aaron altar

I was also out of the scene for a long time and came back last year. I ended up with a Numark N4 because I wanted something that could double as a freestanding mixer for my 1200s. In the end it comes down to how you want to mix. If you want something that resembles what we used to do back in the day you might want a DVS (it has vinyl or cds that you control as jog wheels) set up or a controller with jog wheels. Try Serato, Virtual DJ and Traktor. You can get free trials of all 3 and you’ll get an idea of how they are different and what you prefer. Ableton is a production software used for djing. It really doesn’t resemble old school djing in anyway but you could always try your buddy’s set up. My advice to you is focus on the software and then find a controller not the other way around. The software is way more important than the brand of your controller these days. Good luck to you and welcome back!

Birds singing in the morning when I’m trying to sleep. They’re right outside my window, I was up late and I’m hungover now SHUT UP!!!

It’s based out of Malaysia, the “about us” section is written in poor English, the contact has a European name, the prices are too low and they posted on a website about business degrees. That’s all the red flags I need, no thanks.

You can manually beatmatch with anything. What you’re talking about is waveriding and I am not aware of a way traktor can do this the way you are used to (then again I’m not at all interested in it so I haven’t tried either). The wave forms are not stacked on top of each other they are completely separate for each track (again at least the way I have it set). Manual beatmatching is matching the bpm’s by ear without any help from software, lining the waves up so they match is waveriding.

I’d rather hear Tupac. Congrats on the interview!

I don’t think it’s a joke. It’s an American trying to tear down the scene again. The writer couldn’t even mention ravers without referencing drugs. And if Avicii didn’t want to be portrayed as “that guy,” maybe he shouldn’t behave like that guy. And for further reading:

A-Trak has responded to an article on Avicii in GQ Magazine via the medium of Twitter.

His tweeting spree began with: “So there’s an @Avicii article in @GQMagazine where he says his sets are completely pre-planned & reading the crowd is a thing of the past…”

An inner monologue of sorts then ensued from the Canadian DJ and producer where he said: “He also complains about opening djs who play the same big songs from his set — which are the same songs everyone else plays…”

“So if I understand correctly, DJs should be robots and each pre-planned robot should know their place…?”

The Fools Gold Records boss then made it clear he has nothing but respect for the Swedish super producer: “By the way I think @avicii makes great music. Sincerely. But if you play the same thing every night you’re not a DJ.”

“Dudes live in a bubble, they think what they hear in bottle service clubs and festivals is djing. That’s just entertainment.”

“Enjoy the entertainment, I play at those spots too. It wouldn’t hurt to be a bit creative though.”

A-Track then tweeted “By the way while we’re on the topic ” and posted a video of one of his latest impressive scratch routines which you can watch below.

He then signed off with: “Welcome to the EDM circus show.”

Avicii did respond saying the interview in GQ was taken out of context, but did not proceed to say much else. This did however spark a huge debate amongst DJs including Tommie Sunshine, Toddla T, Alex Metric, Laidback Luke, Eats Everything and many more.

source: http://mixmag.net/words/news/a-trak-if-you-play-the-same-thing-every-night-youre-not-a-dj

And Avicii’s response to the article (I actually respect him for how this part):

GQ, my thoughts on the article. I would normally not even care but this article really got to me, how it could even be published with so little truth and misquotations.

So this interview was made over the course of 4-5 days where a freelance reporter followed me and my crew around on tour up until new years eve. Reporter Jessica Pressler BEGINS by describing my fans as “douchebags” – not as a quote – but as an (her) obvious impression in the introduction to the text. The preamble to that describes people attending to my shows as drug addicts!

She goes on to describe how I plan my sets only to contradict herself saying I go over my planned time cause I’m having so much fun with my crowd. Anyone reading this article should know it’s very subjectively twisted by someone who has a) no experience of this scene or insight to a DJs profession at all and b) has no interest in really understanding it either. How on earth the fact that I complain when an opening DJ plays some of the peak time tracks I usually play somewhere in my set becomes the conclusion that I only touch volume faders is beyond me and even though I could beat mix in my sleep doesn’t allude any kind of respect which I find deeply insulting. I would never lay down a pre-programmed set and performed to a pre-mixed CD, I would never cheat my fans like that. Period. For the record, the only planning I do is check transitions so that I don’t have to pre-program anything and still make sure I bring it to my fans. A lot of work and thinking goes into my DJing. I want the entire night to progress seamlessly and when I have to adapt the energy on the fly for the crowd on any given night, I can do so with harmonic mixes that I’ve practiced over and over again. I am far from the only DJ that does this and it’s something I take pride in being able to do. Truth is that at bigger festivals or solo shows I know what people want to hear and my set is a compromise between what I want to play for them and what people come and expect to hear me play for them. At a smaller club show I can wing it completely.

Some people are known for certain things, some DJs like A-trak, Steve Angello and Laidback Luke are excellent technical DJs, something I will never be, and have a whole different approach to their performances.

I mean everything even down to the tracks I play she got wrong in this article. I wouldn’t adress this and bring more attention to it if I really didn’t feel that this article was truly unfair and incorrect. She draws up this disgusting picture of the electronic music crowd being constantly high, ugly, uneducated, dumb and “douchy”, while I feel they are caring, loving, positive and the complete opposite of what she says. Sure people do drugs and party but that is nothing exclusive to this music genre. It looks like the journalist wanted the GQ readers to buy into that stigma.

We agreed to let GQ into our camp to actually portray a serious side of this music to the masses who might not now and might not understand. We hoped they could unveil and communicate the reason for there being so much love within, and how such a great community has risen organically for, this music genre. The problem was that a journalist that knows nothing of electronic music was sent to be on the road with me for a couple of days and then tried piecing together what it’s all about. She failed miserably

I agree that the economic value of music has decreased with the dawn of the digital age but other than that the article is just another whiny dance music article. Music is the same as everything in life, change is inevitable. If you don’t keep up and look forward you’ll be left behind. I spent years complaining about the downfall of vinyl, first to cds and then to digital files and eventually I realized that I was becoming a sad, angry old man who had been left behind with the excuse of being a “traditionalist.” Wake up, see the future, and be the change you want to see. For the writer of the article, dig deep, play the underground stuff you like, create parties with a different vibe and for the love of god quit promoting theft and the economic decline of music by sharing music files amongst your circle of friends.