DJ Times July 2016, Vol 29 No 7

AMERICA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR PROFESSIONAL DJs ESTABLISHED 1988 JULY 2016 $4.95 US

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SUMMER TOUR LAUNCHES

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RICHIE HAWTIN DJ

EVOLUTION & ITS NEXT DJ EXPO UPDATE SUMMERTIME: HOW MOBILES THRIVE WHY COPYRIGHT LAWS SHOULD CHANGE

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NOTABLES…MILESTONES

Katie Laskowska

Detroit – Nearly 100,000 fans flooded into Hart Plaza this past Memorial Day for Movement, Detroit’s electronic-music festival. Now in its 11th year, Movement presented 100 DJs and electronic acts on six stages

at RBMA stage drew dancing circles of poppers, lockers and bootyshakers. Danny Tengalia’s last-minute substitution for Richie Hawtin’s closing set on Monday was a surprisingly welcome addition, with the New York

Get Real: Claude VonStroke & Green Velvet

Good Life: Kevin Saunderson in the mix.

Bryan Mitchall

By Jim Tremayne & Chris Caruso

Steven Pham

ABDJ NOMS GO BIG AT MOVEMENT FESTIVAL

Ghettotech: DJ Godfather throws down.

legend dropping a furious set of tunes and, once again, proved why it conthat turned the riverfront crowd out. tinues to be America’s best-curated On the afterparty tip, Soul Clap’s festival.

House of Efunk once again proved to The event also served as the openbe a perennial favorite at local haunt ing stop on the America’s Best DJ TV Lounge, with the Brooklyn-based Summer Tour. Presented by DJ Times pair dropping a superb house set at 5 and Pioneer DJ, the tour will run thru a.m. Boasting three rooms and a 12Labor Day and include more than plus hour runtime, the shindig was a 15 events around the country. At DJ welcome exploration of the funkier Times’ dedicated exhibit booth, fans side of the otherwise techno-centric voted for the favorite DJs from a list programming the weekend offers. of 100 nominees, simultaneously regSunday night at the Dirtybird afteristering to win valuable prizes. party at the Masonic Temple, J.Phlip Highlights from ABDJ nominees banged it hard from the outset, then included: Beziér, Jackie House, Josh Justin Martin infused the party with a Cheon, and Jason Kendig from San mixparty. of breaks and 4/4 beats that got Francisco-based collective Honey Get Lost: GuyDJ Gerber at the 24-hour the floor into a lather. Then, “special Soundsystem dropped a blissful and guest” Claude VonStroke carried the versatile, two-hour, b2b2b2b set— party home. deep disco basslines, forceful techno Apart from ABDJ world: Kraftgrooves— that had the Red Bull Music Academy Stage jumping on Sunday. werk closed Friday’s mainstage with a visually arresting set of hits (“The The Black Madonna’s following set Robots,” “Numbers,” “Autobahn,” of chuggy techno pushed the afteretc .) before Movement throngs noon to a darker place. DJ Godfawearing 3D-glasses; Rezz worked ther’s highly charged ghettotech set

over a Sunday-afternoon crowd at the Underground Stage with a set of unique electro-tinged/bass-heavy tunes; Kenny Dope brought relentless, deep-house grooves to the open air at the RBMA Stage on Saturday; and Scuba strafed the Underground stage on Saturday with a set of menacing techno.

Over on the Made in Detroit stage, Ellen Allien delivered one of the weekend’s most unpredictable sets. Eschewing a digital setup in favor of a pair of turntables and a bag of records, the German BPitch Control principal played a raucous set that, while a tad messy in parts technically, was filled with infectious energy that resonated with the crowd. Allien’s programming was on-point, as she

CRY BABY

bounced and giggled to a relentless assault of top-notch selections like 1983 Hi-NRG classic “Living On Video” by Canadian synth band Trans-X. Another highlight? John Digweed’s masterful main stage showing on Monday. It’s always impressive how the Bedrock co-owner can routinely take control of a festival crowd with his moody progressive soundscapes, and he took the packed sea of revelers on a journey through the deep, dark, and groovy.

If you haven’t made it out to one of the America’s Best DJ summer tour dates, make sure to cast your vote online now! Head to AmericasBestDJ.us/Vote to submit your ballot of up to five DJs and earn a chance to win prizes.

NEW RELEA SES

Lauren Segal

Give A Beat

Detroit – Soul Clap’s Elyte (smiling) battles Golf Clap’s Hugh Cleal in a Giant Jenga game held at the Movement fest this past May 28.

The two DJ duos dueled Jenga-style to benefit Give A Beat – a unique, musicdriven, nonprofit org. For more pics from Motown, please see Page 20, and for more on Give A Beat, please see Page 37.

www.newhousegrooves.com

VOLUME 29

NUMBER 7

12 PLAYdifferently

Always One of the DJ-World’s Tech Leaders, Richie Hawtin Returns with a Product Designed to Take DJing to a New Level

BY BRUCE TANTUM

20 Music in Motown

America’s Best DJ Tour Launches at Detroit’s Movement Festival

BY DJ TIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS

22 Copyright & Copyleft An Academic & a DJ/Artist Offer New Views on Existing Copyright Law

BY KELLY KASULIS

24 Summer Fun

While the Rest of the World Vacations, Some Mobile DJs Make the Most of Summer Business

BY JEFF STILES

DEPARTMENTS 7 Feedback

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

26 Making Tracks

Innovative Music-Learning Tools

Cover Image by Jordi Cervera.

28 Sounding Off

Pioneer DJ’s New DJM/CDJ Units

30 Mobile Profile

Multi-Op Keeps It All in the Family

32 Business Line

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

4

Are You Delivering Innovative Service?

34 Gear

New Products from RCF, Stanton DJ & More

38 Grooves

Phat Tracks from Supernova, Tale of Us & more

41 Club Play Chart

The Hottest Records, As Reported by

SAMPLINGS 8 Will Clarke

New Bird on the Block

10 In the Studio With…

Calyx & TeeBee

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FROM THE EDITOR

Days of Future Tech

From the very early days of DJ Times, Richie Hawtin has always been a tech leader, an early adopter, a pathfinder for the future. Well, he’s at it again. Now teaming with former Allen & Heath engineer Andy Rigby-Jones, the Canadian DJ/producer has co-founded PLAYdifferently, a new company that recently released the Model 1 mixer.

In a revealing interview with longtime New York DJ/scribe Bruce Tantum, Hawtin explains his own views on the evolution of DJ technology, plus he offers a few hot takes on the state of DJ-driven music. As always, Hawtin provides plenty of food for thought.

On the legal front, new Boston-based contributor Kelly Kasulis talks with an academic (professor David Gunkel) and a working DJ (Dave Dresden), both of whom offer their own solutions to an outdated copyright system that negatively impacts DJs and the remix culture.

In Samplings, our Chris Caruso interviews U.K.-based DJ/producer Will Clarke, the latest addition to the Dirtybird family. Also, our longtime L.A.-based music writer Lily Moayeri goes into the studio with drum-n-bass duo Calyx & TeeBee. In the review section, our Denver-based scribe (and video star) Wesley Bryant-King again knocks it out of the park. In Sounding Off, he puts Pioneer DJ’s two, new, high-profile products—the CDJ2000NXS2 digital player and DJM-900NXS2 mixer—through their paces. Additionally, in Making Tracks, he offers a look at several educational tools—websites, apps, etc.—that aid in creating music.

In the world of the mobile entertainer, our Iowan scribe Jeff Stiles asks a panel of jocks: What are you doing this summer? The answer: Working and finding methods to capture unique seasonal business—read and learn. Our Mobile Profile connects with Michigan’s Rusch family, which has been thriving in the entertainment business for parts of the past five decades. In Business Line, we present the ideas of B-Boy Productions’ Brian Buonassissi, who asks mobiles, “Are you delivering innovative service?” Then he explains why your client’s experience matters—from the initial pre-gig query to a time well after a successful event. And look for Buonassissi’s seminar on this topic at DJ Expo this August 15-18 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. (For a peek at a few more educational seminars that will grace DJ Expo, please view the opposite page.)

From our report on Page 3 and again with our photo spread on Page 20, you’ll see that we kicked off our America’s Best DJ Summer Tour this past Memorial Day weekend at Detroit’s Movement festival. Presented by DJ Times and Pioneer DJ, the tour will hit more than a dozen venues through Labor Day. Voters at the events and online (americasbestdj.net) have the opportunity to win a pair of trips to our closing party/award ceremony where we’ll will present the Golden Pioneer Mixer to the winning DJ at Omnia San Diego. As always, vote and win.

In Closing: On Page 3, readers will see a reference to Give A Beat and, again on Page 37, readers will see an advertisement for this non-profit organization, one that’s dedicated in helping former inmates transition back into the creative world. As Give A Beat ramps up a new crowdfunding campaign—please visit giveabeat.org for details—readers should know that, among other endeavors, Give A Beat is preparing mentorship programs for recently released inmates who wish to create music and pursue DJing as a vocation. DJ Times is proud to serve as Give A Beat’s media sponsor and we hope that you share our enthusiasm for this worthy cause and decide to contribute.

Best,

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

Jim Tremayne Editor, DJ Times

6

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

assistant editor Chris Caruso ccaruso@testa.com chart coordinator Dan Miller dmiller@testa.com contributors Joe Bermudez Wesley Bryant-King Shawn Christopher Paul Dailey Reed Dailey Chris Davis Tony Fernandez Tommy D Funk Michelle Fetky Greg Hollmann Kelly Kasulis Mike Klasco Michelle Loeb Evan Maag Duanny Medrano Lily Moayeri Phil Moffa Natalie Raben Deanna Rilling Jeff Stiles Reisa Shanaman Emily Tan Bruce Tantum Phil Turnipseed Curtis Zack President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO ORDER SUBSCRIPTIONS, CALL 800-937-7678 VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.djtimes.com

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

digital art director Fred Gumm fgumm@testa.com social media coordinator Matt Van Dyke mvandyke@testa.com

advertising manager Tom McCarty tmccarty@testa.com marketplace advertising sales manager Ricky Pimentel rpimentel@testa.com art/production assistant Ricky Pimentel rpimentel@testa.com Circulation circulation@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 © 2016 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and must not be reproduced in any manner except by permission of the publisher. Websites: www. djtimes.com and www.testa.com July 2016

visit our website: www.djtimes.com

FEEDBACK A M E R I C A’ S F I R S T M A G A Z I N E F O R P R O F E S S I O N A L D J s E S TA B L I S H E D 1 9 8 8

THE LATEST ON

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give tips on what other industries are doing in this vein and explain how DJs can incorporate and benefit from them. (For more, please see Business Line on Page 32.)

“Upgrade Your Services: Intro to Video DJing.” Looking to give your en‑ tertainment services a genuine point of difference? Want to cash in with video? For years, Boston’s Joshua Carl has been ahead of the curve on all things video—technology, perfor‑

mance, content creation and more— so he’s uniquely qualified to offer tips and solutions for those considering the Video DJing route. Along with a panel of VJ vets, Carl will explain how and why video can separate you from the DJ crowd – and make more money in the process.

ADJ Sponsored Seminar: “You’re a DJ… Now What?!?” DJ or produc‑ tion company—which one are we, and why? In this fast-paced seminar,

Arnoldo Offermann of Florida’s A Pre‑ mier Entertainment will discuss the crucial differences between the two in marketing, selling, and performance.

Drawing on his experiences, he will of‑ fer invaluable sales tips that’ll change the way you do business.

Other sponsored seminars from DJ Expo exhibitors include informative sessions from Chauvet DJ, DMP, Electro-Voice, Eternal Lighting, and Pioneer DJ.

5/26/2016 11:58:24 AM

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

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

DJ Expo: Update DJ Expo will run Aug. 15-18 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. Produced by DJ Times and Testa Communications since 1990, DJ Expo stands as America’s longest-running and most-successful DJ conference.

DJ Expo features: an exhibit hall full of the latest DJ-related gear; seminars offering solutions for all issues; and sponsored evening events, like Promo Only’s Summer Sessions party at the new Premier nightclub at the Borgata on Aug. 16.

At presstime, the Expo seminar sched‑ ule included the following sessions: “The State of the Crate.” Those bits and bytes sure add up over the years!

Do you have a tried-and-true method of organizing multiple genres of music to easily access during a gig? What’s the state of your backup situation?

