New Here, but not "controllerism"

Hi! all,

My name is Monika, and I came across the site yesterday.

I was surprised to find a name for what I've been doing behind the decks for the last year. But I'm very happy to know I'm not alone and to find a large community of the geeks and minds behind it all!

I've actually been working some magic with serato and ableton working side by side. (using ableton for short cuts, samples, and even synths) Unfortunately, I think I'm finally hitting the barrier of what I can do with that combination. I've been thinking about picking up traktor, but I'm still not entirely sold. The lack of vinyl control (without the massively expensive scratch package), the new interface, it's insistence on re-BPMing already perfectly BPM'd tracks, as well as the fact that the club I've got a weekly residency at already has a serato installation; all are reasons why I've been hesitant. We'll see where I end up. I'll probably end up diving into traktor at some point unless NAMM gives me something to scream over with the serato/ableton partnership.

I've been DJing for about 13 years. I've played many different genres, but I tend to focus on Goth/Industrial and Electro(clash?). I'm probably the only Goth/Industrial DJ that goes this far behind the booth. haha. Perhaps it's my roots as a musician and DJ in the rave scene that tells me there must be more than fade in/fade out. :p Buut hey, maybe if more of us start taking DJing to this level our electronic music can be more than just a footnote.

I remember fighting CDs, fighting my move to serato in '05, but moving to using a midi controller was totally natural. I remember discovering it by accident. I was DJing a little at home and still had my keyboard and ableton setup routing through my serato box. I slipped, hit the keyboard and heard a synth. After that I flew into the world of using controllers to enhance what I do behind the booth. It just felt like a totally natural step. The scary part is, it's never enough. I already use two seperate controllers, and feel like I need more...which means it's probably custom controller time, which definitely makes me nervous. hehe


well...uhm...I don't know where I was going with this...erm..

Oh, yeah! Hi! I'm Monika. Pleased to meet all of you! I can't wait to learn oodles from everyone. It's nice to feel like a newbie again. :D

Welcome to the DJ TT site, do you have any video if your serato/ableton setup? Would love to see how it works!

Basically what I'm doing is I'm routing Ableton through the AISO on the Serato card. I've got a macro setup so I can change which channel it's running through on the fly. I use one controller for Serato(Da Scratch), and another for Ableton(Oxygen8).

I have different project files setup for different styles of music, etc. So I can jump and play a synth, or jump and play samples from the next track, or whatever. and at the same time be mixing. It's pretty fun, but you can FEEL the limitations. I'm basically pushing that software combo to it's edge and on it's knees. lol

Hi Monika, I'm Jared. I'm also a goth/industrial DJ who does this whole digital thing. Rare these days to find people who do what we do behind a screen instead of bitching about it. :-)

Hope you find yourself comfortable around here. We're keeping it all going forward.

Thank god I'm not the only one!! I thought our scene was dying into "play the whole song, or not at all" mantra with all the microwave DJs out there. haha

oh lord I could talk about that for hours. Feel free to hit me up on AIM and we can mutually bitch about how all the other DJs drive us insane.

Where do you spin?

I'm located in Portland, OR. So I pretty much perform in the Northwest, although you might've seen me on tour in '05 if you're in the states.

I'm over in NYC, was barely a DJ in 05, and living in a little place called Albany, NY, knew almost nothing. heh

I've been debating on moving to Portland, actually, in a year or two. Worth it?

The scene is ultra competitive out here and all the clubs top40 or not pay pretty poorly. I love the city, but definitely not the place to start or have a DJ career. That's the only thing I regret about my move out here.

Meh, NYC pays crap for a goth/industrial DJ. I'm lucky if I walk out with $50. Either I'm gonna start spinning PsyTrance and hard house, or just resign myself to never being able to support this hobby directly.

good to know, though. Is there a scene out there, in general?