As you might have seen, we recently changed the way our customer showcase works.  We wanted a way to quickly and easily post up songs that our customers had created with a little info about their gear set up. While going through some submissions, this one from Nick Stetina aka Living Words stood out, since he wrote, performed, and recorded the whole thing himself.  He also provided a very detailed list of what he used in the process of making the song.  Needless to say we were impressed, so we asked him tell us a little about his process in detail. You can see more about Nick’s studio NS Audioworks here, and check out the track and his notes on the recording of this track below:

Front-end Gear:

DAW: Pro Tools 10

Plug-ins: Waves, McDSP, Digidesign, Native Instruments (Grig), Izotope

Monitors: JBL LSR4326P and JBL LSR2310SP

Mic Preamps: Digi002 (Black Lion Audio mod), API 3124+, PreSonus Digimax FS

Music Gear Used:

Drums: Tama Starclassic Birch/Bubinga drum set with a SJC hand-hammered snare and various A series Zildjian cymbals.

Guitar: Fender Hot Rod Deville 2X12, Fender Standard Telecaster

Bass: Fender P-Bass, Ampeg 4X10 Cab, Mark Bass Little Mark II head

Recording/Mixing Approach:

Kick: Shure Beta 52 run into a channel of an API 3124+ and blended with a Yamaha Sub-kick run into a PreSonus Digimax FS

Snare: Shure 57 top and bottom. Top mic run into the API 3124+. Bottom into the PreSonus Digimax FS.

Toms: Sennheiser E604’s run into the Digi002.

OH’s: Rodes NT5’s run into the Digi002 (Left and Right over heads).

Hats: AKG 414 run into the PreSonus Digimax FS.

Auxiliary Percussion/Djembe: AKG 414 run into the Digi002.

The choice of what mic preamps to use was simply a result of trying to prioritize. The API 3124+ only has four channels, so I chose to run the core elements: kick, snare and overheads through it. This left the toms for the Digi002 and the rest for the PreSonus Digimax FS. All of the drums have been tracked twice to give the perspective of two drummers playing, and to give it an additional bombastic feel. Once everything kicks in pretty hard in part 1, the drum part is an alternating ride/floor tom groove. The loud ride cymbal in this section had a tendency to wash everything out and created an undesirable gushing of cymbal in the floor tom tracks when the gate opened up. To combat this, I ended up recording samples of my floor tom, loading them into Drumagog and finding a nice balance between the original track and sampled track.

Guitar: Mic’d amp with Shure 57 and AKG 414 placed about 2 inches slightly off center from the speaker cone. Both mics run into the API 3124+.

Nothing too out of the ordinary actually going on with the processing of the guitars here.

Bass: Mic’d amp w/ 52 and 57. Mic placement 2 inches off of the grill, directly in the center of the speaker cone. Both mics run into the 3124+.

On this particular track, I used the Beta52 to take care of the low-end and the SM57 to take care of the rest. The Beta 52 had a LP filter on at about 500hz, while the SM57 had a HP filter at about 300hz. The two microphones were then blended to taste. Not only does the Beta52 cater nicely to the low-end, but I find it much easier to deal with getting the low-end of the bass guitar to sit better when it’s on a separate track. Once the heavier section in part 1 kicks in a distortion plug in is activated on the SM57. I found that a slight distortion on the SM57, rather than both mics, added a bite, while letting the Beta52 hold down the fort and keep the low-end clear and defined.

Keys: Old Casio keyboard that thankfully has MIDI out – Pro Tools DB-33 for organ, Ivory for piano tracks and Xpand 2 for bells/mallets.

Trumpet: – AKG 414 run into the Digi002.

Part 3 opens up with piano and kind of soaring blanket of sound. This sound is actually a 4 part trumpet harmony, in reverse, with some Guitar Rig 3 FX on it.

Joseph Colmenero

ProAudioStar.com

03/09/12

Since the late 80’s Manley Labs has been manufacturing some of the best tube equipment for studio and HiFi.  Around 1992 they wanted to put some of their best designs into solid-state gear. In order to keep the Manley Labs brand associated with mastering quality vacuum tube gear they acquired a 1940s company called Langevin (LAN-jeh-vin). J. Langevin and James Lansing created the Langevin Manufacturing Corporation after working at Western Electric. Their designs are still highly sought after today.

Manley’s own original designs and some remnants of J. Langevin and James Lansing’s have been incorporated into Manley’s line of solid-state audio equipment. Manufactured in Chino, California includes the Dual Mono Mic Preamp with EQ, All-Discrete Pultec EQP-1A, Stereo ELOP Limiter and the DVC; which is a combination of the dual pre with the ELOP.

The Langevin Dual Vocal Combo is a dual channel strip that occupies 2U rack space. It has a thick brushed-aluminum face with a French raspberry color. The unit’s features are a minimalist’s toolbox starting with two transformer-coupled Class A Preamps with 50db of gain for the microphone input about 40 for the instrument input controlled with a knob labeled “Input Attenuate”. A unique feature is how the phantom is engaged with a locking switch that needs to be pulled out; a very simple and much appreciated forethought toward microphone safety. The EQ section gives you +/-10db of Low and High shelving with selectable frequency centers at 40Hz or 80Hz and .8kHz and 12kHz bypass-able with EQ IN/EQ OUT switch. The limiter section can work in dual mono or stereo link; selectable with a singular switch between the VUs. Just three controls: Reduction, Gain and Bypass. The VU meters can be switched independently to Meter Output or Gain Reduction. Each side’s layout is mirrored except the EQ; which confused me a few time at first.

The connections on the back of the unit are XLR for Mic in Balanced Line out, TRS 1/4” for limiter in, preamp out and unbalanced line out, AC and a set of grounding terminals for chassis earth ground. The preamp out gives you a tap right after the EQ.

First I recorded a Taylor acoustic mic’d with an X/Y stereo pair of AKG 451s. The preamp didn’t offer enough gain and I had to use the limiters gain to give me an extra boost. The pre was soft in the highs but strong in the mids. Limiter was too much to use for a finger picked acoustic but when I switched over to recording electric guitar direct it made for a fun and funky squash.

Day 2, I used the DVC to record drum room and grand piano. The drum kit was a 4-piece maple Yamaha studio and for room I used a pair of U87. The preamp provided plenty of gain the EQ rolled off the high very smoothly around 8kHz. Drum rooms ran through the limiter exactly imitated what I would usually do with a pair of LA-4s. Compared to the LA-4s the sound still had a bit of edge but with a much wider bandwidth and less distortion. The stereo linking on the limiter worked perfectly for the room pair. Later in the day I put it on our Yamaha C5 using the same U87s. The sound was surprising upfront and focused. I didn’t use the limiter since it wasn’t necessary.

Bass guitar direct was possibly the best instrument match for this unit. The preamp was clean and the EQ retained the tone of the instrument while the limiter held on to the dynamics even when switching between free-stroke, picking and slap playing styles. I wasn’t thinking much about the unit when tracking bass, which for me is a good sign.

Lastly with a Vocalist, I recorded a very throaty roots reggae singer. He has a very bursting vocal style. The microphone was an ADK A 51 TC with the mic pre gain at about noon and around 2db boost @ 12kHz. Limiter was showing me around 3-5db of gain reduction on the VU. I typically use a Urei LA-3A. The limiter on the DVC worked really well to capture his blasts of dynamics. The overall sound was solid and I was very happy with the smooth EQ and the lightning fast limiter.

