I tend to use Rekordbox out a lot when I play, though once the stability issues with Traktor are sorted out, I wouldn’t mind bringing my X1 Mk2 and Audio 2 DJ with my laptop, plugging it into the club/pub mixer and doing some interesting things with it. Also once I get a coffin case sorted out for my Z2 mixer and two D2s along with my other 2 F1s, I intend to use them more at different parties for pushing the envelope in terms of what can be achieved, particularly with Stems which Pioneer seem to be outright holding back on to spite NI.
It’s true though that setting up in a club is mostly a pain with sound cards and controllers, laptops getting spread everywhere and cables unplugged and all that grief…
TBH Pioneer have done well with the CDJ200 nexus model and fair play to them. No one wants to bring heavy records anymore or burn CDs and at the end of the day people don’t really want to bring a computer. The USB CDJ as industry standard in most booths is the perfect solution tbh.
Most people on the dance floor don’t want to hear 4 deck mash ups (which almost never sound better than a well produced song), they want to hear wicked tunes mixed will which 2 CDJs and a good mixer provide.
I think you should be able to rock up to a club, no laptop and use the gear that is there to DJ and I’ve been on traktor for years and still use it for small gigs where i have to plug into a PA etc.
It’s now viable to leave the laptop behind so probably thats where it should be.
EZ knows what is up https://www.facebook.com/furtheranceofficial/videos/1162620597122213/
More insight specifically on the club/FB post.
http://www.magneticmag.com/2016/06/nightclub-new-rule-no-more-laptops-in-the-dj-booth/
nothing gets people more excited than getting the pitch forks out.
No disrespect to Kenny Summit.
I have been listening to, and buying, house music and going to parties on the west coast for the better part of 20 years. I have no idea who Kenny Summit is.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again …its not the tools, it’s the carpenter.
His intentions might have been different but the message he posted is just bullshit.
Copying my comment from disqus:
You can be as much of a legend as you want. But if you pretend that DJing with the latest Pioneer XDJ / CDJs is anymore hard (and needs more “talent”) than DJing with Serato / Traktor / etc. you’re just a narrow-minded douche.
I understand it if they suggest DJ not to play with laptops due to organizational reasons (short sets, no space) but this is just pretentious bullshit!
I see it the other way round. If you constantly having DJs with controllers show up in your club that play shit music, mess up your equipment, are generally a pain in the ass to handle. Then it’s probably you, your booker, your artist care or your sound guy that sucks.
I liked the comparison @r08zy brought up:
“… if that club’s head liner sends over his rider which includes clearing space for his S8 or SZ do you think they will cancel the booking with him? If a young kid turning up there to play his first ever gig outside his bedroom arrives with a controller they probably will tell him he can’t play.”
If Carl Cox shows up with his big S8, they would lick his boots, if some broke kid arrives with his Numark / NI / Pioneer controller they would bully him to end.
You might want to read through this whole thread. Seems like you aren’t fully up to speed on the available info.
well, i mean those are two very different things, aren’t they
As someone whos been using Traktor since 2002 and currently using a Xone DX and a Xone 1D, i will give up my “tempo synch” button, when all of you elitist artists give up on using sample packs of instruments you cant play using a REAL instrument.
There you go, so if you cant play a jazz bass then dont ever use a bass in your productions, if you cant play piano, stop using those melodic arpeggios, if you cant play on real drums and recreate those beaufitull shuffly hihats that you constantly use on your Ableton productions, then stop uhsing them until you learn how to play them the proper REAL way.
You know, being a musician requires craft, i am myself a musician, since age 8 i learnt how to play bass, guitar, and the basics on keyboards and drums, and i, as a TRUE musician, feel insulted whenever i see some “musicians” just pressing a button and dropping some nice and smooth baseline on their tracks.
Its disrespectfull to the art form.
Learn how to play those instruments, otherwise you are just a child playing Guitar Hero on his Playstation.
You dont wanna learn how to make music the REAL way? then STFU about my synch, i use it because its tedious to just match the tempo on 2 songs, sometimes i even use 3 at the same time.
post a file of your cuts…or gtfo. if you have used traktor since 2002 and thats your DJ credentials, youre as fake as the people you are complaining about. I cant stand when people pull the MUSICIAN card. all you do is push strings. all you do is push keys. all you do is tap skins. all i do is push buttons. and from a distance, no one can tell us apart…fool
Oh my giddy aunt.
TLDR: cant beatmatch, is insecure about it.
