Producer goes DJ, gear decision
Producer goes DJ, gear decision Posted on: 27.10.2010 by Heriberto Arvesen Hi!I've been produced stuff for years, and now I need to create a simple laptop-based Dj-setup and perform under my project's name. The important thing here: I want to use only midi devices. DAW - Ableton Suite. It's going to be a two-person(!) Dj-set. So, we are already have some gear in the studio: - TC Electronic Impact Twin - Novation SL MKII 49(going to use it for synth-lines also) - AKAI APC20(for cliplaunch mainly) - Novation Launchpad(maybe for FX?) And I'm going to buy Novation Nocturn and use like a mixer (eq+crossfade) Any suggestions? Btw, sorry for terrible English and thanks in advance | |
| Velma Fruth 28.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by melvee
IDK, it seems like you have a lot of useful gear already, maybe you could just learn to make do with what you have? |
| Heriberto Arvesen 28.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by chadparkhill
So, what you can recommend ? I mean, about my 2-person setup sl mk2 apc20 apc40 and maybe thats it? Thanks for the input. |
| Velma Fruth 27.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by melvee
If you play disco, house, techno, minimal, or anything that's just blending tracks together, you're much better off learning to live without the crossfader. My DJing became a *lot* better and I started getting a lot more gigs once I axed the crossfader from my setup. I also have a Nocturn (foolishly, I actually went for that rather than another MIDI controller because it had a crossfader!) and I can confirm that they feel quite cheap. Not as cheap as a Korg NanoKONTROL or NanoPAD, but cheap nonetheless. If I were starting out again I believe I'd go for a UC33e or something similar. |
| Heriberto Arvesen 27.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by Rumblejazz
As I've mentioned I'm new to djing, so any advices are appreciated Honestly, never imagined Dj-act without the crossfader. Am I wrong? I have faders on sl mk2, but they don't seem to have right fell for this task.. |
| Heriberto Arvesen 27.10.2010 | Hi! I've been produced stuff for years, and now I need to create a simple laptop-based Dj-setup and perform under my project's name. The important thing here: I want to use only midi devices. DAW - Ableton Suite. It's going to be a two-person(!) Dj-set. So, we are already have some gear in the studio: - TC Electronic Impact Twin - Novation SL MKII 49(going to use it for synth-lines also) - AKAI APC20(for cliplaunch mainly) - Novation Launchpad(maybe for FX?) And I'm going to buy Novation Nocturn and use like a mixer (eq+crossfade) Any suggestions? Btw, sorry for terrible English and thanks in advance |
| Velma Fruth 28.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by melvee
IDK, it seems like you have a lot of useful gear already, maybe you could just learn to make do with what you have? |
| Heriberto Arvesen 28.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by chadparkhill
So, what you can recommend ? I mean, about my 2-person setup sl mk2 apc20 apc40 and maybe thats it? Thanks for the input. |
| Velma Fruth 27.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by melvee
If you play disco, house, techno, minimal, or anything that's just blending tracks together, you're much better off learning to live without the crossfader. My DJing became a *lot* better and I started getting a lot more gigs once I axed the crossfader from my setup. I also have a Nocturn (foolishly, I actually went for that rather than another MIDI controller because it had a crossfader!) and I can confirm that they feel quite cheap. Not as cheap as a Korg NanoKONTROL or NanoPAD, but cheap nonetheless. If I were starting out again I believe I'd go for a UC33e or something similar. |
| Heriberto Arvesen 27.10.2010 |
Originally Posted by Rumblejazz
As I've mentioned I'm new to djing, so any advices are appreciated Honestly, never imagined Dj-act without the crossfader. Am I wrong? I have faders on sl mk2, but they don't seem to have right fell for this task.. |
| Jeffie Carlow 28.10.2010 | Skrillex simply uses a M-Audio Trigger Finger, which I have heard were really quite well. |
| Amada Brierley 28.10.2010 | True there's alot to be said for the launchpad. But if you want stuff for life shows, it just seems to be like having everything all in one would be more reliable, and it's got the replaceable(i believe?) cross fader. It's all good stuff. Just noticed you ALREADY have the launchpad, didnt notice that before. SL MK II and launchpad sounds pretty, yeah an x-session over a nocturn, less cramped. but bigger... and no automap. Maybe you should get a nocturn! hahaha, Do you really need a crossfader for live? |
| Heriberto Arvesen 27.10.2010 | Rumblejazz Big thanks for the feedback. So,is it worth it to get the apc40 instead of launchpad and nocturn? I like launchpad for it's, flexibility, user modes and stuff like this http://www.aurexmusic.com/launchpad dont know if apc40 can deal with such a things or maybe just get m-audio x-session instead of nocturn? |
| Amada Brierley 27.10.2010 | If you're already comfortable with the APC20, I'd go for the full blown APC40 to get the cross fader and Knobs, for EQ. I have the Novation Nocturn, it's almost a toy, doesn't feel very sturdy. It's ok for the money, but the cross fader starts giving false messages pretty quickly if you're not [i]really[i] delicate with it. by false messages I mean it's very hard to get it central, and some times it will slowly move the cross fader across. You also have to deal with Automap, which personally I don't like, I find it annoying you have to another piece of software interfacing between your DAW and hardware, but some people might like it. Especially if you already have the SL MKII. In that case maybe you [i]should[i] get the Nocturn, along with the Launchpad, then you can create big automap settings for all of them. I like Akai's stuff though, an APC 40 and MPK49 would be pretty dope for two people doing a live ableton set. Simple professional and rugged. Hope that helps. Rj |
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