Pros:

Transformer-coupled preamp, vintage passive style EQ. Limiter is the same as the more expensive Manley ELOP just without the tube output stage. Great on Bass and Vocals

Cons:

No HPF. Pres may not offer enough gain for quieter mic sources.

The verdict; from what you get with the limiter alone the Langiven DVC is an incredible value. To me the ELOP alone was the key feature of this unit. The preamps have a vintage feel to them; warm overall with a solid midrange. The DVC is a solid unit for tracking vocals and direct instruments.

We check in with Passion Pit while working on their new album to see what they think of Arturia’s brand new all analog synth, the MiniBrute. Arturia lent us a demo and once we showed it to the guys with Passion Pit we knew we werent getting it back. They liked it so much they had to put it on some of the songs they were doing and even re-recorded some bass parts with it. With is robust sound and ease of use this keyboard will no doubt be a must have!

Heres what Arturia has to say about it.

“The MiniBrute is Arturia’s new analog synthesizer. With a pure analog signal path and several innovative features, it sets a new standard for what a hardware synthesizer should be. The pure analog, multi-wave oscillator combined with a huge sounding classic multi-mode filter, and wide range of modulation capabilities will bring new life into your recordings and stage performances. Add to that outstanding features like the Ultrasaw, Metalizer, Brute Factor™, Arpeggiator, LFO with sample & hold, full USB/MIDI/CV connectivity; all of which are housed in a rugged metal enclosure”

We gave DJ Anubus one of Denon’s MC3000 Traktor controllers to try out.  Check him out putting it through it’s paces on the rooftop at The End in Brooklyn.  Learn more about the MC3000 in the detailed walkthrough video below:

Happy Holidays From the guys at ProAudioStar!!

During the hustle and bustle of getting packages shipped out the stock guys at P.A.S. managed to also make a Holiday Wrap Video. Here it is! The music was produced, performed and recorded all by P.A.S. employees. Hope you like it, we had a bunch of fun making it. Ron has put us all back to work making sure all your gifts will be arriving on time! Happy Holidays from all of us here at ProAudioStar!

The Frontier Brothers are a case study in how to navigate the modern landscape of the music industry. In the golden age of the industry, the members of most bands lived near each other, if not in the same house, and were therefore subject to the industry’s whims regarding what region of the country to pay attention to at any given time. Today things are different, with many bands having members dispersed all over the various continents. The Frontier Brothers are another example of such a diaspora, with half the band residing in New York City, while the other remains in their hometown of Austin, Texas. Conveniently for the Frontier Brothers, the two cities are homes to the two largest music seminars in the US, SXSW and CMJ respectively. We caught up with the band when they were assembled in NY for the recent CMJ festival to shoot a video of their rehearsal, then had a chat about music seminars, songwriting, and the future of the music industry.

This year’s CMJ was the band’s third time at the festival, but unlike previous jaunts, on this occasion they chose to only play one showcase, focusing their efforts on one well-promoted event rather than trying to play anywhere and everywhere. As keyboardist Brett Moses put it, “there is a sort of manic tendency at new music festivals like SXSW and CMJ. Everyone is trying to play as many shows as possible. But after years of doing this, we sort of realized that you can accomplish the same things by playing one really well planned, well promoted, well done show.” The importance of making an impact at CMJ can’t be diminished, particularly when compared to the band’s other hometown festival, SXSW. Moses describes the communal nature of CMJ as such: “SXSW is glamorous, well-funded.. it’s like the Las Vegas of music festivals. It’s easy to get lost in the excitement though…CMJ is a little friendlier for a smaller band. SXSW is a much bigger event than CMJ, and yet we always have a terrific time at CMJ. CMJ is a real musicians’ conference– it’s oriented toward educating the artist. Honestly, i think it serves sort of an amazing role in the music industry. this is a world where it’s every man for himself, full of trade secrets, but at CMJ the walls come down a little bit, everyone talks to each other and shares gameplans.”

Gameplans are key to the Frontier Brothers ability to function, necessitated by the physical distance between band members. “Our band situation is quite unique, since we are bifurcated, so we have to build in a lot of extra practice time before big shows,” says Moses. He further explains that “when we have a big show, like CMJ, practicing is not only important, but a matter of dire consequence. Before this show, we hadn’t gotten to practice in months.. we’ve been a band long enough to know that we are capable of extraordinary things, but rust buildup is entirely natural.” The band isn’t sitting stagnant when away from each other though. They’ve developed a methodology for working up new music from opposite ends of the country. Guitarist/singer Marshall Galactic suggests a somewhat abstract approach, explaining that “conceptual ideas are a big part of writing process: what we want the next piece to feel like, what little tricks we’ve dreamed up.” “We usually go Concept -> Melody -> Editing -> Concept Revision” continues Moses. “The concept phases can happen from anywhere. We jam when we are together, we bake little pieces of music, and then we spend a very long time just sort of sorting out what those pieces mean. I just sent Marshall a little Ableton Live loop of a jam we did, now he will write lyrics or a concept for it, and we will take it from there.” The process is not necessarily a quick one, “we’re picky, stubborn, and patient. the song is only done once we’ve taken the time to edit, re-edit, re-edit” says Moses.

Time also consumes their actual recording process. For example, they are currently finishing up a full-length album right now, which has been in the works for the better part of a year. Specifically they’ve “recorded in three three-song sessions, we come down to austin for 2 weeks at a time and make music. As a result, the album is going to be very special and quite strange.” Moses further elaborates, “When you record a whole album in one session, it is possible that you will lose the individuality any single tracks to a larger vision. Here, we have 9 curiously independent songs nesting together.” Having the opportunity to work on their music in this manner allows them to “reign ourselves in. It’s all about how it sounds and whether we enjoy playing it.” as Galactic puts it. Moses expounds, “We’ve always enjoyed tempering weird, experimental ideas with catchy melodies and structured songwriting. That’s why we revere the editing stage. Go wild, make something insane, and then have the control, the maturity, and the foresight to keep only what’s necessary.”

