Hey guys,
I'm an industrial designer by profession, and also an avid DJ and musician. After observing the state of the current DJ controller market, I have (and I'm sure many of you have) seen a couple of issues that I'd like to address in a personal design project.
Currently I'm in the early stages of research, and would love your guys input on it. Given the community here and DJTTs own products that start to explore DJ controllers as expressive musical devices, I think your opinions would be very useful.
So anyway I have a few questions for you all here, and would love it if you guys took a little time to answer them. If you have any opinions to express about current controller products, please feel free!
1. What controller(s) do you own?
2. Do you consider your controllers musical instruments? Why/why not?
3. Do you consider turntables as musical instruments? Why/why not?
4. Did you start on a traditional DJ setup (2TTs and a mixer)?
5. Do you own or play any other musical instruments?
6. If yes, do you feel there is a difference between those instruments and your controllers? What is it that differentiates them?
7. How often do you upgrade your gear?
8. How much time do you spend looking at new gear every week?
9. Would you replace your current controller(s) when new products come out?
10. What percentage of your controllers potential do you think you use on a regular basis?
My current thoughts:
- DJ controllers are becoming increasingly cheap, throwaway products
- advancing technology makes controllers outdated quickly.
- Many new controllers are victims of "feature creep" without adding real value
- Many brands basically put out the same products that just look different or are tied to different software
- Many DJs seem to be ready to jump on the next best controller, rather than have one that they cherish
- Controllers seem more like tools than expressive musical instruments that their users form a real bond with (think of rock musicians and their signature guitars).
- DJs seem to settle on their controller as a temporary solution, until something better comes along
- it seems that we want A+B+C+D features in a controller but often we are forced to pick between A+B+C but not D OR A+C+D but not B.
Thanks so much in advance! Your responses will drive the direction of this project, so please put some thought into it!
Bookmarks