DJ Times March 2015, Vol 28 No 3

PLUS: u Patrick Topping u Adana Twins u Pleasurekraft u Yamaha DBR Series u Arturia Microbrute u How Mobile Jocks Win Clients

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988

MARCH 2015

$4.95

US $6.95 CANADA

NAMM Show: Gear Galore Holiday Party Report: A Look Back DJ Tech For Mobile Devices

DAVID GUETTA Listen Up!

djtimes.com $4.95 US

$6.95 CANADA

INDUSTRY EVENTS…NOTABLES…MILESTONES

Full-On: Pioneer’s XDJ-RX.

Cans: Audio-Technica’s ATH-M70x.

NEWS

Portable: JBL’s SRX800 Series.

GEAR GALORE: WINTER NAMM FINDS A ROBUST DJ SECTOR PA with 300 watts of power and lowend via 8-inch woofer.

RCF displayed its EVOX 5 and EVOX 8 speaker systems, while dB Technologies showed its DVA MINI line array and the SUB 18H active sub. CAD Audio debuted MH210 headphones.

Audio-Technica broke out its ATH-M70x headphones and the System 10 PRO rack-mountable, digital wireless system. Sennheiser showed its new evolution D1 wireless mic system.

Pioneer DJ introduced: HRM-7 headphones for home studio uses; the XDJ-1000 digital player; and the XDJ-RX DJ console, an all-in-one solution, intended for users of rekordbox music-management software, which incorporates two separate digital players, a mixer and a built-in monitor.

The inMusic brands had several debuts, including: Numark’s NS7III four-deck controller for Serato DJ; Denon DJ’s MC4000, a two-deck Serato-optimized MIDI controller, and its Axis Series Speakers; Alto Pro’s Stealth Wireless Pro wireless speaker system; and Akai Pro’s Advance Keyboard series.

Distributor American Music and Sound showed three new items from Germany’s Reloop, including: the RMX-60 digital 4+1 club mixer with effects; the RP-7000 silver professional upper-torque turntable; and the RP-8000 Straight hybrid torque MIDI turntable. Also, Novation showed its Launchpad Pro grid instrument.

Rane introduced the MP2015 rotary DJ mixer and the TTM57mkII mixer for Serato DJ. Korg debuted the KAOSS DJ, a DJ controller that features a built-in KAOSS Pad. SmithsonMartin showed EmulatorELITE, billed as “the world’s most advanced DJ system,” using its Emulator PRO software. Casio showed a pair of products in the Trackformer Series— the XW-DJ1 controller and the XWPD1 GrooveCenter.

In lighting, ADJ offered: Inno Pocket Wash mini moving head fixture; Inno Pocket Spot Twins moving heads on a mounting bar; and the Zipper effect light. DuraTruss showed its DT-3900L tripod crank stand used to securely hang aluminum truss and lighting fixtures. Elation showed its Sniper hybrid beam, scanner and laser simulator, plus the Protron 3K highpower LED strobe. Related company American Audio showed its ELS Go Series of rechargeable, Bluetoothenabled portable speakers.

Chauvet DJ offered: SlimBEAM QUAD IRC wall accent/effect light; Intimidator Spot Duo 150 dual moving head unit; EZwash Hex Pack battery-powered mini-LED washes; and the GigBAR IRC complete lightshow in one unit.

Blizzard Lighting introduced: the Lil’ G mini moving spot head; LB HEX 12*15watt, 6-in-1 LED unit (RGBAW+UV);

and the LB Quad RGBW/RGBA 12*10watt 4-in-1 LED unit.

Distributor Mixware showed: CTRL controller and DIF-1S V2 mixer from DJ-Tech; covers for nearly every piece of DJ-related hardware from Decksaver; and accessory bags from Fusion and Magma.

From the studio and recording world, Roland showed its new 7X7TR8 Drum Machine Expansion for the TR-8 Rhythm Performer. Studiosoftware maker iZotope debuted the Ozone 6 mastering platform and the Iris 2 instrument. Avid unleashed Pro Tools First, a free version of the music-creation platform. Arturia showed its Audiofuse audio interface and Beatstep Pro controller/ sequencer. Output Audio showed REV, “the world’s first reverse instrument collection.” Auralex Acoustics introduced the ISO-Tone turntable isolation platform.

MARCH 2015

Anaheim, Calif. – This past Jan. 22-25, the Winter NAMM show saw the music industry’s manufacturers, distributors and retailers converge on the Anaheim Convention Center for the world’s largest trade-only event.

According to organizers, NAMM drew 95,709 attendees.

Te s t a C o m mu n i c a t i o n s — p u blisher of DJ Times—was there with a dedicated exhibition booth. It also produced Convention TV @ NAMM, which provided on-the-spot show coverage. Also, the Music & Sound Retailer—another Testa title—presented its annual Music & Sound Awards.

Winners included Pioneer DJ’s DDJSZ controller as Best DJ Product, Chauvet DJ’s FlareCON Air control system as Best Lighting Product and JBL EON615 active loudspeaker as Best Speaker.

Onto the Show: Peavey Electronics celebrated its 50 th anniversary at NAMM with a big party that presented classic-rock performances and industry testimonials, including one from DJ Times founder Vinny Testa.

On the product side for DJs, Peavey debuted a pair of active loudspeaker ranges. The Dark Matter series of digitally processed units has 12- and 15-inch models, plus 15- and 18-inch subs, while the RBN series 10- and 12-inch tops and 15- and 18-inch subs.

Also in the pro-audio sector, JBL Professional introduced its SRX800 Series of portable powered speakers, which include a 12-inch, 2-way unit, a 15-inch, 3-way unit, an 18-inch sub and a dual-18 sub. QSC Audio introduced the GXD Series processing amps.

Yamaha showed the DBR range of active speakers, CBR range of passive speakers, and the AG range of audio mixers. Related company Steinberg showed its new Cubase Pro 8 DAW, Cubase Artist 8 DAW and the UR12 USB audio interface.

Electro-Voice debuted the EKX series of portable speakers, which has four active and four passive models.

Mackie debuted its FreePlay Personal

DJ TIMES

By Jim Tremayne

3

VOLUME 28

NUMBER 3

12

Listen Up! David Guetta—EDM’s Top Superstar DJ—Returns with His Most Adventurous Album, Plus a Few Tough Words for the Haters

BY CHRIS CARUSO

20 Holiday Party Report, V. 2014 Not All DJs Are Benefitting from the Economic Recovery, But Some Have Pivoted Wisely

BY JEFF STILES

22 Hot Creation After an Unforgettable Summer in Ibiza, Patrick Topping Looks for More in 2015

BY CHRIS CARUSO

24 Pushing Forward With More Heavyweight Software for Mac, iOS & Android, the DJ’s Evolution Continues

BY CHRIS DAVIS

DEPARTMENTS 7 Feedback

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

26 Making Tracks

Arturia Microbrute

28 Sounding Off

Yamaha DBR Speakers

30 Mobile Profile

Upstart Corners Jersey Teen Market

32 Business Line

Winning with Service-Design Thinking

34 Gear

New Products from Blizzard, Korg & More

38 Grooves

Phat Tracks from Danny Daze, Diego Krause & More

40 DJ Times Marketplace

Shop Here for All Your DJ-Related Supplies

41 Club Play Chart

DJ TIMES

FEBRUARY 2015

4

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

SAMPLINGS 8 Adana Twins

Contents Image By Ellen Von Unwerth Cover Image By Pearcy Proper

Hamburg Housers

10 In the Studio With…

Pleasurekraft

FROM THE EDITOR

Still On Top

If David Guetta has a new album, surely it’s another cover story for DJ Times. Why? Because he’s simply the biggest DJ in the world.

I was trying to explain his popularity to someone the other day and said, “Not only is he the most consistent cross-platform hitmaker of all the DJ/producers, his registered fanbase is off the charts.” To give you an idea of how much, just take a look at his Facebook Likes. Skrillex and Tiësto each have over 19 million, a huge number to be sure. Well, at presstime, Guetta has 59 million. Playing the Facebook game certainly isn’t an end-all/be-all proposition and some DJs curiously boost those Likes to levels that don’t reflect their genuine popularity. Can’t really say that about Guetta.

More than any other DJ/producer, the popular Frenchman brought dance music back onto mainstream radio and helped spearhead the massive movement toward DJ-driven music. Not bad for a guy who promoted club events in Paris and was one of that city’s few true believers in house music back in the day. Our Chris Caruso caught up with him in New York City, just before his latest album, Listen, hit the market. They discuss the album, the scene and, yes, the haters.

And if you didn’t notice, all of this month’s DJ/artist features come from Mr. Caruso. If a full-on cover story wasn’t enough, he also connects with Patrick Topping, the U.K.-based DJ/producer who enjoyed a massive 2014 with cuts for Hot Creations like “Forget,” and looks for more this year. In Samplings, he interviewed a pair of DJ/studio duos—the Adana Twins and Pleasurekraft.

Drinks on me, Chris.

In the gear/technology world for jocks, Chris Davis takes a peak at a few nifty DJ solutions for mobile devices. Meanwhile, the Sounding Off column finds the Bay Area tech-review team of Mike Klasco and Tony Russell testing out Yamaha’s DBR active loudspeaker line. Over in Making Tracks, Phil Moffa handles Arturia’s Microbrute analog synth. (Also, check out our review in Grooves for “Meet the Butcha,” his hot new track with underground mainstay Seth Troxler.)

On the mobile-entertainer front, Jeff Stiles—our Iowan DJ scribe—checks in with a crew of nationwide jocks to see how their holiday business went. In Business Line, Maine-based mobile Jerry Bazata explains how DJs can win with “service-design thinking.” And in Mobile Profile, we meet upstart New Jersey jock Anthony LoBosco, who’s taken Sweet-16 events to a lucrative level.

Recently back from the Winter NAMM in Anaheim, Calif., we’re all buzzing with new DJ toys and technologies. Whether its playback or lighting, software or PA, accessory or processor, we think we’ve brought back some of the debut-product highlights for you in our Page 3 News. The show itself was awash in DJ controllers, as you might imagine, but it also saw a slew of Bluetoothenabled loudspeakers and more modular-synth companies than you’d ever imagine. As usual, the show stoked some fires here and we expect to be reviewing the cream of the new DJ crop in the coming months, right here in these pages.

And sit tight for next month’s issue, when we preview Miami’s Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival. Looking forward to some Florida sun, after this tough New York winter.

Bring on the rays.

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

art director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com

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

production manager Steve Thorakos sthorakos@testa.com

chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Jody Amos Tom Banham Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Ally Byers Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Reed Dailey Chris Davis Mike Klasco Robert LaFrance Michelle Loeb Duanny Medrano Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Natalie Raben Deanna Rilling Scott Rubin Tony Russell Julia Sachs Jeff Stiles Emily Tan Phil Turnipseed Ashley Zlatopolsky

President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

Cheers,

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

Jim Tremayne, Editor, DJ Times

6

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

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

DJ Times (ISSN 1045-9693) (USPS 0004-153) is published monthly for $19.40 (US), $39.99 (Canada), and $59.99 (all other countries), by DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 110503779. Periodicals postage paid at Port Washington, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DJ Times, PO BOX 1767, LOWELL MA 01853-1767 Design and contents are copyright © 2015 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and must not be reproduced in any manner except by permission of the publisher. Websites: www. djtimes.com and www.testa.com March 2015

visit our website: www.djtimes.com

FEEDBACK + Moby + Eats Everything + Sydney Blu + Reloop NEON + WaveDNA Liquid Rhythm + Big Ten’s DJ Décor, Video & More: How Mobiles Keep Current New Years Eve Across the USA Armin, Skrillex, Kaskade & More

ue that didn’t serve alcohol—and I’ve heard Danny Tenaglia say this a lot—we’ll probably never see that kind of club in Manhattan again. The numbers simply don’t add up. You cannot make your monthly rent with a nightclub that merely takes cover charges and only sells juice and soft drinks, plus the occasional t-shirt.

Danny Tenaglia STILL THE DJ’s DJ

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988

048FE15_p001-044.indd 3

FEBRUARY 2015

But that was part of what made the place and its parties magical—it re‑ ally was about the music and the at‑ mosphere, nothing else. You went there for fun, but you knew that you were going to get a musical education, as well. Simply put, the DJ was in charge—thanks for that, Danny.