The editing also allows them the time and care to strike a balance between elaborating their ideas and conveying emotions. As a result, they “have several happy sounding songs with very sad or weird messages.” As Moses puts it, “music is commonly thought of as ‘encoded emotion’. I’m not sure if that’s true, but if it is, it would seem that a great song should start with rich emotional content. I revere David Lynch as a creator, he seems to send out contradictory messages at all times and leaves the audience feeling, how should i put this, sublime.” Galactic adds that, “The ‘experiment’ is not pre-conceived, it happens naturally. But I think that ‘reading’ has some validity. It’s more likely that the bands perspectives create that push and pull. It does exist.”
Everything needs to be considered, from making records to touring to selling merch, and the band has learned over time to streamline their decision making. “We are trying to become a band of precise action.” Moses explains. “We will tour infrequently, but only play important, relevant shows… we will make few records, but write records that people care about, and we will license when we can, like everyone else. Bands expend a shocking amount of excess energy and capitol on auxiliary ventures. We certainly have. Touring the wrong town, investing incorrectly, we’re a little older and maybe wiser now, so we’re hoping to make the right choices” They also recognize this struggle to be universal in the music world. “I think bands are having to make a decision.” says Moses. “Our world is manic, excessive, HYPERBOLIC! So will we be a band that does everything all the time everywhere? Well, the fact is that is impossible since we live apart, so we have to choose this other approach. I think there is some vague idea of this “new game” that bands have been playing for the past 6 or 7 years, since the industry started to slump. So where do we fit in? Well, i suppose we are playing an entirely different game. Being apart, we are trying to do something quite experimental even for now.”
How does the album fit in to this game? There is a lot of debate regarding how to handle albums in the modern age, whether to treat them as sellable product or free promotion. Given the amount of attention the band gives to the music itself, they are almost ambivalent to the function of the album itself. Not that they aren’t crafting art in their album, as bassist Nick LaGrasta points out, “since the industry is where it’s at now i think it raises the bar for how good you have to be live to get fans to want to come back and see you over and over.” Moses adds that it, “goes back to the fanbase. What do your fans want? Do they like to go out, socialize, dance at your shows? Do they want to throw your record on their radio? You will have to excel in both areas if you want to achieve maximum success with your fans.” “Performance and Recorded music are almost two different arts,” Galactic suggests, with LaGrasta concurring, “they are absolutley both art but now working together more than ever.” In the case of the album though, you have art that requires significant investments of time, energy and money. The old thinking was that the album represented the apex of a band’s achievement, designed to give the listener a lasting impression of the band as artists. To that end, album sales and revenues supported the artists in creating their works, but in today’s reality, very few people pay for recorded music anymore. Moses approaches the issue with great pragmatism, explaining that, “the album is going to fill two roles, it’s both a source of income and a promotional vessel. Look, you have three types of fans (and the distinctions are not always so clear cut). There are fans who will see shows, fans who prefer to listen to your music on their own, and fans who will never pay you a cent either way. You sort of need all three, because the last category still contributes to your buzz [in that] the freeloaders will introduce your music to the concertgoers and album-buyers.”
The Frontier Brothers have a good grasp on their art, and how it functions as a business, without sacrificing one for the other. Despite living miles apart from each other, the band members have found ways to dedicate their energy towards making the band work, and have devised a number of innovative and efficient methods of functioning. While none of us may have it all figured out yet, this band is at the very least trying to do things differently, and at the most, succeeding.

In recent months, I have been faced with a predicament. It’s a situation familiar to any hard rock guitarist who lives in a cramped city, but loves the power of the high-gain, 50 or 100 watt half stack. On the one hand, nothing feels and sounds better than the rush of volume and tone cranking out of 4 12-inch speakers at blistering levels. On the other hand, if you rely on public transit to take you to the gig, packing up your favorite head and 4×12 are not an option. I needed to find a solution to this dilemma, and found it in the form of the newest head from Hughes & Kettner: the TubeMeister.

The TubeMeister is the latest in the recent trend towards lower wattage heads, however this amp seems to be designed with the hard rock/classic metal guitarist in mind. It’s an 18-watt all-tube head that provides tones similar to those of some classic higher wattage monsters. I decided to take it for a test drive for a weekend of rehearsals, gigs, and recording. Simply put, I was far from disappointed.

OVERVIEW

Hughes and Kettner have always been at the forefront of mixing modern amp technology and classic tone. In terms of design, they are very in tune with the needs of working guitarists. The TubeMeister represents that long-running philosophy, at a lower volume than we’ve come to expect from H&K. Physically, this amp is very portable. It weighs about 15 lbs, and comes with a sturdy bag that includes a pocket big enough for a few cables and 1 or 2 small pedals. It sure beats carrying your 100-watt Marshall on the subway. Physical qualities aside, the most impressive thing about this amp is the tone, and its set of features.

The amp is powered by 2 EL84 power tubes, as well as 2 12AX7 preamp tubes. It also has particularly large transformers, considering the chassis’ compat size. This may be why this thing is so damn loud!

The front panel is very simple. It includes 2 channels (Clean and Lead), and a Lead Boost that kicks things up to searing gain. The channels and boost can be controlled with an optional FS-2 footswitch. Each channel has its own Gain and Master knobs, and are run through a 3-band EQ. Nothing fancy here.

The rear panel is where the Hughes and Kettner design ingenuity creeps in. It features an effects loop, a built-in power attenuator, and H&K’s famous Red Box DI Out which allows for direct output to a PA or recording setup. The attenuator allows you to switch between 18 watts, 5 watts, 1 watt, and Speaker Off Mode. In other words, you can get cranked tone out of it without having to shake the walls of your apartment building. But enough about the specs. Let’s rock this thing.

LIVE

The night I took this out of the ProAudioStar offices, I went straight to rehearsal with my band Grande. At most venues and studios in NYC, there is usually a house cabinet. I plugged it into a random no-name 4×12 they had at Rivington Studios, and let her warm up. The first thing I noticed was how cool the TubeMeister looks. Like its larger siblings, the Duotones and TriAmps, the TubeMeister illuminates bright blue when the power is turned on. It doesn’t make it sound any better, but who cares? It never hurts when your gear looks totally sweet.

Then it was onto playing. The first thing that struck me was just how loud this thing was. Granted, it’s not as loud as my 100-watt Ampeg VL-1002, but it still moved some air. I checked out the Clean channel first, with the Master up and the Gain down. It was pretty clean, but you need to get the gain up a bit higher if you want some real volume. When you do crank the gain, you start to get a tone reminiscent of a Hiwatt or a Plexi. I put my BYOC Shredder pedal in front of it, and I was off in to Randy Rhoads territory.

The Lead Channel is really where the TubeMeister stands out. A lot of similar low-powered heads lack the kind of depth and chunk that metalheads like me ache for, most of them offering a more vintage, bluesy tone. While this amp does that type of tone very well, it also excels in higher gain situations. My first instinct was to crank the Master and Gain to see how gnarly it got. At that setting, you get a great saturated tone, where individual chord notes rings out, but the chord as a whole has great depth. I would rate its gain level as similar to a Marshall JCM800, but with an overall thicker tonality. Pull back on the Gain, and you get straight up 70’s style hard rock tones a la Kiss, AC/DC, Bad Company, etc. Turn on the Lead Boost, and you get tons of saturation, more suitable for modern styles of metal and lead guitar. It adds a bit of mid-boost, and enough gain and sustain to please anyone who has a penchant for shredding.

The following night, I brought the Tubemeister to my gig at the Delancy in NYC’s Lower East Side. I was playing in the house band, covering Ozzy Osbourne tunes. I got on stage, plugged the TubeMeister into the house Peavey 4×12, and started dialing in. It wasn’t long after that the sound guy asked me to turn down! He thought I was going to be too loud for the 150-capacity club. That may have been the highest compliment for this amp. While 18 watts may not sound like that much power, this thing still manages to put out some serious decibels. If you are playing at a venue where you are going to be miked up, the TubeMeister is plenty loud for on-stage monitoring as well as reaching the crowd.  Depending on the size of the venue, you may not need a mic at all. Did I mention it looks super sweet?  Anyway, the gig went well, my Les Paul sounded great through its new friend, and all was well. After the gig, I packed the head back in the bag, and took a cab home. It felt nice being able to have everything I needed (guitar, pedals, cables, strap, etc.) in two light bags. I could get used to this.

RECORDING

So for me, the deal maker is the inclusion of the Red Box DI Out. As such, I was anxious the morning after the Ozzy set to check out this feature. The Red Box is an industry standard DI made specially for guitar. Aside from giving you a balanced XLR output, it also emulates a speaker cabinet. While there are many awesome software amp simulators these days, nothing sounds better than running your guitar through an all-tube signal path. The feel and tone are second to none.

