DJ Times November 2011, Vol 24 No 11

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988 NOVEMBER 2011

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DJ Shadow VS. THE NEW SCHOOL

Festival Season:

A SUMMER OF DJ SHOWS

SURPRISES & MORE TAKEAWAYS

PLUS

Dirty South n DJ-Tech’s Toys n Shpongle n IK Multimedia Apps n

America’s Best DJ 2011:

KASKADE

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INDUSTRY EVENTS…NOTABLES…MILESTONES

NEWS

WE HAVE A WINNER! KASKADE VOTED AMERICA’S BEST DJ America’s Best DJ

Top 10 1. Kaskade 2. Skrillex 3. Z-Trip 4. BT 5. Steve Aoki 6. Diplo 7. Wolfgang Gartner 8. A-Trak 9. Bassnectar 10. Designer Drugs

ABDJ ’11: Kaskade’s the new champ.

one of the nicest guys we’ve met.”

It’s been a big year for Kaskade, who also headlined the IDentity Festival, a multi-city late-summer tour that included a slew of EDM talents, including ABDJ nominees DJ Shadow, Steve Aoki, The Crystal Method and LA Riots. Kaskade follows 2010 winner QBert as the top America’s Best DJ vote-getter. Burgeoning EDM star Skrillex took second position, while 2009 champ Z-Trip finished a close third.

“Congrats to Kaskade, and thanks to all who voted,” said Z-Trip (aka Zach Sciacca). “I’m stoked to be in the Top 3 after winning it in 2009, then passing it to QBert last year. Good to see a real artist getting recognized for his skills.”

Additionally, as is the America’s Best DJ tradition, we have another winner—Jordan Osten of Minneapolis, Minn. As an America’s Best DJ voter, Osten was automatically entered to win a trip for the ABDJ closing party/ award ceremony and was randomly chosen to attend the Vegas event. Os-

ten cast her vote this past July 22 at the legendary First Avenue club during Bassgasm4, one of the 22 events on the America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ. Turns out, the 21-year-old Osten is more than an EDM fan—she’s a working DJ. As one-

Ashley Suszczynski

P o r t Wa s h i n g t o n N . Y.— T h e votes have all been counted and it’s official—DJ Times and Pioneer DJ are proud to announce that Kaskade has been voted America’s Best DJ for 2011.

The talented, Los Angeles-based jock will be honored October 9 at Marquee Nightclub at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for the America’s Best DJ Closing Party, which will include a press reception.After being presented with his trophy—a special, gold-plated Pioneer DJM-900nexus mixer— Kaskade will take the decks for the wildest Sunday night party in Vegas.

“I am really proud to be named America’s Best DJ,” said Kaskade (aka Ryan Raddon). “When I look at the Top 100 list, there are so many talented people on there, people that I’ve looked up to for years. So, to be awarded this title amongst such an awesome group is a great feeling. I really want to thank all my fans for voting and their continued support.”

While most of the votes were cast online at the America’s Best DJ website, the America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ supported the contest by allowing fans to vote in-person at 20+ club and festival events nationwide.

“Pioneer congratulates all the DJs nominated for America’s Best DJ, and we would like to send a special congratulations to Kaskade, this year’s winner,” said David “Davey Dave” Arevalo, Sr. Manager – Marketing/Artist Relations for Pioneer Electronics (USA).

“Kaskade is a true representation of the best that the DJ world has to offer. A pure musical talent, Kaskade’s a well-rounded producer, remixer, and exciting DJ/performer, not mention

half of the female DJ duo Dirty Talk (with Monica Farr), Osten will see the release of an original dubstep/drumstep EP on Oct. 10 on Reid Speed’s Play Me label—talk about good timing.

Congratulations, Ms. Osten, and we’ll see you in Vegas!

NOVEMBER 2011

Amsterdam—The global dance-music community hits The Netherlands Oct. 19-22 for the 16th Amsterdam Dance Event, which will host industry seminars, meetings and parties. DJ Times will co-sponsor the ADE Interlab Sessions at Pure-Liner, which will include top jocks like Guy Gerber (pictured). For more info, please visit www.amsterdamdance-event.nl.

DJ TIMES

Bennett Sell-Kline

Hot in Holland

3

Cover & Contents Photos by Dirk Lindner/Cover Illustration by Tony Papesh

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 11

12 Entering the Shadowsphere…

Nearly a Generation After Breaking onto the Scratch Scene, the Iconoclastic DJ Shadow Remains His Own Man

BY JUSTIN HAMPTON

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER

18 Done Deal

4

The 2011 DJ Expo Attracted Veterans & Newbies Alike—With Some Surprises Thrown In, Too.

BY JEFF STILES

20 Festival Season!

An Upclose Look at a Summer of DJ-Driven Music Festivals

BY JIM TREMAYNE & DJ TIMES PHOTOGRAPHY

DEPARTMENTS 7 Feedback

As Always, the Answers to All Your DJRelated Questions

24 Making Tracks IK Multimedia Studio Apps

26 Sounding Off DJ Tech Trio

28 Mobile Profile

Jersey Jock Robert Velasco

30 Business Line

Takeaways from DJ Expo (Part Deux)

32 Gear

New Products from Rane, Ableton, Yamaha & More

38 Grooves

Phat Tracks from Simon Baker, Sin Morera & More

40 DJ Times Marketplace Shop Here for All Your DJ-Related Supplies

41 Club Play Chart

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

SAMPLINGS 8 Dirty South DJ Down Under

10 In the Studio With…

Shpongle

m o r e t h a n a t o u c h o f i n n o vat i o n .

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Š 2011

G C I Te c h n o l o g i e s C o r p .

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P h o t o g r a p h y C r e d i t : To n y C o r d o z a P h o t o g r a p h y

FROM THE EDITOR

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

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

A Trip Inside “The Shadowsphere”

6

Adapt or die, right? DJ Shadow knows this all too well.

Yes, the great vinylist has come around to modern DJ technology—but, as he reveals to our Justin Hampton, he doesn’t always have to like it.

Of course, you wouldn’t necessarily believe that if you saw any of his recent gigs, especially those from the IDentity Festival tour this past summer. His astonishing sets performed inside “The Shadowsphere”—a crazy, video-infused, mechanical orb—became the talk of the tour among fans and among many of the other performers.

Still, Shadow (aka Josh Davis) is, at heart, an analog-loving turntablist. As he’s moved away from the old-school, sample-heavy approach that brought him notoriety in 1996 (with his breakthrough release, Entroducing…), he nonetheless entertains those existential moments where he must admit that the new-school digital technology—from CDJs, DVS and Ableton—has long left his beloved vinyl-approach in the dust. Ultimately, he realizes that—unless you’re playing a small, hipster, vinyl-only event—most fans don’t need to see your tricks. As he admits, it’s about what comes out of the speakers. You could say that he’s definitely adapted.

This month’s issue also heralds a new champ, our 2011 America’s Best DJ—Kaskade. After finishing second in the 2010 voting, Kaskade (aka Ryan Raddon) squeezed out his victory over Skrillex (EDM’s latest superstar) and Z-Trip (2009 America’s Best DJ). We tallied up the votes cast online and in the field—during the America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ— and Kaskade was our worthy winner. We look forward to presenting him with his special hardware—a gold-plated Pioneer DJM-900nexus mixer—at the Vegas closing party at Marquee. Congrats, Ryan.

This month we also take another look at the lessons taught at the most recent DJ Expo—in the Business Line department and in Jeff Stiles’ feature. In our Mobile Profile, we visit with Jersey jock Robert Velasco of SP Entertainment who came to the Expo and left with the Ultimate DJ System.

After his name was drawn from the hopper, Velasco returned to his New Brunswick home with products from American DJ, Pioneer, Promo Only and Rane. Congrats!

Additionally, we look back on the summer’s big EDM festivals—from Electric Zoo to the Love Festival, from Electric Daisy Circus to the IDentity Festival—and present you with some of the best pictures we’ve come across. In our photo spread, we show you some of the top jocks in action, plus fan craziness and a couple shots that illustrate just how massive electronic-dance music has become in America. Enjoy.

From our review sections, Denver DJ Wesley Bryant-King runs through a trio of DJ-Tech’s latest DJ toys in Sounding Off, while New England producer Josh Harris takes on a trio of IK Multimedia studio apps and accessories.

In Samplings, we connect with a pair of DJ/producers who’ve earned very dedicated followings from the global-house and psytrance communities. Dirty South (aka Dragan Roganovic) has been tearing up clubland for the last few years, and now he’s scored with recent hits like “Phazing” (feat.

Rudy) and “Walking Alone” (with The Usual Suspects feat. Erik Hecht), so our Boston-based scribes Joe Bermudez and Angela Bray grabbed a minute as he visited Beantown. Out west, Justin Hampton was at it again, as he interviewed Shpongle’s Simon Posford, a master of psychedelic electronica. The LA-based producer offers up some serious studio talk, plus one small detail of his unique live set-up.

On the immediate horizon, DJ Times will serve as media sponsor to a pair of our favorite industry events—Amsterdam Dance Event and Moogfest. Set for Oct. 19-22, ADE will see the global dance industry travel to The Netherlands for a week of meetings, workshops and evening events. We’ve been going since 2005 and we can tell you that ADE is one of the most productive and best-run events in the industry. Also, from Oct. 28-30, we’ll be in beautiful Asheville, N.C., for Moogfest, a weekend full of performances from industry legends like Tangerine Dream and DJs like James Murphy and Pat Mahoney. We’re very much looking forward to both events and we hope to see you at both.

Cheers,

Jim Tremayne, Editor, DJ Times

editor-at-large Brian O’Connor boconnor@testa.com chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Jody Amos Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Justin Hampton Josh Harris Russ Harris Robert LaFrance Polly Lavin Michelle Loeb Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Jonathan Novick Scott Rubin Jennifer Shapiro Nate Sherwood Jeff Stiles Emily Tan Phil Turnipseed Floor Vahn Curtis Zack Stacy Zemon President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa

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

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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 © 2011 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and must not be reproduced in any manner except by permission of the publisher. Websites: www.

November 2011

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FEEDBACK I became an influential DJ.” And, if you’re talking about physically attractive female DJs, it’s all in the eye of the beholder, right? I don’t know your type, Rich, but I’m sure one of ’em is rocking headphones some‑ where right now.

– Jim Tremayne, DJ Times

What are the dates for the next DJ Expo? What are some other industry events where I can expand my industry 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.

DEAR DJ TIMES, First off, I could not put down the feature on David Guetta (October 2011 issue). It was insightful, intriguing and very informative.

But, my question is: Why are there so few features on “Hot Female DJs”?

Are there any from Ibiza to South Beach, from New York City to Los Angeles?

Playboy’s 50th Anniversary Edition featured Colleen Shannon as the hot female DJ in the industry.

Is that it?

Love DJ Times and kindest regards, – Rich Unger, Sarasota, Fla.

RICH, As you referred to Ms. Shannon and Playboy mag in your question, I’ll as‑ sume that the “hot” to which you refer is “physical attraction,” as opposed to “skills that pay the bills.”

To be honest, we don’t want to turn DJ Times into a completely celeb-driven or skin-driven source for DJs. There are plenty of other media outlets for that. We’ll attempt to maintain some credibility with the readership.

Generally, when we’re featuring DJs, the first question we ask when consider‑ ing a jock for editorial coverage is not: Is this DJ physically attractive? (I’m guessing a few cover subjects will come to mind.) Not to name names, but there are plenty of celebs who have taken to DJing and we’ve not been too terribly interested in their booth endeavors.