How many and what fail-safes do you use? Join Philadelphia jock Linda Leigh and a panel of DJ vets, as they explore these important topics—your digital world is growing and becoming more complicated every day!

“Why Your Client’s Experience Matters.” If it’s true that mobile entertain‑ ers’ clients are no longer satisfied with “a DJ that can mix and make announcements,” then you must set yourself apart by delivering a worldclass experience. Brian Buonassissi of B-Boy Productions will explain how this starts from the moment the in‑ quiry comes and why it never stops, not even at the end of the event. He’ll

AUGUST 15-18, 2016 T R U M P TA J M A H A L AT L A N T I C C I T Y, N J

WHAT’S @ DJ EXPO Over 100 exhibition booths with the industry’s most-vital hardware & software Nearly 30 seminars & tech sessions, presented by the industry’s leaders Valuable networking opportunities with industry pros & fellow DJs Giveaways galore, including an opportunity to win The Ultimate DJ System Sponsored events each evening, showcasing top talent Buying opportunities for DJ gear at “special Expo rates”

WHO ATTENDS? Mobile DJs Club DJs

SEMINARS PANELS & WORKSHOPS MOBILE OPERATOR TRACK Whether you’re a multi-op or solo jock, these sessions will offer solutions on marketing, performance, organization & more.

GEAR & TECH TRACK Surpass your competition by attending workshops that’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest DJ technologies & techniques.

DJ CULTURE & MUSIC TRACK Maintain your connection to the tunes that rock the party & gain valuable industry contacts as well.

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SAMPLINGS

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

WILL CLARKE: NEW BIRD ON THE BLOCK

8

Dirtybird is well known for being an extremely tightknit family of DJs, but the flock recently welcomed a new entry into its nest with open wings.

Armed with basslines as big as the beard on his chin, Will Clarke first joined the San Franciscan flock in 2014 when his track “Badness” was signed to its Dirtybird 10 compilation. Since then, he’s quickly risen through its ranks with a nonstop cavalcade of bouncy booty-tech productions that have seen support from both within the label’s roster and far beyond it.

Then, 2015 saw no shortage of success for the DJ/ producer, with a hectic release schedule that included the Turn It Up EP on Dirtybird, “Spandex” on Defected, and even a remix of Hot Natured’s single “Off World Lover” on Emerald City.

Somehow 2016 has proven to be an even bigger year for Clarke, having dropped a new single on Dirtybird (“Give It To Me” with Shiba San), collaborated with Justin Martin on his Hello Clouds LP (“Back to the Jungle”), launched his The Barber Shop monthly radio show, and co-headlined an American tour with fellow up-andcomer Billy Kenny—all before the year’s halfway mark.

We caught up with the British jock to catch a glimpse into what his whirlwind year has been like.

DJ Times: You relocated to L.A. earlier in the year and spent a few months out there. What were you up to?

Clarke: I’ve got a studio in LA, so between shows I’ve literally just been writing. I’ve been working on new music, so there’s a few collaborations with me and the Dirtybird guys, including “Back to the Jungle” on Justin Martin’s album [Hello Clouds]. Me and Shiba [did] two tracks, as well. It’s kind of a bit crazy, as [music] has only been my full-time job since this I moved to America this year.

DJ Times: When was that?

Clarke: December 26—the day after Christmas. That’s when I was doing the Get Real tour [with Claude VonStroke and Green Velvet]. I finished my job in the U.K. on the 20th of December, and over the past year I had been writing whilst working a full-time job as well. Now I actually get some free time to just write music.

DJ Times: You spent a few seasons in Ibiza and were a resident there.

Clarke: I was a resident at a few bars. I was a resident at Kanya.

DJ Times: Is that where you picked up how to work a crowd?

Clarke: I think Ibiza taught me how to be a DJ. Obviously, I was a DJ beforehand, but Ibiza taught me how to be a real DJ. I was DJing in lots of places there. Sometimes you’re not playing to anyone; people don’t realize that. People hear “Ibiza” and think you’re just playing to thousands of people all the time. You’re actually not. A lot of the time you’re just playing to a couple of people. You’re playing in a lot of bars, you’re playing a lot of sunsets, so you’re not just playing house, you’re playing hip-hop, you’re playing chill-out, you’re playing absolutely everything. It really opens your mind to music; it matures your music taste. I feel it turns you into a real DJ. DJ Times: Your track “That Booty Percolatin’” has been making the rounds in a lot of DJ sets over the past year. Why do you think people latched onto that track well before its release?

Clarke: God knows, man. I get tweets on a daily basis about when it will come out. It’s weird, I was playing on Holy Ship! and I dropped it, and the whole crowd was singing along with it. I was thinking, “How the fuck do all these people know this track when it’s not even out yet?” It’s happened with another one of my tracks, as well. I just don’t get it. I know I’m playing out a lot, but nobody else had [this track]. It’s good—it’s a great sign!

DJ Times: A lot of your productions seem to lean toward “set weapon” rather than “DJ tool.”

When you’re producing, are you trying to make these big moments?

Clarke: I don’t say that I’m an amazing producer—I’m the first to admit it.

Technically, I wouldn’t say that I’m an amazing producer. I sit back and listen to other people’s productions and say, “How the fuck did they do that? These BADNESS: guys are geniuses.” The one thing I’d say that I am good at is simple ideas and CLARKE making things that simply work in a club. I’ve always been a DJ, and I know what will work in a club, and I know what people will catch onto. I think that’s SAYS HE what I’m good at doing in the studio: writing something that people will go, “I remember that track.” That’s what I try and do in the studio: have an idea EARNED HIS so that at the end of a night, people will go, “What was that track that went DJ STRIPES ‘That Booty Percolatin’?” (continued on page 40) IN IBIZA.

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IN THE STUDIO

Bass in Your Face: (from left) TeeBee & Calyx.

The big change in making 1x1 was Calyx & TeeBee’s return to hardware and further integrating it with software. For Calyx’s vocals, he uses a Shure SM7B microphone into an SSL X-Rack VHD input module through an SSL-G Master Buss Compressor. Processing is done with FabFilter and iZotope plug-ins and through UAD plug-ins such as LA-2A and 1176, with Lexicon and EMT for reverbs, Neve 1073 for EQ, plus some hardware.

“We use a lot of bussing and automation of plugs before bouncing out stems of all the different sends and effects,” says Calyx.

“The stems are then worked together and final processing goes through our hardware, usually some saturation through the Anamod ATS-1 Tape Simulator, and a touch of EQ and compression with A-Designs HM2EQ and HM2 Nail. The final vocal is imported into the track it’s destined for.

Vocals are always worked on in separate projects or arrangements, as they get so

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

CALYX & TEEBEE: CREATING 1x1

10

Calyx & TeeBee have been making music together for over 10 years, but these days—unless it is behind the decks—the two drum-n-bass DJ/producers rarely see each other.

“We’re on the road a lot, and making music takes so much time—it’s more efficient to work on separate projects to maximize the time,” says TeeBee. “When you’re together, you tend to go for more of a safe option because you want to get results from the time. Separately, we try and impress each other.”

The duo’s third album on Ram Records, 1x1, has been its most difficult one to date. Living in different cities in the U.K.—the Norwegian TeeBee (aka Torgeir Byrknes) in Lewes and the Englishman Calyx (aka Tony Cons) in London—they have identical home studio set-ups, bar a few outboard synths. Tracks bounce back and forth between their studios many, many times before finishing the version eventually heard on the album.

Covering the genre’s spectrum of styles, 1x1 hits all the marks with darker, throttling tones as much as it does with feelgood, jump-up vibes. Calyx’s smooth, soulful vocals highlight on “Nothing Left” and “Cloud 9,” while the chants from featured MC Doctor on “Ghetto” and “Where We Go” add further dimension, as do the silky pipes of Ayah Marar on “The Fall.” Through its three albums, the duo has sharpened its songcraft, while the originality of their productions hasn’t waned.

“Virus TI Snow is one of the few things that has bridged multiple albums— it’s phenomenal,” says Calyx of the duo’s standby synth. Calyx’s other active

synths are Prophet 12 and Moog Sub Phatty, while TeeBee favors Prophet 8 and Moog Voyager. The two continue to use Logic Pro X for their DAW, eschewing the Ableton Live tidal wave. “ I t ’s a c o n s c i o u s thing,” says Calyx of the group’s studio app ro a c h . “ I w a s l i ke that from the start. I went with an Akai sampler, just to not have an E-MU sampler like 95-percent of other drum-n-bass producers. Secretly, I was jealous of their samplers, as their filters were so much better. But if you can find a way to sound a bit different, then it’s got to be done in order to have a unique identity and separate yourself from the herd.”

intensive. The less clutter, the better.”

For DJing, the duo uses three later-model Pioneer CDJs and a matching mixer each—preferably Allen & Heath for sonics and control—routed into a third mixer they both can use. Between shouts, hand signals, intuition, unspoken understanding, and mind reading, the duo’s sets are more spontaneous than choreographed. In the DJ booth, as in the studio, they try to impress and surprise each other with teases, key matches, and drops.

“It seems like everyone only has one gear—they just keep ramming it as fast and hard as they can,” says TeeBee of other DJs they’ve heard on the road. “You get into a club at 9 p.m., and you have the local warmup DJ playing Noisia & The Upbeats ‘Dead Limit’ as the first tune, while redlining the mixer. Where are they going to go from there? We have to play our hits, the tracks people expect and want to hear from us, and in an hour and 15 minutes, there is no room for experimenting. We love a twohour set where we can play unexpected things—but the way we play it, it still becomes part of our identity.”

– Lily Moayeri

12

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

By Bruce Tantum

Always One of the DJ-World’s Tech Leaders, Richie Hawtin Returns with a Product Designed to Take DJing to a New

DJ TIMES

As befitting a guy who’s spent over a quarter of a century making and playing various strains of machine-tooled, systems-driven sounds, Richie Hawtin has always been fascinated by the ways that technology intersects with the creation and deployment of music. And he’s certainly not alone: “Most DJs and electronic musicians are very interested, excited and inspired by the equipment, the instruments that we use,” he’s said. (In other words, we’re tech geeks.)

But Hawtin takes that interest a bit further than most. There’s the music itself, of course: He’s one of the artists who ushered the steely techno sound of minimal into existence; his mixes, like 1999’s Decks, EFX & 909, were masterclasses in precise, fine-tuned layering and editing. And, with its pulsing synthetic grind, what could be more “technological-sounding” than Hawtin’s work under the Plastikman moniker?

There’s also his involvement with the methodologies of DJing and production—he was using Ableton Live as far back as 2001, for instance, and had a hand in the development of Final Scratch, the DJ market’s first digital-vinyl system; for years, he served as one of the latter’s highest-profile ambassadors. He’s tinkered with mixers over the years, too, having played a major role in pushing the Allen & Heath Xone:92—one of the first MIDI-capable units to hit the market.

Recently, interest among the tech-inclined was piqued when hints of a new prototype “instrument” called PLAYdifferently, being developed by Hawtin and former Allen & Heath designer Andy Rigby-Jones, began to filter through the digital grapevine, as well as at the annual NAMM trade show, and through a series of demonstration gigs dubbed the Prototypes Tour. That instrument, of course, turned out to be a new mixer, the PLAYdifferently Model 1.

The Internet being what it is, the online reactions included a bit of digital head-scratching, largely of the “do-we-really-need-another-mixer?” variety. According to Hawtin, the answer is “yes.” The Xone:92 was launched in the early days of this millennium, and as Hawtin tells DJ Times, “I was honestly getting a little bit bored.”

Those who have heard the mixer in action might also answer in the affirmative. One of the stops of the Prototypes Tour was at Brooklyn’s Output, where Hawtin was joined by DJ vets François K and Mike Servito. As Output honcho Shawn Schwartz recalls the night, there was a noticeable divergence between PLAYdifferently and its predecessors in sonic detailing and overall sound quality. “My analogy is that it’s like seeing an image at a higher resolution,” he says. “It sounds really good and mixes frequencies musically, highlighting dynamics and offering improved clarity.”

But Hawtin’s aiming for something more than just a great-sounding mixer. In an interview at this past March’s SXSW convention, he stated that “perhaps we’re at a point where convenience has outweighed creativity”—and he feels that PLAYdifferently will be able to tip the balance back towards the inspirational end of that equation. Among the steps taken to facilitate that aim, the fully analog Model 1

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“In my mind,

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the DJ

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does away with the standard three-band EQs on each channel, opting for a pair of contour filters (low-pass and high-pass), sculpt EQs and overdrive effect. (Note to crossfader lovers: There isn’t one.)

