Palette Makes DIY DJ Controllers As Easy As Lego

I wonder what the club manager who banned a DJ from using his S4 would have to say about someone who turned up with one of these set-ups! Still only a prototype (and also if we’re honest more DJ TechTools than Digital DJ Tips), nonetheless we couldn’t help ourselves in covering Palette, a new build-your-own modular DJ controller concept coming out of San Francisco. It’s just so… cute.

Palette is basically a customisable modular hardware interface for DJs, producers or electronic musicians, so you can design your own controller with buttons, knobs, sliders, joysticks or jogwheels as you see fit. (We couldn’t see any VU meters though…) The modules snap together like Lego, and the designers promise that you’ll be able to “load pre-made functions” or “remap custom functionality” – no coding or tinkering required. There appear to be metal and plastic variants.

What are you thinking?

Clearly the idea is only at an early stage, and whether or not this catches on is going to be down to loads of things – quality, price, ease of use, community, marketing and a decent dose of luck, I would imagine. But precisely because it’s at such an early stage, this is a great time to offer some input to help shape the product – something the designers are really receptive to.

So – feel free to comment below on what you think of this, what modules you’d like to see, how you might use a self-made controller like this, what with, and anything else you think may help the makers to bring the right mix of features to the market!

• You can register to get further info from the company here.