Live and In Studio
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Traktor 3 vs Traktor Pro: First Impressions
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Earlier this month, Native Instruments released their newest iteration of their DJ product, Traktor Pro. They have traded the name “DJ Studio” from the product for “Pro” and their reasoning behind the change is that this is a new product and Pro quality. To differentiate between their fully software based solution and their DVS (Digital Vinyl Solution), they still append the name Scratch to the DVS version of Traktor Pro. So now we have two new products from Native Instruments, Traktor Pro and Traktor Scratch Pro. The only difference between the two is one is controllable with Digital Vinyl. Both are midi controllable, and both allow you to mix either “inside the box” or “outside the box” to a separate mixer. Both also allow you to record your mixes, use internal effects, filters, and EQs, and send or receive midi clock data.
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Mastering Dance Music
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If you are producing dance music and have compared your tracks to industry anthems, you may have noticed that on your first try your material doesn’t sound as “big” as your favorite producer’s last hit. Mastering is an important part of taking your tracks to the next level. You’ll find top artists like Eric Prydz, Loco Dice, Umek, Valentino Kanzanyani, Deadmau5, Dirtysouth, Robbie Rivera, Richie Hawtin, Henrik B, Adam Beyer, to name a few, have all used mastering engineers on their record labels and productions. It is safe to assume that having a second set of ears on your project is the best method for finishing pro level tracks. For years mastering engineers have been behind some of your favorite vinyl records, and now behind many digital labels as well. Many producers have also been successful in mastering their own music. The list of tools is growing for the accomplished studio musician as well as for the home producer.
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Optimizing Your Digital DJ Setup
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Written by Alex W, Wednesday 17 September, 2008
 Workflow is a very individualized, depending how your brain works and what you use more. However, there are many things that you can work on to improve your workflow. Having a streamlined workflow gives you ability to concentrate on the things that are important, reading the crowd, building a cohesive set, and adding the things that make your sets unique. Workflow is all about taking everything that you use and rely on and bring them to the forefront for easy use and reference. It is a balance of the two major parts of Traktor, hardware and software/interface setup.
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Sampling Part III: Multi-Sample Instruments
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Multisampling is when more than one digital recording (AKA "sample") is used to create a virtual instrument. Typically, these samples are assigned to different MIDI notes and or note velocities (how loud or soft the note is). If it is that simple, why did I call multisampling the Blernsball of electronic production when I mentioned it in part 1 of this series? After all, Blernsball (the fictional game in Futurama) is deliberately incomprehensible. While everything involved in creating a multisampled instrument does, in fact, make sense the process and software involved can appear impenetrably complex.
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Aural Talk
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You may be a beginning producer or a seasoned veteran, but there are days when mixing a project can be a challenge. Overtime you have probably learned why some engineers are getting paid thousands of dollars to mix records and various program materials. There is a lot of talk of ITB (In the box) or OTB (Out of the box) mixing these days. OTB is using a console or possibly a summing mixer, while ITB is using a computer and your favorite software package. You can achieve good results with either approach, but most studios still choose consoles, because of the character and depth you can achieve. Creating the right environment and being aware of your room’s character will help you increase the quality of your mixes.
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Tastyfresh.com Sound System
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 I just wanted to share a few things with you as far as things going on with Tastyfresh.com’s official generator stage. Many of you know and have seen pictures that show the great success the generator stage had in promotion of our main venue at the Cornerstone Music Festival. We pretty much had music, fellowship, lounging, and overall a thick hanging-out vibe occurring from noon to 7 pm each day of the festival. Jeremy Kadinger was the ring leader of the generator stage last year and did a phenomenal job. He set the timeslots, set up and tore down every day and brought a van down as a DJ Booth.
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The Drop: Professionalism as an Artist (Part 2)
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 In the last issue we discussed the 1st part of professionalism as an artist. We dove into the artist’s general professional behavior and his attitudes toward professionalism. I think that we laid a pretty good solid foundation to build upon. I thought it was important to do that to understand the general behavior of a successful artist. We now will move onto more meat on how to secure gigs that will help your career locally, regionally and so on as you expand your influence. We will also discuss ways to hold onto the connections you desperately need to maintain your money making ability. Hopefully we as a community are using some of the thoughts from the first part of this two part series.
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Rhythm Preparation
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Drums are the common element in all forms of electronic music. Getting your drums to beat down dance floors takes some knowledge and a little work. The kick drum and its relationship to the bass can be crucial for getting a great sounding recording. Here are a few tips and guidelines to follow to get your rhythm section sounding big and translating on a lot of different systems.