Hitting the shops on June 30, the mixer will set you back a steep $3,650, so we wouldn’t expect to see the Model 1 incorporated into too many bedroom setups. “But I don’t want this mixer to be just for the big names,” Hawtin insists. “I want everybody to be able to play around with it.”

DJ Times: You’ve seemingly turned the cause of unlocking a DJ’s potential into one of the defining elements of your career.

Richie Hawtin: Yeah, definitely, and that’s part of what drives and inspires me. Part of it is to help unlock my own style and my own creativity, of course—but that helps others to do the same.

DJ Times: Why do you think you feel the need to continue to do that, rather than just rest on your laurels?

Hawtin: Well, just talking about myself, for the past couple of years, I’ve I was honestly getting a little bit bored.

DJ Times: Bored of what, exactly?

Hawtin: Of my own set-up. I was beginning to feel like I was now that status quo.

DJ Times: Which is not a familiar place for Richie Hawtin to find himself in.

Hawtin: Not at all. [laughs] I needed something. It was like, OK, I’ve moved from Maschine to Push, and I’ve updated a couple of plug-ins. I started to doubt myself a little bit—had I slipped away from technological development, or even from inspiring the next generation? But I’m feeling very, very excited about this current project.

DJ Times: That current project is a new mixer—but some people might say the ones we have now pretty much do the trick. Why go to the trouble of designing another one?

Hawtin: Well, I’d been on the Xone:92 mixer for 10 or 12 years now.

market is five or 10 years behind the pro-studio market.”

It’s pretty much that simple. The things on the peripheral of mixers had changed; mixers themselves hadn’t changed for ages. And using this new mixer has been like getting a new bike, riding around with training wheels as I got used to it, and then finally seeing all these new creative possibilities.

It’s not only exciting for the geek side of me, but it’s incredibly inspiring when I stand up in front of a crowd—whether it’s 200 or 20,000—and I’m using something that I know gives me new capabilities. It has really spurred my energy level on.

DJ Times: In what way?

Hawtin: This mixer’s getting back to the core of what DJing is about for me. And that goes beyond the actual equipment, or whether you’re a digital DJ, or a vinyl DJ, or if you are playing some instruments over top. This mixer allows you to plug in any assortment of devices, and that’s one part of the mindset behind it. This wasn’t built just to plug two turntables into… although if you do, it’s gonna sound fucking amazing.

DJ Times: How did you go about facilitating that sound quality?

Hawtin: Without getting too specific, the fundamental foundation of this was the idea that there is a bottleneck in the DJ booth regarding sound quality, and we really need to open it up. Years ago, the bottleneck didn’t make much difference; actually, it was kind of the opposite. The mixers that were around then—the UREIs, the Xone:62s and 92s— they were state-of-the-art, but on the systems that were installed in clubs at the time, the quality of the mixer probably didn’t make that big a difference. I mean, I played on so many inferior systems over the years, and the mixer was the least of the concerns.

DJ Times: But now with the modern-day clubland emphasis on high-grade sound systems, they do?

Hawtin: Of course. Over the past 20 years, we’ve had so much sound-system development, and all the manufacturers understand how big the electronic-music

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community is, with DJs playing in front of thousands of people. Sound has become such an important factor.

You have clubs that wear the stamp of their brand very proudly: “We’re a Funktion-One club,” or “We’ve spent half a million dollars on our sound system.” We’ve come a long way. But as that’s progressed, there wasn’t the same kind of development on the type of mixers that were on the market. You had the Ranes, you had the Allen & Heaths and you had the Pioneers. Each of them has its own… opinion, I guess, of what good sound quality is.

DJ Times: But you wanted something more?

Hawtin: I would say that I had a different opinion. And it wasn’t just me. Andy Rigby-Jones, when he left Allen & Heath two years ago, was saying it, too: “There’s got to be something more.”

DJ Times: Can you describe the kind of sound you were looking for?

Hawtin: What I was thinking was that everything you plug into a mixer has certain characteristics. A turntable has certain characteristics, some of which is determined by what kind of needle and cartridge you use. Or a computer can have a certain analogto-digital converter that will make it sound differently. Some people prefer their mixer to have a very transparent, pure sound—and therefore, what comes out of the mixer will sound different, depending on the source.

DJ Times: But you’d rather have a consistency regarding what comes out of the mixer?

Hawtin: Yeah. I prefer something that can bring together all the different components, all these different frequencies, into a warm, rounded, thick kind of sound. I mean, this is just my opinion, but this isn’t the era of disco or the era of electro-pop, when you needed more of a tight mid-kick and a lower-mid bassline to create the energy. Techno and house played over massive club systems—I think the new Funktion-One has 32inch bassbins—sounds great when it’s rumbling, when the music is hitting you in the pit of the stomach and vibrating your whole body. When you’re in the middle of a dancefloor, I think most people want to have a physical experience. And that’s the kind of mixer we wanted to create.

We wanted something that could bring everything together in a beautiful, well-rounded way, and have it be something with balls. We wanted it to add just a little bit extra, to want to make you dance just a little bit more.

DJ Times: How did you go about facilitating that vision?

Hawtin: We had a fundamental question when we started this project: Do we go digital, or do we go analog? Digital is very good at creating a very pure, transparent sound, but we went the analog way. We wanted to have some circuitry, some components, some filters, some EQs, of the sort that would bring that warmth.

And that’s where we started. We made a very simple channel strip, and we plugged in turntables and computers—and then we simply played with the circuitry until we heard something that we liked.

DJ Times: How can you tell when that something is the sound that you’re looking for?

Hawtin: There’s sound quality on a technical level, and there’s sound quality on an emotional level. The sound we were looking for was on that emotional level. It’s just a feeling, really. It didn’t have to sound exactly how it was made to sound, but it had to sound warm. I use that word, warm, quite often, but I also use smooth. I love it when DJs play records, and they’ll just kind of melt together. For me, on a very basic level, that’s what makes an incredible DJ. It’s someone who puts two things on top of each other, and it becomes something that doesn’t exist. Some people call it the third record.

DJ Times: And that’s obviously easier to do if you have that consistent, warm sound coming out of the mixer.

Hawtin: Exactly. And I’m an extreme example of that; I’m always trying to get everything to just melt into place, no matter how many channels and effects I’m using. That’s what we wanted each input on this mixer to do—to melt everything together, no matter the source. And we tried to enable it to do that for any kind of DJ. For instance, for people who plug in turntables, we re-engineered the phono preamps by playing a little bit with the RIAA curve—and turntables sound amazing with this mixer.

DJ Times: How about with digital inputs?

Hawtin: Well, there are quite a few different digital signals. There is one rule that I’ve learned from sound guys as I’ve traveled the world is that the more A-to-D and D-to-A conversion steps you have, the worse it’s going to sound. At this moment in time, with the way people are playing and the sources that people are using, we felt that bringing all those digital signals right into analog was

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the way to go.

DJ Times: So you just have one step from digital to analog, and just stick with that.

Hawtin: Exactly. Of course, with most sound systems today, you will have one more A-to-D step after that. But think about it—when you have a lot of different sources and a lot of steps, none of these things are clocked, and you’re getting crazy jitter and stuff like that. But going back to electrical currents is the right idea, I think. It’s analogous to what happens in a pro recording studio. Most people have ended up using a mix of analog and digital—maybe a couple of great digital effects boxes, maybe a computer with Ableton and some nice Apogee converters, maybe an old Moog, maybe a new Moog, maybe a couple of Dave Smith Instruments, all put together in a unique way. And then, very often, it either gets mixed or downmixed on a high-end analog console.

DJ Times: And in your analogy, the PLAYdifferently mixer is equivalent to the studio’s analog console.

Hawtin: Yeah. In my mind, the DJ market is five or 10 years behind the pro-studio market. Because the DJ market is so big, the impulse is to make mixers in the cheapest way possible, with the cheapest production possible—and that usually means that the manufacturers go the digital route. Which doesn’t mean digital is necessarily the wrong way to go—but we have this massive market, and all we have are DJ mixers that are maybe 10 or 15 or 20 years old in design.

Then there are the kind of DJ mixers that are created for the mass market, just to sell as many as possible. That’s it—and that’s disappointing, given the size of the market. And that’s kind of where we come in.

DJ Times: Other than its sonic consistency, what else differentiates PLAYdifferently from other mixers?

Hawtin: We’ve made changes from the ground up. The main thing is the quality of the components— the quality of touch, of tactility, of finding the right button or the right knob to attach to a certain effect or parameter.

DJ Times: So it’s sort of a redesign of the interface between the DJ and the machinery?

H aw t i n : T h a t s o u n d s p re t t y simple, but there was a lot to think about. The problem is that a lot of products have multiple uses for each button, knob and fader on the device—they can become overly complicated and less intuitive, less playful,

really. I mean, a guitar has six strings, arranged in a certain way; a keyboard has black and white keys, arranged in a certain way. They have a certain feel. These are instruments—and the mixer is the instrument of the modern DJ. It’s where you decide how to cut and modulate and filter, or whatever else you want to do. And if the mixer doesn’t have the kind of feel that makes you want to touch, turn and press things, it’s not going to inspire your best performance.

DJ Times: And that is the ultimate goal.

Hawtin: Yes, and I don’t think that there’s been something quite like that before—a mixer that’s designed to be an instrument that a performer plays. Each of our knobs does one thing. Once you know the mixer, you don’t have to think about it. Your hand goes there, and that’s the filter; put it there, that’s the high-pass; over there, that’s the low-pass. And we’ve designed each part for functionality. Everything is designed to match human movements, which are very much connected by our human emotions. And that can sometimes be achieved by simply changing the shape, location or feel of a button. I mean, how do we put our own stamp on other people’s prerecorded music, on other people’s records? First of all, you need an instrument that enables us to translate our movements, one that can bring those movements into the mix.

DJ Times: You’re a pretty good ambassador for PLAYdifferently.

Hawtin: Well, I’m one of the designers—I better be! [laughs] Honestly, I’ve been involved in a number of different technologies, and I won’t say that everything I’ve been involved with has been the right choice. But I try to be aligned with things that I’m passionate about. As far as mixers go, I’ve been waiting for years for someone to design one, and that never happened. But this is finally here, and it’s something that excites me and inspires me when I use it in front of people. I can hear the difference, and I can see that the crowd feels something different.

DJ Times: They feel that just through the sound quality alone?

Hawtin: It’s more than that. They can feel that you are playing differently, too.

DJ Times: Hence the name.

Hawtin: Yeah. Think about the professionals, people who go out every weekend and make their living off of DJing. Most of them are using three or four different mixers (continued on page 40)

America’s Best DJ Tour Launches at Detroit’s Movement Festival

1 Hybrid: Dubfire on mainstage.

Adam Meyer 2 Matthew Dear: Daytime mixer.

Adam Meyer 3 Carl Craig: Hometown hero.

Steven Pham 4 J.Phlip: Daytime Dirtybird.

Bryan Mitchell 5 Get Real: Ren Center scene.

Katie Laskowska 6 Prince Dynamite: RZA on the mic.

Adam Meyer 7 BPitch Control: Ellen Allien onstage.

Steven Pham 8 The Black Madonna: At the riverbank.

Adam Meyer 9 Stacey Pullen: Kosmic Messenger.

Steven Pham 10 Silver Scene: Movement fans.

Adam Meyer 11 Mija: Owsla sounds.

Adam Meyer 12 Hello Clouds: Justin Martin mixing.

Chris Soltis 13 Honey Soundsystem’s Jason Kendig.

Adam Meyer 14 The Robots: Kraftwerk in 3D. Adam Meyer

about options like MixBANK and the idea of clearing remixed songs for distribution. They spoke with the DJ Times about their own solutions, which start by scrapping the existing copyright law.

DJ Times: First of all, is anything original?

David Gunkel: One of the assumptions [I’m challenging] is this idea of creativity being creation out of nothing. This is a really impossible standard, I think, for any human being to ever really approach. It is a concept we give to the divine in the Judeo-Christian belief. We may need to recalibrate how we understand the creative process.

Dave Dresden: I don’t know.

