BPM DJ Show 2010, Part 2

So if yesterday was all about headline new kit, today is about following up on yesterday’s stories with some of the wilder, wackier and less mainstream things from the BPM show.

We’ve got a Midi controller that uses light, another one that you can take onto the dancefloor with you, exciting news about The Bridge, and more. We’ve also got news on some features and competitions coming your way thanks to some of the good people Digital DJ Tips met at the show. There is, however, one big story that there wasn’t room for yesterday, so let’s start with that:

Vestax launches VCI-100 Mk II DJ Controller

With little fanfare, Vestax slipped the VCI-100 Mk II into the mix at BPM.

With a lighter construction, more intuitive controls, 4-deck functionality and a built-in sound interface, is this the new compact DJ controller of choice?

As the follow-up to the DJ controller that arguably started it all, the Vestax VCI-100 Mk II is an eagerly awaited update and one that’s bound to please some people while disappointing others. Find out more about it in our hands-on review.

Nextbeat Mk 2: A DJ sampler with a difference

This is mad as a box of frogs. The recently updated Nextbeat (it now has BPM sync and more sample memory) is a hard disk-driven sampler that you can perform full DJ sets on.

It can hold 1000s of full tunes, and you can sample them on the fly, using its built-in mixer, triggers and transport controls to construct anything from a straight DJ set to a sample-driven completely unique performance.

Here’s the twist, though: the whole right-hand section clicks out and communicates wirelessly with the base unit, so you can head off around the dancefloor performing on this thing!

The Dutch inventors were going mental on this behind their stand, piling samples, FX and loops into a live performance that was certainly turning heads. You can’t do this with record decks, that’s for sure!

Mixing with lasers: The Beamz Player

Looking like an oversized, twin-aerial wireless router, the Beamz Player is actually a Midi controller that lets you “play” by interrupting its laser-type beams of light with your hands.

It was shown happily affecting an Ableton set, but apparently it is easily mappable to parameters in most Midi software.

Controlling filters with your hands, for instance, might be good fun on this.

It certainly had many passers-by intrigued enough to stop and have a go. Throwing shapes was never so much fun!

Serato and Ableton’s The Bridge coming to ITCH hardware

In a demonstration of the Bridge – the software developed jointly by Serato and Ableton that allows DJs to play Ableton live from within Serato Scratch, and record Serato Scratch sets back to Ableton for further work – the companies revealed that the software will be coming to ITCH hardware in 2011.

This is significant because it should mean that with, say, a VCI-300 and a Novation Launchpad plus your laptop, you’ll be able to perform highly creative DJ sets containing your own remixes, compositions and normal MP3s, all from kit that is powered from your laptop’s USBs and fits easily in a shoulder bag. That’s exciting stuff.

Coming up…

A fun part of attending DJ shows is meeting people, and thanks to our meetings at the show, we have some great tie-ins, competitions, reviews, interview and features coming your way from the likes of Algoriddim, Allen & Heath, Ableton, Virtual DJ and more.

So until next year, that’s BPM. Looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for those Pioneer items, but overall, well worth your effort if you can make the next one.

• We’ll publish the DJ Tech Awards winners in the next few days.

Were you at BPM this year? What did you think? Did you see or discover something we haven’t covered? Let us know in the comments!