DJ Times October 2017, Vol 30 No 10

DJ Expo ’17 u The Winners u Gear Debuts u Wow Moments

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NOTABLES…MILESTONES

Packed: Biz Markie at Roland’s booth.

previously… DJ Expo is the place to be. My competitors actually fly in engineers to see what’s new, and that also doesn’t happen elsewhere, unless it’s the NAMM show.”

Adam Dutch of Modulation Studio’s in Ocean City, Md., added: “If you’re serious about your career as a DJ, attending the DJ Expo in

Atlantic City should be a priority.

Not only are you able to check out the latest innovations in music gear, but the educational seminars and knowledge-sharing via networking are invaluable.”

Stay tuned for announcements from DJ Times on dates for the 2018 DJ Expo.

New Gear: Chris Roman with Rane’s latest.

Keynoter: Laidback Luke had music-biz tips.

Los Angeles – The ballots are in and JAUZ has been voted America’s Best DJ ’17. After a season of voting online and balloting at events on America’s Best Summer Tour Presented by Weedmaps & DJ Times, the L.A.-based DJ/producer—aka Sam Vogel, 24— has become the youngest to take the title. For more on America’s Best DJ, stay tuned for Nov. '17 issue.

OCTOBER 2017

JAUZ: ABDJ ’17

DJ TIMES

awards in a variety of categories to the best of America’s mobile entertainers. In victory, Medrano earned a handsome trophy, plus gear prizes from sponsors Chauvet DJ (FXpar 9 effect) and Electro-Voice (Evolve50 active speaker system). Caroline Kurkowski of Upbeat Occasions in Albany, N.Y., was the competition’s runner-up.

Also, Erik Amerine of Sound Sensation in Royersford, Pa., won the Ultimate DJ Giveaway. The 17-yearold jock has only been spinning for two years and this haul will certainly help him raise his game. The system includes gear from the following sponsors: ADJ (2 Startec Stinger Spots, 2 Mega QA Go LED Pars and one Startec Boom Box FX2 effect); Global Truss America (ST-132 Crank Stand and transport bag); Mackie (Thump 15BST active speakers and Thump 18S subwoofer); and Pioneer DJ (BULIT8 studio monitors, DDJRZX controller and HDJ-2000MK2 headphones).

The Reaction: “In splitting the show between two venues, this year’s DJ Expo was certainly different, but we believe our shuttle system between the venues worked well – luckily, we heard lots of positives from attendees,” said Vinny Testa, Publisher/ President of Testa Communications.

“As always, the staff of DJ Expo and DJ Times thanks the exhibitors, sponsors, panelists and attendees for their continued support, going back 27 years to the show’s beginning. Stay tuned for announcements early next year about DJ Expo 2018.”

Response from exhibitors and attendees was effusive: “DJ Expo represents one of the only places where new gear is represented year after year specifically for DJs,” said Christopher Roman of inMusic Brands in Cumberland, R.I. “No other show in the world— and I go to a lot—even comes close.

This year did not disappoint and the energy and excitement around the show this year surpassed any show

MetroMix Media

Atlantic City, N.J. – The 2017 DJ Expo may have changed venues from its 2016 edition, but the show’s mission remained the same.

DJ Expo – held this past Aug. 14-17 at the Atlantic City Convention Center – again presented the industry’s best combination of gear exhibits, educational seminars and evening events. Also, its star-studded evening events fired up a pair of venues inside The Tropicana – Boogie Nights and Ivan Kane’s Kiss Kiss Nightclub.

Produced by DJ Times magazine and its publisher Testa Communications, DJ Expo packed the Convention Center’s exhibit hall with nearly 200 booths, and drew just over 6,000 badgeholders (mobile and club DJs, music makers and bedroom jocks), representing a 3-percent increase from the 2016 show. Additionally, first-time attendees comprised 30-percent of the overall number.

The Show: DJ Expo delivered a packed schedule of exhibits, seminars and parties that saw participation from exhibitor/sponsors like ADJ, Bose, Chauvet DJ, Digital Music Pool, Electro-Voice, Global Truss, inMusic Brands, Mackie, Peavey, Pioneer DJ, RCF USA, Roland and QSC Audio, among many others. It was DJ Expo’s 32nd show in its 27 years.

DJ Expo presented informative and entertaining “Keynote Q&A” sessions from three industry notables – hip-hop legend Biz Markie, EDM hitmaker Laidback Luke and Madonna’s former tour DJ Enferno. At parties sponsored by Roland and Digital Music Pool, Expo attendees enjoyed performances by DJs like Biz Markie, Shortkut, Recloose and DJ Skribble.

On the Expo showfloor, attendees caught sets by Talib Kweli, DJ Irie, Enferno, Ponfetti, and new DMC U.S. champ DJ Perly, among many others.

The Winners: Ricardo Medrano of LD DJs in Belleville, N.J., won the newly branded title, “Entertainer of the Year.” Hosted by Jake Jacobsen of Affair 2 Remember Entertainment, the annual competition bestowed

MetroMix Media

By Jim Tremayne

ArtChick

DJ EXPO ’17: NEW VENUES, BIG RESULTS IN AC

3

VOLUME 30

NUMBER 10

DEPARTMENTS 7 Feedback

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

24 Making Tracks

Dada Life’s Endless Smile

25 Sounding Off

Denon DJ X1800 Prime

26 Mobile Profile

Penn DJ Living the Dream

27 Business Line

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

Her Still-Young Career in Perpetual Ascension, Maya Jane Coles Hits Another Plateau with the Epic “Take Flight”

BY LILY MOAYERI

4

18 Gear Galore DJ Expo Provided the Perfect Environment for Product Debuts. Here Are Some of the Highlights…

BY WESLEY BRYANT-KING

22 DJing & Drones

Can Unmanned Cameras Help Mobile DJs Make More Money? Some Are Already Reaping the Rewards

BY JEFF STILES

DJ Expo: Creating “Wow” Moments

28 Gear

New Products from Rane, Pioneer DJ & More

31 Grooves

Phat Tracks from Fish Go Deep, Eli Escobar & More

33 Club Play Chart

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

SAMPLINGS 8 NGHTMRE

Designing Music

10 In the Studio With…

Mr. C

Contents Image by Pedro Quirós

12 Raising the Stakes

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FROM THE EDITOR

HYTE, Flight & Expo Wrap Over the years, we’ve certainly covered Maya Jane Coles as she made her way up the DJ ladder. In addition to a pair of Samplings-sized stories, our Grooves section has reviewed MJC releases like her 2012 DJ-Kicks entry and 2014’s Fabric 75 compilation – great mixes of deep grooves that reward repeated listening.

But it wasn’t until this past July 4th, when we caught her superb performance at the HYTE Festival at New York’s Governor’s Island, that it seemed obvious that we should have her grace an upcoming cover. Not only was her dusk-time set sublime, the enthusiasm among the crowd was contagious – as happens at many outdoor summer fests, fans were kicking up plenty dust and hanging on every track. So our longtime L.A. correspondent Lily Moayeri was up to the task and she connected with Ms. Coles as she finished up a summer jaunt opening for Depeche Mode in Eastern Europe, and began doing pre-press for her terrific new full-length, Take Flight. We hope you enjoy it.

Of course, in this issue we also wrap-up DJ Expo, which DJ Times and Testa Communications produced this past Aug. 14-17 in Atlantic City, N.J. Here, we show you the highlights and reveal the show’s winners, gear debuts and “wow moments.”

Again, to all our exhibitors, attendees and sponsors, many thanks for making DJ Expo 2017 another amazing success. We’re looking forward to next year and stay tuned for announcements about dates for the 2018 show.

This Month’s Tech Columns: In Making Tracks, Mike Gwertzman tackles Endless Smile, the latest studio plug-in from Swedish EDM duo Dada Life. In Sounding Off, Wesley Bryant-King offers Part 2 on his review of Denon DJ Prime series units – this time, it’s the X1800 Prime mixer.

From the Samplings section of the issue, Ryan Hayes visits with NGHTMRE (Tyler Marenyi), an “up-and-coming” trap/bass DJ/producer who’s been working at it longer than you might think. Also, Ben Gelblum gets some studio talk with longtime pal Mr. C (aka Richard West), the dance-music legend who remains one of my all-time favorite DJ/producers. Listen to Incidents, his recent acid-drenched full-length and hear why.

On the mobile tip, Jeff Stiles talks with a forward-thinking group of mobile operators who explain how they employ flying drones for fun and profit. In Business Line, Gregg Hollmann reports on Brian Buonassissi’s DJ Expo tutorial (“Do Like Disney: Next-Level Customer Service”), which explained how DJs can create “wow moments” for clients. In Mobile Profile, we meet Allentown, Pa.-based jock Adam Skuba, who explains how attending DJ Expo positively impacted his professional life.

Also, at presstime, we’re happy to announce that JAUZ has been voted America’s Best DJ. After taking thousands of votes online and in-person at events during three months of events on America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Weedmaps & DJ Times, JAUZ (aka Sam Vogel, 24) became the youngest jock to earn the title since its 2006 inception. His quick ascension, especially on the festival circuit and through his studio work, is a testament to his talent and dedication. Stay tuned for more on America’s Best DJ in next month’s issue.

editor-in-chief Jim Tremayne jtremayne@testa.com editor-at-large Brian O’Connor boconnor@testa.com assistant editor Brian Bonavoglia bbonavoglia@testa.com chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Kat Bein Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Shawn Christopher Matt Clark Paul Dailey Reed Dailey Chris Davis Tony Fernandez Tommy D Funk Michelle Fetky Mike Gwertzman Jennifer Harmon Josh Harris Greg Hollmann Mike Klasco Michelle Loeb Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Deanna Rilling Jeff Stiles Emily Tan Bruce Tantum Phil Turnipseed Curtis Zack President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

Cheers,

6

Jim Tremayne Editor, DJ Times

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

director of integrated advertising Paul Bozikis pbozikis@testa.com art director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com production manager Steve Thorakos sthorakos@testa.com digital art director Fred Gumm fgumm@testa.com social media coordinator Matt Van Dyke mvandyke@testa.com marketplace advertising sales manager Ricky Pimentel rpimentel@testa.com art/production assistant Ricky Pimentel rpimentel@testa.com Circulation circulation@testa.com Classifieds classifiedsales@testa.com operations manager Robin Hazan rhazan@testa.com Editorial and Sales Office: DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, New York, USA 11050-3779. (516) 767-2500 • FAX (Editorial): (516) 944-8372 • FAX (Sales/all other business): (516) 767-9335 • DJTIMES@TESTA. COM Editorial contributions should be addressed to The Editor, DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue, Port Washington, NY, USA, 110503779. Unsolicited manuscripts will be treated with care an d should be accompanied by return postage.

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October 2017

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FEEDBACK S

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HOW DJ EXPO IMPACTS LIVES & CAREERS

DJ RAZOR: MEET THE METS’ MUSIC MAN

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PRIME MOVER

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“Mackie had a blast at DJ Expo 2017!

We were able to meet with DJs of all kinds about our new product and talk to them about purchasing PA sys‑ tems.”

– Shaunna Krebs, Mackie, Woodinville, WA *** “It was another great year at DJ Expo.

The education and networking at this show are unparalleled and the Expo floor is just awe-inspiring. And to top

it off, the evening entertainment was handled impeccably. Thanks DJ Times for another awesome Expo!”

– Mike Walter, Elite Entertainment, Tinton Falls, NJ *** “The night time events went really well. The Roland party with Biz Mar‑ kie and Shortkut at Kiss was nuts!

And, as always, the closing party with Skribble was a prime-time event.”

– Tony Fernandez, Debonaire Entertainment, Richmond, VA

*** “The transitions between venues were great – really good stuff all the way around. DJ Times did a fantastic job with everything and re-inspired me to already want to come back next year. We keep getting new blood at the show and DJ Expo is mak‑ ing younger DJs get inspired and become successful. Thanks for all you do!”

