I was thinking of buying an APC40 for basic music production & djing. By basic music production I mean remixing some existing tracks though clip launching/effects/etc etc rather than producing tracks from scratch. DJing is a hobby for me, and unfortunately I don’t have more time available to dedicate to it.
Therefore I want to limit it to remixing of tracks and the APC40 looks great for it.
My question though is will I be able to use that table for DJing as well? I currently use traktor S2 and having spent about 6 months on it, I really start to get a feel for it. But I also feel I am limited with current tracks and their set up. Spicing them up would be great with an APC40. But will I be able to mix from one track to another and recording that set as smoothly as using traktor? Or do both hardware equipments have to be used together…?
My only concern is as to whether I will be able to do both on an APC40 table ie performance and mixing.
Hope I made myself clear. I am kind of novice to the world of production & djing.
I can’t figure out if you DJ with Traktor or Live?
APC40 is great for DJ’ing with Live, as long as you have a Liveset populated with all of teh tracks/clips you are going to use.
But, as long as you understand mapping in Traktor, there’s no reason that you can’t DJ in Traktor with an APC40. In fact, off the top of my head, I can think of many great ways to use an APC40 with Traktor.
I bought an APC 40 for producing with Ableton, right out of the box it rocks, its simple to use and has enough knobs, faders and pads to map any way you would want or wish to. I “dj’d” with ableton for a couple of years but after a while it started to take the fun out of it for me, I realised that first and foremost ableton is a DAW and production environment, that’s not to say you can do dj sets with it, many people can do truly amazing things with it but I felt myself getting a little stagnant, the warping of tracks / midi mapping macros and general preparation side of things can take up a lot of time. Eventually I made the switch to traktor to get back to what I felt was a more traditional sense of DJing. I still use the APC 40 with traktor from time to time, using both internal and external mixing modes, the mapping was a little tedious at first but once you get your head around states and mapping of the LED’s (Theres a good DJTT article floating around online that explains this very well) you can do amazing things with it, for me the APC 40 provides more than enough features to make it a true workhorse in any set up. I couldn’t recommend it enough
Thx for taking the time to answer!
I DJ with Traktor. I ve never used Live yet, and that s why I am little worried about using it, as I imagine the learning curve is going to be pretty steep and I wish I had more time to devote to it, but I simply don’t…
But if you re saying there are ways to map the APC40 with traktor, then I ll definitely want to read about it. As I said before I just want to spice up my mixes with clip launching, some extra recorded sounds I could add on the fly to the mix. Maybe I could also simply do that with a traktor controller over remix decks??? I ve never used this feature yet…
I guess, I am at the stage you were a couple of years ago, without having purchased the APC40 yet. You mentioned the task of djing with ableton is daunting and therefore you returned to traktor. Had you not purchased the APC40, would you have used another type of traktor table/gear to spice up your mixes?? I am merely using an S2 traktor and that s probably why I start to get bored with it. I want to get that extra gear, but maybe the APC40 is therefore not the best equipment for my needs…
I have tried DJing with the APC before, and it works well if you are playing house or other genres with a consistent BPM. However, if you need to play open format and other records, it becomes very difficult and a pain IMO. Much easier to download a Traktor Pro license online and then MIDI map the controller to play records off the software.
When I first started out djing and getting into music production, I purchased an APC 40 to tackle both aspects.
After a little while, I realized that djing with an APC 40 was not nearly as inspiring as djing on a controller with jog wheels and a mixer section (although it is definitely possible to midi map and dj with an APC 40 whether it be in Ableton or Traktor).
My suggestion is to learn the basics of Ableton Live and creating your remixes and mashups within the software’s editor and exporting it out as an audio file. You can then import the file into Traktor and dj it in your set using your Traktor controller. Doing it this way, you will have full production capabilities (automation, multi-track mixing, layers of effects, etc.) and also continue to dj using the traditional method and layout.
Are you planning on doing these remixes live or are you recording it to later play in your set?
Played ‘dj’ sets on an apc but it takes a lot of prep and not entirely suited to going off piste, teamed with remix decks is great but i’d say leave the apc to production sets where you have a planned playlist and build a solid dj set (with variation avenues) in traktor (with some production tracklists ready if required), you’ll have more fun using each for it’s particular strength. Sets you play will generally be production bookings (apc ableton), dj artist sets (go traktor / your music delivery method of choice with artist playlist in there) or just a dj set (traktor / your music delivery method of choice, go wild!)
p.s, i love my apc, it is one of the best kit buys I have ever made
Yes I agree. I love my APC40, even-though I could use Ableton for mixing Traktor felt more natural. I am not sure what mapping you use but I made a mapping that I think works great (4 channels, EQ, and LEDS) here is the video. Let me know what you think
