Midi Mid Life Crisis!

[kooper1980]

I have to say that i agree with Jimbob5000. CD's certainly aren't a "dead format" (in my opinion), they are just a different format.

I would certainly recommend learning to mix on CDJ's and i'd even go as far as to say that you should also learn how to mix vinyl as well. Really gets you to know your stuff from grass roots level when you can 'physically' throw in a beat.

I've recently got into using a midi set up and i started with Ableton, an APC40 and an LPD8 (i also own a Novation Launchpad) and the problem i found was that the lack of a jog wheel really took something out of my performances so i have just ordered a Reloop Digital Jockey to use with Traktor as i feel this will give me both a sense of being more involved in the mix by having a jog wheel to lay my hands on, and also the ability to remain in the digital mixing scene.

What ever happens dont give up on a midi set up as i feel the positives far out weigh the negatives (the constant burning of CD's was a real pain and carrying 2 record bags of approx 100 vinyls to and from a gig is no small task). Just find a set up that suits you and your music style!!

Not sure if this is of any use to you but thought i'd have my say.

Jon

[Midi Kids]

WARNING WALL OF TEXT

Hey rt24 I have set up in clubs and bars for club nights and gigs using my midi setup countless times and i have to admit when i first started doing this i felt how you did nervous and unsure of what i was doing and in a way yes lol i did feel like i was on a tricycle while they were on all there cool gear and everyone was watching me like WHAT THE FUCK haha but honestly if you were to look at your set up and break it down to what you actually need to plug in to the mixer its one cable from your sound card and thats it and the thing is people actually dig the controllers even if they give you crap lol there just intimidated and jealous of your awesome setup screw them and just have fun

The way i setup is before i leave from home to the gig i make sure i turn my macbook off (i do this every time just to be on the safe side when i play and by doing this iv never had 1 issue come up in the past year and a half playing at clubs with my setup) and just have my macbook and VCI 100 arcade and Audio8 along with any cables i need in my bag.

As soon as i get into the club ill chuck my bag under the DJ booth until say 10-15 mins before i play then i just make my way to the booth and just let the dj on know im just getting my gear setup and i havent had one person turn me down saying no just be cool about it and you will be sweet.

I will get my macbook out place it to the side along with my controller and sound card and ill just hook up all my gear up together before i even try hook my soundcard up to the Mixer (usually there is always some space but sometimes when there is a cramped booth its hard haha but practice doing this with minimal space and you wont have a problem) This takes less then 2-3 minutes but depending how slow or quick you do it i then turn on my macbook and test and make sure every thing is working fine eg headphone's through the sound card etc once i know everythings ready ill wait till the dj before me is on his last song.

I will usually talk to him and coordinate it all so that the last song plays on the CDJ furtherest away from me. Once thats done all i do is unplug the CDJ rca's closest to me and plug it into my soundcard and im good to go (or plug in my own cables into the mixer if thats easier but always remember to plug things back exactly the way they were if you unplug something) I will usually have a track that will mix in well with what ever they are playing so il keep the volume low and slowly try match it to there tracks volume takes through my headphones and the main mixer takes me less then 30 secs once you get it down good

After that your good as gold if you were to break all of the above down into simple steps haha i guess it would be like this.

1. Turn all gear off and pack away in gear bag.
2. Place gear bag in dj booth safely untill 10-15 mins before hand.
3. Unpack gear and plug my gear together and test to see if all works good.
4. Coordinate change over and plug sound card to mixer.
5. Correct sounds and your good to go.

I can do all the above in less then 5 mins easy in a club but i always give my self extra time just incase and never listen to haters if they have nothing good to say no need to take notice of them and just be confident in what you do cause how many other people do this where you play? Haha hope that helped

[narrah]

Ok, to add a little perspective from someone who had the same kinda midi life crisis not long back.

I began DJing with Traktor using a VCI, after some time I decided it was time to have a go at playing out. My wife asked a friend and who managed a club and later that night I turned up with digital gear. The booth was super super small and it was difficult to set up... I was lucky enough to not have to beatmatch to the outgoing CDJ DJ for as luck would have it, it was a gay club and every hour or so they had a drag show.... so there I am setting up in this booth, trying to run my cables so as to avoid the tranni tripping on them, to make a short story shorter.... I began playing and just as i was mixing into the second song i lost the connection with Traktor due to shitty usb cable connection.... I quickly signaled the other DJ and he came back and took back over...

Lessons learned... proper preparation... Quality USB cables ( I know have 6 from DJTT)

So, although I had failed in one respect, I had also made a step forward into realizing my dream of playing out, although embarrassed, I was also proud that I had taken that step.

Ok, So now I had a taste.. and I wanted more... There are plenty of places for me to play in Bali and when I went to clubs to ask, DJ's would stand aside a gesture to the CDJS inviting me to play.. at this point I would mention I had digital gear and this was often met with a confused look. Around this time I had been introduced by a friend to one of Indonesia's most renowned DJ's. He was nice enough to take the time and listen to the first mix I made.(http://soundcloud.com/jukai)
He got back back to me a few days later and told me he liked it, his advice was that I should learn to play what I had produced using CDJ's, this wasn't expressed in an arrogant way, he was aware of my aspirations to play regularly in Indonesia and he felt this could be faster achieved by learning CDJS.

So for a while I umed and arred about it, and one day when I decided that I was sick of listening to myself talk about it, I went out a got CDJ 900's and a DJM800. This as it turns out, was one of the better things I have ever done. It wasn't long before I could beatmatch comfortably, Although I had been using sync with Traktor, I found that had attained knowledge via mediums such as DJTT and Traktor that proved usefull. Eg. by setting beatgrids, this goes a long way in the understanding and implemantation of beatmatching.

So again the time came for me to play out, I friend invited me to play at his club, I burnt some CD's and turned up.... Played on his CDj800's and had an absolute fukin Blast.... For me I just love the feel of playing CDJ's I love pitch bending and beatmatching, theres just something there that feels good for me. Saying that I havnt turned my back on Digital DJing, not even for a second... If im using my digital setup (2 MF's and VCI) I almost feel compelled to make my sets more technical or more involved, sometimes this does my head in because of the creativity that is at hand, and whilst playing I think of guys like ean ad now the likes of Zac who one the MF contest, and to be honest it makes me feel like a bit of a gimp. Whoever said that Digital djing was easy, has never really given it enough time to realize its potential.

All in all, my point being that I enjoy both sides of the fence.... I love spinning on my CDjs, it keeps me busy and I just love the overall feel.. Its like im busy but relaxed with the flow at the same time... just mixing A-B and getting into it. Then I have my digital gear, take for instance that for the last three days ive been trying to make a new mixed tape using Traktor.... this is doing my head in, im going nowhere because I guess I have such A high expectation of how it should sound in comparison to say if I were to make a mix with my CDJ's. If im to present this mixed tape to my CDJ playing friends I want to make sure there is an aspect there that isnt attainable using CDJ's, call it education if you will.

So for now my set up at home is 2 cdj's for two channels (not connected to Traktor) and my MF'd in deckalized mode for the other 2 channells. Like I said, for me its 2 different feelings and approaches.... I might mix beatmatching a few track then feel like I want to do some three deck mixing and swapp to traktor...

If you arnt in the positon that you can really afford the CDJ's then is stick with your Digital set up (dont sell it). You could begin by finding a DJ school or somewhere that will let you play there CDJ's... honestly once you put in a little time you wont have to own a set... just play every so often on then...

Build your sets using traktor at home then practice transposing it to CDJ....