– Jim Tremayne, DJ Times

Aug. 10-13 Atlantic City, NJ www.thedjexpo.com

1/12/2015 12:42:25 PM

This is Feedback, a monthly feature that fields questions from you, our readers, and funnels them out to in‑ dustry professionals. If you have any questions about DJing – marketing, mixing, equipment or insurance, any at all – drop us a letter at DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Ave, Port Washington, NY 11050, fax us at (516) 944‑8372 or e‑mail us at djtimes@testa.com.

If we do use your question, you’ll receive a free DJ Times T‑shirt. And remember, the only dumb question is the question that is not asked.

DEAR DJ TIMES, I just wanted to let you know that your “From The Editor” article in last month’s issue hit the nail right on the head. Be Yourself at Vinyl with Danny Tenaglia was the best party/vibe of our generation and nothing after ever came close.

I live out in New Jersey now, but grew up in Brooklyn. My wife and I used to go hear Danny religiously in the late-’90s/early 2000s. Your description of a night out back then is exactly how I try to explain it to the kids today. We went out to learn new music, not hear what everyone else was playing.

I remember one winter, maybe 2000, when there was a blizzard expect‑ ed on a Friday night. My wife and I jumped in the car, packing extra out‑ erwear and snow shovels. We went to Vinyl and danced all night. Then, at 6 a.m. with the sun coming up, I dug our car out of the snow—and we slipped and slided all the way back to Brooklyn. That’s how important Be Yourself was to everyone at 6 Hubert Street.

Thanks,

POWER COUPLE.

TouchMix™-16 Compact Digital Mixer

K10 Active Loudspeaker

• “Big mixer” features and specs in a compact and portable form • Wizards, info and preset libraries make getting great results fast and easy • Provides optimal settings for K, KW and KLA Series loudspeakers • Padded carrying case and USB Wi-Fi adapter included. No additional network hardware required for remote control.

• The #1-selling powered loudspeaker in the U.S. four years in a row* • Legendary QSC quality, performance and reliability • Six-year warranty with product registration

TouchMix digital mixers and K Series loudspeakers. Each remarkable products in their own right. Together, the combination of performance, versatility, ease of use and of course, genuine QSC reliability, is nothing short of amazing. Want to learn more? Go to QSC.com.

– Tommy Rignola, Manalapan, N.J.

Appreciate that, Tommy. Yes, I had plenty of Vinyl/Be Yourself experi‑ ences similar to that one—the place and that party was special. (The Body & Soul event there on Sundays wasn’t so bad either.)

But sadly, because Vinyl was a ven‑

TouchMix™ Series

K Series

qsc.com © 2014 QSC Audio Products, LLC. All rights reserved. QSC and the QSC logo are registered trademarks of QSC Audio Products, LLC in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries.*Source:MI SalesTrak 2010, 2011,2012,2013. MI SalesTrak is a registered trademark of Marketing Information Services, Inc. in the US Patent office.

SAMPLINGS

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

ADANA TWINS: HAMBURG HOUSERS

8

Hailing from house-happy streets of Hamburg, Germany, the Adana Twins have been taking clubbers on all-night rides through deep beats since the pair’s 2006 formation. The DJ/producer duo—comprised of Take It Easy and Friso—has made its name with a tasty mix of luxuriant melodies and enchanting grooves.

After a big year of club and festival appearances, the pair wrapped up 2014 with one final release: a remix of Human Life & Anabel Englund’s hazy disco dream, “El Diablo,” which is available now on the Exploited imprint. We recently caught up with the Adana Twins to discuss this and other DJ-related topics.

DJ Times: Your remix of Human Life and Anabel Englund’s “El Diablo” has made quite a bit of buzz, from a Pete Tong world premiere to huge online success.

Friso: First of all, we would like to thank everybody who supported this tune so far, especially Pete Tong who has been a big supporter of all our stuff for years. This makes us really proud, as he is definitely a legend.

DJ Times: How did the remix come about?

Take It Easy: The remix request came through Exploited. We think Shir Khan knows that Anabel & Matt [Human Life] are really big fans of us and

Adana Twins: (from left) Take It Easy & Friso.

that we like them both, too. Anabel’s performance on Hot Natured’s “Mercury Rising” particularly gave us the chills. The circle was closing and at this point it was the logical consequence that he asked us to do this remix.

DJ Times: It feels like anything that’s not massive hands-in-the-air EDM that’s come out recently is automatically labeled as “deep house.” What’s your take on the new sound being dubbed as deep house?

Friso: Of course, we are deep into housey and techy music, but for us not everything is automatically deep house. Firstly, we don’t consider ourselves a deep-house act. We play a wide range of music ranging from house to disco and techno—simply music that we like. Perhaps the people who are not so musicsavvy need a label and it just happens that deep house has been the most hyped label for the last two years.

It feels like everybody started to put music into this genre just to jump on this train and have success.

DJ Times: Does this change affect the “genre” of deep house?

Take It Easy: On one side, it’s cool that everybody is now talking about deep house; but on the other side it’s bad as there is a lot of music labeled that way, which is definitely not deep house. People should not care about a genre. They should care about good music.

DJ Times: What have been some of your favorite clubs to play this past year?

Friso: Definitely Warung [Beach Club in Itajai, Brazil], D.EDGE [in Sao Paolo], Watergate [in Berlin] and Revolver [in Hamburg]! These clubs are just amazing!

DJ Times: What sort of energy and vibes do you try to bring to your DJ sets?

Take It Easy: We try to take people on a journey of the sounds we like. That’s also the reason why we love to play longer sets. We can start really slow and build up a great vibe. When we get to the point where we overtake the crowd, then we can do whatever we want and we can almost play all the music we like. This obviously only works with long club sets. For festival slots with only 60 or 90 minutes playtime, our focus is more on pumpy music with lots of drive.

DJ Times: What have been some of your favorite tracks of the past year, both for your DJ sets and outside of the clubs?

Friso: Definitely Hodgson’s “One Spliff,” &ME’s “After Dark,” and Matthew Dekay’s “Fangtango.” Those tracks are badass.

DJ Times: Do you as a pair prefer DJing or producing? Is there a split between the both of you in terms of focusing on the studio or live show primarily?

Take It Easy: We like both. But we come from the traditional club scene and learned while playing as residents in Hamburg. Considering that, we definitely have a soft spot for DJing.

DJ Times: What releases and projects do you guys have planned for 2015?

Friso: At the moment, we have an EP on Exploited scheduled for the beginning of 2015 and some more nice stuff which is still secret at this time! Stay tuned. Exciting times are coming up.

– Chris Caruso

Meet

ew n r u yo

n o i n a omp

c

www.martin.com

IN THE STUDIO WITH

OFF THE DEEP END

PLEASUREKRAFT:

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

DJ/Production Duo: (from left) Kaveh Soroush & Kalle Ronngard.

10

Self-described as a “simultaneously visceral and cerebral experience,” Pleasurekraft has been laying down dark basslines and intricate grooves to legions of fans since the release of its 2010 tech-house smash “Tarantula.”

The elusive American/Swedish duo—Kaveh Soroush from Washington, D.C., and Kalle Ronngard from Stockholm, respectively—has since won three Beatport Awards and forged a legacy of off-kilter releases that have torn up clubs on a global scale. Now, the pair juggles its heavy touring schedule with a consistent stream of both original and remix releases that show an intrinsic knowledge of the dancefloor and a dedication to pushing the limits of production.

In addition to its own artistic pursuits, the pair also manages Kraftek, the label the duo re-launched in 2013.

The following year saw the label truly creating its own identity, thanks to a series of top-notch tracks—including the oceanic grooves of Wild Culture’s “Day to Night” and the manic pulse of Paul Ursin’s “28 Drums.”

As they prepped for winter and spring gigs on four different continents—Europe, North America, South America and Australia—the Pleasurekraft fellows discussed their production approach, as well as their take on the resurgence of the deeper sounds of dance music.

DJ Times: How has the tour experience in the U.S. been this last time around?

Kaveh: I love playing the States.

The hospitality side is always amazing, as you always get the royal treatment from the clubs and promoters, and—to be honest—I think the underground scene is getting better and better after a long hiatus.

DJ Times: You played Tomorrowland this past year. How’s playing to a festival crowd different from your club sets?

Kaveh: Well, you can’t play some records that are more intimate and cerebral, as festival sets are usually shorter. Each DJ tends to play the tracks they want to showcase most, and these usually end up being bigger tracks than what they would play in a club if they had three-plus hours to

really take the crowd on a journey.

DJ Times: What goes into running your label Kraftek and balancing it with your touring and production duties?

Kaveh: The love of music itself and finding those gems from up-andcoming producers that inspire us to stay hungry because there is so much good talent amongst the crap.

DJ Times: Your basslines are always rich with unique tones. What specific approaches and synths do you tend to create them using?

Kalle: This varies greatly from track to track, but we have a couple of go-to synths for bass like u-he DIVA, Native Instruments Absynth 5 and DSI Prophet 08. There’s usually a lot of processing going on—with everything from guitar amplifiers, reverbs, and stereo expanders to name a few. We think it’s important to not be afraid of experimenting with the signal chain.

DJ Times: What else is in your current studio set-up?

Kalle: Macbook Pro running Logic Pro X, Event Opal and Mackie monitors, Sennheiser HD-800 headphones, M-Audio Axiom 61 MIDI

keyboard, a rarely-used Access Virus TI, and a Neumann U87 mic.

DJ Times: Your live setup, gearwise?

Kaveh: Laptop with Traktor, two CDJ-2000s, Pioneer DJM-900 Nexus, and a Native Instruments Maschine controller.

DJ Times: The deeper sounds of tech-house seem to be gaining a fair bit of speed in the U.S. right now. What differences are you noticing playing/releasing music to a U.S. crowd, compared to other places on the globe?

Kaveh: I think it’s actually even more specific than U.S. or non-U.S.based. I mean, we can go to El Paso and play whatever the hell we want and the crowd is up for it, whereas some other cities—and I won’t name names—stand relatively still unless there are massive breaks and drops in a track. But it’s cool—I don’t mind because I think in the long run as you mentioned we’re— generally speaking as an entire scene, not us personally—gaining momentum on the underground side.

– Chris Caruso

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

There's a certain level of stardom that's reserved solely for those artists that have achieved that coveted “household name” status. It's a phenomenon that's usually intangible and indefinable—largely validated by phrases like “My mother loves this song”—but there's a specific scene in 2012 Anna Kendrick-fronted teen comedy Pitch Perfect that succinctly shows just how ubiquitous French DJ/producer David Guetta has become.

12

In the scene, female a cappella group coleader Chloe discovers the vocal talent of Beca (Kendrick)—a part-time mash-up producer—when she overhears her singing David Guetta's crossover smash “Titanium” in the locker room. When asked if she was indeed singing the song, Beca—completely unironically—asks, “You know David Guetta?” Then, Chloe responds, “Have I been living under a rock? Of course, I know him.”

Whether or not comedic romps through the trials and tribulations of collegiate vocal troupes are up your alley, the scene goes a long way in showcasing the shift in the cultural zeitgeist that David Guetta played a large part in starting—he essentially forced the public to finally accept DJs and producers as superstars themselves.

After gaining a measure of clubland success with Chris Willis-fronted singles like 2007’s “Love Is Gone,” Guetta continued to collaborate with top talents and eventually knocked the door down. His ’09 production for The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” earned acclaim beyond the club and earned a Grammy nomination. But it was the runaway success of 2009’s One Love album—and its singles “When Love Takes Over” (featuring Kelly Rowland) and “Sexy Bitch” (featuring Akon)—that allowed American radio programmers and listeners to get acquainted with the notion of the producer stepping out of the shadows and receiving higher billing than the track's vocalist.

The 2011 release of Nothing But The Beat and the singles “Where Them Girls At” (featuring Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj) and “Titanium” (featuring Sia) cemented this paradigm shift, certifying Guetta's position as a pop star in his own right.

It's been three years since the release of Nothing But The Beat, and these years have seen Guetta enter into a period of deep introspection and creative searching amidst a never-ending onslaught of headlining festival performances and sold-out shows. A high-profile divorce from wife Cathy, with whom he collaborated on the F*** Me I’m Famous club brand, put him in the sights of the tabloid rumor mill in early 2014. But the French DJ/producer kept the music as the main focus by spending the rest of the year dropping a series of club-ready tracks through his Jack Back label and working on new material.

The end product of this methodical approach?