I have included some various audio samples below, using my Les Paul Custom with different amp settings and pickups. I ran the Red Box into my Focusrite Saffire 6 USB, into Logic 9. (Please note that if you are going to use the direct out without having a cabinet plugged in, you will have to put the Power Attenuator to “Speaker Off” mode. Otherwise, you run the danger of blowing the output transformer, and therefore not being able to make beautiful riffage.) I didn’t use any pedals or plug-ins, as I wanted to display the tonality of the TubeMeister, as well as the coolness of the Red Box. My only complaint was that at higher Gain and Master settings, the Pad on my Saffire was still not enough to keep it from clipping at times. When that happened, I just turned the Master down, and still managed to get some cool tones. Check them out.

Soss’s Tubemeister Demos by ProAudioStar

CONCLUSION

Hughes and Kettner have done it again. They never seem to fail when it comes to knowing what the gigging guitarist looks for in an amp, and the TubeMeister is an excellent example. If you’re like me, and love huge wall-of-sound type of guitar tone, the TubeMeister definitely does the trick. On top of that, it’s the perfect solution for any guitarist who needs a big sound from a portable package. If you want to get one for yourself, hit us up at ProAudioStar.com. Until next time, PLAY LOUD!!!!

Novation Twitch Video| DJ Anubus Routine

PROAUDIOSTAR & NOVATION Present The TWITCH.

From the early days of CDJs, right up to the current state of digital DJ controllers, manufacturers have been trying to emulate the functionality of the turntable with jog wheels. But, a jog wheel is not a turntable and will never feel or function exactly like the genuine article.  So, the sight of two, tiny, “Hey you can scratch on me!  But, not really.” screaming, no motor having, circular pieces of emptiness generally give me the feeling that I’ve been duped.  Enter the Novation Twitch.

Wait… what? No jog wheels!  Call me crazy but, for this turntablist, the lack of two plastic little wheels really opened the floodgates, filling that void of betrayal with genuine excitement and curiosity.  With no jog wheels in sight, there was no longer the desire to emulate my performance as if I had turntables.  Instead, my intrigue grew, creative wheels started spinning and my need to touch every button possible came alive as I pondered new ways to perform as a DJ.

The Twitch works with both Serato’s Itch and Native Instrument’s Traktor right out of the box.  However, Novation includes Itch right in the package so, let’s start there.  For those of you that do not know, Itch is Serato’s digital DJ solution that utilizes beat grids and all the functionality of Scratch Live to bring the Serato experience to controller based DJing.

The first benefit of the Twitch is revealed upon first set-up.  “Set-up” being the key phrase here.  One USB, a pair of RCA’s and I’m Djing.  That’s it!  The buttons, faders and knobs are exactly where you’d expect them and are clearly labeled, covering nearly every function of the Itch program.  Some functions require a double button press, which can be a bit confusing at first but, after a few minutes it’s fairly obvious what does what.  The result of this intuitive layout is less time in front of the computer and more time actually DJing.  I looked at my laptop only a couple times in the first fifteen minutes or so of use and, that was only to choose tracks.  It was an incredibly freeing feeling to know what my effects, levels and assignments were all doing without so much as a glance at my laptop.  As digital DJs we all know how easy it is to get lost in the computer screen.  So, to have a clear, immediate program feedback right in front of you is a huge step towards DJs re-engaging the crowd.

The most exciting feature, unique to Itch, is the “Slicer.”  Novation says: “The ‘Slicer Mode’ on TWITCH uses ITCH’s powerful ‘Beatgrids’ system to chop sections of your track into eight equal slices.”  These slices are represented by the eight sample pads. Each pad lights up in sequence as the track goes on, showing you exactly what pad represents what segment.  Pressing a pad will cause its respective “slice” to repeat.  So, if you hit the pad that is lit up when you hear a kick drum, that kick will repeat until you release it and the track will continue playing in position as if you never hit it.  Basically the pads act as eight separate “loop roll” triggers. This makes for a lot of fun and a great new way to be creative, composing and remixing on the fly.  My only problem was that I found it a bit hard to be consistent in my use of the Slicer right off the bat.  I think, as with anything, a little practice will remedy this.  Just be prepared for mild sensory overload during that first session.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the Twitch is the touch strip.  After a moment of fiddling with it you will find that the touch strip allows you to change the speed of a track, rewind or fast-forward it or skip to a new point in the song, all with a fair amount of accuracy. I also found the strip to be a very organic source of creativity.  The flick of a finger gets you an incredibly natural rewind and a slow pull can result in a very smooth pitch bend.  Combine these with some quick cueing, looping or effects and the possibilities are immeasurable.  But wait, there’s more!  For the Slicer, loop and loop roll functions the touch strip acts as a way to adjust the desired looping area and length each trigger pad represents.  By using a two-finger pinch or spread, like how you would zoom on a touch screen, you can decide the general scale of the loops.  For example, when pinching your fingers all the way together the smallest loop scale is selected.  This means pressing pad 8 will give you a two bar loop, pad 7 a one bar loop, pad 6 a half bar and so on down to pad 1 which is nearly nothing at 1/64^th.  On the largest setting pad 1 becomes an eight bar loop, pad 2 a sixteen bar loop and on and on.  Get it?  Good.  When you’re not pinching the Twitch’s cheeks you will find a stationary light bar on the strip. Dragging this to the left or right will also adjust the looping period.  Using either, or a combination of these methods you will be able to make adjustments before, after or while triggering loops.  This takes some getting use to but, again, with some practice, becomes another great way to keep you off of your laptop and into your performance.

All in all my experience with Twitch and Itch was a lot of fun and very easy going.  This was my first time on this controller and Itch and I was up and running, comfortably, in a matter of minutes.  Features like the Slicer and the ability to assign effects to the volume faders (the repeater on a fader is a thing of beauty) really took this controller/ program combo above and beyond expectations.

As a recent convert to Traktor I couldn’t wait to see what the Twitch had to offer this powerful program.  As with Itch, it simply works right out of the box.  With an intuitive layout, assisted by a provided plastic overlay, all of Traktor’s most important features are easily accessible, making for another quick start-up.  However, the functionality of the effects section leaves something to be desired. The effects section is designated to a bank of eight small buttons and only four knobs. This results in only being able to have full control over one effect at a time so, tweaking out two effects at once is not an option.  On top of that, the effects presets seem to only function if you have your effects engines set to a single effect, as opposed to the three per engine possible.  But, with solid construction, consistent program feed back and enough knobs, buttons (eight pads for all eight cue points is a serious high point) and faders for a fluid performance, the Itch still stands out as a front runner in the world of Traktor controller options

While meant as an all in one Djing solution, I found the Twitch’s true strength in simply being a controller.  As most DJs these days use a supplemental MIDI controller, these controllers are usually meant for production programs.  That means reprogramming these controllers to fit a DJ’s needs.  This leaves many struggling to find a comfortable layout and, in the end, having to forfeit many desired functions.  The Twitch surpasses these controllers simply in that it is made for DJing.  Weather you’re setting it up to control Serato Scratch Live or as a way to gain control over decks C and D in Traktor, the two clear-cut sides and a multitude of pads and knobs tailored to a DJing makes the Twitch a comfortable companion.

Use it as a sound card, use it as a controller, use it for whatever you want! Novation really hit a home run with this one and for the price you really couldn’t ask for more.

Pros- Tons of Pads and Knobs, Quick Set-up, Size, Construction, Price.

Cons- Faders are mediocre, Poor Traktor FX layout.

-DJ ANUBUS

Erik Deutsch is a local pro and ProAudioStar customer, you may have seen him with Charlie Hunter, Shooter Jennings, Norah Jones, Roseanne Cash, Erin McKeown, or maybe even back in the day with Fat Mama. He also leads his own band, and just had them in the studio with us to film a demo for the Korg SV1 73. Here’s a little about Erik:

It’s easy to imagine that Erik Deutsch lives inside a piano. His relationship with the instrument goes far beyond artist’s tool and well in to the territory of extension-of-one’s-self. No surprise then that some of the worlds most demanding musicians and performers request Erik for their keyboard accompaniment. If they’re lucky, they can get him in the rare moments when he’s not leading his own group through a truly modernist take on the jazz tradition. Having first come to prominence as a member of the seminal free-jazz collective Fat Mama (winner of the Jammy Award for Best New Groove), Erik has taken his talents across the country to play with some of the finest musicians available. Based now in Brooklyn, NY, he splits his time between his own jazz projects and backing the best and brightest in the east-coast singer-songwriter scene. He holds the distinction of being the only keyboardist ever to tour regularly with 8-string guitar master Charlie Hunter, and has been booked for the entirety of Shooter Jennings upcoming tour (in addition to playing all the keyboards on Shooter’s upcoming album). He’s currently putting the finishing touches on his 4th album as a bandleader, an electric psychedelic adventure in rock-tinged jazz.

Check out Erik and his trio killing the tune “Funky Digits” from his upcoming album “Demonio Teclado”, and Erik explaining the finer points of the SV1 73.

This Home Lab Life episode, featuring audio magician Taylor Kuffner, was shot back in the early Spring of 2011. Taylor is a frequent customer of ProAudioStar usually coming into to buy large speakers for his local rental company. We soon learned that besides hooking up large sound systems for underground parties throughout Brooklyn he is probably best known as the creator of the Gamelatron, a large robotized Gamelan that operates as a large, complex, MIDI instrument. He uses the same technology used in Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion, that was developed by Eric Singer and the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR). Using Ableton he composes vast scores that tell the myriad instruments in his Gamelan when and how to trigger. Of course, having pushed the limits of the Ableton software, its easy to understand why he is a popular instructor at DubSpot, a well known NYC based electronic music production school, and a featured artist on Ableton’s website.

We were very excited when he invited us into his large studio in nearby Greenpoint for an Episode of Home Lab Life. In addition to learning about his Gamelatron, and his experiences with instrument makers in Indonesia, we also learned about other projects he is involved with that include multi-point sound installations. We also got into a discussion about the importance of the live, physical experience of music, and how creating unique hard to replicate performances is perhaps the future of music. Note: Just a few days before this post the Gamelatron was featured in the main temple at Burning Man where it ran for 7 days with 1,000s of people enjoying its mystical sounds. Check out the Episode below. And for those interested we have also made the entire visit with Taylor available to listen to via the soundcloud player below as well. Enjoy…..

EXTENDED INTERVIEW:
Taylor Kuffner – Home Lab Life Ep. 6 Extended Interview by ProAudioStar

The Kontrol S2 has just been announced by Native Instruments, and will ship in early October. The Kontrol S2 features “2.1″ decks for mixing, which means that decks C and D in Traktor can be used for samples and loops instead of full fledged deck control. This allows for layering of added sounds over basic two track mixing.

The form factor of the Kontrol S2 shaves off 2 inches from the width and length of the Kontrol S4 (Kontrol S4: 19.7″ x 12.7″; Kontrol S2: 17.5″ x 11.5″) which makes it only slightly less compact. But it will definitely make it an easier fit to the Mono 365 Gig Bag, some saved space is always welcomed for the DJ who brings their own controller to the gig. They’ve managed to cut down the size on the Kontrol S2 without sacrificing the spacious layout that the Kontrol S4 is known for. For comparison, the recently released Novation Twitch is just over a foot long at 13.8″ x 10.8″, so its still about 4″ inches shy from that form factor.

So the other question is what is really missing from the Kontrol S2 that is featured in the S4…..

• No dedicated filter knobs: instead filter has to be used a regular effect
• Limited Cue Points: Instead of having 8 buttons to play with for cue points, the Kontrol S2 is limited to half that, at 4 cue points.
• No Kontrol of effect units 3 and 4: You will need to route your effect decks appropriately
• Dedicated Booth Volume Control: Switch between controlling the levels for Booth and Main Outputs

The price on the Kontrol S2 will be set at 599.99 making it $300 less then the Kontrol S4. That is a substantial price difference for someone saving up their hard earned coin. The price difference is enough to cover a pair of KRK Rokit 5 Monitors, or a pair of high quality headphones like the TMA-1 and a travel case. It’s nice to see Native Instruments thoughtfully expanding their controller options. Especially, since many Djs are not looking to spend an evening of DJing with tons of crazy effects and loops jumping off all the time. It looks like the Kontrol S2 is an elegant compromise of a straight forward easy to use controller, with some good advanced features waiting in the wings to use when necessary.

Stay tuned on our blog and Faceboook account for more updates on this controller, we can’t wait to get our hands on this for a more in depth review and some video demos.

Native Instruments Kontrol S2 Page on NI.com

The CAD Special: The Equitek E100s and The M179

When Ghostdad first told me that Pro Audio Star was going to start carrying CAD microphones, I knew right off the bat that I wanted to get in on the action. Over the years, CAD has built their reputation on price-performance ratio, and a CAD mic is often my first recommendation for the aspiring home studio owner. In fact, the CAD Trion 7000 was the first ribbon mic I ever owned. Now, the m179 is a mic that’s been near and dear to my heart for a while. As far as I’m concerned, if you have $200 to spend, and you need one mic that can do it all, you go and buy an m179. It’s really that simple. Yes, there are a lot of versatile microphones in the mid hundred dollar range, and a lot of them are quite good. Yes, you could probably do better with something like the Blue Spark or CAD’s own Trion 8000 if you were looking specifically for a vocal mic. For everything else, the m179 would be my first reach, and frankly, cost being no object, it almost always is my first reach for toms, and a strong contendor for overheads, acoustic guitar and smaller jazz kicks. Sorry for ruining the suspense in the first paragraph, but point blank, it’s a fantastic microphone.

The E100s is a little different though. At $500, it’s the flagship (price wise) of the CAD lineup, and its concept and sound signature are fairly unique. Unlike most other CAD mics (and most other mics in the price bracket period), the E100s is hand-made in the U.S. It also features a super-cardiod pickup pattern and solid nickel diaphragm (as opposed to the cardiod pickup pattern and gold-sputtered mylar foil diaphragms most commonly found in condenser microphones). Most strikingly, it has the lowest self-noise of any microphone on the planet (3.7dba!) and extremely good off-axis rejection. The real question though is, how does it sound? Well, quite unlike any other microphone in my locker frankly. And in a really cool way.

