It’s official, the iPad is worth it.
If Richie Hawtin uses the iPad, it must be good enough for professional use.
Not exactly “DJing” with the iPad, but check this out!
Not exactly DJing? 5 Words is all we needed that will make it work for DJ’ing. Modular, Ableton Live, Coming soon. Him and TouchOSC | hexler.net are pretty intertwined right now, considering they developed his interactive iphone app. Considering that Hawtin has always kinda been on the bleeding edge of just about every new controller or tech, I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing kicked some major a$$.
Forgot to mention that in his setup he laid it out Lemur, iPad, Lemur, iPad with exactly as much space as it needed. I’m sure this wasn’t a coincidence which leads me to believe they are a rather key part of his setup.
Interesting, Hawtin and Deadmau5 are using growingly similair setups when playing out live.
Really fuels my technolust to see all those touch surfaces laid out like that 
Mmm, time to take out a second loan? lol
Nice.
Don’t really agree. It implies two things:
- richie hawtin is not a professional dj
- richie hawtin uses the ipad
I mean, for #2 he does USE the ipad but I don’t think (yet) in his live shows?
Ipad is funny, but overrated and overhyped
:eek: What You Talking About Willis!
I love my iPad, I love what it can do. I wish I had more time to program my TouchOSC & OSCulator. The thing works, and for the price its not bad for a touch screen.
#justsayin
It’s not at all overrated if it helps the person using it achieve what they want to achieve the way they want to achieve it.
Also this…
[quote]Main Entry: 1pro·fes·sion·al
Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfesh-nəl, -ˈfe-shə-nəl
Function: adjective
Date: 1606
2 a : participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs[/quote]
He is very much a professional DJ. Sorry.
“This video is private.”
bummer.
this is what it’s refering to, did a check after that vid was leaked, cause I’m assuming they made it private because it wasn’t supposed to be out yet.
it’s funny how much overhyped, overrated, and other terms keep appearing on these and other forums. One thing that I’ve noticed is that “hype” seems to only appear constistantly with Apple items. Other items like, the NS7, CDJ2000, VCI-300, EKS Otus, APC-40, which were dubbed as the next best thing to sex from their respective makers all got the “we’ll see if it’s worth it when it’s in use by professionals”, and yet, when the iPad is making it’s way in more and more professionals live performance setups, it turns to “ohh, that shit is so overhyped” even though it has never been marketed by apple as a DJ performance item. Evidentally not if the guys that basically define the way that the technology for DJ’s go are CHOOSING to integrate them into their sets.
Hawtin has commisioned multiple software designers to do his bidding for numberous things, including Lemur layouts and his own iPhone app. You honestly think that if using an iPad wasn’t the best way to go for what he’s using it for, that he wouldn’t just get a layout for the Lemur made and use that? Ohh wait, he’s using both. Must mean that it can compete at some level, or he would just have 5 lemurs instead of 3 and 2 iPads.
video is back up
Cool vid. I like a blend of technology… and use an SE100, launchpad, and 2 macbook pros… but my favorite controller is a Kenton 16 channel control freak with sliders. iPad is a toy with some interesting possible uses, but it’s another thing that can go wrong. Maybe I’m just old school. All Ritchie does is trigger samples and change parameters… any simple toggle on/off and some sliders can do it. It’s more “showmanship” and hype that using iPads brings is why he’s using it… plus apple probably kicked him those for use and development. It makes good business. Trax still gotta be pumpin… his stuff hasn’t always impressed me, but that’s a matter of taste.
First, the benefit of touch controllers is that they are dynamically re-configurable - hardware isn’t. They can respond to MIDI feedback, so all of your controls are always in the correct place and you never have those dead movements caused by soft takeover logic. That also means that you can always look at your controller and see what your values are WITHOUT staring at the application.
Second, showmanship absolutely plays a part in performance. DJs have been criticized for being detached from the audience. This is usually fine in a residency, because there are many reasons why people are in your club. But in a one off or feature performance, the audience paid money and came to see a specific artist. It’s a bit boring to then just see some guy standing there. Feature artists are starting to understand this, and showmanship is starting to play a bigger role.