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The Drop: Professionalism as an Artist
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This article is part one of a two part mini-series on professionalism as a performing artist. We have had some discussions on the tastyfresh.com forums about goals and plans for the New Year; and it is only appropriate at this time to further dive into ways to increase our professionalism. I do believe it is not understood properly and severely underutilized as a way to increase pay, gigs, connections, and overall artist prestige. This month we will discuss general professionalism and the artist’s attitude toward it. Next month we will get in more detail about create ways to get the professional gigs you want and to hold onto the connections you desperately need to maintain making some money.
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The Drop: Handling Criticism While Playing Out
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If you have been a DJ or live performer within the EDM circle you probably are pretty used to receiving criticism. It not only comes with the territory, but rather is completely ingrained into the scene. Most non-pro DJs will release mixdisks and unreleased non-completed tracks and ask for feedback. They actually cry out for the feedback so they can get better; but when mixing live…oh boy. It is a different story.
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Ins and Outs of Mobile Lighting
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Today, mobile DJs are taking on more tasks that require more setup consideration. One thing that most mobile DJ’s need to consider in their budget or future purchases is lighting. How you are going to control them comes into consideration depending on what gigs you do and your budget.
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Introduction to Cubase
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I was asked to do a basic tutorial on how to get started in Cubase. I won't tell you that the way I work in Cubase is the best way, it’s just the way I do it. But, if you are new to electronic music production and you are starting out in Cubase, then hopefully some of the things I will show will be beneficial to you.
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Live PA’s: Insights from a Novice
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It wasn’t until about three months ago that I seriously started to consider taking my music from the studio to the stage in the form of a live performance. Until January, I didn’t start collecting the gear I would need for it. Here’s my number one issue, despite having owned a slick pioneer DJ setup for years, I never had the time or the burning desire to practice and therefore it left me as anything but a DJ. Given that and the fact that I did not own a laptop and all of my music was built from softsynths, I basically decided to write any form of performance out of my life. Then, Oneel and Fitzpatrick approached me about doing a podcast on BTUlive.com. All of the sudden, I felt as though everything had changed.
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101 Things To Do With A .WAV File Part II: The Good The Bad And The Loopy
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I hate talk radio. Actually, I like radio news and interview shows. What I hate are call-in shows where people get on the air and rant on subjects they don't really know about. Sometimes it seems like all of AM radio exists to provide a public forum for the uninformed and their ill-considered opinions.
What does this have to do with sample loops? I'm getting there. Stick with me.
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Sampling and Samplers: 101 Things To Do With A .WAV File
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When I first heard KRS-One declare, "We need to bring sampling back!" in his cover of We Will Rock You I thought, “Back? When was it gone? Wouldn’t I have noticed?”
I don’t know exactly what KRS-One meant by “sampling” in this case. Even just in the context of music the word has a range of meanings from the very specific and technical (the binary encoding performed immediately after A-D conversion) to the sweepingly broad (playing a digital recording). Without trying to tackle them all I am going to discuss several of sampling’s uses in production.
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The Setup: Build an Ableton Live DJ Template that Works for You
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 In this article I will show how I get ready to DJ with Ableton Live and also show one way to setup your DJ rig in Ableton. The great thing about Ableton Live is just because this is how one person does it, you do not have to follow my setup exactly. Ableton gives you the ability to setup your rig how ever you want. We all think differently and Ableton frees us to mix the way we think rather than being stuck with 2 or 4 channels, a cross fader, and cue points.
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A Tale Of Two Ableton Live DJ Setups
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If I said Ableton Live were like a Swiss Army Knife you might expect this article to be a laundry list of features. So, I’m not going to say that. A plethora of features doesn’t win the day. Functionality and usability do. Live is an elegantly designed audio program, built in such a clever way that it does a number of things well. Digital DJing is one of them. I will run through the basics of what Live is and how it works. Then I will describe two different setups for playing out with Live on a laptop.
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The Drop: The Money Factor
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Most people do not like to talk about money unless their day job directly involves sales or money. It is typically hard to bridge the gap from "Yes, I will play your event." to "How much are paying?" So, in this edition of "The Drop", we are going to talk about money. The Bible has lots to say about money and is clear about a worker's wage. Our obedience with money can and will effect our walk with God.
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The Drop: Help Wanted
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Written by DJ Saryn, Wednesday 15 November, 2006
As you probably have noticed, there is no REAL Drop this issue. I sent out about 15 emails and private messages to people, and either they were not interested in writing a Drop or I did not receive any response. Because of this, there will be no official Drop this time out.
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The Drop: Know Thy Enemy Part II: The Mainstream Club
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Clubs are there for profit. It follows that the most fruitful and opportunistic area to look at are where you, the DJ/promoter, can bring in a new type of music or experience and make the club money.
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