Listen, Guetta's sixth and arguably most adventurous full-length offering. The album release on Big Beat/Atlantic this past November was preceded by the single “Dangerous,” a one-two punch of rock influences and orchestral strings propelled by a midtempo rhythm that threw away the notion that the album would be a set of 14 EDM bangers. That being said, there's no shortage of danceable bops present, but the wide range of sonic textures—from the reggae-influenced Nicki Minaj and Afrojack collab “Hey Mama” to the scenic piano-driven house of “I'll Keep Loving You”—and personal lyrical content clearly shows the evolution of the artist.

The rest of the album further showcases Guetta's ability to break down the seemingly rigid walls dividing dance genres from both themselves and the larger world of music. Whether he's closing the album with an acoustic piano ballad (“The Whisperer” sung by pop songwriter du jour Sia) or enlisting South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo to sing on “Lift Me Up,” Guetta's dedication to subvert the expected while staying true to the aesthetics of pop music and house music that he loves is both evident and admirable.

Amidst his massive promotional schedule for Listen, we connected with David Guetta to talk about the work leading up to the release of the album, as well as his friendships with other DJs like Laurent Garnier, his thoughts on the current music scene and his 25-year DJing career.

DJ Times: When did work on the album begin?

David Guetta: About three years ago.

DJ Times: Was there a concept or vision that guided the recording process?

Guetta: Yeah, the first year was trying to find anything and trying to find a new sound and it would be a year, and then one of the first records that I thought was interesting was “Dangerous.” I was like, “Wow, I like this direction!” I kept on working in this direction, but then I kind of had a block for like six months where nothing was coming. And then, the last year, I was really productive. I made “Bad” and “Shot Me Down” before the album because I knew that was going to come with something that was a combination between artistic and electronic, and I wanted to do something purely EDM right before to then surprise people with a sort of new turn.

DJ Times: Before anyone even knew you were working on a pop album, you released a string of banging club singles.

Was that a deliberate attempt to get back into the clubs or just to surprise people?

Guetta: It’s not to get back in the clubs, as I was never away from the clubs. It was more to surprise people. I am going to hard EDM and, then when everyone is going to expect me to do this for the album, I'm going to do something completely different. It was to play with and trick the mind a little bit.

DJ Times: You really flipped the script when you released the album's lead single “Dangerous,” which is a midtempo track full of keys and strings. Did you pick that one to send a message about what the album was going to be like?

Guetta: I just like surprising people, especially when making an album. Lately, EDM has been very formulaic, and I wanted to do something completely different. So I came in with “Bad” and “Shot Me Down,” and then thought, “OK, people are going to expect this on the album.” So then I worked with classical music orchestras and mid-tempo, funky basslines and guitars, and a new singer [Sam Martin] when I'm known for collaborations with big stars. I just like trying to surprise people!

DJ Times: Speaking of collaborators, the album has some returning ones like Nicki Minaj and Sia, upcoming artists like Bebe Rexha and Magic!, and then completely unexpected ones like Ladysmith Black Mambazo. How did some of these collaborations come about and get formed?

Guetta: I am only thinking in terms of making it the best possible at the time. I have been working a

Photo By Ellen Von Unwerth

D AV I D G U E T TA — E D M ’ S T O P S U P E R S TA R D J — R E T U R N S W I T H H I S M O S T ADVENTUROUS ALBUM, PLUS A FEW T O U G H W O R D S F O R T H E H AT E R S

BY CHRIS CARUSO

Photo By Pearcy Proper

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

LISTEN: 4 SURPRISING DAVID GUETTA PRODUCTIONS

14

David Guetta has made a name for himself with the euphoric, pop-inspired EDM anthems that have blown up radios for years. But he’s been quite the musical chameleon as well. Here are four David Guetta productions that signaled his penchant to circumvent dance expectations and surprise listeners well before he released Listen.

Kelis – “Scream” (2010): Kelis moved away from The Neptunes-helmed production that defined her early work for her dance-oriented Flesh Tone effort, and “Scream.” Co-produced with Tocadisco, the track segues from its melodic, R&B-inspired verses to alarm-ringing robotic techno choruses.

Timbaland feat. Pitbull – “Pass At Me” (2011): A David Guetta-Timbaland-Pitbull collaboration sounds like a radio programmer's dream, and the end result is proof why. Rapid-fire drums, a dancefloor-ready beat, and a healthy dose of reggaeton influences show that Guetta knows how to tailor a sound for any club crowd.

Rihanna – “Phresh Out The Runway” (2012): Rave goes hip hop on this cut off of the Barbadian singer's Unapologetic album. Grinding electro synths underscore fiery bars from Rihanna, but it's the pulsing bass and undeniable swagger of the track that make it such an unexpected gem from Guetta.

Lady Gaga – “Fashion!” (2013): Lady Gaga's ARTPOP LP was mostly defined by icy electro production from DJ White Shadow, Zedd, and Madeon, but Guetta's co-production with will.i.am draws its influence from the funk records that the French DJ played when he was starting out. The track's deliciously camp vibe was elevated even further with a live performance featuring RuPaul for a Muppets Holiday Special.

– Chris Caruso

“Lately, EDM has been very formulaic, and I wanted to do something completely different.”

lot on the songs first, on the production second, and then on who would be the best artist to sing that song. So it was really the way I did it this time, which was really kind of different for me. I just want to have the best record possible.

DJ Times: There is a really surprising track with Sia on the album called “The Whisperer,” which is a piano ballad. It’s such a switch up from some of your earlier material.

Guetta: As I said, I don't want to repeat the exact same formula. Of course, there are some classic David Guetta records like “What I Did For Love” and “Sun Goes Down” that are in the vein of the club records that I've done before that make you stronger. Then there are emotional dance records in the vein of “Bang My Head,” that's like “Titanium,” but I also wanted to do things that were totally different, like working with Sia on some amazing, emotional songs. It was a great statement. Honestly, it was the fight of my life to get dance music played on the radio and have it respected as much as pop or hip hop, so I think for me to work with symphonic orchestras and do a beautiful ballad on the record is again saying to the world, “OK, yes, we make beats on computers, but I can also do this.” It’s music with soul, it’s music with melodies and lyrics, you know what I mean?

DJ Times: That makes sense.

Guetta: It is also good to show that you can connect to people with dance, but it doesn't only have to be about hands in the air and sexy girls.

DJ Times: So is there more of a personal edge that pulls from your life in this album than previous ones?

Guetta: Yes, absolutely.

DJ Times: There even seems to be a soul influence and even

Photo By Ellen Von Unwerth

“No one needs to fake beatmatching two records.

I can teach this to a 10-year-old in two hours.”

DAVID GUETTA—EDM’S TOP SUPERSTAR DJ—RETURNS WITH HIS MOST ADVENTUROUS ALBUM, PLUS A FEW TOUGH WORDS FOR THE HATERS

ProX

Live Performance Gear

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

...with our

16

BLACK on BLACK

hardware option!

some R&B influences that hark back to the ’80s and ’90s when you were playing hip hop, funk, and disco in French clubs.

Guetta: It’s just what I have inside! Of course, whatever I was listening to as a teenager is still inside of me and still inside of my music.

DJ Times: Right now, “deep house” seems to be a buzz word that’s got everyone talking, from DJs and producers to labels and fans. What's your take on this, coming from someone who's been DJing for nearly 30 years?

Guetta: Actually, I’ve been playing deep house, but I was playing it back in ’92 or ’94! [laughs] I just didn’t feel like jumping on the train for my album. I wanted to do my own thing, but yeah, I think the return of house is a blessing. I'm happy about this. I love house. It's where I come from and it's in my roots.

DJ Times: A lot of these roots stem from playing clubs in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Even though you now headline festivals everywhere, you recently played over at Marquee New York. How important is it to still make time to play clubs?

Guetta: I love playing clubs. My residencies in Las Vegas and Ibiza are something I really just love. This is where I come from all my life. As much as the energy is—of course—amazing at a festival or a David Guetta concert, what we do at all of those is give a show, and that includes things like special effects and lights and videos and production. What I think is DJing—which is like playing clubs, having a breakdown in a record where people are feeling like they're in a tunnel, looping four bars for 10 minutes, and playing with a cappellas—doesn’t need so much space. And if you do this in a festival, people wouldn't understand because DJs are just banging all day long and you just have to maintain that for a crazy 90-minute set. Whereas playing in clubs is different, and I love it. I love not knowing in advance all the records I am going to play. I love seeing the (continued on page 42) (continued on page 42)

BY JEFF STILES

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

While the 2014 holiday season was pretty typical for Mark Ashe of Marx Entertainment & Events in Enfield, Conn., he says his DJ company did in fact realize a slight increase in the number of gigs performed.

“A couple new clients came along due to our increased marketing efforts,” says Ashe. “Still, I’m not sure if we’ll ever see it like it was during the heyday, when I can remember doing holiday parties 35 days in a row without a break. It’s certainly not like that anymore.”

Luke Renchan in Pawtucket, R.I., says his company—Luke’s DJ Service— did much better than the previous year.

“Budgets were up and people were booking events seven days a week,” says Renchan. “We’re also now finding many holiday parties booked into the first week of February, as many people like to wait for the holiday rush to be over and slow down.

“We realized more upsells options, too, with companies adding photobooths, lighting and even game-show options.”

With the U.S. economy generally on an upswing, how were DJ profits in 2014 compared to previous years? We asked jocks from around the nation how their number of end-of-year party gigs compared with those in years past.

While Scott Goldoor in Pennsylvania says he did about the same amount of holiday parties as he performed for in 2013 and Jerry Bazata in Maine says he did zero parties the entire Christmas season, Blake (“DJ Sticky Boots”) Eckelbarger in Indiana affirms that his company saw a significant uptick in the number of parties in 2014.

“Although we don’t market towards holiday parties specifically, a couple of our clients went

20

full-out, booking the biggest package we offer,” explains the owner of The Music Place in South Bend. “This was a welcome change from previous years, when companies wanted to go as cheap as possible.

“Those clients’ willingness to spend more money sent our profits up substantially, especially when factoring in upsells they included such as uplighting and larger sound systems.”

Ray Martinez of Ray Mar Productions in Goodyear, Ariz., says that, without question, Christmas parties in 2014 were on the rise. In fact, Martinez says he had more events this past December than he had during the previous three years during that final month of each year.

“Surprisingly, I had more weddings and other Christmas events, besides corporate parties,” he says. “In particular, I had two new companies— Sonoran Technologies and Damco Distribution Services—and both were total opposites, one being in Arizona and the other in California.

“The one in Arizona had maybe 60 people and wanted a slew of games to be played, including an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest and a ‘Bust A Move’ dance contest.

“The other one in California had 300 people.

We did our famous ‘12 Days of Christmas’ singalong, during which we got management to sing, and then we had a scavenger hunt, during which I asked for particular items in order for the guests to win centerpieces.

“Overall, both parties went well and have already expressed interest to have me back again for this year.”

Up in Seattle, Wash., Adam Tiegs of Adam’s DJ Service claims he was bound to have a happy new year indeed. With the best November and one of the best Decembers ever, he says holiday parties brought in over $10,000 each month— “not bad for a solo DJ,” he quips.

“All of my gigs in both months were corporate

or fundraisers, with only one wedding. Lighting is still my side specialty and is what clients are drawn to, if it can have an effect on their event.

“It also helped to have an event that required my assistance with fulfilling a rider for a performance group called Bandaloop in which we needed ecology blocks, a generator, a forklift, a boom lift, a lighting designer, a production manager…and then some.

“And for that last event, I booked two events with one of the client’s business partners. So when you’re able to do fun things with lights—gobos, color via battery-powered and wirelessly controlled fixtures, etc.—and do a good job working with clients, people will notice and you’ll get more business.”

Back up in the Northeast, Charles Bernard in Plymouth, Mass., reports that during the months of December 2014 and January 2015, DJX Studio was “jamming like Bob Marley” every weekend, with a handful of midweek and morning jobs as well.

“Those two months really slammed,” says Bernard, whose company now boasts five full-time DJs/ MCs. “Every event has a client sitting, watching and wanting the same sensation as they’ve seen that night. Each team member reached out, connected with venues they performed at, and secured nine holiday parties in December plus four in January.

“Then add in Macy’s, banks, a credit union, Foxboro Stadium, an electric company, and connecting with clients via Facebook and handwritten thankyou notes. It’s nothing but lovin’ at DJX.” Bernard says the ingredients required to deliver his ideal 2014 holiday season included love for the craft, sincere elbow-rubbing and remaining professional onsite.

