Melodyne DNA Used As A Tool For DJs
February 19, 2010
The guys over at DJ Tech Tools have come out with another great post, this one features Melodyne Editor’s DNA which we at Point Blank were lucky enough to get a first look at and play around with when the beta version came into our hands around six months or so ago. You can check out the video preview from our original play with Melodyne DNA software here.
The software boasts the ability to allow the user to manipulate the pitch, length and timing of individual notes within polyphonic material, thus you have an amazing piano roll style editing of polyphonic audio and extraction of midi chord data. However, the software may also be said to have the ability of isolating vocals and instrument parts from stereo mixes, so that DJs and remixers could have carte blanche to any part of any track they desire. But maybe don’t get your hopes up too high, as there is a definite limit to this use of the DNA software with plenty of applications which you may want and may sound plausible but are in fact unattainable.
You can check out the full article here. But for now check out the video below for a quick guide to how this useful tool can be applied and how it could make your DJing live a lot easier.
Testing Your Hearing With An iPhone
February 2, 2010
I just came across this article on the ProducingBeats.com and it’s a very interesting read.
The fact is that as DJs or producers, in both a professional as well as an amature setting, we are all subject to a great deal of abuse when it comes to our hearing. Good hearing is undoubtably an essential commodity when it comes to working with music, it is something which you don’t want to lose! With the hours and hours that many of us spend listening to music at high levels, whether while at a club, a gig, when DJing, in the studio, or even on personal music players there is always a chance that your hearing will be damaged, and as we have posted before you cannot underestimate the value of a good set of professional ear plugs.
However, there has never really been an easy way to test your hearing, to check if you have anything to worry about and see whether you have suffered any damage when it comes to the precise hearing that most of us one day had. Now it has never been area to check out your hearing levels and see what frequency range you can hear, you can simply check your hearing using the uHear iPhone app.
In any case suffering hearing damage should definitely involve a medical consultation, but this new little app is great for a music producer as you can check the exact frequencies that you can hear to a good standard. This may prove to be extremely useful when it comes to the final mixdown of a track. Anyway you can check out the full article here.
Krafty Kuts DJ Tools iPhone App
January 26, 2010
There has been a notable amount of apps developed for the iPhone with music production and DJs in mind, however it seems that few of these have lived up to a standard in which they can be used professionally, with many of the apps being used as simple gimmicky tools which are fun for a few minutes.
But now Breakbeat pioneer DJ Krafty Kuts has stepped up to the plate with a DJ friendly offering designed to be useful for all DJs of any genre. As the video below demonstrates the app is an MPC-styled sampler which allows DJs to drop audio samples over the top of their sets at the touch of a finger! The ‘Against The Grain DJ Tools’ app came about due to the overwhelming lack of suitable apps which can be used in a professional DJ booth.
Here’s what Krafty had to say about it: “We had seen a number of great music based apps which were fun to play with for a few minutes whilst at home or travelling, but none that I would consider using in a club environment. So creating a sampler style app for DJs of any genre, which could be used professionally, was a very exciting concept.”
“The iPhone is such a discrete device, it’s perfect. And of course a sampler or a laptop will cost you hundreds, yet this app is available for less than the price of a beer. The £2.99 app comes pre-loaded with hip hop-styled samples and classic rave noises that can be dropped over a set, like during a breakdown or a drop.”
“We created a number of rises, whoosh noises and classic sirens in the studio along with some really useful MC shout outs like ‘make some noise in here!’, and they really do work.”
And surprisingly, there is zero delay when dropping a sample off the iPhone. “There is zero latency which is very impressive,” said Krafty. “It was something the programmers worked hard on to achieve, and the result is something like mixing – it’s down to the DJ to be sharp and on beat.”
With a 2.0 update planned for later this year, which will include more samples, a favourites folder, and a load facility allowing DJs to directly upload their own samples, it’s an app well worth checking out.
Ableton & Serato: The Bridge
January 15, 2010
Live maker Ableton and DJ and virtual vinyl developer Serato have announced the long-awaited results of their partnership. The collaboration seeks to bridge the gap between the way DJs perform and the way Live users perform. The result focuses on the way a performance set is assembled in the two paradigms, an attempt to guide the flow of music between the two programs. Here’s a rundown on how it can be used:
You can save a DJ mix, called a ‘mix tape’, in a Serato product and export it to Live, what you then get is all of your edits in a form that can be further manipulated in Live. Waveforms and automation data from your DJ session, however they’re manipulated and transcribed by the Serato software, can now appear in Live.
You are also now able to put the Ableton Live Session View inside Serato, rather than put Serato inside Live. Ableton Live runs in the background and so integrated into the Serato interface are all your Session View clips from your Live Set. Serato’s control, via audio input from vinyl or CDJs, or an ITCH control surface, manipulates the entire transport of the Live set.
Turntablists are probably wondering, can they scratch Live? How much are those Live clips able to do? Do they behave as they do in Live? The answer appears to be yes with full ableton control within Serato. Live is, after all, running in the background and appears to have its normal capabilities.
Check out the video below for a demonstration from NAMM 2010 (sorry about the quality!):
Also keep on the lookout for more details on The Bridge and for more NAMM product news.