Music evolved because of technology and we’re all influenced by the things that we listen to and then try to make our own interpretation of that. I mean, everything’s been done,

In today’s digital age of click-anddrag, many believe that American copyright law is outdated and, according to David Gunkel, a professor of communications at Northern Illinois University, it’s being used “to shut down creativity.”

Gunkel traces the historical roots of the remix debate between the “copyright” and the “copyleft” with brainiac prose in his new book, “Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics After Remix.” He says that DJs are tired of being viewed as unoriginal – as the “record player players” of society.

Dave Dresden is one of those DJs looking to change that perception.

As one-half of the DJ/remix/production team Gabriel & Dresden, he’s topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart more than 20 times with remixes and original productions and he wants to see a world where

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JULY 2016

An Academic & a DJ/Artist Offer

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artists who sample can build on each other’s work without being hit with cease-and-desist letters.

“I want people to sample my material and make new songs,” says the Oakland, Calif.-based Dresden. “I’ve always been a supporter of that.”

Some companies are attempting to make that endeavor easier. This past March, for example, Dubset Media Holdings proposed a solution when it launched MixBANK, a music licensing and distribution business for remixed songs. According the company, MixBANK “is designed to facilitate the marketplace between DJs, rights holders and music services.” Through MixBANK’s pre-negotiated licenses and unique technology, “DJs, labels, publisher and music services can create and earn together, in one comprehensive platform.”

Its release came just weeks after SoundCloud, a German music streaming service, alienated its DJ and remix artist user base by striking a licensing deal with corporate giants like Universal Music Group.

Gunkel and Dresden agree that a new approach to copyright is in order, but differ slightly on their views

The Academic:

Gunkel says current law conflicts with current practice.

but then again everything hasn’t. Five years ago, there wasn’t trap music.

Creation is infinite, really.

DJ Times: Is the negative connotation behind remixing too deeply embedded in our history for things to change?

Gunkel: That’s a good question.

The values we utilize in order to think about the creative process and form our copyright laws are old, old, ancient values. It was designed at a time where artistic creation was confronted by a new technology – at the time, it was printing. The [English] Crown needed to decide how we confront this brand new threat from technology. What we’re trying to do in the current time is to recalibrate a law written for print media for [newer] digital media. You have a lot of people calling for an entire rewrite of the copyright law.

Dresden: There’s a lot of people hanging onto an old belief and the old ways instead of embracing change or moving forward with the time. And things are going to keep changing.

In 10 years, we might have to revisit this conversation because people might be downloading songs into

their brains [laughs].

DJ Times: Is abandoning middlemen record companies the answer?

Gunkel: They already have in many ways. They’ve abandoned them and so have the fans. Those individuals in the middle who used to broker the relationships are no longer necessary. As a result, you have people giving away their music for free, recognizing that their fans are going to get it anyway. So it’s a change in the technology, obviously, and also a change in the way we think about the business model for this kind of creative activity. Now, the way you make your money is by performing. You connect directly to fans and build a following of people who will support you – not by buying an object, but by having a service relationship.

Dresden: I mean, it’s heading there, but I think we’re still 10 years off from that. As social media be-

time. A hip-hop DJ, for example, may want to draw on a riff from a Led Zeppelin song to create a new composition that is sort of a touchstone.

If every time you have to do that, you pay a licensing fee, it becomes increasingly impossible to do that kind of work.

Dresden: I make the comparison to medical marijuana in that, rather than just making it legal for medical reasons, why don’t you just make it legal? I don’t see it as a step backwards – I think it’s trying to fix a problem and maybe it will catch on and, at some point, be really easy to use.

DJ Times: What’s your solution?

Gunkel: By the time you can use anything in your current culture for remix, you’re going to be dead. So my proposal really is that we give the artists five years. You make a new work and you’ve got five years. After

New Views on Existing Copyright Law

The DJ:

Dresden believes in a new payment model.

that, your artistic product enters the public domain. The internet has accelerated the way we consume the media and our copyright law should respond [to that].

Dresden: I think [Gunkel’s proposal] makes total sense. I think, the way things move so fast now, five years is what 75 years was when they made that law – the perpetuity law.

It also makes sense from a remixing standpoint because, after five years, people might want to hear the song in a new context again.

DJ Times: What about notion of making it public domain?

Dresden: By making it public domain, that means the original writer won’t make any money on that if it’s used. I don’t necessarily agree with that. I don’t think [remixing] is something that needs to be paid for. I think the rights holder should get a percentage of what’s coming in on the remixed track. You’re owed a certain percentage of that remixed composition’s total intake of money. If that composition won a Grammy Award, you get a Grammy Award because your composition is in there. n

DJ TIMES

comes more engrained in the musician’s life, absolutely. You know, I’m just blown away at how these young kids can build their fan bases using Snapchat or Periscope or Twitter and just doing all these things the right away and making people love them, so it’s definitely heading in that direction.

DJ Times: So it’s all about the gigs now?

Dresden: Performing – that is how we make money. It’s sort of like the music is the loss leader that brings people into your world, and you’re going to sell them tickets, mugs, tshirts – all kinds of things. It’s a hard life, yeah, because you’re spending all this time and effort making music and the only way to reap the rewards is to get on an airplane and leave your family to go perform.

DJ Times: So what do you think of solutions like MixBANK? Gunkel: This is where I think the current law really comes into conflict with current artistic practice. The practice of remix is to say that our culture is full of sounds, full of melodies – all kind of things we recognize as indicative of a certain period of

JULY 2016

By Kelly Kasulis

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DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

While the Rest of the World Vacations, Some Mobile DJs Make the Most of Summer Business

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By Jeff Stiles

JULY 2016

bile DJs around the country booking this summer? What’s the appetite among our clients? Who’s doing something different this year, and what are we doing to generate additional summertime gigs?

In the Detroit area, wedding receptions are basically all held between May and October, so Corey Rusch with Rusch Entertainment attempts to simply focus on them.

“We try really hard to focus mainly on the receptions,” Rusch says.

“We have the occasional graduation party that calls in, and we try to help with those, but they are usually the two- or three-hour open-house and they don’t have a wedding budget.

“During the summer, there aren’t school events during the week to pick up a few extra bucks on, but our corporate work is pretty strong during the week.”

But for Rusch, as with most of us all around the country, wedding receptions are the bread and butter. “They account for a large percentage of our events,” he says. “After all, we don’t really do anything special to generate these events—they either call or not. Most of the time it’s the word-of-mouth and connection to the area since the ’70s that has people calling us.

“In fact, I just had a bride say this to me in an email today: ‘My family has used Rusch Entertainment in the past and would love to continue to give you our business.’ That’s how we get our work—word-of-mouth is key. We’ve gotta always put on our best presentation at every event.”

Over the northwest corner of the nation, Andrew Tiegs of Adam’s DJ Service in Seattle, Wash., says he’s seeing more and more summertime corporate picnics being booked.

“The increase is largely in part to teaming up with other entertainment companies who do everything from bouncy houses to large format games,” he explains. “They get asked a lot about music, sound systems and DJs for events, so we’ve started partnering up and offering packages that include my services.

“It’s more laid back and less stressful than serious events like weddings, but the price-point is typically lower. Still, for four out of five events we’re able to work a fair rate, so it works out for everyone.”

For Tiegs, having relationships with other vendors has made this extra summertime line of work possible. “I met the owner of this company a while back and have worked with a few event managers there, but their new event manager really likes me and has just recently inquired or booked me for four events. He’s a member of NACE, of which I’ve been a part for eight years.

“I guess that, along with the great relationships I’ve had with venues and caterers, puts me on top-of-mind for these folks.”

Over in the northeast, Scott Goldoor of Signature DJs in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., says they find that a nice amount of company picnics, pool parties and apartment complex resident appreciation picnics help fill in their summertime schedule.

“We also have a few house birthday parties and backyard pig roasts,” says Goldoor, “and then at least half a dozen of our normal country club or golf club accounts will normally contact us for member events. Some of those are adult-only parties, while others are family-oriented with games and entertainment for the kids.”

Goldoor says many of the pool parties are structured similarly— designed to be entertaining for both adults and kids alike. “We do an assortment of pool games—like a splash contest for the kids, diving

contest, hula hoop contests and such—and then also TVor movie-themed trivia to mix things up for the adults, while they’re lounging around the pool or eating.”

Goldoor says that so far this year he’s noticed a slight decrease in some of his country clubs and golf club parties. “I’m not sure if they’re not having events due to poor turnout in years past, limited budget or using another form of entertainment, such as a band or photo booth instead of DJ— though most know we also offer a photo booth, too.”

Meanwhile, back over in Chicago, Barnett says her summertime camp gigs are just part of her extra summertime bookings. “Over the summer, we also typically do corporate picnics every weekend— sometimes two or three on a Saturday afternoon, which keeps our talent very busy— where we provide a DJ and we also have two people running picnic games for two hours for kids and adults,” she says.

“We also do camp parties and community pool parties every month . . . and, of course, the birthday parties for kids and adults in backyards or houses.”

As for anything new these days, Barnett admits that (as usual) most of her events are returning clients or word-ofmouth referrals. “ B u d g e t s we n t d o w n a little this summer, so instead of a five-hour event, maybe it’s a four-hour event,” she says. “But on the whole, our summer events haven’t really changed that much.

“I’m just hoping for some warm sunny weather this summer in Chicago.” n

DJ TIMES

No matter the season, the party never stops in ChiTown. While many mobile DJs find their businesses handling typical high-end wedding receptions, there are plenty more events that’ll last (as Kid Rock would sing) all summer long.

“We do camp dance parties ever y summer, where we bring a DJ, an interactive MC, dancers and even some mobile music swag—t-shirts, sports bags and other promotional materials—about three or four weeks into every camp,” reports Shani Barnett in Northbrook, Ill. “We do these two-hour dance parties to get our company and talent known to mitzvah-age kids at the whole camp, which could be 100 to 200 kids, so they see us in action and want to book us for their upcoming bar or bat mitzvahs.

“We also do last-day camp parties for other camps like sports camps and other groups, where each counselor rotates activities the camp puts together every 20-30 minutes,” says the owner of Shani Barnett Productions.

“These camps parties are so much fun. The kids love a break from camp, the counselors join in, and everyone looks forward to the next dance party.”

For Ar tem Lomez of NinetyThree Entertainment over in Roxbur y, N.J., the typical summertime consists of a graduation party here, a wedding reception there, a referral from a rabbi here, and another wedding reception there. “ I t ’s a l l f ro m wo rd - o f mouth,” Lomaz says, “so we take whatever comes down the pike.”

What kinds of gigs are mo-

25

MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…

Skoove: Practical online keyboard instruction.

EDUCATIONAL TOOLS AID MUSIC-MAKING

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

By Wesley Bryant-King

26

As fast as technology seems to move, from time to time I’m reminded about how slowly some seemingly obvious ideas come about. But it seems to be the case that technology-driven educational tools have rather taken their time to mature. Sure, we’ve had basic things like MOOCs (massive open online courses) for a while now, but I’m taking about really elegant applications of technology—clever solutions to unique learning challenges.

Music seems to be one of those areas where the unique challenges are abundantly clear, and the cost of traditional learning approaches (like classes, private lessons, etc.) generally border on outrageous. To me, this screams nothing if not “opportunity,” and it appears that some folks have sensed that and risen to the occasion.

In this round-up, I’ll be taking a look at four particular music-learning tools I’ve found interesting and helpful, and how they’re working to rethink the status quo—while providing new and innovative ways to learn in the process.

Skoove (Web Site): Perhaps one of the most obvious ways one could apply technology to music learning is with keyboards. After all, MIDI has been around for a few decades at this point, so the idea of connecting a keyboard to a computer is hardly a stretch. I’m sure that others have developed learning tools that leverage MIDI keyboards, but Skoove—which I received a tip about a few months ago—seems to have taken a pretty unique approach that’s both accessible, and affordable.

Skoove is, in short, a series of online keyboard lessons. By using the integrated MIDI support of certain web browsers (while providing a plug-in for others), Skoove runs in your web browser like any other web site. All you need to provide is a MIDI keyboard. It’s worth noting that not too long ago, Skoove introduced support for acoustic pianos through “listening” to audio via your computer’s microphone as an alternative to a MIDI keyboard, so you can use conventional instruments with Skoove instead if you prefer.