Why not? There’s probably no story for them to tell that’ll help our DJ/ readers. Rarely can you tell a story that goes: “I became famous by acting or modeling or dating someone—then

connections and musical knowledge?

– Several emails, phone calls, etc.

Wow, the question keeps coming. We must be doing something right.

So… after the success of our most recent DJ Expo this past August at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J., we’ve announced that we’ll return to the venue August 13-16, 2012. We’re looking forward to bringing you more discussion panels of hot, DJ-specific topics, hands-on workshops and ex‑

hibits demonstrating the latest mobile, club and studio gear, and more evening events with top DJ and artist talent.

In the coming months, a couple of other industry events are on the horizon. One is the Amsterdam Dance Event, and it’s set for October 19-22 in Holland. (www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl).

Additionally, Moogfest—celebrat‑ ing the life of industry pioneer Bob Moog—is set for Oct. 28-30 in Ashe‑ ville, N.C. (www.moogfest.com).

– Jim Tremayne, DJ Times

Phazing: Dirty South rocks NYC at Electric Zoo.

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

DIRTY SOUTH: STRICTLY BANGING

8

Dirty South may not be as well-known as EDM stars like David Guetta or Swedish House Mafia, but upfront club jocks the world over always keep an eye out for his work. Why? Same reason those very EDM stars love to work with him—Dirty South makes rough, banging beats that fire up a dancefloor.

Yes, the Serbian-born, Australia-based DJ/producer—aka 33-year-old Dragan Roganovic—has collaborated with the top names in clubland, but he’s also charted himself with hits like 2007’s “Let It Go” and his current fave, “Phazing.” And his remixes have included floor-burners for acts ranging from Led Zeppelin (“Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You”) to Diddy-Dirty Money (“Coming Home”)—plus, his 2008 mix for Kaskade’s “Sorry” was nominated for a Grammy.

We caught up with Dirty South this summer, as he made a tour stop at The Ocean Club near Boston.

DJ Times: You have a really cool real name [Dragan Roganovic]. Why did you choose Dirty South as a professional handle?

Dirty South: I don’t know, I guess I didn’t feel the same way you do about my name—not that it isn’t cool. I always felt I should have an artist name, so I just made one up and that’s when Dirty South was born.

DJ Times: Here in America, “Dirty South” kind of refers to that crunk/ hip hop from down South.

Is it the same in Australia?

Dirty South: No, I actually had no idea about

that when I made the name up. I had no idea that genre even existed like a version of hip hop in America. I think two or three years down the track, I worked that out and thought it was too late to change. People get the difference anyway. People know my stuff. They know it’s different from the hip-hop sort.

DJ Times: You travel the world, so I was curious at what latitude does your name change? If you played Canada, for instance, would you become Dirty North?

Dirty South: It’s always dirty either way. It doesn’t matter the space, time, geography... it’s always dirty, it’s always banging. That’s the stuff I play—big energy.

DJ Times: Tell us about your new mix, Strictly Dirty South.

Dirty South: It’s a new compilation I did for Strictly Rhythm. Basically, it’s a two-CD compilation. The first is more like my old-school stuff I grew up with, my inspiration. It’s really house-y. It’s old-school, like I said, so people need to understand it’s not the newest music. The whole idea is to have a balance between the old and new, and to show what inspired me in the last five, 10 years.

There are a lot of edits in there where I’m trying to merge new a cappellas with the old tracks and [back and forth between] new edits and old edits.

The second disc is all brand-new stuff, all the current stuff I play in clubs. The way it’s structured is just like one of my sets: edits, my stuff, stuff from

the Size, Refune and Axtone labels... all the hottest I’ve played around.

DJ Times: One of the hot records on there the Diddy-Dirty Money “Coming Home” record. The reaction I see every time this is played is amazing.

There’s a clip on YouTube of you playing it in Miami at the Masquerade Hotel on the beach that is just insane.Tell me about that record: how it came to be and what it’s like playing for people.

Dirty South: It came from the Interscope label.

They asked me to do a remix. I loved the original hook to begin with and, usually, if I like the song, I’ll take it on and remix. I think I did it in 24 hours—it was a one-day job.

DJ Times: You do realize every DJ reading this is totally pissed off at you right now.

Dirty South: It’s one of those things... when you’re inspired and it just comes to you, there’s nothing you can do about it. I guess it all comes with experience. I’ve worked hard and worked my way around computers and programs, so I know how to get the sounds that I need quickly. I had this remix idea in my head. It came together real quick and exactly how I imagined. Of course, I didn’t expect the profile of the song to be so huge, but that kind of came naturally with people liking it. I guess the song was popular anyway in its original form on the radio, so that helped the remix and the remix helped the original when the monster was born.

DJ Times: A monster indeed.

– Joe Bermudez & Angela Bray

Scott Kowalchyk for ElectricZooFestival.com

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IN THE STUDIO WITH

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

SHPONGLE’S SIMON POSFORD

10

Simon Posford really can’t complain today. The British-born producer has some chores, but nothing he considers terribly stressful.

No, he’s kicking back at his girlfriend’s house in Los Angeles, and all he needs to do before hitting the road again is to work on a remix of Blues Traveler’s 1994 hit “Run-Around,” and mind her kids with her ex-husband—Blues Traveler guitarist Chan Kinchla.

“Whoever’s home looks after the kids,” Posford explains. “It’s all very Californian.”

Although shut out from a scheduled Burning Man appearance— alongside other notable EDM names after the BMorg sold out of tickets—Posford has still expanded many a festivalgoer’s consciousness this past summer with his multimedia Shpongletron DJ set.

Psy-trance fans have embraced Posford’s productions as Hallucinogen and Younger Brother, but it’s Shpongle’s 15-year-old freeform exploration into psychedelic world music fusion that has won over the New Agers and jam-band devotees outside of the EDM underground.

“I like to think of Shpongle as more unclassifiable than a lot of music,” says Posford, “just because we draw from so many genres, from jazz to classical to electronic to organic to dub, house, trance.

There’s really no rules. I don’t pick a genre and make a track for the genre.”

While Posford has a small studio set-up in L.A., the serious composition takes place in the U.K. Logic Audio forms the backbone of his productions—he’s been a user since its early days—and he praises its high-quality sound engine, which he feels corresponds best to the live instrumentation and intricate sound design inherent in Shpongle.

Sound generation for Shpongle ranges from sources as highend as Kyma and as basic as circuit-bent Speak-And-Spells and the Yamaha VSS-200 keyboard—even rubber bands stretched across tables will do.

Posford favors original hardware synths over digital emulators, using plug-ins from UAD and Waves and distortion units like Thermionic Culture’s Culture Vulture to distort the sound from vintage gear like the OSCar once the source sound is generated. To Posford’s ears, the soft synths simply cannot reduplicate the variety within the hardware.

“I rent [Roland SH101s] when I go on tour,” he reports. “They all sound very different from each other, just between each synth, whereas [a soft synth] will sound identical to an identical software version.”

Similar to Plastikman, Amon Tobin and deadmau5, Posford has focused on a multimedia assault vis-à-vis the Shpongletron. While Boston-based VJ Peter Berdovsky (aka Zebbler) handles the projections and 3D mapping, Posford works with Ableton Live and an Akai APC controller as his main interface. Ten outputs from Ableton go into a mixing desk for fades and EQing and, from there, into a delay unit for echo and reverb, alongside additional musical inserts from the SH101. The set-up eschews traditional monitors in favor of earbuds, and focuses almost exclusively on Shpongle material, although Posford usually ends on a high note with an uptempo Hallucinogen track.

But, apparently, they didn’t think of everything for his live setting.

After the Shpongletron’s test-run performance in NYC this past New Year’s Eve, the stage designer created another system for a very basic, but temporarily forgotten function. “I played a long set, and I really needed to go for a piss,” Posford recalls. “I ended up pissing in two cups while I was playing, and then passing them down to the production guy. I guess after that, they didn’t want any more pee, so they created a cupholder.”

Necessity is, after all, the mother of invention.

– Justin Hampton

Are You Shpongled? Posford pushes psychedelia.

Ashley Suszczynski

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DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

NOVEMBER 2011

DJ TIMES

Photos by Dirk Lindner/Illustration by Tony Papesh

In the 2001 documentary Scratch, Josh Davis is asked about his record collection, which at the time made getting around his then-home in the sleepy college town of Davis, Calif., somewhat difficult for the camera crew.

“It’s sort of like a big pile of broken dreams—almost none of these artists still have a career, really,” Davis responded. “So, you really have to respect that, in a way. If you’re making records, and if you’re DJing, putting out new releases, whether it’s a mixtape or whatever, you’re sort of adding to this pile, whether you wanna admit it or not. Keep that in mind when you start thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m invincible and I’m the world’s best’ or whatever, because that’s what all these cats thought...You don’t have to [collect]. It’s not gonna make a bad DJ good, but it will make a good DJ better.”

In the case of Davis’ DJ Shadow project, it’s assured him that his work will never get lost within this pop music purgatory.

The reasons for this, as most longtime DJ Times readers know, barely need to be reviewed, but for the sake of convention, one has to remark on Shadow’s early, impressionistic handling of samples as the origin of trip-hop. Matter of fact, the term itself was coined to describe one of Shadow’s first singles, “In-Flux.” Despite some initial production work for Lifer’s Group (a hip-hop project the incarcerated MCs) and Paris (a politically charged Bay Area MC), Shadow’s work was largely ignored by U.S. hip-hop labels at the time.

However, a rabid cult of supporters, most notably future U.N.K.L.E. collaborator James Lavelle, developed around Davis’ work in the U.K., with the best of Shadow’s disciples centered around Lavelle’s Mo’Wax label. The promise of Shadow’s earliest work found its ultimate fulfillment in his 1996 debut, Endtroducing…, a stunningly diverse and otherworldly release constructed entirely out of samples. As one of pop music’s bonafide “often-imitated-never-equaled” sorts of LPs, Endtroducing… has both defined and haunted Davis’s career ever since.

In particular, Davis has been pegged as a once-great has-been by detractors, particularly after the release of his third full-length, The Outsider, a controversial 2006 departure from his trademark sound into pop-rock and hyphy. Yet even those people can’t fault Davis for his undimmed powers as a turntablist, demonstrated on the “Brainfreeze” and “Hard Sell” tours with Cut Chemist and his own solo Shadowsphere tour, where he performs solo in an oval bubble shot through with projections. And not two years after being included in the now-discontinued “DJ Hero” Activision game, he’s released his fourth LP, The Less You Know, The Better (Island/Verve). While there’s no hyphy, there’s still enough metal (“I Gotta Rokk,” “Border Crossing”), balladry (“Sad And Lonely”) and straightforward pop (“Warning Call” with Tom Vek, “Scale It Back” with Little Dragon) to remind hidebound listeners that there’s more to Shadow than the good old days.

We caught up with Shadow on the road with the IDentity Festival just before he launched off to dates in the U.K., Europe and Asia for the rest of the year. Ever the outspoken pundit, Shadow shared with us reflections on production techniques, the phasing out of vinyl, and why the online music industry sucks in 2011.

DJ Times: What have you taken on the road with you for IDentity Fest?

13

NOVEMBER 2011

DJ TIMES 14

How does it compare to the Shadowsphere tour?

Shadow: It is the same, although literally today is going to be the fourth sort of re-tweak. The tour launched, in late June of 2010, I believe. And after about three months, I usually know exactly what I want to fix and change, based on audience reactions. But when I change the music I have to change the visuals as well, because I don’t like showing visuals that are just wallpaper and are basically a bunch of lighting effects.

DJ Times: What do you prefer?

