Re: NYTimes.com Article: The D.J.'s New Mix: Digital Files and a Turntable

From: Thomas Szirtes (szirtest@soe.sega.co.uk)
Date: Fri Oct 26 2001 - 11:24:31 CEST

  • Next message: Juuso Koponen: "Re: In my CD changer... (Dark Days)"

    Quite - I actually use CD's quite a lot when going abroad (for obviously
    logistical reasons) and can mix pretty much as well on either (in otherwords
    rubbish ;-) )

    However when it comes to end of a slamming set playing on a sunset beach or
    sweaty club - waving a little CD-R in the air at an excited crowd just
    doesn't quite feel the same as a nice large slab of vinyl. Call me ol'
    fashioned... bring back laser-disks that's what I say! :-)

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Olaf Molenveld" <olaf@interactivelink.nl>
    To: <mrfliz@rcn.com>; <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
    Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 9:04 AM
    Subject: Re: NYTimes.com Article: The D.J.'s New Mix: Digital Files and a
    Turntable

    > not wanting to start a war vinyl VS cd's, but just some of my personal
    > thoughts:
    >
    > "CD burners allowed disc jockeys to make a
    > track at home, then play it on a club's CD player that
    > night, but D.J.'s couldn't manipulate the music as they
    > could with vinyl. "
    >
    > personally i think CD-sets with pitch etc. are just as easy to use as
    > turntables......maybe it's different when you're a turntablist and/or do a
    > lot of scratching, but i don't need scratching, so i only need to have an
    > easy and fast cue option, pitch-slider and a way to pitchbend the
    > music....no difference here between vinyl and CD's except maybe you can
    cue
    > somewhat faster when you want to start in a break or something...
    >
    > "At the same time, it is important to him that Final Scratch
    > works through standard turntables. "It gives me the
    > advantage of a physicality that not only I understand, but
    > the crowd understands," he said. "People understand what a
    > D.J. does now. It's just like how people became accustomed
    > to freaking out when someone did something cool with a
    > guitar. We don't lose that, but it opens these floodgates
    > to a whole new potential."
    >
    > this is what i, as a vinyl DJ who turned to CD's in 1995 or something due
    to
    > money constraints, have been thinking a lot of lately....i can do a
    > perfectly good set using CD's, but i am thinking of switching to vinyl
    again
    > only because of this issue: the magic of vinyl for the audience....i
    > personally don't care about the medium, but it seems a lot of the people
    on
    > the dancefloor *need* to see a DJ spin vinyl to enjoy the music......what
    do
    > you think about this?
    >
    > Olaf
    >
    >
    >
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: <mrfliz@rcn.com>
    > To: <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
    > Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 6:38 PM
    > Subject: NYTimes.com Article: The D.J.'s New Mix: Digital Files and a
    > Turntable
    >
    >
    > > This article from NYTimes.com
    > > has been sent to you by mrfliz@rcn.com.
    > >
    > >
    > > Great article on the state of live digital mixing....
    > >
    > > kevin kiernan
    > > dj k-now
    > >
    > > mrfliz@rcn.com
    > >
    > >
    > > The D.J.'s New Mix: Digital Files and a Turntable
    > >
    > > October 25, 2001
    > >
    > > By BILL WERDE
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > ON a recent Wednesday night at Centro-Fly, a trendy
    > > Manhattan dance club, Richie Hawtin was using two
    > > turntables to play the latest and best techno, a crisply
    > > syncopated hybrid of dark, electronic drum rhythms and
    > > metallic high-hat and snare effects. Like so many other
    > > celebrity disc jockeys on the international circuit, Mr.
    > > Hawtin was mixing records together to imprint his style on
    > > the night's music: he played two records simultaneously to
    > > blend the drum kick of one song with the melody of another,
    > > waited about 45 seconds before replacing the drum sounds
    > > with a new album of more pronounced bass sounds, and
    > > manipulated audio effects equipment to further tweak what
    > > clubgoers were hearing. So it went for hours, Mr. Hawtin
    > > adding and subtracting sounds and the crowd of about 600
    > > dancing and cheering when they heard a mix they liked.
    > >
    > > The scene was typical for nightclubs across the globe; the
    > > records Mr. Hawtin was placing on his turntable were
    > > anything but. Mr. Hawtin uses new technology called Final
    > > Scratch from N2IT Development, a Dutch company. The vinyl
    > > records he places on the turntables may look like normal
    > > albums, but they work as conduits for the 900 or so digital
    > > files he has stored on his laptop computer. If Mr. Hawtin
    > > places the stylus on the three-minute mark of the Final
    > > Scratch vinyl, the technology interprets that as a signal
    > > to play at the three-minute mark of the digital file he has
    > > selected.
    > >
    > > Final Scratch is not the only music or technology company
    > > looking to help a growing D.J. culture embrace digital
    > > music. A variety of software programs allow D.J.'s to use
    > > laptop computers to mix digital files without turntables
    > > and include perks like sonic filters, synthesizer emulators
    > > and samplers that can add well-laced loops of additional
    > > music or vocal snippets. Traditional audio companies are
    > > making equipment that allows D.J.'s to mix and edit digital
    > > files from compact discs. All of this gives D.J.'s new
    > > freedoms, both pragmatic and creative.
    > >
    > > Before the onset of home studios and CD burners, D.J.'s who
    > > wanted to play a new track would have to secure studio
    > > time, then make a dubplate, a fragile vinyl pressing that
    > > costs about $50 and provides 15 or 20 plays before
    > > deteriorating. CD burners allowed disc jockeys to make a
    > > track at home, then play it on a club's CD player that
    > > night, but D.J.'s couldn't manipulate the music as they
    > > could with vinyl.
    > >
    > > A breakthrough came in July with the release of the Pioneer
    > > CDJ-1000 Digital Vinyl Turntable. Featuring a
    > > touch-sensitive jog dial that can be manipulated the same
    > > way a D.J. does with vinyl - dragging a hand on the dial to
    > > slow the tempo of the CD, using a finger or two to push it
    > > faster, or "scratching" the CD back and forth, creating a
    > > myriad of potential sounds through friction - the Pioneer
    > > machine made believers out of many analog purists,
    > > including New York D.J.'s like Aaron Albano, known as Ming,
    > > and Freddie Sargolini, who goes by FS. Ming & FS recently
    > > released an album of hip-hop and techno beats called "The
    > > Human Condition" and have promoted it with frequent D.J.
    > > appearances.
    > >
    > > "You touch the plate and it reacts like you're touching
    > > vinyl," Mr. Albano said. "If you run your finger on the
    > > side of it, it slows down the platter, just like a normal
    > > turntable." The pair still spin mostly vinyl, but they
    > > experiment more than they did before.
    > >
    > > "If we make a track now, we might do three or four
    > > different versions," Mr. Albano said. "Maybe one will have
    > > more bass, maybe one will be faster, and we'll play what's
    > > right for the moment. If we hear a funny sample on the
    > > radio or television, we might grab it and use it. We don't
    > > have to go out and get records made. It's sped up the
    > > creative process immensely."
    > >
    > > Audio companies are rushing to embrace the fertile
    > > intersection of two exploding markets: digital music and
    > > D.J. culture. "Except for the engineers," said Brian
    > > Buonassissi, marketing manager for Pioneer's pro audio
    > > division, "everyone who works in marketing and product
    > > planning are all D.J.'s." (Mr. Buonassissi himself spins
    > > discs as Granmasta B in San Clemente, Calif.)
    > >
    > > Because of the Digital Vinyl Turntable's price - $1,299,
    > > with a street price of about $1,150 - "we expected we'd
    > > only sell to professionals," Mr. Buonassissi said, but the
    > > audience has proved to encompass "everyone from home users
    > > to gearheads in search of a new toy."
    > >
    > > If the gearheads are excited about the CDJ-1000, they may
    > > flip their propellers at the thought of Final Scratch, a
    > > $3,000 hardware-software package that went on sale last
    > > week. The software is loaded on a Sony (news/quote) Vaio
    > > laptop computer that is connected by a tiny processing box
    > > to standard turntables. (A version without the laptop will
    > > go on sale early next year for about $600.)
    > >
    > > Conceived at a hacker convention in Amsterdam when some
    > > programmers saw a D.J. run out of records after an hour or
    > > so, Final Scratch allows the mixing and scratching of
    > > virtually all formats of digital music to within a
    > > millisecond of precision. And as those at Centro-Fly could
    > > attest after hearing Mr. Hawtin's mix, it is impressive
    > > when put to the test of an enormous sound system.
    > >
    > > Mr. Hawtin says the best part about Final Scratch is that
    > > it is all contained on his laptop. "I don't travel with a
    > > CD burner, and if you start burning a lot of CD's, you run
    > > into an organizational challenge," he explained. Mr.
    > > Hawtin's 900 files are stored within the Final Scratch
    > > software, broken down by subgenres and easily
    > > cross-referenced by a variety of search categories.
    > >
    > > With his frequent travel, having his whole set available on
    > > his laptop creates time, in a matter of speaking. "In May,
    > > I flew to England on a Saturday," he said, "played a gig,
    > > flew back Sunday morning and had a gig that night in
    > > Detroit. I had eight hours there and back. I went through
    > > all my records, sorted out what I wanted to play in
    > > Detroit, what I wanted to play in London, picked a couple
    > > of tracks, re-edited them to create some special versions
    > > and played them that night."
    > >
    > > Mr. Hawtin is quick to praise the freedom and spontaneity
    > > granted by the digital realm. "This lets us evaluate what's
    > > happening in the world as quickly as possible now," he
    > > said. "I can take a snippet of some news or a popular
    > > record and throw it in the mix in a completely different
    > > way."
    > >
    > > At the same time, it is important to him that Final Scratch
    > > works through standard turntables. "It gives me the
    > > advantage of a physicality that not only I understand, but
    > > the crowd understands," he said. "People understand what a
    > > D.J. does now. It's just like how people became accustomed
    > > to freaking out when someone did something cool with a
    > > guitar. We don't lose that, but it opens these floodgates
    > > to a whole new potential."
    > >
    > > Some of the greatest potential revolves around much more
    > > mundane issues than digital revolutions may inspire. Mr.
    > > Hawtin carries two crates of records to his D.J. sessions,
    > > each holding about 100 albums. "I'll be down to one crate
    > > by the end of the year," Mr. Hawtin said. "The only reason
    > > I'm carrying as much music as I am now is that there is a
    > > time lag between when I get a record and when I can
    > > digitize it. I have plenty of room in my laptop for tracks
    > > I may only play once a year, but that one time I play it,
    > > it will make the night."
    > >
    > > Reducing the number of albums may turn out to be the
    > > greatest advantage of all. "Do you have any idea," Mr.
    > > Hawtin said with a laugh, "how much a crate of records
    > > weighs?"
    > >
    > >
    >
    http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/25/technology/circuits/25JOCK.html?ex=1005027
    > 925&ei=1&en=48f1914efe805a99
    > >
    > >
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