Can the DM2 Out-Turn the Turntables? 16
Todd asks: "The
DM2 looks like it
would be a nice interface for a Digital DJ, but is hindered by the
software that comes with it. Anyone know of any projects that are
going to try and use it or have great potential to use it. I think
it teamed with a pro-audio card and some good open software could
revolutionize the DJ industry." I don't know about its
revolutionary properties, but it does look to be a nifty tool, and
it looks to be the perfect thing to learn on. Basically, the
DM2 is a turntable emulator not a real set of turntables. So
you can learn a bit of the art without scratching your valuable vinyl
on the real thing.
Where to begin... (Score:4, Informative)
First to correct Cliff's comment:
I don't know about its revolutionary properties, but it does look to be a nifty tool, and it looks to be the perfect thing to learn on.
This is actually a very poor platform to learn how to dj on. There are 2 keys to good dj'ing. 1) Beat matching...getting two tracks to sync up. 2) Track selection...choosing the tracks that get everybody dancing. I guess there is also a 3) which is scratching. Depends on your style.
The DM2 automatically beat matches everything, so that kind of rules out learning #1, and the DM2 will only play the tracks you can buy from mixman. Ouch. So much for track selection.
Now to get to what Todd was asking about. You might be able to get the DM2 to do some neat stuff. A far more interesting device, however, is Final Scratch [finalscratch.com]. This is what Ritchie Hawtin has been using in his shows lately. It's basically a device that will map mp3's off your laptop onto a special piece of vinyl that slaps onto an ordinary turntable. Less gimicky, and no hacks required. Team this up with csound [dartmouth.edu] and/or reaktor [nativeinstruments.de], add a sequencer, and you'll really be cooking.
As an interesting side note, you don't even really need a pro audio card for this kind of thing. Most high end consumer cards have a relatively clean audio out. As long as you're not recording anything, which requires a quality analog to digital converter, you should be fine.
Re:Where to begin... (Score:1)
Think you both slightly miss the point in that you're not considering the possibility of being able to DJ *purely* in the digital domain. If that requires picking up a feel for a new kind of control interface then so be it..
I had and idea for something similar to the DM2 a year or so back (damn, I wish I patented half the thing I thought of.. I notice no-ones done my 'air drumsticks' yet though).. I've always fancied inflicting my musical taste on a crowd but I'd rather spend the £1000 I'd need just to get the turntables and mixer on guitars.. plus I really haven't got the pateience to trawl goddamn records shops to build up the necessary collection of vinyl. So what I wanted was a control interface that effectively allowed me to cue and scratch MP3s... the DM2 looks like just that although is currently somewhat crippled by being only able to play 'approved' tracks..
Has anyone else out there had any similar thoughts in this vein ?? What would be the ideal set up for the purely digital DJ ?? Personally I think it's two 'decks', a mixer and a laptop/PC with two sound cards.. (for each channel of the mixer)..
Re:Where to begin... (Score:1)
Your idea could be completely different of course:)
DM2 != turntables... (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been learning for years, and I still don't feel that I'm half as good as I should to be when I spin at house-parties. I'm still learning some basic tricks, tweak-scratches, roll-backs, all of the tools the man (and woman!) behind the wheels rely on to move a party and make the choons bump.
I've also gotten pretty heavily into tools like Sonic Foundry's ACID and the old MIDI and
The DM2 is another tool in this arena, but it is not the philospher's stone, and I doubt that in it's present incarnation it will go much beyond the starter-kit market who doesn't want to cough up $500 for two cheezy belt-drive 'tables and a mixer that cross-fades like a brick. It does however present an opportunity to expose more people to the aspects of 'turntablism' that seems to be the vogue.
I would like to note that blahtree [slashdot.org] brought up an important tool that I remember from the days when BeOS was still considered viable...
Now while I do have all my classics on vinyl (I've culled it down to 200-300 of my favorites) I would love to be able to show up at a gig with just a wallet of DVD's and not have to worry about herniating over 120lbs of wax. (tho' the final scratch still requires you to haul your 90 lbs. coffin. Hey, those SL-1200's are 40 friggin' pounds each, but that just keep us "I've been DJ'ing parties 7 nights a week and haven't seen daylight in a month" phreaks in shape.)
