In this post I'm going to make some sweeping generalisations, so please try not to be offended
These days with all our multitude of controller based options, from the midifighter to the 4midiloop (chuckle), we have more ways to control our music than ever. The one thing that most of them have in common is physical controls, be they buttons, faders, knobs, jogwheels or whatever.
But a lot of DJs, particularly those who've been around for longer, still use things like the technics 1200, and this they often say is because they like the feel of it, the level of contact with the music. I'm from a new generation, and while I enjoy playing with vinyl, I don't miss it when I'm playing with controllers. It's more of a curiosity subject for me, something I'd like to become more proficient in to consider myself a more complete DJ.
My question is, what does the future of DJing hold? There are many new control methods becoming available which have no physical controls as such, like the iPad and of course the SCS system (did anyone see that 42" transparent touch screen traktor controller omgfmlabp!?!?!?!?!?! ), will physical buttons and faders fade into the past with VCR and 1/4" tape reels to be replaced by touch screens and whatever else?
Is it just because we've been brought up without things like the iPad that we often prefer something more solid? After all, midi itself has been around since 1982, when the nearest thing to a Macbook Pro was this baby:
(Which, by the way, cost $7,800 and came with an OS called 'SOS' which apparently was HORRIBLY unstable...)
Will future generations of DJs use something completely different and radical? Will we be the old guys complaining and saying yeh, but it's just not the same feeling you get with a button...
Go wild on this one, I want to see if we can be as accurate as this.... aluminium clothing and a phone/radio that you take with you everywhere!
[youtube]czr-98yo6RU[/youtube]
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