“We never actually have to work,” he says with a slight chuckle. “It was simply time-consumption, with the green being the byproduct.”

While Sean “Big Daddy” McKee of James Daniel Entertainment in Stamford, Conn., says their

NOT ALL DJS ARE BENEFITTING FROM THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY, BUT SOME HAVE PIVOTED WISELY

HOLIDAY PARTY REPORT, V. 2014

he says. “For school events, uplighting can help their experience, too. However, I find that providing live entertainers and dancers to move throughout the room to energize the guests really works best for corporate holiday parties.

“The only problem is companies don’t want to pay a fair rate for these types of upsells. There is so much competition with other DJs or agents giving their products and services away for literally nothing when one includes the time to prepare for an event.”

This past year, Williams says the only companies he found willing to spend big fees were those in the very heart of New York City. “There was definitely a sense of shopping around,” he says, “and HR departments know that they can get away with this because there’s a high expectation from the executive teams to be under budget for payroll and special events.

“Companies have fewer employees and are making more money. There are more DJs to compete with who are giving more amenities away for lower prices. Brands know this and selling to them takes a lot more effort.

“I don’t know if companies will be able to have over-the-top holiday parties like they used to 10 years ago. The future is definitely unclear with new technologies, such as streaming music services that make it easy to hear music in the background, as you network with fellow work colleagues.

“Is this the start of a non-DJ holiday-party revolution?” n

MARCH 2015

“And although many companies are seeing their bottom lines increase with fewer employees, they had more intimate events for their team members where a DJ was not required.

“I followed up with some past brands, and some of them decided to treat their folks to a night out on the town at a nice restaurant, or to the owner’s home with catered food or a comedyclub experience. There weren’t many big holiday parties at The Ritz-Carlton or the Waldorf Astoria like the old days.

“Nowadays, companies are afraid to have these types of high-end events, in fear of the potential backlash they may get on social media websites.

The worst PR that could happen to a company is the perception of spending thousands of dollars on a luxury-hotel holiday party, while people are still looking for work.”

Of course,Williams says the perennial challenge for holiday parties is the difficulty of encouraging employees to “let loose” during such an event.

“Holiday parties are great events, but it can be hard to get employees to dance at for three or four hours,” he says. “No one wants to get too drunk and become the talk in the break room the next day. So there needs to be engaging activities to help members to network and interact with each other.”

For this reason, DJ Carl says it’s great to be able to add upsells—when financial feasible, that is.

“One of the ways that companies can engage their folks is to provide the photobooth experience,”

DJ TIMES

holiday season 2014 season was their busiest in a long time, he credits the uptick in business more to diversification—such as adding a casino division— than anything else.

“As everybody knows, December used to be the big money-maker month that would help get us through January and February,” recalls McKee. “That’s not been the case for a number of years, but since diversifying to other divisions such as AV and lighting and casino, this past December was one of our biggest in five years.

“We did 45 casino events—half of which had no DJ—and all in all we did over 120 events in the month.”

As a result, McKee says the profits are finally coming back. “That being said, marketing helped a lot, too,” he explains. “Also, my casino leader is amazing. I have eight events booked for December of 2015 already, just because we stayed focused and worked hard.”

East-coast celebrity DJ Carl Williams says he spent so much time traveling between Orlando and his hometown of New York City during the last two weeks of 2014 that he often felt like he was mimicking the early radio years of radio jock Tom Joyner—whom they called “The Fly Jock,” due to the fact he traveled from Dallas to Chicago every day.

Still, Williams admits that the corporate-holidayparty circuit is still not what it used to be years ago. “Today, certain industries such as construction and healthcare had great budgets,” he explains.

21

22

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

DJ Times: “Voicemail,” your collaboration with Green Velvet, is a recent hit. How did you two come to create it?

Topping: I actually booked him for new club night in Newcastle, England, in 2013. That was just around the time my first EP [“Any Amounts” on Hot Creations] was coming out. That was when we first met. Obviously, he is huge hero of mine and to book him to my home city was such an honor—but to now have track with him is such a buzz! We hadn’t spoken again until we met at DC10 this August. I knew he had been playing my tracks for a while, so I was really excited to see him again. So that night we spoke for a while and that’s when the idea for collaboration came about.

After that, it just happened very quickly. We made the track remotely, sending each other parts in about three days or something.

DJ Times: Sounds pretty unexpected.

Topping: I was actually about to leave my house for a tour for nearly four weeks, so we wanted to get it done before then. So he actually stayed up all night in studio working it to make sure it was done in time. We were both on Skype listening to it and talking and tweaking it. It went No. 1 on Beatport’s Tech House chart, too, so we are over the moon about the reception it’s gotten.

DJ Times: “Forget” was a huge smash during the Ibiza season. Did you expect that level of success when creating it?

Topping: I don’t think anyone involved expected that; I didn’t, for sure. Jamie Jones said when I sent it to him that it was my best yet, but I don’t even think he expected it to win “Track of the Season” [from Ibiza’s DJ Awards]. I met up with

Lee Foss in the U.S. the other month and he said he knew it was going to be that big, though.

DJ Times: What sort of production setup are you using currently?

Topping: Only hardware is an iMac and KRK Rokit 5 monitor speakers. Also, I test the sound on my Sennheiser HD 25-1 headphones to double check that the sound is correct. I also like to test it on my car’s speakers. They aren’t the best, but I think it’s good to try it get it sounding right on all systems if possible.

DJ Times: What about software?

Topping: Software-wise, I use Apple Logic Pro as my DAW and an array of plug-ins, as I don’t use any outbound synths or effects units.

DJ Times: You have such a packed tour schedule. How do you find time to make music?

Topping: Well, I don’t spend anywhere near the same amount of time working on music as I did before, but I’m still managing to squeeze in just enough. The winter isn’t quite as full-on as the summer. I’m still touring heavily, but I’m hoping to get back into the studio a lot more in the coming months. n

AFTER AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER IN IBIZA, PATRICK TOPPING LOOKS FOR MORE

HOT IN 2015

CREATION

MARCH 2015

By Chris Caruso

DJ TIMES

It’s impossible to forget Patrick Topping’s dominance over the tech-house landscape of Ibiza this past summer. The rising star gained notice at the onset of 2014 with a pair of top-notch floorfillers—“Get Beasty” and “Look Around”—on Jamie Jones and Lee Foss’ Hot Creations imprint. But it was “Forget” that slung the U.K.based DJ/producer hurtling toward the club stratosphere.

Merging tribal influences and an undeniable 4/4 beat with entrancing chime strikes and Lolita-inspired vocals, Topping’s megahit packed out the dancefloors of Ibiza’s clubs for months on end. The track’s near ubiquity was heralded by both partiers and critics, going on to be named one of the Top 10 Shazamed songs of the island and earning Topping the Best Newcomer and Track of the Season wins at Ibiza’s DJ Awards.

A s 2 0 1 5 b e g i n s , To p ping looks for more, as he’s booked for a slew of major international club gigs, plus some of the world’s more heralded festivals like U.K.’s Outbreak, Detroit’s Movement and Croatia’s Hideout.

DJ Times connected with the Topping to chat about having the biggest track in Ibiza this summer, finding time to produce amongst a packed tour itinerary, and collaborating with the legendary Green Velvet.

DJ Times: You had a massive season out in Ibiza this past year. How was that experience for you?

Patrick Topping: I spent more time in Ibiza last summer than I have any other season, and it was easily my best summer over there yet.

I played at DC10 four times for [Jamie Jones’] Paradise, and each time was amazing. It’s my favorite place to play by far! The crowd is so good; the reactions to tracks are crazy. Paradise was really strong this summer, too.

They actually had to open an extra room most weeks to accommodate with the buzz around the night and extra numbers through the door.

I also played at Sankeys for Viva Warriors opening, which was also wicked.

23

BY CHRIS DAVIS

WITH MORE

Units like Pioneer’s DDJ-WeGO3 control algoriddim’s djay software.

HEAVYWEIGHT SOFTWARE FOR MAC, IOS & ANDROID, THE DJ’S EVOLUTION CONTINUES

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

PUSHING FORWARD

24

DJing has always been about evolution. For decades, carrying crates of vinyl was the only option afforded a jock who was often hidden out of view of the sweaty, writhing dancefloor. But fast-forward a few years, and we saw the DJ booth begin to move into the central view of clubbers, with CD booklets and CD players becoming the industry standard.

Spearheaded by companies like Livid, Akai, M-Audio, Monome, Native Instruments and Ableton, 2010 and beyond gave birth to a MIDI controllerist revolution, offering a myriad of options to digital DJs who want to do more with their time in the booth than beatmatch two records.

Available on iOS, Android and now Mac, algoriddim’s djay software suite takes that evolutionary ethos one step futher by challenging established DJ tools of today with new, cutting-edge features. The Apple Design Award-winning djay software for iOS received an update to version 2.6 in late 2014, bringing Spotify Premium users enhanced integrations and a brand new sound pack from General Electric and Matthew Dear.

A few months after the djay 2.6 release on iOS and Android, algoriddim introduced its djay Pro software for Mac. While Pacemaker DJ claims to be the first iOS DJ app boasting Spotify integration, djay Pro prides itself as the first Mac DJ app with Spotify integration.

Pioneer DJ also announced a new product offering in late 2014: the next-generation DDJ-WeGO3, an ultra-compact DJ controller that makes it easy to quickly learn DJing basics and then slay your next house party or family gathering. The kicker? The new DDJ-WeGO3 controller integrates seamlessly with the entire djay product suite. And that’s not all: in addition to support for AirPlay and Bluetooth devices, djay 2.6 and djay Pro also work with a host of MIDI controllers manufactured by Numark, Vestax, Pioneer, Reloop, Philips, Casio and Griffin.

Plug in that USB to Lightning cable and play, baby!

If users of the Mac and iOS djay apps don’t want to use a MIDI controller, they can pre-cue while mixing with headphones using djay’s split output mode and a $20 Griffin Technology DJ cable. For audio output,

Airplay streaming is available. Another option is to route the main output and monitor channels through any class-compliant USB audio interface.

In order to evaluate the djay software suite, the algoriddim team sent me Pioneer DJ’s DDJ-WeGO2 controller in a pearly white color reminiscent of Apple’s early iPod models. My apologies in advance to Android users, as this rundown will focus on djay 2.6 for both iPhone and iPad and djay Pro for Mac.

djay 2.6 — iOS

iPhone vs. iPad: The djay interface is largely the same on both iPhone and iPad, though there are some slight tweaks between the two. The global features immediately present upon opening the iOS app include a crossfader, a mix recording button, automixing from a song queue that can include tracks from both Spotify or iTunes, a vertical waveform view button featuring slip and slice modes, and a sampler toggle button.

Both devices offer a two-turntable split-screen view in landscape mode and a single turntable deck in portrait mode. I found it curious that when in single-deck (portrait) view, moving the crossfader all the way to the other side automatically shifts the screen over to the other deck, but only on iPhone.

It’s a nice feature that might be worth bringing to iPad, too.

In landscape view on iPhone, the turntable power

MARCH 2015

There’s also a social-share option that tracks your current DJ session via a live-updating Spotify playlist, which is very cool. In iTunes, BPM and key information is something only available in djay once you’ve analyzed a track, but Spotify has this readily available for all tracks. This feature is presumably another fruit of their acquisition of music intelligence vault The Echo Nest.

It’s important to note that the Spotify integration only works on Internet-connected devices, and users must have a Premium Spotify account. For those that aren’t Premium subscribers, a free seven-day trial of Spotify Premium is available to all users of djay.

Another killer feature for DJs that like to work on-the-fly is the song queue, which lets you create a playlist from both iTunes and Spotify while you’re still in the mix. Complementing this feature is a timestamped history playlist that’ll ensure you never forget that unbelievable in-the-moment mashup you pulled off, like when you layered Prince’s “1999” and Disclosure’s “Latch” at 3 a.m. last Saturday night.

Last, but not least, is perhaps the simplest feature of them all: the night/day toggle button which allows DJs to invert the color palette to see better, depending on if they’re in a dark club or poolside on a sunny day.

The Not-So-Good: djay features 34 Sugar Bytes Software-powered effects in addition to the five free “essentials” — Echo, Flanger, Phaser, Bit Crusher and Gate. Unfortunately, these 34 effects are bundled as an $9.99 in-app purchase in all versions of the app.