As I have heard said, "In the 80's every kid wanted a guitar, now they all want their own set of turntables."
final scratch (Score:1)
The point is that you can scratch and mix digital audio files as though they were vynil on your turntable. It rocks.
Upgraded software for the DM2 (Score:1)
http://www.mixman.com/software/
Sorry I can't give you a direct link to Studio Pro... All that Flash wasn't MY idea.
-Chris
ps. I may not have worked onthe DM2, but I'm in the credits for Studio Pro.
I use the DM2! (Score:3, Informative)
I use the DM2 in my DJing. First off, the DM2 software sucks. Studio Pro 4.5 is it for me. I use it mostly for remixing in the studio, though I have been known to bring it to the booth with me on occasion.
As far as the ability to use your own tracks with it, this is absolutely supported. There's a certain amount of monkeying required, but you can do it with the Studio Pro. One-shots are easy as pie. Just load in the WAV. For loops it's not quite so easy... you can do it the hard way (requires a good WAV editor, and a bit of time monkeying... e-mail me [mailto] if you want details) or the easy way with a software program called Recycle [propellerheads.se].
It's made by the propellerheads (they did the Spy Hunter mix from The Matrix)... it takes WAV files and manipulates them into TRK files which contain metadata, allowing any supporting player to smoothly loop it, as well as change the tempo, pitch, and lots of other effects that would be hard without the metadata.
Blatant self-promotion: I just posted my first track [mp3.com] on MP3.com... made entirely with the DM2. Check it out if you want to hear the capabilities.
Re:I use the DM2! - propellerheads (Score:1)
Propellerheads Software and the musical group Propellerheads aren't the same.
I'm a fan of the musical group which also did theme music for James Bond. I'm also a fan of the software studio which makes the fine product Reason, which is being used by Trent Rexnor on his new album, last I heard.
any dj that walked into the party/club w/ these... (Score:1)
anyway, real nerds use Final Scratch [finalscratch.com]
Re:any dj that walked into the party/club w/ these (Score:3, Informative)
Regardless, though... once the DJs see the kind of mixing I can do with it, they start getting real interested in it. The other thing is that I use this a lot in my studio, burn it to CD, and then do CD mixing at the club.
Do any of these solutions run on *nix? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've read about both finalscratch which runs on BeOS and the mixman, which is a mac/windows device. What about the open source linux based stuff? I've found only 1 called terminatorX [terminatorx.cx] on freshmeat about a year and a half ago. Just for kicks I let a DJ friend of mine try it with a optical mouse and he liked it. We tried putting the mouse over a vinyl that was spinning and he was sold.
Our setup is kinda cute. I gave him a K62 300mhz stripped down to nothing but X. He is a windows users, (please no boo's) so in order to run it headless we use reflectionX to connect to the machine and provide an X display. He bought 2 of the newer versions of the MS optical mouse (faster, increased response) and gutted them down to just the optical sensor which sits in a nice enclosure glued to the side of his turntables.
Re:Do any of these solutions run on *nix? (Score:1)
Re:Do any of these solutions run on *nix? (Score:1)
*laughs at this thing* (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm a drum and bass dj, and I actually started out by mixing digital music. How did I do it? Two copies of Winamp, panned hard left and right, a little plugin called Pitchfork, and a five dollar Radio Shack mixer from a flea market. I learned the basics of beatmatching and mixing whilst I was broke.
What's the difference? It was hard as shit. It sounded horrible when I fucked up. It was not automatic beatmatching. I had no tactile feedback.
Fast forward two years. Got myself twenty records to start spinning when I got a real job. Hopped on a friend's tables. Within two weeks, i had ten-year veterans of the local house and jungle scene pushing me up against the wall, yelling "You have had to be spinning for a year to mix like that!"
I learned the basics with a FREE, difficult interface. Now i've got a crate full of records, a booking every weekend, and I have fun. Crutches like this only hinder it and propagate the notion that a:dj'ing is easy and everybody can sound good, so everybody should be a dj, and b: only shitty club CD DJ's exist. Not that CD DJ'ing is totally worthless, but it's not the same art.
/me hugs his vinyl.
www.djjonny290.com [djjonny290.com]