Touchscreen dj’ing

 

Some people think it’s awkward to use touch screen devices, but when it comes to dj’ing this might be the perfect match actually. Imagine, you could see the waveforms, touch it, tweak it, load in plugins/effects, re-arrange stuff and so on… Lots of possibilities!

Scott Hobbs, a brilliant product designer, has taken this seriously and developed a prototype of something really promising: The Attigo TT.

The Attigo TT is still in the development phase, but it looks really good! Here’s a user scenario Scott Hobbs has for the Attigo TT:

“An electronic music production artist/DJ is doing a live performance act at a dance festival. The artist is performing using a variety of different new and innovative sound tools, such as effects machines and drum machines. One of the acts will be using the ‘Sensing Sounds’ product where there is physical performance. There will also be a display of visuals for the audience that will respond to the movements of the artist and sounds being created.” (www.scotthobbs.co.uk)

And here’s a live demonstration:

What do you reckon, is this the future of dj’ing?

Will the Vestax VCM 600 kill the Akai APC40?

So, it havent been long time since the Akai APC40 was introduced to the market with full support from the Ableton developers. But now it seems like we have a new gadget which takes the step further (atleast for me) with the new Vestax VCM 600 comming into the market. Sure, many may argue that how could it possible beat the Akai APC40…

I think that the VCM 600 got a better overview, less messy trigger/button organization and it gives you a better overview of what actually is goin on. The VCM 600 is abit more expensive (around 700 euro) though and it doesnt have the smart play triggers like the APC 40 has… I wish someone could combine these two into one solid piece of midi performance gear!

What’s up with Hiphop?!

Recycling. It’s an important aspect these days for most people. We got to make an effort for the environment by recycling paper in to one bin, plastic to another, glass bottles in one bin and plastic in another. Then it all goes to some magical place and comes back as new products.

“Recycling” has been happening to trance, dance and house tracks forever. We listen to them for a while, then suddenly they re-appear one year later as a 200X remix (Honestly, how many remixes of Binary Finary or Greece 2000 can we take?). Sure, people listening to EDM for some time is now used to that, but have you listened to your radio lately?

HipHop is recycling EDM! What’s up with that? Is the self-acclaimed gangsters going soft for supersaw arpeggios? Should I start wearing a bulletproof west to clubs? Or can I now walk in to a hiphop club with glowsticks? And will I see gangsters tripping on E there?

I’M SCARED, WHAT’S GOING ON?!

Rise of superstar producers

Why is everybody talking about producing instead of composing these days?

Even media is talking about producers, Timbaland being the one mentioned the most. Now that even the normal radio listener can spot the “Timbaland sound”, It’s fair to say we have seen the rise of superstar producers.

How can this be seen in EDM? Now there’s loads of youngsters (or more established producers) mimicking other producers, Deadmau5 and Sean Tyas are the prime examples of this.

Deadmau5 sound is really easy to spot – and to (re)produce – that should be the reason the sound can be now heard in every DJ’s sets playing around 130 bpm.

The other sound is pounding energetic Sean Tyas’ trance sound. The sound has developed from Paul Van Dyk’s pounding trance style, evolved on PVD’s Vandit label and John Askew’s Discover label and now – championed by Sean Tyas.

Now I can hear the subtle hints of trance/progressive/techno blending to each other with a hint of house in it. Producers like Jaytech and Joonas Hahmo are taking this style further by every release and remix. Are track’s being overproduced these days? Are producers concentrating on melodies enough these days?

What do you think? Leave a comment!

Ohm 64 – Yet Another MIDI Spaceship?

It’s not to long ago Livid Instruments launched their new MIDI controller Ohm 64, lets have a look at it!

The first thing that catches my eye is the trigger pattern in the middle of it, will it be 100% synced to Ableton Live or do you have to programe it yourself and can it handle more then more then just 8 Samples of in 8 tracks ? A question I really can’t find any answer on on the official website, although I dont see any screen roll trigger on it or a scene changer in the pattern itself which is more or less why the Akai APC 40 is what it is today.

Although the Ohm 64 comes with its own midi-editor and I’m pretty sure you can set that up if you are really skilled and have the knowledge about programming MIDI OUT from Ableton. But okay, Livid doesnt claim its a 100% Ableton Live suited. But we are not a VJ blog, so lets focus on the music performance side of this little cool gadget!

The little trigger buttons all have program able LEDs which makes this thing abit more cool, but is it useful?

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Innotune what…?

So there you are. Watching a smashing website made by a crew of Scandinavian guys. But what’s this all about?

It’s quite simple. Electronic music needs more juice. More stories. More entertainment. More of that viking touch. That’s what we’ll bring you. We got a team of well known djs & producers as well as some you won’t be able to miss out on in the future. And we’re all on a mission: Bringing you the best up to date electronic music, the best stories from the industry and breaking news.

And who is most fit to bring you this? Well, we’ve put together a Scandinavian A-Team to make sure we’ll cover all corners of the EDM:

Øyvind Strand Endal – Funky house and chillout addict & Professional journalist from Norway. The podcast editor.

Håkon Lofthus – Also known as Hawk. Melodic EDM junkie & online marketing professional from Norway. The website editor.

Marcus Schössow – EDM’s new wonderboy & a social media viking from Sweden.

Ville Lope – Aspiring prog trance producer & dj from Finland with lots of label connections.

Thomas Sagstad – Global Underground’s new favorite pet from Norway.

All these people combined makes a powerful team of bloggers and podcast contributors. News from the inside – brought to people on the outside.

So subscribe to our monthly podcast, and check back on these sites to get your daily injection of EDM news, reviews, tips & tricks and more!

Welcome to Innotune!

We’re finally up and running. The first podcast episode is right around the corner, but you can already now subscribe and listen to the podcast teaser. In the teaser we present our excellent members of the Innotune collective.

To subscribe with iTunes, click here or use this feed: http://innotunepodcast.net/rss/iTunes

If you prefer a regular mp3 podcast, insert this adress into your podcatcher: http://innotunepodcast.net/rss/mp3

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