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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Why a controller..? - Page: 5

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@ Beatbreaker1, I totally agree with you, but keep in mind that unlike you and I the average Virtual DJ user basically has no interest in scratching, turntablism, controllerism etc... most of them are just playlist jockeys.
 
Mikey,

My first car was a Nissan Cherry 1.3L, I loved that car because of what it gave me (Freedom) however the reality is that it was a £160 banger!

Like my DJing, my car has been upgraded too, I would prefer not to mention the make but let me tell you it cost a lot more than my old cherry did, there are many reasons for this, as the years go on, i do more. This car is a business car, a DJ vehicle, something that the Nissan could never have been, it just wouldn't of carried the weight, done the milage and fit my professional image.

We have all winged it here, going out with not enough gear because we can't be bothered to carry it n set it up, especially if it's a lower paid gig, but when doing so you are a little uncomfortable because your not to the usual standard your used to. This is something that you obviously haven't put to the test or you would know this for yourself, the DJ's on here evolve and adapt new techniques and styles based around the gear that comes out as new possibilities arise.

We regally as the manufactures for required features to push us to new levels, all I can say is you have a lifetime to explore this so if you don't have the money now it doesn't matter just do what we all did, build it up slowly. You could start by looking on ebay you could get bargains there, honestly I been on assignment in countries where you have to pay top money for everything or even order stuff from abroad and wait 2/3 weeks for it. Coming from the UK you have it easy DJ wise there is a large surplus of used pro you can snap up if your smart.

Please be respectful with any further post as people have been polite and patient with you despite you putting up a silly argument.
 
Timmyg1978 wrote :
Real DJs only mix on one of these




please son - my first home computer was one of these. we even splurged on the tape cassette to record on AND used the manual it came with to make tunes.
should've hooked 2 of them together but the folks could only buy one.

10 go to 20
20 go to 10

that was my first loop.




still not sure why the thread got back to life like a zombie but can we bury this already? we get it: some of use prefer them some dont. some use them some dont.
 
as much as i hate to bump up any thread like so many, but after being reminded of something, i finally found what should hopefully be my VERY last words on the subject:

my top reasons for all time for not messing about with a controller and sticking with a keyboard = no mapping, no controller bugs, no driver issues, no extras cords/wires to plug in. keeping it as simple as can be so that i can worry about other things. the K.I.S.S. principle FTW!
 
I have weighed in on this topic before and I will refresh everyone's memory and fill in the new guys/gals on the why. I "DJ" for many different types of events from nightclubs and bars to weddings to school dances to corporate events to MMA fights to bumper music for national touring musical acts. Every client and every job is different. I like to be prepared for ANYTHING. For me, I use two CDJ's with timecode cd's as well as two AKAI LPD8 midi controllers. Why so much gear? I'll tell ya why...

Computer crashes: I have two CDJ's and an analog mixer. The CDJ's will play wav or mp3 cd's as well as each has a usb port and can play the same from thumb drives. I have 4 32 gig thumb drives loaded with music in addition to 10 pre-recorded 60 minute mixes on cd of different genres. So, if the laptop takes a crap in the middle of a gig, I can keep playing music with no one being any the wiser. If the issue can be fixed on the spot, the 60min pre mixed cd's give me an hour to troubleshoot things.

CD Requests: Some gigs I am required to play specific intro music. Having CDJ's allows me to pop out a time code cd and pop in the client's cd. Sometimes they have the files on a thumb drive. Even if the computer crashes, I can STILL play the file.

Old Habits: I learned to beatmix on two Technic 1200's. I also had two CDJ's at that same club. CDJ's and turntables feel natural to me. I thought about getting a pair of 1200's, but CDJ's have a much smaller footprint and a fraction of the weight.

The one thing WE ALL have in common is that we do our best work when we are most comfortable with certain tools. Could I do the same job with just a laptop and mouse? Sure. Would the crowd be happy with my performance? Probably. Would I be satisfied? Nope. I would be uncomfortable the entire time. When you borrow or drive someone else's car, most of us adjust the steering wheel, seat, and mirrors to make the drive as easy and as comfortable as possible. Same goes for DJ gear. Use what you are comfortable with. Use what will give you the BEST chance for success.
 
djnutz wrote :
The one thing WE ALL have in common is that we do our best work when we are most comfortable with certain tools. Could I do the same job with just a laptop and mouse? Sure. Would the crowd be happy with my performance? Probably. Would I be satisfied? Nope. I would be uncomfortable the entire time. When you borrow or drive someone else's car, most of us adjust the steering wheel, seat, and mirrors to make the drive as easy and as comfortable as possible. Same goes for DJ gear. Use what you are comfortable with. Use what will give you the BEST chance for success.


