Jun 11
Ableton Suite 8 is 50 percent live performance instrument, 50 per cent digital audio workstation…and 50 per cent remix tool. If that sounds like 150 per cent…it is! Based around the latest release of Ableton’s now legendary ‘Live’ application, it adds into the mix no less than ten instruments and sample libraries. If you’re not already familiar with Live, either you’re an Alpha Centaurian Ostrich, or a member of Status Quo. Either way, you can familiarise yourself with what it is and does here. Continue reading »
Tagged with: Ableton Live 8 • Ableton Suite 8 • DAW • DJ • Music Technology • Reviews
Jan 12
All Posts, Apple, Audio/Music, Awards, Cameras, Computers, DJ, Design, Features, Hardware, Lightroom, Photography, Photoshop, Plugins, Software, VJ, Video, Web, Writing
At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s the start of a new decade and this, in conjunction with the Technofile celebrating its 5th birthday (albeit slightly belatedly) seems like the perfect opportunity to give out some awards. Unlike everyone else’s awards though, the Technies are not for the best of 2009, or even for the best of the noughties. They are for, what, in the opinion of The Technofile, is the best software and hardware currently available to creative professionals. Whether it was released yesterday or 5 years ago is immaterial, the only stipulation is that you can go out and buy it…or sit at home and download it (legally, of course) now. So, without further ado: Continue reading »
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Sep 17
I remember a time when no DJ worth his salt took CD players seriously (I say his, because they were all blokes back then). The objections were longer than a 12” (remember those?). “CDs are all very well, but what are you going to do when one starts jumping in the middle of a set?”…“It’s not like you can scratch with them is it?” “CDs? What next, female DJs?” Enter Pioneer (DJ booth left), with their now legendary CDJ-1000s, which, combined rock solid performance, optimal ergonomics, industrial build quality and the ability to emulate the entire cannon of vinyl tricks…and then some. The CDJs revolutionised the industry to such an extent that it’s almost impossible to find a club that doesn’t have a pair. But with a whole new generation getting their tunes direct from the net (some even, legally…) and the ever growing popularity of laptop DJing with Live, Traktor and Serrato, it seems that the graffiti’s on the wall for CDs. So what next? Continue reading »
Tagged with: DJ • Hardware • Music • Previews
Nov 18
In the UK, there’s no shortage of music industry trade shows, but until recently if you wanted to check out the latest DJing kit, you were faced with a choice between PLASA (the main focus of which is sound and lighting for concert tours and large installations, making it 95% irrelevant to the average DJ) and a handful of shows targeted at musicians and producers. Last weekend though, the landscape changed, as DJs took control at BPM, a brand new show organised by Marked Events. Continue reading »
Tagged with: DJ • Hardware • Shows • VJ
Oct 11
Back in 2004, Pioneer released the groundbreaking ‘DVJ-X’, which allowed DJs and VJs to scratch, loop and mash up DVDs in almost exactly the same way they had previously done with CDs, using the company’s ‘CDJ’ decks.
Quickly taking pride of place in clubs the world over and on numerous technical riders, the DVJ-X1 and its younger bro, the ‘DVJ-1000′, have not only found favour with both DJs wanting an easy route into visuals and VJs wanting something a bit more tactile and reactive than a laptop, but have also spawned a whole ‘DVJ’ sub culture. However, lack of an integrated AV mixer has meant that VJs and DVJs have been left to their own devices…literally…having to mix and mash all sorts of video and audio hardware in order to create a variety of novel, Heath Robinson meets Frankenstein’s monster type solutions for mixing video with audio. But now, the answer that everyone has been crying out for is finally at hand, in the shape of Pioneer’s brand new Pioneer SVM-1000. Continue reading »
Tagged with: DJ • Hardware • Previews • VJ
Jan 02
Everyone’s favourite audio application is back with a brand new version and having spent some time putting it through its paces, I have to say, it rocks!
Often, when manufacturers release a new version of their software, it’s with a brand new interface, which is necessary because the old one sucked…not that the new interface is generally any better, it’s just different…and by the time you’ve finished learning how to use it…and all of its new and overly complicated functionality…the manufacturer has released a new version of the software…with a brand new interface…because the old one sucked… Continue reading »
Tagged with: DAWs • DJ • Music • Software
Nov 26
If you want to find your way into the VJing scene, you can either head for the next AV Social, or you can buy yourself a copy of ‘Audio-Visual Art + DJ Culture’, edited by Michael Faulkner/D-Fuse…the world’s #12 VJs according to DJ Magazine.
Not so much a book as an visual experience, its lavishly illustrated 191 full colour pages are, quite simply, art, each one providing a unique visual window into the world of VJing. Continue reading »
Tagged with: Books • DJ • Music • Reviews • Video • VJ
Jul 06
Last week, London’s Earls Court played host to “London Calling,” a newish (as opposed to a Jewish) music biz conference/expo/ showcase that claims to be “the dynamic new international event for artists, managers, labels, service providers, brands and the new companies building the future of music business,” but which was so dominated by the net, that I kept thinking I was at a computer trade fair. Continue reading »
Tagged with: DJ • Features • Music • Trade Shows • VJ
Jun 11
Rumours of the death of vinyl used to be greatly exaggerated. Not anymore. None of my superstar DJ friends want the hassle of dragging a box of records (or even CDs) with them everywhere they fly, with all the inherent risks of precious and irreplaceable vinyl getting damaged, lost and delayed, when they can simply fling a laptop in a bag…especially now that downloading is the new…Rock ‘n’ Roll.
If you want to join them and the rest of the digital DJ massive, Native Instruments Traktor is one of three major software packages suitable for the job. As experts in modelling, it’s hardly surprising that NI’s approach to computer DJing has been to create a virtual four deck DJ setup built around a top of the range Allen & Heath Xone: 92 mixer, forensically modelled right down to the adjustable cross-fader curve noch. Continue reading »
Tagged with: DJ • Music • Reviews • Software
May 12
“Where have you been all my life,” is not a phrase I’d normally associate with software. In fact, up until now, it’s been reserved for the moment when Destiny’s Child, Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie arrive simultaneously at my front door…bearing a platter of cold meats… but I’m making an exception for Ableton’s Live 5, which is close to being the music making application of my dreams.
Clearly I’m not the only one with this view, as, over the last couple of years, Live has not just become synonymous with, but completely redefined DJing, taking it to a level completely unobtainable with conventional hardware. Continue reading »
Tagged with: DAWs • DJ • Music • Reviews • Software
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