In playing with Skoove, I found its approach to be interesting, practical, and effective. Like a good teacher, Skoove explains proper technique, and while working your way through increasingly more elaborate musical passages, it teaches you both how to read sheet music, as well as basic elements of music theory.

To be fair, I had about eight years’ worth of jazz-piano lessons back in the day, but never considered myself all that good. Skoove helped me knock the rust of the skills I had, and I felt like I was more successful at bringing my hands together at the keyboard than I was all those years back when it seemed like an extraordinary struggle.

Skoove offers a progression of beginner and intermediate courses, plus specialized courses that include Pop Piano and Christmas titles. Many more are shown on the site and labeled as “coming soon,” so clearly more is in development. I’m particularly looking forward to the rollout of their piano accompaniment course—a skill I never learned in my conventional piano lessons.

Syntorial: Progressive, detailed synth lessons.

Skoove is free to try; Skoove Premium, with access to all its lesson material, is $9.95 per month. Check it out at skoove.com.

Syntorial (Software Tool): When you get your keyboard chops (or perhaps you already have some), you’ll probably want to jump right into playing synthesizers. The thing is, even if you know how to play the notes, do you know how to program the instruments to get that special sound you have in your head? That’s where Syntorial comes in.

While there are numerous synthesis methods around, perhaps the most widely used is subtractive synthesis, and it’s at the core of some of modern music’s most popular and well-known synthesizers—both hardware- and software-based.

When I first saw Syntorial at Winter NAMM 2016, I knew I had to check it out. While I’m an avid user of Sylenth (a popular analog-modeled soft-synth), as well as the proud owner of a Sequential Prophet 6, I’ll be the first to admit that the majority of the time I browse factory presets, then tweak them to my needs; I’ve really never fully understood all the principles of sound design, and haven’t acquired the skills the usual way: endless hours of trial and error and learning by doing.

Syntorial is composed of nearly 200 individual lessons—the first 22 of which are available for review through its free demo. The lessons in Syntorial are progressive—they build, lesson to lesson, on knowledge you’ve already acquired.

They’re also quite detailed, and take things at a very modest pace. Because the point is to develop your ability to do this by ear, and to hear the effect each synth parameter has on the sound, that modest pace is actually pretty essential to the success of the program. It does, however, take some effort to resist trying to rush things when the pace starts to get a little sleepy. Stick with it, however; Syntorial really works, and while I’m still working my way through the lessons as I write this review, it’s paid huge dividends already, and prompted me to get out of the “modified-factory-preset” rut.

Syntorial has three (at this writing) Lesson Packs that are available at no additional charge to paid users. Each is for a specific synth, and include packs for Sylenth (38 lessons), Cakewalk’s Z3TA+2 (37 lessons), and the Minimoog Voyager (34 lessons), making the purchase even more valuable and educational if you happen to own one of these popular software or hardware synths.

The cost for the entire lesson series plus the Lesson Packs is $129.99, and includes a VST/AU synth plug-in that reflects the interface shown in the lessons.

More information at syntorial.com. iZotope Pro Audio Essentials (Web Site): Boston’s iZotope is perhaps best known as a producer of some of the music industry’s most beloved audioprocessor plug-ins, such as their renowned Ozone mastering tools suite. But the company has also created, over the years, a wide range of material designed to help educate its customers (and honestly, non-customers, too) on various aspects of audio production. In particular, I’ve both enjoyed and found helpful their free e-books on mixing and mastering, but they also offer webinars, videos, and more.

Most recently the company rolled out an interactive learning toolset called Pro Audio Essentials. Announced by the company this past May, it gives the impression that perhaps they jumped the gun a little, as the toolset is largely unfinished. (Don’t let that stop you; I’ll explain in a moment.) The three modules (continued on page 42)

WHY WOULD YOU BUY ANYTHING ELSE? RELOOP RP-8000

FEATURES > 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 the RP-8000 Reloop hit a home run!”

— DJ Times

“This is the turntable I would purchase in a second.“

“We fell in love with the streamlined design and ease of use.“

— Mobile Beat

— DJ City

PIONEER PLX-1000

Yes

No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

No No No No No No

“The RP-8000 is the postcontroller revolution deck that people have been waiting for.”

“The best of both analog vinyl and digital worlds in one powerful package.”

— DJ Booth

— DJ Worx

A division of Jam Industries Ltd.

For more information visit: www.americanmusicandsound.com

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

XONE+SERATO DJ=PERFECTION

Xone 43

Xone 43C

Created for DJs and electronic music purists, Xone:43 is a 4+1 channel DJ mixer offering the very best of analogue audio quality, including the legendary Xone filter with resonance control, 3 band EQ, crossfader with three curve settings and X:FX for send/return to your favourite FX unit.

Xone:43C is the perfect gateway to the full spectrum of digital DJing. The mixer is supported by leading DJ Software, Serato DJ, by purchasing the Serato DJ Club Kit - eliminating the need for any external interface. Whatever your workflow, Xone:43C delivers a uniquely fluid mixing experience.

A division of Jam Industries Ltd.

For more information visit: www.americanmusicandsound.com

www.allen-heath.com

SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

PIONEER DJ’S NEW CDJ/DJM UNITS

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

By Wesley Bryant-King

28

When I started DJing about a decade or so ago, I was a bit of an early adopter, I suppose. I discovered an early version of one of today’s leading digital DJ software products, cobbling together a MIDI drum controller (of all things) to serve as the hardware control device for it. It wasn’t that much later that robust, purposebuilt controllers started to come on the market, and I was utterly convinced that turntables and CDJs would soon be a thing of the past.

Clearly, I’d probably not make a great technology pundit or visionary, because now, 10 years later, I can see how wrong I was. For a start, about six years ago, I bit the bullet and invested in a pair of Pioneer DJ CDJs myself—which I still frequently use to this day for certain types of gigs, thanks to their flexibility.

But here we are in 2016, and Pioneer has recently introduced its latest and greatest CDJ and DJ mixer offerings to a DJ community that has enthusiastically welcomed their arrival with the sort of excitement normally reserved for top echelon celebrities. After putting the new CDJ-2000NXS2 digital multi-player and DJM-900NXS2 mixer through their paces, I can start to understand why.

Getting Started: Unboxing the pair of CDJs and the mixer I received for review, I have to say my first impression was that this was serious gear, for serious DJs. I’ve used previous iterations of the DJM-900, so I already knew that the series was very highly regarded indeed, and aside from its new capabilities, was familiar. But I’ve not had the pleasure of using higher-end Pioneer DJ CDJs until now, so I wasn’t quite prepared for what came out of the boxes. For a start, they’re big—but even without powering them on or studying the manual, you get the very immediate understanding that they’re packed with capabilities (and possibilities).

Pioneer has designed everything to sit next to each other, with identical heights and depths, for a nice, finished look when it’s all assembled on the desktop. And powered up, the whole system is visually impressive.

Despite the advanced capabilities of both the CDJ-2000NXS2 and the DJM900NXS2, any DJ who’s used Pioneer DJ’s CDJs or mixers in the past will feel immediately at home. With the CDJs,

CDJ/DJM Combo: Serious gear for serious DJs.

CDJ-2000NXS2: Unique capability & flexibility.

DJM-900NXS2: A mixer with 64bit DSP & more.

even without cracking the manual, I had no trouble getting things connected, and then getting some digital media into the device for playback. Even the touchscreen and related controls surrounding it seemed perfectly natural and intuitive. And as for the mixer? Same story—easy, fast, intuitive, and natural. This familiarity will let any DJ be immediately productive, leaving ample time later to discover and master all the new capabilities on offer in these latest-generation versions.

What’s New: One of the new capabilities in this latest generation of the CDJ-2000 and DJM-900 is support for 96 kHz, 24-bit audio. To take full advantage of this high-res audio support, digital connections between the CDJs and mixer are required, and to support that, SPDIF digital connections are provided on both. You can also directly connect the CDJs and/or the mixer to your computer, providing the same high-res audio I/O for content located there. (Of course, analog is still provided as well – standard stereo RCA on the CDJs, and separate line- and phonolevel RCA on the mixer.)

To support the high-res audio enabled by that digital connectivity, you’ll need high-res audio content, and in addition to using material via a connected computer, the CDJ-2000NXS2 supports FLAC and Apple Lossless (ALAC), along with more traditional legacy formats (MP3, WAV, AAC, and AIFF). When you pair that high-res content with digital connectivity and a robust sound system, the results are both readily apparent, and impressive. I find that most people, me included, have simply gotten used to the quality compromises of audio compression in formats like MP3, even high bitrate MP3, and when the compromises are removed, you suddenly realize what you’ve been missing.

The quality of the audio output from the DJM-900NXS2 is supported as well by the use of a 64-bit DSP in the unit—vs. the 32-bit DSP in the previous iteration of the mixer. The extra processing power shows its benefit when enabling any of the unit’s ample array of effects. It provides both “sound color” effects like sweeps, noise, and the like, as well as the usual so-called “beat” effects like flanger, phaser, pingpong, and so on. The beat effects, in particular, are supported by a range of control capabilities, thanks to an X-pad selection of beat duration, plus selectable frequency range of application. This provides the ability to apply a flanger, for instance, in the midrange, or echoes to the high-end, enabling unique results that even the most capable digital DJ software applications (generally known for more robust effects than are usually available in hardware offerings) would be hard-pressed to match.

And given the crispness and clarity of the audio when the effects are applied? Clearly Pioneer DJ is setting a new (continued on page 42)

MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES Five Decades in Business: (from left) Dean, Casey & Corey Rusch.

MULTI-OP KEEPS IT ALL IN THE FAMILY

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

By Stu Kearns

30

Freeland, Mich. – The way Corey Rusch tells it, you can blame it all on his dad.

See, his dad Dean started Rusch Entertainment in 1971 when he was a teenager. He had started a band, Ceyx, with two of his friends, and they played high school and teen dances.

Soon the band began attracting attention, and shared stages with the likes of Ted Nugent, Tommy James, Sammy Hagar, Chubby Checker, Blue Oyster Cult and Bob Seger.

Dean saw potential in booking other acts, including bands and DJs, as his popularity grew, and saw demand for entertainment for weddings, corporate events, schools and other events. “He was even featured on a wedding show on TNT that had Boyz II Men perform – he provided the sound and entertained the rest of the evening,” says a proud Corey about this dad.

For Corey and his brother Casey, the DJ life began very early. “We always had the gear around with band and DJ equipment,” he says.

“We played with and learned about the gear at an early age. Both Casey and I were doing teen dances at an early age, but we didn’t do higher profile or paid events until we were a little older such as weddings and corporate events.”

Corey’s first official taste of DJing occurred when he was 14, his first teen dance on a New Year’s Eve where Ceyx was playing for the main party. Younger brother Casey was also 14 when he got involved, DJing at middle-school dances.

“Dean would call middle schools in the area that didn’t have dances and convince them to have a dance for a fundraiser,” says Corey, “and we’d go DJ them for free to gain experience.”

Today, all three work together in the office handling the daily operations for the multiop—a great benefit, business-wise, Corey be-

lieves. “The biggest benefit to our family working relationship is trust,” he says. “We know we can all rely on each other for support no matter what’s going on in the office or out in the field.”

Dean’s wife Jean also works in the office.

“She’s been the ultimate supporter,” says Corey. “She helps with payroll, accounting, and does other office professional tasks. And I can’t forget to mention how important Aunt Tracy, my mom’s sister, has been to the business. She’s been there since the beginning as well. She did a lot of the booking and sales, and accounting as well with Dean in the earlier years when Dean started the business in his parent’s basement.”

While they don’t market the fact that they’re a family business, it’s well known in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan, a small area, that the name Rusch equates to entertainment. “A lot of our clients are word-of-mouth and customers typically catch on as they hear the last name,” he says. “In our area, everyone knows it is a family business. Dean was the band or DJ for people back in the earlier days. They’ve remembered him, and now Casey and I are DJing their kids’ weddings 30 years later. Some of these couples are having him DJ or his band Ceyx come back and play the kids’ weddings.”

On the Gear Front: for PA systems, Rusch Entertainment uses QSC Audio’s KW Series for most gigs and units from RCF’s Evox series for smaller events. For playback control, it uses Numark NS7, Numark Mixdeck Quad, Pioneer CDJ-2000 digital players and Technics SL-1200 turntables. For software, the company uses a variety of platforms, including Serato DJ, Pioneer rekordbox, Virtual DJ and Native Instruments Traktor Pro. On the lighting front, Rusch uses primarily Chauvet gear, including an array

of Intimidator Spot 350 units.