They are also broken into individual $3.99 packs on the mobile versions.

Let’s get this out of the way: I believe that algoriddim’s choice to utilize an interface that mimics turntables is a great decision for branding and marketing, (continued on page 40)

DJ TIMES

switches are absent, the mixer/FX/loop/cue “super button” has been moved down below the pitch faders, and the pitch lock buttons have been moved close to the pitch faders.

Let’s dig a little deeper. Each of the two decks includes a cue-set button, cue-start button, play button, sync button, volume button, and pitch fader. Unfortunately, the real goodies are hidden behind two “super-function” buttons, with one per deck.

These include the audio library button, which takes over the screen to display your iTunes or Spotify library, and a button emblazoned with three vertical faders. The latter button brings up a slew of options that gloriously override the frustrating turntable view. These functions include a mixer with a filter; an effects deck with an XY pad, FX presets and a manual manipulation view; a looper view with automatic, bounce and XY pad options; and three more cue points per deck.

To reiterate, these four features: EQ, effects, looping, and cue points—the things that most DJs rely on when mixing—are hidden behind a single button, with only one option available onscreen at a time, per deck.

The Good: Let’s talk about what djay does well on iOS. The sampler, for instance, is a great and unique addition for an iOS DJing app, packing in seven different sound packs at the time of publication. These include special sound packs from General Electric and Matthew Dear, Milk & Sugar, Snoop Dogg, and DJ QBert. Finger drummers are given six pads per deck on iPad and four pads per deck on iPhone, and they can create their own sound pack presets that mix and match from the many algoriddim packs. If a DJ wants those signature Snoop Dogg horns and DJ QBert’s crunk finger snaps, they can have both.

I found that djay’s Spotify integration is very well executed and incredibly fun to play with on all platforms. I can’t yet envision a club DJ solely using a mobile app during a gig, but I can definitely picture a mobile DJ (or house-party jock) busting out djay’s Spotify integration on whichever platform they have handy. The Spotify feature could be a life-saver on that packed bar mitzvah or wedding dancefloor when a teenager comes up to request a Top-40 hit that you skimmed past on the latest Billboard chart. Plug that iPhone or Android phone into an empty mixer channel, fire up djay, and save the day!

Unlike the iTunes library view, choosing to browse for tracks via Spotify’s 20 million-plus song library offers DJs a few new options aside from playlists and songs.

There is a Spotify Top 100 tracks chart, a limited genre browse feature, a handful of Spotify playlists from pro DJs, and an amazingly intelligent track-matching feature called Match. Match is powered by The Echo Nest’s analysis of all music in the Spotify library, and will recommend tracks that mix well with the track(s) that you’re currently spinning. Also, algoriddim promotes this feature as both a music discovery tool and a live DJing tool, and to be honest, it helped me go on some wild genre journeys through tracks that I had never heard of, but that fit the genre perfectly.

25

MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

By Phil Moffa

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

ARTURIA’S MICROBRUTE: TINY SYNTH, BIG SOUND

France’s Arturia has had a great run creating some of the best analog synth emulations in the game, while also putting together some hybrid packages of controllers that integrate perfectly with its software.

With the release of the Minibrute, it has entered the competitive market for new, affordable analog mono hardware synths with a piece that sounded and functioned like they had been doing it for ages. This gave birth to another compact powerhouse called the Microbrute. Again fullyanalog, but capable of fitting in any backpack, the Microbrute adds features that its predecessor didn't have, like a miniature CV patch bay, to a unit so affordable that it doubly justifies owning both keyboards.

Layout & Features: Although called a singleoscillator design, the synth still sounds huge.

In the oscillator section, there are eight knobs dedicated to creating a wave shape and their possibilities are pretty extensive. On the traditional side, there are three individual knobs for saw, square, and triangle wave. Combining the waves doesn't add oscillators, but rather alters the wave shape, creating a unique timbre. However, turning up the triangle does give it a more noticeably fatter sound.

Further thickening is possible via an Overtone control, which is essentially a second oscillator with a range from an octave below as a sub oscillator to a 5th above the fundamental. All of the three wave-shape knobs are further enhanced by secondary controls (called signal modifiers) that take their shape and sound to another level.

Ultrasaw adds 2 phase-shifted copies of the saw for big, phasey leads, similar to a detuned second oscillator on other synths. Pulse Width is the traditional widening/thinning of the square wave shape, usually abbreviated as PWM or pulse width modulation, a common modulation destination. And Metalizer really makes the sound jump out of the speakers, causing leads to shine. This is accomplished by folding the waveform to create rich harmonics that accurately sound “metallic.” When a wave shape so rich with harmonics hits the filter at a high resonance, this synth is impossible to ignore.

The multimode Steiner-Parker filter is easily switched between high, band and low-pass designs. Envelope amount and keyboard tracking have their own controls in the filter section

26

Microbrute: Portable, feature-filled, analog.

and another knob is dedicated to “Brute Factor,” which was also seen on the Minibrute. This feedback-style distortion is beastly and takes the sound into destruction mode. These types of onboard effects greatly enhance the already wide sonic palette. You also need to be careful because this causes a rather significant volume increase to the whole unit.

For a compact synthesizer, the modulation options are pretty extensive—thanks to a tiny Modulation matrix that is an 1/8-inch CV patch bay. Two CV out sources—Envelope or LFO—can be patched with the included tiny orange 1/8-inch cables to six destinations: metal, saw, sub, pitch, filter or PWM. On the back of the unit you find three CV gate jacks. Considering that these CV connections can also be used with other hardware, this really expands the value of the Microbrute, making it semi-modular.

On the conventional side, there are also LFO amount and rate knobs, which modulate oscillator pitch without patching anything. Here it is also possible to assign the mod wheel to filter cutoff or LFO amount for vibrato effects while playing.

The LFO is free running or syncable to MIDI beat clock and the internal sequencer with three different wave shapes.

The small but effective sequencer section is comprised of an eight-pattern select knob, a rate control, a tap tempo button and a three-position switch for playing, recording, or off. I found the sequencer to lock tightly to external sequencers. It can see beat clock from the MIDI In jack or USB. In record mode, notes and rests can be programmed up to 64 steps. Further sequencer features are available when the synth is connected USB and the free Microbrute Connection software is used.

Interestingly, there are ways to jump between sequences without stopping, depending on certain settings.You can also set the sequencer to receive CV gate messages so drum machine or other triggers can advance sequencer steps, like an old synth. And if you are into saving and recalling more than the eight on-board patterns, they can be saved to your computer's hard drive.

The software set up pretty easily and, after a quick firmware update, it worked without a problem. Using it, there are also some under-the-hood keyboard parameters, MIDI channel settings, and module parameters like LFO retrigger and pitch bend range. It would be better if these were available without the software, but it worked so well that there isn't much to complain about.

Conclusions: Arturia broke through the wall of what is possible for putting a feature-rich, great-sounding analog synth in a price range that is below what some soft synths even cost. Sure, the keyboard is tiny, but it is still very playable and that portability may be a plus for compact studios and stage rigs. At $299 street price, the bar has been raised significantly for what is possible in the analog synth market with the creation of the Microbrute.

An Original Mix Save On DJ Gear From Leading Brands!

Top Brands Including:

800-356-5844•fullcompass.com Leading The Industry For Over 35 Years

Follow Us Request your FREE 540-page catalog

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

By Mike Klasco & Tony Russell The DBR range is Yamaha’s bigbang-for-the-buck series of active loudspeakers. This is not to say that corners have been cut in the development of this series; rather, more effort has gone into its design to provide an excellent product at a more affordable price.

Speakers in the DBR series are offered in 10-inch, 12-inch and 15inch woofer versions. The DBR10 boasts 700 watts peak power (figure about half of this for true, continuous power), while the DBR12 and DBR15 offer 1,000 watts peak (again about half is a real number). Yamaha, like all the other active-speaker manufacturers, has to play this “watts-per-dollar” game, so just remember when shopping to compare “apples to apples.”

MSRPs are: $529 for the DBR10, $659 for the DBR12 and $899 for the DBR15.

All units in the DBR series have tough plastic enclosures with metal grilles, molded-in handles, standmounts and even rigging points. Yamaha offers an optional “functional speaker cover,” which I would recommend for keeping scuffs off the speakers when setting up and tearing down. It also keeps rain out if you are doing an outdoor job and the weather does not cooperate— just a couple of

seconds to get the “top up.”

The bass on all models is quite decent, more than what you might expect—and not just quantity, but also quality. As to the woofers… the scaling of the three models goes from 10-inch woofer, 12-inch woofer, and 15-inch woofer—and all are bassreflex enclosures. All models have an excellent 1-inch exit with a 1.4inch diaphragm compression driver and matching horn for 90-degree horizontal coverage, which is the best compromise between longer throw and wide coverage for most gigs.

If you will typically also use a subwoofer, you might want to pick the DBR10s, as it is better not to take a 15-inch woofer up to the horn so that you maintain better midrange balance. But if you are only taking the DBR speakers to the job, then at least the DBR12 and, better, the DBR15 should be the way to go.

The electronics have some basic input mixing, so you could connect an MP3 player, a mic and line input. But more relevant for DJs are the presets for the sound balance, with the Contour setting probably the best fit for most music-playback jobs.

Teardown: I opened up a DBR10 and pulled the fan-cooled DSP/amplifier module and was impressed

with the effort to keep the woofer’s vibration energy separated from the electronic guts. Not only does the module have its own metal casing (instead of the cheaper “open-frame construction”), but this assembly fits into a plastic sub-enclosure sealed from the speaker back chamber. This is all very nice, potentially avoiding repair issues over time on the electronics.

Toting: The DBR10 weighs in at 23 pounds—fairly light, even though the enclosure was reasonably strong and the woofer had a bulky ferrite magnet. Here’s our field report from Bay Area DJ Tony Russell (aka Tony Roxxx): According to Tony: “So far, I’ve used the DBR Series in a few applications. For my first time out with the speakers, however, the venue wouldn’t allow me to turn them up too loud, so I’ll call that experience ‘inconclusive.’ Thus, my honeymoon with the Yamahas began on the second date.

“Why? Because the next time around they were truly awesome. I

really pushed the speakers at a nightclub where I was DJing and the sound was very crisp with little to no distortion. I appreciated the lows on these speakers, as they have a very full sound—I didn’t find them too bright at all.

“I like the double XLR/TRS combo inputs, as well as an added RCA input for plugging in a separate music player. The finish and look is very nice and the speaker is very light and easy to lift. I think this is a great unit for a mobile DJ or for really any application where you’re looking for a great speaker at an affordable price.”

Conclusion: The active-speaker scene is competitive and crowded, but Yamaha (as usual) has a solid position in this market—and it’s wellearned. Every unit in the DBR Series is a good value and provides wellengineered construction and good sound, plus the bass truly does fight above its weight.

DBR Series: Performance & affordability.

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

YAMAHA DBR: TOP MOBILE SOUND

28

“[The DBR10] is a great unit for a mobile DJ or for really any application where you’re looking for a great speaker at an affordable price.”

AT THE VANGUARD OF TECHNOLOGY! Features: - Energy efficient High-Power Class D amps - High Quality Wireless connectivity - User definable 24-bit DSP with LCD screen - Digital FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filters - New “F” Series loudspeaker components - Rugged Birch plywood construction - Durable ISO-flex protective finish - Premium D.A.S. sound and quality build - Powered and passive versions

www.dasaudio.com D.A.S Audio, S.A. C/ Islas Baleares, 24 46988 Fuente del Jarro Valencia - Spain Tel. +34 961 340 860

D.A.S Audio of America, Inc. 6900 NW 52nd Street Miami, FL 33166 - U.S.A. Toll Free: 1 888 DAS 4 USA

D.A.S Audio Asia PTE. LTD. 3 Temasek Avenue, Centennial Tower #34-36 Singapore 039190 Tel. +65 6549 7760

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES

By Stu Kearns Howell, N.J. – Every DJ can remember the time in the life of their business when things changed. The first time they realized that the business was scalable, that clients were happy with the service and word was spreading, and when it became appar-

What started as an offering that provided basic sound and lighting has grown to what LoBosco calls “Super Sweet 16-type events”—with photo booths, entertainers, CO2 cannons, lighting technicians, live social media

and videos of my events on social media and make it compelling for people to click on. One post might read: ‘Did you see what happened in Gina’s photo booth at her Sweet 16?’

