Why use midi keyboard?

[w00pw00p]

This might seem like a silly question, but i'm curious of what dj's use their midi keyboards for when djing? How can i make use of a midi keyboard in a live set?

http://www.undernyc.com/wp/wp-conten...rlin-20011.jpg

[Scalage]

You play melodies during your gig, obviously.

[Notanon]

Triggering samples using either the keys or a button pad grid on some keyboards, or playing a few notes and chords to add to a base backing track.

I think there is an option with Traktor for a live input for a deck option, so you would just need to set it up so that Traktor's MIDI clock is the master clock that the keyboard refers to for keeping in time and then either play in time with the track being played through Traktor or use the keyboard to trigger samples with the remix decks if you have a keyboard with 16 pads, as an example. I'm planning to have a chat with a mate about this as he floated the idea of having me with my DJ setup dropping a few extra samples for his band's performances, so he might have a few ideas about this.

[VanGogo]

Or you can use it as a controller for your DJ software and midi map what ever you want. Instant Fx, Remix deck control, etc.
Ean Golden used one as his main controller for awhile.

[DJAdeSands]

I used an Alesis Q49 for a while, running Traktor Pro 2, had 3 modifiers, and had it doing an awful lot of stuff, and it worked, thing is, ya had to decorate it with coloured stickers to know what keys covered what function, got kinda confusing too.

[Patch]

Check out DJ Enferno on youtube.

[Patch]

And of course, Moldover.