With the benefits of a family-run business, there are challenges, too. “The biggest challenge is the time it takes and requires to put into the company,” says Corey. “We aren’t able to go on many family vacations because we need someone in the office. Working every day with family can start to take away the time that we want to spend together as a family. There are times where we work 50-60 days in a row during our busy times without any days or time off.”

And how do they deal with it? Sundays is the day they typically have no gigs. So when they get together as a family they try not to talk about the business and just enjoy being together. “It’s important to find the off switch at times,” says Corey.

Whatever their formula, it appears to be working. Over the past 40 years, Rusch Entertainment has exceeded over 2,000 events each year; for 2016 they’re closing in on 2,500—a large majority of them being weddings, but with a mix of everything, such as schools and corporate events. They service all of Michigan and surrounding states, and Corey cites their recent Memorial Weekend, where they booked nearly 50 events, from Detroit to Northern Michigan and Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Dean shows no signs of slowing down, either.

“He hasn’t been showing any signs of retiring and is actually working more than when I was a kid,” says Corey. “My brother and I have both expressed interest in taking over when Dean decides to retire. We have goals of growing and expanding more perhaps to other regions.”

In five years Corey says he hopes to see Dean relaxing and the sons running the company. “We plan to grow the business he created,” he says, “and continue to provide a top quality experience and service for our clients.”

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BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

By Clyde Forbes

32

Brian Buonassissi, managing partner at B-Boy Productions, has been in the mobile business long enough to have an opinion on the value of customer service. In fact, he’s got so many opinions he’s put together a seminar for the next DJ Expo, called “Why Your Client’s Experience Matters.” Taking a moment from his duties of running a company with offices in New York City, Orange County, Calif., and Destin, Fla., Buonassissi offered some insight on his presentation and his professional views.

CAN YOU GIVE US A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE SEMINAR? Sure . You used to just wow people with great gear, great music or a great show.

But that’s not enough in today’s world. You have to deliver an experience that is second to none—from the day they first are introduced to you until way after the last song is played. In this seminar, you’ll learn some lessons from the best and worst service providers out there that will help you and your business stay on top for years to come.

YOU BEGIN WITH A RATING SCALE OF 1 TO 5. WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? It doesn’t matter who you are, where you might be, what you do, it’s the scale by which you grade things (Yelp, WeddingWire, TripAdvisor, etc.). The question you need to ask yourself is: “What reasons dictate why a customer would give you a 5 as opposed to a 4?”

YOU SAY NOT TO WORRY ABOUT ANY GRADES LOWER THAN A C. WHY? C is average... that is doing what is expected. Customers are satisfied.

Example: if I buy a coffee maker, I’m not expecting it also make me an omelet. It’d be nice, but I don’t expect it. As long as it does no more, no less, then I’m satisfied. But we’re not talking about a product, we’re talking about an experience.

Think about a really good experience you’ve had. A great restaurant experience, maybe a honeymoon.

What if you came back from your honeymoon and somebody asked how it was and your response was, “I was completely satisfied.” You’re probably going to spend that night

on the couch.

So when it comes to the experience, a “C” grade is just mediocre. So let’s look at clients or customers who give us an A. When you look at it, there’s a big difference between clients who give you an A and clients who give you a B. Clients who give you an A will recommend you. They don’t say they might. They actually do it.

Clients who you give you an A will use you again.

Clients who give you an A will forgive you if you make a mistake.

ARE YOU DELIVERING INNOVATIVE SERVICE?

Whereas a “B” client might do those, but they might not.

YOU SAY THAT THE RECESSION HAS CHANGED THE GAME WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. HOW? It has caused your customer to redefine value.

First, they’ve got a lot more choices than they have ever had. Would you agree that you’ve got a lot of competition? You aren’t the only game in town, right?

But they’re also a lot smarter. The internet has done that. Think about the last car you bought.

You didn’t just go down there and take their word for it; you did your homework. You went on Kelly Bluebook, Edmonds—we knew how much our trade in was really worth, how much you paid for that car, etc. Or maybe you’re going on vacation and you’re looking at staying at a hotel that you’ve never stayed at before. You go online and look at the reviews. And what are those reviews about?

The experience. They’re not about the pretty pictures. So again, customers are smarter. They do their homework. 80-percent of all clients in a recent survey said they will do their homework online before making a purchase today.

So that value pie has changed significantly now. As consumers, we’ve always defined value as, “Did I get the product or outcome that I considered or trusted at a price or fee or a rate that I would consider fair and with a positive experience?” It used to be that those three things were evenly disbursed out. Now what’s changed is that the pie elements are still the same, but it looks different (two-thirds of that pie is now experience and the other two take up one-third). The experience plays a much bigger role than ever before.

And so if experience is such a big part of that, who is your competition? Your competition is not your industry. Your competition is anybody creating great experiences for your clients. So they are comparing you to Nordstrom or Disney or fill in the blank with your favorite service provider. But you want to know what the most challenging part is? They are going to compare you incident to incident.

They take any incident and they look for any similar incident to make a comparison.

CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF THAT? Your clients don’t evaluate you based on what they anticipate. They evaluate you based on what they think is appropriate.They don’t judge you based on what’s likely to happen. They judge you based on what ought to happen.

Illustration: Doctor’s appointment at 10 a.m. You wait an hour to be seen.

Wouldn’t you have loved to just been told be there at 11 a.m. and be seen at 11 a.m.? Now it is happening different than you anticipated? No! It’s happening exactly as you anticipated. You’re getting mad because it’s not appropriate. That’s how your clients judge you today. They don’t judge you based on what you trained them to anticipate, they judge you based on what’s appropriate—and your competition is changing your client’s perception of what appropriate looks like and we have new kids on the block who make it even more challenging.

So you got a client using Uber and they have a great experience with Uber, then they look at you through Uber eyes and you begin to say, “Oh my God, this is going to be challenging.” Are your clients getting Uber’d?

Brian Buonassissi’s seminar, “Why Your Client’s Experience Matters,” will be featured at DJ Expo, which will run Aug. 15-18 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. For the latest on the show, please visit thedjexpo.com.

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Islands in the Airstream ADJ Products 6122 S. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90040 (323) 582-2650 www.americandj.com The Airstream DMX Bridge from ADJ is a multi-signal Wi-Fi transmitter that allows users to operate multiple ADJ fixtures from a distance of 2,500 feet.

Working in tandem with the Airstream DMX Bridge app for iOS, smartphones and tablets can be utilized to control any WiFLY-compatible gear via 14 WiFLY channels, as well as non-WiFLY products that are connected to the Airstream DMX Bridge unit with three-pin DMX outputs. Compatible products include LED Pars, Moving Heads, stage lighting, GOBO projectors, uplighting and dance floor FX.

Speaker of the House Pioneer DJ Americas 2050 W. 190th Street Suite 109 Torrance CA 90504 (424) 488-0480 www.pioneerdj.com Pioneer DJ’s DM-40 active speakers are desktop monitors that produce a rich, balanced sound for DJing and producing. They come with a Class AB amp, headphone output and both RCA and stereo mini jack inputs, as well as fourinch fiberglass woofers and ¾-inch soft dome tweeters with DECO convex diffusers. DM-40s offer the same speaker technology found in the company’s pro-audio sub-brand TAD and its BULIT Series studio monitors, including a front-loaded bass reflex system.

All Hands on Deckadance Gibson Pro Audio 309 Plus Park Boulevard Nashville, TN 37217 (800) 444-2766 www.gibson.com Stanton’s Deckadance is now available in version 2.60. The new version includes unlimited snapshots for deck and mixer settings, including EQ, FX and Key. All of the snapshots are integrated into the song manager and all settings can be saved and recalled at the push of a button or keyboard shortcut. Version 2.60 also adds three new layouts to the drop-down menu-two deck or four deck horizontal, with miniature decks on the left and horizontal stacked, zoomable waveforms across the screen; and a Maximized Library layout.

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

Control NV

34

Numark/inMusic 200 Scenic View Dr. Cumberland, RI 02864 (401) 658-3131 www.numark.com Numark has released the NVII DJ controller, which builds upon the features of the original NV unit. Offering four decks of Serato DJ control, the NV II adds gridlines on the 4.3-inch full-color screens so that DJs can visualize the beat of their tracks more accurately. In addition to new navigation controls, the unit includes 5-column sort options for music as well as additional columns of KEY, BPM and TIME.

AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF GEAR

Oil & Vignette Blizzard Lighting N16 W23390 Stoneridge Dr. Suite E Waukesha, WI 53188 (414) 395-8365 www.blizzardlighting.com The Motif Vignette from Blizzard Lighting is the latest model in the Motif Series. The unit features 18 10-watt quad-color LEDs and a natural convection cooling system that the company says is noise free. Available in either

black or white aluminum housing with a heat sink design, the Motif Vignette has a tempered glass lens, watertight internal gaskets and dual mounting brackets.

Additional features include multiple builtin color presets and auto programs, 0-100-percent variable electronic dimming, a variable electronic strobe, and a four-button LED control panel menu.

Benny & The Jets RCF USA 110 Talmadge Rd. Edison, NJ 08817 (732) 902-6100 www.rcf-usa.com The Iconica headphones are RCF’s first foray into the headphone market. Through a partnership with EDM DJ/producer Benny Benassi, the company developed a headphone model that is designed for both studio and live performance applications. These over-the-ear, supra-aural headphones feature flexible leather ear cushions and an extendable headband, and they come in a choice of either Pepper Black or Angel White. According to the company, they have been designed to deliver “an extremely linear frequency response, including extended bass, but without compromising on accuracy.”

Connect the Dots Ableton Inc. 36 W. Colorado Blvd. Suite 300 Pasadena, CA 91105 (646) 723-4550 www.ableton.com Ableton’s Connection Kit is a toolkit designed for using Live with technologies such as Arduino, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, Leap Motion, littleBits and OSC. The pack includes 11 Max for Live devices that let users connect, control and monitor Live using these and other interfaces and communication protocols. The Connection Kit Pack is free for Live 9 Suite and Max for Live users from the Ableton website.

By LANDR or By Sea

DJ TIMES

Cloud-based audio post-production software platform LANDR announced a DJ Engine designed to simplify music creation and production for electronic and Hip-Hop DJs. The DJ Engine can level any track at any stage. It utilizes an artificial intelligence-driven algorithm that the company says is “designed to focus the lowend while adding punch and weight and also offer clear, transcendent highs without harshness or distortion.” Users also get the same functionality as the existing LANDR platform – including metadata editing, integration with digital audio workstations, improved file management, and cloud storage backup.

JULY 2016

LANDR 7083 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles, CA, 90028 www.landr.com

35

GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Station to Workstation Drum Workshop, Inc. 3450 Lunar Ct. Oxnard, CA 93030 (805) 919-2499 www.dwdrums.com Gibraltar DJ announced four new workstations. The Radius is a controllerbased set up with 30-inch legs that lock into place and a curvy design with chrome-plated steel tubing that breaks down easily for transport. It features a 30-inch straight cross bar while the Radius Deck has a 40-inch curved crossbar.

The Elevate offers optional integrated speaker suspension stands and a plastic workstation table top that can be separated into two 37-inch pieces with handle cut-outs. The coffin-style Foundation has four rubber mounts and four posts for extra stability.

Splice of Life Splice www.splice.com Cloud platform Splice has released deadmau5’s Chimaera sample pack exclusively on Splice Sounds, the company’s subscription service that lets producers collaborate and build a personal sound collection out of more than 1,000,000 samples and presets. Chimaera features with 110 unreleased MIDI melodies and 73 new custom kicks, including some samples that were used in deadmau5’s music. Chimaera’s kicks and MIDI are royalty free and 100% cleared for commercial use.

Under Lock & ColorKey Mixware, LLC 11070 Fleetwood St, Unit F Sun Valley, CA 91352 (818) 578-4030 www.mixware.net ColorKey expanded its Mobile Series with two MobilePar products and one MobileCon model. The MobilePar Hex 4 and MobilePar Quad 4 wireless lights are both battery powered and feature wireless DMX, along with an ultra-fast refresh rate and flicker-free LEDs that make them “ideal for video production,” according to the company. The MobileCon 192 wireless DMX controller can control up to 12 different LED lights with up to 16 channels each. Its Universal Wi-DMX wireless technology operates at 2.4 GHz, allowing for control from almost 2,000 feet away.