‘Mad Beatz’ Loop & Sample Pack
December 22, 2009
Ableton have just announced the release of two brand new loop and sample packs for Live created by drummer extraordinaire KJ Sawka. These new packs consist of live drum recordings, loops and riffs, the packs are also being given away by those nice people at Ableton as a holiday gift for us all to enjoy!
The first pack is titled ‘Mad Beatz’ and is described by KJ Sawka as a “drum n’ bass, dub step and breakbeat collection exclusively for Ableton Live…’Mad Beatz’ is mainly drum and beat-oriented stemming from a live acoustic drumming session recorded at the Art Institute in Seattle, Wa USA. There are also plenty of electronic drum loops, percussion, basslines and keyboard riffs”.
Not only this but there is also a second Live pack, of which the drummer has said, “I’ve also included a song off my latest recording, ‘Undefined Connectivity,’ called ‘Void of Truth.’ An interesting take on drumfunk drum n’ bass with a twist of lime”.
In order to promote this great offer KJ Sawka has also released a video of how the packs were created and of what you can expect, you can dowload the two loop and sample packs and check out the video by simply clicking here!
Logic Pro 9’s New features – A Quick Guide
December 15, 2009
This video is a great little taster of the ways you can use some of the great new features in Logic 9. Danny J Lewis, who has worked on labels such as Defected and Ministry of Sound, expertly guides you through the excellent new bounce in place feature, which allows you to render anything in one channel into a brand new audio file. Danny also demonstrates this amazing new feature using the new impulse effects in Logic’s Space Designer. All in all its a great video teaser of the potential to be gained from making the most of all the new features included in Logic Pro 9.
The video is taken from a sample of an online course which is taught by Danny, as he is currently a tutor at Point Blank Music School. The specific course that the video is from is the Deep & Soulful House Course, which seems evident from the extremely nice deep house track used by Danny to explain the new aspects of Logic Pro.
Check out the video and get inspired to make the most of your software, whatever your currently using!
DJ Rafik kills it on the Traktor Kontrol X1
December 11, 2009
The young 2007 DMC Champion DJ Rafik is atrue world-class master on the decks, he seems to slip seemlessly between styles and his sets showcase new technology in always mesmorising performances. For this routine, a vocal sample is loaded into the left deck while MGMT’s “Kids” (Soulwax Remix) is loaded in the right deck. Cue points allow one-shot drumming action with the buttons of the MASCHINE controller. Rafik then drops in a custom guitar lick using the Beatmasher and Gater effects in Traktor, controlled via the X1 hardware. The Traktor software along with a whole heap of Native Instrument gear is fully utlised to create an amazing performance.
Check out the video and realise the just how high the bar has been set for making the most of these superb pieces of tech:
You can also see another two vids of Rafik here.
Ableton & Serato: Best Friends
November 27, 2009
Digital DJing is becoming more and more at the forefront of electronic music and with the plethora of different means to produce, play, edit and re-edit tracks there can be some conflicts of interests that arise when using different software. We recently came across this video which goes some way to demonstrating that rather than compete with one another Ableton and Serato are actually aiming to work in harmony in order to produce a far more easy and efficient way of editing tracks in order to make them more DJ friendly. The video shows the ways in which you can edit tracks on the fly with Ableton so that they can be immediately played out in a DJ set using Serato. This quick video provides a glimpse of how Serato and Ableton can work in harmony and of the limitless possibilities available by using the two bits of software together in order to create a better performance.
We’d love to have a week off in order to completely make the most of this combination and the never-ending amount of fun on offer, but for now we’re happy checking out the video and are sure that it will get your creative juices flowing!
Tim Exile Performace Masterpiece
November 23, 2009
I just stumbled across this video and felt that I had to post it! Warp Record’s Tim Exile performs ‘YouTube Killed the Now Wave Star’ and not only showcases the blurred line of distinction that some still find between electronic music and live performance, but in fact he appears to obliterate it completely giving an amazing live performance with all sounds created in Reaktor software.
Tim writes songs or tracks on his instrument as performances where every single sound is performed, not just played back, like songwriters write songs on a guitar. The performance, the vibe, the action, comes first… the recording comes later. Utilising his self-created Reaktor set-up, he continually manages to create, twist and tweak unrepeatable sets, all shot through with his wry sense of humor.
“I’ve always been into the idea of playing electronics like you play acoustic instruments. I used to sit at the back of class at school tapping out jungle breaks and edits. That’s when I fell in love with my fingers. I want to be able to touch sounds with them. Not just read adverts about touching sounds with them. I want to go on sound adventures by finger alone. Just a pair of handpants in my palmsack.”
There’s not really too much to say about this video other than that you should sit, back, enjoy and prepare to be blown away!
DJ Jazzy Jeff on Ableton Live
November 11, 2009
Superstar scratch DJ Jazzy Jeff is a name that we all know, whether from his DJ career or from his top-notch acting skills in the seminal TV series ‘The Fresh Prince’. A guy which at first you may think would be a traditional turntablist sticking to vinyl and not one to embrace technology, however this is definitely not the case as this short video shows. Jazzy Jeff demonstrates his reasons for a switch to using the softwear Ableton Live and also the benefits to his DJ’ing and production work that have come as a result from going digital.
