Played live with Traktor 3.4 and VCI-100 Firmware 1.3 for the first time last night

[EanGolden]

Can you re-post. We had a forum problem that crashed the forum and may have deleted your thread. Moving to a new server very soon!

[B33SON]

...Damn and this was like my most detailed post yet.

So, last night I played for the first time with the new Firmware 1.3 and the TT 1.3 TKS and Traktor 3.4. (Actually, I had played once before with Firmware 1.3, but I stuck to the Default Mode just to be safe.) It was certainly a lot of changes to deal with. I also made some customizations which I explain here the night before:
http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1033

Unfortunately, with my booking schedule and the amount of time it took to make all these changes I only had a few hours of testing before actually having to play live on Wednesday night. (I finished the change Mode Indicator changes in my other post at midnight on Tuesday.)

I had two major gaffes during my performance on Wed. The first happened as I mixed into my 3rd track when the sound suddenly went out. I have a USB M-AUDIO FASTTRAK PRO sound card and this is not the first time this has happened to me. I think there's some sort of grounding problem with this card, but there's also a chance that Traktor 3.4 is more sensitive with it's connection to my sound card. Once before I flipped a light switch in my room and the sound went out in the same manor. I ended up having to restart Traktor in the middle of my set to get it working again. (Always have a backup CD ready to go says B33SON.)

After being rattled by the sound incident, I restarted and continued... but right into my next major gaffe. In my few hours of testing, I had practiced my next transition with my new VCI-100SE layout quite a few times, but I was still a bit shaken so I was a bit off my game.

What I wanted to do was bring up the incoming track (track2) under the live track (track1) in an 8 beat loop. The part of track2 that worked well in the loop is in the middle of the track so I would cue to that point, loop until the right moment, and then jump back to an earlier cue point at the right moment for a big intro.

On the unit, I switched into JUGGLE/CUE MODE, selected the cue on track2, switched back to DEFAULT MODE to adjust the loop size, then to FADER FX MODE to throw some beat mashing on track1, then back to default. Everything was sounding really, really fantastic. I glanced up and saw another 15 people start dancing. Now here's where I messed up. At this point, I should have switched into CUE/JUGGLE MODE. Silly me, I was still in DEFAULT MODE and tried to Jump to cue point #4. Well, that stopped the track. DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! I literally heard like 50 people going "awwww". So embarrassing. LOL.

I probably won't use the JUGGLE/CUE MODE like that anymore without way more practice or perhaps I'll dust off my midi keyboard and put that back in use for cueing. Anyhow, I just thought I'd share my humiliation with all of you so you can have a chuckle and perhaps avoid the same mistake.

[JesC]

Damn B33SON that sux! I've only had Traktor 3 crash on me once @ it was during a sound check. I've used my set up atleast x10 @ club/bars. Im using Traktor 3.4 + VCI 1.3 + ECHO DJ and (knock on wood) haven't had any issues (yet) I do have a modified .tks that I use. Its a hybrid of Ean's Vs JesC's Best of Features. I need to get around and post my tks, but Im always at work or busy ripping vinyl. Im not too big on the fader fx or juggle mode. I do use alot of cue points but I ended up using LOOP/KEY/JOG SEEK buttons.

[midifidler]

Been there screwed that up!
That sucks but at least you learnt your lesson! That was my biggest stumble when I started using eans setup. You just have to force your brain to constantly keep in mind what mode you are in, never assume!

[Fatlimey]

If I ever design a MIDI controller, every damn light on the thing will turn different colors when you switch mode.

And, you can customize these settings - a blue colors scheme for normal activity, orange and green for juggle, purple and white for another mode.

And you can share and download these color schemes.

There, I claim invention for downloadable custom controller color schemes! And before you point it out, mister picky, Monolake's controller only had a color scheme rotating knob, and the single color light on the Aurora wasn't downloadable. So there.

[JesC]

It would be a midi mightmare to program, but still very dope idea!

If I ever design a MIDI controller, every damn light on the thing will turn different colors when you switch mode.

And, you can customize these settings - a blue colors scheme for normal activity, orange and green for juggle, purple and white for another mode.

And you can share and download these color schemes.

There, I claim invention for downloadable custom controller color schemes! And before you point it out, mister picky, Monolake's controller only had a color scheme rotating knob, and the single color light on the Aurora wasn't downloadable. So there.

[4nT1]

actually i played 3.4.1 out the other night and i as starting to hear popping and cracking randomly.. made it sound like low bitrate and the bass sounded excessively loud even though it was at normal volume - never exceeding the middle part...

any suggestions.. im thinking i might go back to 3.4.0
since it only happens in a club setup its difficult to test

[B33SON]

actually i played 3.4.1 out the other night and i as starting to hear popping and cracking randomly.. made it sound like low bitrate and the bass sounded excessively loud even though it was at normal volume - never exceeding the middle part...

any suggestions.. im thinking i might go back to 3.4.0
since it only happens in a club setup its difficult to test

Which sound card are you using? Is it USB?

I've had that happen to me. I discovered that it was caused by having an ungrounded power source. It causes my USB Sound Card to hum, click and pop. What stops it for me is to unplug my laptop.... so I always keep it charged up before I start my set. I used to only unplug it when it was making noise, but until I get a new sound card I'm going to always play unplugged (and I don't mean acoustic

I've also heard that you can get an APC from Fry's (if you're in the US). That should clean it up for you.

[B33SON]

It would be a midi mightmare to program, but still very dope idea!

Actually, I was thinking that if Traktor had skins, they could provide a Midi/Hotkey to change the skin. Then you could trigger different skins for each mode.

[miyuru]

I'm experimenting with midi pages right now and yeah it's the worst when you get lost in them. I hope with practice I'll just *know* which page my controls are on without having to think much about it.