We held off on this one for a bit as we wanted to get the details on Native Instruments upcoming Traktor Kontrol S2. The S4 has been a big success since its release last year, and although we did not review it, we thought it had some positives as well as negatives. After reading up on the S2, it appears many of the main features of the S4 will be available in the little brother, minus one of the best things the S4 had going for it in the 4 channels and the loop recorder. The four channel feature allows you to run 2 tracks, samples, and acappellas together seamlessly integrating all of them at once into your mix. The loop recorder allows you to record samples on the fly and trigger them at any point while beatmatching them, making for a great way to add extra snippets to your mixes. Read more »
Category Archives: Technology - Page 2
Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S2: The Good And The Not So Good
Steve Lawler Starts His Facebook Studio Journal
Pretty cool for those of you looking for tips from the pros. Steve Lawler (who we all know is one of the great producers and DJ’s of our day) is posting a journal on his Facebook page about the happenings in his studio. In the journal he talks about some of the applications he is using for his new album, along with any synths, VST’s, etc. that he thinks might help others along the way. Pretty cool to get tips and insight from the head honcho of Viva Music if we do say ourselves. If only more DJ’s and producers did this (instead of sitting on Facebook all day updating their status and making their egos ever-larger as if that was possible). For his first post, he talks about IK Multimedia T-racks Processing Suite. You can check out the full post by clicking here.
You can also check out Steve’s Top 10 for September on Resident Advisor by clicking here. Cheers.
Five G Japan – An Analog Junkies Dream
If you’re like us, you love all things analog. Hell look at our website logo… there aren’t many things cooler than a vintage synthesizer. Welcome Five G. The synth store, located in Tokyo, Japan, is a play land for any producer interested in classic synths. Whether you want Moogs, Odyssey’s, classic Yamaha’s, and modulars that would fill a small Manhattan apartment. We can across Matrixsynth, a site that had a bunch of great pictures of some of the gear on the site. Check it out…. http://www.fiveg.net/
Is The iPad Becoming A Legitimate Production Tool?
When the iPhone was first released back in 2007, the Apple App Store was almost non-existent. Then, as the iPhone gained steam, Apple couldn’t keep up with the amount of submissions that were rolling in from developers trying to get their apps into the store. And with those submissions came a lot of entries from companies pushing music software. Now of course you will always have the people who jump on the bandwagon and make ridiculous claims that something is going to take over the market simply because it is hip and new. But, there were a lot of people who were seriously claiming that the iPhone could become an integral part of a DJ’s life, specifically in live performances as well as the studio. Of course, it didn’t really pan out that way, and for the most part, anyone with an iPhone music app on the phone uses it mostly to kill time waiting for a train to come. Read more »
Native Instruments Scratch Upgrade For S4
If you were one of the people to buy Traktor’s Kontrol S4 and did not like using the jog wheels, this might be for you. Native Instruments has announced their Scratch Upgrade Kit for S4. This upgrade will allow you to use timecode (AKA: CDJ’s and turntables) with your S4 hardware so you can get the best of both worlds. NI dubs it: The Scratch Upgrade Kit allows you to connect your turntables or CDJs to your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 and combine your scratch routines with the professional features available on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4. The ultimate DJ solution from TRAKTOR: the hands-on precision of decks with the creative potential of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4.
Controlling Ableton Live With Xbox Kinect
If you aren’t a nerd, then you probably don’t know that people have been hacking the Xbox Kinect to do just about anything they can think of (well, almost anything). The device has been modified to be able to play Minecraft, show 3D images, even act as a Nintendo controller. In this video though, Synaecide shows off how he was able to create virtual instruments and control Ableton using Xblox Live and Max for Live. He first showed off his new creation at Microsoft REMIX11 and it was a huge success (though we’re not quite sure how realistic it would be for DJ’s). Just think though, you’re Danny Tenaglia on-stage dancing and you just move with the Kinect and have Ableton change the effects on the current track as you move around. Pretty neat eh? See more after the jump… Read more »
Scuba
Planetary Assault Systems
Laurent Garnier
V.A.
Murk