Design and Build Quality

Let’s start with the m179. It was an incredibly cool design when it came out, and it’s still a cool design today. For starters, it’s a lot smaller than you think it is. When you first open up the box you’ll think you got the miniature version. Especially given it’s strengths, this is a fantastic thing. Because it’s a side address design, and because of the flexibility of placement its shock mount enables, it’s a very easy mic to slip into tight spots on a drum kit (where it almost always excels) or right on the sweet-spot for an acoustic guitar without getting in the talent’s way. It’s a Chinese built microphone, but it’s a very well executed one: I’ve had my pair for the better part of half a decade now (though I picked up a new one for this review just to make sure the samples came from a recently produced iteration), and they look and sound just as good today as they did straight out of the box.

In my mind, however, the defining feature of the m179 is the infinitely variable pickup pattern. Yes, infinitely variable. There’s a rotary dial on the front of the capsule that you can freely swing from figure-of-eight to cardiod to omni, and every possible incarnation of super-cardiod or hyper-cardiod in between (with clearly marked indicators along the way for all of the primary pickup patterns). This is, frankly, awesome. For sound quality reasons I’ll get into in a bit, the m179 is not usually a go-to mic for me on vocals, but it certainly doesn’t sound bad, and the ability to dial in presence or add a bit of air and room at any increment you want is invaluable. For toms and kicks, just set to hyper-cardiod and go; you’ll get a fat, complete sound and really great sounding bleed. The m179s even work well as overheads. There’s almost nothing you can’t make an m179 sound good on; pound for pound it’s one of the best workhorse mics on the market before you even consider its staggeringly low asking price.

The E100s is something special though. Before anything else, it’s worth mentioning that the Made in the USA tag shows; it’s built like an M1 tank. It’s a beautiful microphone frankly, with styling reminiscent of the classic RCA designs, replete with a unique take on the classic yoke shocks. The shock mount is compact and effective, the case is designed to accommodate the mic with the shock still on so you never have to worry about wasting time on setup, and its sleek design takes up minimal space for close micing (and I highly recommend giving it a try on a snare in that vein). There’s a 10db pad and a high pass filter on the front thrown in for good measure, and the pickup pattern is fixed in super-cardiod (a tighter front pattern than cardiod, with a little bit of backside pickup, almost like a shrunken figure-of-eight). Combined with its vanishingly low self-noise, this makes it a fantastic choice for a room mic, picking up just a touch of the room itself while maintaining a tight focus on the direct source.

Sound Quality, Tone and Versatility

The m179 is not the most neutral mic in my cabinet, but it’s pretty close. There’s a little peakiness in the upper mids and trebles, and you’ll definitely get a touch of sparkle, but all in all it’s just a very even keel, natural sounding microphone – one of the least hyped signatures I can think of. If you place it well and set the pickup pattern appropriately it will give you a natural, realistic sound on nearly anything you put it up on. For sources that need that hype, it can sound a little flat, because it’s not your typical shiny, sparkly mic the way a lot of lower-priced condensers are these days. For me though, that’s a really good thing – I’d rather be EQing in a touch of top-end hype in post than trying to EQ hype I don’t want out. And the variable pickup pattern really lets you tailor the focus exactly the way you want for the given setting. It’ll give you an airy, roomy sound in omni, a tight, focused sound in cardiod and everything in between, just as you’d expect it to. For a pickup pattern that truly is infinitely variable, it’s surprisingly precise, and you can massage it into giving you a very full sound out of a somewhat thin source if you tinker with it a bit. It’s also a very quiet mic in it’s own right – 11 dba self-noise is nothing to scoff at, and certainly nothing you’re going to pick up in most applications. If I like the sound I’m hearing in the room more or less the way it is, I can always count on the m179 to capture it.

The E100s is a different beast altogether. First off, it’s absurdly quiet: throw it up 10 feet away from a kit or a string section, and it just sits in this inky blackness, completely disappearing from the room. Combined with its inherently bright signature, it lends a sense of air and detail that’s wonderful. The super-cardiod pattern is very tight too; off-axis rejection is excellent. Bass response is defined and solid; great extension and transient impact. It lacks that same pristine detail retrieval in the mids and trebles, but it’s so quiet that you end up with a signature that’s utterly perfect strings or woodwind, as well as many vocals and darker guitars. And of course, it’s the ideal mic for anything you need to distance mic. It’s so quiet, and so tight in terms of its pattern, that you can get a real sense of space without picking up too much room or having to dredge up too much floor. In most setups, you’ll pickup pre or converter noise before you hear the mic.

It’s definitely a bright mic, with a classic 10-15k rise, and in the wrong setup it can be painfully so. In trying to give it a reach on a slide guitarist, for example, it brought up way too much fret squeel, and sounded obtrusively harsh. On other setups, however, the hype is perfect. I went back to it for the same guitarist doing finger-picked blues on a fairly dark Martin, and it sounded fantastic; detailed and present. I’ve actually posted a little session I did with the same guitarist using the M179 on the guitar body, and the E100s on the vocals (the only mic he’ll let me use now, and he tried out all my favorite tube mics too), so you’ll get a chance to hear a complete session done with just these two microphones.

My tastes for singers generally pull me to one of the tube mics in my cabinet, usually the Peluso 2247se for male singers and the MXL Genesis or Lauten Oceanus for female singers. I was not envisioning using the E100s as a vocal mic, but it really works wonders on a lot of male voices. Its presence, low end detail and incredible capacity to absorb abuse really make it a fantastic reach for country and indie-rock singers.

Value

The m179 is the bargain of the century. It’s a mic I want within reach at all times, and I have mics that cost thousands of dollars more in my cabinet. I’ve used in countless situations, for dozens of applications, even on big-budget recordings where far more expensive microphones are available to me. Truly and honestly, if I could only have one mic for everything I do, and I couldn’t spend more than $200, the m179 would undoubtedly be it. If I had $400 to spend I might just buy two. Pound for pound I think this is the most versatile mic you can buy for the price, which might just make it the best mic you can buy for the price too.

The E100s, on the other hand, represents a different kind of value. There’s very little else out there like this anywhere close to its price range, so it’s sort of comparing apples and oranges. Frankly, if I needed a single mic to do everything, I’d rather have the m179. That said, it’s an utterly invaluable addition to my locker. There are things the E100s can do that no other mic I’ve tried can, and its sound signature is quite unlike any other microphone in my locker. It manages to sound bright and present and round and full all at the same time, and I can’t help but keep coming back to how damn quiet it is. Put simply, there’s half a dozen singers I work with at this point who have threatened to throw tantrums when I try out different mics. It’s not all things to all sources, but it’s unlike any other mic in my locker, and it excels in areas that many of my other mics fall flat, which makes it utterly invaluable to me.

The Final Verdict

These two mics really represent the two faces of what CAD does, and can do. For me, the m179 is the quintessential CAD mic: an inexpensive, rugged workhorse that always does its job well. I’ve loved my m179s for years, and doing this review has only reinforced in my mind just how I often I still use them. The E100s, on the other hand, represents a different (and incredibly positive) kind of vision for CAD. It’s not all things to all people, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s a truly unique concept, and it’s incredibly well executed. Frankly, I wish there were more microphones out there with this kind of design vision and purpose. The E100s is a mic I’ve been intrigued by for a very long time, and everything I was hoping it would do, it does. It’s an invaluable addition to my stable that solves a huge number of problems for me, and I’m incredibly glad to have it. There have been CAD mics I’ve worked with in the past that weren’t for me, but these two are both big winners in their own ways.