Shadow: I like to have visuals that speak to the music that I’m playing.

So that’s obviously quite a production, because the visuals are of a certain quality that it’s not something that I can take lightly. So I did another revision at the end of summer last year, did another one later that same year for the U.S. run and got it pretty much where I liked it and did another one before the tour kicked off again this year. Then, literally tonight, we’re going to be testing the new version of the show. So I’d say there’s about 15 to 20 minutes of different content for tonight’s show.

DJ Times: Give me a little idea of the gear within the Shadowsphere.

Shadow: The tour that I did with Cut Chemist, which was the last big tour I did before this one, was eight turntables playing all vinyl, all seven-inches, four turntables each with looping pedals and all kinds of stuff going on. I’ve used Serato in the past.

I’ve used CDJs in the past. And, really at this point, the only thing I look at when I’m getting ready to do a big tour is what’s gonna provide the best audience experiences, because generally speaking, when I’m doing these shows, most people can’t see what I’m doing or what I’m using. All they care about is does it sound good and does it look good?

DJ Times: So which direction did you go?

Shadow: So, on this tour, when I put this show together, I didn’t know how the table surface was gonna behave. I didn’t know what kind of weather conditions we were gonna be facing. And so when there’s a lot of unknowns, I tend to default to CDJs and I’d say on this tour, I finally have gotten to a point where I feel comfortable being a turntablist on CDJs. In the past, I’ve usually reserved CDJs for playing back certain songs that I hadn’t pressed up on wax yet and doing most of the scratching either on Serato or traditional vinyl.

DJ Times: You’re playing on the CDJ-2000s, then?

Shadow: I feel like I’ve put in enough hours on the new versions of the CDJs, that it feels pretty good to me now. There are still some things that I can do with Serato or regular vinyl that I can’t do with CDJs. But I’ve learned to avoid dipping into that bag of tricks with doing a solo or something. So there are two CDJs and also two laptops running Ableton.

And some of the music that is coming from Ableton is synching the visual computer.

DJ Times: You’re one of the few DJ/artists that I’ve interviewed recently that still works with vinyl. Obviously, the industry has switched over to digital. How do you feel about that?

Shadow: One of the main problems I’m sure other people have touched on is that systems just aren’t calibrated for vinyl anymore. And when that really got driven home to me, quite honestly, was [when] the game “DJ Hero” came out. I was in the U.K., because the publisher is based in London and I did a launch party. And a guy that is a friend of mine on the BBC named Zane Lowe played after me. I felt like, “If I’m gonna do a few promotional gigs to promote the game, I want to use vinyl.” I just felt like that will be a cool touch and people will appreciate seeing

how vinyl is manipulated because so few are doing it. But to be quite honest, whether you’re playing to an audience of 100 in some hip little place in London for a party like this or for 10,000 people at a festival, what I’ve learned is people just don’t care what your methods are. They don’t care what you’re using. All they care about is if it sounds clear and it’s pumping.

And I was playing vinyl and then Zane came on right after me. He’s playing CDJs and immediately the sound was twice as loud. And I had pumped it as much as I could without getting needle feedback.

DJ Times: Do you see a venue for vinyl anymore?

Shadow: The only context that I think is valid these days is for a sort of “Hey, this is a conceptual throwback gig where we’re gonna play all 45s,” which Cut Chemist and I have done. Or if you can come up with a good hook where the vinyl aesthetic is part of the gig, then fine. But if you’re just a working DJ at a festival or one of five playing in a club, yeah, it’s suicide to bust out vinyl in the midst of four other people using Serato or CDJs. DJ Times: The trend right now, with producers like araabMuzik and Pretty Lights, is actually playing the MPC, or a Monome or similar instrument, triggering samples with the touchpads. How does that strike you?

Is that a viable extension of DJing/ turntablism in your eyes?

Shadow: It was never really that foreign of a concept to me coming from hip hop. I’m on this IDentity tour and most of the other DJs come from the rave scene, and hip hop’s always been very competitive in skill space. And I think that’s the major difference. Growing up, there were classic routines such as “Flash to the Beat” with Grandmaster Flash where he was drumming live on a drum machine. I think it was a Vox drum machine. You hear that and you think

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DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

to yourself, “Oh, wow—he’s playing the drum machine!” I mean, that’s pretty versatile. Here’s a DJ and he’s setting himself apart from the pack with this group of MCs by providing all the beats by drumming them.

DJ Times: There were others, too…

Shadow: In the mid-’80s, Mantronix would come out onstage and he would be triggering the drum kicks himself over the break from “Peter Piper.” So again, growing up, seeing those kinds of routines, I always knew, “Oh, yeah, that’s part of our bag of tricks.”

DJ Times: There are other tricks now, right?

Shadow: We did do something pretty cool though on the 2002 tour that I still haven’t seen replicated even in this area of VJs in quite the same way that we did it. It was really my first tour with a full-fledged visual show. And so there was a lot of video sampling which is, of course, for someone like me, it would be a natural bag to dip into. But what we did for the second encore of the night was we had audio samples in the MPC triggering video clips in the laptops.

DJ Times: That wasn’t as easy to do in 2002.

Shadow: Yes, again, we’re going back 10 years, so we actually had to write the code. It was proprietary code that we had to write to actually get it all to behave without any latency, so that visually, you’re seeing exactly what I was playing. So, to make that routine work, I sat down with a bunch of different videos that had drumbeats and people talking about drums and put together a little routine. I was sampling the visuals that they were seeing and playing them back. And it really kind of blew people’s minds. We’ve never really gotten back to that, I mean, because we can’t really remember how we did it! (laughs) DJ Times: What do you think of that approach now?

Shadow: I think video sampling, in my opinion, got a little bit played out.

Everybody was doing it more recently. On this show, all the visuals are created visuals, as opposed to video sampling. And there are a few parts of the set now where I play some Yamaha drum pads and I’m triggering visuals in a similar way.

DJ Times: With The Outsider, you entered into full-on music production.

So how do you handle that? Do you work with soft synths or outboard gear?

Shadow: The process of doing the beatmaking and the sweetening and the arranging, like getting the track, I always like to say is 85-percent there and then yeah, I’ll use software synths. I’m not really a huge outboard gearhead, basically because I get weary of all of the cabling and all of the upkeep when things go bad. It’s really not my scene. I’ve never been a huge keyboard dude or drum machine guy. Sampling’s always where my head’s been at.

DJ Times: So how do you approach it?

Shadow: So fortunately for me, though, I do know some people that live locally. Jack Dangers from Meat Beat Manifesto lives about a mile from my house and I’ve known him for a long time. And his studio’s like an immaculate collection of the most off-the-wall [pieces]. He’s got a Synthi; he’s got these crazy Moog boards that are, like, one of eight ever made, things like that. So occasionally, if I sort of feel like there’s a texture that I’m really looking for or there’s a sound in a record, it’s like, “Hey, do you have an ARP that I want

16

to hook up because I really want that sound?” Or, “Can I borrow your Omni because I really want that sound?”

DJ Times: And beyond the hardware?

Shadow: I’ll dip into his bag of tricks occasionally, but for the most part, if I need to do some sweetening or some minor embellishment to really round out the sonic end of things, I’ll just dip into any number of software synths I have.

When I get into the studio to mix, I actually go to tape still. And I like to use a big programmable board and use a lot of outboard gear to get the mix right. I feel like it adds a lot of warmth and it keeps everything from being too in-thebox. And that’s an expense that I’m able to justify because I’m on a major label and I feel like it really sets my music apart in a way from all of the stuff that’s like Fruity Loops and created and mixed and mastered right in the same laptop.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing it that way, but I like what it does for my music to take it out of the box.

DJ Times: I’d like to speak on drum programming, especially on “I’m Excited” and the first single “Def Surrounds Us,” because that seems to be a real departure for you. And how is Jack nowadays?

Shadow: He’s good. [The arthritis] is something he’s always going to continue with, but yeah, he’s fine. He’s still very creative. He’s largely moved into working with visuals as well. But in terms of those two tracks, I did “I’m Excited” at the very end of the album, sort of as a release because I had been working on a lot of weighty material and material that I wanted to be really tasteful and stand the test of time. And I think it’s important to have those moments, obviously, on any good record. But I also think it’s important to just have some moments of like, “OK, this actually didn’t take a month to do,” and was really the result of letting off some steam. And yeah, “I’m Excited” just came about over the course of two or three kind of intense, feverish little beatmaking sessions. I just sort of threw a bunch of stuff at the wall and picked the parts I liked and that’s not normally the way I work. But again, it’s good to shake up your own methods sometime.

DJ Times: And what about “Def Surrounds Us”?

Shadow: “Def Surrounds Us” took a really long time. It took a lot of programming. That’s a song that I feel like I could have probably put another month into and it could have gone in any other number of directions. But it’s a song that I did mostly on [Native Instruments] Maschine. I was learning Maschine as I was making that track… (laughs)… like, a year and a half, two years ago. So it ended up being like one of those songs where you have all these messed-up tracks scattering around your Pro Tools session. You have to delete them and, yeah, it was a big mess, actually. I had about two or three different versions of Maschine running simultaneously because I couldn’t figure out how to get everything working at the same time. So that was one of those tracks that took a big effort. There’s a reason I brought it out first and there’s also a reason I left it off the album. But yeah, it was a track where I learned a lot.

DJ Times: You mentioned on RS.com that you work with old acetates and reel-to-reels. Tell me, once you’ve gotten your hands on them, how do you convert them? Does it still go into the MPC? I had heard you phased that out.

Shadow: Well, it will go into Pro Tools initially, in terms of recording. So I’ll have a session called “Samples_Sept_2011” or whatever and just literally use it as a recording device. I’ll EQ the record the way I think it should sound or the tape or whatever and start making little collections of these things that I think are interesting and then just start the process of, “OK, well, let me move this beat under this piano sample and see how it works together. Do I hear anything there? Aesthetically, is it pleasing? Sonically, was it pleasing? Is there a lot of work that needs to be done?” Because, usually, I use all of these different, disparate set elements or reel-to-reel or vinyl elements. It’s nice to get them all in one place, so if I need to move a stack of records because it’s in the way, (continued on page 42)

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DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

Like most participants at this past year’s DJ Expo convention in Atlantic City, N.J., Adam Weitz of A Sharp Productions in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., reports that he was very pleased with the turnout at the 2011 convention.

“The participation for seminars and networking was incredible,” Weitz says. “In fact, I will say that this year proved to me that the 21st year of the DJ Times convention was ‘Year of the Rookie.’ Seriously, I’ve never before seen so many new faces who wanted to come and show their support of being part of the next generation of talent.

“This was shown at the networking opening seminar’s meet-and-greet, and it definitely was shown at the DJ Times’ entertainer of the year show, and boy was it jammed packed with so many new faces at the Promo Only party.”

Many DJs maintain that events such as the DJ Expo are required to continually initiate the “virgins” entering our career field year after year.

“I think if you’re trying to make an industry grow and bring in new members,” says Weitz, “then you have to examine your market—and, yes, you have to cater to rookies.

“These new kids are wonder-wizzes with the computers and new DJ technology, and have a better grip for the innovative and fresh-idea factor. I

18

mean, seriously, how many times do you want to discuss ‘LED glow hair?’ Fun, fresh creativity is just what this convention is looking for.

“Also, the convention happens to be a place of networking. And if you’re a seasoned player, then bring along your fishing pole because there are hundreds of DJs looking to get connected with larger companies that are well-established.”

