TraxPad app revisit...

Another app revisit, this time it's TraxPad...full review over at DigitalDJTips.  I had a brief email chat with Joel the developer who has confirmed he's still working on an update for the app due 'sometime soon'.

The app is still priced at $29.99 which is expensive when compared to functionality offered by other similar apps.

Record Store Day = April 21st 2012

Set the date in your diaries...this year's Record Store Day is April 21st.

Last year's event was pretty decent and I managed to haul myself round 4 or 5 shops in one morning.  Each year a bunch of limited edition records are available for purchase in person at various record shops around the country (maybe even worldwide?).  The exclusive products are usually listed here in advance of the event, so you can list which items you're desperate to track down.  At the moment I think the site is still displaying last year's product list.

Indie Record Shop finder app...

If you're in the UK and ever wondered where the nearest independent record shop is, then it might be worth trying The 45 Fix iOS app.  I'm not sure why I've missed it until now, but it was released back in June last year by developers Happtic.

The app is free and works only in the UK;

Search for a DJ Superstar...?

If you have missed this bit of news, Simon Cowell has decided that ‘DJs are the new rock stars’ and as such has teamed up with Will Smith to produce a show being touted as a DJ talent search.  I expect this will be in a similar format to the already over-familiar X-Factor and wherever’s-Got-Talent.  It looks like there’s going to be a US and UK version of the show.  The official details are here.

Everyone will have an opinion on this, but as a DJ blog it’s difficult to ignore and wish it would go away!

Now, while I hate feeding creatures like Mr Cowell who capitalise on modern day freak shows under the guise of entertainment and talent searching, I can’t help but wonder how this DJ twist on the programme will work.  We already have several large scale and global DJ competitions like the excellent yearly DMC competitions which have recently broadened their scope to an online challenge via Youtube.

A few questions are perplexing me;

1. How is this programme going to be different from the current competitions? To be honest, DJ competitions are really only appreciated by other DJs mostly...so how will a TV programme appeal to non-DJs? 
2. Who is going to judge?  You certainly need someone of credible background and experience on the panel (assuming there will be a panel and judges).  Since Will Smith’s involved...my money might be on Jazzy Jeff, but who knows.
3. How are they going to compare DJs on an equal playing field? If a vinyl-only DJ is competing against someone with Serato & a couple of controllers they will need to be super-sharp.
4. What are the criteria for entry? So I’m assuming this is open to non-pro DJs, but what is the definition of non-pro?  Imagine if QBert turned up = competition closed.
5. What are the criteria to judge by?  There are different styles of DJing and different areas to DJ in (not just clubs) – so how do you compare them fairly?  I wonder if there will be sections where all DJs have to play in a club, play out on the radio, do a vinyl-only set or perform a controller-based set...curious.  In which case, maybe for this competition it’s better to be a good all-rounder rather than a die-hard turntablist.
6. Will there be separate ‘groups’ of entrants based on either age or perhaps tech used (eg Vinyl-only, DVS, Controller).
7. What will the prize be?  If similar shows are anything to go by, it'll probably be a contract based affair such as a year's contract with a SyCo DJ agency branch (with them taking a healthy cut in takings)...if so, I'd recommend reading the small-print, you could end up whored out across the globe doing several gigs a night for little money at the end of it, then dropped like a rock after a year.

No doubt the details will gradually become clear.  This will either be great as it will introduce new folk into the delights of DJing or it will totally sully the craft of DJing and drag it to new lows worldwide.

I'm expecting lots of product and merchandise tie-ins and I suspect Mr Cowell is too!

  

NAMM 2012

In case you're not following the recent developments from NAMM, but here's a couple of highlights which I thought I should share;

Numark:

Numark (who now own AKAI) have been busy and shown off a whole new range of MPC products, including the MPCDJ controller;

Picture courtesy of DigitalDJTips

It looks a lot like their NS7FX controller but with the addition of all those lovely backlit MPC pads in the centre.  I think that since the acquisition of AKAI in 2004 this has been coming, merging the 2 product lines.  No doubt there will be more of the same in the future too.  Phil at DigitalDJTips has kindly provided some nice photos from NAMM 2012 here.

Numark have also been busy with their own product line, among the items is the iDJ Pro - an extended version of the iDJ Live controller.

This time around the iPad sits neatly in the centre between 2 jog wheels and above the crossfader.  Unfortunately it doesn't look as if you can swap out the faders easily, so you will probably be stuck with stock.  Ideally I'd like to get some magnetic faders on this and see how it reacts.  It looks like a definite improvement over iDJ Live with the custom version of DJay, however given that Apple tend to change the dimensions of their products at each version it'll be interesting to see which iPads fit this unit.  Personally, I'd like to see a larger waveform on the screen instead of the spinning platters (or at least reduce the size of those platters on the screen to make space for other detail).

There's some more discussion on this over at DigitalDJTips (thanks Phil!) with video from NAMM.

Rane:

Rane have added the Sixty One mixer to their TTM series;

...and a more detailed version, Sixty Two;

Korg:

Korg has released a new version of their Kaossilator and their Mini KaossPad series, both with a similar design (looks like rugged casing) and look to be much smaller than their previous versions.

...more gear lust will follow I'm sure!

IK Multimedia to join DJ apps world...with portable mixer!

After spotting a lonely IK Multimedia guy at BPM a couple of years ago, it seems that word got back to their product development team and they are now launching a tiny portable mixer (iRig MIX) specifically for iOS devices alongside a DJ app (DJ Rig).

The app is currently being described as for the iPhone, however all the online pictures and videos feature an iPad - so I'm guessing a universal version will be soon.

The app features a whole slew of features including sample pads, an X-Y FX pad as well as a number of output modes.

The mixer is designed for portability and connectivity between iOS devices and live instruments too.  You can pre-order the mixer via the online store for €79.

A number of videos are available on youtube showing the mixer in its different configurations;




The most interesting feature here is that the mixer should allow use with only 1 iOS device (in place of an audio splitter);