Well said djnutz.
 
I have my first gig in February, unpaid, being the warm up act. Very much looking forward to it, more for the experience than anything else. Hopefully, I'll walk away from a happy crowd. I imagine all the other DJs will chuckle as I rock up with my just lappy and soundcard, but I've got thick skin...

Of the things I have learned from all this, the greatest is to be prepared. VERY prepared. As such, I'm investing in a second hard drive (just in case), a high capacity SD card (just in case), and may well take a spare mixer, and pre-recorded CDs (you know, just in case).

After all, (famous last words, here) just how much can go wrong in one hour..?
 
Just make sure you don't do this :)
 
loved this thread. many laughs!
 
Heres my 2 cents...DJ= Disc Jockey, Point and Click = selector..Theres nothing wrong with being a selector, but your skill set is limited. Me myself i evolved from the eighties when there were no laptops and you relied on your skill. I come from the Battle era. When DJs challenged one another. I DJ everything but started as a Hip-Hop dj. and Battle every Dj who thought he could hang, whiched made me the third best dj in my neighbor hood out of roughly 25 neighborhood djs...Turntablist will always have a round disk to munipulate, we love to touch that circle and make it do what we will...Point and Click is no fun....
 
my first controler 1978...
 
You might be able to do this,



on your keyboard but thats some heavy abuse................
 
My popcorn has run dry...
 
Djratedxxx919 wrote :
Heres my 2 cents...DJ= Disc Jockey, Point and Click = selector..Theres nothing wrong with being a selector, but your skill set is limited. Me myself i evolved from the eighties when there were no laptops and you relied on your skill. I come from the Battle era. When DJs challenged one another. I DJ everything but started as a Hip-Hop dj. and Battle every Dj who thought he could hang, whiched made me the third best dj in my neighbor hood out of roughly 25 neighborhood djs...Turntablist will always have a round disk to munipulate, we love to touch that circle and make it do what we will...Point and Click is no fun....


This is the guy you don't want to be. No one's skill set is limited because of the method they use. The ONLY thing that will limit a DJ is the mindset that they can be limited. This mentality of turntablists that think because they "battled everyone and won" that they are God's gift to DJ's is what limits this business. They are the ones who are scared. A guy with just a laptop and a mouse can now do the same thing they can. And how many djs do you hear about making a living "battling" other dj's? A young DJ today would be much better off developing a solid grasp of the English language and grammar, as well as some knowledge on running a business and marketing.
 
Ummmm, well, using a 'point and click' method works to a point, but it limits your abilities to do two things at once (Unless you're really into keyboard shortcuts). I have VDJ installed on both my main computer and my laptop, I can do mixing on my main computer with a mouse primarily, but it's inevitably 'clunky' because I feel as a DJ you need to control two or more inputs at once (volume and eq, eq and eq, volume and effect etc.) which is practically impossible with a mouse.

Controllers add an extra level of flexibility and 'hands on' controlling, you can feel the music better when you're touching faders, knobs and buttons than a mouse, BUT I agree it's not critical, but it results in a cleaner mix, IMHO.

But the world of DJing is about personal preference, in all areas of it! Anything is possible and whatever floats your boat and sounds good at the same time is what will work for you as a DJ. I do however think, once you've gone controller, you'll never go back! :-)

For example when I first started mixing at home (Virtual DJ Radio) I used to HAVE to have music cranking in my room to hear it, and using the headphones for pre-listen. But the time came where I mixed at my friend's house and we couldn't crank it up there because of his house mates, so I had to start completely headphone mixing (headphones only, no other sound source). It was REALLLLLLY hard at first, but after a while I got so used to it, that's all I do now when I'm on the radio. When I mix in clubs now I still tend to do a lot of the mixing in my headphones. So it's personal preferences vs. personal habits. I'm sure you'd get very very VERY good at point and click mixing if you practiced, but you are limited to one control at one time!
 
My final word on the subject - I'm middle ground. I use an external 5.1 soundcard, through a two channel mixer. One hand on the lappy cueing tracks, effects and samples, the other knob twiddling and fader sliding. Didn't take long after downloading the free demo version to realise I'd need two hands...
 
Timmyg1978 wrote :

10 go to 20
20 go to 10

that was my first loop.


i lol'd, quite a bit, that is epic!
 
djnutz wrote :

A young DJ today would be much better off developing a solid grasp of the English language and grammar, as well as some knowledge on running a business and marketing.


This maybe true but how boring.

It seems computers made people so anal.

PS,

Controller guy was amazing.

 


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