But that’s not all, says Weitz. “Us oldies need to remember all the seminars on multi-op growth,” he continues. “I can’t even begin to tell you how many there were—plenty for the seasoned professional. Besides, as Randy Bartlett is known for saying, ‘It’s not how much—it’s that 1-percent you can apply that becomes useful so it grows your business larger everyday.’”

Now that DJ Expo 2011 is officially over and everything’s fresh on our minds—after the hangovers, of course—we asked the regulars how things went this year—pre-Hurricane Irene, of course.

What new tricks did we learn? What new networking contacts did we make? What new products did we discover? And which new items did we purchase? And most importantly, of course, how will our businesses be operated differently during the coming year as a result of spending a few

fun-filled and information-packed days in sun-filled Atlantic City?

Way up in South Portland, Maine, Mike Mahoney of M&M Entertainment reports that DJ Expo 2011 was simply awesome.

“I forgot how much time I need to build in, both before and after the actual Expo, to connect with old friends and shore up new connections,” says Mahoney. “Believe me, the time goes by so quickly.”

Mahoney says he learned a lot this past year, especially with all the connections he made with fellow multi-op DJs throughout the country.

“I met and connected with Scott King of King Entertainment in Florida, who does video remixes I can use at my club events; with DJ Jeff from Fun 4All DJ out of Kissimmee, Fla., with whom I chatted regarding the games we do and tips for making them better; with Ben Domina at Create Excitement out of New Jersey, who I talked with about professionalism; and with Darryl ‘Jake’ Jacobson regarding DJ networks, along with options and opportunities to grow my network.”

Just chatting with fellow jocks in the hallways between seminars, Mahoney found, was an excellent way to learn additional tips for growing the industry in their particular markets.

“Besides that,” he says, “in the seminars I got

for the year that follows. The excitement continues when I got home, because I always have clients on my voicemail waiting for my call and ready to book gigs based on the enthusiasm I have upon my return.

“Thank you, DJ Expo, as you always make my year—and year to come.”

Like nearly everyone we spoke with about DJ Expo 2011, Weitz says his entire staff benefitted from what they experienced this past year in Atlantic City.

“The convention floor was packed with some fantastic new concepts of decorating what will now be our newest look for trussing and lighting,” he says. “Of course, my cast enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people, plus make friends with the old crews they knew from the years before.

“For me, this was one of the first years in memory that I didn’t have to teach a seminar, and boy did it feel good to sit as a student, support my fellow brethren and learn new takeaways to apply to my next year of business.”

And as for what Paul Harvey would call, “The Rest of the Story,” as the old-time veterans will always repeat, “What happens at the DJ Expo stays in Atlantic City!” n

NOVEMBER 2011

ing in recent memory, but also the most vibrant.

“It was great to see all the new vendors there, plus all the returning favorites,” says the owner of Jam Machine Productions. “I’m always excited to see Gemini DJ, American DJ, Chauvet, Promo Only and others to see what’s new on the menu.

“I was also excited to see the new drapes/ facades from Chauvet, and actually purchased the Motion Facade for my trivia show to add that extra sparkle to our Game Show Experience. Seeing the LED furniture that’s out there was a great surprise to me.”

And what especially intrigued Horne, he says, was the abundance of photo booth vendors at this year’s event.

“The Emulator touch-screen controller was intriguing, and now I’m wondering if this is the future of DJing,” poses John. “The H20 Screen Booth was also an original idea. I always leave with products and, in addition to the Motion Facade, I also got the new Circus light and two Obey (3 & 10) controllers from Chauvet, the MicroGobo from ADJ, plus products from QSC, Promo Only, X-Mix and products from Gemini DJ and others.

“Every time I leave the Expo, I’m always reenergized and ready to try out new ideas, techniques, lights and music in my show, and that carries on

DJ TIMES

great information on new ways to get people dancing from Steve Moody; on new takes on building rapport through additional contacts during planning from Mike Weider; on new takes on the same-old bar mitzvah from Randi Rae; and tips on getting more from my follow-ups from Randy Bartlett.

“In addition, Jerry Bazata’s ‘Biz in a Down Economy’ seminar was also absolutely invaluable, with tips on keeping the phones ringing even when the economy is cooling.”

While the exhibition floor is a favorite for most visitors to a DJ convention, Mahoney says what he gained most from the items for sale this past year was a discovery of how combinations can work together even better.

“Product-wise, I realized the combination I thought I wanted was not what I really wanted— and was able to play around with enough options to discover which combination would work best with my current setup,” he explains. “I was looking at the Denon 6000, and realized the HD2500 paired with the Rane MP25 was what I really needed.

“It was a great Expo, and I’m looking forward to the next one.”

After 10 years of attending the annual DJ Expo in Atlantic City, John Horne of Huntingdon, Pa., says the 2011 convention was not only the most excit-

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1

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

Although most of our readers know that DJ-centric music never really went away in America, the mainstream press is again telling us that dance music is back!

To be honest, it’s allgood. Jump onboard.

DJ-driven electronic dance music—whether it’s house, trance, techno, dubstep, hip-hop, whatever—has truly made new inroads with the American music culture and we’ve been thrilled to witness its evolution.

Of course, America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented By Pioneer DJ took us to several major EDM festivals, including Detroit’s Movement, Baltimore’s Starscape, Upstate New York’s Camp Bisco, Denver’s Global Dance Festival and Minneapolis’ Bassgasm4, and we’ve shown you highlights from those exciting events.

This month, we bring you highlights from some of the summer’s other big American festivals and tours: Electric Daisy Circus in Las Vegas; The Love Festival in Silverado, Calif.; Electric Zoo in New York City; and the 20-city IDentity Festival tour, which we caught at Jones Beach in Wantagh, N.Y. Enjoy.

– Jim Tremayne

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1 Gotta Be Big: NYC’s Electric Zoo gets huge.

Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com

7 ID Fest: Chuckie rocks Jones Beach.

Cheyenne Bosco

2 IDentity Fest: Booka Shade’s Walter Merziger stays on-beat.

Cheyenne Bosco

8 Electric Zoo: Dressing up at Randall’s Island.

Jordan Loyd for ElectricZooFestival.com

3 Motown Maven: Carl Craig at an Electric Zoo tent.

Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com

9 Sunday Service: IDentity fest fans at Jones Beach.

Cheyenne Bosco

4 Aussie, Aussie: Nervo gals turn out ID fest side stage.

Cheyenne Bosco

10 I Think I Like It: Fake Blood at Electric Zoo. Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com

5 Berlin Calling: Richie Hawtin & Chris Liebing at Electric Zoo. 11 Cali Beats: Alex Kenji rocks the Love Fest.

Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com Courtesy of Love Festival 6 Magikal Journey: Tiësto at Electric Daisy Carnival.

Drew Ressler/Rukes.com

12 Spacemen: Manufactured Superstars at ID Fest.

Cheyenne Bosco

13 Love Festival: Blondes Who Look Like Skrillex?

Courtesy of Love Festival 14 I, Robot: A scene from Electric Daisy Carnival.

Erik Kabik/Retna 15 Hands Up: Afrojack lords over Electric Daisy Carnival.

Erik Kabik/Retna 16 Late-Night Action: Matt Darey at Love Festival.

Courtesy of Love Festival 17 Rave Princess: A happy fan at Love Festival Courtesy of Love Festival

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

18 Ka-Boom! Swedish House Mafia fire up Vegas.

Drew Ressler/Rukes.com

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19 E-Zoo: Gabriel & Dresden return to New York.

Jordan Loyd for ElectricZooFestival.com 20 Skål! Swedish House Mafia say goodnight to Vegas.

Drew Ressler/Rukes.com 21 Electric Zoo: Fans catch a New York groove.

Jordan Loyd for ElectricZooFestival.com 22 America’s Best DJ ’11: Kaskade scorches IDentity Fest.

Eyewax.com 23 How Swede It Is: Marcus Schossow at Love Festival.

Courtesy of Love Festival 24 Laser Mania: Daisy fans get loose in Vegas.

Drew Ressler/Rukes.com 25 Confetti Cannons: Vegas fans get blasted.

Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com 26 It’s a Zoo: Fans get cozy at Randall’s Island.

Bennett Sell-Kline for ElectricZooFestival.com

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

27 Fun in the Sun: Fans get wild at IDentity Fest.

Cheyenne Bosco

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DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

By Josh Harris

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There’s no denying it—the tablet revolution is in full-force, with Apple’s iPad leading the charge.

I have to admit that when music software companies starting making apps for the iPad, I didn’t take it too seriously. Then, I received an iPad2 from a good friend of mine, and everything changed for me. I was hooked and on the prowl for good quality music apps.

Enter IK Multimedia (www.ikmultimedia.com), an Italian company—based Stateside in Sunrise, Fla.—that has counted me as a fan since 2001. T-Racks—a high-end mixing/mastering suite—was my first piece of IK software. To me, it always seemed that IK has been ahead of the curve when it comes to software applications and plug-ins, and it is one of the few companies currently making high-quality, useful and affordable apps for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. This year, it has introduced several new apps and accessories, and this review will focus on three of them—iRig Mic, VocaLive and iKlip.

In the bigger picture, iPad apps are not that expensive, especially when you compare the cost to that of workstation plug-ins for your DAW. Yes, there are limitations, but making music on your iPad or iPhone is not supposed to replace your studio. They are meant to enhance it, and give us creative types the luxury to make music anywhere.

I am an immediacy freak when it comes to musical ideas and most of my best ideas come when I am out of the studio. Sure, you can sing a melody into your phone, but the quality is usually pretty poor, and sometimes it’s hard to make out exactly what the idea is. One of the biggest complaints about using iPads for music-making is piping in external audio, and figuring out how to hold or situate your iPad while you’re recording.

Well, iRig Mic solves that problem by combining a vocal mic and audio interface in one, while iKlip allows you to attach your iPad to a mic stand for a “hands-free” iPad experience. VocaLive is the app that allows for recording of your audio from iRig Mic. For this review, I used my 32 GB white iPad2. I’ll start with iKlip, since I set that up first. The iKlip is a very cool mic stand attachment for the iPad that will allow you to position your iPad in either portrait or landscape modes. It’s extremely easy to set up and fits both the original iPad and iPad2.

For iPad2 owners, simply follow the directions and snap the adapters into the ends of the grips, and you’ll be good to go.

I recommend setting up iKlip first, attaching it to the mic stand, and then sliding your iPad into the grips. It’s very easy to attach iKlip to a mic stand. Find the desired location on the mic stand and slide one side into the other side, allowing iKlip to hug the mic stand. Make sure to tighten the knob, so that it is snug on the mic stand.

Then, use a Phillips screwdriver to tighten the base that holds the grips and also allows for angle adjustments. The grips will keep your iPad in place. Simply slide the iPad in and you’re good to go. The whole setup shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes. One quick note: If you have your iPad in a case, you will need to take it out, as iKlip is meant to be used on iPads without cases.

Now it was time for iRig Mic and VocaLive. The iRig Mic ships with the mic, which is hard-wired into a 1/8-inch mini

male plug interface. It fits into your iPad’s headphone jack, and provides its own 1/8-inch headphone jack, since iPads have only one headphone jack. There is also a mic clip and black carrying case. The mic has a three-position switch for input sensitivity settings.

You will not be able to use iRig Mic unless you have either the VocaLive or iRig Recorder apps. So, I downloaded VocaLive from the apps store, plugged in the iRig Mic and was ready to roll. I launched VocaLive and started poking around the app, just to get a feel for it. It’s optimized for an iPhone, but you do have the option of a 2X view, common in many apps that run on both iPhones and iPads.

I was happily surprised at the depth of VocaLive—I wasn’t expecting it. There are some very useful features for both studio and live applications. The menu is laid out very well and it was extremely easy to navigate through the different pages.