But don’t take my word for it. My good friend Tom Larsen, a phenomenal young guitarist and singer I regularly work with (you can learn more about him at www.tuckerandlarsenjazz.com), was generous enough to let me post one of the raw takes we did in a recent session featuring these two microphones exclusively. The song, “Three Hours Past Midnite” is an original blues composition of his, and features the m179 on the guitar, and the E100s on vocals. I’ve panned the m179 hard to the left, and the E100s hard to the right to help differentiate the signatures a little bit, but apart from that, the take is raw and unedited. The gain staging and peakiness on the vox aside (which is largely a function of the fact that it still needs some compression), I think you’ll agree that it sounds mighty close to a finished product as is.

CAD M179 and E100S Microphone Review by ProAudioStar

Dev is a professional jazz-fusion composer, singer, sound engineer and front man for the band Wire Spoke Wheels, living and operating in beautiful Bushwick, Brooklyn. He’s also co-founder and co-chairman of Frost Audio, a small Michigan based audio company specializing in high performance cables and loudspeakers, all hand-made in the USA. He’ll be releasing his next studio album, Tears of Men, in early 2011. To learn more or hear his work, check out www.devavidon.com

Novation nos presenta su más reciente controlador digital para DJ “TWITCH”,  introduciendo una nueva forma para mezclar  e interactuar con efectos, haciéndolo diferente a todo lo existente en el mercado.

Diseñado específicamente para la música digital, este controlador deja a un lado los JOGS tradicionales e innova con una revolucionaria superficie llamada TOUCHSTRIP para ubicarnos de manera rápida en algún punto de la canción o bien navegar en ella. Con esto se redujo el tamaño y precio de manera razonable en comparación con los otros controladores del mercado.

Incluye ITCHO de Serato, pero también puede usarse con Traktor en su modalidad de 2 o 4 reproductores y con el famoso LIVE.

Lo técnico:

- Tarjeta de sonido de alta calidad

- Entrada auxiliar amplificada

- Entrada de micrófono

- Salidas de audio balanceadas

- 350×27x65mm

Lo bueno:

- Ligero, resistente y portátil

-  Superficie de aluminio

- 8 botones de buen tamaño

- Controles de navegación

- Hot Cue, Auto Loop, Loop Roll

Lo malo:

- La iluminación de los botones en lugares con mucha luz.

- Los controles de volumen y croosfader  dan la sensación de poco peso

Lo de onda:

- Touchstrip (nueva tecnología que suplementa a los JOGS tradicionales)

- El modo SLICER (divide una canción en pequeños segmentos que se asignan a 8 botones independientes)

- Fader con efectos independientes por canal

Adiós JOGS, bienvenido TOUCHSTRIP

La primera diferencia que salta a la vista es la ausencia de JOGS. Novation implementó en su lugar, una nueva tecnología llamada TOUCHSTRIP, muy parecida a un touchpad de laptop. Con él, podemos adelantar, retrasar o pasar de un punto a otro en una canción de manera rápida en el modo DROP y en modo SWIPE interactuando como si fuera una tornamesa tradicional.

Esta nueva forma de interacción creará sin duda, un nuevo paradigma en el mundo del Djing.

Trozando la canción con la modalidad SLICER

Originalmente el nombre para este controlador sería SLICER, debido a que es su principal y más innovadora característica. En modo SLICER, podemos seleccionar una parte de una canción y trozarla en 8 pedazos que se asignan cada uno a un botón independiente, todo esto de manera automática y al vuelo. Estos pequeños segmentos pueden variar de longitud según nuestras necesidades.

Por si fuera poco…

Twitch cuenta con 3 modalidades más de performance.

AUTO LOOP, que dependiendo cual de los 8 botones disponibles oprimamos, marcará un loop a diferente beat 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, etc., de manera exacta y permanecerá en ese ciclo hasta oprimir nuevamente el botón.

LOOP ROLL, funciona de manera similar, sólo que la canción seguirá su curso mientras suena el loop, de manera que al oprimir nuevamente el botón la canción se encontrara en otra posición.

8 HOT CUES asignables a cualquier posición de la canción, pudiendo samplear diferentes partes o bien brincar de un punto a otro con facilidad.

Manipulación de efectos sin igual

En la parte superior izquierda se encuentra la zona de efectos del MASTER, consta de 2 perillas para modificar parámetros independientes, botones para seleccionar el efecto y canal a ser asignado.

Además de esto, cada canal cuenta con su propia zona de efecto, con la modalidad de poder ser controlado combinando el crossfader y el control de volumen. Esta forma de interacción diferente e innovadora nos permite tener dos efectos diferentes en tiempo real sobre un mismo canal, creando sonidos sin igual.

Lo último y nos vamos…

Si estás en busca de nuevas tecnologías para llevar tu set a otro nivel, esta será una herramienta muy conveniente. Con Twitch no se trata solamente de empatar dos canciones, podemos interactuar en tiempo real con la canción, creando live sets espectaculares, con la ayuda de samples, loops, puntos CUE, acapellas, efectos, etc.

Si eres amante de LIVE, encontrarás en este controlador, todo lo que siempre quisiste para presentarte en vivo, botones rápidos y de buen tamaño, 20 perillas, 2 superficies touchstrip y 4 modos de reproducción muy prácticos.

Todo un nuevo mundo de posibilidades se abren con este tipo de tecnologías que innovan y crean nuevas formas de  interactuar con la música y poner el mundo a bailar. Con Twitch nuestro único límite será nuestra imaginación.

By DJ MEKETREFE  #keepitmixing

Mis colegas de ProAudioStar me prestaron por unos días,el famoso y apreciado controlador de DJ Denon DN-MC6000 y me encantó. Es compacto, rígido, practico, preciso y cuenta con un arsenal para ser disparado en cada fiesta.

Me impresionó lo fácil que fue ponerlo en marcha, solamente abrí la caja, tome el controlador, le conecté un cable de corriente, un cable USB directo a mi PC, instale el Virtual DJ (que viene incluido). En no más de 5 minutos ya estaba mezclando dos canciones y se armó el party.

¿Recuerdan esas navajas suizas todo en uno? Pues el DN-MC6000 es la navaja suiza de los DJ`s. Con él, puedes tener control total de todas las opciones que brindadas por Virtual DJ o TRAKTOR, como loops, cues, efectos, ecualizador, pitch, etc.

No se necesita ser un experto ni tener horas de ensayo para empezar a empatar el beat de dos canciones. Este controlador tiene botón SYNC que se encarga automáticamente de poner las canciones al mismo tiempo y así poder empezar a mezclar en tan sólo un segundo, sin tener experiencia alguna. Esto nos permite concentrarnos en la selección de canciones, efectos y en pensar cual será la siguiente canción para hacer mover los esqueletos.

Regularmente, yo mezclo con tornas y requiero de un mixer que sea cómodo para viajar, este Denon cumple con eso y más. Es un mixer de 4 canales y ecualizador de 3 bandas y su crossfader es cómodo tanto para hacer transiciones de video o bien para darle un poco al scratch.Algo que se me ocurrió al estar jugando con esta belleza, es que, gracias a que nos permite mezclar video y cuenta con dos entradas de micrófono, se podría utilizar fácilmente como karaoke portátil con una calidad de audio muy respetable. Es una excelente opción para aquellos DJ/VJ`s que les gusta estar en continuo movimiento, de fiesta en fiesta y que saben que lo importante es hacer vibrar a la gente y no tener mil aparatos apilados que muchas veces no se usan.

By DJ Meketrefe #keepitmixing

Siempre quise encontrar un controlador de buen tamaño y mucha calidad, que pudiera utilizar en presentaciones y no solamente de forma casera o para diversión; que sobreviviera a viajes y largas jornadas de trabajo, a climas extremos o al toqueteo de la gente, para poder así, adentrarme en un mundo totalmente diferente y tecnológico. Había tenido la oportunidad de usar prácticamente todo lo existente en el mercado, pero no fue hasta que ProAudioStar me prestó un Pionner-T1 que sentí podía hacer mis mezclas, en el ámbito profesional, de manera eficiente y precisa.

De entrada, podemos notar la calidad del producto. Pionner no escatimó en ningún detalle: los acabados son perfectos, hecho con el mejor material posible, buen tamaño y poco peso. Cabe señalar que el T1 es un controlador de DJ dedicado, diseñado y configurado para TRAKTOR PRO 2, lo que lo distingue de otros controladores que también son mixers analógicos. EL T1 cuenta con una entrada estéreo auxiliar, en la que podemos conectar un CD, una tornamesa o un Ipod. El tamaño de toda la unidad, es muy similar a tener un mixer DJM-400 con un par de CDJ-400 de Pionner, además de que los JOGS y su croosfader son muy preciosos para realizar scratch.

Los botones de CUE y PLAY son muy rápidos y de buen tamaño. Las perillas, Jogs y controles de pitch, son muy precisos y de buena calidad, no puedo notar diferencia entre estos y los de un CDJ-2000 o CDJ-900, el top de los reproductores de CD, usado normalmente por los mejores DJ ́s del mundo en sus presentaciones.



El tamaño y distribución de los botones y perillas es perfecta. En la parte superior se encuentran dos zonas independientes de efectos, (las mejores que he visto en cualquier controlador) pudiendo ser asignadas al mismo canal y al mismo tiempo. Esto nos permitiría asignar un flanger y un delay creando un efecto nuevo y único. Cuenta con cuatro perillas, cada una con su respectivo botón on/off, que sirve tanto para escoger el efecto como para modificar 3 parámetros específicos de cada uno en su modo avanzado, creando efectos personalizados. Al centro, en la parte superior, podemos ver la perilla de navegación y botones de asignación de canción por canal, que permiten cargar en el reproductor deseado la canción de nuestra elección, de manera rápida y práctica. Debajo, se encuentran los controles de ganancia, volumen, ecualizador de 3 bandas y CUE, para cada uno de los 4 canales de esta unidad, además del control de volumen tanto del MASTER como de los audífonos.

Para ayudarnos en esos empates complicados o de más de 2 canciones, no podía faltar el famoso botón SYNC, característico de TRAKTOR. Cada canal cuenta con dos botones, uno de SYNC y otro de MASTER para indicar qué canal gobernará la velocidad.

Una característica especial, es su superficie táctil tipo touchpad que sirve para posicionarnos de manera rápida y práctica en cualquier parte de la canción, es impresionante. Debido a la forma de su carcasa, podemos poner el teclado de la computadora por debajo del controlador, con esto ganamos espacio y nuestro equipo quedará bien protegido.

A todos mis colegas DJ, que están acostumbrados a tocar con tornamesas o reproductores de CD y están buscando hacer la transición al mundo digital o simplemente expandir sus posibilidades, esta es su mejor opción.

By DJ MEKETREFE #keepitmixing

ProAudioStar.com se enorgullece en presentarles al nuevo miembro de nuestro equipo
” DJ MEKETREFE “, recién llegado de la ciudad de Mexico D.F. después de haber tocado en el festival Vive Latino 2011 y con años de experiencia como DJ profesional, estará compartiendo su opinión en nuestro Blog en Español.

Irreverente y de gusto musical muy variado, DJ MEKETREFE nos compartirá sus experiencias con los controladores digitales y equipo de audio mas popular del momento, también ofrecerá consejos técnicos y recomendaciones.

Estén atentos también a sus vídeos producidos por ProAudioStar donde se enseñara como conectar, configurar y llevar al máximo cada característica de nuestro equipo de DJ en venta.

y como diría DJ MEKETREFE… #keepitmixing

Chequea este video del DJ Meketrefe en accion…..

Aparte de mezclar tambien esta adicto a los tatuajes

We recently took the new Arturia Spark Creative Drum Machine for spin by putting it through its paces for a live performance. The Spark is a hybrid hardware/software system that makes programming drums intuitive and fun. The Spark software allows for granular control of all aspects of your drum beat, allowing you to effect each tone using physical parameters, and in addition u can control the sounds like a virtual synth. You can also create patterns and sequence them for playback and performance. We thought we’d show off what you could do using only the Spark, however the Spark can be used as part of a large live set-up. Take a look! Below is a performance video and also an in depth walkthrough of the Spark’s main features. Be sure to take advantage of our deals on the Spark, get it with a free pair of headphones, or iTunes Gift Card,or a serious discount on some studio monitors.

You might remember DJ Anubus from our Denon DN-MC6000 feature, but in addition to a killing the YouTube DJ scene Anubus he’s also been working on disco house edits and remixes with Mike Device under the name Disco Llama.  Check out their new Mixtape, and download their first EP absolutely free from their Soundcloud.  We’ve got some special content in the works with these guys so digest these tunes and check back for more!

Disco Freaks Mixtape by Disco Llama

The DJ battle circuit has it’s tools of the trade pretty well sorted in two turntables and a mixer.  With so many new DJ and MIDI controllers hitting the market though controller DJ’s have been looking for their own place to square off and some “Controller Battles” (like the one promoed above) have started to take root.  The limitations of turntables and vinyl force all kinds of creative outcome but with the addition of a computer/controller setup the possibilities become endless.  In some ways this raises the creative stakes to take a traditional DJ battle set to the next level.  Without a standard “setup” pretty much any piece of technology goes and the more unique and interesting it is to watch the more cred it seems to earn you.

I’m reminded of a pre-existing format where pretty much anything went as well.  A perhaps much nerdier corner of the hip hop battle circuit showcases beatmakers in what’s called a “Beat Battle.”  In a Beat Battle producers swap turns playing their latest (normally hip hop) beats to hype the crowd.  Sometimes the producers are given a sample to work with and a set amount of time time to create a beat in.  All in all, the emphasis is on original production, and while flashy finger work may get the crowds attention, letting your beat ride and getting amped on it can also work (see Will.I.Am acting a fool at Root Down Soundclash above).

What’s important is that the emphasis is on THE BEATS with seemingly less regard for how you make them.  Lap and desktop computers run as free across the tables as MPC’s, synths, and turntables.  It’s a pretty cool way to watch worlds mix as dudes who only rock hardware raise just as much noise as dudes playing off laptops and guys who scratch their samples in by hand.  Combing through of the Beat Battle YouTube threads can also be a great way to see how beat makers are taking their sounds out of the machine and presenting them live to rock the crowd.

See the related products below to get your hands on controllers that can help you rock your own beats live!

In our recent video for the Numark NS6 DJ Controller we used a pair of QSC K12’s as our PA system. We got a bunch of phone calls and comments from people wanting to learn more about these great powered speakers so we thought we’d do a video overview that explains the features of the K Series and the differences between the K8, K10, and K12. Check it out: