Current DMC World Champion DJ Shiftee demonstrates his heavy-weight setup in an astounding new performance video. Watch him use TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO, the X1 and MASCHINE in an exclusive turntablism tricknology routine.

Creating a live dubstep remix of the Dead Prez classic “Hip Hop”, Shiftee shows off the power and creativity of working with custom cue points and performance effects.

VIDEO 1: SHIFTEE DROPS THE BASS

Learn some tricks of the trade in another revealing video by DJ Shiftee, where he explains some of the specials tricks used in the previous feature. If you want to create a similar advanced routine with turntables and/or controllers, you should be able to get some inspiration from this video.

VIDEO 2: SHIFTEE TUTORIAL

more info at:
www.myspace.com/djshiftee
www.native-instruments.com

Source:
www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/turntable-tricknology

NI presents three vids showing some really hot controllerism routines by DMC Champion DJ Rafik using the new NI controllers!

Rafik is showing is high-class skills using his turntable combined with the NI controller MASCHINE and the upcoming X1 hardware. Check the vids, Rafik is really choppin it up.

DMC Champion DJ Rafik Performs on Traktor Scratch Pro – Pt. I

Rafik chops up the “Block Rockin’ Beats” sample from the Chemical Brothers, triggering individual cue points so he can restructure the lick in his own way. On the left deck, he runs a hi-hat that is routed that the Gater, Filter and Beatmasher effects in Traktor, all controlled via the upcoming X1 controller.

DMC Champion DJ Rafik Performs on Traktor Scratch Pro – Pt. II

For this routine, a vocal sample is loaded into the left deck while MGMT’s “Kids” (Soulwax Remix) is loaded in the right deck. Cue points allow one-shot drumming action with the buttons of the MASCHINE controller. Rafik then drops in a custom guitar lick using the Beatmasher and Gater effects in Traktor, controlled via the X1 hardware.

DMC Champion DJ Rafik Performs on Traktor Scratch Pro – Pt. III

Rafik chops it up with drums in the left deck, triggered from the X1 controller, and the guitar sample from the previous routine on the second right deck. The Gater effect and an additional LFO filter every 1/4th bar add to a serious wonk session.

more info at:
www.native-instruments.com
www.youtube.com/user/NativeInstruments

“The Live Remix Project is a one-man symphony incorporating turntables, instruments, effects and samplers that combines musical virtuosity with technical proficiency.

DJ Enferno records sounds from his turntables and keyboards and then affects and mixes those sounds live. Instead of mixing between two turntables, he is managing up to 20 sources of sound at a time.

The result is, as the Miami New Times recently put it, a tech-toy geeks dream come trueTrainspotters eat up its impressively innovative tangle of wires and software; dance-floor denizens are moved by its democratic multigenre, all-fun groove.”

I found some vids of DJ Enferno performing at the Shamrock Fest 09 at RFK stadium in DC some month ago. There are more great vids of this gig at youtube.com/djenferno.

There are tons of more great videos of DJ Enferno and his Live Remix Project in action…

Explanation and demonstration of his LRP Setup:

Promo Video for DJ Enferno’s Live Remix Project:

Overview on his LRP gear setup, which has changed over the years.

LIVE REMIX PROJECT EQUIPMENT
(as of March 2009)
2 Technics 1200 Turntables
1 Rane TTM57 Mixer
1 Pioneer EFX-500
1 M-Audio Axiom 25
1 M-Audio Trigger Finger
1 Macbook Pro running Serato Scratch Live 1.8
1 Macbook Pro running Ableton Live 7.0
1 MOTU Ultralite Mk3
1 Access Virus Snow
Custom Case by Calzone Cases, Inc.

I really hope DJ Enferno’s LRP hits up Europe sometime so I can check him out live in action!!!

Take a look at the page of DJ Enferno and check out his amazing styles.

more info at:
www.djenferno.com
www.myspace.com/djenferno
www.youtube.com/djenferno

Moldover’s CD packaging itself is a new musical instrument! The CD is mounted on a custom designed circuit board, intricately patterned and powering a “light-Theremin”. You play the artwork and it makes sound! Only the musical supervillain genius of Moldover could develop something so stunningly innovative.

