TRAKTOR CRASHES on CARL COX - Live @ BPM Festival 2015

DJ Software & Apps Traktor
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TRAKTOR CRASHES on CARL COX - Live @ BPM Festival 2015

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So I finally got a chance to catch up on some live sets from the BPM Festival that just passed at the beginning of the year. I was excited to see there’s a live video recording of Carl Cox’s set @ Blue Parrot (01.12.15). As many of you may know, he’s using the fairly new Traktor S8 controller. All is well deep into his set, but near the end… Traktor crashes :expressionless:

(fast forward to the 2hr45sec mark – the big red spike in the audio waveform)
http://www.be-at.tv/brands/blue-parrot/bpm-2015-intec-digital/carl-cox

I’m a big fan of technology, and love Traktor - but I definitely wouldn’t trust fairly new gear & software updates in live environments. Cox laughs it off though with a big smile, and eventually gets back on with it, mixing in a last track or two. I’m a huge Carl Cox fan, and always will be no matter what tools he uses to mix tunes… as long as the music continues to play :wink:

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I remember him as the 3 deck wizard, back in the early 90’s raves!

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But what did you think of the 2 hours before the crash?

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Personally I prefered his stuff from the early 90’s, not so into his housey style now.

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Most “techno” is that housey style now

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Yeah, I was referring to the jungle he used to play during the explosion of Rave in the early 90’s. I’ve still got loads of his old sets on tapes!

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Sucks, that’s why I don’t run Traktor live. Don’t want to run into this kind of issue.

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Lol ^^

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sucks ..however

for what its worth , ive had plenty of problems with analog hardware that have stopped the music, before the digital DJ revolution.

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This is a very good point, I mean turntables in clubs can be nightmares with needles jumping etc.

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yah amps blow, breakers blow, cords get tripped on, needles break, faders go out, pots get noisy… the list goes forever

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I enjoyed it! Cox really gets into his sets, and that happiness shines through his music. However, I couldn’t help notice the beginning of the video where they were getting him situated with his S8 setup. It seemed like a bit of a hassle and took some time into his performance to get set. This is where NI’s compact controllers shine above the S8 (easier to get in and out of booths). I did notice he really is using a lot of the S8’s features, but besides the on-board screens - is he really gaining benefit over an X1 + F1 setup?

As others have stated in this thread, any gear can fail at any given moment (even “club standard” gear). This is actually one of the main reasons why I prefer to use my own Traktor setup & controllers. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve walked into a DJ booth and there were issues with the in-house equipment. I think it all comes down to how well you know your gear, practicing in a bedroom/studio setup before you take it on the road, and not updating things often if it isn’t necessary. Most importantly, having some sort of a backup if your primary setup goes out of order.

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thats what im sayin, i always carry my own stuff.

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Definitely one of the shittier moments you can experience as a DJ. But on the other hand I realized that DJs tend to worry way to much about stuff like this. Look at Carl Cox… he knows that stuff like this happens and he knows that it will not be the end of his DJ career and only is a good sport about it.

Humans fail and technology fails. Combine them and they fail a bit more often. I can’t count how many times someone bumped into my 1210s, pulled out a cable, had the sudden urge to try what happens if you push ‘that button’, threw confetti on the record, feedback on the turntables, a CDJ starting the track over without being touched, USB stick that suddenly is corrupted, Vinyl that doesn’t stop skipping and so on. When I had M-Audio Torq I had at least one crash per night. Serato (SSL.. can’t speak for the newer versions) was rock-stable for me, same with Traktor. Take good care of your weapon of choice (be it vinyl, USB sticks, iPads, Laptop) and try to minimize risk factors and if it happens, play it down and be a good sport about it. Thats it.

By the way… there are several fail moments in the BPM festival videos, thats definitely not the only issue that happened on air.

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the point is…“Hey it even happens to the best!” and don’t give up on Traktor, because he is playin the SHIT out of Traktor. Really dope set!

Even he realizes, “wow there’s just some stuff you cant do on a cdj, if I want to have the hottest sound, I gotta start playing digital!”

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That looked like a smooth transition between DJs to me. They started by scooting the A&H setup over to the side, and the moving his laptop from the stand to the side. Overall, it looked to be a “well rehearsed” move to me.

The laptop move was BOLD. As much as I like USB, the lack of any real retention on the plugs still makes me nervous after all these years.

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This could have been recovered from pretty easily, too. He’s already got his CDJs hooked up to the S8. just change that channel from timecode control to analog in and stick a CD in the CDJ and he’s mixing again. Of course I don’t know how hard this is to do on the S8, having never touched one.

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Yeah, they def were professional with the transitions from DJ to DJ, and had lots of room which helps a a lot. I too was a bit uneasy when i saw them moving the laptop… :scream:

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If you look at the moment it stops, the S8 actually resets - you can see the default screens appears, so it could be the S8 hardware rather than Traktor crapping out.

Coxy handled it well though - the old pro. Everyone likes Coxy!

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Everyone knows this can happen with ANY gear out there. Not great timing for NI that it happened with their shiny new S8 that CC is taking with him and it’s all on video