MIDI mappings for certain DJ applications (notably Native Instruments’ Traktor), power users truly interested in using this device are probably well-advised tinker with things a bit to get a feel, then set about configuring it to your specific needs and wants. That’s especially true given that the device has no screen-printed labels or overlays; what it’s capable of doing, and which buttons do what, is a matter of memorization and practice—perhaps the device’s only real downfall, if you can even call it one.

With my Mac-based test machine, getting the device going was a simple and quick matter. First, I registered the device on Numark’s web site—a prerequisite for being able to download the various software tools. With that done, I merely plugged the wireless dongle provided into my machine’s USB hub, powered on the device, fired up Numark’s Orbit DJ software (more on that in a moment), dropped a couple of tracks in, and starting playing. End-to-end, it was perhaps a few minutes, tops.

(While you’re there, you can download Numark’s MIDI configuration tool that allows you to customize elements such as MIDI note values, button colors, etc.)

The Orbit DJ application has predefined mappings that are shown on a virtual version of the device onscreen, so following along was simple, and the on-screen version echoed everything—including colors—shown on the device. It’s a perfect, quick and easy way to get acquainted with the possibilities here.

The software is not, however, what I’d consider a “real” DJ software application, although it is great fun to play with. To get a true feel, however, downloading a MIDI map for Traktor and loading that up was essential. I’m not certain that I’d choose to use the Orbit as a primary DJ controller, but rather, an adjunct to my main control set-up. In any case, it was definitely a uniquely fun controller to use.

Regardless of whether you play with Orbit DJ or jump right into configuring it for your actual DJ software, it seems that the Orbit is a device that’s more like a game controller than you might think; as I said earlier, to use the device well requires a combination of appropriate configuration, and lots of practice. But with those two things settled, I can easily begin to see how a DJ can use the Orbit to turn the art of DJing into a form of performance art.

I can also envision how an electron(continued on page 42)

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

have found a strong formula that has been financially stable for me and my staff.”

It all started in 2008, after taking some college courses and diving into a B-to-B sales job. The goal?

To eventually run his own business, of course.

“I stepped away from college to work full-time in sales because it allowed for a flexible schedule,” he says. “I could do certain things and take certain calls that I may not have been able to do with any other career.”

Currently, 75-percent of Klock Entertainment’s gigs are weddings, generated through attending “every single bridal show in the central Pennsylvania area” and with listings on TheKnot.com and WeddingWire.com. The remaining gigs are Mitzvahs/ teen events and corporate.

One thing that Klock points to as a major benefit to his business is his attendance at the DJ Expo, which he hasn’t missed since 2008. “My first Expo,

“I networked, attended every bridal show I could afford,

PA. DJ’S FAST TRACK TO LOCAL DOMINANCE

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

By Henry Kearns

32

Harrisburg, Pa.— When Jason Klock was in junior high school, he was enlisted to help spin a dance because the DJ had cancelled.

From that early experience, the mold had been set. As he got more time behind the console he was able to DJ a wedding while in high school. Other paid events followed.

“My father, uncles, and grandfather played i n b a n d s s o I k n ew there was money in the entertainment industry,” says Klock, who now owns Harrisburg’s biggest DJ company.

“It was just a matter of creating a way to make it. Throughout some college and then while working full-time, I slowly increased my p r i c i n g a n d wo r ke d extremely hard to create a positive name for my company. In recent years, as this is my fulltime journey, I seem to

To get events, back then, Klock “worked extremely hard at networking, attending every bridal show I could afford, and making sure everyone I came in contact with knew that I DJed and knew what my goals were. This last piece of the puzzle helped tremendously. I encourage everyone to always share their vision and elevator pitch with literally everyone they can.”

The challenges were formidable, of course. “The biggest challenge in the beginning was establishing legitimacy, experience, and value,” he says. “All three of these I feel go hand-in-hand. This is where the elevator pitch and networking helped dramatically. There were times when I couldn’t show credibility with my DJ service. However, I could show credibility with myself as a person and as a professional. This, in return, allowed me to get the experience and to create value to my DJ service. As I would get more events I’d make sure to always get a review, footage, and even a referral or two along the way. All of this together and working extremely hard allowed me to build my business quickly.”

How quickly? After three years of outside sales and networking, in October of 2011 Klock was finally able to make the full-time leap. Since then, he’s outgrown his first office and currently has on staff four full-time employees.

