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Posts tagged midi
New DJ Setup – Traktor Kontrol S4
Apr 16th
This week I purchased the Traktor Kontrol S4 – a usb controller perfectly designed for the Traktor Pro software, and after using it briefly this week, I’m very much impressed with it.
Before I was using Denon DNS1200 cd players to control the software via MIDI, which worked very well but after the the announcement of Traktor Pro 2, there were some things that just weren’t possible to do or far more difficult to do – mainly the sample decks and using 4 decks to make far more interesting and dynamic mixes.
The Kontrol S4 now combines all the controls needed for the Pro software, not to mention the use of the internal mixer and ability to record mixes in the software itself – without the need of additional sound card or cables and software.
My DNS-1200 CD players, which have been great ever since I first bought them, will now be sold on ebay, so if you’re interested in buying them off me, let me know! They’ll soon be posted on here once I post them on ebay.
Traktor Pro 2 – New DJ Software
Mar 7th
Native Instruments have recently announced the new Traktor Pro/Scratch Pro 2 Software to follow the previous big update, to be released on April 1st.
Big changes in the update include:
Coloured Waveforms
Loop Recorder
Sample decks
2 New effects
Other smaller features and settings
The update looks superb but I do wonder how it’ll be possible to control Effects, hot cues and the sample decks with one Kontrol X1, hopefully there’ll be a workaround, I imagine it’s using the Shift key to alternate between effects and sample decks. Check out the video below:
Traktor Pro Distortion? – A Possible Solution
Jan 9th
I’ve finally found a way to solve the distortion and stuttering playback in Traktor Pro when connecting it to my MIDI CD decks.
I searched for days on Google about possible ways to solve the problem, such as re-installing drivers, disabling wireless etc but none of them worked until I came across this…
The issue was with the MIDI mapping settings, and here’s the process I have to do each time I load Traktor Pro to get good sound quality.
At the start you can just about hear the stuttered playback, and then I make the settings changes I need to make every time I load the software to get good sound quality.
Behringer DDM4000 Mixer
Dec 31st
I’ve been looking lately at buying some new DJing gear, something I can link up to Traktor Pro and use as a mixer, and I came across the Behringer DDM4000 Mixer.
Usually I wouldn’t look twice at Behringer as they’re not famous for high-quality gear but I’ve read some great reviews about the 4-channel mixer that’s packed with loads of features (2 effects processors, sampler, eq kill buttons, MIDI, optical faders).
My current mixer, the Pioneer DJM400 cost £100 more at £350 and it doesn’t have nowhere near as many features, only 2 channels – not 4, no MIDI, fewer effects, and no cue mix for headphones. The price really is unbelievable at £250.
I can’t wait to get it and replace my Pioneer mixer that has broken master outputs (only the left output works)
Traktor Pro & Windows = Frustration
Dec 24th
Having changed my setup to Traktor Pro with MIDI Denon cd players using my iMac, I then decided to buy a laptop to use with future gigs, as an iMac is far from easy to transport to and from gigs.
Traktor Pro worked like a dream on the Mac, shame I can’t say the same for Windows 7 though – stuttered playback (tracks keep on stop/starting) and distortion. It’s not as if the laptop is bad spec either, it’s an Intel i5 processor with 4GB RAM, more than enough to run Traktor Pro.
I’ve tried everything I’ve read on forums, changing the power plan, upgrading drivers, disabling others, anti-virus, wireless etc but I can’t get better than 20ms latency – which is far from good! Looks like for now I’ll have to live with bad latency.
Still no mixes since August so I really to get some done in the New Year!!!
New DJ Setup – Traktor Pro
Oct 10th
I’ve recently changed my DJ setup to using Traktor Pro with an Apple iMac plus a new Traktor Kontrol X1 controller together with my existing Denon DNS-1200 cd players and Pioneer DJM400 mixer, which you can see in the photo below.
I wish I had done it months earlier, the capabilities and extra things you can do is superb, looping, effects and editing/remixing the music live is great, as before it became rather boring just mixing intros into outros of tracks.
Finally it’s all set up and working with the software via MIDI/USB, so stay tuned for some new mix videos to be uploaded soon.
New Traktor Pro DJ Setup Preview Video
Oct 1st
A quick preview video of my new DJ setup using Denon DNS-1200 cd decks and a Traktor X1 Kontrol connected up to Traktor Pro DJ software on the iMac.
It took a while to get it all set up properly, getting the cd player display to show correctly and to get better pitch resolution with MIDI etc, but it’s all working and I’ll be making some new mixes very soon! Well, as soon as I can sort out a mixer as my current DJM-400 has problems with the outputs (right channel isn’t working)
DJ Kevin-E – Be Water (Intro – 1st Draft)
Jul 19th
I’ve been using Logic Pro for a week now after buying an IMac and have been playing around with different sounds. Here’s my first draft of an intro of a track with some Bruce Lee samples (more to come). A quick first draft, hopefully I can develop it into a full track sometime soon. I’m a beginner in Logic Pro but let me know what you think. Sorry for the poor quality video, it was ripped from youtube.
Youtube Video FL Studio Preview
Jun 28th
I’ve just started using FL Studio with my new MIDI keyboard this week so I thought I’d do a quick video preview of what I’ve been doing, nothing special yet as I’m a complete novice, but I’ll add more over the next few months and hopefullyyou’ll see an improvement!
Midi Keyboard & FL Studio 8
Jun 24th
I thought I’d try and have a go at producing music and I’ve just bought a cheap M-Audio Oxygen 8 v2 Midi keyboard to work with FL Studio 8 software.
I’m going to try and learn a lot over the next few months and it’ll be a while before I put a whole track together! For now I’m just messing around and trying to get used it and to make some decent intro beats.