– Mark M. Brenneisen, Total Entertainment Music, Glens Falls, NY

GOES COASTAL 7/27/2017 3:31:33 PM

DJ Expo ’17 The following are reactions to DJ Expo, which ran this past Aug. 14-17 at the Atlantic City Convention Center and at two venues (Kiss and Boogie Nights) at The Tropicana in Atlantic City, N.J. “DJ Expo is, by far, the biggest show floor of any DJ convention, bar none.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to test-drive new gear, this is the place.”

– Brian Buonassissi, B-Boy Productions, NYC *** “The DJ Expo always provides so much – no matter if you are a club DJ or a mobile DJ. There are no price tags on the experiences and knowledge we are able to take in. The educa‑ tional seminars are not to be missed.

Even if you pick up only one nugget, it could change your entire future. The DJ Expo is the only conference I never miss and attend every year – I would recommend it to any entertainer.”

– Fox Feltman, BTA Entertainment, New Bern, NC *** “There are few places for DJs where you can learn new skills, genuinely network, and grow personally, as well as professionally – the DJ Expo is one of those places.”

– Raj Thomas, BPM Media Group, San Diego, CA ***

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SAMPLINGS

NGHTMRE: DESIGNING SOUNDS Many EDM fans got hip to NGHTMRE at Ultra Music Festival 2015 when Skrillex dropped his initial release, “Street.” But the youthful producer (aka Tyler Marenyi) had been sharpening his studio (and business) skills for years before catching that big break.

Since then, he’s remained in the musical spotlight with notable trap/ bass-leaning remixes, plus collabs on Mad Decent like “Need You” with Dillon Francis, “Gud Vibrations” with Slander, “End of the Night” with Ghastly, and the more recent “Embrace” with Carmada feat. Xavier Dunn. He’s also quickly become a club and festival favorite.

As he prepped for his “NGHTMRE Before Xmas track and completely retrofits it for a modern festival Tour,” which will take him audience. What was your approach? to Asia and Europe , DJ Marenyi: I was incredibly honored to be asked to Times connected with the remix such a classic hip-hop record. Everything from L.A.-based Marenyi to disthe vocals to the introduction of the original song is cuss his ascension. just so recognizable. I definitely felt it was important DJ Times: Three words to stay true to the original and include those in the that describe a NGHTMRE remix. My main focus was to keep the original vibe, production? but with punchier/heavier drums, and then transition Marenyi: High-energy, into a festival/club-friendly song that can work in my melodic, and bass-heavy. live set. So far the reactions have been amazing!

DJ Times: Your 2017 DJ Times: You have voiced your love for bands remix of Terror Squad’s like Led Zeppelin, Chili Peppers, Arctic Monkeys and “Lean Back” takes a classic Radiohead. What have you learned from rock acts?

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

Marenyi: What attracted me to all these artists was the uniqueness of their sound. The lead-guitar riffs and vocal melodies are amazing. I can’t say I’ve directly referenced any of these groups when writing new music, but I think the chord progressions and melodies that I come up with often reflect ones that sound a bit more rock-influenced.

DJ Times: What role has sound design taken in your music?

Marenyi: Having a unique sound design is still the most important part of the heavier tracks that I write. Endlessly experimenting until I find a cool new sound is usually the longest part of producing a song for me. In business school [at Elon University], I was constantly reminded that “innovation is the key to success.” That idea stuck with me and I really tried to apply it when I began releasing music as NGHTMRE. It was important that I focused on making it a reoccurring theme in my tracks.

DJ Times: What’s the key to getting other DJs to play your tunes?

Marenyi: Having a great mixdown is one of the most important things in making a DJ-friendly track.

You can have an incredibly catchy song, but if there is something majorly wrong in the mixdown—like having a lead synth that is extremely harsh, or drums that are too quiet—many DJs will leave it out of their set. Having a simple arrangement is also important, if you want DJs to want to play your song. I still concentrate on having simple arrangements when I’m writing remixes and original tracks I know will perform well in a live setting. Also, writing in eight- and 16-bar phrases really makes a track easier to DJ with (continued on page 34)

8

Festival Fave: NGHTMRE (aka) Tyler Marenyi.

IN THE STUDIO

Incidents: Mr. C delivers modern acid sounds.

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

MR. C: 30 YEARS ON

10

Mr. C has had a lot to celebrate this year.

In addition to releasing his dynamite, acid-house album, Incidents, the Londonbred/L.A.-based DJ/producer is marking a pair of career milestones. Superfreq, his superlative clubbing brand/music label, has reached its 15th year, but 2017 also marks 30 years of professional DJing for the former frontman for the hitmaking U.K. group The Shamen.

Through it all, Mr. C (aka Richard West, 51) remains one of our great beacons of DJ and clubbing culture, one who steadfastly maintains its original acid-house ethic. So as Superfreq released “Ripple Effect,” Mr. C’s hypnotic second single from Incidents, featuring sturdy remixes from Marc Houle, Chloé and Noël Jackson, we caught up with the always affable Richard West.

DJ Times: This year marks your 30th year as a DJ. Will you be celebrating this notable anniversary?

West: Yes, indeed. I gave up my day job as a milkman in the autumn of 1987 and I will be celebrating my 30th DJ anniversary with events in London and L.A. towards the end of this year.

DJ Times: What led to making Incidents, your third album as Mr. C? West: I just thought it was about time, as my Smell the Coffee album was four years ago now. I really wanted to dig deep into my musical psyche and express myself using the music from my youth that shaped my career and that acted as a real influence in making this album…. yet, I wanted to make an album that is contemporary.

DJ Times: The early-2017 single, “Stand Up,” features you rapping a protest over acid riffs. What’s the story there?

West: When I originally wrote “Stand Up,” it didn’t have the two vocal verses, but did have the chorus vocals. This song is heavily inspired by ska music and I wanted it to be a calling for everyone to stand up against the bullshit that we have to live with today. However, when Fabric nightclub in London was closed by the authorities, I wrote the two verses directly about the situation Fabric was going through and the plight the club world faces with clubs being closed down due to greedy property development and gentrification. This has been happening to clubs for years now…

DJ Times: But Fabric’s story had a happier ending.

West: Our dance-music community is huge, global and full of very smart and creative people. Together, we are strong enough to stand up for ourselves… as proven when Fabric got its license back.

DJ Times: Incidents has proper acid sounds running throughout, and is part of a resurgence of quality acid music at the moment.

West: I'm so happy there’s a resurgence of acid sounds in dance music – as I, for one, have never let it go. I’ve always been a huge fan of acid house and trippy dance

music. These things come and go in cycles anyway, but I do think that producers are starting to get way more creative again. Also, DJs seem to be getting a little tougher and more creative, too, with their sets and not a moment too soon.

DJ Times: Any reason for this?

West: I put this change down to DJs and producers getting bored with the more generic house , tech-house and techno sounds that we’ve had to suffer for the last few years. I hope it’s the start of a new musical revolution that inspires new ar tists to be original and stop copying their heroes, as it’s this that’s caused all this boring, generic nonsense to become so popular.

DJ Times: You recorded this album in Noël Jackson’s studio when he lived in L.A. What sort of gear did you use in the studio to achieve that compelling acid sound?

West: I’ve relied heavily on Roland gear to get the acid sound on my album. The 303, Jupiter 6, JX-03 and the Cyclone 303 clone [BassBot TT303] have all played a part in that. Also, lots of the effects and processing used make the album very trippy, especially Soundtoys.

DJ Times: You still DJ all over the world, often playing special Superfreq-branded

eve n t s . W h a t ’s yo u r D J booth set-up?

We s t : Ve r y s i m p l e … three Pioneer CDJ2000NXS CD players linked, with either an Allen & Heath XONE:92 or a Pioneer DJM900NXS mixer.

DJ Times: Does vinyl ever come into it?

West: I love playing with vinyl, but don’t do so very often these days since I had a serious back injury four years ago. So I’m happy spinning with CDJs, WAV and AIFF files only, as I hate MP3s. But I have been thinking about mixing that up with vinyl again, especially as Superfreq is going back to releasing vinyl. I’ve always avoided DJ-mixing software like Traktor and Serato, as I’ve never really liked the sound of them. There always seems to be some kind of compression on the sound cards that I don’t like.

DJ Times: After 30 years as a DJ/producer, any tips for longevity?

West: You need to always keep reinventing yourself of you’ll get stuck in a time warp. This means, keep making cutting-edge music that doesn’t sound like what you’ve already made or what you’re hearing from others, and also keep moving forward with what you spin in clubs. Keep it fresh and with integrity, and there you will find longevity.

– Ben Gelblum

OCTOBER 2017

DJ TIMES 12

It seems that Maya Jane Coles lives in her own province of the dance-music world where she doesn’t realize a lot of givens.

Cases in Point: When she started producing, she assumed everyone made their own music, so she spent years perfecting that craft. Also, she didn’t realize many DJs pre-plan their sets, something she would find nerve-wracking – so she developed her own personal approach to playing out, one that generally evolves from gig to gig.

But, the goggles through which Coles views her professional setting have served the 28-year-old London native well, and her hard work, especially in the studio, has paid off enormously.

Her dedication to production landed her two awards: DJ Mag’s 2010 Best of British Breakthrough Producer and 2015’s Best Producer for her Nocturnal Sunshine project. She’s released three full-length albums, one as Nocturnal Sunshine and two others, 2013’s Comfort and this year’s Take Flight, under her own name.

The 24 songs on Take Flight focus on the more personal.

With the CD’s Disc One, it offers more home listening, as it were, while Disc Two features more dancefloor-centered material in Coles’ patented and inimitable house/techno style. This output stands alongside her productions for other artists like Little Boots, Chelou and GAPS, in addition to her in-demand remixes for top-level talent, which inevitably break into playlists worldwide. Her original productions have, in turn, been used to create mainstream hits – in particular, Coles’ 2010 track “What They Say” which was sampled for Nicki Minaj’s 2015 radio smash, “Truffle Butter.”

Since 2012’s “Easier to Hide”—the lead-up single to Comfort—all of Coles’ musical output has primarily been released on her own I/AM/ME label (with artwork designed by herself).

This is a personal choice, as she has no shortage of offers from major labels to sign her up – not a surprise as her following remains notable, if social media is anything to go by.

Coles’ crowds follow her across the globe from festival stages to underground clubs, and every venue in between, which can be museums, fashion shows, or enormous sports arenas. In fact, this past summer, she opened for Depeche Mode on the Eastern European leg of the legendary band’s “Global Spirit Tour,” hitting mega-venues in Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Romania.

There isn’t a club or a festival with a recognizable name anywhere on the planet that hasn’t had Coles behind its decks. In spinning USBs on a Pioneer DJ CDJ/DJM system, her selections fit the setting, but always have a distinct Maya Jane Coles marks on them, documented by her high-profile compilations DJ Kicks (2012) and Fabric 75 (2014).

A few weeks prior to the release of Take Flight, the generally press-shy (but nonetheless winsome) Coles explained her world the way she sees it.

DJ Times: How was touring with Depeche Mode for you?

Coles: I was never a Depeche Mode fanatic, but I’ve always massively respected them for their attitude toward what they do and the kind of movement they’re involved with. Even though our music is completely different, I think the mentality behind it is pretty similar. Their fanbase spans such a huge, diverse range of people. It’s what I want to reach with my music.

They’re super lovely guys, really friendly, made an effort to talk and hang out and were very sweet to say, “Oh, we’re really big fans of yours and thank you so much for doing this.”

DJ Times: How did you determine what would be appropriate to play? Was there a lot of planning involved?

Coles: Deciding what to play to a stadium of 80,000 people that are waiting to see someone that isn’t you was the most stressful thing ever. I was thinking what can I play that is catering to their audience more? But I didn’t want to compromise anything or change anything. Generally, what I play is quite eclectic, anyway. I tailor my sets depending on if it’s a festival or an intimate 300-capacity club. With this tour, I did pre-plan stuff, which is something I don’t ever do. But then when it actually came to the gigs, I ended up playing different stuff to what I’d

Raising the Stakes Her Still-Young Career in Perpetual Ascension, Maya Jane Coles Hits Another Plateau with the Epic “Take Flight”

By Lily Moayeri

Live Photos By Pedro Quirós

planned anyway. It’s difficult playing to that kind of audience because there’s a real detachment from the crowd. Even the people that are in the front row that have moved to the front to see me play, I’m so far away from them. I played what I wanted to play and got a good response so that was pretty amazing.

Even got a chant for my name on a couple of the gigs afterwards. In a stadium, that’s pretty insane.

DJ Times: What did you think you were going to play, and what did you actually end up playing?

Coles: I had way more downtempo stuff ready. It’s not a rave. It’s people coming in, buying drinks, getting ready to see the show. But when it came to it, people at these gigs were ready to have some fun. I was going back and forth with different styles and they were very receptive to what I played. Anyone that’s a hardcore Depeche Mode fan just gets music in general.

DJ Times: How do you approach different types of gigs, from festivals to clubs, daytime to nighttime, with the massive range of venues and locations you are booked to play?

Coles: They key thing is to only play things I like. That’s the only consistency.

What changes is, if I play in a really small, dark, underground club where it’s got an amazing sound system and you’re completely enclosed in it, I play a lot more bass, hypnotic, stripped-back stuff, longer tracks that are more techno-based.

At festivals, I play stuff that will reach out to and resonate with a lot more people. I play a bit more of my own stuff—which I don’t often play.

DJ Times: Why don’t you play your own music more?

Coles: I’m always trying to play fresh new music. By the time an album comes out, for me, the tracks are so old and rinsed. I’m focusing on the next album now. I play more stuff that’s unreleased because I’m super-excited about it.

DJ Times: Are there particular venues that you feel are more conducive to allowing you to do what you would like as a DJ? Coles: When I play in London, they’re usually my favorite sets. I have quite a big fanbase here that have been rooting for me from when I first started playing out, before I ever traveled, when I was playing East London clubs. It goes way back and I can really feel that in the crowd. With the whole U.K. sound, there have been phases of garage and breaks and jungle and all kinds of stuff, so people pick up on it when you drop in a track that’s totally unexpected. Some crowds don’t get that at all. In London, you can really go anywhere with it. Also, all my best friends are always at my gigs, so it becomes like one big family party.

DJ Times: You’ve played a few back-to-back sets this year, with Heidi and Kim Ann Foxman and Wax Wings. Is this something you’d like to do more of?

Coles: Back-to-back sets aren’t ever really a choice. I feel some people prefer to play back-to-back because you can kind of hide, or if anything goes wrong, no one’s directly to blame. DJing is so personal, I prefer being in control. I only play back-to-back with good friends. It’s got to be natural. I’ve never done a back-to-back set with somebody that the promoter has just suggested.

Usually, if I’m asked for a back-to-back set, then I’ll invite a good friend. We never have to chat about what to play or talk about it in any way beforehand.

The one I did with Heidi, I hadn’t seen her for a few months and we hadn’t even spoken that entire month. We just turned up, played, and it was seamless.

It’s stress-free.

DJ Times: You’ve had a bit of stress recently with the passing of your mother, which you posted about after your gig at Printworks London, which you played the day after her passing.

Coles: It’s something you’ll never understand until it happens to you. In that situation, the cancer, the lead-up to the very end, which is the scariest part, I was terrified of going on tour or traveling because I was like, “Oh my God, if I’m away and anything happens, what do I do?” I was thinking of canceling all my gigs and my mum kept saying, “Don’t cancel anything – I don’t want you to cancel anything.” She wouldn’t want me to stop what I’m doing at any point. I secretly did cancel some stuff here and there. I wanted to be in London to see her as much as I could.

DJ Times: Your post was very personal, very real, and incredibly touching.

And it might sound like a cliché, but what you said about “music really is the healer” rang true.

Coles: The first week of the Depeche Mode tour, my dad hadn’t been in a good way, for obvious reasons. He was looking to go somewhere for a week to be detached from London life and anything to do with my mum, to do something fresh and have the time away. I suggested he come to the first show in St. Petersburg. He’s never been to a big show of mine, ever. He came out there and honestly, it was very emotional. He had the best time. For him to see a show like that, once-in-a-lifetime thing for him to be a part of that, it was really nice. Music really is the healer.

DJ Times: In order to most efficiently access your music, particularly on a night like that first night of the Depeche Mode tour, do you have an organizational system for your USBs? Coles: I keep things in chronological order. Every time I play a gig, everything new I’ve got for that gig is listed as the date of that gig and it’s in that folder. Then there are folders of archives of old stuff. I try and keep things fairly organized because my brain can’t deal. I roughly know where everything is. That was the difficult thing switching to USB for me because I was so used to visually categorizing stuff and picking stuff out by just seeing the color or whatever, which you can’t with USBs. DJ Times: What’s your general approach to a typical set?

Coles: I try and play the new stuff that has been sent that week, but mix it in with ideas I’ve been working on or old stuff. It’s a mish-mash of everything. I had to play a set that was for TV recently. Everything had to be cleared in advance, which meant I had to submit my tracklist before and I realized how much anxiety it gives me to pre-plan an exact set with no possibility of change. I didn’t realize so many DJs have a pre-planned set. They feel anxious if they don’t have that because they don’t know what they’re going to play. For me, my worst fear is to play to a crowd and they don’t really get what I’m playing, but I have to play the track I have locked in next.

DJ Times: Were there DJs you particularly admired when you were starting to get into the music?

Coles: When I first got into music production, it was completely outside of the DJ world. It was hip-hop/ trip-hop kind of stuff. I started going raving when I was 17 in East London with friends who would go to these warehouse parties. I thought I hated house and techno, but it was actually really good. I heard quite a lot of DJs without knowing who I was listening to. I was never a DJ fangirl. I’d like listening to the music, but I wouldn’t necessarily be like, “Oh my God, soand-so is playing – I have to go and see them.” I was more like that about music that influenced me growing up like Björk and Massive Attack. They held more of a wow factor for me.

Labels like Poker Flat, Mobilee, Innervisions, and Ovum were my first glimpse of that music when I started buying vinyl.

DJ Times: Your original intention was not to be a DJ/producer per se, but more of a non-dance music producer?

Coles: When I started learning how to use music production soft-

“SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE PEOPLE HAVE WAY TOO MUCH EQUIPMENT AND NOT THE RIGHT IDEAS.”

ware—Cubase when I was 14, then I switched to Logic a year later and I’ve used it ever since—from I’d say 15, I was so certain that was what I was going to do with my life. DJing started two, three years later after and that made me change direction in music.

It was after I started buying vinyl that I thought I might like DJing. Also, I realized if you want to make a career as a producer, one, if people buy your music, they’re going to ask you to DJ, and two, music sales aren’t really sufficient enough these days to purely make a living around selling records.

And I just grew to really love it.

DJ Times: How did you learn to DJ? Was it using vinyl?

Coles: I had some friends that were DJs that I had a couple of sessions with, but then I decided I really needed to teach myself. I ended up getting a grant when I was 17 to buy music equipment and managed to get a whole bunch of stuff that I wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. I bought Technics 1210s and because I was more into hip hop, a Vestax mixer, which is more what scratch DJs use.

I was playing vinyl for a bit, but once I became a touring DJ, I never played out on vinyl.

DJ Times: What was the grant?

Coles: National Endowment for

Science, Technology and the Arts [NESTA] had a pilot scheme to pick eight young people based in the U.K. who specialized in any field within arts, science and technology and were ahead of their years with what they did. When I was at school I did a few free, government-funded summer courses where they had a studio.

A couple of the tutors put me forward for this grant and I got picked.

They gave me £10,000 to develop my creativity, which is insane to think about it now because there’s nothing like that anymore. As a 17-year-old that wanted to buy some decks and a new laptop and the right software for production, I was like, “Oh my God, this is unreal.” It totally helped me be able to spend my full time focusing on what I wanted to do for a while without having to actually think about a shitty part-time job that’s going to eat up all my time just to be able to buy the things that I needed to use for what I wanted, which is what most people have to do.

DJ Times: You’ve said when you started producing you assumed everyone did their own songwriting, producing, engineering, mixing, so you focused on developing those skills, which is not necessarily the norm.

Coles: Regardless of gender, it’s

just a thing in the dance world. But there are a lot of new, emerging artists I’ve come across that totally do everything. They remind me of myself when I was younger and trying to make it in the same way.

DJ Times: How long did it take to get your work to a competitive standard?

Coles: If you want to get good at something, the key thing is time.

Anyone can get good at pretty much anything if you spend a ridiculous amount of time on it. I was ahead because I started when I was 14. I ate, slept, breathed music from that age. I’d use my school’s crappy studio, which was basically just a PC and a keyboard. I would go after school with my best friend and we’d sit there for hours until the cleaners kicked us out. I’d go home where I had a cracked version of Cubase and I would just sit on it. I’d barely sleep from working on music all the time. If you decide to start doing that when you’re 22, you don’t have that kind of disposable time that you do when you’re 14. As you get older, life gets in the way.

DJ Times: You’ve reached a point where as diverse as your productions are, they are very identifiably you, including all 24 tracks on the current

double album.

Coles: I wanted to cross genres without it sounding all over the place.

I feel like hopefully it carries enough of my personality so someone that’s never heard the tracks before to hear any one of them and be like, “Oh, that’s Maya’s track.” I did play a few things out from Disc Two before they’d even been premiered. “Werk,” for example, I played it out quite a bit before it came out. Instantly, everyone knew it was my track. I thought, “This is cool – people are starting to know my sound without having heard new tracks before.” That took a long time. As an artist, there was a point when I had the realization that now all my music sounds like it’s my music.

Until I got to that point, while you’re still learning, music you make is all over the place. You make things that don’t sound like you at all. Maybe it sounds too influenced by something else you’ve heard. That’s how you learn.

DJ Times: Is your studio in your home?

Coles: I’ve always liked working from home. I travel so much, the last thing I want to do is commute to a

studio outside of my house. I just moved and I’m building the studio now. I’ve never had a fully soundproofed studio in my house before, so it’s pretty amazing to be able to work on music at any time of day or night and not have to worry about neighbors. I need to have daylight in my studio. Essentially, you’re building a room within a room and, quite often, the case is you don’t have any daylight if you’re in a big building. I want to make it as homely and comfortable and cozy as possible, the ultimate relaxation space as well as being functional.

DJ Times: What is your studio set-up at the present?

Coles: My set-up itself is super-basic.

I have a desktop, but because I work on my laptop all the time when I’m away, I never bother even turning on the actual iMac. There are Genelec monitors, lots of guitar effects units, three guitars and a bass guitar that I use in loads of my tracks to create sounds. If I’m creating a sub-bass sound, I’ll often record from an actual bass guitar as the sound source and then sample it in and then replay it on the keyboard. A couple of MIDI keyboards. I have some old MIDI sound modules. I have the [E-MU Systems] Proteus 1000, which is what U.K. hip-hop producers used to use way back. I used to use it when I was 15 on one of the summer courses. When I got that grant, it was one of the first things I bought. I don’t even know if anyone still knows what it is. Until recently, I was using it loads. I don’t use any external synths.

Everything I do is in the computer.

DJ Times: Are there particular plugins you’re favoring?

Coles: Native Instruments Kontakt and Battery are essentials for me. I have some user-made random plug-ins that I’ve found or that people have recommended to me that are really cool. Most of the time I use the built-in sampler on Logic, the ESX24. I’ve used the same set-up for such a long time and don’t really feel like I need 30 different modular synths and old analog gear. I feel I can make what I love with what I have. Sometimes I feel like people have way too much equipment and not the right ideas.

DJ Times: What do you like to use as sound sources?

Coles: I like to use samplers mainly.

I’ll create my own sounds within Logic on the ESX24 or ES1. You can do so much with them. If you know what to do, you can really make sounds your own. I sample my voice a lot and make instruments out of my voice. A lot of sounds that might sound like synths are actually my voice being sampled. I like creating stuff from raw elements and then effecting them loads to make them sound electronic. My stuff has an organic sound and it’s probably because it’s literally recorded raw then sampled then effected.

I feel it keeps the richness of the natural stuff.

DJ Times: If you have a sound you’re trying to create already in mind, how do you translate that to your voice in order

to get the raw sound that will eventually become what you’re hearing in your head?

Coles: I work on tracks all the time. I’ll sing something or say something and it will just be ideas. I’m not a full-on songwriter – I just sometimes like to write songs. But a lot of stuff I make will never see the light of day. I’ll still have the ideas left and I’ll take an a cappella I’ve recorded from a previous track that I never released and import the file into Battery or the ESX24 and then chop up pieces of the vocal or words or sounds and then effect them and play them on the keys, replay a melody. It all started from me having access to loads of old a cappellas or I’d rip old a cappellas off vinyl and do the same thing. When you start releasing music on a large scale, unless it’s a bootleg white-label thing, you can’t just use samples like that. But that was how I learned, so I decided to keep doing the same thing but with my own vocal and that became my signature thing.

DJ Times: What’s an example of that on Take Flight?

Coles: “Trails.” All the sounds on there are my voice. That’s a good example of how I would sample one simple sound of my vocal and create a melody and composition with it.

DJ Times: What microphone do you prefer to use? Do you employ a signal chain for your vocal?

Coles: I use a Røde NT1000 straight into my audio interface. Everything is treated afterward. When I’m recording, I’ll monitor with effects on it, slight reverb in the chorus or something, but everything is just going in direct.

DJ Times: What about the vocal contributions on Take Flight? Are those recorded with you?

Coles: The stuff with Chelou, we always work together. All the others are sent completely raw, first take.

Apart from Rachel from GAPS, which was perfect, we did a lot of back and forth, which is usually the case when I work with people remotely.

DJ Times: What are some changes you’ve personally noticed between Comfort and Take Flight?

Coles: When I released Comfort, it was more about showing that I wasn’t just about one thing. After a long run of club-based releases leaning more towards house and techno, I wanted to showcase my poppier side.

With Take Flight, I wanted to merge the two worlds a little more. I decided to work on fewer collaborations than I did on Comfort, as the music I make generally feels way more personal when I work on my own. I hope Take Flight carries the same essence and personality as Comfort, but also shows progression and evolution in my production. At the end of the day, I always want my latest album to be better than the last. n

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DJ Expo Provided the Perfect Environment for Product Debuts.

Here Are Some of the Highlights…

By Wesley Bryant-King

Photos By ArtChick

Atlantic City, N.J. – In nearly a decade of writing for this magazine, I’ve somehow managed to repeatedly miss the premier annual event for DJs of all stripes: DJ Expo, produced since 1990 by DJ Times and its publisher Testa Communications.

The stars (schedule-wise) simply hadn’t aligned (before now, anyway) to enable me to break loose and trek from my Denver home to Atlantic City to join the fun. But having just returned to the Rocky Mountains from the East Coast, I wanted to take a few moments to collect some general thoughts and reactions to the show, which ran this past Aug. 14-17 at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

First, I had a chance to be in the audience for many of the educational sessions and, as I’d heard, they provided a broad-based range of topics as varied as DJs themselves. From Mike Walter’s incredible tour of modern-music history tailored to the unique needs of the mobile DJ to vendor-sponsored presentations like Chauvet DJ’s eye-opening demo of the new SoundSwitch technology, there was quite literally something for everyone.

But one of the highlights of DJ Expo is the vendor floor, which opened midday on the Day 2 of the conference. You won’t find such a wide array of vendors of DJ gear of all types assembled in one place, anywhere else — at least not in a place open to people other than just the trade and press (like the Winter NAMM Show, for example). This year, several of the exhibitors used DJ Expo to unveil newto-market products. Between those new introductions and all the recent gear already in-market, as one of the resident “gear guys” here at the magazine, you’ll not be surprised to hear that wandering the show floor was one of the best parts of the show, in my view. Controllers, mixers, lighting, sound support, cases, music pools and much, much more were all on display. And in cooperation with retail partners, much of the gear was available for sale, right from the show floor — something many jocks particularly look forward to.

So, in my one day of visiting the exhibit hall, what stood out for me personally? Well, a number of things: Several months back, I reviewed the innovative and unusual Roland DJ-808 controller. The company’s first foray into the DJ market, the unit blends a Roland drum machine with a Serato-focused controller and some vocal effects to create something that interoperates with other types of gear, as I outlined in

Roland Booth: Shortkut (right) & Recloose in the mix.

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OCTOBER 2017

Family Affair: The Crouthamels visit Pioneer’s stand.

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my review (December 2016 issue).

Capitalizing on the acceptance of the DJ-808, the company rolled out at the show the new DJ-505 and DJ-202 controllers. While the 505 will be the subject of a review soon, these two controllers address both the mid- and low-end of the markets with a Roland controller solution and tailored feature sets for those markets. It’s great to see some new thinking and innovation in our space, and it’s exciting to see Roland “rolling” along those lines.

Rane holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many a DJ, and there seemed to be some trepidation among some DJs when inMusic

Brands (parent company of Denon DJ and Numark, among many others) brought Rane under its corporate umbrella a little over a year ago. Basically, those concerns were put to rest when Rane announced at DJ Expo the new Rane SeventyTwo mixer, and Rane Twelve digital turntable.

The mixer integrates a beautiful color touchscreen and other innovative design thinking, while the Twelve is tonearm-less turntable specifically for scratch (DVS) DJ workflows. With a direct-drive motor and even real, 12-inch vinyl on a real platter, it provides a completely authentic vinyl control experience

— just without the tonearm. Very cool.

Chauvet DJ had already an nounced its partnership with New Zealand-based SoundSwitch, but DJ Expo was the first time I’ve seen an actual demonstration of the device and its software, and I was, simply put, blown away. Based on the audience reactions, I wasn’t the only one.

SoundSwitch makes it as easy as possible to design and program DMX-based light shows. But, the cool part? It’s fully integrated with and beat-synced to Serato, making for an incredibly powerful platform and workflow for getting the

entries to its XPRS Series of active loudspeakers – a 10-inch speaker and a 15-inch subwoofer. QSC Audio cranked its K.2 Series of powered speakers (including the K10.2, K12.2 and K8.2 models), which was released earlier in the year.

BASSBOSS delivered some hair-raising experiences with its DV12 active, full-range, invertible-array loudspeaker and its DJ21S subwoofer. Avante Audio demoed its Achromic Series of powered speakers, which included 10-, 12- and 15-inch, two-way models, plus 15- and 18-inch subwoofers.

I might have been a first timer for DJ Expo 2017, but it’s certainly not the last time I’ll be heading to AC to join in. In fact, I’ve already blocked out next August on my calendar in anticipation of the announcement of the actual dates, and I would encourage you to do likewise. I now understand why people have said (and now I agree) that it’s truly a “can’t-miss” event for all DJs. n

OCTOBER 2017

portable column loudspeaker system.

The active system includes a 12-inch sub with eight 3.5-inch array drivers.

Connected via pole, the system features Bluetooth audio, wireless control/monitoring via mobile app, and DSP. Also, RCF debuted its ART 7 Series of two-way, active loudspeakers, with newly upgraded MK4 models.

American Audio introduced four new products: the STK-106W portable loudspeaker system; CSL-100 speaker stand; ATX-15W full-range, active loudspeaker; and the POW-R BAR65 utility power block. Mackie showed off two new entries to its Thump Series of active speakers – the Thump15BST 1,300-watt. 15-inch, loudspeaker and the Thump18S 1,200-watt, 18-inch subwoofer.

The Demo Rooms: In these private environments away from the showfloor, four pro-audio companies demoed their latest wares. Pioneer Professional Audio debuted two new

All Down the Line: Expo attendees test the gear.

DJ TIMES

most out of your lighting set-up — and keeping audiences wowed. The company did announce that Virtual DJ support is coming soon; good news for the many mobile (and other) DJs who prefer VDJ. Also not new at DJ Expo, but still recent in-market, Denon DJ was showing off its Prime Series. Consisting of the X1800 mixer, SC5000 media player, and VL12 turntable, these innovative offerings are the gear pieces of choice for preeminent global DJ/producer Laidback Luke (who also dropped into DJ Expo for a meet-and-greet with attendees before his keynote address).

And as my reviews of these products in recent issues of DJ Times have suggested, I was (and remain) quite impressed. Judging by the reaction from attendees at the Denon DJ booth, again, I wasn’t the only one.

Other Notable Debuts: Although I didn’t get a close-up experience of every new product, I did see that Electro-Voice introduced its Evolve 50

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ED N LP N A H E KE A ?

M N U A S S M E Y DY N E R D J O N EA H E A C A M I L E M ALR T S .

C O B E RE G D M OR A IN R M ME P A SO E A W R E R

When we asked mobile DJs across the country about using drones, some cited reasons why they don’t use these flying cameras as part their businesses:

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

“No drones for this guy,” stated Keith K. in Chicago.

“Not part of any of my packages,” reported Bob M. in Atlanta.

“Legally, it’s way too risky,” said Kevin P. in South Carolina.

“We leave that stuff to the photographers, and stick to the musical entrainment,” said Mark H. in San Franciso.

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But, of course, we did find some jocks that have embraced the relatively new technology. How are they used? And just how does a mobile entertainer make money using them?

We’ll get to that, but first, let’s define this story’s main character. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is technically an aircraft without a human pilot aboard.

A drone may operate either under remote-control by a human pilot or autonomously by onboard computers.

Drones have recently taken off as a toy and a hobby, and they were one of the hottest gifts this past holiday season. In fact, drone usage has grown so much that that the FFA now mandates registration of all new drones. Almost 3 million drones will be shipped in 2017. And, indeed, in some parts of the United

OCTOBER 2017

ment your drone is operating in plays a major role. Before putting the drone in the air, you have to conduct a site survey to identify the potential hazards such as telephone wires, buildings, trees and wind.

“To prevent an accidental collision, you should always operate your drone in line of sight. And the next most important safety factor is understanding the limits and capabilities of your drone. Drones are battery-powered and, if not properly monitored and maintained, they will cause a crash.”

Melice is another mobile entertainer whose drones help him create promotional material for venues – he has exchanged this material for a spot on the venue’s preferred-vendors list.

“I also work with some of the area’s top videographers to capture some amazing images from both the ground and the sky,” he says. “The learning curve actually wasn’t that bad. Especially with all the video games out right now—i.e., Grand Theft Auto, Ghost Recon, just to name a couple—wherein the on-screen character is flying helicopters, drones have very similar controls.

“The hardest part is trying to not get too confident, because that’s when mistakes happen.”

Melice uses a DJI Mavic Pro drone, and says he always makes sure to have multiple back-up batteries and propellers. In the future, he’s hoping to invest in the DJI Spark for quieter flights, and to capture ceremony recessionals.

“I’m currently waiting to take the test for my commercial pilot’s license,” he adds. “Since I’m in the middle of a very busy wedding season right now, I’ve put a hold on that for now until November, when I hope to take the test.

“Once I get that license, my prices will be determined on flight times and post-editing work.”

Melice says that so far the response from his clients has been tremendous.

“Many venues use my images as their main Facebook picture and website page with my name tagged on it,” he says. “Every time you share an amazing image with a venue, they’ll love you for it, and you’ll very likely end up on the top of their preferred vendors list.

“They’ll share that image on their Facebook page and tag you on it – which equals more SEO, more inquiries, more bookings.”

And just like using professional DJ equipment, Melice says that searching for the correct professional drone for a DJ business increases that company’s chances of a successful flight.

“I own a DJI Phantom 3 Professional with a MARS parachute system and DBS range booster,” he says.

“The MARS parachute system was added to increase my level of safety. The parachute will automatically deploy if the drone experiences a free fall. This is not a requirement to fly; however, the system is designed to prevent total damage to your drone in the event of an accident. The range booster was added to insure proper connection between my controller and the drone, and I added the booster to improve the performance of my drone.”

Looking into the future, privacy issues are something that are even today becoming an issue of concern.

“But we have to keep in mind that 99-percent of commercial drone operators are not in the business of violating privacy,” says Iowa’s Wiegel. “I envision future consumer drones being outfitted with radio chips called ‘transponders,’ and being able to be remotely shut down from a government authority if there’s ever an issue.

“That change could come in the next two to five years.”

DJ TIMES

Can Unmanned Cameras Help Mobile DJs Make More Money? Some Are Already Reaping the Rewards.

Can Unmanned Cameras Help Mobile DJs Make More Money? Some Are Already Reaping the Rewards.

States some mobile DJs are beginning to take notice.

According to Mick Uranko of Uranko Productions of Pottsville, Pa., the biggest advantage of implementing drones in his DJ-entertainment company has been improving his relationships with venue managers. Using drone-shot video or photography, he’s helped create promotional material for the venue from these unique aerial perspectives.

“Getting on a preferred vendor list is one of the best ways to increase my bookings at high-end venues,” says Uranko, who began integrating drones into his company in August of 2016 after successful completion of the FAA Part 107 certification exam. “Using my drone, and my reputation as an awardwinning wedding entertainer, I’m able to get on preferred vendor lists before even having a wedding reception at their venue.

“I’ve found it also helps generate midweek jobs, and I’ve been able to find drone work outside the wedding market by filming golf courses, real estate and corporate buildings.”

Uranko’s rates for drone work depends on the overall scope of the project.

“For instance, for a simple photo of a building I charge $250, but for filming a golf course I’ll charge $1,800—that’s $100 a hole,” he says. “In order to charge any money for drone services, you’re required to be certified by the FAA and pass a Part 107 certification test. Also, it’s very important to have a drone insurance policy.”

Uranko just recently began filming “venue reveal videos,” during which he meets with his booked brides and grooms 60 days prior to their wedding reception.

“I start flying the drone with the bride and groom centered in the frame, and then film while flying the drone in reverse away and up from the bride and groom—revealing their venue in the video,” he explains.

“This supports improving my relationship with the venue, as well as helping the bride and groom build excitement for their wedding reception before it’s even held. I’ve also used this opportunity to film flyover videos of the venue.”

Uranko says that so far his client feedback has been tremendous.

“Not trying to take anything away from the professional wedding photographer or videographer that a bride has hired,” he says, “but providing this service for a bride will be one of her favorite photos of her wedding day.

Venue managers absolutely love our photos because it puts their venue in a different perspective, and in fact we can help sell their venue if they’ll back our company—which will helps book more receptions.

“Drones have helped my DJ business by offering a new service that separates myself from other companies,” he says. “It improves my overall relationship with venues, which helps book more brides, while the photos drive traffic to my social-media sites to increase my followers and likes.”

Chris Wiegel of Interstate Aerial Imaging in Dubuque, Iowa, notes that there are many legal rules when it comes to flying these unmanned sky-crafts.

“A ‘remote pilot license’ is required if there’s any exchange of money or goods for drone photos or videos,” Wiegel explains. “Even if you just want to provide your favorite golf course with free photos, you’ll still need to get that Part 107 license due to your photos being used for commercial purposes.

“A drone pilot is limited to flying no higher than 400 feet, and the drone must be within visual line of sight at all times. The drone must have a displayed registration number that can be bought from the FAA for $5. If you’re within five miles of an airport, you also must either obtain a waiver from the FAA or contact the controlling authority at the airport to provide notification of your drone flight.

“The remote pilot license is a federally issued license to fly in the federal airspace system. This means that the user can fly over any property or city without needing permission.”

Once Wiegel received his remote pilot license, he bought a DJI Phantom 3 PRO drone, and after a few months of practice and learning, his work quickly became recognized in his area of the Midwest.

“There was one photo, in particular, of a sunrise in Dubuque that was shared by three news agencies that morning, and that’s when I knew I should take this further,” he recalls.

“Let it be said that there are amazing photographers out there, amazing wedding, and portrait photographers. I, personally, am not at the point and I am not trying to be something I am not.”

DJ Mike Melice in Ithaca, N.Y., uses drone photography in multiple ways.

According to this DJ/drone pilot, the most important component of operating a drone is safety.

“The best way to learn is to find someone in your local market who already operates a drone,” he says. “The learning curve to operate a drone isn’t that difficult; however, there are several safety factors to consider, and the environ-

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MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

ENDLESS SMILE, DADA LIFE’S PLUG-IN Buildup Enhancer: Endless Smile’s Intensity knob.

By Mike Gwertzman Casual observers of Swedish EDM superstars Dada Life can quickly glean that Ollie “Olof” Cornéer and Stefan Engblom are the polar opposites of the dour, black-clad, too-coolfor-school “serious artists” that make up the majority of the electronic-music landscape.

These guys are all about good times, being goofy, having fun, and encouraging their legions of fans to do the same. And if you’ve ever witnessed a Dada Life show, replete with their communal pillow fights, champagne showers, and hordes of pogoing partiers in banana costumes, it’s clear that their message has resonated far and wide.

It’s no surprise, then, that anything with Dada Life’s name on it will represent this same kind of silly joie de vivre, and that’s the first thing you notice when you fire up Endless Smile, the brand-new plug-in created by Dada Life. The most prominent visual element of Endless Smile is a cartoon character, an orange-haired, pale-green fellow with an oversized head, wearing pink shorts and sneakers. He’s not looking too happy, in fact, his drooping face and dour expression makes him look downright miserable.

What to do? Well, let’s try that “Intensity knob” just to the left, and as you turn the dial to the right, lo-and-behold, Mr. Grumpy raises his arms, a huge smile emerges, and suddenly you’re feeling pretty happy about the joy you’ve given to this animated individual.

Dada Life: Created in collaboration with Swedish software developer EDM’s kings Tailored Noise, Endless Smile follows up on their first plugof goofy.

in, the very successful – and widely used – Sausage Fattener. That plug-in was designed to fatten up sounds (basslines, synth leads, kicks) to mimic Dada Life’s production sound. Endless Smile is essentially a buildup enhancer. It’s designed to add tension and color to the peak-moment buildups that are standard issue for most festival-worthy EDM and progressive house tracks, which is, not coincidentally, the music that Dada Life is known for.

Endless Smile is very simple to use. It has only one knob (the above-mentioned Intensity dial), and a series of creatively titled presets that range from “soft” to “extreme.” For example, “Fist in the Air” and “Helium Jumping” both classify as soft, while “Broken Teeth” is designated “hard.” As you adjust the dial, you get a percentage readout of just how intense things are getting (from 0 to 110-percent). The cartoon character doesn’t have any functionality other than adding a bit of a fun –and a goofy visual representation of what’s going on.

So what is Endless Smile actually doing? That’s a bit of a secret.

Dada Life hasn’t revealed what is going on under the hood, but it’s clear that reverbs, filters, delays, saturators, LFOs, noise modulators and barber poles are all being utilized here. There’s no way to add any fine-tuning or adjustments to the effects being used, which is perhaps the biggest drawback of the plug-in. Without a way to customize the different effects, you run the risk that your music sounds like anyone else’s who uses Endless Smile to color their buildups. But if you like buildups in your music, or even a bit of tension, then you’ll probably consider Endless Smile a must-buy.

It’s a huge time-saver that quickly fuses together vast array of effects to do exactly what you want them to do – add some spice and flair to your buildups.

To hear what Endless Smile does, I opened up a few different projects and began adding the plug-in to some channel strips.

What I found is that it works best for what it’s designed to do, and you’ll be able to hear clearly Endless Smile if you apply it to tracks with buildups, snare or drum rolls, or really any kind of repetitive percussive element.

I got the best results by sending my drums to a drum bus, and then adding Endless Smile on top of it. I set up an eight-bar loop and started cycling through the presets, and adjusting the Intensity knob. Endless Smile delivers the best results when the knob is in motion, which you can automate, or record live via a MIDI controller. The softer settings produce sounds similar to what you would hear with some of the DJ effects on the Pioneer DJM(continued on page 34)

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK...PRO AUDIOCESSING

DENON DJ MIXER: X1800 PRIME

By Wesley Bryant-King Last month, I took a peek at Denon DJ’s incredible new SC5000 Prime media player. (Refer to the September 2017 print issue, or you can also read the review in the archives on our web site at djtimes.com.) The opinion I came away with was that the SC5000 is a superbly impressive, incredibly flexible, and intensely fun media player for the DJ market, with an industry-leading feature set and some really top-drawer engineering work in the embedded software that makes the player truly tick.

The SC5000 is not the only member of the Prime family at Denon DJ, however, and this month, I take a deep dive on the new X1800 Prime mixer. I could argue that the level of engineering work needed to make a successful DJ mixer is perhaps not as great as what went into the SC5000, or Denon DJ’s alsoimpressive MCX8000 DJ controller. But that’s not to say that there’s no room for innovation here, and Cumberland, R.I.-based inMusic Brands — parent of Denon DJ — has certainly proven that point with this new offering.

As I mentioned last month, Denon DJ introduced the Prime series back in January at the Winter NAMM Show 2017. The Prime family includes the SC5000, the X1800 Prime mixer, and the VL12 Prime turntable. It’s collectively serious gear for serious DJs, which was obvious in the demos back at NAMM, and it’s even more clear now that I’ve had a chance to really dig into the X1800 mixer.

Let’s start with the very basic of basics; the X1800 is a straightforward, fourchannel DJ club mixer, with a suite of on-board effects that it could be argued are fairly industry-standard. Where the X1800 diverges from its competition is the level of integration it provides with the companion members of the Prime family, notably the SC5000 media player. Both aesthetically, and operationally, they are truly made for each other, and while it’s certainly possible to get a lot of utility out of both the SC5000s alone, and an X1800 alone, the total is greater than the sum of the parts, as they say, when you bring them together.

Let’s take a deeper look at why.

Set-Up & Use: By and large, set-up and use of the X1800 Prime mixer is not entirely unlike any other DJ mixer. It’s mostly a matter of connecting power, and connecting all your inputs and outputs; not really a whole lot to that. The X1800 does offer a plethora of options, however; you get separate RCA line and phono stereo inputs across all four channels, as well as S/PDIF digital RCA input across all four channels and for master output. Booth outs are provided by TRS ¼-inch jacks, while balanced master outs are XLR (and unbalanced as RCA). There’s even a pair of record outs in RCA, plus TRS ¼-inch send and receive for offboard effects units. One of the two mic inputs is on the back panel too (¼-inch; the second mic, with a Neutrik-style combo connector, is on the top surface of the unit). You’ll also find a standard 5-pin DIN connector for MIDI out (yes, it provides that capability, too).

Five RJ-45 jacks are offered for control connectivity. Using standard Ethernet cables, you connect up to four SC5000 units to the X1800, which allows the SC5000 media players to seamlessly share content between any players.

Additionally, the X1800 auto-configures based on the SC5000 units connected, providing both easy mapping of channels, as well as visual indications of which layer on which deck is assigned to which fader — along with what’s currently “on air.” It’s a really slick capability that makes using the Prime series hardware simple, intuitive, and trouble-free.

One of the nice capabilities here is that you can assign colors to layers within the SC5000s, and those colors are then reflected in the backlight color of the cue buttons on the X1800, providing consistent, color-based feedback of which layer is which across all the connected hardware. I chose to set the layers on the left SC5000 in blue and green, and those of the right deck in yellow and red. There was never any confusion about what’s what, which track is

playing, which fader goes with which layer, etc. Small feature, but slick, and very useful.

(NOTE: “Layers” refers to the capability of a single SC5000 to behave as two decks, and provide playback of two programs simultaneously. Refer to my review last month for more information on that. Using SC5000s with an X1800 makes it much more intuitive to manipulate those layers during a performance, for the reasons I just mentioned.)

On the top of the unit, there are a pair of USB ports that allow the X1800 to be connected to a computer, during which it functions as a USB Audio Class device — which is to say that it appears to the computer as any other type of audio input/output device. What gets routed to the computer, and how, can be configured with the X1800’s onboard Utility functions.

Those Utility functions provide a gateway to a whole range of configuration options, including channel EQ behavior, filter resonance, headphone attenuation, various microphone options, the handling of various audio settings (including the aforementioned USB), along with some general system options. Perhaps my only complaint here is that the LCD display on the top surface of the unit is a bit smaller than I would have ideally liked, but that’s a small nit; the finegrained configuration control was certainly welcomed.

Once everything was hooked up, which was a pretty simple affair with the pair of SC5000 media players I was provided for review (I chose to use the single RCA digital S/PDIF for audio, and the Ethernet link cabling), I was off to the races.

Not surprisingly, Denon DJ stuck close to the script for the layout of controls on the X1800. I’d argue that it’s not a place to try and be innovative if you want professional DJs to embrace your hardware; having all the knobs and faders in roughly their expected positions makes it easy to walk up to an X1800 for the first

time and be immediately productive.

That was certainly my experience; without cracking the manuals of either the SC5000s or the X1800, after the connections were made, I was performing a capable DJ set pretty much out of the gate. About the only things that need tweaking are the per-channel gain levels, as well as (obviously) the signal source on a channel-by-channel basis (choosing from among digital, line, phono, USB and DVS). Obviously, the setting controls the behavior of the channel, and as you can tell from the list of options, speaks to the X1800’s flexibility to integrate into a range of DJ workflow types. These include conventional turntables or media players, whether playing back actual audio or control media, as well as computer-based DJ software — or, of course, hybrid combinations of those.

In addition to the standard tri-band EQ, the X1800 provides a single-knob HPF/LPF filter, as well as a sweep FX knob, on a per-channel basis (with a global on/off button for the filter).

With regard to the filter, I’ve always preferred separate low- and highpass filters to single-knob solutions, but like the use of a crossfader, that’s a personal preference and style issue, and your mileage may vary, as they say. The sweep FX knobs allow you to dial in one of four sweep effects (dub echo, noise, wash out, and gate) on a channel-by-channel basis.

Farther down the top panel are the channel faders, along with switches to control crossfader behavior, including the ability to disable it entirely (my personal preference).

To the left on the top panel you’ll find mic and headphone controls.

First, I always appreciate a DJ mixer with two mic inputs; it’s a virtual necessity for any mobile DJ. I also appreciate the ability to control EQ and level from the top panel. The aforementioned Utility menu gives you even more setting options to control mic behavior and performance.

The right side of the unit has two vertical sections, one controlling (continued on page 34)

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

PENN DJ LIVING THE DREAM

By Sherm Hightower

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

Adam Skuba says DJ Expo opened his eyes.

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Allentown, Pa.—Adam Skuba is that rare fellow who went to college for TV-and-radio production only to find it completely and utterly unfulfilling. Then again, he had been DJing at weddings and Sweet 16 parties since he was 15.

“TV-and-radio production were pretty boring, compared to being able to entertain 100 or so people every night,” he says. “I quickly decided that I would make DJing my full-time livelihood.”

He had that first taste in 2000, at 15, when many of the kids at his school were having Sweet 16 parties. “I thought it would be a pretty neat way to make some money,” he says.

“One of the girls’ moms owned a banquet hall and needed an affordable DJ to refer for weddings. Never having done one, I wasn’t sure how things went, so she gave me a crash course on wedding protocol.”

Skuba says it was off to the races. He DJed all through high school, even at his principal’s daughter’s wedding. Once he made the choice to make it his living, he began to read magazines, booking gigs here and there, building relationships with other vendors and getting more referrals from banquet halls.

It wasn’t until he started attending DJ Expo in Atlantic City, however, that he knew there was an event that could help him get better at his job. Says Skuba, “I think the overall experience of seeing so many different DJs in the room at the same time was pretty eye-opening – especially companies of all different skills sets and sizes.”

By going to all of the seminars, buying instructional DVDs from exhibitors, and reaching out to the presenters on a one-to-one basis, Skuba got the education he had been looking for since he first incorporated his business (Skuba Entertainment) in 2002. “I needed to take my business from a part-time hobby with good pay to something substantial,” he says, crediting veteran DJs Mark Brenneisen, Jimmie Malone, and Sean “Big Daddy” McKee for playing roles in his development and ability to grow his business.

“Before I started networking and going to seminars, I didn’t know anything about uplighting or photobooths,” he recalls. “I knew nothing about doing personalized introductions for weddings. It was always the same thing that I picked up watching someone else locally. Having never worked for another company, the only training I had was what I saw other DJs do, speaking through the door of the next banquet room over.”

Skuba says that DJ Expo helped him handle his larger issues. “My two biggest challenges were getting out of my small-town mentality,” he says. “I was stuck, thinking I could never grow beyond the town of 40,000 people I grew up in. The second challenge was finding additional sources of revenue to complement the DJ services, to make more money per event.”

By networking and attending the Expo, he saw first-hand what other DJs were doing across the country. He adapted that experience into his performance. He also added a photobooth and uplighting. “That,” he says, “gave me an edge over my local competition, who was still doing the same routine they started in the ’90s.”

Skuba also learned how to keep guests on the dancefloor. “I mostly do weddings and find that when the couple is out on the floor and the music is right, people will dance,” he says. “I also don’t typically play out full versions of songs, especially if they have long instrumentals.”

Skuba says it’s important to find a mentor – his was Alan Berg. “I think he is one of the best presenters in the wedding industry,” he says. “He has a way of making you feel as if he is talking to you personally when there could be hundreds in the room. Plus, his stories really put things in perspective. The way he explained follow-up and communication with clients, you know, it’s just not rhetoric.”

Skuba characterizes his Eastern Pennsylvania market as competitive, inhabited by a lot of smaller DJ companies. “It’s not like the bigger ones you would find in New York and New Jersey,” he says, “so there are a lot of part-timers and friends of the families. I think my biggest strength is my attention to detail and being able to guide my clients in the right direction by offering suggestions on different ways of doing things and offering suggestions for other great vendors that will allow them to have an all-around great experience. I also network with a lot of vendors and other companies. So If I am booked I refer a lot of work out.”

He also scores gigs with Facebook, where he receives a lot of messages from friends of clients looking for information for their weddings. “I also love [social media] because I can reach out and network with other wedding pros,” he says, “and it’s great to get to know people you haven’t had the opportunity to work with yet.”

On the gear front, Skuba employs a variety of brands. For DJ playback, he uses Virtual DJ software with a Pioneer DJ DDJ-SX2 4-channel controller. For PA purposes, he plays through a combo of RCF active loudspeakers, including 735-A 15inch speakers, 710-A 10-inch speakers and a 4PRO 8003-AS 18-inch subwoofer.

He uses Pioneer DJ SE-DJ5000 headphones and an Audix wireless microphone system, which includes an AP62 receiver and VX5 handheld mics. For lighting applications, he uses Global Truss units, plus Eternal Lighting uplights and Chauvet DJ Intimidator Spot LED 350 moving-head units.

When we ask Skuba if DJing is a full-time pursuit for him, he said he’s never had any other job. “When I first started DJing, I never thought I would be able to make a living doing what I loved,” he says. “Then, when I started to get busier, I never thought I’d be able to support a family on doing what I loved. What I know now is that you can do anything you want to do in life by learning and surrounding yourself with successful people who already do what you want to do. That is why I continue to network and go to seminars and workshops. You can never stop learning.”

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

BUSINESS LINE SALES… MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

DJ EXPO: CREATING Each August, DJs and company owners congregate in the seminar halls of the DJ Expo to learn about the latest business strategies, performance techniques and technological breakthroughs. This year’s seminars offered a combination of annual staples, plus a batch of new presenters with fresh perspectives.

One of them, “Do Like Disney: N ex t - L eve l C u s t o m e r S e rvice,” presented by Brian Buonassissi, owner of a luxury DJ service in New York City offered a compelling presentation regarding customer service.

First, borrowing the concept from author Seth Godin, Buonassissi asserted that in a field full of black and brown cows, DJ companies should strive to be perceived as “purple cows” – unique and different. By being different, this allows us to sell on our unique attributes rather than on price.

In the world of Disney, the company’s primary objective is to create brand loyalty that results, for example, in return visits to its theme parks. In fact, many Disney vacationers are eager to book their next Disney visit upon returning home.

To create customer loyalty, it’s critical for DJ company owners to create an “experience mentality.”

If our clients feel like cogs in the machine who are simply getting processed—think of a visit to the post office—then we have not done a good job in creating an “experience.”

Buonassissi presented four powerful lessons from Disney that DJs can immediately apply to improve their businesses: 1) Look at everything through the lens of the client.

2) Pay attention to details. These details speak volumes about your business.

3) Create “moments of Wow!” 4) Know what frustrates your clients, and importantly, do something about it.

MOMENTS FOR CLIENTS

Regarding looking at everything through the lens of the client, Buonassissi recommends “service mapping” — looking at the individual steps in a particular service process. With these steps drawn as blocks, which blocks represent areas of immediate opportunity? Are there any steps in the process that are currently being done in mediocre fashion that have the potential to be done in excellent fashion?

Buonassissi recommends getting employees involved. Many of these fixes can be done for free, but provide big results. There is a wealth of processes for DJs to examine, everything from how phone inquiries are handled, to how a DJ conducts himself at a wedding.

For the second principle, paying attention to details, client perception is more important than a DJ’s positive intention. For example, how might a bride perceive their DJ who can’t seem to put his cellphone down on the job? Or comes to a job with a wrinkled suit and dirty shoes? Or engages in profane banter with colleagues prior to the gig? Buonassissi stresses the importance of leaving any negative attitudes backstage. For example, the crowds at Disney would never want to see Cinderella cursing and smoking cigarettes like she just was a moment ago backstage.

The third principle is “creating moments of Wow!” These gestures do not necessarily have to be big-budget, magnanimous enhancements, but can simply be a series of little things that add up. Buonassissi recently implemented a systematic program of giftgiving for weddings, presenting clients with a series of personalized gifts at different points of the engagement. who inevitably start crying during Sample gifts include a personalized rose (matched to the toast. the couple’s wedding colors), a customized 45-inch The final principle of “know what vinyl LP of the couple’s first dance song, and premium frustrates your client, and then do chocolates. something about it” represents a Two websites Brian uses to purchase personalized huge opportunity for most DJs. Just vinyl LPs include meeprecords.com and onecutvinyl. as Disney had a problem (and opcom. Buonassissi recommends presenting gifts after a portunity) with its long lines that wedding at 30 days, 100 days and 500 days. These increfrustrated guests, consumers of DJ ments are deliberately unusual, because it’s important entertainment suffer frustration. For for your gifts to stand out from the crowd. It is not example, consider the corporate recommended that you send cards for the Christmas buyer who quickly needs a series of holidays or the couple’s first anniversary, because they paperwork and forms to complete can easily get lost in the shuffle. the booking process. To make things Other examples of creating “wow” moments are easier, Buonassissi created a special sending personalized video messages from the DJ to VIP micro website where all of these the client at set intervals prior to the gig, and for wedforms can easily be accessed by the ding DJs, having a box of tissues available for brides client. Buonassissi recommends that DJ company staffs meet periodically to identify these areas of frustration and then systematically solve each challenge.

Gregg Hollmann is the owner of Ambient DJ Service in East Windsor, N.J.

OCTOBER 2017

By Gregg Hollmann

DJ TIMES

“WOW”

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GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Triple Threat Leader of the Pack MONO 14 E Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Suite D Larkspur, CA 94939 www.monocreators.com Mono’s 365 DJ Pack is part of the company’s EFX Series. It features a backpacker-style shoulder strap and chest harness system to evenly distribute weight when fully loaded. It can hold a laptop measuring up to 17 inches, as well as small stack of vinyl, Serato-style interface components, hard drives, headphones and cables. The inner divider can be removed to create extra space for a larger stack of vinyl, a portable mixer or controllers. Additional features include adjustable straps, a water-resistant shell and a turned-and-stitched webbing handle that is reinforced with steel rivets.

Pioneer DJ Americas 2050 W. 190th Street Suite 109 Torrance, CA 90504 (424) 488-0480 www.pioneerdj.com Pioneer DJ has released a new range of DJ headphones, the HDJ-X, which includes the HDJ-X10, HDJ-X7 and HDJ-X5 models. The flagship HDJ-X10s are designed for professional DJs to use at clubs and festivals. Thanks to their HD drivers, according to the company, the HDJ-X10 headphones are the world’s first DJ headphones to produce high-resolution sound ranging from 5 Hz to 40 kHz. The HDJ-X7 headphones are based on Pioneer DJ’s previous flagship model, the HDJ-2000MK2, and are equipped with newly developed drivers, while the HDJ-X5 headphones inherit high-quality audio design from the model above, giving DJs clean monitoring even at high volumes.

Boom Boom Pow

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

ADJ Products 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.americandj.com

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The Boom Box FX1 and Boom Box FX2 are the latest additions to ADJ’s Startec Series of effect lighting fixtures. The Boom Box FX1 features a party dome moonflower effect powered by six 3W LEDs (red, green, blue, white, amber, and UV) that are offset inside the fixture so that each one creates a separate beam through each facet of the Perspex dome. The Boom Box FX2 features a GOBO moonflower powered by eight 3W LEDs (two each in red, green, blue, and white), each of which projects its light through a different detailed GOBO pattern.

The Sound of Sylenth Future Loops www.futureloops.com Future Loops has released Hard EDM & Electro – Sylenth Soundset, a collection dance royalty-free presets for Sylenth VST synth. Hard EDM & Electro – Sylenth Soundset includes 100 high-quality presets.

Divided into bass, leads, plucks and pads, these presets are 100-percent royalty free. According to the company, the presets in Hard EDM & Electro – Sylenth Soundset can be uses as is, or users are able easily tweak them, change parameters and move those knobs to make each sound their own.

AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

GEAR

Raising the XBAR Mega Systems 18668 Hwy 16 N Helotes, TX 78023 (866) 460-MEGA www.megasystemsinc.com MEGALITE has introduced the XBAR LED Strobe RGB, an eight segment control SMD LED bar that capable of both a strobe and wash effect. Equipped with 14 LEDs and featuring a coverage angle of 120 degrees, the unit is equipped with a thermal protection that prohibits the light from overheating when used to its full potential in wash mode, according to the company. Users have access to segment control, allowing a variety of random strobe or color strobe effects. An optional road case is also available.

Excuse Me, MR Mackie 16220 Wood-Red Road NE Woodinville, WA 98072 (425) 892-6500 www.loudtechinc.com The Mackie MR Series of powered studio monitors includes the five-inch MR524, 6.5-inch MR624, eightinch MR824 and 10-inch MRS1. They come equipped with Acoustic Space Control and HF filters, as well as high-frequency EQ control and an acoustic isolation pad on each monitor that decouples the monitor from the desk or stand for increased accuracy. There are three different acoustic space settings that adjust for various monitor placements, and the units feature a logarithmic waveguide that, according to the company, “provides an ultra-wide listening sweet spot and enhanced stereo imaging for higher fidelity and consistent sound over a wide listening area.”

FA La La Roland Corporation 5100 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 890-3700 www.roland.com

DJ TIMES

Roland’s FA-07 Music Workstation is the latest model in the company’s FA Music Workstation series, featuring a 76-note velocity-sensitive keyboard with semi-weighted action. There is also a Version 2.0 system update for the entire series that is available as a free download. The Version 2.0 update includes a master control functionality that has been added to studio sets, as well as a Tone Remain function that lets users switch sounds without any notes or effect tails being unnaturally cut off. In addition, all new FA purchases now include a bundled license for Live 9 Lite, a special version of the well-known Ableton Live music production software.

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GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Eight Ball

Urbanite Cowboy

Elektron Music Machines 1340 E 6th St #632 Los Angeles, CA 90021 (213) 935-8521 www.elektronmusicmachines.com

UDG Gear Industrieweg 18-21 3846 BD HARDERWIJK The Netherlands www.udggear.com

Octatrack MKII from Elektron is an eight-track performance sampler and sequencer. The latest version of the company’s Octatrack performance sampler is designed for both live performers and studio producers.

The unit features an increased count of dedicated buttons, each with a distinct purpose, as well as new high quality back-lit buttons that are rated for 50 million presses, according to the company. It comes with eight stereo audio tracks, as well as eight dedicated MIDI tracks. Additional features include hi-res encoders, a contactless crossfader and a sample engine that allows for time-stretch and pitch-shift in real time.

UDG’s Urbanite Series features the FlightBag, which comes in medium, large and extra-large sizes. Bags in the line are designed for storing a digital controller in the main compartment and up to two 19-inch laptops side by side in the second compartment. They come with high-density egg-crate interior padding for protecting jog wheels, faders and buttons of various sized equipment. Available in black, each of the three models sports a water-repellent laminated 600D Polyester exterior, as well as a padded shoulder strap and carry handle.

Like Father Like Sonus

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

PreSonus Audio Electronics 18011 Grand Bay Court Baton Rouge, LA 70809 (225) 216-7887 www.presonus.com

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The StudioLive 32 digital console/recorder from PreSonus is a fully recallable, 40-input console that features 33 touch-sensitive, motorized faders and 33 recallable XMAX preamps. PreSonus Capture multitrack recording software with virtual soundcheck is installed in the StudioLive 32, allowing users to record up to 32 tracks to the StudioLive 32’s onboard SD recorder and then transfer the entire mixing session to the included Studio One for Mac and Windows, including fader levels and Fat Channel settings. Additional features include 16 FlexMixes, 24 DCAs and six-band, fully parametric EQ on all mix outputs.

Wish it Would Rane inMusic Brands/Rane 200 Scenic View Drive Cumberland, RI 02864 (401) 659-8192 www.rane.com Rane’s Seventy-Two Battle Mixer is constructed out of solid steel and features RCA Phono/CD and CD inputs on each deck, as well as two microphone inputs with combo Neutrik, on/off, tone, mic/line level switches. Each channel has a Flex FX engine and the unit is the first to sport the company’s Mag Three Fader, a touchless, tension-adjustable fader with tactile feel and precision. A 4.3-inch touch screen is also included for moving wave display, FX control, song selection and user customizations.

TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS “HEAVEN’S CRY”

u Binary u Who’s Afraid of 138?!

This raging slab of tough trance—the kind that this label has become known for—also features a breathtaking breakdown. While uplifting, it’s still nervy enough to appeal to all audiences. This track knows no boundaries.

– Jennifer Harmon Fish Go Deep

“YOU CHANGED THE WORLD”

Sol Brown

u Jamie Lewis feat. Marc Evans u Purple Music Hooking up with vocalist Evans, the Swiss maestro delivers a sublime track to continue the Purple dynasty. With brass, strings and a first-rate soulful vocal, this bumpin’ disco-house tune’s set to be big.

– Curtis Zack “LOVE ON HIGH”

u Juan Hoerni feat. Terry Dexter u Cha Cha Project

The Space Brothers

Jorn van Deynhoven

Uplifting, soulful, proper house here. Fronted by Dexter’s soaring vocal, this catchy, piano-driven dancefloor jam will put hands in the air.

– Tommy D. Funk

“OVER ME” (REMIX) u Inaya Day & Ultra Naté u NY-O-DAE Two of house music’s greatest vocalists get the Director’s Cut treatment with a remix by fellow legends Eric Kupper and the late Frankie Knuckles.

Sassy and soulful, this one’s got a great hook to go along with a terrific performance.

– Curtis Zack

“WHEN I THINK OF YOU”

u Kyle Kim & Luyo u Double Cheese A cover of the Janet Jackson classic, Kim updates this perfectly. With piano, crisp beats and a vocal to rival the original, this should do well on the dancefloor.

– Curtis Zack

“SHINE” (REMIX) u The Space Brothers u Who’s Afraid of 138?!

Remixer Jorn van Deynhoven adds an electrifying aura to the 1997 trance classic and carries it to a new level. Balancing the tough and delicate, he layers the ethereal background vocals over unmistakable chorus, creating an even more powerful effect – soaring, uplifting, celestial.

– Jennifer Harmon “THEME FROM S’EXPRESS” u S’Express u Hot Creations The 1988 house classic gets three terrific remix treatments here. Detlef drops an underground-house stormer, while Tuff City offers a pianodriven effort and a straight-up acid jam.

Eli Escobar

Jamie Lewis

– Tommy D Funk “WIDE AWAKE”

u Sol Brown feat. Selina Campbell u Makin Moves London’s Brown teams up with vocalist Campbell for a soulful little number. Cracking keys courtesy of Reel People’s Mike Patto and solid production give this one all the right ingredients.

– Curtis Zack “HANDZ UP”

u Eli Escobar u Classic Music Company This thumper features two hot mixes worth seeking out. Escobar’s “Happy Clap Mix” is an out-and-out party stomper with a gospel feel, while Cratebug’s 303-mad “Acid Reflux” gets more down and dirty.

– Tommy D Funk

Dirtytwo

DJ TIMES

u Large Music We’re loving the flute on this one! Also, the way the track leans forward, building up anticipation throughout, and adding a few ingredients along the way keeps the groove interesting.

Works the floor like a glove.

OCTOBER 2017

GUEST REVIEWER: DIRTYTWO “I CAN’T LOOK” u Fish Go Deep

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DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART

NATIONAL URBAN POOL CHART

1 Deborah Cox Let The World Be Ours Tonight Radikal 2 Sir Ivan F/ Debbie Gibson I Am Peaceman Peaceman 3 Dj Khaled F/ Rihanna & Bryson Tiller Wild Thoughts Epic 4 Calvin Harris F/Pharrell Williams & K. Perry Feels Columbia 5 Katy Perry F/ Migos Swish Swish Capitol 6 Rita Ora Your Song Atlantic 7 Louis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee F/J.Bieb Despacito Universal 8 Miley Cyrus Malibu RCA 9 Charlie Puth Attention Atlantic 10 Axwell & Ingrosso More Than You Know Def Jam 11 Shawn Mendes There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back Island 12 David Guetta F/ Justin Beiber 2U Def Jam 13 Rasmus Faber We Laugh We Dance We Cry Radikal 14 Nick Jonas Remember I Told You Island 15 Liam Payne F/ Quavo Strip That Down Republic 16 Kym Sims Turn It Up Divamatic 17 Peter K Every Day VMG 18 Clean Bandit F/ Zara Larsson Symphony Atlantic 19 Robin Schultz F/ James Blunt OK Atlantic 20 Taryn Manning Gltchlfe Dreamworks 21 Noah Cyrus Stay Together Syco 22 Karel Ullner We Get High Plenty Big Music 23 Jax Jones F/Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don Instruction Playdigital 24 French Montana Unforgettable Epic 25 Rihanna Desparado Roc Nation 26 Nial Horan Slow Hands Capitol 27 Pink What About Us RCA 28 Kim Cameron Dancing In The Dark Side FX 29 Kygo & Ellie Goulding First Time Interscope 30 Bruno Mars Versace On The Floor Atlantic 31 Blondie F/ Debbie Harry Long Time BMG 32 Taylor Swift Look What You Made Me Do Republic 33 Dua Lipa New Rules Warner Brothers 34 Allen Walker Tired RCA 35 Demi Lovato Sorry Not Sorry Hollywood 36 Fetish F/ Selena Gomez Galantis Interscope 37 R5 If Hollywood 38 Reiss Harrison Control Carrillo 39 Dario Point Of No Return Dario 40 Triachy F/ J. Lauryn Coconuts Robbins

1 Kendrick Lamar 2 Dj Khaled F/ Rihanna & Bryson Tiller 3 Lil Uzi Vert 4 Future 5 Meek Mill F/ Chris Brown & Ty Dolla $ign 6 Jacquees 7 J. Cole 8 Yo Gotti & Mike WiLL Made-it F / Nicki Minaj 9 Migos F/ Gucci Mane 10 Chris Brown 11 Sza F/ Travis Scott 12 Ayo & Teo 13 Wizkid F/ Drake 14 Travis Scott F/ Kendrick Lamar 15 Bryson Tiller 16 Tee Grizzley 17 Jay Z 18 Lil Yachty F/ Migos 19 Mike WiLL Made-It F/ Kendrick & Gucci Mane 20 August Alsina

1 Taylor Swift Look What You Made Me Do 2 Jax Jones F/DemkiLovato Instruction 3 Justin Bieber and Blood Pop Friends 4 Imagine Dragons Thunder 5 Demi Lovato Sorry Not Sorry 6 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike vs David Guetta - Complicated ft. Kiiara Smash 7 Fenix F/ Lisa Williams California Sun 8 Kygo & Ellie Goulding First Time 9 Felix Cartal Get What You Give 10 Gryffin Love In Ruins

Republic Playdigital Republic Interscope Hollywood Complicated Carrillo Interscope Capitol Geffen

Most Added Tracks 1 Wiz Khalifa & Ty Dolla $ign Something New 2 Dj Envy F/Fetty Wap & DJ Sliink Text Ur Number 3 Miguel F/ Travis Scott Sky Walker 4 Chris Brown F/Yo Gotti, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie & Kodak Black mobiles RCA 5 Dave East F/ Chris Brown Perfect

1. Nacho 2. Pedro Alonso 3. Adassa 4. J Balvin & Willy W 5. El Gran Combo 6. Romeo Santos 7. Alexandra ft Eddy Herrera 8. Maluma ft Marc Anthony 9. Luis Fonsi feat Daddy Yankee 10. Prince Royce ft Farruko 11. Jerry Rivera 12. Limi T21 ft Elvis Crespo 13. Pabanor ft Lu-K 14. Maelo Ruiz 15 Farruko 16. Ilegales 17. Jose Alberto El Canario 18. Ozuna 19. Lefty Peres & Nino Segarra 20. Vakero

Most Added Tracks

Bailame Ya No Vale Tu Traicion Mi Gente Besar tu Boca Imitadora A Dormir Juntitos Felices Los Cuatro Despacito Ganas Locas Me Hace Daño Like Tu Me Pones Mal No Entiendo Quiereme Tamos Happy Ese Tipo Soy Yo Te Vas Goza La Vida Mi Sepelio

Ilan Fong n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - New York, NY; Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings - Atlanta, GA; Dan Miller

REPORTING LATIN POOLS

Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n Dj Stickyboots - Goshen, NJ; Blake Eckelbarger n Victors - Milwaukee, WI; Chris Egner n Kahoots - Columbus, OH;

n C-89.5 - Seattle, WA; Randy Schlager n DJ Laszlo - Las Vegas, NV; Laszlo Szenasi n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis n Peter K. Productions Peter K n Mix Masters - Atlanta. GA - Brian Stephens n Nashville, T N - Carlos Cabrera

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

Interscope BMG RCA Pills And AutoDef Jam

NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

REPORTING POOLS

Interscope Epic Atlantic Epic Atlantic Republic Interscope Roc Nation Quality Control RCA RCA Columbia RCA Epic RCA Quality Control Roc Nation Capitol Interscope Def Jam

Zawezo Juan Magan ft Pasabordo & Nacho De La Ghetto, D. Yankee, Ozuna Grupo Mania Fherramy

Universal Lopera Music Sky Urbano Umle Republic EGC Sony J&N Sony Universal Sony Crossover Renew Music Corp.

3 Knots MR Latin Hits Music Dotel Prod.

Los Canario Music Universal Indie Mayimba

Frikiao (Trapbow Version) Sigueme Bailando La Formula Tirenme El Diablo

AMD Universal Warner MM ET Music

n Latinos Unidos Record Pool n Salsamania Latin Record Pool n Lobo/Bass

Record Pool n Urban Tropics Music Pool n North East Record Pool n Mixx Hitts Record Pool n Ritmo Camacho Record Pool n Ritmo Internacional Record Pool n DJ Latinos Record Pool n Mass Pool n Record Pool Latino n V.I.P. Chicago Record Pool.

OCTOBER 2017

Most Added Tracks

Humble Wild Thoughts XO Tour Lift3 Mask Off Whatever You Need B.E.D. Neighbors Rake It Up Slippery Privacy Love Galore Rolex Come Closer Goosebumps Somethin Tells Me First Day Out 4:44 Peek A-Boo Perfect Print Don’t Matter

DJ TIMES

MP3s in 56

Compiled As September 18, 2017

ATTENTION DJ TIMES READERS: DJ Times is currently looking for DJs that are interested in reporting to the DJ National Dance/Crossover chart and the DJ Times National Urban Dance chart.

Reporterships are open to Record Pools and individual DJs. For more information contact: Dan Miller, dmiller@testa.com

33

Making Tracks

(continued from page 24) 900NXS mixer, especially the reverb and space effects.

For a more encompassing effect, you can place Endless Smile on the master output. There’s a nice cohesiveness here when everything gets run through it.

As you move down the presets and up the intensity, more and more sounds start emerging. Delays on the drums become evident, white noise rises up and drum rolls become more present in the mix. On the harder presets, rising “barber poles” or Shepard tones – the audio illusion of a perpetually rising tone – become very pronounced, and the filters become more extreme. Turning the intensity all the way to 110-percent on these settings filters out all of the audio, so you can go all the way from

Sounding Off no effect to no audio.

Does appealto mian Endless Higgins)Smile is nohave stranger tothese those whoThe are perennial not interested in pages.

America’s over-the-top EDM bangers?

Best DJ nominee has flownYes. theFor flag techno or deep house, Idrum-n-bass found that for North American placing the ‘90s plug-in to a “medium” since the by (set touring incessantly, preset with often the intensity knobseveral halfrecording and running way up)and on chord stabs added Human, some labels sublabels (Planet nice and depth to the sound, a : the color umbrella label for SubHuman smooth of reverb and Human combination Imprint). delay that when automated, added a We caught up with Dieselboy lot of movement to my New tracks.

Butgig around his most recent York once you dip the to discuss theinto tour, hismore DJingextreme approach settings, the effects do naturally gravitate towards a big-room sound.

Dada Life deserves a lot of credit for developing a plug-in that has a lot of appeal. Endless Smile is amazingly simple to use with a virtually flat learning curve. But the results it gives you are top-quality. After a few

hours of using it, I really started to appreciate its time-saving benefits.

While Endless Smile doesn’t do all the work for you when arranging a buildup, it adds a lot of character very quickly, and makes automating multiple effects a breeze. While the bulk of its appeal is for those who do write and produce EDMand festival-style tracks, there are benefits here for a wide array of producers. And at such a low price (the plug-in is only $39), it’s hard to say no. Ease of use and quick results are what Endless Smile brings to the table, and that’s a benefit that any producer would be hard pressed to pass on.

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

NGHTMRE

(continued from page 8) because you know when you need to finish mixing a track in or out.

DJ Times: How has the fan/artist dynamic changed in recent years?

Marenyi: I think fans expect to be able to relate and communicate with their favorite artists nowadays. Personally, I can always see the difference when I spend 30 minutes or so after a set, going to take pictures, or spend an hour responding to messages on Snapchat or Facebook. People just really—really—appreciate it. While it is a lot of extra work, artists who are willing to spend the extra time to respond to fans on social media, do meet and greets, and all that… well, they will really see the benefit of it in the long run.

DJ Times: How do you prep for

your festival sets?

Marenyi: For a 60-minute set, I’ll play about 50 songs, and I usually load up between 100 and 150 songs onto my USB – they’re all organized by tempo. This allows me to have a playlist of songs that I most likely want to play, but also plenty of extras so I can freestyle a bit if I feel it’s necessary.

Also, I create a new playlist for every show to keep things fresh and always have extra back-up playlists on my USBs just in case.

DJ Times: In the studio and onstage, what gear and programs do you use?

Marenyi: I use Ableton Live to make everything related to production – from producing my own songs to making edits to mastering. For

DJing, I pretty much always just use Pioneer CDJ-2000s. Once you learn how to use them, it makes life much easier. Only having to show up to gigs with USBs and headphones allows you to bypass the stress of bringing a laptop to the club.

DJ Times: Any tips on making EDM that really connects?

Marenyi: If your song sounds great on piano or acoustic guitar, you can bet that it will sound great with nice-sounding synths and a heavier production. Starting out so simple also helps you envision, define and clarify everything else: your lead synth, vocal melody, supporting chords, and bassline. It’s really important to make sure you don’t overcomplicate the track.

– Ryan Hayes

(continued from page 25) output levels, primarily, and a larger section with the USB connectors mentioned earlier, as well as the onboard BPM effects unit (and Utility functions).

The effects unit has all the usual options, including echo, delay, pingpong, flanger, phaser, reverb, and more. Selection and configuration are shown on the LCD display. All the effects are beat-synced, with selectable duration from 1/16 of a beat to 8 beats. The BPM information can be manually set, or is auto-set from data sent from SC5000 media players when used with the X1800.

Conclusions: The bottom line is that the X1800 provides a full range of capabilities, all the expected features, and a few extras that make it a dream to use. With its solid design and construction, as well as its top-notch accuracy, it makes a terrific mixer choice for serious DJs in demanding club environments. But the pre-integration with the SC5000 Prime media players make it the obvious choice for pairing with them, providing plug-and-play ease with powerful extra features that make everything even easier (and more fun) to use. Like the SC5000 media players, the X1800 Prime mixer has a street price in the general neighborhood of $1,900, making it an investment. But as I said in last month’s wrap-up about the SC5000, what you get for that investment reflects the high bar for quality and performance that Denon DJ is setting for products in this space. Along with the SC5000 Prime media players, the X1800 Prime mixer is a lustworthy piece of kit indeed. n

America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Weedmaps

34

We had a blast!

To the most intimate clubs…

Photo: www.dailyeyes.com

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017

From the massive festivals…

ABDJ ’17, Next Month in DJ Times

35

DJ TIMES

OCTOBER 2017