Klock, however, will be the first to admit there were speed bumps on the road to his quick trajectory.

“I’m far from perfect and still learning so much, so I have definitely made a couple of mistakes,” he says. “Fortunately, they haven’t hurt the longevity of my company, just headache and stress-type mistakes.”

He points to lessons learned in the hiring process. “I highly recommend taking the time to create a proper hiring process,” he says. “I did a lot of hiring of friends at the beginning because I needed the help, and, really, what is more exciting than hiring a friend?

Almost all of the friends I’ve hired have been amazing and are still with me today. In fact, our friendships have gotten stronger. However, there were definitely one or two that have parted ways and just didn’t have the passion and dedication we needed. I guess this can happen with anyone, not just a friend, but with a hiring process in place you’ll eliminate 99-percent of this. It’s a whole lot easier to find this stuff out at the beginning, when you make sure the proper expectation is set with your staff immediately upon hiring or before even hiring.”

Jason Klock became a full-time DJ in only three years.

and made sure everyone I came in contact with knew that I DJed and knew what my goals were.”

I didn’t leave the seminar rooms,” he says of DJ Times’ annual show in Atlantic City, N.J. “In fact, the first day I made it to the Expo showfloor was on Thursday. I literally took notes—on a paper tablet, way back five years ago—of everything. I’m very fortunate that all of the presenters were easily approachable and all offered to focus in on areas I had questions about— not just at the convention either, offering me to make office visits, phone calls, emails, etc. The $250 I spent for my Expo pass that year has hands-down been the best investment of my career. To network, to learn, to be able to meet some phenomenal mentors; and now many of them who I consider great friends—priceless and indescribable. It’s all what you put into it. I went to learn and I went to get everything out I can. I feel as though I’ve accomplished that and still target to do that with every Expo, convention, and industry-networking event I attend.

It was definitely up to me to implement everything I learned, approach speakers, and make it happen. But the platform and opportunity was created for me because of the DJ Expo.”

We asked Klock where he hopes to see his business going in the next five years.

“I’d like to maintain what we started and, of course, grow from here. I see ourselves continuing to expand our talented staff, branching out in to larger and more sophisticated events, and becoming the number one recommended entertainment service in the entire central Pennsylvania area.”

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BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

By Joe Molineaux

For the past three years I have had the opportunity to conduct an educational session at the DJ Expo. Each year we try to make the seminar topic interactive, and we do our best to put a catchy title on it. In the past, we’ve rolled out “Spinning Without Spending” and “Get Down To Business.”

We were planning this year to focus on “Small Business Success Stories.” However, during this year’s seminar, a question was raised from a DJ in the audience that changed the course of the session. After I completed what had been a standard introduction to the work I do as a Director of a Small Business Development Center serving three counties in Southern New Jersey, a hand went up in the audience.

The DJ simply asked, “What is it you do, again?”

I started to respond by repeating what I had just said seconds before. Then I stopped and thought about exactly what he was asking. He did not want to know what I did for a living; he wanted to know what I could do to assist

He wanted to quickly figure out what resources in the seminar, it took a were available and how could they help him to turnAtforthatthepoint better. Instead of sharing success stories, the focus shifted to answermeet his immediate business needs. ing questions and addressing concerns that the majority of the attendees were facing. The session morphed into providing suggestions and solutions to those in attendance with the goal of helping to make them more successful. We found ourselves in open and frank dialog about the realities and challenges that face the DJ industry across multiple areas, including competition and competitive analysis, pricing, the real cost of business, financing and more. Again, these are all areas that SBDCs across the nation excel in.

The individual questions started to add up to what in counseling terms is a “needs assessment,” although in this case I would call it an “industry needs assessment,” since there was a solid cross section of DJs and DJ business owners in attendance—multi-ops to solo jocks, mobile to club DJs and everything in-between.

One of the questions asked by a DJ that still resonates with me was: “How do I compete and separate myself from the every growing list of DJs within my area?” When I asked him where he fell on a scale of skills and experience compared to most of the competitors in his region, he said that he felt he was in the top 10-percent. My answer to his question was another question, “How do the clients you would like to work with know that you are better than 90-percent of your competitors?”

