I am not a scratch DJ by any means. Was never my thing. Back in the day I was the guy playing house and dance tracks with long smooth mixes and my DJ partner Marlon would play all the hip hop. So naturally he was the guy doing all the scratching...and quite good at it too! You can find him on facebook. Just look for Marlon Magictricks Tanner. You can also here him regularily with The Drill Squad on 89.5.
For those that don't know the World DMC DJ championships is coming to an end. Finals for Canada are in Hamilton in the next week. Check here for the event listing. This is an interesting year for the DMC championships since it is the first time they will allow DVS (digital vinyl system) in the finals albeit without additional controllers. It is also the first year of the DMC online DJ competition in which voters vote online! They are now down to the online top 10 finalists with the winner being invited to the DMC championships wich are being held in London England in October.
For those that don't know the World DMC DJ championships is coming to an end. Finals for Canada are in Hamilton in the next week. Check here for the event listing. This is an interesting year for the DMC championships since it is the first time they will allow DVS (digital vinyl system) in the finals albeit without additional controllers. It is also the first year of the DMC online DJ competition in which voters vote online! They are now down to the online top 10 finalists with the winner being invited to the DMC championships wich are being held in London England in October.
For those not in the know here is an explanation of what DVS is from wikipedia...
Vinyl Emulation software allows the user to physically manipulate the playback of digital audio files on a computer using the turntables as an interface, thus preserving the hands-on 'feel' of deejaying with vinyl while allowing playback of audio recordings not available in
phonograph form. This allows DJs to scratch, beatmatch, and perform other turntablism that would be impossible with a conventional keyboard-and-mouse computer interface. The technology is also referred to as DVS for either Digital Vinyl System or Digital Vinyl Software.
It's basically a specially made record that sends a signal to the software that the software then applies to a digital media file playing. Quite cool really. Traktor (what I use) and Serato are the more popular systems...
It's basically a specially made record that sends a signal to the software that the software then applies to a digital media file playing. Quite cool really. Traktor (what I use) and Serato are the more popular systems...
Now why is it interesting? Well what these guys can do with a 2 turntables and a mixer is unbelievable! However the shift to DVS and external controllers opens up a whole new avenue of creativity...mind boggling actually. For example check out these two videos of DJ Craze (5 time DMC champion) and DJ Dummy performing on Traktor software...
Seriously how awesome is that?
Gonna be interesting to see how DMC changes in the coming years and to see the shift from the traditional to the digital. Pureists will probably resist the change. It was not to long ago that Technic 1200 turntables and a mixer were the norm. But with technolgy moving ever so fast there is no arguing that change is coming. It just allows for so much more creativity which at the end of the day is what is all about and the traditional set-up is just limiting. But at the end of the day...software does not scratch for you...well not well yet anyways.
I guess I should go dig up "Le Freak" by Chic and start practicing...
I guess I should go dig up "Le Freak" by Chic and start practicing...
Wiik wiik whaaa...wiik wiik...Wahhhhhhhh.....freak out!
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