Youre being just as silly as he is. There is a massive skill difference between live musicianship and DJing and its just silly to claim otherwise.
Drums take years to learn to play with feel, skill and nuance. You arent just tapping a skin, and you are showing a huge lack of understanding about instruments.
what do you mean one of “my cuts” ? i dont produce electronic music because it just feels weird to not have something vibrating in my hands, ive tried and i just cant feel comfortable using a DAW, it feels like a mental block and i can concentrate on the flow of being creative. thats MY experience.. if i take an actual real bass guitar its fucking ON.
What i meant by "ive been using Traktor since 2002"was, ive been using it for so long that i actually, factually know from experience that its not accurate and you cant rely on it on everything %100 of the time. sometimes it fucks up, sometimes iut analizes shit wrong and if you dont have an idea on how to correct things, youre gonna fuck up anyways, no matter how new your Macbook is.
Even using a laptop, Traktor and synch, that shit still fucks up sometimes, it happens to me EVERY time i play, but i know the software so i know how to correct those flaws.
“all you do is push strings” LOL… with this simple comment i cant guarantee you have never ever in your entire life played a real instrument. thats like saying “everyone can sing you just open your mouth and blow some air”
Playing an instrument requires actual pratice and “feeling”, have you ever seen a guy playing an instrument, who just cant play for shit even when he has taken lessons for months? yep… its not that easy, you know whats easy? droping a VST or sample on your Ableton channel and then pressing a button on your MIDI controller, which is EXACTLY the same thing as some using a button to match the tempos on 2+ decks.
its actually a great analogy because its THE EXACT SAME THING, and ive always play the musician card against elitists trying to step on people using technology to overcome some limitations, or to take shortcuts and be creative.
So there you have it, you dont like people using the haunted synch button because its a shortcut and not the real artform? ok then stop using samples of instruments you dont know how to play in real life, as simple as that, perfect punchline to end that silly ridiculous argument and nobody has a comeback because theres none, they know they are hypocrites, you cant have it both ways, you are either a purist on everything from producing to Djing, or youre not, but you cant demand “stay true” for one thing and then use a shorcut and not learning to use “the real thing” on your productions.
EDIT: by the way, that line about “I AS A TRUE MUSICIAN” was just me playing the same sarcastic tone as the author of that comment about people using synch not being real Dj,s, i forgot you can not see my rolling eyes as i was typing it.
actually i know how to beat match, its just that its tedious to me and has absolute zero impact on the creative side. Just because i dont want to twist a know to match the tempo on the other deck doesnt mean i dont understand song structure or harmonies.
Do you remember how oldschool Djs used to write the tempos on the actual vinyl labels? that was because that saves time and they could use that time to do something else instead. Someone could actually bite back and say “well you are using turntables with pitch bend.. thsoe are toys you should leanr how to play on real turntables with no pitch bend”.
If you think you know all there is to know about djing…from using traktor. You don’t. There are elements of djing that would take you a lifetime to master, like any other instrument. I was obviously being sarcastic with those comments but you are clearly ready to flame up, so go ahead.
i know, thats why i said i know TRAKTOR enough to know that using synch doesnt mean a thing in the overall “performance”. I know how to use it well enough to correct mistakes quickly so not many people will notice.
A laptop doesnt help you at all if you dont know what youre doing, i might be able to do it also on CDJ,s but being completely honest, i hate the idea of burning CDs or carrying a USB drive, i havent use a music CD in 6-7 years, and ive lost enough flash drives that i know i shouldnt be using them at all.
look homie, i use the sync button too, thats not my point. the point is anything can be done wack , or done well. djing, guitar, playing the marimba…and the people that are doing it well, with style and to an interesting degree, have practiced the shit out of what they do. it always irks me that “musicians” lord the fact that they took the time to learn SOMETHING. well so did a Dj that is worth a shit. maybe every DJ doesnt know the Lydian minor scales ( although many do know some theory) but they still have to learn and practice to become good.
That line about “i as a real musician” was meant to be sarcasm, and read like i was an elitist just like those idiots looking down on people using laptops and synch because “its not the real thing”.
I only use that argument whenever somebody drops the “real Dj” card, and so far nobody has had a comeback because they realize they have double standards since they dont play real instruments and i can easily tag them as Guitar Hero babies.
Of course i use it because im shielded since i studied music and i can play at least a couple of instuments.
Ok, let’s settle this like men. DJ Battle!!!