Also, don’t underestimate the value in being able to take your controller with you and walk around the venue. Any DJ worth their salt knows what the venue sounds like, and does the occasional walk-around to verify that their audio is in good shape. The ability to make EQ tweaks on the floor and then transfer those over to the house PA is amazing.
+1
I get your point… and I like it… don’t get me wrong, it has a use. I would definitely have backups to respond if the iPad failed during a performance… it is new, and apples are not infallible. I just prefer the Lemur if I were to depend on a touch screen during a live performance. Most tweaking I do on actual kit… not soft synths. I have some cervical spine issues so customizing my live setup so my hands know them perfectly and keeping my screens at higher elevations is much more comfortable for me. Hunching over for long periods of time over 25 years of turntables, plus the evil ergonomics of laptops has not helped my neck out at all.
“The ability to make EQ tweaks on the floor and then transfer those over to the house PA is amazing.”
I totally agree there… that’s assuming the dumbass sound guy doesn’t fiddle with live PA after a previous 6 hours of opening acts… then the high frequency ear fatigue has set in and he pushes the treble to 11 and it sounds like a Bose system. They never can keep their hands off… especially once you start your set.
I have managed to preserve my hearing and rely on Shure SE530 in ears for my own monitors to keep damage to a minimum. I realize my sound coming out of an Allen and Heath differs from the live PA, but I really don’t want to be exposed to loud crunching PA at this point in my life. Plus I tend to have a lot going on and it’s easier to concentrate and isolate frequencies, especially if the Sherman Filterbank is in use. I just hope the sound guy doesn’t start his own tweaking (make friends, hand him a beer, and ask him not to touch it).
As far as showmanship… it’s mainly us tekkies talking about the kit… the average kid on E is more interested in the light show than the guy on stage, and usually doesn’t really get what we are doing or appreciate how hard it is. Face it… we all look the same up there … except for the occasional foam mask, gas mask, or scantily clad dancers. It is unfortunate.
The right light show will trump anything we do on stage (still has to sound good) IMO.
Not saying I won’t use my iPad for a gig, but I sure as hell won’t be using it flat on a table at my waistline … uggh, the pain. JMHO.
To each his own…
From CDM
[quote]Details remain murky – developers Liine say they’ll tease out features over the coming weeks. But the system, when fully revealed, will be modular, with a set of touch objects and gestures across a set of apps that provide touch control. The first application is Ableton Live-specific, and provides a new mechanism for controlling Live’s grid of clips. The developers say Griid makes it easier to find clips and see information about them, even when navigating large sets of clips. (You know who you are, those of you with enormous Live sets with a zillion colored clips.)
Different editions will scale to different screen sizes, with Griid Pro for iPad, and Griid for iPhone/iPod touch, plus a Lite version for free.
What all of this means or whether it lives up to these claims is, well, a complete unknown outside of the Plastikman stage. That is, unless you happen to be in Barcelona at SONAR this weekend. Tomorrow, Saturday, Richie will be demonstrating the app in person. Liine tells us:
“At the hands-on Richie will show how he uses the app in his Plastikman Live show. There will also be another laptop or two set up and hooked up with Griid so that they can give it a try themselves.”
If you can make it and want to report back to the rest of us, I’d love to hear it. And I expect to bring more info to CDM soon, if not. But it certainly works for Richie; check out the video below of him using the tool at Detroit’s Movement festival, for his new Plastikman Live show. (And yes, this is bringing back Plastikman and more of the live performance, rather than simply DJ, the side of Richie a lot of us love best.)[/quote]
2 iPads, 2 Lemurs… And a BCF2000???
No denying, though - touch screen controllers (with muti-page software) is DEFINITELY the way forward. Wish I had the money and time to invest in some.
I’m all for advancing forward and pushing the technology, my only issue with touch screens is the lack of tactile feed back from actually touching a knob/slider/button. Personal preference though and all that.
Wireless touchscreens are the future. They were never “made” for DJing.
Wireless POS and Inventorying are simply invaluable.