Groovepunk

Nice mix mate. Great track selection and v.smooth mixes.

GP

I think it’s a great idea!

1) Would you like to see such a competition? If yes, how often (monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, yearly, other)?

YES! I think monthly would be good as long as the judges had the time to properly assess the entries.

2) Would you participate if we had such competition? If yes, would you participate occassionally or every time?

I would certainly try and enter every time

3) Do you think there should be a senior/junior DJ competition or just one big one?

My initial answer was to have different levels, but then I was unsure quite how you would define each category and whether you trusted people to honestly put themselves in the correct one (cynical I know!)

4) What criteria do you think a mix should be judged on?

Broadly I think there’s two main criteria with a bunch of sub-criteria:

– Mixing/blending (appropriate to the style of music)
– Sound quality (good gain/eq control)
– FX/scratching/tricks (where appropriate)

5) What kind of reward do you think is suitable for the winner?

Obviously the bigger the better (more entrants) but kit is always a good prize. If the DDT guys could flex their networking muscles and swing some radio/club spots/gigs then that’s cool too!

Overall it’s a great idea. Let me know if you need any help setting it up 🙂

GP

Hey. Just finished listening the to mix. Really enjoyed it – the great track selection/variety was a real stand out point for me.

I agree with D-Jam on the melody on melody clashing. To me (and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) it definately feels like you’re rushing out of some of the tracks and therefore having to mix in the ‘busy’ part of the track. Having mixed a fair bit of trance over the years I can feel your pain in terms of the structure of trance tracks almost forcing you to play them for longer as the quieter/less busy sections tend to be right at the end.

I like D-Jam’s suggestion of editing tracks. If you don’t want to do that then looping may also be a solution. The world of digital/controllers makes this much easier than it used to be! Many trance tracks have a short ‘rest’ around 2/3 of the way through that you could loop and mix out of without clashing the melodies/energy as much. You wouldn’t wanted to do this all the time but it could get you out of a tight spot now and again.

Feel free to ignore me though! Just speaking from experience!

Keep up the mixes mate. I’ll definately check out your next one 🙂

I managed to download the free trial version before they closed it off (I think it was the first day or two after launch).

Like many reviewers, I was underwhelmed and it definately feels like a work in progress.  It’s so basic I’m surprised they’re actually selling it for $58 straight out of the gates.  To be fair this is cheaper than the likes of Traktor Pro 2 but not far off the cost of Cross DJ which is far more developed and feature rich.

In it’s current state I couldn’t recommend it for serious DJing.  It’s just too basic and lacks a lot of the features that you’d expect.

Mixed in Key on the other hand is a useful tool if you’re seriously thinking about harmonic mixing.  Running tracks through MIK has become a standard part of my workflow and I even quite like the ‘energy’ rating even though I sometimes disagree with it.

The interesting thing now is that if you were seriously considering MIK you may as well just get Flow (they’re the same price), as its ‘Preparation’ section performs much the same functions as MIK (someone please correct me if I’m wrong) and you get the DJ software as well which will (hopefully) improve over time.

After some signficant delays I finally got my DDJ-SR at the weekend and I have to say it’s an excellent piece of kit. The build quality is great (it’s actually heavier than I expected).  The jogs are smooth but with a bit of weight behind them (if that makes sense) and the performance pads don’t click like a few other controllers I’ve tried.

Personally I couldn’t see much of a reason to pay the extra £300+ for the SX as the additional features didn’t really interest me.  Despite using CDJs quite extensively recently I don’t miss the jog LED centre, have never needed 4 channels and don’t need to hook up loads of other kit.

I’m happy to answer any questions or try things out on it if it would help anyone make a decison.