The simplest way to deejay with the APC40?

[mistaRC]

Hi all, I know this forum is on the cutting edge of digital deejaying and controllerism and that most here are trying to push the boundaries of the craft, however, I'm looking for somewhat of the opposite... I want to know the simplest way to deejay with the APC40. I have Ableton Live, of course, as well as Traktor 2.5 and the Collision mapping. To be honest, it's all a bit overkill for me. I basically want to mix music the way it use to be done with two turntables and a mixer, and then work my way up from there. Baby steps. Maybe it's a silly question, because really, is there a simple way to deejay with a MIDI controller with ten faders, seventeen knobs, and eighty-plus buttons? I don't know. What do you think?

[William Gibson]

Dont get caught up in all the knobs and buttons. If you want simple, Just use Live with 2 tracks or "decks". IMO, midi controllers can be as intricate/involved or as simple as you want them to be. I have only been at it for about 9 months now and with a 72 hour work week I dont get much practice but I made one simple plan early on. Dont get TO caught up in all the shit that is possible before I have the basics. I spend 99% of my time just working on mixing tracks in the most basic ways possible and the other 1% working on more technical stuff. Like one thing I have been doing a lot of lately is sampling some drum off track A and putting it on the midifighter. Then after I do my mix out to B I keep playing the drums for a few bars on the midi fighter. Just a way to keep an element of track A in a little longer.

The sky is the limit with what you can do with digital DJing. I would just suggest not getting caught up in all that there is to offer until you get some basics down.

.02 from a newb. Hope it helps some.

[riddmkidd]

+1 for what william gibson said. there are a few traktor mappings for the apc40 that will do what you want with them. pick one of the two deck mappings and take the time to learn the layout. there's no EASY way other than putting the time in and getting which button does what down to muscle memory. phawsea's mapping and the trakor bible mapping are nice places to start. definitely rely on sync but that isn't a big issue if you don't let it become one.

i have been using a vci-100 arcade version that died out at burningman this year so i've been lucky to have my apc40 in storage (got it for ableton, tried traktor, haven't looked back in 2 years). i've had to learn a whole new layout, which takes some time but i'm getting better and it's getting more intuitive. the main thing is pick a mapping, import it into traktor, and take your time to get familiar with it.

[Patch]

I think you should map 2 faders on the APC to 2 channels in Live to control the volume of those 2 channels, and map the cross fader on the APC to the cross fader in Live. Map each channel to each side of teh cross fader in live (Channel 1 = "A", channel 2 = "B").

Simple, 2 channel dj set-up. treat each channel in Live as a turntable.

Ableton is much easier to get started with than Traktor.

[William Gibson]

Ableton is much easier to get started with than Traktor.

Really? I was always under the assumption it was 100% the complete opposite? I still have never even tried tractor but I thought it was supposed to be the more simple, direct form of mixing.

[Stewe]

Really? I was always under the assumption it was 100% the complete opposite? I still have never even tried tractor but I thought it was supposed to be the more simple, direct form of mixing.

You are generally in right! But we like do mappings to rock

[William Gibson]

You are generally in right! But we like do mappings to rock

To be honest, downloading the traitor trial and giving some of your maps a try have been on my to do list for about 8 months now. Your maps look sick.

[Patch]

Ableton is really easy to get started with for DJ'ing.

Once you've warped a few tracks, it's just a case of pulling 'em into session view and hitting play.

Learn to use Ableton Live with a mouse first, then make your own simple mapping like I described earlier.

I cannot stress enough how VALUABLE mousing around in ANY software is. It is by FAR the fastest and most efficient way of learning any software.

[Stewe]

To be honest, downloading the traitor trial and giving some of your maps a try have been on my to do list for about 8 months now. Your maps look sick.

It's really good to know that man! Cheers!

[deevey]

I honestly have yet to come up with a really intuitive method of using the APC with Traktor (even though I did make a mapping) .. too much concentration required and less fun to be had IMHO. When I wanna play I just wanna play and not need to watch what I'm hitting constantly.

Attached is a reasonably sensible Ableton DJ Template with the nasty non-dj stuff disabled that can kill a gig with a wrong push e.g. Scene Launch/play/stop/record/stop all clips.

Want less - just delete/hide a few channels

Rather than browse folders I load my entire gig playlist (200+ tracks) into the grid and arrange it based on colors .. I never remember track names anyhow :P

4 channels = First 4 faders, just load up your Tracks into the clip slots.
Top Encoders

Pan lit = Gain / Bass (most used when mixing)
Send A lit = Top / Mid
Send B lit = HP/LP Filter

Bottom Encoders = Effects Per Selected Channel (only 8)

Scene Launch = Disabled
Play = Selected Track Loop
Stop = Loop in
Rec = Loop out
Clip Stop = FX Rack on/off
Track Selection = Select Currently selected track on deck rather than the channel.
Activator = Mute
Solo/Cue = Cue
Record/Arm = Stop Track
Cue level = Master/Cue Mix

There is Loop Decks as well on Channels 5-8 which correspond to channels 1-4 just press grid buttons to record a loop of a currently playing track press again to activate the new loop.

EQ's are global so EQ for Channel 1 = Channel 5 affected as well, which makes sense for loops.

Sorry I didn't add headphone volume so has to be controlled manually, I don't really adjust the volume on my cans mid-set anyhow.

The Template should with Live 8.2+ and Live Lite as well (surprisingly!), however you can't save your set in live lite.