Or ‘Stay tuned for Brianna’s Sweet-16

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

UPSTART LOOKS TO GROW WITH HIS CLIENTELE

30

ent that a living could be made from making people happy.

For Anthony LoBosco, that moment occurred in 2012, a year or so after he started Royal Entertainment DJs, when he needed to lease two trucks to transport equipment to gigs. The bookings were growing to the point where his SUV and small trailer could no longer accommodate the burden.

“Over time as business demand grew, I didn’t have the cargo space to transport my equipment,” he says.

A good problem to have, especially for a DJ with ambitions to Go Big—and with a strategy to get there, which can be summed up in one phrase: Sweet 16s.

“During my teen years, I attended many Sweet 16 events in New Jersey and I have a great understanding for what teens are looking for,” says LoBosco. “I would say about 40-percent of my revenue for 2014 was from Sweet 16s, and I see that revenue doubling for 2015.”

feeds and more. He even recently booked an event with a Snoop Dogg impersonator and a New York Theme with the Naked Cowboy. “I was recently asked how much it would cost to have Kim Kardashian at the event,” he says.

The real strategy behind the effort in marketing to Sweet 16s is in its recognition of his clients’ life-event timeline. “As I grow and mature, I will become a player in the wedding industry,” he says. “I keep in touch with all my Sweet-16 clients and there will be a natural progression into engagements, weddings, baptisms and communions.”

Well done. LoBosco, in his early 20s, is close enough in age to his Sweet 16 audience to grow with them. But even more importantly, he knows where to find the audience and how to talk to them.

“I’ve always had many friends and my social-media presence has grown organically,” he says. “It’s friends telling friends. I like to publish photos

“I like to publish photos and videos of my events on social media and make it compelling for people to click on.”

– Anthony LoBosco video’ and then direct traffic to my websites with these postings.”

Of course , there’s always the old-order staple of word of mouth.

“Competition motivates me to be better and smarter about what I do,” he says. “And the result is a happy client that will recommend me. One way to get that recommendation is to always be looking for unique services to offer clients at reasonable rates.”

To that end, Royal offers a free mobile charging station with photobooth packages, a value-added service that he says delights his clients.

He’s also seen benefit to attending a local Business Expo that has allowed him to grow his network of other lo-

cal business professionals. “Anything to get my name out there,” he says.

“I am interested mainly in branding Royal Entertainment as the top New Jersey entertainment company. And we are well on our way.”

The Royal Entertainment story started when LoBosco was doing a few weekend gigs for a Jersey company that’s no longer in business.

He began as a party entertainer and quickly became an expert operating the DJ gear. “I always had a vision of running my own company,” he says.

“I started out doing small school events, and school events turned into proms, and proms turned into Sweet 16s, engagement parties and wedding events, and people started calling me for other events like communions and mitzvahs.”

He started Royal Entertainment DJs in 2011, and soon realized he could use his social-media presence to direct people to his website. He hired someone to drive his Google ranking up and he now holds positions on the first page of Google for his main website and a sub-site. “I get on average 15 inquiries for services per week, which has grown the business tremendously,” he says. “Google and social media are my friends as are my social media followers.”

Currently, Royal employs four DJs, and its bookings break down as follows: 40-percent Sweet 16s, 20-percent mitvzahs, 20-percent weddings, and 20-percent other. Royal’s basic DJ set-up includes: MacBook Pro laptop running Serato DJ software; Pioneer DDJ-SX controller; JBL Pro PRX715 tops and PRX718XLF subs; Shure microphones; AKG K267 Tiësto headphones; Global Truss trussing; and a variety of Chauvet Lighting gear like ShowXpress control software.

When we ask LoBosco where he sees the company in three years, his answer displays little hesitation. “In three years, I see Royal Entertainment growing into the top choice for weddings, mitzvahs and Sweet 16s in New Jersey. I am looking into growing business relationships with local venues and perhaps acquiring or working jointly with some of the competition—2015 is nearly fully booked for weekend events with some dates double- and triple-booked. I am always looking for good, reliable talent to train and, and, additionally, I am in the process of inventing a unique service offering and perhaps patenting and licensing it. Stay tuned.”

SiMPLe SeTuP. SeriOuS BASS. Bose® B2 Bass module & l1® model 1s system Presenting the two latest additions to the Bose L1 family. Our high-performance B2 bass module delivers more bass than you’ve ever heard before from an L1, and our new L1 Model 1S offers the portability and flexibility of the L1 family — with a new level of performance. With the proprietary Bose 12-speaker articulated line array, the L1 Model 1S provides 180 degrees of clear, even, room-filling sound. And with no speaker stands and fewer connections, you’ll spend less time setting up and more time giving your customers a party they won’t forget.

To learn more about Bose L1 systems, visit Bose.com/L1systemsdj

or call 888-367-2073

L1 Model 1S with B2 bass ©2013 Bose Corporation.

CC012499

BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

HOW TO WIN & LEVERAGE CLIENT REVIEWS

By Jerry Bazata

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

DJs in the wedding industry have developed an obsession with reviews. Be it from clients or vendors, we have placed a significant weight on the “review” as an indication of the success, or, at times, failure of our business. We consistently strive to achieve the perfect rating of “5 Golden Stars” with every client, to show we are the best in the business.

32

But reviews overall can be damaging to your business—and I’m not referring to a negative review, which, contrary to popular belief, is actually a positive. Rather, I’m talking about the way we manage the review process within our own business, plus the myths, misconceptions and tools regarding the reviews and how to manage them effectively:

LESS IS MORE: We have come to believe that the more reviews you accumulate the better your chances of closing a sale. This is a myth. On average, a prospect will only read the first two or three most recent reviews about your business, and then make a decision if they want to go further in the selection process.

Boasting in your advertising that you have 100 reviews is meaningless since a prospect is never going to read every one of them. It also calls into question the validity of those reviews.

PERFECTION IS DECEPTION: We do not live in a perfect world and we all make mistakes or have an off day. In fact, I personally received a negative review that was titled “unimpressed” and yet the prospect I spoke with who saw that review was “unimpressed” by the review’s comments. She further stated it actually made me more legitimate as a

business in her eyes. In the words of one prospect turned client; “You are human, you will make mistakes and you can’t please everyone.”

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY: A quality review will highlight significant steps or actions you took to make the client’s experience exceptional. If the reviews repeatedly state the obvious and do nothing more than support your marketing statements, the prospect has no clue as to how you are unique or stand out from your competition. An overwhelming majority of the reviews I see for DJs all say the same thing: “Played the music we requested, had the dancefloor full, was great to work with and was responsive to our needs.”

Is this not the standard expectation for every professional DJ? If all your reviews accumulated say this very same statement in one form or another, then it begs the question by a prospect: What is unique about this person or business?

Some tactics to help manage the review process and add to your bottom line:

PRESCREEN YOUR REVIEWS FOR CONTENT: Prior to asking a client to post a review on The Knot, send them a personal email asking for feedback about your performance. Read the response and highlight one or two unique thoughts they shared, and then invite them to post those thoughts in a review. If there is anything negative about your performance, it will allow you to address those concerns in a non-public form and allow you the chance to mitigate the concerns in a professional manner. The bride may rethink the statements and turn it into positive comments when the review is posted.

RESPOND & INTERACT WITH YOUR CLIENTS: Acknowledge the review and thank the client for taking the time to share the positive aspects of your service. Reviews are not a one-way street and prospects are looking to see you’re not taking these comments for granted. Secondly, it will allow you to highlight something unique you did, but the bride forgot to mention in the review. A word of caution: Customize your response to each review. Just like the reviews can all say the same thing, your response should not be canned.

Remember, “one size does not fit all.”

RESPOND PROFESSIONALLY: Should you be fortunate enough to get a constructive negative review on your business page, look at it as an opportunity. Although your initial reaction is to become defensive and respond as such, take a step back and think carefully about what you want to put in writing. Your response should be short, concise and speak to the following: Acknowledge the fact you did not meet the clients expectations.

You will strive to improve and learn from the comments presented.

Congratulate the client on their special day and wish them well.

The No. 1 mistake made by a vast majority of vendors getting a bad review is to immediately point out “you are right—they are wrong” and these are reasons why. Allow a prospect to read between the lines and determine if this was a legitimate complaint about your service or someone looking to “grind an ax.” A well-known Dairy Store had the following chiseled in granite at the front of the store: Rule #1: The Customer is always right Rule #2: If the Customer is wrong, refer back to Rule #1 Keeping this in mind will help to temper your response and avoid what could turn into an adversarial situation in a public forum, creating further damage to your reputation than the original negative review that was posted.

B E T R A N S PA R E N T W I T H REVIEWS: Do not be afraid or ashamed to point out the fact you’re received a less than stellar review from a past client. The conversation might go similar to one I had recently with a prospective client: DJ: Did you have a chance to read my reviews on The Knot?

Bride:Yes, I did, and I like some of the ideas the other brides shared in their comments.

DJ: Did you read the review by Julie where I did not quite meet her expectations?

Bride: Yes, I did, but you had so many positive comments, I simple disregarded it as a bride that was just not happy with her day overall.

In summary, reviews were never intended to be the primary marketing tool for your business and as such should be treated that way. Rather, use them as a communication tool to prospects to enhance the positive traits of your business beyond the general marketing dialog.

Jerry “DJ Jaz” Bazata is a frequent contributor to DJ Times and DJ Expo. He spins in Ogunquit, Maine.

Brought to you by:

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

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

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

ADJ’s latest Inno Scan Series fixtures, the Inno Scan HP and Inno Roll HP, utilize an 80-watt LED source, which the company said is the brightest LED source ever used in a mirror scanner.

The Inno Scan HP features eight colors plus open and a 16-degree beam angle. The Inno Roll HP features a 10-degree beam angle, four operational modes, and pulse and strobe effects. Both run in four modes: Auto Run, Sound Active, Master/Slave and DMX. Both feature interchangeable 24mm gobos and boast a 50,000 hour lamp life.

34

Playing Hardcase to Get

Call Me Hal

Golly Lil’G

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

Hal Leonard Corporation PO Box 13819 Milwaukee, WI 53213 (973) 337-5034 www.halleonard.com

UDG announced four new Controller Hardcases in Medium, Large, XL and 2XL, each of which come in the company’s signature Making Black color. The cases are equipped with an egg crate interior to protect jog wheels, faders and buttons, and they sport a water repellent laminated nylon exterior. Equipped with carry handles and easy grip zipper pulls, the cases fit a wide range of controllers, including Pioneer DDJ-SZ, DDJ-SX2, WeGo3, Numark NV, NI Traktor S4 MK2/S2MK2 and more.

The iPad in the Music Studio is the second of two iPad-related publications by authors Thomas Rudolph and Vincent Leonard. The book focuses on the iPad's connectivity to the professional, project, and home music studios, looking at how to use an iPad with mixers, controlling desktop software, DJ equipment and apps, and many other topics. There are QR codes throughout the book, allowing users to link to demo videos of the products covered.

Blizzard Lighting N16 W23390 Stoneridge Dr. Suite E Waukesha, WI 53188 (414) 395-8365 www.blizzardlighting.com The Lil’G from Blizzard Lighting is a mini moving spot head equipped with an ultrabright 40-watt white LED source, nine fixed gobos with bi-directional rotation and shake, and a seven colors plus white color wheel with rainbow effect. Both automated programs and sound activated programs are built into the unit and accessible via master/slave. Features include a nine-degree beam angle, strobe effect, 16bit dimming system and a four-button LCD control panel menu.

AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

GEAR

It’s KAOSS! Korg 316 S. Service Rd. Melville, N.Y., 11747 631-390-6500 www.korg.com

Funfetti & Games

Korg has released the KAOSS DJ, a USB and standalone DJ controller that features a built-in KAOSS Pad, Korg’s unique touch pad-based effects control surface. Compatible with any MIDI compatible DJ software, KAOSS DJ integrates seamlessly with Serato DJ Intro software (free download) and can also function as a traditional multi-channel DJ mixer. Features include large LED level meters placed on both sides of the body provide visual feedback to the user, and cuing, hot cues, looping, A/B sync, touch platters, pitch controls, EQ FX on/off control, and KAOSS effects.