Seeds & Stems

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

Native Instruments North America 6725 Sunset Boulevard, 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 (323) 467-5260 www.native-instruments.com

36

Native Instruments has released Software Developer Kit for the Stems open audio format—the toolkit for software and hardware developers is available for free download from stems-music.com. Developers can now get full access to specifications, the DSP library, and code examples including a command-line version of the Stem Creator – a free application for Stem file creation. With the arrival of the SDK, Stems can now be freely integrated into music production/ performance tools or media players.The available compressor and limiter components ensure that the four separate parts of a Stem file sound nearly indistinguishable from the original stereo master when heard individually or played together.

TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS Igor Vicente

Point G aka DJ Gregory

“PHREEKY” u Eli Escobar u Classic Music Company New York’s Escobar drops another cleverly produced underground EP. The title track offers an uplifting disco-house feel, while “Can’t Stop Dancing” (featuring Nomi Ruiz) takes you on a magical jazz ride with its deep synths—a warm summer classic.

– Tommy D Funk Eli Escobar

“MOTHER & CHILD” EP u Paul Woolford u Hotflush Woolford’s latest is a massive, melodic instrumental journey reminiscent of Ten Walls’ productions released before he went into hiding. The title track is a passionate, emotional, orchestral thumper, but “Mother & Child Divided” extends it even further, manifesting itself as a prime, beatless DJ tool that’s even more dramatic than the original mix.

– Chris Davis “OBLIVION LAB” EP u Supernova u Toolroom Supernova, two of Italy’s top tech-house gurus, delivers a full-on, heavy hitter of an EP. “Comida Cubana” and “Mother House” both deliver super-hot grooves that should do the business on any intimate dancefloor. Full support!

– Tommy D Funk “LENINJ” EP u David Scuba & Finley u Superfreq Mr.C’s Superfreq label partner David Scuba teams up with Finley for the playfully dark techno track “Scoofin” and the deep-down grooves of the title cut. Kate Simko’s remix grabs the crown for best tune of the EP with a tech-house rump-shaker whose buttery bassline will have you moving through the entire track.

– Chris Davis

JULY 2016

Pylon

Tale Of Us

Sean McCabe

Alaia & Gallo

TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS Paul Woolford

“WHO IS HE?”

u Alaia & Gallo feat. Kevin Haden u Soul Heaven Featuring Haden’s dynamic vocals, this soulful, groove-infused cover of the Bill Withers classic should lift up any dancefloor. With its sexy, 4/4 beat and bouncing bass, this one’s a future classic.

– Tommy D Funk PYLON LIVE

u Pylon u Chunklet Industries Long before modern hipsters were compelled to dance by James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem, there was Pylon. Indeed, two decades ahead of the DFA label’s re-release of its first two albums, the Georgia dancerock quartet was heating up punk-club dancefloors with its brand of frantic, arty, angular funk. On this starkly clean live recording from 1983, big basslines and propulsive rhythms drive groove-filled cuts like “M Train,” “Stop It” and “Volume,” while the stinging guitars on indie hits like “Cool” and “Crazy” still burn.

David Scuba

GUEST REVIEWER: Marc Cotterell Classics & Unreleased Jams Point G Minibar France A collection of terrific dancefloor material from Point G—or DJ Gregory, as he’s known from his Defected and Yellow Production releases. Half the cuts are rare, late-’90s gems that earn a hefty price tag on Discogs, so viMarc Cotterell nyl re-presses, like this one, are worthy purchases. The whole album is on-point, proper, old-school house music with deep beats and fantastic rhythms. And don’t sleep on the amazing track, “Jean-Claude.”

– Jim Tremayne “LET ME” u Kenya u Z Records Joey Negro’s Z Records returns with another soulful club monster and Sean McCabe does the goods on some of the package’s more sophisticated remixes. The “Vocal Mix,” “Let Me Out Dub” and the “Classic Mix” stray away from the original, but do plenty of dancefloor damage.

– Tommy D Funk REALM OF CONSCIOUSNESS u Tale Of Us u Afterlife The guys from Tale Of Us—Carmine Conte and Matteo Milleri—have finally stepped out on their own and transformed their Afterlife event series into a full-blown label. The 10-track compilation—featuring several artists from DJ Tennis’ Life and Death imprint—delivers their favorite deep, dark, brooding, interstellar techno sounds, produced by the likes of Monoloc, Recondite, Locked Groove, Mind Against and many more.

– Chris Davis “HAUS BOO” EP u Igor Vicente & DkA u Hot Creations Belgian producer Vicente does the rounds with this two-tracker of minimal tech-house, which includes “Shady” and the title cut. With a heavy 4/4 beat, bouncy keys and grooving hi-hats, these are all-around club monsters that should work any dancefloor.

– Tommy D Funk “ALL NIGHT” B/W “UNWIND” u Lazylife u Downshift These groovy, slow jams will get you and keep you in the mood. The Rhodes-infused “Unwind” takes you down the sexy path with bouncy, soulful vibes. Meanwhile, “All Night” brings dark and groovy moods as well. Old-school, downtempo, acid jazz of the highest order.

– Tommy D Funk

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

Hawtin

40

(continued from page 16) as they play in different clubs. And one manufacturer’s EQs might sound one way, and another’s might sound another way. But there are actually not that many differences—isn’t it time for something different? We all have great music, so the challenge was to find a new way for people to manipulate it.

DJ Times: How have your fellow DJs liked PLAYdifferently so far?

Hawtin: I’ll be very honest—most people can’t just jump on it and expect to do their best performance right away. The two filters and the parametric EQs can throw people off.

But once people get over that initial, three- or four-gig hump, wonderful things start to happen. Of course, there are some people who can jump on it right away—when we were Output, François K joined us, and he did the best set I’ve ever seen him do.

DJ Times: That’s saying something—he’s a great DJ. Hawtin: He had seen the mixer in the studio before, but this was his first performance with it. He just got on there and was like, “Fuck it, let’s go for it.” He was playing around with the filters and the EQs; there’s a small analog-overdrive circuit and he was messing around with that. There were one or two mistakes, but that’s what a great DJ set is—letting it all come out, live and in front of a crowd.

Dubfire, Loco Dice, Chris Liebing, Adam Beyer have all used it. We’ve been testing it out at Berghain and Panorama Bar [in Berlin]; Ricardo Villalobos was just checking it out and was really excited.

DJ Times: Other than the mixer, what is your DJ methodology nowadays? Do you even have a set-instone setup?

Hawtin: I do, but it changes from year to year. I’ll make changes in January, February and March, where the schedule isn’t quite as full and when there’s new equipment coming out, and then I’ll lock it down for the rest of the year. At the moment, I have a computer that’s using Traktor with four decks connected to Ableton, with some sends and returns on the mixer so that I can have some reverbs and delays. I’m using the Ableton Push controller, and I’m doing live percussion with that. I have an external guitar foot-pedal flanger. And I have two Allen & Heath Xone:K2 controllers, to control all the computer stuff.

DJ Times: That’s quite a lot.

Hawtin: We have six full stereo channels and two returns on the mixer, and I fill all of that. But it enables me to do what I want to do each night… I hope. [laughs] Aesthetically, it’s about taking prerecorded tracks and ripping them apart, looping them and filtering them and layering them.

The idea is that there are fragments

of your favorite records, rebuilt in a way that’s like a bass-heavy steamroller.

DJ Times: I’ve heard you play many times, and your sets can indeed be steamrollers.

Hawtin: Yeah, but they’re steamrollers that have progressed over the years. When we were doing the PLAYdifferently Prototypes Tour, I was asking all the DJs what they hope for if they’re on the middle of the dancefloor, with their favorite DJ in control. Many of them said the same thing that I would say: “I want to be surprised.” Everybody can get the same records now; Beatport opened up music for everybody, and I’m happy to have been a part of that—but that makes it so hard to surprise people as a DJ. My personal evolution has been spurred on, in part, by technology, and it’s up to me to use that technology and manipulate things so that they become special again. I’m not trying to take away anything from the tracks that I use. If you want to hear that track, you can have it right on your iPhone. But when I play it, I’m going to play differently. [laughs] Sorry about that—I keep coming back to that term.

DJ Times: Switching gears a bit, last year was the final year of your ENTER. party in Ibiza, right?

Hawtin: I would say it’s in hibernation mode. Last year was the end of phase one.

DJ Times: The Ibiza scene is constantly evolving and regenerating. Do you think that ENTER. played a role in that evolution, or did it stand apart from everything else that’s been happening on the island?

Hawtin: The island is such a small community that I think ever ybody stands together, really, even if they’re not closely cooperating. I certainly hope we were a part of the development; that’s part of why we started ENTER., to bring another angle to what was being offered. Having our ENTER.Mind room, and bringing in people like TM404 and Recondite— people who had never played in Ibiza before—showed that you can have people who aren’t peak-time Amnesia people. I think that was important.

But with what I want to do right now—what I want to do with my shows, what I want to do with studio stuff—it just feels like being on the island for 16 weeks in a row is just too much.

DJ Times: Do you think that some people who get into electronic music through, say, the peak-time Amnesia material—or via festivalready EDM—are slowly finding out about the more underground side of spectrum?

Hawtin: One-hundred percent, yes—especially in America. There’s

been a gravitation toward these smaller, cooler warehouse events. You go to them, and you can see that these are the same kids who were getting their minds blown at Electric Daisy Carnival a few years ago. Most of us have gone through that in one way or another. We didn’t just immediately get into Derrick May or Aphex Twin.

Well, I didn’t, at least; I was more into Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Front 242, and that didn’t come ’til after some electro-breakdancing stuff, which was really hip in ’83 and ’84.

DJ Times: How do you find the balance playing huge festivals with DJing at more intimate club gigs?

Hawtin: I’m constantly finding my way with that. Five years ago, we were like, “Let’s play more of these big shows.” If 20,000 or 30,000 people— even more, at something like EDC— are coming together, we’ve got to be there to show people what our sound is, with the hope that some kids are going to get it. And some did. Now we’re trying to take the people we’ve already sucked in one step deeper, to open even more doors for them.

DJ Times: There’s been chatter lately about how the EDM bubble might be bursting. Do you see that from where you stand, from sort of on-the-same-level-but-not-actually part of that world?

Hawtin: Well, the EDM world certainly got big, and we always knew it was an uncontrollable beast. Now, because of its own success, it’s been swallowed more and more by mainstream pop. And mainstream pop kind of constantly veers from one sound to another—it’s a constantly expanding and bursting bubble. The bright side is that we’re in an era where people have become more open to the frequencies that electronic music loves to play with, and that’s great.

DJ Times: You’ve been at this for over a quarter of a century, and you still seem to love what you do—how do you keep your enthusiasm level up after all that time?

Hawtin: Man, I think you just have to live it. There’s no real formula. I started this as a hobby, and I think I found a way to keep it as exciting as a hobby would be. But being around all kinds of aspiring people—young artists and older artists—is the key. I get to meet and hang out with people who I look up to, people like Daniel Miller from the Mute label. And then I get to meet and hang out with an upand-coming artist who’s just learning.

Being inspired and being inspiring… if you can keep both of those things going, you’re both giving and receiving energy, and that’s a positive flow.

DJ Times: People who have been around as long as you tend to acquire a certain amount of haters.…

Hawtin: Oh, I’m quite successful

at acquiring haters! [laughs] DJ Times: Do you pay any attention to them? If so, how do you deal with them?

Hawtin: I do my own Instagram and I do my own Twitter, so I do see it.

But I don’t respond to it, either. I can’t say I like it; it can be tough to navigate sometimes. Everyone has a voice, and sometimes that voice—whether it’s good or bad—resonates with you. But I just try to do what I really feel, and if I’m doing that—if I’m living that—it doesn’t matter what anyone says.

DJ Times: Can we be expecting any new music coming our way soon?

Hawtin: I hope so. I would love to have some new music come out every year. It’s been about two years since the Plastikman EX record, and last year we had the Plus 8 anniversary record, From My Mind to Yours—and that one in particular really whetted my appetite. I don’t know that it will always be an album’s worth of music, but I think there will be something.

Recondite and I have been working on some songs, and there are some other people that I want to collaborate with as well. I feel like I’m in a creative space right now, and I’m hoping to live in that space for a few years. I want to dive as deeply as I can into a few specific ideas that I have.

DJ Times: What is your favorite part of doing what you do?

Hawtin: Well, it’s the music, of course, and it’s the technology. It’s actually very hard for me to separate them. I was a computer programmer before I fully got into music, so I’m somewhere between being the music guy and the technology guy. But really, it’s the people—meeting people and making friends all around the world.

Above everything else, clubbing is social, and that’s the best part about it. n

Clarke

(continued from page 8)

DJ Times: It really feels like the past year’s really been a “coming out” moment of sorts for your career.

What’s that feel like?

Clarke: It’s amazing. I’m lucky. I feel very lucky to be in this situation. I’m still a very long way off from where I want to be, this is just the beginning.

I’ve gone through my career and always thought, “This is where I’m going to get bigger—this is where it happens.”

There have been different stages in my career where I always thought that, but I think this year (and toward the end of last year), was where I realized my career starts. It’s been like 12 years in the making; I don’t think people realize how long in the making it’s really, really been. I’ve been DJing for a long time.

– Chris Caruso

MP3s in 6

Compiled As June 14, 2016

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART

NATIONAL URBAN POOL CHART

1 Rihanna F/ Drake Work 2 WTS F/ Gia One Night 3 Justin Bieber Love Yourself 4 DNCE Cake By The Ocean 5 The Chainsmokers F/ Rozes Roses 6 Beyonce Formation 7 Dillon Francis Kygo F/ James Hersey Coming Over 8 Troye Sivan Youth 9 Philip George & Dragonette Feel This Way 10 Athena Lithium 11 Fifth Harmony F/ Ty Dolla $ign Work From Home 12 Chainsmokers F/ Daya Don’t Let Me Down 13 99 Souls F/Destiny’s Child & Brandy The Girl Is Mine 14 Camille You’re So Beautiful 2016 15 Coldplay F/ Beyonce Hymn For The Weekend 16 Pet Shop Boys Pop Kids 17 Jonas Blue F/ Dakota Fast Car 18 Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream 19 Meghan Trainor No 20 KC & The Sunshine Band I’m Feeling You 21 Selena Gomez Hands To Myself 22 Primo Cruz Don’t Stop 23 DJ Sun Junkie F/ Ce Ce Peniston Piece Of That 24 Dirtyfreqs And Vassy T.U.T.P.(Turn Up The Party) 25 Justin Bieber Company 26 Glovibes W/ Luciana One By One 27 Sheila Gordhan Smile 28 Peter K F/ Mariah Simmons Stare Into The Sun 29 Lukas Graham 7 Years 30 Kim Cameron But You 31 Win Marcinak Look Up To The Sky 32 Rihanna Needed Me 33 Alan Walker Faded 34 Gwen Stefani Make Me Like You 35 Sir Ivan Imagine 36 Gladys Knight Just A Little 37 Janice Grace Save The Planet 38 Dirty Disco F/ Inay Day Stranded 39 Zhu F/ AlunaGeorge Automatic 40 Designer Panda

1 Jeremih 2 Rihanna F/ Drake 3 Beyonce 4 Bryson Tiller 5 Bryson Tiller 6 Kevin Gates 7 O. T. Genasis F/ Young Dolph 8 Dj Luke Nasty 9 Future F/ Weekend 10 Kent Jones 11 Designer 12 Ro James 13 Drake 14 Fetty Wap 15 Rihanna 16 Plies 17 Kayla Brianna F/ Rich Home Quan 18 Tyga F/ Rick Ross & 2 Chainz 19 T.I. 20 Yo Gotti F/ E-40

Roc Nation Global Groove Island/Def Jam Republic Columbia Columbia Columbia Capitol Motown Dauman Epic Columbia Columbia Zarion Atlantic X-2 Capitol EMI Epic Sunshine Hollywood 4-Power TDG Radikal Island Nextstep Reach VMG Warner Brothers Side FX Burning Tyger Roc Nation RCA Interscope Peaceman ShakeBoodie Jaguar DRD Sony Def Jam

Most Added Tracks

1 Win Marcinak Look Up To The Sky Burning Tyger 2 Alan Walker Faded RCA 3 Sir Ivan Imagine Peaceman 4 Jes/Austin Leeds & Redhead Roman Happy Intonenation 5 Dirtyfreqs And Vassy T.U.T.P.(Turn Up The Party) Radikal 6 Chainsmokers F/ Daya Don’t Let Me Down Columbia 7 Glovibes W/ Luciana One By One Nextstep 8 Martin Eriksson Stranger Southside Recordings 9 Janice Grace Save The Planet Jaguar 10 Halsey Colors Capitol

REPORTING POOLS Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n OMAP - Washington, DC; Al Chasen n Dj Stickyboots - Goshen, NJ; Blake Eckelbarger n Victors - Milwaukee, WI; Chris Egner n Nexus Radio - Chicago, IL; Manny Esparza n MetroMix - Pittsburgh, PA; John Hohman n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - New York, NY; Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo n Northeast Record Pool - Revere, MA; Justin Testa n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis n Peter K. Productions - ,International ; Peter K

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

Oui Def Jam Work Roc Nation Formation Columbia Exchange Trippinout Don’t Trippinout 2 Phones Atlantic Cut It Atlantic Might Be Othaz Low Life Epic Don’t Mind We The Best Panda Def Jam Permission RCA Summer Sixteen Republic Wake Up RFG Needed Me Roc Nation Ran Off On Da Plug Twice Atlantic Do You Remember Smitty Baller Alert Last Quarter Money Talk Raunchy Law Epic

Most Added Tracks 1 Beyonce 2 Alicia Keys 3 Kevin Gates 4 Future 5 Fifth Harmony F/ Ty Dolla $ign

Sorry In Common Really Really Wicked Work From Home

Columbia RCA Atlantic Epic Epic

NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART 1. Adassa Caballero (Extended Club Mix) DCP 2. Bajando Fino La Morena Go Latino 3. Alfredito Linares Ain’t No Sunsunshine DJ Gonzo Prod.

4. Juan Magan feat Luciana Baila Conmigo Universal 5. Jau D Lady Love Cutting 6. Poeta Callejero Kamasutra (RMX) Universal 7. Silvio Mora Novio Con Dinero Mayimba 8. Rey Ruiz Lo Aprendi Contigo J&N 9. Tito Rojas Caray, Caray TR 10. Jay Cool Señorita (RMX) JayCool Charisma 11. Alx Veliz Dancing Kizomba Universal 12. Prince Royce Culpa De Corazon Latin Hits 13. Hector Acosta Te Vas Tu O Me Voy Yo Venevision 14. Daddy Yankee Shaky Shaky Los Cangri 15. Don Omar Te Recordare Bailando Universal 16. Jorge Celedon Me Antojo Sony 17. Grupo Niche Enamorado 360 Group 18. Grupo Niche Niche Como Yo 360 Group 19. Charly Black Gyal You A Party Animal Aftercluv 20. Gente De Zona feat M. Anthony Traidora Sony

Most Added Tracks 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

ChocQuibTown feat Wisin Ben James feat. Fuego Ken Y feat N Jam J Balvin Elvis Crespo feat Grupomania

Desde El Dia Que Sera Como Lo Hacia Yo Bobo Escapate

Latin Hits Cha-Del Universal Universal Flash Music

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.

Sounding Off

(continued from page 28) standard here.

If by chance the onboard effects are somehow deemed inadequate, the mixer also provides support for offboard effects units of the conventional type, as well as unique support for using an iPad as an effects unit.

Pioneer DJ has made its RMX-1000 available in app form; install it on an iPad, and connect that iPad to the mixer, and voila, you’ve extended the mixer’s capabilities into even more territory.

The DJM-900NXS2 also provides excellent support for DJ handoffs.

With dual USB ports, you can have

Making Tracks

(continued from page 26) shown today include some tough-tograsp territory: equalization, compression, and what the company calls “digital audio basics” which includes topics on sample rate, bit depth, and lossy audio (the effects of file compression, not to be confused with audio compression).

Only the equalization module is truly complete. Within it, four submodules are available: learn (primarily video content), explore (interactive exploration of the concepts that help you understand the effects of changes on what you hear), practice (which is as the name suggests), and challenge (to test your understanding). For both compression and digital audio basics, the site says that they are largely coming soon, but an array of educational videos is available now for both.

In playing with the equalization module, I have to say, I found Pro Audio Essentials both extremely challenging, and extremely educational.

It’s easy to read about concepts, but

two laptops connected to the unit if desired and, coupled with four channels of input, each able to support any input type (including phono); I can envision no playback or content source scenario where two DJs transitioning could possibly step on each other’s toes while maintaining a seamless program for the audience— especially if the CDJ-2000NXS2s are sitting to either side of the mixer.

Finally, back to those CDJs… Between the support for such a wide range of media (USB mass storage devices, SD cards, Pro DJ Link, audio CDs, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and computer-sourced material) and the

large, beautiful, and effective touchscreen displays, I found them to be a pleasure to use. And by employing Pioneer DJ’s rekordbox software to pre-process material, you can unlock even more capabilities in the unit when it comes to managing and playing back that content.

Conclusions: As I said at the outset, the CDJ-2000NXS2 and DJM900NXS2 are together serious gear for serious DJs. They’re a pleasure to use, and as I said earlier, easy, natural and intuitive to use despite the wide array of advanced capabilities.

Bear in mind that the street pricing for these bad boys is roughly

$2,200—each. As tested, my configuration then was roughly $6,500 worth of hardware, representing a very significant investment no matter how you slice it. But for that investment, you get unparalleled capability and flexibility, and what many DJs I know consider the gold standard in DJ hardware. Which is why, despite the price, reaction to this new gear has been strong, and no doubt you’ll be seeing them show up in more and more venues—and in the performance riders (if not road cases) of leading touring DJs—in the months ahead.

the ability to both learn and then apply and evaluate your grasp really makes a difference. It also proves once again that practice is key with most aspects of musical creativity— but Essentials makes it easier to get contextually meaningful practice.

Pro Audio Essentials is free; check it out at pae.izotope.com. Additional educational content can be found on iZotope’s main web site, izotope. com, in the Learning section.

T h e o r y L e s s o n s & Te nu t o (iOS Apps) and MusicTheory. net (Web Site): So-called perfect pitch—the ability to identify or recreate a musical note without a reference tone—is said to be fairly rare, and is also said not to be connected to musical ability or lack thereof.

More accurately called absolute pitch, it’s one of two similar but separate abilities, the other being relative pitch (the ability to identify an interval between two musical notes). Most sources agree that you’re only born with the former, but the latter can be developed through training.

That’s a good thing, because I’ve found my relative pitch ability to be pretty sorely lacking, which can in turn make certain musical production tasks (writing and arranging additional musical parts in a composition, for one) to be a little harder than they ought to be. Enter this trio of resources.

MusicTheory.net is a web site that provides a wide range of music-theory learning resources, all of which are available free of charge. The content is divided into three key sections: lessons, exercises, and tools.

The lessons section covers a lot of music theory territory, including scales, chords, chord progressions, and more. It’s a great collection of information to build a solid understanding of how music works. The exercises help you apply that knowledge, while adding things to the mix such as the aforementioned ear training for chords, intervals, and such.

The tools section includes interactive music calculators of various types.

The site’s content is free, and sup-

ported through the sale of the apps, which are currently only available for iOS. The Theory Lessons app ($2.99) includes the lesson material from the site, while Tenuto ($3.99) includes the exercises and calculators.

The web site provides a nice collection of material to refresh some of my existing music theory knowledge and fill-in some blanks from back in the day. But what I found most valuable were the note exercises I mentioned earlier, and the Tenuto app gives the flexibility to work on this sort of ear training virtually anytime, anywhere. I’ve come to enjoy using it as a sort of “time passer with an upside” during dull airplane flights, waits in long lines, and so on.

Is it improving my ear and benefiting my studio time? I’d like to think so; time will certainly tell. Free web content and info about the apps at musictheory.net.

If you have any questions for Wesley Bryant-King or Making Tracks, please send them to djtimes@testa.com.

42

Drum-n-Bass sub-genres can be devoutly esoteric.

My style? I play Liquid Funk.

See what I mean?

Netsky, Next Month in DJ Times

Photos By Stuart Pettican

DJ TIMES

JULY 2016

Netsky: Drum-n-Basics

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