Let's be honest, how many of you would be completely screwed without a laptop?
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  1. #1
    RGAS Guru Xonetacular's Avatar
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    Default Let's be honest, how many of you would be completely screwed without a laptop?

    I was talking to a good friend of mine who learned on ableton and traktor and it came up that he had never mixed real vinyl (non timecode) records and never put his hands on a pair of CDJs. This kind of made me realize that there must be a lot of people out there who just bought controllers from the start and have no experience on physical decks who would be totally helpless without a laptop.

    I'll admit, mixing vinyl isn't easy especially when you don't do it often and are spoiled with Traktor but I feel like you should at least be competent on CDJs with a booklet of CDs. I would feel kind of helpless if I was 100% reliant on a laptop and couldn't finish a set without one. So, who would be screwed without a laptop and does it bother you at all?

  2. #2
    Tech Guru Sherlock Ohms's Avatar
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    I'd be fairly dire without a laptop, but can manually beatmatch - if that wallet of CDs you give me has the bpms marked on the tracks I'd be able to cope I reckon ...
    Traktor Scratch Pro 2/Serato SL1/Ecler NUO 3.0/VCI 100 SE/2 x Technics 1210 Mk2/Sennheiser HD25 II/Novation Dicers

  3. #3
    Tech Guru dripstep's Avatar
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    I learned on a bcd3000 and VDJ. I just picked up tables and a mixer last friday, and I've already got 8,4 and 2 beat loops down, and I can beatmatch before the track runs out (JUST before). Put me in anything but my livingroom, and it may not go so well though lol. I do miss the visual cues like BPM, and waveforms.
    I wouldn't be screwed, but there would most definitely be some fader mashing instead of smooth transitions lol
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  4. #4
    Tech Mentor Quiggers's Avatar
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    I'd be fecked without a laptop as the gigs i play require too broad a mix of music to fit in a cd wallet, when i was using cd's i carried 3 wallets, leaving 7 at home, and constantly had to say, sorry thats a great track but i've left it at home, i stil get caught out on laptop, punters expect you to own a copy of everything these day.

    Beat matching i can do, i started on vinyl, and to be honest, most cd decks have bpm counters so i doubt many people would be lost on them. Djing is more about the music you play rather than how you play it.

  5. #5
    RGAS Guru Xonetacular's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dripstep View Post
    I learned on a bcd3000 and VDJ. I just picked up tables and a mixer last friday, and I've already got 8,4 and 2 beat loops down, and I can beatmatch before the track runs out (JUST before). Put me in anything but my livingroom, and it may not go so well though lol. I do miss the visual cues like BPM, and waveforms.
    I wouldn't be screwed, but there would most definitely be some fader mashing instead of smooth transitions lol
    Haha when all else fail, drop cut or filter...

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  6. #6
    RGAS Guru Xonetacular's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Quiggers View Post
    and to be honest, most cd decks have bpm counters so i doubt many people would be lost on them
    You would be surprised how screwed some people would be without waveforms and a phase meter, let alone how many people just wouldn't know how to operate them.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sherlock Ohms View Post
    I'd be fairly dire without a laptop, but can manually beatmatch - if that wallet of CDs you give me has the bpms marked on the tracks I'd be able to cope I reckon ...
    I do this, I have 4 cds for electro and 4 for dubstep each with 5 songs on all with bpm and key marked and usually popular to the genre, then have 2 mix cd's with pre mixed stuff.

    Im not the best on cdj's but I survive when worst comes to worse
    *Samsung rv 511, 8gb ram, core i5 processor* *Samsung netbook 2gb ram* *Traktor pro 2* *Traktor s4* *midi fighter spectra* *audio technica ath-m50x* *m audio trigger finger pro* *ableton* *fl studio* and a load of other random bits and pieces.... plus I like bacon yo.

  8. #8
    Tech Guru Liambo's Avatar
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    I'm from a vinyl background and learned by reading the vinyl but got to a point where i knew my tracks in my sets that well that i didn't rely on reading the vinyl or any other aid..

    Still don't use a laptop in my set i'm just 100% CDJ and i still don't use nothing on the screen apart from the track ID.

    I'm all for DJ'n moving forward and creativity but i really do think people should learn basic CDJ/TT DJ'n with no laptops involved before anything but that's my opinion.

  9. #9
    Tech Mentor Quiggers's Avatar
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    doesnt everybody know how to count to 16, and cdj's are just controllers with a cd player and some buffered ram. TT's are a little fiddlier at first, 33/45 no cue point etc but given 5 mins i'd expect most people to suss it out if they've been using traktor, serato, virtual dj etc. they might miss the sync button, but it shouldnt be a show stopper.

  10. #10
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    just changed from fully digital to only vinyl, because i felt it was the better idea from a hobby point of view and it is a completely different world of experiencing the music.

    So far i don't regret spending the money for it at all, it is just so much more satisfying and fun. I can now understand the point of vinylists as well.
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