Favorite feature of Vocal Live? The effects, and there are 12 total. They include reverb, delays, chorus, phases, parametric EQ, compressors, de-esser, filters and a bunch of cool, pitch-shifting and morphing presets. There also presets that chain three effects together, allowing for some rich vocal processing. You can store your favorite presets in one of the four slots.

The recorder part of VocaLive looks like an old 4-track cassette recorder. It comes as a single-track recorder, but is expandable to four through in-app purchase for $4.99—it’s awesome. I used to own a 4-track when I was in high school, so I love the nostalgia.

You have four faders, which also have mute and solo buttons. Sliding your thumb to the left allows for some sub-menus pages, giving you access to panning and effects. There is a built-in metronome, as well as a vocal training tool.You can pick your key, and start your vocal warm-ups.

Six demos are included, which were fun to play with and explore the different effects.

There are two male singers and one female singer. Songs can be imported directly from your computer as backing tracks (voicecancel feature is available), and you do have the option of bouncing down four tracks into one track, with the new track residing on track one. This is very reminiscent of what we used to do years ago, when we ran out of tracks and needed more room.

For live settings, simply take a 1/8-inch male to either RCA or ¼-inch male cable, plug it into your mixer and you have a vocal-effects box and mic in one. For those of you who DJ and would like to add a mic to your setup, this is a wonderful option.

At $59.99, iRig Recorder may seem expensive for an iPad/iPhone app. But to me, it’s worth every penny. You get a vocal mic and app that will certainly streamline the recording process, especially for songwriters. And, if you need to bring it to the stage, you can.

The iKlip is $39.99 and absolutely necessary for those of you using your iPads in live situations. Think of it this way—would you use a microphone and a microphone stand without a microphone clip? Hats off to IK Multimedia for their forward-thinking and excellent execution.

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

From IK Multimedia: iRig Mic,VocaLive & iKlip.

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

By Wesley Bryant-King

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

DJ-TECH’S TRIO OFFERS SOLUTIONS

26

An old proverb of disputed origin states, “May you live in interesting times.”

While you could certainly take that any number of ways, I prefer a fairly positive interpretation, and when it comes to DJ technology, we certainly do live in interesting times. The tools of DJing used to be so familiar and predictable, and now, we find manufacturers mixing and matching concepts and turning ideas on their heads.

This month, I’m taking a look at three hardware devices for DJs that do just that—the U2 Station, the uSolo FX, and the DJM-303. All are from Avenel, N.J.based DJ-Tech Professional (www.djtechpro.com), and all blur the boundaries of form and function that I, for one, have become accustomed to.

First Impressions: Of the trio of products in this review, the DJM-303 twochannel DJ mixer is perhaps the most conventional (although it, too, has a twist).

It has everything one might need or expect, including both phono and line RCA inputs, BPM detection and display, onboard beat-synchronized effects, dual ¼-inch mic inputs, and both RCA and ¼-inch balanced outputs. The twist is that it also has a pair of USB Type B (target device) connectors, each of which can be connected to a computer and become audio channels for direct digital playback.

The unit has a robust feel, and a nice, compact form factor that makes it ideal for DJs on the go.

DJ-Tech goes a bit farther outside the box with the uSolo FX. On the surface, it looks like most any DJ CD deck. The top is dominated by a jog wheel, there’s a pitch control on the right, and transport buttons on the left, with a digital display up-top. But alas, where’s the CD slot?

There isn’t one—this deck is purely a digital media player, so its USB Type A (host device) connector is where your source material goes, through a USB key or disk drive.

The real mind-binder of the bunch is the U2 Station. When I first received the unit, I confess to being a bit confused. Is it a mixer? Is it a controller? Is it a media player? What exactly does it do? In a sense, it’s all three—a self-contained, “just-adddigital-media-via-USB” DJ workstation that makes for perhaps the most compact DJ setup I’ve ever used. There are RCA

DJM-303: Sports two USB Type B connectors.

Digital Media Player: DJ-Tech’s uSoloFX

U2 Station: All-in-one solution.

inputs provided for more conventional audio sources as well, and outputs are provided solely via RCA connectors.

Set-Up & Use: The DJM-303 is hardly difficult to set-up. If you’ve used any twochannel DJ mixer in the past, it’s a simple matter of connecting everything up, and figuring out the various selectors and options (input source, crossfader curve, etc.) as desired. Everything is quite straightforward, and even variations from other mixers you may have used in the past are easy to figure out (like, for me, the toggle switches for headphone cueing). Once everything was hooked-up and I had the basics figured-out, working with the DJM-303 was as easy as I expected it to be. Thankfully, the crossfader can be disabled for those (like me) who prefer not using one.

The effects on the DJM-303 tick the box on the feature list, but given that they’re all beat-synchronized, I’m not convinced that effects like the filter are particularly useful—I’d prefer to see a knob for manual level control vs. beatsync. That being said, some beat-sync’ed effects, like the flanger, can be interesting and (pardon the pun) effective. The unit also has effects available on the crossfader—echo, brake and transform—useful for some special cases like masking a major tempo shift or genre change.

The integration of PC connectivity on the DJM-303, while welcome, is a bit unusual.There is a pair of USB Type B connectors on the back. If you want to feed computer audio into the mixer on both channels, both USB connectors must be attached to your PC, and each appears to your PC to be separate USB audio device.

The fact that they are plug-and-play eliminates the need for special drivers, but I’d have preferred a single USB connection, and a supplied multichannel audio driver.

Functioning as two separate audio devices, it would be difficult or impossible to use both USB channels at the same time with a single application on the PC (such as DJ software); if you’re only planning to use PC-sourced audio on a single channel, perhaps the compromise is acceptable.

The uSolo FX is also easy and fast to set up, if you’ve used standard-issue DJcentric CD decks in the past. Connect the power and RCA cables, connect to your mixer inputs, and the job is done (other

than adding content). The general layout is similar to the big-name decks, so even without taking time to learn its unique attributes, I was successfully using the deck within minutes. The big, bright digital display was particularly nice.

As mentioned earlier, this is not a CD player; you add MP3-based music content through the provided USB Type A connector. Most solid-state USB keys and USB disk drives are supported, as long as they’re formatted using the FAT file system.

An SDHC memory card slot is also provided as an alternative way of feeding in content.

In a unique twist, if you have a pair of uSolo FX decks, you can connect the back-panel USB Type B connector of one deck to the USB Type A connector of the other deck, using a standard USB cable.

This arrangement allows sharing of the USB content plugged into one deck with the other deck, eliminating the need for duplicate copies of your music collection.

The uSolo FX had no problems with any of the MP3 files I threw at it, navigating folders on my USB keys, and reading and displaying the ID3 metadata tags (artist, title, etc.) perfectly. The uSolo has easy-to-use functions to find and select your tracks, and a trio of on-board effects is available.

Use the jog wheel to control their parameters— move the wheel while touching the top to change one parameter; move while touching the edge to change the other.

Finally, we have the U2 Station—the most unusual device of the three. In a sense, the U2 Station is sort of what you’d end up with if you combined

much of the functionality of the uSolo FX, and the primary functions of the DJM-303. At first, the U2 Station looks like a digital controller like the many I’ve reviewed on these pages, and in fact, at first, that’s exactly what I thought it was. But looks can be (and are) deceiving.

The U2 Station actually is a self-contained, remarkably compact DJ workstation for the all-digital DJ who doesn’t want to lug around a laptop. Like the uSolo FX, there’s a USB Type A connector on the top surface—two of them, actually—where you connect your USB keys or disk drives. Either USB connection can be used on either of the two “sides” of the U2 station; no need to fill both, or duplicate your music collection.

Aside from the placement of the controls, and its compact form factor, most experienced DJs will have the same experience I did: connect and go, which for me was pretty much power, USB content, and a pair of headphones. Obviously, if anyone else wants to listen, the RCA outs are used to connect to the house sound system.

Folder and track navigation is much like the uSolo FX, and like the latter, organizing and meaningfully naming your MP3 files is critical to finding what you need. While the U2 Station had no problem playing any of my content, it did have troubles with the ID3 metadata in most of my music collection—which struck me as odd, since its uSolo FX sibling had no trouble at all. According to the manufacturer, the problem was related to the character encoding of my ID3 tags—something which all but the geekiest of users will have no clue about,

or have any idea how to fix. I’m optimistic that this might be addressed with a firmware update at some point, but otherwise, you may find yourself needing a new ID3 tool and retagging your music.

This annoyance aside, I found the U2 Station to be rather fun to use. There’s a certain elegance in its simplicity, and the idea that this tiny little deck— at 14-by-9-by-2-inches—plus a USB key with music and some power is all I need to spin, put a smile on my face. While it lacks some bells and whistles, I have to think it’s really all the DJ equipment some of us need. And, in fact, lacking some of those bells and whistles is a plus in that one has to focus a bit more intently on the fundamentals of the DJ art to be effective with it.

Conclusions: With this trio of DJ toys, DJ-Tech Professional has demonstrated that a little outof-the-box thinking can deliver some functionality that’s both fun, and uniquely useful. With a street price of around $500, the DJM-303 gives everything you’d expect from a traditional two-channel DJ mixer, with some unique elements of its own.

Also coming in around $500 at retail, the uSolo FX delivers all the functionality and capabilities of traditional disc-based media players, without the discs, in a nod toward the DJ who likes to mix traditional approaches with digital media.

Finally, coming in around the $330 mark, the U2 Station provides a unique, self-contained, remarkably compact solution for both new and experienced digital DJs who want a streamlined, no-frills way to DJ just about anywhere, anytime—proving it’s actually pretty fun to “live in interesting times.”

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MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

By Con Carney

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

28

He hadn’t lost the passion. In the ’90s, when he was in high school and the latest and greatest DJs were pushing out mix tapes, he tried it, too. He found a wide audience by spinning not just house and hip hop, but the music that his uncle had been spinning—rock and disco. Essentially, he was playing an early form of the mash-up, pulling out an a cappella from an old disco song and putting it to a hip-hop track instrumental or squeezing it into a break. People were like, “What is that?” It was like Funkmaster Flex, back in the day, busting out old funk records, where the beats sounded dope, but nobody could figure out where they were sampled.

He started DJing gigs—for family members first, then friends, and built up customer base. “And they were surprised when I hit them with some old tracks,” he says. “They saw I could keep them moving all night.”

He kept them moving for years, while holding down a steady 9-to-5 gig, and then he got married to Melissa, and then, 18 months ago, they had a baby boy. Booking gigs every weekend became increasingly difficult, which brought him to AC, to the DJ Expo.

“When we had the baby,” says Velasco, “I put the DJing on the backburner, and I began asking myself, ‘Am I going to pursue gigs as hard as I used to?

Or am I going to pick up some gigs every now and then when I get calls?’ If you have a young baby, it’s hard to pick up gigs on the weekends.

“I was jumping on to other DJ crews, when I got a call, but I couldn’t operate my own business when I’m not really applying myself fulltime to gigs—even weekends. With the 9-to-5 during the week, and my wife working full time as well, it’s really hard to juggle. My wife and I always discussed it. ‘What would be the future of my DJ career?’”

On the final day of the Expo, held this past Aug. 8-11 at the Trump Taj Mahal, Ve l a s c o ’s s o n had been crying almost non-stop for eight hours.

He was tired; his wife was tired.

Robert Velasco took home DJ Expo’s Ultimate DJ System.

She wanted to get in the car and go back home.

“I was so frustrated,” he says. “I thought I wasn’t going to make it to the showfloor. It was one of those days. It’s a short day, the last day at the Expo, and I told her I really needed to make it there—it’s when the vendors are doing fire sales. After all the crying, I told her, let me get 30 minutes in there and we’ll drive home. So I went by myself, to see how the show wrapped up.”

He walked into the showfloor, knowing he had no time to see everything. “I hit the American DJ stand—a lot of the lights were sold out,” he recalls.

“And then I hit up the Pioneer stage and checked the demos. Ironically, just then I got a text from one of my friends, he said, ‘Are you at the Expo? I haven’t seen you all week.’ I replied, ‘I’m here, kind of, but not exactly.’ I was gonna text him to meet him at one of the restaurants.”

The show was wrapping up and he figured he might as well leave. “I had forgotten about the giveaway,” he says. “I passed the Rane booth and I stopped to say hello to someone and I heard an announcement about SP [Skorpio Productions Entertainment]. I said, ‘What?’ And then I heard, ‘Last call before we draw another name. Last call for SP Entertainment.’

“I said, ‘Hey, that’s me!’ So I started waving my bag in my hand and running, ‘That’s me…that’s me!’

I made it to the stage, and someone from the Expo checked my ID, and they asked me to hold a set of Pioneer headphones so they could take a picture.

I thought I had won just the headphones. I was so happy. And then they tell me, ‘You look so happy with your headphones—what about everything else behind the table?’ I was like, ‘What?! That’s all mine, too?’”

He felt like he was about to pass out. He’d won: American DJ lights (Royal 3D, Atmospheric RG LED, Mega Bar LED RC units); Pioneer gear (a DJM-900nexus mixer, HDJ-2000 headphones and two CDJ-2000 media players); a Promo Only

MetroMixMedia

FOR JERSEY DJ, EXPO WIN PROVIDES A SIGN

subscription (to either Express Audio or Express Video via POOL, Promo Only’s new digital delivery system); and Rane’s SL4 for Serato Scratch Live.

“I was in a panic,” Velasco remembers. “It was so surreal. For 10 minutes, I said to the Expo crew, ‘How am I gonna get this stuff back to my house?’

They told me to get my car and pull it around. I was like, ‘Yeah?’

“I was paranoid. I didn’t want to let it out of my site. Then they reassured me no one would steal it, so I ran at top speed, jumping over escalators onto The Boardwalk to get back to my hotel.”

He met his wife at the hotel, got their car, drove to the Taj, and the system was rolled out to their car. “I could not believe it” That night, Velasco and his wife got to talking about DJing.

“This semi-retirement from DJing, it’s not working out,” he told her. She agreed. “We’ll work on time-management. It doesn’t have to be gigs every night from Thursday to Sunday. If it’s a couple gigs a month, then let’s do it.”

He called his old clients. He filed the paperwork to get an LLC. “This,” he says, referring to his big DJ Expo win, “is a sign.”

Š Testa Communications

BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

2011 DJ EXPO TAKEAWAYS (PART DEUX)

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

By Gregg Hollmann

30

As we saw last month, there were a ton of takeaways at the DJ Expo, too many to include in one article. So here’s more fodder for your DJ business, compiled during a whirlwind four days in Atlantic City, N.J. Their Perception is Your Reality. Mike Wieder from Ultimate Sounds DJs—based out of my hometown of East Windsor, N.J.—explored how as DJ entertainers we view ourselves, how clients view us, and the relationship between the two.

Wieder started with a powerful story of how a prospective client asked a question, probably due to Wieder’s burly weight, about what happens if Wieder kicks the bucket prior to the possible mitzvah gig that they were discussing. Wieder won this job, but the incident was one of the catalysts that motivated him to shed 70 pounds.

As Wieder correctly stated, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Appearance, demeanor, personality and attitude all play an important part in creating this important first impression.

At a party, a great DJ can be the difference-maker by motivating guests who might or might not dance into action. A lesser DJ would simply blame the crowd for a dancefloor that never reached its potential, using an excuse, such as “it was a bad crowd.”

The Takeaway: Wieder advised DJ-entertainers to work hard at what we do well, but to work even harder at things that we don’t do so well.

Randy Bartlett, The 1% Solution. Presented by the NJDJN, Randy Bartlett, owner of Sacramento, Calif.-based Premier Entertainment, gave two seminars on Wednesday, exploring in detail specific techniques that help to stack the deck towards a successful wedding event. The idea of the “1% Solution” is that small measures of improvement in a wedding DJ’s preparation and performance can be amplified into highly successful events that result in robust referral streams.

Bartlett asserts that transitions are critical to the success of the event. For example, cocktail hour is a transition point from the serious ceremony to the reception party. The cocktail hour creates expectations, so Bartlett recommends that DJs make it count by programming fun, exciting, upbeat numbers rather than a stale, elevator-music soundtrack.

At the reception, Bartlett provides coaching and guidance for those delivering toasts, with the end-goal of a natural, heartfelt toast that creates a special moment. He also cautions that DJs need not tell guests at every step of the way to applaud.

It is actually better for these moments to occur

naturally and organically.

The Takeaway: The end result of smooth transitions and heartfelt moments is a crowd that wants to stay and dance. The final hour of the reception, when the floor is either packed or not, is often the culmination of everything that has occurred earlier in the day.

Keynote Q&A – DJ Skribble. Skribble (aka Scott Ialacci), “America’s Hardest Working DJ,” discussed his road to success from his humble beginnings in Queens, to playing in the Young Black Teenagers, to reaching middle America during his MTV years. Some things that I did not know about him: 1)”Skribble” is a reference to his former activities as a graffiti artist; 2) he initially hated electronic dance music and was reluctantly torn from hip hop—now he loves them both, and 3) Skribble has dealt with a large amount of rejection and disappointment, particularly early in his career.

The Takeaway: He advised upcoming DJs to rely on fire and passion to drive their career; that building and maintaining relationships is critical in the music business; and that producing tracks can be helpful in fast-tracking your career. Three DJs who currently impress Skribble are Skrillex, Erick Morillo and Tiësto. Skribble also gave a dazzling, high-energy performance at the Wednesday night Pioneer closing party, performing on pimpedout, New York Yankees-style turntables—Technics 1200s, of course!

The Parties. Tuesday night’s highly-anticipated Promo Only Party at the House of Blues was a tale of two cities. The early part of the program featured newer artists—some of whom I thought missed the mark. (Perhaps we have been spoiled by previous Promo Only parties, which broke new artists like Lady Gaga.) Fortunately, the party picked up after midnight when Crystal Waters hit the stage to the upbeat “Party in the Ghetto.”

Subsequent performances by Iyaz, Jason Derülo

and Jeremih were all outstanding. Derülo danced his heart out to his new hit, “Don’t Wanna Go Home,” and, not surprisingly, the segue from Jeremih to headliner 50 Cent was their smash hit collaboration, “Down On Me.” 50 Cent, assisted by Lloyd Banks, closed the show with his $100-Million smile, oozing charisma and stage presence. To my delight, 50 Cent did not pander to old pop hits such as “In Da Club,” but played some of his newer and harder material.

Wednesday night’s engaging Pioneer DJ Official DJ Expo Closing Party was held at The Casbah following the crowning of the 2011 DJ of the Year, Jack Bermeo from LJ Productions of Belleville, N.J. The Takeaway: The entertainment card at the Pioneer party was the DJ equivalent of having Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Chopin on the same stage—only, it was DJ Skribble, DJ Shiftee, QBert, BT, DVDJ Unique and DJ 2nd Nature.

Social Scene. This year, four of Ambient DJs’ music mixologists participated in the DJ Expo, and I was pleasantly surprised to see an increased interest in attending the seminars. We enjoyed some great meals and conversations along the way. On Monday night, I also dined with an awesome group of DJs in an event organized by Hank Degenering, meeting up with colleagues from across the country. On my final night in AC, with low expectations, I began gambling, and quickly turned $20 into $300.

Thank you, DJ Times for a well-organized, informative and inspirational Expo! This event will continue to be a cornerstone of our company’s continuing education program. For those who have yet to attend a DJ Expo, we strongly recommend you to join us in 2012!

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Rane Check

Vizi-on of Love

Rane Corporation 10802 47th Avenue West Mukilteo, WA 98275 (425) 355-6000 www.rane.com

American DJ 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (800) 322-6337 www.americandj.com

The MP26 is the latest club mixer from Rane. It comes with two microphone inputs, a 22-channel USB audio interface, four studio-grade phono preamps, two microphone inputs with independent talkover control, four analog aux inputs, four low-latency stereo USB inputs, and both analog and USB effects insert loops. Users can playback on four stereo sources simultaneously, as well as record on five stereo channels. The mixer’s internal effects engine offers a variety of effects, including filter, flanger, phaser, echo, robot and reverb.

American DJ’s Vizi Spot LED Pro moving head and Vizi Scan LED Pro scanner are “2-in-1” hybrid effects. The included Variable Frost Filter alters the unit so that it can function as either a spot or wash effect. Each unit includes a 50-watt LED, eight dichroic colors plus white, and seven rotating interchangeable gobos in glass and metal. Additional features include separate color and gobo wheels, separate prism wheel, gobo shake effect, gobo scroll mode, strobe, frost effect, 0-100-percent dimming, remote focus and auto X-Y repositioning.

Synth When?

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

Ableton 43 W 24th St., 12th floor New York, NY 10010 (646) 205-9568 www.ableton.com

32

Ableton is offering Puremagnetik‘s Retro Synths for all Live 8 and Suite 8 users. Retro Synths contains more than 4,000 synthesizer samples, including Minimoog basses, acid lines from the Roland TB-303, and phase distortion sounds from the Casio CZ-series. In addition Retro Synths comes with two new soundpacks—“Modular Patterns,” which contains basses and resonant leads from a classic analog modular system, and “Opus,” which “explores the lush string, brass and organ sounds of the Moog Opus 3,” according to the company. All samples are completely integrated into Ableton Live.

Self CNTRL GCI Technologies 1 Mayfield Ave. Edison, NJ 08837 (732) 346-0061 www.gci-technologies.com The CNTRL-2 and CNTRL-7 USB DJ consoles from Gemini come with fully mappable MIDI, as well as three-band EQ, creative effects, a cross fader with adjustable slope, pitch control sliders, and a new redesigned soundcard with comprehensive input and output connections.

In addition, they sport two decks, each with a touch-sensitive jog wheel.

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Leader of the LEDBRITEPACK MBT Lighting and Sound 2456 Remount Road, Suite 305 North Charleston, SC 29406 (800) 845-1922 www.mbtlighting.com MBT Lighting introduced the LEDBRITEPACK of four ultra-bright par lights. Each light is permanently mounted to the top power bar.

They are three inches thick and come with seven three-watt tricolor LEDs. Users also get a four-pedal foot controller that’s used to select eight static colors, chase modes, and blackout.

The LEDBRITEPACK includes a DMX controller, a carry bag and a tripod stand that goes as high as seven feet.

iKlip Klop IK Multimedia 1153 Sawgrass Corporate Pkwy Sunrise FL, 33323 (954) 846-9101 www.ikmultimedia.com IK Multimedia’s iKlip MINI is a universal microphone stand adapter designed for use with iPhone and iPod touch. It attaches to any microphone stand, pole or tripod, allowing users to mount their iPhone or iPod touch vertically or horizontally.

According to the company, users have easy access to all of their device’s controls, buttons, connection ports and camera. It includes a detachable iRig bracket for use with the AmpliTube range of apps or any other iOS guitar effects app.

iPad the Bill Yamaha Corporation of America Pro Audio & Combo Division P.O. Box 6600 Buena Park, CA 90622 (714) 522-9011 www.yamaha.com/musicproduction Yamaha’s i-MX1 MIDI interface connects the iPad, iPhone and iPod with any MIDI instrument. According to the company, setup is as simple as connecting the i-MX1 to a portable Apple device and any instrument with a MIDI port. The interface is compatible with any Core MIDI compliant iOS application and can be used to play the virtual instruments in the Garage Band for iPad app.

APEX Twin

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

APEX Electronics USA 4625 Witmer Industrial Estate Niagara Falls, NY 14305 (716) 297-2920

34

www.apexelectronics.com The Apex500 Series includes a variety of condenser microphones. The Apex540 and Apex550 are side address studio condensers that feature gold sputtered capsules, acoustically transparent windscreens, solid Zinc bodies, and heavy duty cradle mounts. The Apex575 low-profile headset microphone comes with a detachable headband and detachable interchangeable cable connectors that connect directly to virtually any wireless transmitter pack. Other models in the line include the Apex 515 hand held vocal condenser mic, the Apex520 and Apex 530 multi-pattern side address studio mics and the battery powered medium diaphragm cardioid condenser Apex591.

Go Big or Gobo Chauvet 5200 NW 108th Ave. Sunrise, FL 33351 (800) 762-1084 www.chauvetlighting.com The Gobo Zoom LED comes with eight replaceable, rotating gobos and four colored gels. It runs on two DMX channels or in stand-alone mode. The projector features manual zoom for shortthrow or long-throw applications, with a zoom angle of 22-38 degrees. In addition, users can customize the unit by printing their own gobos on transparency films with logos or images.

Native Speaker Native Instruments North America, Inc. 5631 A Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028 (866) 556-6487 www.native-instruments.com

Smoke Screen Grundorf Corp.

721 9th Avenue Council Bluffs, IA 51501 (712) 322-3900 www.grundorf.com Grundorf’s G-Series Lycra façade LED screens are available in three models—two table-top screens, measuring 16x52x18 and 16x58x18 respectively, and one that is free-standing. They are made of white Lycra material between two multi-layer plywood panels covered with a durable black carpet finish that the company says hides dirt and scratches. According to the company, this ensures that the screen doesn’t sag.

Designed as the “more portable alternative to the professional four-deck TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 system,” Native Instruments’ TRAKTOR KONTROL S2 is a two-deck system that offers a “2+1” setup with sample decks, as well as a host of mixing and effect features. The unit features a jog wheel and an integrated 24bit/96 kHz sound card that comes with dual stereo outputs. It works with TRAKTOR PRO 2 software to add up to eight simultaneous one-shot samples or beat-synced loops to any mix.

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Power Up with Powerbag Later Alligator Gator Cases, Inc. 18922 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Lutz, FL 33548 (813) 221-4191 www.gatorcases.com Gator Cases launched a line of more than 80 products aimed at the DJ market. The new DJ line of cases and bags are designed to fit the most popular DJ products from Numark, Native Instruments, American Audio, Pioneer, Denon, Stanton and more. The G-Club series carry bags are designed for CD players, mixers, MIDI controllers, LPs and keyboards. G-Tour road cases are made for CD players, mixers, controllers and turntables. G-Club series bags have a bright orange interior, while G-Tour cases sport a black exterior and black hardware.

RFA Brands 3000 N Pontiac Trail Commerce Township, MI 48390 (248) 863-3000 www.MyPowerbag.com The Powerbag series, designed by ful in partnership with RFA Brands, includes unique backpacks, briefcases, slings, cross-body messenger bags, tablet bags and wheeled travel bags that charge your favorite electronic devices on the go. The exclusive Powerbag Charging System (which includes a lightweight, rechargeable battery) charges digital gear, including tablets, smartphones, iPods, Bluetooth headsets, eReaders and more, right in the bag—so DJs can arrive at gigs with fully charged devices. Each of the five Powerbag units connect up to four mobile devices at once, using pre-routed connectors and one USB port—and the Powerbag Charging System detects the right amount of power to optimally charge each one.To recharge Powerbag, plug into any standard wall outlet with the included AC Adapter.

OCTOBER 28, 29, & 30 • 2011 HALLOWEEN WEEKEND!

ASHEVILLE, NC FLAMING LIPS • MOBY • PASSION PIT • STS9 • TANGERINE DREAM TV ON THE RADIO • SPECIAL DISCO VERSION FEAT. JAMES MURPHY & PAT MAHONEY CRYSTAL CASTLES • UMPHREY'S MCGEE • CHROMEO AMON TOBIN: ISAM • GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY • FLYING LOTUS SUICIDE PERFORMING THEIR LEGENDARY FIRST ALBUM "SUICIDE" • CHILDISH GAMBINO M83 • NEON INDIAN • BEATS ANTIQUE • BATTLES • ANIKA • LITTLE DRAGON THE ANTLERS • HOLY F**K • THE NAKED & FAMOUS • DAN DEACON • ST. VINCENT ZOMBY • MAYER HAWTHORNE & THE COUNTY • TIM HECKER • TWIN SHADOW ADRIAN BELEW POWER TRIO • YACHT • SBTRKT • BEAK • THE DRUMS EOTO • SAVOY • MATTHEW DEAR (BAND) • TORO Y MOI • ATLAS SOUND KODE9 • GLASSER • GOLD PANDA • BRANDT, BRAUER, FRICK LUNZPROJECT FEAT. HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS & TIM STORY • STICKMEN • AUSTRA EMANCIPATOR • CANT • MIMI GOESE & BEN NEILL • ARAABMUZIK • BATHS WHAM CITY COMEDY TOUR • CAUSING A TIGER • HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS JOHN MAUS • ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER• FAREED HAQUE + MATH GAMES MOON DUO • FORD & LOPATIN • CLOUDLAND CANYON • ACTIVE CHILD WARM GHOST • GRIMES • FINE PEDUNCLE • SHAHZAD ISMAILY AND WELCOMING VERY SPECIAL GUEST

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60+ ACTS, WORKSHOPS, PANELS, FILMS AND MORE! Visit us at Moogfest.com, facebook.com/moogfest or follow us on Twitter @moogfest to stay up-to-date on all things Moogfest!

GROOVES TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

a dance-pop sound with lengthier vocals from Bianca, check out the Cube Guys edit.

– Natalie Raben CROSSTOWN REBELS PRES. REBEL RAVE 2

u Droog u Crosstown Rebels Mike Kiraly

Marcel Fengler

Deep and dark one moment, rolling with funky momentum another, then full-on frenzy toward

Droog

“BRAND NEW BITCH”

“CONVICTION” EP u

u Anjulie u Universal Republic

Hohle u Deep Edition A quality male-vocal track with a deep, soulful vibe. Of the five mixes, check the fierce “Submantra Remix” for max dancefloor potential. We also like the silky darkness of the “Sasse Mix.”

Laidback Luke brings his big-room house vibe to this snappy gal-pop tune—ideal for mainstream daytime sets, actually. Black Cards takes a chunkier approach, adding dubstep elements that probably wouldn’t encourage as much bouncing and jumping—but the kids might love it.

– Natalie Raben

Adam Freemer

Sin Morera

Simon Baker

– Phil Turnipseed “SUN IS SHINING”

u Knee Tremblers ft. Keith Thompson u Open Bar/ Waking Monster Thompson delivers another stellar vocal with this splashy new Bob Marley remake. From the rollicking, uplifting DOOP Main Mix to the dark and funky Javi Lopez Mix or the beefy Christain Scott Remix, the energy and grooves are top-notch.

BERGHAIN 05 u Marcel Fengler u Ostgut Ton Proper techno and wonderfully bewildering with its balance of taut beats (Octogen Remix of Terrence Dixon’s “Tranquility”) and ecstatic soundscapes (Claude Young & Takasi Nakajima’s “Think Twice”).

Also check the exclusive tracks—Ben Sims’ palpitating “Slow Motion” and Vril’s blistering “UV.”

– Jim Tremayne

– Phil Turnipseed “HEARTBEAT”

“TO THE WORD”

u Javi Lopez u Sweetleaf Recordings Check this spoken-word vocal tied into a soulful, tech-house groove. The original mix is tight and the rugged, deep energy of the DJ Bene Deep Mix will absolutely thrust this cut onto the dancefloor.

“Can you feel my heartbeat?” We most certainly can with this electro-house single, most notably on DJ Head’s tribal take which takes a circuit twist. The original isn’t quite as upbeat, but for

Corner

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

Download

– Phil Turnipseed

u Sin Morera feat. Bianca u Nervous Records

38

the end—this triple-CD mix is terrific techhouse. Highlights include: Russ Yallop’s tough groover “I Can’t Wait”; DJ Harvey’s mix of Art Department feat. Soul Clap & Osunlade’s disorienting “We Call Love”; and Maceo Plex’s nasty disco “Can’t Leave You.”

– Jim Tremayne “GREY AREA” (REMIXES)

u Simon Baker u 20/20 Vision The relentless groove and otherworldly effects on the original are staggering, the piano riffs chic and fluid. The Bunski & Robert James mix is no less groovy, but it’s deeper with its melancholy pads, narcotic stabs and beautiful vocal samples.

Steve Bug’s mix hits the bassline hard and adds edgy keys for a slightly warped take.

– Shawn Christopher

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 nextgeneration “record” stores (e.g. Beatport, iTunes, etc).

“Jimmy Says More Sun” (Original Mix) by Mike Kiraly [Kina Music]: From Mr. Kiraly’s new genre-defying and mysteriously titled EP, “Scotch Had a Feeling,” this is dance music only in basic structure. It’s four-on-the-floor beat is wrapped in cleverly mangled sound sources and eerie atmospheric collages with just enough melody to capture the ear and entrance the mind upon repeated listenings. Found at beatport.com “Luciano’s Lady Luck” (Kenny Ground Reconstruction Bootleg) by Jamie Woon [White]: Kenny takes influence from the world-renowned Ibiza DJ Luciano by recreating a track played live in his sets. UK R&B singer, Jamie Woon’s vocals are perfectly at home amongst the minimal-style track with a rounded bassline and syncopated percussion. Download FREE at soundcloud.com/ kennyground.

“U-BABY!” (Adam Freemer & GoldenAnt Remix) by Adam Freemer [Twisted]: Revisiting the spoken-word vocal that made him famous—“underground will live forever baby”— this remix patiently layers dark swirling delay effects, a driving one-note bassline, and intricate effects program over a tension-inducing breakbeat designed for a late-night in a dimly lit warehouse near you. Found at beatport.com – Robert LaFrance

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New products to a keen and targeted market.

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2012 DATES ANNOUNCED A U G 1 3 - 1 6

Compiled As Of October 9,2011

National Crossover Pool Chart 1 David Guetta F/Tempah & Ludacris Little Bad Girls 2 Rihanna California King Bed 3 Swedish House Mafia Save The World 4 Britney Spears I Wanna Go 5 Beyonce Best Thing I Never Had 6 Kylie Put Your Hands Up 7 Gloria Estefan WEPA 8 Enrique Iglesias F/ Usher Dirty Dancer 9 Mayra Veronica Freak Like Me 10 Jason Derulo Dont Wanna Go Home 11 David Guetta F/ Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj Where Them Girls At 12 Depeche Mode Behind The Wheel 13 Nicki Minaj Super Bass 14 Katrina OPM 15 LMFAO F/ Lauren Bennett & Good Rock Party Rock Anthem 16 Katy Perry Last Friday Night 17 Pitbull F/Ne-Yo +Afrojack+Nayer Give Me Everything 18 Pepper Mashay Love S.O.S. 19 Dacav5 Dirty Style 20 Lady Gaga Edge Of Glory 21 Dev In The Dark 22 Leona Lewis / Avicii Collide 23 September Me And My Microphone 24 Paul Hardcastle Rainforest / What’s Going 25 Emilia De Poret Weightless 26 Dj Sammy F/ J Baptiste & Nyah Animal 27 Pattie Brooks Its All About The Music 28 Japanese Popstars Song For Lisa 29 Dani Barbers Say Goodbye 30 David Guetta Without You F/ Usher 31 U.V.U.K. Forever 32 Greg Parys Why Don’t We Just F**k 33 Jennifer Lopez F/ Lil Wayne I’m Into You 34 Nicollette F/Rev-Players Can You Feel It? 35 Inxs F/ Tricky Mediate 36 Right Said Fred I Am A Bachelor 37 DJ Nick Cannon F/Akon Famous 38 Jess Sutta Show Me 39 Sir Ivan Live For Today 40 D’Manti Tonight

National Urban Pool Chart

Astralwerks Island/Def Jam Capitol Jive Columbia Astralwerks Crescent Moon Universal Republic Universal Warner Brothers Astralwerks Reprise Universal Red Red Interscope Capitol Sony Control Voltage Dacav5 Interscope Universal Republic Sony Robbins Trippin N Rhythm Robbins Robbins RGP Music Astralwerks Dani Barbers Prod.

Astralwerks Robbins Robbins Slip-N-Slide Amathus Rhino Promark NCredible Hollywood Peaceman D’Manti

1 Nicki Minaj 2 Beyonce 3 Charlie Wilson 4 Lil Wayne 5 Dj Drama F/Fabolous 6 Jennifer Hudson 7 R Kelly 8 Fantasia 9 Johnny Gill 10 Beyonce 11 Drake 12 Miguel 13 Yo Gotti 14 David Guetta F/ Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj 15 Wale F/Jeremih & Rick Ross 16 Kelly Rowland F/ Lil Wayne 17 Musiq Soulchild 18 Dj Khaled F/Drake & Rick Ross 19 Travis Porter 20 Bad Meets Evil F/ Bruno Mars 21 Rihanna 22 T-Pain & Chris Brown 23 Snoop Dog Ft. R. Kelly 24 Chris Brown 25 Big Sean & Kanye & Rosco Dash 26 G 27 Rihanna 28 Timberland F/Pitbull 29 Estelle & Rick Ross 30 Eva 31 Wiz Khalifa F/ Too Short 32 Kirk Franklin 33 Jennifer Hudson 34 Miguel 35 T-Pain F/ Joey Galaxy 36 DJ Nick Cannon F/Akon 37 Ace Hood & Chris Brown 38 YC 39 50 Cent 40 Kirko Bangz

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

Nervo D’Manti Gloria Estefan Kelli David Guetta Inxs F/ Tricky Sir Ivan Hakimakli JLS J Dash

We’re All No One Tonight WEPA Gave Up On Love Without You F/ Usher Mediate Live For Today Ding Dong Ding She Makes Me Wanna Wop

Super Bass Universal Best Thing I Never Had Columbia Life Of The Party Epic How To Love Universal Oh My (2011) E1 No One Gonna Love You Jive Radio Message Jive Collard Greens & Cornbread J Records In The Mood Notify Run The World (Girls) Columbia Marvin’s Room Cash Money Quickie Jive We Can Get It On Jive Where Them Girls At Astralwerks That Way Geffen Motivation Universal Yes Atlantic I’m The One Def Jam Bring It Back Jive Lighters Interscope Man Down Def Jam Best Lovesong Jive Platinum Priority She Ain’t You Jive Marvin & Chardonnay Def Jam Tell Me SOW California King Bed Island/Def Jam Pass At Me Interscope Break My Heart Atlantic Not My Daddy In Ya Face On My Level Atlantic I Smile Jive Don’t Look Down Arista Sure Thing Jive Booty Wurk Jive Famous NCredible Body 2 Body Def Jam Racks Universal Republic Outlaw Interscope What Yo Name Iz Warner Brothers

Most Added Tracks Astralwerks D’Manti Crescent Moon Big Mgmt.

Astralwerks Rhino Peaceman Robbins Jive Stereofame

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mary J Blige Hd Blue Jill Scott F/ Paul Wall Red Cafe F/ Rick Ross Timberland F/Pitbull Diggy Kelly Rowland F/ Big Sean Ace Hood & Chris Brown Nicki Minaj F/ Rihanna J. Dash

25/8 Nothing You Can Do So Gone Fly Together Pass At Me Copy Paste Lay It On Me Body 2 Body Fly Universal WOP

Interscope RG Music Reprise Interscope Interscope Atlantic Universal Def Jam Sterofame

Reporting Pools ✦ Lets Dance / IRS - Chicago, IL; Lorri Annarella ✦ Masspool - Revere, MA; Gary Canavo ✦ Central Ohio - Columbus, OH; Fred Dowdy ✦ Philly Spinners Assoc. - Bensalem, PA; Fred Kolet ✦ Pittsburgh DJ - Pittsburgh, PA; Jim Kolich ✦ Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle ✦ Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller ✦ Rickett’s Record Pool - Saddle Brook, NJ; Bill Rickett ✦ Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis ✦ NE Record Pool - Boston, MA; Justin Testa ✦ NYMP - New York, NY;Jackie McCloy

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

45791

DJ Shadow

(continued from page 16) I’m not inadvertently removing some vital element that I had flagged to record and now it’s lost in the ether again. So yeah, that’s the process.

DJ Times: What comes next?

Shadow: I put it in Pro Tools and, when it comes to actually chopping stuff up and arranging it, I may use Maschine. Or sometimes, I just leave it in Pro Tools and just chop it in there. I have one track, the drums, or typically by the time I’m done with it, it ends up being like three or four different stereo tracks if I wanna do some tricks with the beat. So I use Pro Tools in kind of a really linear, old-school way, like, “OK, I’ve got 48 tracks to work with” and what can I do within that limitation? Also, it’s, “OK, I’ve got a beat going. I’ve got a bassline going and I’ve got guitars going. What do I want this song to say?

What sort of statements do I wanna make?”

DJ Times: There are many different places nowadays for DJs to learn trade—from Dubspot to YouTube. Just last night, I saw the Lipton Scratch Academy. How do you see these services? How does it impact the aspiring DJ/producer?

Shadow: I wonder about things like that all the time. Yesterday, I took a little bus tour of New Orleans. I’ve been there a dozen times, but I’ve never really had a tour where I could get around and walk around the cemeteries. And they showed—I think it was in the Ninth Ward—where some corporations and, I think, some movie stars had raised money to build a musician’s hall or something like that.

And on one hand, I’m thinking, “Wow, that’s really, really cool that people came together and did that.” And that’s something I would totally be into contributing to.

DJ Times: But… Shadow: On another hand, when you mention things like corporatesponsored scratch seminars and things like that, yeah, I think it really comes down to your own philosophy on music. Do you value going to school and taking lessons and learning music theory and learning how to write and read music? Or do the real artists of the world come from the “street” class, where nothing’s spoonfed to you? Everything that you like is shunned.

DJ Times: That’s more your story.

Shadow: Really, that’s how I came up. Hip hop was despised by the mainstream media in the ’80s. It was not understood or covered. It was not appreciated, of course, until it started to cross over and make money in the late ’80s. So I think that question is sort of open-ended to me, because on one hand, I think anything that contributes to people’s appreciation of music is a positive thing. But on another hand, I don’t think that the compelling artists that I’ve ever cared about ever really came from a classically trained background. They all came from rough circumstances and they picked up a guitar or they played piano to escape or they started singing the blues to cope with their situation or they started rapping or DJing to escape whatever circumstances they were going through. That’s a much bigger conversation.

DJ Times: What does your gut tell you?

Shadow: I tend to think, though, that anything in this era that contributes to the possibility of somebody getting their foot in the door and appreciating music a little more is a good thing because we’re in an era where it’s pimped a lot. It’s abused a lot by every Internet company that

comes along, and there’s very little given back.

DJ Times: You’ve been ver y critical of the online music industry.

Where do you see it currently?

Shadow: One of the important points that I think the general public has really failed to understand is that these companies have a lot of money to convince you that they’re music lovers. In some cases, that may be true, but I see a new startup every other week now that is based around getting people to participate in a music-based community. And in a lot of cases, I know they’re just essentially Wall Street startup dudes that want to make some money.They know that the youth likes music. They know that advertisers like to advertise around music-based sites. And they play it for a couple of years until they can get to that IPO and then that’s it. They go retire on some island somewhere.

DJ Times: But it’s not always that way for the creative people.

Shadow: Unfortunately, the people that make music and, for that matter, the people that contribute to creating the experience on their sites, very rarely do they participate in the sort of big payday at the end.

So I’m getting a little bit cynical, to be honest. Every month, it’s “new boss same as the old boss.”

DJ Times: But they’re not all like that.

Shadow: Sure, there are some interesting new, useful sites, such as Soundcloud, where you can quickly post your mix and get a lot of feedback and there’s a community there.

What the long-term result of all that will be for music, it’s really hard to say. The only thing that I can point to is music has sort of ceased to evolve at the rate that it used to. It’s really hard to deny that point when

you look at the difference in music between, say, 1950 and 1960 and then 1960 and 1970. I mean, you’re talking massive differences, 1980 and 1990, entire genres come and go. The difference in music between 2001 and 2011 to me is minimal and whatever the cause of that is I think it’s sort of sticking your head in the sand to not at least wonder or address or pose the question, “Are all these sites a contributing factor?” It’s maybe not the sole cause, but I think a contributing factor.

DJ Times: Nowadays, the profile of the DJ/producer in the States is on par with where it’s been for years in Europe. How do you see this? Would you ever do a residency in Vegas? Has that ever been offered to you?

Shadow: I think it just depends on how you carry yourself. I’ve never been offered something like a residency in Vegas because I just don’t think it’s my personality. I don’t like to cater to the audience. I like to turn something loose on the audience that’s kind of my vision, and you can’t really do that when you’re playing to a bunch of frat boys.

DJ Times: You gotta play familiar music.

Shadow: You’ve got to play them the Top-10 hits. The [DJs] that benefit are either the ones that have a unique vision to offer or that just really sort of play that game to the hilt, of being a real personality. And there’s nothing wrong with that, anymore than it is for there’s certain types of bands that carry themselves one way and other bands that go full out to be a rock star and live that lifestyle. So, I think it just comes down to your personality. I think it’s sort of like, “if the shoe fits,” and I know that shoe doesn’t fit me. n

DJ TIMES

NOVEMBER 2011

Gabriel & Dresden ’Fess Up

42

We broke up once & it was rough.

But then, we found a way to work together…

We moved to different countries.

Gabriel & Dresden, Next Month in DJ Times

KEITH SHOCKLEE Public Enemy, The Bomb Squad As a founding member of Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad, Keith Shocklee has been defining and defying musical genres for over 30 years.

“The future is the past! We’re taking new music to the streets in New York… it’s how we did it before Public Enemy and it’s happening again today - very organic and powerful.”

Keith and his mobile DJ’s, Power5, trust their PRX600 speakers to deliver devastating grooves night after night.

“PRX’s bang hard! We record on JBL LSR4300 monitors and when we perform live our PRX’s sound identical, just ten times louder.

And, at 3:00 am after the smoke clears, their light-weight is heaven. JBL is the bomb!”

Photos by: James DeMaria

Learn more at jblpro.com/prx600 Check out Keith at keithshocklee.com

POWERFUL. RUGGED. VERSATILE.

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