Watch the vid and see yourself!!!

Moldover’s Album on CD is available in three editions through his website.

more info at:
http://moldover.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/moldover

Today AKAI released the APC 40 – Ableton Performance Controller. Ableton and Akai worked in a joint partnership to create the APC40, a Controller specifically designed as Ableton Live control surface.

To me this new Ableton controller looks very intresting and I really want to get my hands on it!

The price of this new controller should be around 499 EUR/USD.

Check out the following vids to get an impression on the APC40:

APC40 Ableton Performance Controller

The APC40 Ableton Performance Controller in action!

You can find lots of information and overviews on the official APC40 page…

more info at:
http://www.apc40.com
http://www.akaipro.com/apc40
http://twitter.com/Akai_Pro

Matt Moldover is known as “The Godfather of Controllerism”, and has become the inspiration for a new generation of DJs and musicians interested in moving “beyond the decks.”

Famous for building, hacking, and playing controllers with virtuosic skill, Moldover’s dynamic performances with his custom instruments, guitar, and Ableton Live software are bringing new life into electronic music and takes DJing to the next level.

Fusing hard rock with electronica, glitch edits, and frantic drum beats, and relying on Live to take him from the studio to the stage, Moldover’s signature style defies categorization. And with appearances on national television, coverage in major music publications, and countless live shows around the world, Moldover is in constant demand by people interested in this next evolution of music.

The following vids show Moldovers Live demonstrations and clear explanations of his approach to controllerism.

Moldover’s Approach to Controllerism (1 of 2)

Moldover’s Approach to Controllerism (2 of 2)

See how Live Remashing works – Live Remashing is a fresh take on DJ-style mixing: mixing, remixing, mashing and mangling well known songs of any style.

Moldover, Live Remashing Demonstration

Octamasher
Moldover’s Octamasher is an interactive music installation that connects eight unique instruments to one computer brain and allows virtually anyone to jump right in, play samples, tweak loops, interact with other people, and have fun!

Moldover’s collaborative music sculpture The Octamasher has been featured at major festivals across the country, inspiring thousands of people with a hands-on controllerism experience.

See how it works, watch it in action and learn all about this crafty invention:

Also brand-new in 2009: SyncoMasher
The SyncoMasher, a new, more compact version of the Octamasher with new components, complete with embedded speakers and blinky lights…
I will post a seperate article on Moldover’s new SyncoMasher as soon as there are more information available on it.

To get an impression on Moldover’s brand-new SyncoMasher watch this short vid of the SyncoMasher at Coachella 2009:
www.vimeo.com/4288645

more info at:
www.octamasher.com

Visit www.moldover.com to join Moldover’s mailing list, download free music, videos and more.

more info at:
www.moldover.com
www.myspace.com/moldover
www.controllerism.com

more videos at:
www.youtube.com/user/moldover

Ean Golden is publishing great articles on controllerism, digital djing and everything that goes with that topic.

As a DJ, producer and writer living in San Francisco, Ean travels around the world playing shows, developing new performance technolgy and writing about digital djing.

The site features really good reviews, news and tutorials, and underlines it all with lots of great vids!!!

Ean has also build a quickly growing communtiy around djtechtools.com. You can find very interesting comments on articles, as well as a lot of good and outstanding topics within the board!

All over Ean designed in cooperation with Vestax a special edition of the Vestax VCI-100. The black VCI-100 Ean Golden Special Edition has a special firmware version 1.3 designed by Ean, as well as a special black overlay with customized labels.

The VCI-100SE has been built by Vestax in a very limited number and is only available via djtechtools.com. Furtheron the site provides customized Traktor midi mappings and great tutorials on how to upgrade a standard VCI-100 the DIY way.

Take a look at the VCI-100SE Walk Through vids to get an impression of this digital dj weapon:

VCI-100 Special Edition Walk Through Pt. 1
VCI-100 Special Edition Walk Through Pt. 2

Luckily I got to get to buy a VCI-100SE and I am really convinced and happy with this controller! I will post some more information on how I use the VCI-100SE in one of my future articles…

Within the last year the page has grown a lot and offers different VCI-100 modding-gear at the djtechtools-webshop.

Checkout the page and find out whats it all about!!!

www.djtechtools.com

also check out:
www.myspace.com/djtechtools
www.twitter.com/djtechtools

One of my objectives at Musikmesse Frankfurt 2009 was getting the latest info on new Vestax gear.

To my surprise the Vestax booth was pretty small and didn’t really stick out between all the different manufacturers. I rather had a hard time finding their booth at all.

News at the Vestax booth were also pretty rare and to my surprise the exhibited products mainly focused on digital dj equipment. Only two turntables and a few mixers were issued.

The good thing about it I got to play around with all the current Vestax controllers and got an impression on how the controllers really feel like.

Vestax Products

Here’s a little summary on the at the Vestax booth shown controllers:

VESTAX VCI-100B
The VCI-100 is a highly professional MIDI controller that has two jog wheels built with sensor and control technology straight from our turntables.

The VCI-100 is built with the highest quality mechanical parts and state of the art PCB technology guaranteeing accurate and stable operation. The VCI-100 is shipped with the LE Version of Traktor but also runs with any dj-software on the market.

The VCI-100 is now also available in a black, called VCI-100B edition. The black edition of the VCI-100 was originally only available in Japan, but now also gets sold in Europe.

VESTAX VCI-300

Vestax and Serato have joined forces. The VCI-300 is a dedicated USB MIDI controller for the included Serato DJ software ITCH.

It also comes with a built in audio interface with standard 4in/4out and headphone connection.

New features such as the [Emergency Thru Switch] offers an option of using the VCI-300 with the provided ITCH software or without the computer connected if you simply want to play music from your external CD or MP3 player. Another is the new weight reduced JOG wheel and the adjustable JOG wheel torque mechanism to avoid vibration from low frequency feedback.

VESTAX VCM-100
The VCM-100 is a compact USB MIDI & audio system. Despite its compact size, the VCM-100 comes with 4in4out(Stereo x 2 in/out)connection, headphone output and high quality mechanical parts placed in the control section.

Having every feature fitted in to a solid metal body smaller than a standard laptop, the VCM-100 is easy to use and transportation friendly.

VESTAX VCM-400
At NAMM, Vestax slipped a new controller into their lineup – the VCM-400. At the time, this appeared to be a 4 deck Traktor Pro based unit, and now that appears to have been cemented with a name change. The VCM-400 is now the TR-1.

To all intents and purposes, bar a couple of very minor control rejigs (lost symmetry in the fx buttons), the unit is the same beast as the VCM-400.

more info at:
http://www.skratchworx.com/news3/comments.php?id=1118
http://www.skratchworx.com/news3/comments.php?id=1197

VESTAX VCM-600
The VCM-600 is a DJ MIDI controller designed with Vestax mixer technology. 160 parameters of the DJ software can be assigned to the advanced control section, and has excellent compatibility with Ableton LIVE.

The VCM-600 shares the same quality control parts used on Vestax mixers and 2 LED panels are placed on each side of the controller to illuminate the top panel for clear operability and vision in clubs.

VESTAX PMC-05 PRO 4
The VESTAX PMC-05Pro4 is the newest version of Vestax’s famous PMC-05Pro3.

Unfortunetly I couldn’t get my hands on the red mixer, but it really looked intresting to me. The mixer has midi-control buttons to use with your DVS-Software!

Here some vids on the new unit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEpKXv1B18k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ApPusF2dKo

VAI-80 – USB AUDIO STATION
Following the VAI-40, Vestax has released a new compact, this one smaller than the previous model, controller, the Vestax VAI-80 USB Audio Controller is a small silver device, they call it “little tank”, and combines the analog and the digital working ways.

VAI-80 is a compact digital audio interface capable of multi channel playback and recording. Each input has GAIN & EQ (hi, low) control to enable flexible adjustments for live recording and can free up the DJ from relying on the software control panel. Also loaded with XLR output for direct connection with club PA systems.

Vestax Pro Demos

One of the Musikmesse 2009 highlights were the demonstrations and showcases performed at the Vestax booth.

Vestax provided the following schedule for demos and showcases:
11:00 Ean Golden
12:00 DJ S-TRIX
13:00 Koljeticut & AKD
14:00 Ean Golden
15:00 DJ UNKUT
16:00 Ean Golden

As I visited the Musikmesse only on Saturday, I didn’t get to see all showcases at Vestax. But one of my reasons for visiting the Musikmesse in Frankfurt was to see and meet Mr. Controllerism himself – Ean Golden.

Ean is a DJ and author who commited himself to digital djing and controllerism. He designed in cooperation with Vestax a special edition of the Vestax VCI-100. The black VCI-100SE has a special firmware version 1.3 designed by Ean, as well as a special black overlay with customized labels.
The VCI-100SE has been built by Vestax in the beginning of 2008 in a very limited number of only 100 units.

Check out www.djtechtools.com to get more information on Ean and his special edition of the Vestax VCI-100.
As I am using the Vestax VCI-100 Ean Golden special edition myself, I will set up an article on this digitial dj weapon within the next weeks.

At Musikmesse Ean performed a nice showcase using his special edition of the VCI-100 with extra custimized arcade-buttons. In addition he used a DIY controller called ‘midifighter’. Check out this article on djtechtools.com to find out more about this selfmade controller:
http://www.djtechtools.com/2009/03/17/a-new-arcade-button-controlller-is-born

Check out this video of Ean’s showcase at Musikmesse Frankfurt 2009:

Beside Ean I saw the showcase of Koljeticut & AKD, winners of the IDA World Championship 2008. Their 6-minute routine is a combination of Turntableism and MIDI-Instruments, to create a state-of-the-art piece of music.

Check out the vid and see for yourself:

More information on Koljeticut & AKD at:
http://www.myspace.com/koljeticut

Vestax Digital DJ Battle 2009

In line with the Musikmesse in Frankfurt Vestax hosted the Vestax Digital DJ Battle at Tanzhaus West on Fritday, the 3rd of April 2009.

I already posted a short article on what the Digital DJ Battle is all about:
http://djmx.de/main/2009/04/digital-dj-battle-2009

I visited the event and the battle itself wasn’t really hitting to much in my opinion, but it was cool to meet Ean and to have a little talk with him.

I will write a little review on the Digital DJ Battle sometime and post my impressions and some videos of the contestens and their sets here on my website.

All in all Vestax surprised me with their focus on Digital DJing this year. Even though Vestax didn’t show up with great news on Controllers and DJ equipment, they put on quite a good show with the Pro Demos and the arrangement of the Digital DJ Battle.

More info at:
http://www.vestax.com

All kind of Vestax demo vids at:
http://ci.vestax.com/en/movies/

About two weeks ago I stumbled across the following article:

“Controller DJs in Germany & Austria!
Vestax presents a new style battle for those who have mastered the skills of DJing with midi.

Send a 10min video of your mix with a Vestax midi controller to our German distribution wether via e.-mail or regual mail. The deadline is March 15th …

4 winners will be selected to battle at the finals in Frankfurt, April 3rd 2009.”

Unfortunetly, when I read this announcement I haven’t had enough time to turn in a video by myself. But I will definitly visit the event at Tanzhaus West to find out whats going on and what level controllersim has reached in Germany.

Also I will take a cam with me so I can shoot some vids of the event. I will post these vids within the next week here on my page!

Besides the DJ-Battle itself, Ean Golden from djtechtools.com will be judging the event and also be playing a set himself. Also AKD & Koljeticut (IDA World Champions) will be performing!

So I am really looking forward to this event and I will be reporting my impressions and post some vids.

For more info, check the links below.
Vestax Germany
Myspace
Venue

Here a little teaser:

AKD & Koljeticut Routine:

Ean Golden Controllerism Routine: