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RICHIE HAWTIN
DJ EVOLUTION & ITS NEXT PHASE
DJ EXPO UPDATE
SUMMERTIME: HOW MOBILES THRIVE
WHY COPYRIGHT LAWS SHOULD CHANGE
PLUS: DETROIT MOVEMENT FEST y NEW PIONEER DJ GEAR
WILL CLARKE y CALYX & TEEBEE y EDUCATIONAL TOOLS FOR DJS
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ABDJ NOMS GO BIG AT
MOVEMENT FESTIVAL
By Jim Tremayne & Chris Caruso
Detroit – Nearly 100,000 fans
flooded into Hart Plaza this past Me-
morial Day for Movement, Detroit’s
electronic-music festival. Now in its
11th year, Movement presented 100
DJs and electronic acts on six stages
Katie Laskowska
Get Real: Claude VonStroke & Green Velvet
and, once again, proved why it con-
tinues to be America’s best-curated
festival.
The event also served as the open-
ing stop on the America’s Best DJ
Summer Tour. Presented by DJ Times
and Pioneer DJ, the tour will run thru
Labor Day and include more than
15 events around the country. At DJ
Times’ dedicated exhibit booth, fans
voted for the favorite DJs from a list
of 100 nominees, simultaneously reg-
istering to win valuable prizes.
Highlights from ABDJ nominees
included: Beziér, Jackie House, Josh
Cheon, and Jason Kendig from San
Francisco-based
Get Lost: GuyDJ collective
Gerber Honey
at the 24-hour
Soundsystem dropped a blissful and
versatile, two-hour, b2b2b2b set—
deep disco basslines, forceful techno
grooves— that had the Red Bull Mu-
sic Academy Stage jumping on Sunday. werk closed Friday’s mainstage with
The Black Madonna’s following set
of chuggy techno pushed the after-
noon to a darker place. DJ Godfa-
ther’s highly charged ghettotech set
Lauren Segal
NOTABLES…MILESTONES
at RBMA stage drew dancing circles
of poppers, lockers and bootyshak-
ers. Danny Tengalia’s last-minute sub-
Steven Pham
stitution for Richie Hawtin’s closing
set on Monday was a surprisingly Good Life: Kevin Saunderson in the mix.
welcome addition, with the New York
Bryan Mitchall
Ghettotech: DJ Godfather throws down.
legend dropping a furious set of tunes over a Sunday-afternoon crowd at bounced and giggled to a relentless
that turned the riverfront crowd out. the Underground Stage with a set assault of top-notch selections like
On the afterparty tip, Soul Clap’s of unique electro-tinged/bass-heavy 1983 Hi-NRG classic “Living On Vid-
House of Efunk once again proved to tunes; Kenny Dope brought relent- eo” by Canadian synth band Trans-X.
be a perennial favorite at local haunt less, deep-house grooves to the open Another highlight? John Digweed’s
TV Lounge, with the Brooklyn-based air at the RBMA Stage on Saturday; masterful main stage showing on
pair dropping a superb house set at 5 and Scuba strafed the Underground Monday. It’s always impressive how
a.m. Boasting three rooms and a 12- stage on Saturday with a set of men- the Bedrock co-owner can routinely
plus hour runtime, the shindig was a acing techno. take control of a festival crowd with
welcome exploration of the funkier Over on the Made in Detroit his moody progressive soundscapes,
side of the otherwise techno-centric stage, Ellen Allien delivered one of and he took the packed sea of revel-
programming the weekend offers. the weekend’s most unpredictable ers on a journey through the deep,
Sunday night at the Dirtybird after- sets. Eschewing a digital setup in favor dark, and groovy.
party at the Masonic Temple, J.Phlip of a pair of turntables and a bag of If you haven’t made it out to one
banged it hard from the outset, then records, the German BPitch Control of the America’s Best DJ summer
Justin Martin infused the party with a principal played a raucous set that, tour dates, make sure to cast your
mixparty.
of breaks and 4/4 beats that got while a tad messy in parts technically, vote online now! Head to Americas-
the floor into a lather. Then, “special was filled with infectious energy that BestDJ.us/Vote to submit your ballot
guest” Claude VonStroke carried the resonated with the crowd. Allien’s of up to five DJs and earn a chance to
party home. programming was on-point, as she win prizes.
Apart from ABDJ world: Kraft-
a visually arresting set of hits (“The
Robots,” “Numbers,” “Autobahn,” CRY BABY
etc .) before Movement throngs NEW RELEA SES
wearing 3D-glasses; Rezz worked
Give A Beat
Detroit – Soul Clap’s Elyte
(smiling) battles Golf Clap’s
Hugh Cleal in a Giant Jenga
game held at the Move-
ment fest this past May 28.
The two DJ duos dueled
Jenga-style to benefit Give
A Beat – a unique, music-
driven, nonprofit org. For
www.newhousegrooves.com
more pics from Motown,
please see Page 20, and
for more on Give A Beat,
please see Page 37.
 VOLUME 29 NUMBER 7

12
PLAYdifferently
Always One of the DJ-World’s Tech Leaders, Richie
Hawtin Returns with a Product Designed to Take
DJing to a New Level
BY BRUCE TANTUM

20
Music in Motown
America’s Best DJ Tour Launches at Detroit’s
Movement Festival
BY DJ TIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS

22
Copyright & Copyleft
An Academic & a DJ/Artist Offer New Views on
Existing Copyright Law
BY KELLY KASULIS

24
Summer Fun
While the Rest of the World Vacations, Some Mobile
DJs Make the Most of Summer Business
BY JEFF STILES

DEPARTMENTS
7 Feedback
As Always, the Answers to All Your
DJ-Related Questions

26 Making Tracks
Innovative Music-Learning Tools

28 Sounding Off
Cover Image by Jordi Cervera.

Pioneer DJ’s New DJM/CDJ Units

30 Mobile Profile
Multi-Op Keeps It All in the Family

32 Business Line
Are You Delivering Innovative Service?
Contents Image by Igor Ribnik

34 Gear
JULY 2016

New Products from RCF, Stanton DJ & More

SAMPLINGS
38 Grooves
8 Will Clarke
DJ TIMES

Phat Tracks from Supernova, Tale of Us & more

New Bird on the Block

41 Club Play Chart 10 In the Studio With…

The Hottest Records, As Reported by Calyx & TeeBee
4
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 FROM THE EDITOR

editor-in-chief art director

Days of Future Tech

Jim Tremayne Janice Pupelis
jtremayne@testa.com jpupelis@testa.com

editor-at-large production manager

From the very early days of DJ Times, Richie Hawtin has always been a tech leader, an early Brian O’Connor Steve Thorakos
adopter, a pathfinder for the future. Well, he’s at it again. Now teaming with former Allen & Heath boconnor@testa.com sthorakos@testa.com
engineer Andy Rigby-Jones, the Canadian DJ/producer has co-founded PLAYdifferently, a new com-
assistant editor digital art director
pany that recently released the Model 1 mixer.
Chris Caruso Fred Gumm
In a revealing interview with longtime New York DJ/scribe Bruce Tantum, Hawtin explains his own ccaruso@testa.com fgumm@testa.com
views on the evolution of DJ technology, plus he offers a few hot takes on the state of DJ-driven
music. As always, Hawtin provides plenty of food for thought. social media coordinator
chart coordinator
On the legal front, new Boston-based contributor Kelly Kasulis talks with an academic (professor Matt Van Dyke
Dan Miller mvandyke@testa.com
David Gunkel) and a working DJ (Dave Dresden), both of whom offer their own solutions to an dmiller@testa.com
outdated copyright system that negatively impacts DJs and the remix culture.
In Samplings, our Chris Caruso interviews U.K.-based DJ/producer Will Clarke, the latest addi- contributors
tion to the Dirtybird family. Also, our longtime L.A.-based music writer Lily Moayeri goes into the Joe Bermudez advertising manager
studio with drum-n-bass duo Calyx & TeeBee. Wesley Bryant-King Tom McCarty
In the review section, our Denver-based scribe (and video star) Wesley Bryant-King again knocks Shawn Christopher tmccarty@testa.com
it out of the park. In Sounding Off, he puts Pioneer DJ’s two, new, high-profile products—the CDJ- Paul Dailey
Reed Dailey marketplace advertising
2000NXS2 digital player and DJM-900NXS2 mixer—through their paces. Additionally, in Making sales manager
Chris Davis
Tracks, he offers a look at several educational tools—websites, apps, etc.—that aid in creating music. Tony Fernandez Ricky Pimentel
In the world of the mobile entertainer, our Iowan scribe Jeff Stiles asks a panel of jocks: What Tommy D Funk rpimentel@testa.com
are you doing this summer? The answer: Working and finding methods to capture unique seasonal Michelle Fetky
business—read and learn. Our Mobile Profile connects with Michigan’s Rusch family, which has Greg Hollmann art/production assistant
been thriving in the entertainment business for parts of the past five decades. In Business Line, we Kelly Kasulis Ricky Pimentel
Mike Klasco rpimentel@testa.com
present the ideas of B-Boy Productions’ Brian Buonassissi, who asks mobiles, “Are you delivering
Michelle Loeb
innovative service?” Then he explains why your client’s experience matters—from the initial pre-gig Circulation
Evan Maag
query to a time well after a successful event. And look for Buonassissi’s seminar on this topic at Duanny Medrano circulation@testa.com
DJ Expo this August 15-18 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. (For a peek at a few more Lily Moayeri
educational seminars that will grace DJ Expo, please view the opposite page.) Phil Moffa operations manager
From our report on Page 3 and again with our photo spread on Page 20, you’ll see that we kicked Natalie Raben Robin Hazan
off our America’s Best DJ Summer Tour this past Memorial Day weekend at Detroit’s Movement Deanna Rilling rhazan@testa.com
festival. Presented by DJ Times and Pioneer DJ, the tour will hit more than a dozen venues through Jeff Stiles
Reisa Shanaman
Labor Day. Voters at the events and online (americasbestdj.net) have the opportunity to win a pair Editorial and Sales Office: DJ
Emily Tan Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue,
of trips to our closing party/award ceremony where we’ll will present the Golden Pioneer Mixer to Bruce Tantum Port Washington, New York, USA
the winning DJ at Omnia San Diego. As always, vote and win. Phil Turnipseed 11050-3779. (516) 767-2500 • FAX
(Editorial): (516) 944-8372 • FAX
In Closing: On Page 3, readers will see a reference to Give A Beat and, again on Page 37, readers Curtis Zack (Sales/all other business): (516)
will see an advertisement for this non-profit organization, one that’s dedicated in helping former 767-9335 • DJTIMES@TESTA.
President/Publisher COM Editorial contributions
inmates transition back into the creative world. As Give A Beat ramps up a new crowdfunding cam- should be addressed to The Editor,
paign—please visit giveabeat.org for details—readers should know that, among other endeavors, Vincent P. Testa DJ Times, 25 Willowdale Avenue,
Port Washington, NY, USA, 11050-
Give A Beat is preparing mentorship programs for recently released inmates who wish to create FOR CUSTOMER 3779. Unsolicited manuscripts will
SERVICE AND be treated with care an d should be
music and pursue DJing as a vocation. DJ Times is proud to serve as Give A Beat’s media sponsor and accompanied by return postage.
TO ORDER
we hope that you share our enthusiasm for this worthy cause and decide to contribute. SUBSCRIPTIONS, DJ Times (ISSN 1045-9693) (USPS
CALL 800-937-7678 0004-153) is published monthly for
Best, VISIT OUR WEBSITE
$19.40 (US), $39.99 (Canada), and
$59.99 (all other countries), by
www.djtimes.com DJ Publishing, Inc., 25 Willowdale
Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-
3779. Periodicals postage paid at
Port Washington, NY, and additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send
address changes to DJ Times,
Jim Tremayne PO BOX 1767, LOWELL
MA 01853-1767
Editor, DJ Times DJ Times
Sound & Communications Design and contents are copyright
The Music & Sound Retailer © 2016 by DJ Publishing, Inc., and
Sound & Communications must not be reproduced in any
ClubWorld manner except by permission
Blue Book of the publisher. Websites: www.
America’s Best DJ djtimes.com and www.testa.com
The DJ Expo
JULY 2016

July 2016
IT/AV Report
Convention TV News
VTTV Studios
DJ TIMES

visit our website:

www.djtimes.com

6
 FEEDBACK
THE LATEST ON
A M E R I C A’ S F I R S T M A G A Z I N E F O R P R O F E S S I O N A L D J s E S TA B L I S H E D 1 9 8 8 DJ EXPO ’16

give tips on what other industries are mance, content creation and more— Arnoldo Offermann of Florida’s A Pre‑
doing in this vein and explain how so he’s uniquely qualified to offer tips mier Entertainment will discuss the
DJs can incorporate and benefit from and solutions for those considering crucial differences between the two in
JUNE 2016
$4.95 US $6.95 CANADA
them. (For more, please see Business the Video DJing route. Along with a marketing, selling, and performance.
Line on Page 32.) panel of VJ vets, Carl will explain how Drawing on his experiences, he will of‑
“Upgrade Your Services: Intro to Vid- and why video can separate you from fer invaluable sales tips that’ll change
HOT CREATOR
eo DJing.” Looking to give your en‑ the DJ crowd – and make more money the way you do business.
THE PROS tertainment services a genuine point in the process. Other sponsored seminars from DJ
& CONS PLUS:

OF RAISING
YOUR
Lauren Lane
Mat Zo
of difference? Want to cash in with ADJ Sponsored Seminar: “You’re a Expo exhibitors include informative
PRICES
video? For years, Boston’s Joshua DJ… Now What?!?” DJ or produc‑
Denon MCX8000

sessions from Chauvet DJ, DMP,

75
iZotope’s Ozone 7
Lead Generation in 3 Steps

$4.95 US
Carl has been ahead of the curve on tion company—which one are we, Electro-Voice, Eternal Lighting, and
DJs
$6.95 CANADA
djtimes.com

REMEMBER
PRINCE
all things video—technology, perfor‑ and why? In this fast-paced seminar, Pioneer DJ.
04JN16_p001-044.indd 1 5/26/2016 11:58:24 AM

This is Feedback, a monthly feature

that fields questions from you, our
readers, and funnels them out to in‑
dustry professionals. If you have any
questions about DJing – marketing,
mixing, equipment or insurance, any
at all – drop us a letter at DJ Times,
25 Willowdale Ave, Port Washington,
NY 11050, fax us at (516) 944‑8372
or e‑mail us at djtimes@testa.com.
If we do use your question, you’ll AUGUST 15-18, 2016
receive a free DJ Times T‑shirt. And T R U M P TA J M A H A L
remember, the only dumb question is AT L A N T I C C I T Y, N J
the question that is not asked.

DJ Expo: Update
DJ Expo will run Aug. 15-18 at the
Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.
Produced by DJ Times and Testa
Communications since 1990, DJ Expo
stands as America’s longest-running
and most-successful DJ conference.
WHAT’S @ DJ EXPO
Over 100 exhibition booths with the
DJ Expo features: an exhibit hall full industry’s most-vital hardware & software
of the latest DJ-related gear; seminars
Nearly 30 seminars & tech sessions,
offering solutions for all issues; and presented by the industry’s leaders
sponsored evening events, like Promo
Valuable networking opportunities with
Only’s Summer Sessions party at the industry pros & fellow DJs
new Premier nightclub at the Borgata
on Aug. 16.
Giveaways galore, including an SEMINARS
At presstime, the Expo seminar sched‑
opportunity to win The Ultimate DJ System
PANELS &
ule included the following sessions:
Sponsored events each evening, WORKSHOPS
showcasing top talent
“The State of the Crate.” Those bits MOBILE OPERATOR TRACK
Buying opportunities for DJ gear Whether you’re a multi-op or solo jock,
and bytes sure add up over the years! at “special Expo rates” these sessions will offer solutions on marketing,
Do you have a tried-and-true method performance, organization & more.

of organizing multiple genres of music GEAR & TECH TRACK

to easily access during a gig? What’s Surpass your competition by attending workshops
that’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest DJ
the state of your backup situation? WHO ATTENDS? technologies & techniques.
How many and what fail-safes do you DJ CULTURE & MUSIC TRACK
use? Join Philadelphia jock Linda Mobile DJs
Maintain your connection to the tunes that
rock the party & gain valuable industry
Leigh and a panel of DJ vets, as they Club DJs contacts as well.
explore these important topics—your
Bedroom DJs
digital world is growing and becoming
more complicated every day! Remixers
“Why Your Client’s Experience Mat-
Producers
ters.” If it’s true that mobile entertain‑
ers’ clients are no longer satisfied EDM Artists
with “a DJ that can mix and make
announcements,” then you must set
yourself apart by delivering a world- REGISTER TODAY
class experience. Brian Buonassissi WWW.THEDJEXPO.COM
/THEDJEXPO @DJExpo_ #DJX16
of B-Boy Productions will explain how
this starts from the moment the in‑
quiry comes and why it never stops,
not even at the end of the event. He’ll
 SAMPLINGS
WILL CLARKE:
NEW BIRD ON
THE BLOCK
Dirtybird is well known for being an extremely tight-
knit family of DJs, but the flock recently welcomed a
new entry into its nest with open wings.
Armed with basslines as big as the beard on his chin,
Will Clarke first joined the San Franciscan flock in 2014
when his track “Badness” was signed to its Dirtybird 10
compilation. Since then, he’s quickly risen through its
ranks with a nonstop cavalcade of bouncy booty-tech
productions that have seen support from both within
the label’s roster and far beyond it.
Then, 2015 saw no shortage of success for the DJ/
producer, with a hectic release schedule that included
the Turn It Up EP on Dirtybird, “Spandex” on Defected,
and even a remix of Hot Natured’s single “Off World
Lover” on Emerald City.
Somehow 2016 has proven to be an even bigger year
for Clarke, having dropped a new single on Dirtybird
(“Give It To Me” with Shiba San), collaborated with Jus-
tin Martin on his Hello Clouds LP (“Back to the Jungle”),
launched his The Barber Shop monthly radio show, and
co-headlined an American tour with fellow up-and-
comer Billy Kenny—all before the year’s halfway mark.
We caught up with the British jock to catch a glimpse
into what his whirlwind year has been like.
DJ Times: You relocated to L.A. earlier in the year
and spent a few months out there. What were you up
to?
Clarke: I’ve got a studio in LA, so between shows
JULY 2016
I’ve literally just been writing. I’ve been working on new
music, so there’s a few collaborations with me and the
Dirtybird guys, including “Back to the Jungle” on Justin
Martin’s album [Hello Clouds]. Me and Shiba [did] two
DJ TIMES
tracks, as well. It’s kind of a bit crazy, as [music] has only
been my full-time job since this I moved to America
this year.
8
DJ Times: When was that?
Clarke: December 26—the day after Christmas. That’s when I was doing the Get Real tour [with
Claude VonStroke and Green Velvet]. I finished my job in the U.K. on the 20th of December, and over
the past year I had been writing whilst working a full-time job as well. Now I actually get some free
time to just write music.
DJ Times: You spent a few seasons in Ibiza and were a resident there.
Clarke: I was a resident at a few bars. I was a resident at Kanya.
DJ Times: Is that where you picked up how to work a crowd?
Clarke: I think Ibiza taught me how to be a DJ. Obviously, I was a DJ beforehand, but Ibiza taught
me how to be a real DJ. I was DJing in lots of places there. Sometimes you’re not playing to anyone;
people don’t realize that. People hear “Ibiza” and think you’re just playing to thousands of people all
the time. You’re actually not. A lot of the time you’re just playing to a couple of people. You’re playing
in a lot of bars, you’re playing a lot of sunsets, so you’re not just playing house, you’re playing hip-hop,
you’re playing chill-out, you’re playing absolutely everything. It really opens your mind to music; it
matures your music taste. I feel it turns you into a real DJ.
DJ Times: Your track “That Booty Percolatin’” has been making the rounds in a lot of DJ sets over
the past year. Why do you think people latched onto that track well before its release?
Clarke: God knows, man. I get tweets on a daily basis about when it will come out. It’s weird, I was
playing on Holy Ship! and I dropped it, and the whole crowd was singing along with it. I was thinking,
“How the fuck do all these people know this track when it’s not even out yet?” It’s happened with another
one of my tracks, as well. I just don’t get it. I know I’m playing out a lot, but nobody else had [this
track]. It’s good—it’s a great sign!
DJ Times: A lot of your productions seem to lean toward “set weapon” rather than “DJ tool.”
When you’re producing, are you trying to make these big moments?
Clarke: I don’t say that I’m an amazing producer—I’m the first to admit it.
Technically, I wouldn’t say that I’m an amazing producer. I sit back and listen
BADNESS: to other people’s productions and say, “How the fuck did they do that? These
guys are geniuses.” The one thing I’d say that I am good at is simple ideas and
CLARKE making things that simply work in a club. I’ve always been a DJ, and I know
what will work in a club, and I know what people will catch onto. I think that’s
SAYS HE
what I’m good at doing in the studio: writing something that people will go,
“I remember that track.” That’s what I try and do in the studio: have an idea
EARNED HIS
so that at the end of a night, people will go, “What was that track that went
DJ STRIPES ‘That Booty Percolatin’?”
(continued on page 40)
IN IBIZA.
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 IN THE STUDIO
CALYX & TEEBEE: CREATING 1x1
synths are Prophet 12
and Moog Sub Phatty,
while TeeBee favors
Prophet 8 and Moog
Voyager. The two con-
tinue to use Logic Pro
Calyx & TeeBee have been making music together for over 10 years, but X for their DAW, es-
these days—unless it is behind the decks—the two drum-n-bass DJ/produc- chewing the Ableton
ers rarely see each other. Live tidal wave.
“We’re on the road a lot, and making music takes so much time—it’s more “ I t ’s a c o n s c i o u s
efficient to work on separate projects to maximize the time,” says TeeBee. thing,” says Calyx of
“When you’re together, you tend to go for more of a safe option because the group’s studio ap-
you want to get results from the time. Separately, we try and impress each p ro a c h . “ I w a s l i ke
other.” that from the start. I
The duo’s third album on Ram Records, 1x1, has been its most difficult went with an Akai sam-
one to date. Living in different cities in the U.K.—the Norwegian TeeBee pler, just to not have
(aka Torgeir Byrknes) in Lewes and the Englishman Calyx (aka Tony Cons) an E-MU sampler like
in London—they have identical home studio set-ups, bar a few outboard 95-percent of other
synths. Tracks bounce back and forth between their studios many, many drum-n-bass produc-
times before finishing the version eventually heard on the album. ers. Secretly, I was jeal-
Covering the genre’s spectrum of styles, 1x1 hits all the marks with darker, ous of their samplers,
JULY 2016
throttling tones as much as it does with feelgood, jump-up vibes. Calyx’s as their filters were so
smooth, soulful vocals highlight on “Nothing Left” and “Cloud 9,” while the much better. But if you
chants from featured MC Doctor on “Ghetto” and “Where We Go” add can find a way to sound
further dimension, as do the silky pipes of Ayah Marar on “The Fall.” Through a bit different, then it’s
DJ TIMES
its three albums, the duo has sharpened its songcraft, while the originality of got to be done in order
their productions hasn’t waned. to have a unique iden-
“Virus TI Snow is one of the few things that has bridged multiple albums— tity and separate your-
it’s phenomenal,” says Calyx of the duo’s standby synth. Calyx’s other active self from the herd.”
10
Bass in Your Face:
(from left) TeeBee & Calyx.
The big change in making 1x1 was Calyx
& TeeBee’s return to hardware and further
integrating it with software. For Calyx’s
vocals, he uses a Shure SM7B microphone
into an SSL X-Rack VHD input module
through an SSL-G Master Buss Compres-
sor. Processing is done with FabFilter and
iZotope plug-ins and through UAD plug-ins
such as LA-2A and 1176, with Lexicon and
EMT for reverbs, Neve 1073 for EQ, plus
some hardware.
“We use a lot of bussing and automation
of plugs before bouncing out stems of all
the different sends and effects,” says Calyx.
“The stems are then worked together and
final processing goes through our hard-
ware, usually some saturation through the
Anamod ATS-1 Tape Simulator, and a touch
of EQ and compression with A-Designs
HM2EQ and HM2 Nail. The final vocal is
imported into the track it’s destined for.
Vocals are always worked on in separate
projects or arrangements, as they get so
intensive. The less clutter, the better.”
For DJing, the duo uses three later-mod-
el Pioneer CDJs and a matching mixer
each—preferably Allen & Heath for sonics
and control—routed into a third mixer
they both can use. Between shouts, hand
signals, intuition, unspoken understanding,
and mind reading, the duo’s sets are more
spontaneous than choreographed. In the DJ
booth, as in the studio, they try to impress
and surprise each other with teases, key
matches, and drops.
“It seems like everyone only has one
gear—they just keep ramming it as fast and
hard as they can,” says TeeBee of other DJs
they’ve heard on the road. “You get into a
club at 9 p.m., and you have the local warm-
up DJ playing Noisia & The Upbeats ‘Dead
Limit’ as the first tune, while redlining the
mixer. Where are they going to go from
there? We have to play our hits, the tracks
people expect and want to hear from us,
and in an hour and 15 minutes, there is no
room for experimenting. We love a two-
hour set where we can play unexpected
things—but the way we play it, it still be-
comes part of our identity.”
– Lily Moayeri
12
DJ TIMES JULY 2016
 By Bruce Tantum

Always
One of the
DJ-World’s
Tech Leaders,
Richie Hawtin
Returns with
a Product
Designed
to Take
DJing
to a
New
Level

As befitting a guy who’s spent over a quarter of a century making and playing various strains of machine-tooled, sys-
tems-driven sounds, Richie Hawtin has always been fascinated by the ways that technology intersects with the creation
and deployment of music. And he’s certainly not alone: “Most DJs and electronic musicians are very interested, excited
and inspired by the equipment, the instruments that we use,” he’s said. (In other words, we’re tech geeks.)
But Hawtin takes that interest a bit further than most. There’s the music itself, of course: He’s one of the artists
who ushered the steely techno sound of minimal into existence; his mixes, like 1999’s Decks, EFX & 909, were
masterclasses in precise, fine-tuned layering and editing. And, with its pulsing synthetic grind, what could be
more “technological-sounding” than Hawtin’s work under the Plastikman moniker?
There’s also his involvement with the methodologies of DJing and production—he was using Ableton Live
as far back as 2001, for instance, and had a hand in the development of Final Scratch, the DJ market’s first
digital-vinyl system; for years, he served as one of the latter’s highest-profile ambassadors. He’s tinkered with
mixers over the years, too, having played a major role in pushing the Allen & Heath Xone:92—one of the
first MIDI-capable units to hit the market.
Recently, interest among the tech-inclined was piqued when hints of a new prototype “instrument”
called PLAYdifferently, being developed by Hawtin and former Allen & Heath designer Andy Rigby-Jones,
began to filter through the digital grapevine, as well as at the annual NAMM trade show, and through
a series of demonstration gigs dubbed the Prototypes Tour. That instrument, of course, turned out to
be a new mixer, the PLAYdifferently Model 1.
The Internet being what it is, the online reactions included a bit of digital head-scratching, largely
of the “do-we-really-need-another-mixer?” variety. According to Hawtin, the answer is “yes.” The
Xone:92 was launched in the early days of this millennium, and as Hawtin tells DJ Times, “I was
honestly getting a little bit bored.”
Those who have heard the mixer in action might also answer in the affirmative. One of
the stops of the Prototypes Tour was at Brooklyn’s Output, where Hawtin was joined by
DJ vets François K and Mike Servito. As Output honcho Shawn Schwartz recalls the night,
there was a noticeable divergence between PLAYdifferently and its predecessors in sonic
JULY 2016

detailing and overall sound quality. “My analogy is that it’s like seeing an image at a higher
resolution,” he says. “It sounds really good and mixes frequencies musically, highlighting
dynamics and offering improved clarity.”
But Hawtin’s aiming for something more than just a great-sounding mixer. In an
DJ TIMES

interview at this past March’s SXSW convention, he stated that “perhaps we’re at a
point where convenience has outweighed creativity”—and he feels that PLAYdif-
ferently will be able to tip the balance back towards the inspirational end of that
equation. Among the steps taken to facilitate that aim, the fully analog Model 1

13
 It’s pretty much that simple. The
things on the peripheral of mixers
had changed; mixers themselves
hadn’t changed for ages. And us-
ing this new mixer has been like
getting a new bike, riding around
with training wheels as I got used
to it, and then finally seeing all
these new creative possibilities.
It’s not only exciting for the geek
side of me, but it’s incredibly in-
spiring when I stand up in front
of a crowd—whether it’s 200 or
20,000—and I’m using something
that I know gives me new capa-
bilities. It has really spurred my
energy level on.
DJ Times: In what way?
Hawtin: This mixer’s getting
back to the core of what DJing
is about for me. And that goes
beyond the actual equipment, or
whether you’re a digital DJ, or a
vinyl DJ, or if you are playing some
instruments over top. This mixer
allows you to plug in any assort-
ment of devices, and that’s one
part of the mindset behind it. This
“In my mind, wasn’t built just to plug two turn-
tables into… although if you do,
the DJ it’s gonna sound fucking amazing.
does away with the standard three-band EQs on each channel, opting DJ Times: How did you go
for a pair of contour filters (low-pass and high-pass), sculpt EQs and market is about facilitating that sound qual-
overdrive effect. (Note to crossfader lovers: There isn’t one.) ity?
Hitting the shops on June 30, the mixer will set you back a steep
$3,650, so we wouldn’t expect to see the Model 1 incorporated into
five or 10 Hawtin: Without getting too
specific, the fundamental founda-
too many bedroom setups. “But I don’t want this mixer to be just for tion of this was the idea that there
the big names,” Hawtin insists. “I want everybody to be able to play years be- is a bottleneck in the DJ booth
around with it.” regarding sound quality, and we
DJ Times: You’ve seemingly turned the cause of unlocking a DJ’s hind the really need to open it up. Years
potential into one of the defining elements of your career. ago, the bottleneck didn’t make
Richie Hawtin: Yeah, definitely, and that’s part of what drives and pro-studio much difference; actually, it was
inspires me. Part of it is to help unlock my own style and my own cre- kind of the opposite. The mix-
ativity, of course—but that helps others to do the same.
DJ Times: Why do you think you feel the need to continue to do
market.” ers that were around then—the
UREIs, the Xone:62s and 92s—
that, rather than just rest on your laurels? they were state-of-the-art, but on
Hawtin: Well, just talking about myself, for the past couple of years, the systems that were installed in
I’ve I was honestly getting a little bit bored. clubs at the time, the quality of the
DJ Times: Bored of what, exactly? mixer probably didn’t make that
Hawtin: Of my own set-up. I was beginning to feel like I was now big a difference. I mean, I played on
that status quo. so many inferior systems over the
DJ Times: Which is not a familiar place for Richie Hawtin to find years, and the mixer was the least
himself in. of the concerns.
Hawtin: Not at all. [laughs] I needed something. It was like, OK, I’ve DJ Times: But now with the
moved from Maschine to Push, and I’ve updated a couple of plug-ins. I modern-day clubland emphasis on
JULY 2016

started to doubt myself a little bit—had I slipped away from technologi- high-grade sound systems, they
cal development, or even from inspiring the next generation? But I’m do?
feeling very, very excited about this current project. Hawtin: Of course. Over the
DJ TIMES

DJ Times: That current project is a new mixer—but some people past 20 years, we’ve had so much
might say the ones we have now pretty much do the trick. Why go to sound-system development, and
the trouble of designing another one? all the manufacturers understand
Hawtin: Well, I’d been on the Xone:92 mixer for 10 or 12 years now. how big the electronic-music

14

community is, with DJs playing in
front of thousands of people. Sound
has become such an important factor.
You have clubs that wear the stamp
of their brand very proudly: “We’re a
Funktion-One club,” or “We’ve spent
half a million dollars on our sound
system.” We’ve come a long way. But
as that’s progressed, there wasn’t
the same kind of development on
the type of mixers that were on the
market. You had the Ranes, you had
the Allen & Heaths and you had the
Pioneers. Each of them has its own…
opinion, I guess, of what good sound
quality is.
DJ Times: But you wanted some-
thing more?
Hawtin: I would say that I had a
different opinion. And it wasn’t just
me. Andy Rigby-Jones, when he left
Allen & Heath two years ago, was say-
ing it, too: “There’s got to be some-
thing more.”
DJ Times: Can you describe the
kind of sound you were looking for?
Hawtin: What I was thinking was
that everything you plug into a mixer
has certain characteristics. A turnta-
ble has certain characteristics, some
of which is determined by what kind
of needle and cartridge you use. Or a
computer can have a certain analog-
to-digital converter that will make it
sound differently. Some people prefer
their mixer to have a very transpar-
ent, pure sound—and therefore, what
comes out of the mixer will sound
different, depending on the source.
DJ Times: But you’d rather have
a consistency regarding what comes
out of the mixer?
Hawtin: Yeah. I prefer something
that can bring together all the differ-
ent components, all these different
frequencies, into a warm, rounded,
thick kind of sound. I mean, this is
just my opinion, but this isn’t the era
of disco or the era of electro-pop,
when you needed more of a tight
mid-kick and a lower-mid bassline to
create the energy. Techno and house
played over massive club systems—I
think the new Funktion-One has 32-
inch bassbins—sounds great when
it’s rumbling, when the music is hit-
ting you in the pit of the stomach
and vibrating your whole body. When
you’re in the middle of a dancefloor,
I think most people want to have a
physical experience. And that’s the
kind of mixer we wanted to create.
We wanted something that could
bring everything together in a beauti-
ful, well-rounded way, and have it be
something with balls. We wanted it to
add just a little bit extra, to want to
make you dance just a little bit more.
LOUD
45 Hz • 133 dB
DJ Times: How did you go about
facilitating that vision?
Hawtin: We had a fundamental
question when we started this proj-
ect: Do we go digital, or do we go an-
alog? Digital is very good at creating
a very pure, transparent sound, but
we went the analog way. We wanted
to have some circuitry, some compo-
nents, some filters, some EQs, of the
sort that would bring that warmth.
And that’s where we started. We
made a very simple channel strip, and
we plugged in turntables and com-
puters—and then we simply played
with the circuitry until we heard
something that we liked.
DJ Times: How can you tell when
that something is the sound that
ART 745-A
you’re looking for?
Hawtin: There’s sound quality on
a technical level, and there’s sound
quality on an emotional level. The
sound we were looking for was on
that emotional level. It’s just a feel-
ing, really. It didn’t have to sound
exactly how it was made to sound,
SUB 8004-AS
but it had to sound warm. I use that
word, warm, quite often, but I also
use smooth. I love it when DJs play
records, and they’ll just kind of melt
together. For me, on a very basic
level, that’s what makes an incredible
DJ. It’s someone who puts two things
on top of each other, and it becomes
something that doesn’t exist. Some
people call it the third record.
DJ Times: And that’s obviously
easier to do if you have that consis-
tent, warm sound coming out of the
mixer.
LOW
Hawtin: Exactly. And I’m an ex-
treme example of that; I’m always
trying to get everything to just melt
into place, no matter how many chan-
nels and effects I’m using. That’s what
we wanted each input on this mixer
to do—to melt everything together,
no matter the source. And we tried
to enable it to do that for any kind of
DJ. For instance, for people who plug
in turntables, we re-engineered the
phono preamps by playing a little bit
with the RIAA curve—and turntables
30 Hz • 136 dB
sound amazing with this mixer.
DJ Times: How about with digital
inputs?
Hawtin: Well, there are quite a
few different digital signals. There is
one rule that I’ve learned from sound
guys as I’ve traveled the world is that
the more A-to-D and D-to-A conver-
www.rcf-usa.com
sion steps you have, the worse it’s
going to sound. At this moment in See us at:
time, with the way people are play-
ing and the sources that people are
using, we felt that bringing all those
August 15-18
digital signals right into analog was Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City
the way to go.
DJ Times: So you just have one
step from digital to analog, and just
stick with that.
Hawtin: Exactly. Of course, with
most sound systems today, you will
have one more A-to-D step after
that. But think about it—when you
have a lot of different sources and a
lot of steps, none of these things are
clocked, and you’re getting crazy jit-
ter and stuff like that. But going back
to electrical currents is the right idea,
I think. It’s analogous to what hap-
pens in a pro recording studio. Most
people have ended up using a mix of
analog and digital—maybe a couple
of great digital effects boxes, maybe
a computer with Ableton and some
nice Apogee converters, maybe an
old Moog, maybe a new Moog, maybe
a couple of Dave Smith Instruments,
all put together in a unique way. And
then, very often, it either gets mixed
or downmixed on a high-end analog
console.
DJ Times: And in your analogy,
the PLAYdifferently mixer is equiva-
lent to the studio’s analog console.
Hawtin: Yeah. In my mind, the DJ
market is five or 10 years behind
the pro-studio market. Because the
DJ market is so big, the impulse is
to make mixers in the cheapest way
possible, with the cheapest produc-
tion possible—and that usually means
that the manufacturers go the digital
route. Which doesn’t mean digital is
necessarily the wrong way to go—but
we have this massive market, and all
we have are DJ mixers that are maybe
10 or 15 or 20 years old in design.
Then there are the kind of DJ mixers
that are created for the mass market,
just to sell as many as possible. That’s
it—and that’s disappointing, given the
size of the market. And that’s kind of
where we come in.
DJ Times: Other than its sonic
consistency, what else differentiates
PLAYdifferently from other mixers?
Hawtin: We’ve made changes
from the ground up. The main thing
is the quality of the components—
the quality of touch, of tactility, of
finding the right button or the right
knob to attach to a certain effect or
parameter.
DJ Times: So it’s sort of a rede-
sign of the interface between the DJ
and the machinery?
H aw t i n : T h a t s o u n d s p re t t y
simple, but there was a lot to think
about. The problem is that a lot of
products have multiple uses for each
button, knob and fader on the de-
vice—they can become overly com-
plicated and less intuitive, less playful,
really. I mean, a guitar has six strings,
arranged in a certain way; a keyboard
has black and white keys, arranged
in a certain way. They have a certain
feel. These are instruments—and the
mixer is the instrument of the mod-
ern DJ. It’s where you decide how
to cut and modulate and filter, or
whatever else you want to do. And
if the mixer doesn’t have the kind of
feel that makes you want to touch,
turn and press things, it’s not going to
inspire your best performance.
DJ Times: And that is the ultimate
goal.
Hawtin: Yes, and I don’t think that
there’s been something quite like that
before—a mixer that’s designed to
be an instrument that a performer
plays. Each of our knobs does one
thing. Once you know the mixer, you
don’t have to think about it. Your
hand goes there, and that’s the fil-
ter; put it there, that’s the high-pass;
over there, that’s the low-pass. And
we’ve designed each part for func-
tionality. Everything is designed to
match human movements, which are
very much connected by our human
emotions. And that can sometimes
be achieved by simply changing the
shape, location or feel of a button. I
mean, how do we put our own stamp
on other people’s prerecorded music,
on other people’s records? First of
all, you need an instrument that en-
ables us to translate our movements,
one that can bring those movements
into the mix.
DJ Times: You’re a pretty good
ambassador for PLAYdifferently.
Hawtin: Well, I’m one of the de-
signers—I better be! [laughs] Hon-
estly, I’ve been involved in a number
of different technologies, and I won’t
say that everything I’ve been involved
with has been the right choice. But I
try to be aligned with things that I’m
passionate about. As far as mixers go,
I’ve been waiting for years for some-
one to design one, and that never
happened. But this is finally here, and
it’s something that excites me and
inspires me when I use it in front of
people. I can hear the difference, and
I can see that the crowd feels some-
thing different.
DJ Times: They feel that just
through the sound quality alone?
Hawtin: It’s more than that. They
can feel that you are playing differ-
ently, too.
DJ Times: Hence the name.
Hawtin: Yeah. Think about the
professionals, people who go out
every weekend and make their liv-
ing off of DJing. Most of them are
using three or four different mixers
(continued on page 40)
America’s Best DJ Tour
Launches at Detroit’s
Movement Festival
1 Hybrid: Dubfire on mainstage.
Adam Meyer
2 Matthew Dear: Daytime mixer.
Adam Meyer
3 Carl Craig: Hometown hero.
Steven Pham
4 J.Phlip: Daytime Dirtybird.
Bryan Mitchell
5 Get Real: Ren Center scene.
Katie Laskowska
6 Prince Dynamite: RZA on the mic.
Adam Meyer
7 BPitch Control: Ellen Allien onstage.
Steven Pham
8 The Black Madonna: At the riverbank.
Adam Meyer
9 Stacey Pullen: Kosmic Messenger.
Steven Pham
10 Silver Scene: Movement fans.
Adam Meyer
11 Mija: Owsla sounds.
Adam Meyer
12 Hello Clouds: Justin Martin mixing.
Chris Soltis
13 Honey Soundsystem’s Jason Kendig.
Adam Meyer
14 The Robots: Kraftwerk in 3D.
Adam Meyer
 In today’s digital age of click-and-
drag, many believe that American
copyright law is outdated and, ac-
cording to David Gunkel, a profes-
sor of communications at Northern
Illinois University, it’s being used “to
shut down creativity.”
Gunkel traces the historical roots
of the remix debate between the
“copyright” and the “copyleft” with
brainiac prose in his new book, “Of
Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics
After Remix.” He says that DJs are
tired of being viewed as unoriginal
– as the “record player players” of
society.
Dave Dresden is one of those DJs
looking to change that perception.
As one-half of the DJ/remix/produc-
tion team Gabriel & Dresden, he’s
topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club
Play Chart more than 20 times with
remixes and original productions
and he wants to see a world where
artists who sample can build on each
other’s work without being hit with
cease-and-desist letters.
“I want people to sample my ma-
terial and make new songs,” says the
Oakland, Calif.-based Dresden. “I’ve
always been a supporter of that.”
Some companies are attempting
to make that endeavor easier. This
past March, for example, Dubset Me-
dia Holdings proposed a solution
when it launched MixBANK, a music
licensing and distribution business
for remixed songs. According the
company, MixBANK “is designed to
facilitate the marketplace between
DJs, rights holders and music servic-
es.” Through MixBANK’s pre-negoti-
ated licenses and unique technology,
“DJs, labels, publisher and music ser-
vices can create and earn together, in
one comprehensive platform.”
Its release came just weeks af-
ter SoundCloud, a German music
streaming service, alienated its DJ
JULY 2016
and remix artist user base by striking
a licensing deal with corporate giants
like Universal Music Group.
Gunkel and Dresden agree that a
DJ TIMES
new approach to copyright is in or-
der, but differ slightly on their views
22
about options like MixBANK and
the idea of clearing remixed songs
for distribution. They spoke with the
DJ Times about their own solutions,
which start by scrapping the existing
copyright law.
DJ Times: First of all, is anything
original?
David Gunkel: One of the as-
sumptions [I’m challenging] is this
idea of creativity being creation out
of nothing. This is a really impossible
standard, I think, for any human be-
ing to ever really approach. It is a
concept we give to the divine in the
Judeo-Christian belief. We may need
to recalibrate how we understand
the creative process.
Dave Dresden: I don’t know.
Music evolved because of technol-
ogy and we’re all influenced by the
things that we listen to and then try
to make our own interpretation of
that. I mean, everything’s been done,
An Academic & a DJ/Artist Offer
but then again everything hasn’t. Five
years ago, there wasn’t trap music.
Creation is infinite, really.
DJ Times: Is the negative con-
notation behind remixing too deeply
embedded in our history for things
to change?
Gunkel: That’s a good question.
The values we utilize in order to
think about the creative process and
form our copyright laws are old, old,
ancient values. It was designed at
a time where artistic creation was
confronted by a new technology – at
the time, it was printing. The [English]
Crown needed to decide how we
The Academic: confront this brand new threat from
technology. What we’re trying to do
Gunkel says in the current time is to recalibrate
a law written for print media for
current law [newer] digital media. You have a lot
of people calling for an entire rewrite
conflicts with of the copyright law.
Dresden: There’s a lot of people
current hanging onto an old belief and the old
ways instead of embracing change or
moving forward with the time. And
practice. things are going to keep changing.
In 10 years, we might have to revisit
this conversation because people
might be downloading songs into
 their brains [laughs].
DJ Times: Is abandoning middle-
men record companies the answer?
Gunkel: They already have in
many ways. They’ve abandoned them
and so have the fans. Those individu-
als in the middle who used to broker
the relationships are no longer nec-
essary. As a result, you have people
giving away their music for free, rec-
ognizing that their fans are going
to get it anyway. So it’s a change in
the technology, obviously, and also a
change in the way we think about the
business model for this kind of cre-
ative activity. Now, the way you make
your money is by performing. You
connect directly to fans and build a
following of people who will support
you – not by buying an object, but by
having a service relationship.
Dresden: I mean, it’s heading
there, but I think we’re still 10 years
off from that. As social media be-
New Views on Existing Copyright Law
comes more engrained in the musi-
cian’s life, absolutely. You know, I’m
just blown away at how these young
kids can build their fan bases using
Snapchat or Periscope or Twitter
and just doing all these things the
right away and making people love
them, so it’s definitely heading in that
direction.
DJ Times: So it’s all about the
gigs now?
Dresden: Performing – that is how
we make money. It’s sort of like the
music is the loss leader that brings
people into your world, and you’re
going to sell them tickets, mugs, t-
shirts – all kinds of things. It’s a hard
life, yeah, because you’re spending all
this time and effort making music and
the only way to reap the rewards is
to get on an airplane and leave your
family to go perform.
DJ Times: So what do you think
of solutions like MixBANK?
Gunkel: This is where I think the
current law really comes into conflict
with current artistic practice. The
practice of remix is to say that our
culture is full of sounds, full of melo-
dies – all kind of things we recognize
as indicative of a certain period of
time. A hip-hop DJ, for example, may
want to draw on a riff from a Led
Zeppelin song to create a new com-
position that is sort of a touchstone.
If every time you have to do that,
you pay a licensing fee, it becomes
increasingly impossible to do that
kind of work.
Dresden: I make the comparison
to medical marijuana in that, rather
than just making it legal for medical
reasons, why don’t you just make it
legal? I don’t see it as a step back-
wards – I think it’s trying to fix a
problem and maybe it will catch on
and, at some point, be really easy
to use.
DJ Times: What’s your solution?
Gunkel: By the time you can use
anything in your current culture for
remix, you’re going to be dead. So
my proposal really is that we give
the artists five years. You make a new
work and you’ve got five years. After
By Kelly Kasulis
that, your artistic product enters the
public domain. The internet has ac-
celerated the way we consume the
media and our copyright law should
respond [to that].
Dresden: I think [Gunkel’s pro-
posal] makes total sense. I think, the
way things move so fast now, five
years is what 75 years was when they
made that law – the perpetuity law.
It also makes sense from a remixing
standpoint because, after five years,
people might want to hear the song
in a new context again.
DJ Times: What about notion of
making it public domain?
The DJ: Dresden: By making it public do-
main, that means the original writer
Dresden won’t make any money on that if it’s
used. I don’t necessarily agree with
believes in a that. I don’t think [remixing] is some-
thing that needs to be paid for. I think
new payment the rights holder should get a per-
centage of what’s coming in on the
model. remixed track. You’re owed a certain
JULY 2016
percentage of that remixed composi-
tion’s total intake of money. If that
composition won a Grammy Award,
you get a Grammy Award because
DJ TIMES
your composition is in there.   n
23
 While the Rest of the World
Vacations, Some Mobile DJs
Make the Most of
Summer Business
JULY 2016
DJ TIMES

By Jeff Stiles

24
 No matter the season, the
party never stops in Chi-
Town. While many mobile DJs
find their businesses handling
typical high-end wedding re-
ceptions, there are plenty
more events that’ll last (as
Kid Rock would sing) all sum-
mer long.
“We do camp dance par-
ties ever y summer, where
we bring a DJ, an interactive
MC, dancers and even some
mobile music swag—t-shirts,
sports bags and other pro-
motional materials—about
three or four weeks into
every camp,” reports Shani
Barnett in Northbrook, Ill.
“We do these two-hour
dance parties to get our com-
pany and talent known to
mitzvah-age kids at the whole
camp, which could be 100 to
200 kids, so they see us in
action and want to book us
for their upcoming bar or bat
mitzvahs.
“We also do last-day camp
parties for other camps like
sports camps and other
groups, where each counselor
rotates activities the camp
puts together every 20-30
minutes,” says the owner of
Shani Barnett Productions.
“These camps parties are
so much fun. The kids love a
break from camp, the coun-
selors join in, and everyone
looks forward to the next
dance party.”
For Ar tem Lomez of
NinetyThree Entertainment
over in Roxbur y, N.J., the
typical summertime consists
of a graduation party here,
a wedding reception there,
a referral from a rabbi here,
and another wedding recep-
tion there.
“ I t ’s a l l f ro m wo rd - o f -
mouth,” Lomaz says, “so we
take whatever comes down
the pike.”
What kinds of gigs are mo-
contest, hula hoop contests
and such—and then also TV-
or movie-themed trivia to mix
things up for the adults, while
bile DJs around the country booking this summer? What’s the appetite they’re lounging around the
among our clients? Who’s doing something different this year, and what pool or eating.”
are we doing to generate additional summertime gigs? Goldoor says that so far this
In the Detroit area, wedding receptions are basically all held between year he’s noticed a slight de-
May and October, so Corey Rusch with Rusch Entertainment attempts crease in some of his country
to simply focus on them. clubs and golf club parties. “I’m
“We try really hard to focus mainly on the receptions,” Rusch says. not sure if they’re not having
“We have the occasional graduation party that calls in, and we try to events due to poor turnout
help with those, but they are usually the two- or three-hour open-house in years past, limited budget
and they don’t have a wedding budget. or using another form of en-
“During the summer, there aren’t school events during the week to tertainment, such as a band or
pick up a few extra bucks on, but our corporate work is pretty strong photo booth instead of DJ—
during the week.” though most know we also
But for Rusch, as with most of us all around the country, wedding offer a photo booth, too.”
receptions are the bread and butter. “They account for a large percent- Meanwhile, back over in
age of our events,” he says. “After all, we don’t really do anything special Chicago, Barnett says her sum-
to generate these events—they either call or not. Most of the time it’s mertime camp gigs are just
the word-of-mouth and connection to the area since the ’70s that has part of her extra summertime
people calling us. bookings. “Over the summer,
“In fact, I just had a bride say this to me in an email today: ‘My family we also typically do corpo-
has used Rusch Entertainment in the past and would love to continue rate picnics every weekend—
to give you our business.’ That’s how we get our work—word-of-mouth sometimes two or three on
is key. We’ve gotta always put on our best presentation at every event.” a Saturday afternoon, which
Over the northwest corner of the nation, Andrew Tiegs of Adam’s keeps our talent very busy—
DJ Service in Seattle, Wash., says he’s seeing more and more summer- where we provide a DJ and we
time corporate picnics being booked. also have two people running
“The increase is largely in part to teaming up with other entertain- picnic games for two hours
ment companies who do everything from bouncy houses to large for kids and adults,” she says.
format games,” he explains. “They get asked a lot about music, sound “We also do camp parties and
systems and DJs for events, so we’ve started partnering up and offering community pool parties every
packages that include my services. month . . . and, of course, the
“It’s more laid back and less stressful than serious events like wed- birthday parties for kids and
dings, but the price-point is typically lower. Still, for four out of five adults in backyards or houses.”
events we’re able to work a fair rate, so it works out for everyone.” As for anything new these
For Tiegs, having relationships with other vendors has made this extra days, Barnett admits that (as
summertime line of work possible. “I met the owner of this company a usual) most of her events are
while back and have worked with a few event managers there, but their returning clients or word-of-
new event manager really likes me and has just recently inquired or mouth referrals.
booked me for four events. He’s a member of NACE, of which I’ve been “ B u d g e t s we n t d o w n a
a part for eight years. little this summer, so instead
“I guess that, along with the great relationships I’ve had with venues of a five-hour event, maybe
and caterers, puts me on top-of-mind for these folks.” it’s a four-hour event,” she
Over in the northeast, Scott Goldoor of Signature DJs in Plymouth says. “But on the whole, our
Meeting, Pa., says they find that a nice amount of company picnics, pool summer events haven’t really
parties and apartment complex resident appreciation picnics help fill in changed that much.
their summertime schedule. “I’m just hoping for some
“We also have a few house birthday parties and backyard pig roasts,” warm sunny weather this sum-
says Goldoor, “and then at least half a dozen of our normal country club mer in Chicago.”          n
or golf club accounts will normally contact us for member events. Some
of those are adult-only parties, while others are family-oriented with
games and entertainment for the kids.”
JULY 2016
Goldoor says many of the pool parties are structured similarly—
designed to be entertaining for both adults and kids alike. “We do an
assortment of pool games—like a splash contest for the kids, diving
DJ TIMES
25
 MAKING TRACKS STUDIO…HARDWARE…SOFTWARE…
Skoove: Practical online keyboard instruction.
EDUCATIONAL TOOLS AID
MUSIC-MAKING
By Wesley Bryant-King
As fast as technology seems to move, from time to time I’m reminded about
how slowly some seemingly obvious ideas come about. But it seems to be the
case that technology-driven educational tools have rather taken their time
to mature. Sure, we’ve had basic things like MOOCs (massive open online
courses) for a while now, but I’m taking about really elegant applications of
technology—clever solutions to unique learning challenges.
Music seems to be one of those areas where the unique challenges are abun-
dantly clear, and the cost of traditional learning approaches (like classes, private
lessons, etc.) generally border on outrageous. To me, this screams nothing if
not “opportunity,” and it appears that some folks have sensed that and risen
to the occasion.
In this round-up, I’ll be taking a look at four particular music-learning tools
I’ve found interesting and helpful, and how they’re working to rethink the status
quo—while providing new and innovative ways to learn in the process.
Skoove (Web Site): Perhaps one of the most obvious ways one could
apply technology to music learning is with keyboards. After all, MIDI has been
around for a few decades at this point, so the idea of connecting a keyboard
to a computer is hardly a stretch. I’m sure that others have developed learning
tools that leverage MIDI keyboards, but Skoove—which I received a tip about
a few months ago—seems to have taken a pretty unique approach that’s both
accessible, and affordable.
Skoove is, in short, a series of online keyboard lessons. By using the inte-
grated MIDI support of certain web browsers (while providing a plug-in for
others), Skoove runs in your web browser like any other web site. All you need
to provide is a MIDI keyboard. It’s worth noting that not too long ago, Skoove
introduced support for acoustic pianos through “listening” to audio via your
computer’s microphone as an alternative to a MIDI keyboard, so you can use
conventional instruments with Skoove instead if you prefer.
In playing with Skoove, I found its approach to be interesting, practical, and ef-
fective. Like a good teacher, Skoove explains proper technique, and while work-
ing your way through increasingly more elaborate musical passages, it teaches
you both how to read sheet music, as well as basic elements of music theory.
To be fair, I had about eight years’ worth of jazz-piano lessons back in the
day, but never considered myself all that good. Skoove helped me knock the
rust of the skills I had, and I felt like I was more successful at bringing my hands
JULY 2016
together at the keyboard than I was all those years back when it seemed like
an extraordinary struggle.
Skoove offers a progression of beginner and intermediate courses, plus spe-
DJ TIMES
cialized courses that include Pop Piano and Christmas titles. Many more are
shown on the site and labeled as “coming soon,” so clearly more is in develop-
ment. I’m particularly looking forward to the rollout of their piano accompani-
ment course—a skill I never learned in my conventional piano lessons.
26
Syntorial: Progressive, detailed synth lessons.
Skoove is free to try; Skoove Premium, with access to all its lesson material,
is $9.95 per month. Check it out at skoove.com.
Syntorial (Software Tool): When you get your keyboard chops (or per-
haps you already have some), you’ll probably want to jump right into playing
synthesizers. The thing is, even if you know how to play the notes, do you know
how to program the instruments to get that special sound you have in your
head? That’s where Syntorial comes in.
While there are numerous synthesis methods around, perhaps the most
widely used is subtractive synthesis, and it’s at the core of some of modern
music’s most popular and well-known synthesizers—both hardware- and
software-based.
When I first saw Syntorial at Winter NAMM 2016, I knew I had to check it
out. While I’m an avid user of Sylenth (a popular analog-modeled soft-synth),
as well as the proud owner of a Sequential Prophet 6, I’ll be the first to admit
that the majority of the time I browse factory presets, then tweak them to my
needs; I’ve really never fully understood all the principles of sound design, and
haven’t acquired the skills the usual way: endless hours of trial and error and
learning by doing.
Syntorial is composed of nearly 200 individual lessons—the first 22 of which
are available for review through its free demo. The lessons in Syntorial are pro-
gressive—they build, lesson to lesson, on knowledge you’ve already acquired.
They’re also quite detailed, and take things at a very modest pace. Because the
point is to develop your ability to do this by ear, and to hear the effect each
synth parameter has on the sound, that modest pace is actually pretty essential
to the success of the program. It does, however, take some effort to resist
trying to rush things when the pace starts to get a little sleepy. Stick with it,
however; Syntorial really works, and while I’m still working my way through the
lessons as I write this review, it’s paid huge dividends already, and prompted me
to get out of the “modified-factory-preset” rut.
Syntorial has three (at this writing) Lesson Packs that are available at no
additional charge to paid users. Each is for a specific synth, and include packs
for Sylenth (38 lessons), Cakewalk’s Z3TA+2 (37 lessons), and the Minimoog
Voyager (34 lessons), making the purchase even more valuable and educational
if you happen to own one of these popular software or hardware synths.
The cost for the entire lesson series plus the Lesson Packs is $129.99, and
includes a VST/AU synth plug-in that reflects the interface shown in the lessons.
More information at syntorial.com.
iZotope Pro Audio Essentials (Web Site): Boston’s iZotope is perhaps
best known as a producer of some of the music industry’s most beloved audio-
processor plug-ins, such as their renowned Ozone mastering tools suite. But
the company has also created, over the years, a wide range of material designed
to help educate its customers (and honestly, non-customers, too) on various
aspects of audio production. In particular, I’ve both enjoyed and found helpful
their free e-books on mixing and mastering, but they also offer webinars, videos,
and more.
Most recently the company rolled out an interactive learning toolset called
Pro Audio Essentials. Announced by the company this past May, it gives the
impression that perhaps they jumped the gun a little, as the toolset is largely
unfinished. (Don’t let that stop you; I’ll explain in a moment.) The three modules
(continued on page 42)
WHY WOULD YOU BUY
ANYTHING ELSE?
RELOOP PIONEER
FEATURES RP-8000 PLX-1000
> On board midi buttons Yes No
( 8 – Cues, Latching loop, Loop rolls, Sample mode, and User/Slice mode )
> Adjustable torque Yes No
> Adjustable start and brake Yes No
> On board digital display for BPM and pitch control Yes No
> On board trax’s encoder and USB link for linking turntables Yes No
> Two start and stop buttons with removable light Yes No
> Reverse button Yes No

“With the RP-8000 “This is the turntable I “We fell in love with “The RP-8000 is the post- “The best of both analog
Reloop hit a home run!” would purchase the streamlined design controller revolution deck vinyl and digital worlds in
— DJ Times in a second.“ and ease of use.“ that people have been one powerful package.”
— Mobile Beat — DJ City waiting for.”
— DJ Booth
— DJ Worx

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www.americanmusicandsound.com Pioneer and PLX-1000 are registered trademarks of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

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 SOUNDING OFF PLAYBACK…PRO AUDIO…PROCESSING

PIONEER DJ’S NEW CDJ/DJM UNITS

By Wesley Bryant-King

When I started DJing about a decade

or so ago, I was a bit of an early adopter, I
suppose. I discovered an early version of
one of today’s leading digital DJ software
products, cobbling together a MIDI drum
controller (of all things) to serve as the
hardware control device for it. It wasn’t
that much later that robust, purpose-
built controllers started to come on the
market, and I was utterly convinced that
turntables and CDJs would soon be a
thing of the past. CDJ/DJM Combo: Serious gear for serious DJs.
Clearly, I’d probably not make a great
technology pundit or visionary, because
now, 10 years later, I can see how wrong
I was. For a start, about six years ago, I
bit the bullet and invested in a pair of
Pioneer DJ CDJs myself—which I still
frequently use to this day for certain
types of gigs, thanks to their flexibility.
But here we are in 2016, and Pioneer
has recently introduced its latest and
greatest CDJ and DJ mixer offerings to
a DJ community that has enthusiastically
welcomed their arrival with the sort of
excitement normally reserved for top
echelon celebrities. After putting the
new CDJ-2000NXS2 digital multi-player
and DJM-900NXS2 mixer through their CDJ-2000NXS2: Unique capability & flexibility. DJM-900NXS2: A mixer with 64-
paces, I can start to understand why. bit DSP & more.
Getting Started: Unboxing the pair
of CDJs and the mixer I received for even without cracking the manual, I had no trouble getting things connected, and then getting some digital media
review, I have to say my first impression into the device for playback. Even the touchscreen and related controls surrounding it seemed perfectly natural
was that this was serious gear, for seri- and intuitive. And as for the mixer? Same story—easy, fast, intuitive, and natural. This familiarity will let any DJ be
ous DJs. I’ve used previous iterations of immediately productive, leaving ample time later to discover and master all the new capabilities on offer in these
the DJM-900, so I already knew that the latest-generation versions.
series was very highly regarded indeed, What’s New: One of the new capabilities in this latest generation of the CDJ-2000 and DJM-900 is support for
and aside from its new capabilities, was 96 kHz, 24-bit audio. To take full advantage of this high-res audio support, digital connections between the CDJs
familiar. But I’ve not had the pleasure and mixer are required, and to support that, SPDIF digital connections are provided on both. You can also directly
of using higher-end Pioneer DJ CDJs connect the CDJs and/or the mixer to your computer, providing the same high-res audio I/O for content located
until now, so I wasn’t quite prepared for there. (Of course, analog is still provided as well – standard stereo RCA on the CDJs, and separate line- and phono-
what came out of the boxes. For a start, level RCA on the mixer.)
they’re big—but even without powering To support the high-res audio enabled by that digital connectivity, you’ll need high-res audio content, and in ad-
them on or studying the manual, you get dition to using material via a connected computer, the CDJ-2000NXS2 supports FLAC and Apple Lossless (ALAC),
the very immediate understanding that along with more traditional legacy formats (MP3, WAV, AAC, and AIFF). When you pair that high-res content with
they’re packed with capabilities (and digital connectivity and a robust sound system, the results are both readily apparent, and impressive. I find that most
possibilities). people, me included, have simply gotten used to the quality compromises of audio compression in formats like MP3,
Pioneer has designed everything to sit even high bitrate MP3, and when the compromises are removed, you suddenly realize what you’ve been missing.
next to each other, with identical heights The quality of the audio output from the DJM-900NXS2 is supported as well by the use of a 64-bit DSP in the
and depths, for a nice, finished look when unit—vs. the 32-bit DSP in the previous iteration of the mixer. The extra processing power shows its benefit when
it’s all assembled on the desktop. And
JULY 2016

enabling any of the unit’s ample array of effects. It provides both “sound color” effects like sweeps, noise, and the
powered up, the whole system is visually like, as well as the usual so-called “beat” effects like flanger, phaser, pingpong, and so on. The beat effects, in particu-
impressive. lar, are supported by a range of control capabilities, thanks to an X-pad selection of beat duration, plus selectable
Despite the advanced capabilities of frequency range of application. This provides the ability to apply a flanger, for instance, in the midrange, or echoes
DJ TIMES

both the CDJ-2000NXS2 and the DJM- to the high-end, enabling unique results that even the most capable digital DJ software applications (generally
900NXS2, any DJ who’s used Pioneer known for more robust effects than are usually available in hardware offerings) would be hard-pressed to match.
DJ’s CDJs or mixers in the past will feel And given the crispness and clarity of the audio when the effects are applied? Clearly Pioneer DJ is setting a new
immediately at home. With the CDJs, (continued on page 42)

28
 MOBILE PROFILE CAREERS…INNOVATIONS…SUCCESS STORIES
MULTI-OP KEEPS IT ALL IN THE FAMILY
By Stu Kearns
Freeland, Mich. – The way Corey Rusch
tells it, you can blame it all on his dad.
See, his dad Dean started Rusch Entertain-
ment in 1971 when he was a teenager. He had
started a band, Ceyx, with two of his friends,
and they played high school and teen dances.
Soon the band began attracting attention, and
shared stages with the likes of Ted Nugent,
Tommy James, Sammy Hagar, Chubby Checker,
Blue Oyster Cult and Bob Seger.
Dean saw potential in booking other acts,
including bands and DJs, as his popularity grew,
and saw demand for entertainment for wed-
dings, corporate events, schools and other
events. “He was even featured on a wedding
show on TNT that had Boyz II Men perform
– he provided the sound and entertained the
rest of the evening,” says a proud Corey about
this dad.
For Corey and his brother Casey, the DJ
life began very early. “We always had the gear
around with band and DJ equipment,” he says.
“We played with and learned about the gear at
an early age. Both Casey and I were doing teen
dances at an early age, but we didn’t do higher
profile or paid events until we were a little
older such as weddings and corporate events.”
Corey’s first official taste of DJing occurred
when he was 14, his first teen dance on a New
Year’s Eve where Ceyx was playing for the main
party. Younger brother Casey was also 14 when
he got involved, DJing at middle-school dances.
JULY 2016
“Dean would call middle schools in the area
that didn’t have dances and convince them to
have a dance for a fundraiser,” says Corey, “and
we’d go DJ them for free to gain experience.”
DJ TIMES
Today, all three work together in the office
handling the daily operations for the multi-
op—a great benefit, business-wise, Corey be-
30
lieves. “The biggest benefit to our family work-
ing relationship is trust,” he says. “We know
we can all rely on each other for support no
matter what’s going on in the office or out in
the field.”
Dean’s wife Jean also works in the office.
“She’s been the ultimate supporter,” says Co-
rey. “She helps with payroll, accounting, and
does other office professional tasks. And I can’t
forget to mention how important Aunt Tracy,
my mom’s sister, has been to the business. She’s
been there since the beginning as well. She did
a lot of the booking and sales, and accounting as
well with Dean in the earlier years when Dean
started the business in his parent’s basement.”
While they don’t market the fact that they’re
a family business, it’s well known in the Great
Lakes Bay Region of Michigan, a small area, that
the name Rusch equates to entertainment. “A
lot of our clients are word-of-mouth and cus-
tomers typically catch on as they hear the last
name,” he says. “In our area, everyone knows
it is a family business. Dean was the band or
DJ for people back in the earlier days. They’ve
remembered him, and now Casey and I are
DJing their kids’ weddings 30 years later. Some
of these couples are having him DJ or his band
Ceyx come back and play the kids’ weddings.”
On the Gear Front: for PA systems, Rusch
Entertainment uses QSC Audio’s KW Series
for most gigs and units from RCF’s Evox series
for smaller events. For playback control, it uses
Numark NS7, Numark Mixdeck Quad, Pioneer
CDJ-2000 digital players and Technics SL-1200
turntables. For software, the company uses a
variety of platforms, including Serato DJ, Pio-
neer rekordbox, Virtual DJ and Native Instru-
ments Traktor Pro. On the lighting front, Rusch
uses primarily Chauvet gear, including an array
Five Decades in Busi-
ness: (from left) Dean,
Casey & Corey Rusch.
of Intimidator Spot 350 units.
With the benefits of a family-run business,
there are challenges, too. “The biggest challenge
is the time it takes and requires to put into the
company,” says Corey. “We aren’t able to go on
many family vacations because we need some-
one in the office. Working every day with family
can start to take away the time that we want
to spend together as a family. There are times
where we work 50-60 days in a row during our
busy times without any days or time off.”
And how do they deal with it? Sundays is the
day they typically have no gigs. So when they get
together as a family they try not to talk about the
business and just enjoy being together. “It’s impor-
tant to find the off switch at times,” says Corey.
Whatever their formula, it appears to be
working. Over the past 40 years, Rusch Enter-
tainment has exceeded over 2,000 events each
year; for 2016 they’re closing in on 2,500—a
large majority of them being weddings, but with
a mix of everything, such as schools and cor-
porate events. They service all of Michigan and
surrounding states, and Corey cites their recent
Memorial Weekend, where they booked nearly
50 events, from Detroit to Northern Michigan
and Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Dean shows no signs of slowing down, either.
“He hasn’t been showing any signs of retiring
and is actually working more than when I was
a kid,” says Corey. “My brother and I have both
expressed interest in taking over when Dean
decides to retire. We have goals of growing and
expanding more perhaps to other regions.”
In five years Corey says he hopes to see Dean
relaxing and the sons running the company. “We
plan to grow the business he created,” he says,
“and continue to provide a top quality experi-
ence and service for our clients.”
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 BUSINESS LINE SALES…MARKETING…SOLUTIONS…
By Clyde Forbes
Brian Buonassissi, managing part-
ner at B-Boy Productions, has been
in the mobile business long enough
to have an opinion on the value of
customer service. In fact, he’s got so
many opinions he’s put together a
seminar for the next DJ Expo, called
“Why Your Client’s Experience Mat-
ters.” Taking a moment from
his duties of running a com-
pany with offices in New
York City, Orange County,
Calif., and Destin, Fla., Buon-
assissi offered some insight
on his presentation and his
professional views.
CAN YOU GIVE US A QUICK
OVERVIEW OF THE SEMI-
NAR?
Sure . You used to just
wow people with great gear,
great music or a great show.
But that’s not enough in to-
day’s world. You have to de-
liver an experience that is
second to none—from the
day they first are introduced
to you until way after the
last song is played. In this
seminar, you’ll learn some
lessons from the best and worst ser-
vice providers out there that will
help you and your business stay on
top for years to come.
ARE
YOU
YOU BEGIN WITH A RATING SCALE
OF 1 TO 5. WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS
IT IMPORTANT?
It doesn’t matter who you are,
where you might be, what you do, it’s
the scale by which you grade things
(Yelp, WeddingWire, TripAdvisor,
etc.). The question you need to ask
DELIVERING
yourself is: “What reasons dictate
why a customer would give you a 5
as opposed to a 4?”
INNOVATIVE
SERVICE?
YOU SAY NOT TO WORRY ABOUT ANY
GRADES LOWER THAN A C. WHY?
C is average... that is doing what
is expected. Customers are satisfied.
Example: if I buy a coffee maker, I’m
not expecting it also make me an
omelet. It’d be nice, but I don’t expect
it. As long as it does no more, no
less, then I’m satisfied. But we’re not
talking about a product, we’re talking
about an experience.
JULY 2016
Think about a really good experi-
ence you’ve had. A great restaurant
experience, maybe a honeymoon.
What if you came back from your
DJ TIMES
honeymoon and somebody asked
how it was and your response was,
“I was completely satisfied.” You’re
probably going to spend that night
32
on the couch.
So when it comes to the experience, a “C” grade is just mediocre. So let’s look at
clients or customers who give us an A. When you look at it, there’s a big difference
between clients who give you an A and clients who give you a B.
Clients who give you an A will recommend you. They don’t say they might. They
actually do it.
Clients who you give you an A will use you again.
Clients who give you an A will forgive you if you make a mistake.
Whereas a “B” client might do those, but they
might not.
YOU SAY THAT THE RECESSION HAS CHANGED
THE GAME WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SER-
VICE. HOW?
It has caused your customer to redefine value.
First, they’ve got a lot more choices than they
have ever had. Would you agree that you’ve got
a lot of competition? You aren’t the only game in
town, right?
But they’re also a lot smarter. The internet has
done that. Think about the last car you bought.
You didn’t just go down there and take their word
for it; you did your homework. You went on Kelly
Bluebook, Edmonds—we knew how much our
trade in was really worth, how much you paid for
that car, etc. Or maybe you’re going on vacation
and you’re looking at staying at a hotel that you’ve
never stayed at before. You go online and look at
the reviews. And what are those reviews about?
The experience. They’re not about the pretty pic-
tures. So again, customers are smarter. They do their homework. 80-percent of all
clients in a recent survey said they will do their homework online before making
a purchase today.
So that value pie has changed significantly now. As consumers, we’ve always de-
fined value as, “Did I get the product or outcome that I considered or trusted at a
price or fee or a rate that I would consider fair and with a positive experience?” It
used to be that those three things were evenly disbursed out. Now what’s changed
is that the pie elements are still the same, but it looks different (two-thirds of that
pie is now experience and the other two take up one-third). The experience plays
a much bigger role than ever before.
And so if experience is such a big part of that, who is your competition? Your
competition is not your industry. Your competition is anybody creating great ex-
periences for your clients. So they are comparing you to Nordstrom or Disney or
fill in the blank with your favorite service provider. But you want to know what
the most challenging part is? They are going to compare you incident to incident.
They take any incident and they look for any similar incident to make a comparison.
CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF THAT?
Your clients don’t evaluate you based on what they anticipate. They evaluate you
based on what they think is appropriate.They don’t judge you based on what’s likely
to happen. They judge you based on what ought to happen.
Illustration: Doctor’s appointment at 10 a.m. You wait an hour to be seen.
Wouldn’t you have loved to just been told be there at 11 a.m. and be seen at 11
a.m.? Now it is happening different than you anticipated? No! It’s happening exactly
as you anticipated. You’re getting mad because it’s not appropriate. That’s how your
clients judge you today. They don’t judge you based on what you trained them to
anticipate, they judge you based on what’s appropriate—and your competition is
changing your client’s perception of what appropriate looks like and we have new
kids on the block who make it even more challenging.
So you got a client using Uber and they have a great experience with Uber, then
they look at you through Uber eyes and you begin to say, “Oh my God, this is going
to be challenging.” Are your clients getting Uber’d?
Brian Buonassissi’s seminar, “Why Your Client’s Experience Matters,” will be featured
at DJ Expo, which will run Aug. 15-18 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. For the
latest on the show, please visit thedjexpo.com.
 GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF

Islands in the Airstream

ADJ Products
6122 S. Eastern Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90040
(323) 582-2650
www.americandj.com
The Airstream DMX Bridge from ADJ is a multi-signal Wi-Fi transmitter that
allows users to operate multiple ADJ fixtures from a distance of 2,500 feet.
Working in tandem with the Airstream DMX Bridge app for iOS, smartphones
and tablets can be utilized to control any WiFLY-compatible gear via 14 WiFLY
channels, as well as non-WiFLY products that are connected to the Airstream
DMX Bridge unit with three-pin DMX outputs. Compatible products include
LED Pars, Moving Heads, stage lighting, GOBO projectors, uplighting and dance
floor FX.

Speaker of the House

Pioneer DJ Americas
2050 W. 190th Street
Suite 109
Torrance CA 90504
(424) 488-0480
www.pioneerdj.com
Pioneer DJ’s DM-40 active speakers are desktop monitors that produce a
rich, balanced sound for DJing and producing. They come with a Class AB amp,
headphone output and both RCA and stereo mini jack inputs, as well as four-
inch fiberglass woofers and ¾-inch soft dome tweeters with DECO convex
diffusers. DM-40s offer the same speaker technology found in the company’s
pro-audio sub-brand TAD and its BULIT Series studio monitors, including a
front-loaded bass reflex system.

All Hands on Deckadance

Gibson Pro Audio
309 Plus Park Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37217
(800) 444-2766
www.gibson.com
Stanton’s Deckadance is now available in version 2.60. The new version in-
cludes unlimited snapshots for deck and mixer settings, including EQ, FX and
Key. All of the snapshots are integrated into the song manager and all settings
can be saved and recalled at the push of a button or keyboard shortcut. Version
2.60 also adds three new layouts to the drop-down menu-two deck or four deck
horizontal, with miniature decks on the left and horizontal stacked, zoomable
waveforms across the screen; and a Maximized Library layout.

Control NV
Numark/inMusic
200 Scenic View Dr.
Cumberland, RI 02864
(401) 658-3131
www.numark.com
JULY 2016

Numark has released the NVII DJ controller, which builds upon the features
of the original NV unit. Offering four decks of Serato DJ control, the NV II adds
gridlines on the 4.3-inch full-color screens so that DJs can visualize the beat of
their tracks more accurately. In addition to new navigation controls, the unit
DJ TIMES

includes 5-column sort options for music as well as additional columns of KEY,
BPM and TIME.

34
 AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF GEAR

Oil & Vignette

Blizzard Lighting
N16 W23390 Stoneridge Dr.
Suite E
Waukesha, WI 53188
(414) 395-8365
www.blizzardlighting.com
The Motif Vignette from Blizzard
Lighting is the latest model in the Motif
Series. The unit features 18 10-watt
quad-color LEDs and a natural convec-
tion cooling system that the company
says is noise free. Available in either
black or white aluminum housing with a heat sink design,
the Motif Vignette has a tempered glass lens, water-
tight internal gaskets and dual mounting brackets.
Additional features include multiple built-
in color presets and auto programs,
0-100-percent variable electronic
dimming, a variable electronic
strobe, and a four-button
LED control panel
menu.

Benny & The Jets

RCF USA
110 Talmadge Rd.
Edison, NJ 08817
(732) 902-6100
www.rcf-usa.com
The Iconica headphones are RCF’s first foray into the headphone market. Through a part-
nership with EDM DJ/producer Benny Benassi, the company developed a headphone model
that is designed for both studio and live performance applications. These over-the-ear,
supra-aural headphones feature flexible leather ear cushions and an extendable headband,
and they come in a choice of either Pepper Black or Angel White. According to the com-
pany, they have been designed to deliver “an extremely linear frequency response, including
extended bass, but without compromising on accuracy.”

Connect the Dots

Ableton Inc.
36 W. Colorado Blvd. Suite 300
Pasadena, CA 91105
(646) 723-4550
www.ableton.com
Ableton’s Connection Kit is a toolkit designed for using Live with technologies
such as Arduino, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, Leap Motion, littleBits and OSC. The
pack includes 11 Max for Live devices that let users connect, control and monitor
Live using these and other interfaces and communication protocols. The Con-
nection Kit Pack is free for Live 9 Suite and Max for Live users from the Ableton
website.

By LANDR or By Sea
LANDR
7083 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA, 90028
www.landr.com
Cloud-based audio post-production software platform LANDR announced a
DJ Engine designed to simplify music creation and production for electronic and
JULY 2016

Hip-Hop DJs. The DJ Engine can level any track at any stage. It utilizes an artificial
intelligence-driven algorithm that the company says is “designed to focus the low-
end while adding punch and weight and also offer clear, transcendent highs without
harshness or distortion.” Users also get the same functionality as the existing
DJ TIMES

LANDR platform – including metadata editing, integration with digital audio work-
stations, improved file management, and cloud storage backup.

35
 GEAR AUDIO…LIGHTING…STUFF
Station to Workstation
Drum Workshop, Inc.
3450 Lunar Ct.
Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 919-2499
www.dwdrums.com
Gibraltar DJ announced four new workstations. The Radius is a controller-
based set up with 30-inch legs that lock into place and a curvy design with
chrome-plated steel tubing that breaks down easily for transport. It features a
30-inch straight cross bar while the Radius Deck has a 40-inch curved crossbar.
The Elevate offers optional integrated speaker suspension stands and a plastic
workstation table top that can be separated into two 37-inch pieces with handle
cut-outs. The coffin-style Foundation has four rubber mounts and four posts for
extra stability.

Splice of Life
Splice
www.splice.com
Cloud platform Splice has released deadmau5’s Chimaera sample pack exclu-
sively on Splice Sounds, the company’s subscription service that lets producers
collaborate and build a personal sound collection out of more than 1,000,000
samples and presets. Chimaera features with 110 unreleased MIDI melodies
and 73 new custom kicks, including some samples that were used in deadmau5’s
music. Chimaera’s kicks and MIDI are royalty free and 100% cleared for com-
mercial use.

Under Lock & ColorKey

Mixware, LLC
11070 Fleetwood St, Unit F
Sun Valley, CA 91352
(818) 578-4030
www.mixware.net
ColorKey expanded its Mobile Series with two MobilePar products and one
MobileCon model. The MobilePar Hex 4 and MobilePar Quad 4 wireless lights are
both battery powered and feature wireless DMX, along with an ultra-fast refresh
rate and flicker-free LEDs that make them “ideal for video production,” according
to the company. The MobileCon 192 wireless DMX controller can control up to
12 different LED lights with up to 16 channels each. Its Universal Wi-DMX wireless
technology operates at 2.4 GHz, allowing for control from almost 2,000 feet away.

Seeds & Stems

Native Instruments North America
6725 Sunset Boulevard, 5th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 467-5260
www.native-instruments.com
Native Instruments has released Software Developer Kit for the Stems open
audio format—the toolkit for software and hardware developers is available
for free download from stems-music.com. Developers can now get full access
JULY 2016

to specifications, the DSP library, and code examples including a command-line

version of the Stem Creator – a free application for Stem file creation. With the
arrival of the SDK, Stems can now be freely integrated into music production/
performance tools or media players.The available compressor and limiter compo-
DJ TIMES

nents ensure that the four separate parts of a Stem file sound nearly indistinguish-
able from the original stereo master when heard individually or played together.

36
 TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

Igor Vicente

Point G aka DJ Gregory

“PHREEKY”  u Eli Escobar  u Classic Music Company

New York’s Escobar drops another cleverly produced underground EP. The title track of-
fers an uplifting disco-house feel, while “Can’t Stop Dancing” (featuring Nomi Ruiz) takes
you on a magical jazz ride with its deep synths—a warm summer classic.
– Tommy D Funk
Eli Escobar
“MOTHER & CHILD” EP u Paul Woolford u Hotflush
Woolford’s latest is a massive, melodic instrumental journey reminiscent of Ten Walls’
productions released before he went into hiding. The title track is a passionate, emotion-
al, orchestral thumper, but “Mother & Child Divided” extends it even further, manifesting
itself as a prime, beatless DJ tool that’s even more dramatic than the original mix.
– Chris Davis

“OBLIVION LAB” EP u Supernova  u Toolroom 

Supernova, two of Italy’s top tech-house gurus, delivers a full-on, heavy hitter of an EP.
“Comida Cubana” and “Mother House” both deliver super-hot grooves that should do
the business on any intimate dancefloor. Full support!
– Tommy D Funk

“LENINJ” EP u David Scuba & Finley u Superfreq

Mr.C’s Superfreq label partner David Scuba teams up with Finley for the playfully dark
techno track “Scoofin” and the deep-down grooves of the title cut. Kate Simko’s remix
grabs the crown for best tune of the EP with a tech-house rump-shaker whose buttery
bassline will have you moving through the entire track.
– Chris Davis
Pylon
JULY 2016

Tale Of Us Sean McCabe Alaia & Gallo

 TRACKS…MIXES…COMPILATIONS

Paul Woolford

“WHO IS HE?”
u Alaia & Gallo feat. Kevin Haden
u Soul Heaven
Featuring Haden’s dynamic vocals, this
soulful, groove-infused cover of the Bill
Withers classic should lift up any dance-
floor. With its sexy, 4/4 beat and bouncing
bass, this one’s a future classic.
– Tommy D Funk

PYLON LIVE
u Pylon u Chunklet Industries
Long before modern hipsters were com-
pelled to dance by James Murphy and LCD
Soundsystem, there was Pylon. Indeed, two
decades ahead of the DFA label’s re-release David Scuba
of its first two albums, the Georgia dance-
rock quartet was heating up punk-club GUEST REVIEWER:
dancefloors with its brand of frantic, arty, Marc Cotterell
angular funk. On this starkly clean live Classics & Unreleased Jams
recording from 1983, big basslines and pro- Point G
pulsive rhythms drive groove-filled cuts like Minibar France
“M Train,” “Stop It” and “Volume,” while the A collection of terrific dance-
stinging guitars on indie hits like “Cool” and floor material from Point G—or
“Crazy” still burn. DJ Gregory, as he’s known from
– Jim Tremayne his Defected and Yellow Produc-
tion releases. Half the cuts are
“LET ME” u Kenya u Z Records rare, late-’90s gems that earn a
Joey Negro’s Z Records returns with hefty price tag on Discogs, so vi-
Marc Cotterell
another soulful club monster and Sean nyl re-presses, like this one, are
McCabe does the goods on some of the worthy purchases. The whole album is on-point, proper, old-school
package’s more sophisticated remixes. The house music with deep beats and fantastic rhythms. And don’t sleep
“Vocal Mix,” “Let Me Out Dub” and the on the amazing track, “Jean-Claude.”
“Classic Mix” stray away from the original,
but do plenty of dancefloor damage.
– Tommy D Funk

REALM OF CONSCIOUSNESS u Tale Of Us u Afterlife

The guys from Tale Of Us—Carmine Conte and Matteo Milleri—have
finally stepped out on their own and transformed their Afterlife event
series into a full-blown label. The 10-track compilation—featuring
several artists from DJ Tennis’ Life and Death imprint—delivers their
favorite deep, dark, brooding, interstellar techno sounds, produced by
the likes of Monoloc, Recondite, Locked Groove, Mind Against and
many more.
– Chris Davis

“HAUS BOO” EP u Igor Vicente & DkA u Hot Creations 

Belgian producer Vicente does the rounds with this two-tracker of
minimal tech-house, which includes “Shady” and the title cut. With a
heavy 4/4 beat, bouncy keys and grooving hi-hats, these are all-around
club monsters that should work any dancefloor.
– Tommy D Funk

“ALL NIGHT” B/W “UNWIND” u Lazylife  u Downshift

These groovy, slow jams will get you and keep you in the mood. The
Rhodes-infused “Unwind” takes you down the sexy path with bouncy,
soulful vibes. Meanwhile, “All Night” brings dark and groovy moods as
well. Old-school, downtempo, acid jazz of the highest order.
– Tommy D Funk
 Hawtin
(continued from page 16)
as they play in different clubs. And
one manufacturer’s EQs might sound
one way, and another’s might sound
another way. But there are actually
not that many differences—isn’t it
time for something different? We all
have great music, so the challenge
was to find a new way for people to
manipulate it.
DJ Times: How have your fellow
DJs liked PLAYdifferently so far?
Hawtin: I’ll be very honest—most
people can’t just jump on it and ex-
pect to do their best performance
right away. The two filters and the
parametric EQs can throw people off.
But once people get over that initial,
three- or four-gig hump, wonderful
things start to happen. Of course,
there are some people who can jump
on it right away—when we were
Output, François K joined us, and he
did the best set I’ve ever seen him do.
DJ Times: That’s saying some-
thing—he’s a great DJ.
Hawtin: He had seen the mixer
in the studio before, but this was his
first performance with it. He just got
on there and was like, “Fuck it, let’s
go for it.” He was playing around
with the filters and the EQs; there’s a
small analog-overdrive circuit and he
was messing around with that. There
were one or two mistakes, but that’s
what a great DJ set is—letting it all
come out, live and in front of a crowd.
Dubfire, Loco Dice, Chris Liebing,
Adam Beyer have all used it. We’ve
been testing it out at Berghain and
Panorama Bar [in Berlin]; Ricardo Vil-
lalobos was just checking it out and
was really excited.
DJ Times: Other than the mixer,
what is your DJ methodology nowa-
days? Do you even have a set-in-
stone setup?
Hawtin: I do, but it changes from
year to year. I’ll make changes in Janu-
ary, February and March, where the
schedule isn’t quite as full and when
there’s new equipment coming out,
and then I’ll lock it down for the rest
of the year. At the moment, I have a
computer that’s using Traktor with
four decks connected to Ableton,
with some sends and returns on the
mixer so that I can have some reverbs
and delays. I’m using the Ableton Push
controller, and I’m doing live percus-
sion with that. I have an external gui-
tar foot-pedal flanger. And I have two
Allen & Heath Xone:K2 controllers,
to control all the computer stuff.
DJ Times: That’s quite a lot.
Hawtin: We have six full stereo
channels and two returns on the mix-
JULY 2016
er, and I fill all of that. But it enables
me to do what I want to do each
night… I hope. [laughs] Aesthetically,
it’s about taking prerecorded tracks
DJ TIMES
and ripping them apart, looping them
and filtering them and layering them.
The idea is that there are fragments
40
of your favorite records, rebuilt in a
way that’s like a bass-heavy steam-
roller.
DJ Times: I’ve heard you play
many times, and your sets can indeed
be steamrollers.
Hawtin: Yeah, but they’re steam-
rollers that have progressed over
the years. When we were doing the
PLAYdifferently Prototypes Tour, I
was asking all the DJs what they hope
for if they’re on the middle of the
dancefloor, with their favorite DJ in
control. Many of them said the same
thing that I would say: “I want to be
surprised.” Everybody can get the
same records now; Beatport opened
up music for everybody, and I’m hap-
py to have been a part of that—but
that makes it so hard to surprise
people as a DJ. My personal evolution
has been spurred on, in part, by tech-
nology, and it’s up to me to use that
technology and manipulate things so
that they become special again. I’m
not trying to take away anything from
the tracks that I use. If you want to
hear that track, you can have it right
on your iPhone. But when I play it,
I’m going to play differently. [laughs]
Sorry about that—I keep coming
back to that term.
DJ Times: Switching gears a bit,
last year was the final year of your
ENTER. party in Ibiza, right?
Hawtin: I would say it’s in hiber-
nation mode. Last year was the end
of phase one.
DJ Times: The Ibiza scene is con-
stantly evolving and regenerating. Do
you think that ENTER. played a role
in that evolution, or did it stand apart
from everything else that’s been hap-
pening on the island?
Hawtin: The island is such a small
community that I think ever ybody
stands together, really, even if they’re
not closely cooperating. I certainly
hope we were a part of the develop-
ment; that’s part of why we started
ENTER., to bring another angle to
what was being offered. Having our
ENTER.Mind room, and bringing in
people like TM404 and Recondite—
people who had never played in Ibiza
before—showed that you can have
people who aren’t peak-time Amne-
sia people. I think that was important.
But with what I want to do right
now—what I want to do with my
shows, what I want to do with studio
stuff—it just feels like being on the
island for 16 weeks in a row is just
too much.
DJ Times: Do you think that
some people who get into electronic
music through, say, the peak-time
Amnesia material—or via festival-
ready EDM—are slowly finding out
about the more underground side of
spectrum?
Hawtin: One-hundred percent,
yes—especially in America. There’s
been a gravitation toward these small-
er, cooler warehouse events. You go
to them, and you can see that these
are the same kids who were getting
their minds blown at Electric Daisy
Carnival a few years ago. Most of us
have gone through that in one way or
another. We didn’t just immediately
get into Derrick May or Aphex Twin.
Well, I didn’t, at least; I was more into
Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Front 242,
and that didn’t come ’til after some
electro-breakdancing stuff, which was
really hip in ’83 and ’84.
DJ Times: How do you find the
balance playing huge festivals with
DJing at more intimate club gigs?
Hawtin: I’m constantly finding
my way with that. Five years ago, we
were like, “Let’s play more of these big
shows.” If 20,000 or 30,000 people—
even more, at something like EDC—
are coming together, we’ve got to be
there to show people what our sound
is, with the hope that some kids are
going to get it. And some did. Now
we’re trying to take the people we’ve
already sucked in one step deeper, to
open even more doors for them.
DJ Times: There’s been chatter
lately about how the EDM bubble
might be bursting. Do you see that
from where you stand, from sort of
on-the-same-level-but-not-actually
part of that world?
Hawtin: Well, the EDM world cer-
tainly got big, and we always knew it
was an uncontrollable beast. Now,
because of its own success, it’s been
swallowed more and more by main-
stream pop. And mainstream pop kind
of constantly veers from one sound
to another—it’s a constantly expand-
ing and bursting bubble. The bright
side is that we’re in an era where
people have become more open to
the frequencies that electronic music
loves to play with, and that’s great.
DJ Times: You’ve been at this for
over a quarter of a century, and you
still seem to love what you do—how
do you keep your enthusiasm level up
after all that time?
Hawtin: Man, I think you just have
to live it. There’s no real formula. I
started this as a hobby, and I think I
found a way to keep it as exciting as
a hobby would be. But being around
all kinds of aspiring people—young
artists and older artists—is the key. I
get to meet and hang out with people
who I look up to, people like Daniel
Miller from the Mute label. And then I
get to meet and hang out with an up-
and-coming artist who’s just learning.
Being inspired and being inspiring…
if you can keep both of those things
going, you’re both giving and receiving
energy, and that’s a positive flow.
DJ Times: People who have been
around as long as you tend to acquire
a certain amount of haters.…
Hawtin: Oh, I’m quite successful
at acquiring haters! [laughs]
DJ Times: Do you pay any atten-
tion to them? If so, how do you deal
with them?
Hawtin: I do my own Instagram
and I do my own Twitter, so I do see it.
But I don’t respond to it, either. I can’t
say I like it; it can be tough to navigate
sometimes. Everyone has a voice, and
sometimes that voice—whether it’s
good or bad—resonates with you. But
I just try to do what I really feel, and
if I’m doing that—if I’m living that—it
doesn’t matter what anyone says.
DJ Times: Can we be expecting
any new music coming our way soon?
Hawtin: I hope so. I would love to
have some new music come out every
year. It’s been about two years since
the Plastikman EX record, and last
year we had the Plus 8 anniversary
record, From My Mind to Yours—and
that one in particular really whetted
my appetite. I don’t know that it will
always be an album’s worth of music,
but I think there will be something.
Recondite and I have been work-
ing on some songs, and there are
some other people that I want to
collaborate with as well. I feel like I’m
in a creative space right now, and I’m
hoping to live in that space for a few
years. I want to dive as deeply as I can
into a few specific ideas that I have.
DJ Times: What is your favorite
part of doing what you do?
Hawtin: Well, it’s the music, of
course, and it’s the technology. It’s ac-
tually very hard for me to separate
them. I was a computer programmer
before I fully got into music, so I’m
somewhere between being the music
guy and the technology guy. But really,
it’s the people—meeting people and
making friends all around the world.
Above everything else, clubbing is social,
and that’s the best part about it. n
Clarke
(continued from page 8)
DJ Times: It really feels like the
past year’s really been a “coming out”
moment of sorts for your career.
What’s that feel like?
Clarke: It’s amazing. I’m lucky. I feel
very lucky to be in this situation. I’m
still a very long way off from where I
want to be, this is just the beginning.
I’ve gone through my career and al-
ways thought, “This is where I’m going
to get bigger—this is where it happens.”
There have been different stages in
my career where I always thought
that, but I think this year (and toward
the end of last year), was where I re-
alized my career starts. It’s been like
12 years in the making; I don’t think
people realize how long in the making
it’s really, really been. I’ve been DJing
for a long time.
– Chris Caruso

NATIONAL CROSSOVER POOL CHART
1 Rihanna F/ Drake Work Roc Nation
2 WTS F/ Gia One Night Global Groove
3 Justin Bieber Love Yourself Island/Def Jam
4 DNCE Cake By The Ocean Republic
5 The Chainsmokers F/ Rozes Roses Columbia
6 Beyonce Formation Columbia
7 Dillon Francis Kygo F/ James Hersey Coming Over Columbia
8 Troye Sivan Youth Capitol
9 Philip George & Dragonette Feel This Way Motown
10 Athena Lithium Dauman
11 Fifth Harmony F/ Ty Dolla $ign Work From Home Epic
12 Chainsmokers F/ Daya Don’t Let Me Down Columbia
13 99 Souls F/Destiny’s Child & Brandy The Girl Is Mine Columbia
14 Camille You’re So Beautiful 2016 Zarion
15 Coldplay F/ Beyonce Hymn For The Weekend Atlantic
16 Pet Shop Boys Pop Kids X-2
17 Jonas Blue F/ Dakota Fast Car Capitol
18 Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream EMI
19 Meghan Trainor No Epic
20 KC & The Sunshine Band I’m Feeling You Sunshine
21 Selena Gomez Hands To Myself Hollywood
22 Primo Cruz Don’t Stop 4-Power
23 DJ Sun Junkie F/ Ce Ce Peniston Piece Of That TDG
24 Dirtyfreqs And Vassy T.U.T.P.(Turn Up The Party) Radikal
25 Justin Bieber Company Island
26 Glovibes W/ Luciana One By One Nextstep
27 Sheila Gordhan Smile Reach
28 Peter K F/ Mariah Simmons Stare Into The Sun VMG
29 Lukas Graham 7 Years Warner Brothers
30 Kim Cameron But You Side FX
31 Win Marcinak Look Up To The Sky Burning Tyger
32 Rihanna Needed Me Roc Nation
33 Alan Walker Faded RCA
34 Gwen Stefani Make Me Like You Interscope
35 Sir Ivan Imagine Peaceman
36 Gladys Knight Just A Little ShakeBoodie
37 Janice Grace Save The Planet Jaguar
38 Dirty Disco F/ Inay Day Stranded DRD
39 Zhu F/ AlunaGeorge Automatic Sony
40 Designer Panda Def Jam
Most Added Tracks
1 Win Marcinak Look Up To The Sky Burning Tyger
2 Alan Walker Faded RCA
3 Sir Ivan Imagine Peaceman
4 Jes/Austin Leeds & Redhead Roman Happy Intonenation
5 Dirtyfreqs And Vassy T.U.T.P.(Turn Up The Party) Radikal
6 Chainsmokers F/ Daya Don’t Let Me Down Columbia
7 Glovibes W/ Luciana One By One Nextstep
8 Martin Eriksson Stranger Southside Recordings
9 Janice Grace Save The Planet Jaguar
10 Halsey Colors Capitol
REPORTING POOLS
Masspool - Saugus, MA; Gary Canavo n OMAP - Washington, DC; Al Chasen n Dj
Stickyboots - Goshen, NJ; Blake Eckelbarger n Victors - Milwaukee, WI; Chris Egner
n Nexus Radio - Chicago, IL; Manny Esparza n MetroMix - Pittsburgh, PA; John Hohman
n Soundworks - San Francisco, CA; Sam Labelle n New York Music Pool - New York, NY;
Jackie McCloy n Dixie Dance Kings - Alpharetta, GA; Dan Miller n WPTV-Prty 105FM Frd
MdMx - New York, NY; Mike Rizzo n Northeast Record Pool - Revere, MA; Justin Testa
n Pacific Coast - Long Beach, CA; Steve Tsepelis n Peter K. Productions - ,International
; Peter K
Looking for these titles? You can hear them and buy them
at www.dancekings.com. Just click on the links in the chart.
DDK has limited memberships available for qualified DJs
MP3s in in the US. We service CDs and MP3s in dance and urban
6 formats. Feedback and membership dues required.
770-740-0356
Compiled As June 14, 2016
NATIONAL URBAN POOL CHART
1 Jeremih Oui Def Jam
2 Rihanna F/ Drake Work Roc Nation
3 Beyonce Formation Columbia
4 Bryson Tiller Exchange Trippinout
5 Bryson Tiller Don’t Trippinout
6 Kevin Gates 2 Phones Atlantic
7 O. T. Genasis F/ Young Dolph Cut It Atlantic
8 Dj Luke Nasty Might Be Othaz
9 Future F/ Weekend Low Life Epic
10 Kent Jones Don’t Mind We The Best
11 Designer Panda Def Jam
12 Ro James Permission RCA
13 Drake Summer Sixteen Republic
14 Fetty Wap Wake Up RFG
15 Rihanna Needed Me Roc Nation
16 Plies Ran Off On Da Plug Twice Atlantic
17 Kayla Brianna F/ Rich Home Quan Do You Remember Smitty
18 Tyga F/ Rick Ross & 2 Chainz Baller Alert Last Quarter
19 T.I. Money Talk Raunchy
20 Yo Gotti F/ E-40 Law Epic
Most Added Tracks
1 Beyonce Sorry Columbia
2 Alicia Keys In Common RCA
3 Kevin Gates Really Really Atlantic
4 Future Wicked Epic
5 Fifth Harmony F/ Ty Dolla $ign Work From Home Epic
NATIONAL LATIN DANCE POOL CHART
1. Adassa Caballero (Extended Club Mix) DCP
2. Bajando Fino La Morena Go Latino
3. Alfredito Linares Ain’t No Sunsunshine DJ Gonzo Prod.
4. Juan Magan feat Luciana Baila Conmigo Universal
5. Jau D Lady Love Cutting
6. Poeta Callejero Kamasutra (RMX) Universal
7. Silvio Mora Novio Con Dinero Mayimba
8. Rey Ruiz Lo Aprendi Contigo J&N
9. Tito Rojas Caray, Caray TR
10. Jay Cool Señorita (RMX) JayCool Charisma
11. Alx Veliz Dancing Kizomba Universal
12. Prince Royce Culpa De Corazon Latin Hits
13. Hector Acosta Te Vas Tu O Me Voy Yo Venevision
14. Daddy Yankee Shaky Shaky Los Cangri
15. Don Omar Te Recordare Bailando Universal
16. Jorge Celedon Me Antojo Sony
17. Grupo Niche Enamorado 360 Group
18. Grupo Niche Niche Como Yo 360 Group
19. Charly Black Gyal You A Party Animal Aftercluv
20. Gente De Zona feat M. Anthony Traidora Sony
Most Added Tracks
1. ChocQuibTown feat Wisin Desde El Dia Latin Hits
2. Ben James feat. Fuego Que Sera Cha-Del
3. Ken Y feat N Jam Como Lo Hacia Yo Universal
4. J Balvin Bobo Universal
5. Elvis Crespo feat Grupomania Escapate Flash Music
REPORTING LATIN POOLS
n Latinos Unidos Record Pool n Salsamania Latin Record Pool n Lobo/Bass Record
Pool n Urban Tropics Music Pool n North East Record Pool n Mixx Hitts Record Pool
n Ritmo Camacho Record Pool n Ritmo Internacional Record Pool n DJ Latinos Re-
cord Pool n Mass Pool n Record Pool Latino n V.I.P. Chicago Record Pool.
 Sounding Off
(continued from page 28)
standard here.
If by chance the onboard effects
are somehow deemed inadequate,
the mixer also provides support for
offboard effects units of the conven-
tional type, as well as unique support
for using an iPad as an effects unit.
Pioneer DJ has made its RMX-1000
available in app form; install it on an
iPad, and connect that iPad to the
mixer, and voila, you’ve extended the
mixer’s capabilities into even more
territory.
The DJM-900NXS2 also provides
excellent support for DJ handoffs.
With dual USB ports, you can have
Making Tracks
(continued from page 26)
shown today include some tough-to-
grasp territory: equalization, com-
pression, and what the company calls
“digital audio basics” which includes
topics on sample rate, bit depth, and
lossy audio (the effects of file com-
pression, not to be confused with
audio compression).
Only the equalization module is
truly complete. Within it, four sub-
modules are available: learn (primar-
ily video content), explore (interac-
tive exploration of the concepts that
help you understand the effects of
changes on what you hear), practice
(which is as the name suggests), and
challenge (to test your understand-
ing). For both compression and digital
audio basics, the site says that they
are largely coming soon, but an array
of educational videos is available now
for both.
In playing with the equalization
module, I have to say, I found Pro Au-
dio Essentials both extremely chal-
lenging, and extremely educational.
It’s easy to read about concepts, but
Netsky: Drum-n-Basics
JULY 2016
Drum-n-Bass sub-genres can be
devoutly esoteric.
DJ TIMES
42
two laptops connected to the unit if
desired and, coupled with four chan-
nels of input, each able to support
any input type (including phono); I
can envision no playback or con-
tent source scenario where two DJs
transitioning could possibly step on
each other’s toes while maintaining a
seamless program for the audience—
especially if the CDJ-2000NXS2s are
sitting to either side of the mixer.
Finally, back to those CDJs… Be-
tween the support for such a wide
range of media (USB mass storage
devices, SD cards, Pro DJ Link, au-
dio CDs, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and
computer-sourced material) and the
the ability to both learn and then
apply and evaluate your grasp re-
ally makes a difference. It also proves
once again that practice is key with
most aspects of musical creativity—
but Essentials makes it easier to get
contextually meaningful practice.
Pro Audio Essentials is free; check
it out at pae.izotope.com. Additional
educational content can be found
on iZotope’s main web site, izotope.
com, in the Learning section.
T h e o r y L e s s o n s & Te nu t o
(iOS Apps) and MusicTheory.
net (Web Site): So-called perfect
pitch—the ability to identify or recre-
ate a musical note without a refer-
ence tone—is said to be fairly rare,
and is also said not to be connected
to musical ability or lack thereof.
More accurately called absolute pitch,
it’s one of two similar but separate
abilities, the other being relative pitch
(the ability to identify an interval
between two musical notes). Most
sources agree that you’re only born
with the former, but the latter can be
developed through training.
My style? I play Liquid Funk.
large, beautiful, and effective touch-
screen displays, I found them to be
a pleasure to use. And by employing
Pioneer DJ’s rekordbox software to
pre-process material, you can unlock
even more capabilities in the unit
when it comes to managing and play-
ing back that content.
Conclusions: As I said at the out-
set, the CDJ-2000NXS2 and DJM-
900NXS2 are together serious gear
for serious DJs. They’re a pleasure to
use, and as I said earlier, easy, natural
and intuitive to use despite the wide
array of advanced capabilities.
Bear in mind that the street pric-
ing for these bad boys is roughly
That’s a good thing, because I’ve
found my relative pitch ability to be
pretty sorely lacking, which can in
turn make certain musical production
tasks (writing and arranging addi-
tional musical parts in a composition,
for one) to be a little harder than
they ought to be. Enter this trio of
resources.
MusicTheory.net is a web site that
provides a wide range of music-theo-
ry learning resources, all of which are
available free of charge. The content
is divided into three key sections: les-
sons, exercises, and tools.
The lessons section covers a lot
of music theory territory, including
scales, chords, chord progressions,
and more. It’s a great collection of
information to build a solid under-
standing of how music works. The
exercises help you apply that knowl-
edge, while adding things to the mix
such as the aforementioned ear train-
ing for chords, intervals, and such.
The tools section includes interactive
music calculators of various types.
The site’s content is free, and sup-
See what I mean?
$2,200—each. As tested, my con-
figuration then was roughly $6,500
worth of hardware, representing a
very significant investment no matter
how you slice it. But for that invest-
ment, you get unparalleled capability
and flexibility, and what many DJs I
know consider the gold standard in
DJ hardware. Which is why, despite
the price, reaction to this new gear
has been strong, and no doubt you’ll
be seeing them show up in more and
more venues—and in the perfor-
mance riders (if not road cases) of
leading touring DJs—in the months
ahead.
ported through the sale of the apps,
which are currently only available for
iOS. The Theory Lessons app ($2.99)
includes the lesson material from the
site, while Tenuto ($3.99) includes
the exercises and calculators.
The web site provides a nice col-
lection of material to refresh some of
my existing music theory knowledge
and fill-in some blanks from back
in the day. But what I found most
valuable were the note exercises I
mentioned earlier, and the Tenuto app
gives the flexibility to work on this
sort of ear training virtually anytime,
anywhere. I’ve come to enjoy using it
as a sort of “time passer with an up-
side” during dull airplane flights, waits
in long lines, and so on.
Is it improving my ear and benefit-
ing my studio time? I’d like to think
so; time will certainly tell. Free web
content and info about the apps at
musictheory.net.
If you have any questions for Wesley
Bryant-King or Making Tracks, please
send them to djtimes@testa.com.
Photos By Stuart Pettican
Netsky, Next Month in DJ Times
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