We went on to discuss customer and potential client education, branding, and using social media as an immediate marketing tool. Encourage people to request songs through a post on your social media. That tweet, post, etc., can show you are not only working, but you are tech-savvy as well. Things like mentioning and demonstrating a busy calendar of events already booked and additional meetings planned to potentially book more gigs let people know you are in demand. Also, a willingness to share experiences and real life examples of the work you have done demonstrates “proof of performance”—in the world of DJs, MCs and entertainers, performance is an important component.

Rounding off the answer, we talked about developing key relationships with external champions, those people that don’t benefit directly from the success of your business, but realize that your experience and abilities warrant promotion and referrals. These and other word-of-mouth and network building opportunities can and will lead to new business.

The overall session was a solid experience with quality information shared. The solutions and answers to questions were at times provided by experienced DJs in the audience. Many of those that arrived to the seminar party a little late, actually stayed late to say they wished they were there from the beginning.

I am pleased that the session had value and people received answers to their questions and concerns that will hopefully lead them to better business practices and more opportunity. For many of the attendees and for each of you reading this article, the ability to connect with a valuable business resource is now cued up for you. All you need to do is press “play” by visiting www.asbdc-us.org and find the SBDC nearest you.

You can visit the national website and, more specifically, visit your local or regional SBDC website, gather the contact information and call them. Some regional centers even have satellite centers in place for more convenient access to resources.

The Small Business Development Center Network is a comprehensive small business assistance network. The mission of the network is to help both new entrepreneurs and assist existing businesses grow. The Centers are hosted by leading universities, colleges and state economic development agencies, and funded in part through a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

There are approximately 1,000 service centers available to provide no-cost business consulting and low-cost training.

And when you contact them, be sure to tell them Joe from the DJ Expo sent you.

Joe Molineaux is the Director of the Small Business Development Center serving three counties in Southern New Jersey.

DJ EXPO: ANSWERS FOR SMALL BUSINESS and help him with his business. He wanted to quickly figure out what resources were available and how could they help him to meet his immediate business needs.

And that is exactly what the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)—funded by the Small Business Administration, State Economic Development Agencies, Colleges, Universities and other funding sources—do every day across the nation. The Centers are strategically placed throughout all 50 states and U.S. Territories to serve the needs of Small Business in all areas with no cost to business counseling, affordable training and related services. More on how you can connect with the SBDC nearest you is below.

At that point in the seminar, it took a turn for the better.

The session morphed into providing suggestions and solutions.

DJ TIMES

“What is it you do, again?”

34

All you need to do is press “play” by visiting www.asbdc-us.org and find the SBDC nearest you

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Answer the Headphone American Audio 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.adjaudio.com The brightly-colored ETR 1000 headphones from American Audio were designed by former DMC champion Edgar “DJ Etronik” Bernal. They “provide a lot of frequency output and good bass without being overwhelming,” the company said, as well as feature 2500mW of power, plush leather padding and a 40 mm driver. These headphones cover the entire ear and feature flexible housing to allow for double or single ear monitoring. ETR 1000s are foldable and come with a carrying case and tangle-free, 5-foot straight cable.

Are You IN2 or Out? Aphex 3500 N. San Fernando Blvd.

Burbank, CA 91505 (818) 767-2929 www.aphex.com The IN2 Desktop Computer Interface from Aphex is designed for project studios, home recordings and broadcasting. It brings mic pres, transparent optical compression, and the company’s HeadPod 4 headphone amplification system together in one desktop unit. According to the company, allowing compression to take place prior to the A-D conversion and USB-to-DAW transfer processes helps to create the “best possible recordings.” The IN2 features two analog inputs and outputs, two SPDIF digital inputs and outputs, two Class A microphone pre-amps, volume, mono/stereo dim controls.

Weeble Wobble Sonivox 561 Windsor Street, Ste A402 Somerville, MA 02143 (888) 800-0681 www.sonivoxmi.com Sonivox has released the next generation of its Wobble Dubstep Grime Generator. Wobble 2.0 features two channels that each come with a moveable filter that controls frequency, resonance and harmonic content. The program comes with 200 factory presets and studio-quality chorus and reverb effects. There is also a Pattern Generator that allows for measured-step control of up to ten crucial filter and LFO parameters. Wobble 2.0 supports AU, VST, and RTAS formats, and is compatible with 32 or 64-bit Mac or Windows systems.

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

Adam & E-V

36

Electro-Voice 12000 Portland Ave S Burnsville, MN 55337 (806) 555-5551 www.electrovoice.com Electro-Voice has introduced a line of ZLX loudspeakers that includes powered and passive 12- and 15-inch two-way versions. The ZLX-12 and ZLX-12P feature a 12-inch woofer and a 1.5-inch high-frequency titanium compression driver. The former offers a frequency range of 55 Hz – 20 kHz, while the latter has a frequency range of 50 Hz – 20 kHz. The ZLX-15 and ZLX-15P come with a 15-inch woofer, a 1.5-inch high-frequency titanium compression driver, and a frequency range of 44 Hz – 20 kHz and 42 Hz – 20 kHz respectively.

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Jam Master JBL JBL Professional 8500 Balboa Blvd.

Northridge, CA 91329 (818) 894-8850 www.jblpro.com The JBL 3 Series includes two studio monitors— the five-inch LSR305 and the eight-inch LSR308. These monitors both incorporate the company’s Image Control Waveguide, which “precisely controls the sound emanating from the monitor in the vertical and horizontal planes,” according to JBL. Both models feature a Slip Stream low-frequency port design that works with the long-throw woofer to produce deep bass response. The LSR305 offers a response of 43Hz to 24 kHz and a peak SPL of 108 dB, while the LSR308 features a response of 37Hz to 24 kHz and a peak SPL of 112 dB.

Later Gator Gator Cases 18922 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Lutz, FL 33548 (813) 221-4191 www.gatorcases.com The G-TOUR-DDJ-SX ARM is the latest addition to Gator Cases’ line of G-TOUR DJ road cases. The traditional wooden road style case is designed to fit the Pioneer DDJ-SX. It comes with Gator’s 360 Arm mounting system, located in the rear of the case, which includes a mounting tray that holds laptops, tablet devices, or a Vesamount LCD monitor. The case comes in gray and features thick EVA interior padding, all black hardware and a removable front panel for full access to the front controls.

Trap Battles is a collection of multi-format Hip Hop & Trap construction kits from Future Loops. The 866 MB collection includes more than 350 samples in tempos between 126Bpm and 140Bpm. Content includes full drum loops as well as separate instrument tracks, synths, leads, strings, bass, brass, keys and extra folders with drum one shots, including kicks, snares and hi-hats. Users get 358 WAV/Acid samples and loops, 253 REX loops, 313 AIFF/Apple Loops and 15 MIDI files.

DJ TIMES

Future Loops www.futureloops.com

OCTOBER 2013

It’s a Trap!

37

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Peace CORE

Pulselocker & Key Pulselocker www.pulselocker.com

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

DJ streaming and locker service Pulselocker launched a fully-featured web-based version that offers not only on-demand streaming for their catalog of more than four million songs, but also the Pulselocker Sync app that allows for offline playback on popular DJ applications like Serato Scratch Live and Traktor. The web service, which works with both PC and Mac, includes cloud-based accessibility and a personalized homepage featuring music recommendations based on the user’s favorite genres.

38

Galaxy Audio PO Box 16285 Wichita, KS 67216 (316) 263-2852 www.galaxyaudio.com Galaxy Audio’s line of CORE Speakers includes three models, each featuring wood cabinets, two twist lock parallel input jacks and a barrier terminal input. The CR12 and CR15 two-way loudspeakers feature a rotatable asymmetrical horn and 20 integrated M8 threaded suspension points. Available in black or white, these models are pole mountable and come with an integrated handle in the rear.

The CR18 subwoofer is a black cabinet that features a single 18-inch driver, a built-in pole mount and integrated handles on both sides.

Vestax Return

Static Cling

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

Native Instruments North America 6725 Sunset Boulevard, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 (866) 556-6487 www.native-instruments.com

The VCI-400DJ from Vestax is a limited-edition, 4-channel DJ MIDI controller dedicated to Serato DJ. The unit features a studio-grade asynchronous USB streaming system that creates low-latency audio at 24-bit/48 kHz resolution. Its EQ response is based on the company’s PMC-55 club mixer, while its XMOS dual-core digital processor is combined with analogue components “to deliver clear and powerful sound,” according to the company. Additional features include a thick, aluminum facepanel, large aluminum filter knob and die-cast corners. The unit ships with a free upgrade license to Serato DJ.

Static Friction is a new expansion for Native Instruments’ Maschine, Maschine Mikro and iMaschine. The Expansion adds tech house sounds to Maschine via 33 drum kits loaded with new kicks, snares, hi-hats, and claps, as well as seven special kits containing analog spring reverb samples, Ride and Snare kits optimized for live performance. Users also get spoken and radio voice kits that “let producers add catchy vocal hooks to their dance floor productions.”

TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATION

Cassy

Hot Natured

“METRUM” (UMEK REMIX)

u Fedde le Grand u Toolroom Umek reboots Fedde’s 2011 smash techno hit, injecting it with a bouncy tech-house bassline and bushy hi-hats. He flips the original’s unrelenting club atmosphere on its head and invites you to a very different kind of party—one that’s warm and tropical.

Run DMT Rebecca & Fiona

– Chris Davis DIFFERENT SIDES OF THE SUN

Rob Garza

u Hot Natured u Big Beat Jamie Jones, Lee Foss and Infinity Ink team up with an all-star cast of vocalists on this, their debut deep-house concept album—destined to become the soundtrack of your next hookup, and probably your next breakup. Check standout late-night groovers such as “Isis,” “Reverse Skydiving,” “Different Sides,” “Forward Motion” and “Detroit.”

“MY LEGS” REMIXES EP

u DragonetteDuke u Dragonette Dumont

This package takes the track straight to the dancefloor. Fed Conti delivers pulsing swirls of electro synths, while Milk N Cookies’ remix focuses on a pitch-stuttering drop. Eric Jadi’s piano-heavy take channels the best of danceable lounge house.

Kerri Chandler

– Chris Davis UNION REMIXES EP

– Chris Caruso

– Chris Caruso FABRIC 71 u Cassy u fabric Cassy kicks things off here by asking, “Are You Tuned In?” and proceeds to kill it on her latest mix comp. This one goes on a buoyant journey through some funky and deep-house vibes, even offering a bit of freestyle flavor. She brilliantly finishes off with Duster Valentine’s soulful stomper “(My Back Is) Against the Wall.”

– Natalie Raben “SHAMAN JUICE” u Run DMT u 4th Wall Leading the insurgence of trap and bass beats on this summer’s annual Warped Tour, Run DMT shows the kids how to do it dirty. With heady drops throughout and infectious vocal samples, this first single of his new self-titled album kept the parking lots bumpin’ all summer.

– Chris Davis “LOVING YOU”

u Kenny Summit & Directors Cut feat.Yasmeen u Good For You Directors Cut principals Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper team up with Kenny Summit and Yasmeen, whose alluring soulful vocal delivery intensifies this beautifully crafted house piece.

Dave Mayer & Husky’s vocal remix heighten the energy and their dub toughens things up with a pumping bassline.

– Shawn Christopher “THE TRAP / JACKAL YOUTH” EP

u Fantastic Mr. Fox u Black Acre A-side “The Trap” grooves its way along with powerful soul vocal samples, ninja-whip percussion and haunting chords. But B-side “Jackal Youth” strays a bit too far into oddball territory—the black-andwhite mystery thriller melodies clashing with its playful percussion and lively sub-bass.

– Chris Davis “HALLELUJAH” REMIXES EP

u Kerri Chandler u King Street The “Kaos Club Mix” version of Chandler’s 1996 classic has been given new life, with three modern-day mixes in tow. Our favorite version, coming from J. Barnum, brings a funky, summery nu-disco vibe, while German duo Robosonic pays stays true to the original with their 2013 club-ready reboot.

– Chris Davis REMIXES LP u Rob Garza u Smashpool Garza brings a fantastic and varied remix LP on his new imprint. His reinterpretations materialize in the beautifully trudging form of Sunwolf’s “Cherry Crush,” an entrancing version of Miguel Migs’ “The System,” the deep, tribal grooves of Novalima’s “Festejo,” the sultry vibe of Wax Poetics’ “Tonight,” and his remix (with Afrolicious) of Thievery Corporation’s own “Vampires.”

– Chris Davis

Download Corner

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).

“Dust” (Original Mix) by Alex Smoke [R&S]: Stretching the genre to its artsiest, Smoke develops a soulful vibe from sparse percussion, subdued tonal swells, vocoded vocals and enough trippy effects to make even Pink Floyd blush. A true achievement in house music.

Found on iTunes.

“Let’s Kiss” (Original Mix) by Mirage [Italians Do It Better]: Can house music clock in at 102 BPM? Mirage would tell you, “Hell, yes!” With influences ranging from Giorgio Moroder to psychedelia with an emphasis on strong songwriting, this is a record not to be missed—even if you can’t play it out in the clubs. Free at soundcloud.com/johnnyjewel.

“Dimness” (Original Mix) by Noosa Head [BeatFreak]: OK, back to more straightforward dance music—this late-night, underground gem will surely find its way into the biggest DJs’ record crates. Full of drama, the rolling, percolating, percussive, heavy groove will have feet on the floor and the dark chords of the break and build will have hands in the air. Found at beatport.com.

– Robert LaFrance

OCTOBER 2013

On this diverse remix package, Sleepy Tom emphasizes the bass to make a club-ready electro house stormer, while Panda Eyes fuses big room and bounce for the drop. The Dan Beasley mix stands as the highlight, completely transforming the electro-pop original into an entrancing techhouse groove.

DJ TIMES

u Rebecca & Fiona u Ultra

39

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MP3s in 56

Compiled As Of August 31, 2013

National Crossover Pool Chart 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Robin Thicke F/ Pharrell & T.I. Cher Duncan Morley Audio Playground F/ Snoop Lion Kylie Minogue Empire Of The Sun Krewella Kim Cameron KromOzone Project Enrique Iglesias Sylvester Chris Cortes Mat Zo & Porter Robinson Natali Yura Daft Punk Avicii Dj Max Hardcastle Jay Sean J-LO F/ Pitbull Will.I.Am F/ Justin Bieber Pet Shop Boys David Guetta F/ NE-YO Calvin Harris F/ Ellie Goulding Depeche Mode Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Daft Punk Gali BEX Chaka Khan Rod Stewart Kelly Clarkson Priyanka Chopra F/ Pitbull Tiesto F/ Kyler England Ford F/ Distira Ultra Nate Sarah Brightman Jessica Sutta F/ Kemal Golden Pitbull F/ Christina Aguilera Ke$ha F/ Will.I.Am Noah

National Urban Pool Chart

Blurred Lines Woman’s World If Time Runs Out You Never Know Skirt Alive Live For The Night Not Into You Come Back Turn Up The Night You Make Me Feel Mighty..

Awake Easy Scream For Love Get Lucky Wake Me Up Summer Love Where You Are Live It Up #That Power Vocal Play Hard I Need Your Love Soothe My Soul Can’t Hold Us Lose Yourself To Dance I’m Alive What You Are Its Not Over Sexual Religion People Like Us Exotic Take Me Music In Me Everybody Loves The Night Angel Again Feel This Moment Crazy Kids No More Angels

Interscope Warner Brothers Global Groove Sony/Canada Parlophone Astralwerks Columbia Side FX KZP Interscope Concord Global Groove Astralwerks N.A.T. Columbia Island/Def Jam Trippin’ Out Cash Money Capitol Interscope X-2 Capitol Sony Columbia Macklemore Columbia Ryal Sybasonic Earthsong Capitol RCA Universal Republic Illuma Blu Fire Simba Citrusonic RCA RCA Noah

Slow Down When I’m With You Lose Yourself To Dance Summer Love Turn Up The Night No More Angels Live For The Night Made To Love Ooh La La Tom-es Theme

Hollywood Firm Grip Columbia Trippin’ Out Interscope Noah Columbia Columbia RCA Music Plant

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

Selena Gomez RH3 Daft Punk Dj Max Hardcastle Enrique Iglesias Noah Krewella John Legend Britney Spears Teri Bristol

Reporting Pools n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n MOOD Spins - Seattle, WA;Randy Schlager n Flamingo - Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Giulio B n Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n OMAP Washington, DC; Al Chasen n NW Dance Music - Shoreline, WA; John England n Fusion Radio - Chicago, IL; Manny Esparza n B 98.5 - Staten Island, NY; Mike Gloria n Pittsburgh DJ - Pittsburgh, PA; Jim Kolich n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n Majik Boys - ,Los Angeles, CA ; Jeremy Martorano n New York Music Pool - Levittown, NY; Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo n Northeast Record Pool - Revere, MA; Justin Testa n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis

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

Robin Thicke F/ Pharrell & T.I. Wale F/ Tiara Thomas Jay Z F/ Justin Timberlake 2 Chainz F/ Pharrell Dj Khaled F/ Drake Rick Ross,Lil Wa Kendrick Lamar J.Cole F/ TLC J. Cole F/ Miguel Rich Gang/Lil Wayne Birdman/Future Lil Wayne F/ 2 Chainz Fantasia F/ Kelly Rowland&Missy Eli Wale F/ Sam Dew French Montana Meek Mill Drake Sevyn Streeter Chris Brown F/ Aaliyah Yo Gotti Chris Brown F/ Nicki Minaj Drake F/ Majid Jordan

Blurred Lines Bad Holy Grail Feds Watching No New Friemds Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe Crooked Smile Power Trip TapOut Rich As F**k Without Me LoveHate Thing Ain’t Worried About Levels Started From The Bottom It Won’t Stop Don’t Think They Know Act Right Love More Hold On We’re Going

Interscope Atlantic Roc Nation Island/Def Jam Cash Money Interscope Columbia Columbia Republic Republic RCA Atlantic Interscope Atlantic Cash Money Atlantic RCA Epic RCA Cash Money

Over Here Show You Before The Rollie Last Night Holy Grail

Warner Brothers Republic Cash Money Slip-N-Slide Roc Nation

Most Added Tracks 1 2 3 4 5

PartyNextDoor F/ Drake Tyga F/ Future Ace Hood F/ Meek Mill Sebastian Mikael F/ Wale Jay Z F/ Justin Timberlake

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

Juan Magan La Mayte Alejandro Fernandez Marc Anthony Delilah feat Demo Salsa Giants Toby Love Yan Collazo J Martin Prince Royce Renzo Zawezo Grupo Treo Romeo Santos Eddy Herrera Tito El Bambino Charlie Cruz Henry Mendez Henry Santos Pedro Jesus

Mal De Amores Guapa Hoy Tengo Ganas Vivir Mi Vida Sexy (DJ Bogart Ext. Mix) Para Celebrar Hey Nuestro Secreto Cada Vez Que Dare Un Beso Mi Favorita Me And My Cup Te Gusta Propuesta Indecente Me Siento Bien El Carnaval Labios De Purpura El Tiburon Besame Siempre Amarte Y Mas

Universal AJ Music Universal Sony Latinas Princess Top Stop Music Top Stop Music Sony Colombia PPE Top Stop Music Mayimbe Music Digital Launch Akela Fam Sony Premium Latin Venemusic LP Universal Venemusic PJ Prod

Most Added Tracks 1 2 3 4 5

Tone Crush feat Tony Fuego J Balvin To񯠒osario Raulin Rosendo Johnny Rivera

There Is A DJ In My House Yo Te Lo Dije Vivir Mi Vida La Loba Por Fin Paro La Lluvia

Rex Media Mayimbe Music Wilson Sanchez Orlando Prod.

Cafe

Reporting Latin Pools n Flamingo - Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Julio n Lets Dance / IRS - Chicago, IL; Lorri Annarella n Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n NW Dance Music - Shoreline, WA; John England n Pittsburgh DJ - Pittsburgh, PA; Jim Kolich n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - Levittown, NY; Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings R - Atlanta, GA; Dan Miller n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis n NE Record Pool - Boston, MA;

Justin Testa

Krewella

(continued from page 16) ing.The idea that we are one with our fans, the idea that if we go down, we go down together.That’s a theme that came up every time we were writing.

It all happened subconsciously.

KRIS TRINDL DJ Times: How did Krewella come together?

Kris Trindl: We’ve been making music together for almost eight years.

I met Jahan my first year of college and I convinced her to be involved.

Since then, my role has been making all the tracks, all the instrumentals.

But what’s cool about Krewella is I make the tracks—I show them to the girls. And when they write songs, they show them to me. We’re very collaborative. That’s what I think is so special about the tracks.

DJ Times: Do you see your set-up changing as your live set evolves?

Trindl: Yes, we might be adding a guitar. I’ve played guitar for 12 years and played guitar on the album. When we added live vocals, it was like, “Why not add guitar, too?”

DJ Times: Can you break down the gear and software you use?

Trindl: For tracks, it’s Ableton Live 9, Tone2 products, [LennarDigital’s] Sylenth, [Native Instruments’] Massive and Nexus, SoundToys plug-ins, [Camel Audio’s] Camel Crusher, [Ohm Force’s] Ohmicide, Sugar Bytes products, and iZotope Alloy. For vocals, I cut and edit vocals in [Avid’s] Pro Tools and we’ve got a Sony C800G tube microphone in my makeshift booth in L.A.—my closet. Also, Waves and iZotope plug-ins are excellent for processing vocals for me DJ Times: Who are some other artists you respect and enjoy playing out during DJ sets?

Trindl: I’m a huge Skrillex fan. His “Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites” EP was my introduction to this entire culture of dance music and all of his subsequent work has been very inspiring. I have tons of respect for veterans like Tiësto, Benny Benassi, and Armin van Buuren, who are still killing the game and are so humble and hard-working.

DJ Times: There’s been the recent “button-pusher” argument about electronic musicians, people saying anyone could do it. Any feelings about that?

Trindl: It’s true that you don’t have to be proficient at an instrument to make electronic music—you can program it. I would challenge someone who says that “anyone can do it” to create a song anybody would listen to more than once.

DJ Times: Some producers become so busy touring that they end up having ghost producers and just being the image and face to their music—how do you feel about that?

Trindl: I actually started as a ghost producer, so I do understand the concept. Plenty of the biggest producers in the world do it—from pop producers to worldwide celebrity DJs. When I got fired was when I finally was able to start working on Krewella 24/7, and things started picking up for us. Touring does take a big time commitment, so there are a couple additional producers on our upcoming album who got credit.

For certain ideas, it was really nice and time-saving to be able to call up a homie and be like, “Here’s a song that’s nearly finished—do you want to play around with it?’

DJ Times: Suggestions to aspiring producers?

Trindl: Never give up. Listen to

the sonic elements of some of your favorite tunes while you’re working on your own stuff. A lot of amateur production I hear doesn’t have enough layers, moving parts, or counter melodies. On the other hand, don’t overdo it because you don’t want too many conflicting melodies or frequencies. Great songs usually find a happy medium.

DJ Times: What do you do to make sure your sound is recognizable? What are some signature Krewella sounds?

Trindl: Especially for instrumental sections, I like to layer some of Jahan or Yasmine’s vocals with whatever synth I’m using as a lead. Basically manipulating certain parts of the vocals to layer with my actual synths to create unique-sounding leads that don’t sound like presets and occupy more space sonically. Chopped and glitched vocals are a huge part of Krewella’s sound, but it’s not always a go-to. On the more pretty songs like

Sounding Off

(continued from page 31) ic musician might well set the device up to work with a DAW of some sort to control sample-playback triggering, looping or other functions in a live performance setting, and redefine the visuals of on-stage performance away from standing behind a keyboard. And what about MIDI-to-DMX possibilities? A bit of out-of-the-box thinking (of the same type that led Numark to create Orbit in the first place) is all that’s needed here.

In any case, the Orbit sports a pair of chrome loops that allow you to hold the device with an appropriate neck strap or similar type of set-up, so it’s always at hand. Two additional

“Alive,” the girls’ vocals and the way we process them, helps to create the Krewella sound.

DJ Times: I see you as a great example of the continued fusion of a pop sound and a grittier electronic sound, dance music has gotten so huge in America in the last five years.

What do you think has made dance music so popular at this time?

Trindl: I think a lot of what is popular has a lot to do with what is promoted. The producer game has gotten so competitive. More people are putting stuff out every day. I think Skrillex really helped. I didn’t know about him until I got into dance music. I think Deadmau5, Bassnectar, and Skrillex are the three artists that really moved it to the ultimate mainstream. The environment of the dance-music concerts also, I feel like it encourages the audience to grow—Ultra Fest, EDC, everyone wants to go. You go, have a good time, and you go again. n Kaskade is that rare breed of EDM artist who is a songwriter, first and foremost. The production and DJing slots on a metal bracket onartistic the underendeavors follow, but his esside allow for other sence is rooted in theoptions. song. Numark claims thatyounger the device an upthe to Unlike DJs has chasing 100 foot operating range, allowing you latest sound, Kaskade—aka Ryan to step away frombuilt the abooth during Raddon, 42—has 10-year reuse. Additionally, wireless use has a battery life of roughly 8 hours according to Numark (on a full charge of its lithium-ion battery), so it’s good for a whole night of action. Conclusions: Numark’s Orbit represents some innovative and truly unique thinking in DJ controllers. MIDI-based, however, the unit may be just as much of interest in non-DJ applications, and with a street price of around $100, it’s within reach of virtually any DJ, from bedroom jocks to road warriors. n

Barclay Crenshaw’s Dirtybird Transformation

42

But in the DJ booth, I become re-animated…

I am… the great…

Claude VonStroke!

Claude VonStroke, Next Month in DJ Times

PearceyProper

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2013

My parents named me Barclay.

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