DJs... What do you think of Ableton laptop DJs?

[dedman]

I have no problem with it, my mate does and he is sicck! to be honest with you i think beatmatching is such a standard thing, a bit like knowing how to eq a kick drum.. so if someone uses a shortcut to skip this and get on with the interesting stuff like actually getting creative then im all up for it!

i use vinyl/cds btw

[phrase]

i think what a lot of people have forgotten on this thread is the actual performance that comes with a dj set.

If you can engage with the crowd, get them feeling your music and shocking out then that is a skill in itself, even if you're using ableton, arguably the simpler option. From events i've been to people that arent producers/djs themselves rate the dj on their performance and song choice, not whether they're using a laptop or turntables.

Both are equally good options but a lot of people already have a collection of mp3s and a laptop and buying a controller is a hell of a lot cheaper than tables and vinyl and that seals the deal on its own for many people, i know it did for me. it's not because they can't be arsed or they wanna annoy vinyl users.

[jam1]

Best of both worlds! DJ Akd.... Amazing!

[step correct]

Best of both worlds! DJ Akd.... Amazing!

[solo strike]

If you're doing it correctly, Abletoning should be harder if anything than regular DJing. I do both, with Ableton I'm taking round a lot more weight and expensive kit, there's 10x potential more for something to not work correctly/get lost/get broken, and my hands are more than busy with keyboard shortcuts, APC40 and Kaoss Pad 3. I'm constantly looping, repeating, stuttering, sampling, messing about with AudioRealism Bassline adding acid lines over tunes, adding loops of breaks over tunes, one shot samples, etc etc. It goes on and on!

[jam1]

Continually blowing my mind.... DJ Akd!

[knobby_roots]

i cant get any of the videos at work of AKD and im dyin to see what hes doin!?! dammmmmnit work, why cant you corporate bloodsucking demons of filth let us go on you tube!? i would probably even be more productive if i didnt have to spend so much time tryin to find other ways to see videos.

[abZ]

Continually blowing my mind.... DJ Akd!

Meh that is ok. I will tell you one thing, I would be happy if I never heard a glitchy stutter effect again in my life. One of the the things that turns me off from ableton djs tbh. I would rather hear a bog standard blend than all these loops and glitch effects and 6 tunes clashing together That isn't a comment on this video in particular just a general meh. If you are going to use Live to be.. well.. live! then great but it seems like people are posing as live artists when really they are just pressing go. Again I have no hate on Ableton dj's in general I just wish people would actually pay attention to what is coming out of the speakers instead of how many knobs they can press at once. And just to reiterate, for the love of god please stop with the stutter effect

[Bliss Puppy]

Meh that is ok. I will tell you one thing, I would be happy if I never heard a glitchy stutter effect again in my life

I feel the same way about the phaser effect, standard on every mixer I've seen! My major beef with a DJ is when I can tell what they are doing in regards to how the original track sounds on the vinyl, disc, mp3, ipod or whatever format is being used. Can I tell he added that wobble or might it be the Jimmy Dean remix I've yet to hear played anywhere else? Are those samples he's laying under the beat or is that really the intricacies the producer took the care to subtly set into the track from the ground up? Why bother with laying 6 tracks down over one another if those subtleties are getting lost in the mix? A friend of mine just sold all his albums so that he could travel and keep his variety of beats and genres to choose from. He now uses a simple CD controller and Traktor. What is the difference between that and Ableton? I couldn't tell you, he would disagree with me - in the end one knob is shaped different than another and all the timestamps in the world won't make a difference if we fumble an overlay.

I am putting together a setup now including Ableton, APC40 and an undetermined midi keyboard and step one is simply putting two tracks together while keeping the flow seemless. Jockeying some tracks is a great way to get into the fundamentals of putting together music by first learning to take it apart and put it back together. Am I going to be playing for 200 people at a club? I would like to think so... not next week. Am I planning on getting paid for my sets? With all good intentions - just enough to buy some new tracks or another piece of equipment to help everything flow that much better. Why not Vinyl? Cause vinyl doesn't interest me, much the same as the violin never interested me. Thanks for blowing my mind with the gentleness of your fingers on that sensitive instrument - vinyl is unforgiving and demands care, else the vinyl and/or the needle needs replacing. The worst I have to deal with is <gasp> a software or hardware glitch that causes a sudden break in the playback.

Still, what is the point of a setup like serrato if you are just going to play with a couple of fx and tweak the EQ? The beauty of a vinyl DJ is the finesse in which their hands are on the instrument of sound production while keeping a steady beat, smooth transition and hopefully an interesting blend of multiple tracks at once. I believe beatmatching to be a relatively simple thing to do, not much different than joining a drum circle in the peak of a frenzy. Can you bring George Michael to Joker and have it work? Does it even matter if at the end of the night you A) Get mad props B) Get another gig C) Get paid ?

If you want to put on a track and wait for the next one, jump on a radio show. If you want to take an hour or two and perform for someone, then keep the tracks flooding the dancefloor as rapidly as you can muster and keep the attention of every foot, hip and ear in the venue. In the end you are performing Live for everyone that is there to hear you throw down. The goal - have fun!

[hackman]

anyone can do it

only some can do it

i know which id rather

[webstarr]

thing is he's doing all that stuff, but to me it doesn't sound good

[jam1]

I guess the point of my posting those videos of DJ Akd was that, although perhaps not the most technical (I know next to nothing about Ableton), I thought the intergration of classic turntablism techniques and these new technologies was pretty good. As mentioned before, I would much rather see an artist in a club cutting and tweeking knobs etc on a set-up like that, than just have him head down in the screen.

[setspeed]

I guess the point of my posting those videos of DJ Akd was that, although perhaps not the most technical (I know next to nothing about Ableton), I thought the intergration of classic turntablism techniques and these new technologies was pretty good. As mentioned before, I would much rather see an artist in a club cutting and tweeking knobs etc on a set-up like that, than just have him head down in the screen.

yeah it was interesting to watch, and technically impressive, although musically pretty poor. Glitch glitch glitch, every 8 bars, like clockwork, and occasionally some chords went slightly out of time. it was a cool setup, but not something i'd particularly want to see in a club - if you heard the tune without seeing the video you'd be bored very quickly I think.

but then i suppose live music isn't just about the music, hence this thread!

[abZ]

I guess the point of my posting those videos of DJ Akd was that, although perhaps not the most technical (I know next to nothing about Ableton), I thought the intergration of classic turntablism techniques and these new technologies was pretty good. As mentioned before, I would much rather see an artist in a club cutting and tweeking knobs etc on a set-up like that, than just have him head down in the screen.

yeah it was interesting to watch, and technically impressive, although musically pretty poor. Glitch glitch glitch, every 8 bars, like clockwork, and occasionally some chords went slightly out of time. it was a cool setup, but not something i'd particularly want to see in a club - if you heard the tune without seeing the video you'd be bored very quickly I think.

but then i suppose live music isn't just about the music, hence this thread!

Yeah that is the thing, it isn't really going to sustain a dancefloor. I have seen turntablists try to play at dance parties and it is an absolute trainwreck. It is impressive for the few people up front that can see what is going on but it is lost on everyone else. It is like more show than music imo. I have no point here

To the guy a few posts up, yeah the phase effect from the Pioneer mixers, other mixers have that now I know but back when those Pio's came out ... bah! It really is what kinda turned me off from doing much other than blend music together in hopefully a transparent manor. Ableton dj's in a lot of cases is an exaggerated example of how progress doesn't necessarily mean things get better. It is a lot easier to be annoying as a dj, let me put it that way.

I am really thinking about getting a live act together this year, I will be using Ableton but my plans are to not play tracks at all. The program is set up to actually let you create and manipulate music on the spot and with so much control so it would be kinda of a waste for me to drop Chase and Status tracks on it like every other mother fucker out there, do your own thing!

[drokkr]

I am really thinking about getting a live act together this year, I will be using Ableton but my plans are to not play tracks at all. The program is set up to actually let you create and manipulate music on the spot and with so much control so it would be kinda of a waste for me to drop Chase and Status tracks on it like every other mother fucker out there, do your own thing!

Do it!!!

I do. Have a listen to this - http://www.dubstepforum.com/drokkr-live ... 18700.html

Next idea for this is going to be a few live remixes/edits of "well known" tracks and a lot more live synth manipulation. Let me know what you make of the recording anyways...