Chauvet 5200 NW 108th Ave. Sunrise, FL 33351 (800) 762-1084 www.chauvetlighting.com Chauvet introduced the Funfetti, a wirelessly-controllable professional confetti launcher that doesn’t require CO₂ or compressed air to run. The unit can cover an area as large as 540 square feet with confetti. Its bursts last up to 25 seconds each and feature a throw distance of up to 30 feet.

Funfetti comes with its own handheld wireless remote that can be used up to 100 feet away. It also features three-pin XLR connectors and runs on one DMX channel.

DESIGNED & ENGINEERED IN THE UK

&

Equinox Aluminium Lightweight DJ Booth System shown with Overhead kit & Starcloth with white LEDs

IR remote included

LEDJ Slimline 1T36 COB Equinox Giga Bar 120W COB System

Equinox Foldable DJ Facade

Featuring 4 tri-colour COB LEDs

Featuring a 36W tri-colour COB LED and heavy-duty metal housing Connect with Prolight Concepts on

The facade can be illuminated with light effects

All these products and many more are available from our USA distributor www.mcmelectronics.com Call (888) 235 4692

&

- Prolight Concepts Group Companies

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Mr. Wizard Martin Pro/Harman International 400 Atlantic Street Stamford, CT 06901 (203) 328-3500 www.harman.com Martin Professional’s RUSH Wizard is a “full-house” effect light designed for nightclubs and bars. The unit produces more than 80 light beams that chase each other while constantly changing colors and gobo patterns. The DMXcontrollable light features two independent color/gobo wheels offering seven colors (plus two whites) and 13 different gobos with an additional two open patterns. Additional features include an advanced shutter system that creates fast strobe and pulse effects, as well as blackouts.

Vibe Talkin’ MixVibes 4 rue de la sablière 92230 Gennevilliers France +33 (0)1 58 37 33 61 www.mixvibes.com Mixvibes added two new controllers to its range of Cross DJ Pro compatible hardware for Android: Pioneer DDJ-SB and DDJ-WeGO2. Both models offer smart mapping of all controls, including scratch, EQs, sampler, hot-cues, loops, pitch bend, browse and load tracks, effects and more. Features include accurate BPM detection, customizable manual pitch range, beat-grid editing and an automix function that lets Cross DJ mix tracks and play music automatically from any sources.

Hubs & Kisses American Music & Sound 22020 Clarendon St, Suite 305 Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (800) 431-2609 www.AmericanMusicAndSound.com Audiohub 2x4 from Novation combines a two-in, four-out audio interface with a USB hub that can power up to three USB devices at the same time.

It also connects to an iPad via the Camera Connection Kit. Housed in an aluminum case, the Audiohub 2x4 comes with Ableton Live Lite and 1GB Loopasters samples. Features include a “super-loud” headphone output and 96kHz, 24-bit “Focusrite Sound Inside” audio quality.

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

Keys to Success

36

Native Instruments North America 6725 Sunset Boulevard, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 (866) 556-6487 www.native-instruments.com Native Instruments’ KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards are available in a choice of 25, 49 or 61 keys. Equipped with premium Fatar keybeds, the keyboards unite the company’s entire KOMPLETE Instrument portfolio under one interface. They feature the KOMPLETE Browser, which allows for tag-based access to all KOMPLETE Instrument presets, including the ability to search by sound. They also feature a Light Guide that shows key switches, zones, and more on multi-color LEDs positioned just above the keys.

Dada Life Talks The Rules of Dada, new tour & more

WATCH IT NOW! YouTube.com/DJTimesMag

Featuring live performances, interviews, and clips from Kill Frenzy Rebecca & Fiona Ferry Corsten Markus Schulz Danny Tenaglia Anabel Englund & more!

TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

WAYS OVER WATER u Fritz Kalkbrenner u SUOL/BMG Fritz is back with his warm signature sounds, most poignantly on “Back Home,” a melodic track which echoes the album’s title tune.

“Void” gets equally ethereal, in line with the album’s mellow, electronic tone. Also, check out Gui Boratto’s pulsing remix of “Void” for something definitely darker.

“CHAMELEONS” EP u Corrie u Blackflag

– Natalie Raben

This exciting and brilliant five-tracker on Stacey Pullen’s label has everything a DJ could want. You have a beautiful mixture of dark, funky underground house, deep techno and hands-in-the-air builders. Top cuts include “Bump-E,” “Oat Is for Horses” and the sublime “Chameleons” (Original Mix). Definitely loaded with floor-fillers.

– Tommy D Funk

Fritz Kalkbrenner

“RUBICON” u Super8 & Tab with 7 Skies u Anjunabeats Soaring trance leads, piano melodies, a huge build, and an utterly satiating drop define this tantalizing collaboration. A favorite from Above & Beyond’s ABGT 100, you’ll be hearing lots of “Rubicon” on the dancefloor.”

“CITY CEMETERY” u Squire feat. Forrest u Rebellion

– Evan Maag

On this three-track EP, you’ll find some nice and deep treasures.

Though there are mellow moments, there’s still plenty of peaks to generate dancefloor response with these underground tech-house tunes.

– Tommy D Funk

Denney

“MEET THE BUTCHA” u Seth Troxler & Phil Moffa

u Hypercolour/Glass Table

A tingly synth riff plays over a taut, rugged kickdrum, ramping up the techno tension. But once the groove settles and the track begins to sustain some dancefloor momentum, it gleefully dives down the rabbit hole—total trippyland. A terrific underground stomper.

– Jim Tremayne

Squire

Super8 & Tab

38

“FOUR” EP u Danny Daze u Omnidisc On this four-tracker, DJs get a heady mixture of gritty techno rhythms and dark, funky basslines—with a touch of acid house flavors. Make sure you check “Las Caderas,” a bewildering techno delight.

– Tommy D Funk “THE PUNCH DRUNK” EP u Detroit Swindle u Heist On this three-track EP, house gem “Pursuit” fuses old-school/funk-disco with a rugged underground sound. Also, check “Heads Down,” which delivers a dark, progressive house vibe that still kicks plenty of soul.

Very nice.

Diego Krause

– Phil Turnipssed Seff

“RIGHT ABOUT NOW” u Diego Krause u Apollonia A beautiful three-track EP that offers the purest, deepest underground house music. Powerful basslines meld with full-on, solid claps and deep, swirling synths for a fantastic result. And make sure you check the propulsive title track.

– Tommy D Funk “PILATUS” EP u Fabrice u Think Forward Music Here’s a deep, rich nu-disco/deep-house groover that boasts a serious vibe. Both “Beautiful Demon” and “Moonwalk” offer a thick, bassy groove that blends spacey, horns and haunting chords throughout. This one will definitely move the crowd.

“JACKS BACK” EP u Seff u Hot Creations

Detroit Swindle

– Phil Turnipseed

All tracks on this three-track EP are infused with striking synths, raw basslines and delicious acid stabs. Also, check “Zoot” with its Jamaicanstylee. Another dancefloor filler. Top track: “Jacks Back.”

– Tommy D Funk “LOVE BURST” EP u Lope & Kantola u Digital Insomnia Groove

James Wolf

Get ready to raise the roof on this smashing new EP. Both “Feel About You” and “Love Burst” deliver stirring vocals and memorable hooks.

Splashy and crisp with a chunky, fun groove, this two-tracker flies high and kills it.

– Phil Turnipseed “CAN’T GET ENOUGH” u James Wolf u Love & Other From Wolf’s emotional vocals to the killer remixes top to bottom, this is a deep-house monster. We love the progressive feel of DubRocca’s remix, while Copy Paste Soul’s two mixes bring a banging tech-house vibe, too. The “Petite Noir Remix” drops a trap-meets-dubstep feel.

– Phil Turnipseed “PIMP OUT” EP u Denney u Hot Creations All three tracks here have been heavenly inspired by the great Todd Terry, offering up old-school basics with the ’89 hip-house sound and elements of acid house. The title track’s original mix, with its psychedelic vibe and punchy groove, gets the nod here.

“KARMA GAME” u Pentatones u Poker Flat

– Tommy D Funk

This haunting track’s got a noir-pop vibe to match its deep, techno groove. In addition to the wonderful vocals from Delhia de France, this collection includes a pair of terrific mixes from Steve Bug.

“SUZEE” u Mark Knight & Adrian Hour u Toolroom With “Suzee” and “Get Down,” we have two funky, minimal tech-house stompers that really deliver on the big-room level. Toolroom does it again.

– Tommy D Funk Danny Daze

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

– Tommy D Funk

39

MARKETPLACE

FOR ADVERTISING RATES AND DEADLINES CALL 800-YES-7678 X507 SUPPLIES

Leasing Options Available

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

with Instant Approvals

40

Go to idjnow.com for details Fast FREE Shipping | idjnow.com | 1.800.355.7746 Se Habla Español | Showrooms Open 7 Days | We Rent Locally Queens, NY 718.762.0100 | Babylon, NY 631.321.1700 *Pending Credit Approval. © 2015 I DJ NOW. All Rights Reserved. NYS Dept. Consumer Affairs #1387598

DJ Gear | Lighting Effects | Live Sound | Recording | Stage | Performance

DJ_Times_March?April_2015.indd 1

Pushing Forward (continued from page 25)

and a bad decision in terms of functionality. I would imagine the choice to go with a vinyl interface makes beginner DJs—people influenced by a popular culture that still thinks of a DJ as someone who “rocks the ones and twos”—feel comfortable with what they’re looking at when they open the app.

The “virtual grooves […] individually mapped and rendered for every song on djay’s virtual records” is a nice touch for marketing materials, but the feature really doesn’t do much for users when DJing, as you can’t see the grooves well enough to digitally drop the needle like you would on real vinyl.

My main criticism of the turntable interface is that you can’t properly cut and scratch with touchscreens—though a DJ controller can help, to a certain degree—and those digital turntables eat up a lot of screen real estate.This design choice forces the essential mixing features to hide behind small buttons that are difficult to press accurately, and that don’t always have dedicated counterparts on hardware controllers. Users are forced to furiously tap on the screen at key points in the mix, which is less than ideal if they’re using a smaller iOS device.

That being said, the software is quite powerful.

As an iTunes Match user, the biggest issue that I ran into with djay had to do with accessing my iTunes music library. Luckily for algoriddim, the blame for this problem lies solely with Apple. Applications are only permitted to pull from a device’s local iTunes library when playing music, so if you’re an iTunes Match user, you’re unable to stream from iCloud to djay, or any other application. DJs are forced to spend hours of prep time downloading tracks from an often buggy iTunes Match service. This limitation of streaming from iCloud is holding DJs back and is a huge shortcoming. Please open iTunes Match streaming to developers, Apple! Spotify is embarrassing you here.

djay Pro — Mac

With djay Pro for Mac, algoriddim is catering to a professional DJ audience, and have smartly supplemented their favorite turntable interface with a new interface that will look familiar to the Traktor, Serato DJ, and Virtual DJ crowd. All of the aforementioned djay features are also available in djay Pro, so from here on I’ll talk about what’s new on Mac, or different between the iOS and Mac versions.

Let’s start with the interface. You’ll see that familiar turntable view upon opening the app, but clicking what looks like a fat play button on the top right replaces the familiar 2-deck iOS turntable view with a 2-deck, colored waveform view, which pushes the mixer functions out from the middle toward the sides. Clicking the four vertical bars next to the fat play button condenses things even further into a four-deck view arranged in a typical 3124/CABD deck format, with left/thru/right options below each deck. Both of these non-turntable view options give the option of vertical or horizontal waveforms, and these views are where I believe users of djay Pro will spend the bulk of their time.

The djay Pro interface is much cleaner than its competitors, namely Traktor, Serato, and Virtual DJ, but is less functional in some ways. I believe that too much screen real estate is dedicated to the iTunes/Spotify library views, as it’s almost half

2/16/15 11:37 AM

(continued on page 42)

MP3s in 6

Compiled As February 12, 2015

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART

NATIONAL URBAN POOL CHART

1 Calvin Harris F/ John Newman 2 Jennifer Lopez 3 Alina Artts 4 Amy Grant F/ Moto Blanco 5 Gia 6 Alesso 7 Nick Jonas 8 Aretha Franklin 9 Natasha Ashworth 10 Eden XO 11 Gorgon City F/ Jennifer Hudson 12 Jennifer Hudson 13 Taylor Swift 14 Annie Baltic 15 David Guetta F/ Sam Martin 16 Jesse Jay 17 Duke Dumont 18 Zhu 19 Kristine W 20 Mark Ronson Bruno Mars 21 Charlie XCX 22 Kim Cesarion 23 Mary Lambert 24 Salt Ashes 25 Gali 26 Cathy Tramontana 27 Dupree 28 Erika Jayne 29 Tove Lo 30 Pitbull F/ John Ryan 31 Wolfgang Gartner 32 Meghan Trainor 33 Anything But Monday 34 RAC F/ Matthew Koma 35 Tydi F/ Melanie Fontana 36 Mr Probz 37 Bastille 38 Rainie 39 Perfume 40 Gwen Stefani

1 Ilove Makonnen F/ Drake Tuesday 2 Rae Sremmurd No Type 3 Dj Khaled F/ Chris Brown / August Alsina Hold You Down 4 DEJ Loaf Try Me 5 Nicki Minaj F/ Drake Lil Wayne & C Brown Only 6 Trey Songz F/ Nicki Minaj Touchin, Lovin 7 Bobby Shmurda Hot Boy 8 Wale F/ Jeremih The Body 9 Beyonce 7/11 10 August Alsina No Love 11 Usher F/ Juicy J I Don’t Mind 12 Disclosure F/ Sam Smith Latch 13 Tamar Braxton F/ Future Let Me Know 14 Kid Ink F/ Usher & Tinashe Body Language 15 Snootie Wild F/ K Camp Made Me 16 Migos Handsome And Wealthy 17 Mila J F/ Ty Dolla $ign My Main 18 Dj Drama F/ Jeezy, Young Thug&R.H. Right Back 19 J. Cole Apparently 20 Nicki Minaj F/ Beyonce Feeling Myself

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

Salt Ashes Gorgon City F/ Jennifer Hudson Mark Ronson Bruno Mars Mary J Blige Kim Cameron Rainie RAC F/ Matthew Koma Gwen Stefani Perfume Mr Probz

Blame Booty High Enough Every Heartbeat World Heroes Jealous Rolling In The Deep Back To You Too Cool To Dance Go All Night It’s Your World Shake It Off Low Key Dangerous Bang Bang Won’t Look Back Faded Love Come Home Uptown Funk Break The Rules Undressed Secrets If You Let Me Go Tomorrow Never Dies Talk To Me I Found Love Painkiller Habits (Stay High) Fireball Unholy All About That Bass I’m Still Standing Cheap Sunglasses Redefined Waves Flaws There Is A Light Spending All My Time Spark The Fire

Columbia Capitol REC Capitol Global Groove Universal Virgin RCA Global Groove Virgin Capitol RCA Republic Global Groove Atlantic Universal Capitol Mind Of A Genius Fly Again Atlantic Atlantic RCA Capitol Radikal Ryal Global Groove Chastity Records Pretty Mess Republic RCA Kindergarten Epic ABM Cherry Red Robbins Ultra Virgin Branch Universal Interscope

If You Let Me Go Go All Night Uptown Funk Right Now Drive There Is A Light Cheap Sunglasses Baby Don’t Lie Spending All My Time Waves

Radikal Capitol Atlantic Capitol Side FX Branch Cherry Red Universal Universal Ultra

REPORTING POOLS

n Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n Chew Fu - Woodbridge, CT; Chew Fu n Dirty Pop Productions - San Diego, CA; DJ Drew n Dj Stickyboots - Goshen, NJ; Blake Eckelbarger n NW Dance Music - Shoreline, WA; John England n Fusion Radio - Chicago, IL; Manny Esparza n DeeJay Creativity - Los Angeles, CA; KSXY KPAT n Next Music Pool Los Angeles, CA; Bob Ketcher n Pittsburgh DJ - Pittsburgh, PA; Jim Kolich n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - Levittown, NY; Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n DJ Rafy Nieves - San Juan, PR; Rafy Nieves n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo n MOOD Spins - Seattle, WA; Randy Schlager n DJ Laszlo - Las Vegas, NV; Laszlo Szenasi n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis Looking for these titles? You can hear them and buy them at www.dancekings.com. Just click on the links in the chart.

DDK has limited memberships available for qualified DJs in the US. We service CDs and MP3s in dance and urban formats. Feedback and membership dues required.

770-740-0356

Warner Brothers Interscope Republic Columbia Republic Atlantic Epic Atlantic Columbia Def Jam RCA Interscope Epic RCA Epic Quality Control Capitol EOne Columbia Republic

Most Added Tracks 1 Nicki Minaj F/ Beyonce 2 Beyonce 3 J. Cole 4 O.T. Genasis 5 Nicki Minaj F/ Drake

Feeling Myself 7/11 Apparently Coco Only

Republic Columbia Columbia Atlantic Republic

NEW NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

Vein feat J Balvin & Belinda Rigu The Bello Boys feat Kat Deluna Dasoul feat Maffio Miratti J Balvin Luis Vargas Juan Luis Guerra Enrique Iglesias feat Gente de Zona Marlow Rosado Luis Enrique DJ samuel Vs Adassa Patrulla 15 Zawezo Ricky Martin Yunel Cruz Karen Martello Hector Acosta Limit 21 feat Jowell Froilan Jay

Translation Dame Una Oportunidad Last Call Vamos Pa’ La Calle La Noche Provoca (RMX) Ay Vamos Alejate Tus Besos Bailando Quiero Que me Noche De Copas Ole Ola El Moreno Drink Up Adios (RMX) Ay Amiga Besame Asi Ojala El Gallo y La La Suegra

Paradigm Warner Radikal Roster Music Trigg Ent. Universal Chocoalte Prod.

Universal Universal Big Label Top Stop Music Kult Records Ringo Digital Launch Sony Machete 47 Music Dam Latin Inc. Sony Bungalo/Universal

Most Added Tracks 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Gente De Zona feat Pitbull Grupo Karis Chino y Nacho Renzo NG2

Yo La Quiero La Persona Ideal Tu Me Quemas Volver A Empezar Y Ahora Me Voy

Universal Grupo 360 Universal Mayimbe 360 group

REPORTING LATIN POOLS 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.

Listen Up!

(continued from page 18) people and seeing the eyes of each person in the club when I am dropping a record. I love all of this.

DJ Times: It's a completely different vibe.

Guetta: Now it's all about superstar DJs and producers, but these resident DJs… I respect them a lot. They're playing six-hour sets and educating people; I think it’s amazing.

DJ Times: At Amsterdam Dance Event this past October, Laurent Garner did a panel and talked about the long-running friendship you two share, which seems pretty unexpected considering your different styles. What drew you two together and what sort of lessons do you take from each other?

Guetta: The thing is that now the scene is so huge that people are more specialized. But when we started in 1988, I think we were the only two DJs playing house music in France! [laughs] He was more techno and I was more house, but—to be honest—it didn't make so much of a difference at the time. The scene was so small—we're talking about maybe 1,000 people—so, of course, doing it at the same time and then we were just friends because we're friends and can appreciate each other. So yeah, people are often surprised about this. But, at the same time, I speak to many different people, some of whom are very underground. I am good friends with Dubfire and Plastikman [Richie Hawtin], but we don’t play the same music. Imagine that there is a guitar player that plays rock and a guitar player that plays funk.

It doesn't mean that they are two guitar players who can't talk about

their passion for the music!

DJ Times: That makes a lot of sense.

Guetta: It’s just music people, you know.

DJ Times: So the commonality is that you are all DJs at the end of the day, and you all love electronic music despite what style it might be.

Guetta: Exactly! The other day I went to Dubfire and I loved his set and was dancing to it. I love Richie Hawtin. I create a record like “Dangerous” because, personally, I like hopeful melodies a lot, but it doesn’t mean that I cannot appreciate a really hypnotic drive. I love that, too.

DJ Times: Let's switch the focus to technology for a bit. What are you using for production at the moment?

Guetta: I am using mostly Logic.

For this album, I stayed on Logic Pro 9 because I was too afraid to move to Logic Pro X in the middle of an album. I just started with it last week! [laughs] DJ Times: So you just updated?

Guetta: Yeah, you know, because changing stuff in the middle of the album is not very wise—you don’t want to have to have problem or issues. I also use Ableton a lot. I use Ableton as a base because I feel it's very intuitive. It happens a lot that I work on sketches in Ableton and then move to Logic. I have worked in the past with [FL Studio] when I was working together with Afrojack, but the thing is that I hate Windows so much! [laughs] Logic is still my favorite.

DJ Times: So what about your DJing setup? Are you still primarily

people that say that… it’s just really ridiculous. It would be more work to fake it than it is to do it. What is beatmatching today? With the new technology, it is really nothing. It takes me maybe two seconds to mix two records. It's really ridiculous.

DJ Times: Yeah, and you’re not alone.

Guetta: Honestly, I am not even speaking about myself. They've said it about me, they've said it about Steve Angello, and they've said it about Steve Aoki. I have never seen—in my entire life—anybody doing this. I think it just an urban myth. It doesn’t exist; there is no reason to do this!

What’s difficult is to create the records or to make special mash-ups or creative mixes with a cappellas and three turntables together—stuff like this. But no one needs to fake beatmatching two records. I can teach this to a 10-year-old in two hours. I really don’t understand why people are speaking about this and why DJ magazines are even giving space to it. It’s so ridiculous. n

using Pioneer CDJs? Guetta: Yeah, CDJs—they're the best. I don’t really like working with computers. But I’ve also had an interesting experience on TV shows, because “Dangerous” is such a band record. I wanted to show that it's also acoustic, so it was a combination with Ableton Push and acoustic instruments. That was fun.

DJ Times: I'm sure you get the occasional online troll who has thrown accusations of pre-recorded sets. You've been DJing for 30 years, what’s you take on that?

How do you respond to that sort of claim?

Guetta: I think it's so ridiculous.

When I started, I was bringing vinyl and I was mixing funk and disco with BPMs that weren't steady—it was an art to be able to mix those records. But—I mean no disrespect—if you cannot beatmatch two records, with steady beat, today, you're retarded. Who would need to fake DJing today? The

Pushing Forward

(continued from page 40) of the screen. It would be helpful if the music library area could be be toggled on/off and more of the app’s functions were visible.

While djay already works with over 50 controllers, there is also a MIDI-mapping function that enables DIY DJs to map each hardware control on their DJ controller to a corresponding function in djay Pro. Wrap-Up: All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed using the djay software suite and appreciate the direction that algoriddim is pushing the in-

dustry. In my opinion, they will need to flesh out much of the software before their pro offering can stand up against Traktor or Serato, so for now, djay is best suited for beginner DJs to cut their teeth on, for house parties, and as a tool for mobile DJs to supplement their existing DJ setup.

Prices: djay Pro is available now on the Mac App Store for $49.99. djay 2.6 is available on the iTunes store for $9.99 (iPad) and $2.99 (iPhone), and on the Google Play store for $4.99. n

Above & Beyond: Group Therapy But some places… we can’t get arrested.

DJ TIMES

MARCH 2015

Photos by DrewRessler/Rukes.com

We even sold out Madison Square Garden.

42

We have a huge global fanbase.

Above & Beyond, Next Month in DJ Times

at

Ex NA perien MM c Hal e the lA R – B P-80 oot 00 h# 646 4

WHY WOULD YOU BUY ANYTHING ELSE? FEATURES

RELOOP RP-8000

PIONEER PLX-1000

Yes

No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

No No No No No No

> On board midi buttons ( 8 – Cues, Latching loop, Loop rolls, Sample mode, and User/Slice mode )

> > > > > >

Adjustable torque Adjustable start and brake On board digital display for BPM and pitch control On board trax’s encoder and USB link for linking turntables Two start and stop buttons with removable light Reverse button

With a Midi Controller, Trax encoder, 8 backlit drum pads, plus 4 performance modes and a FREE Ortofon Black Cartridge* included with every purchase…Why would you buy anything else?

“With the RP-8000 Reloop

“This is the turntable I

“We fell in love with the

“The RP-8000 is the

“The best of both analog

hit a home run!”

would purchase

streamlined design and

post-controller revolution

vinyl and digital worlds in

— DJ Times

in a second.“

ease of use.“

deck that people have

one powerful package.”

— Mobile Beat

— DJ City

been waiting for.”

— DJ Booth

— DJ Worx

A division of Jam Industries Ltd.

For more information visit: www.americanmusicandsound.com

* For a limited time only, purchase your RP-8000 by April 30th, 2015. Go to AmericanMusicandSound.com and click on the promotional banner.

Pioneer and PLX-1000 are registered trademarks of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.