As 2011 comes to an end we reflect on what the year brought to the worlds of nightlife and DJ’ing. Nightlife was relatively unchanged, except for the fact that radio/commercial “house” music came into it’s own (we still think most of that stuff is garbage and calling it “house” at all is a travesty), but digital really took a few steps forward in the world of the club DJ. Both in popularity and functionality.

Traktor Kontrol S2

The big move was with the all-in-one or “DJ in a box” controller. A MIDI controller featuring at least two decks, a mixer, and a built in soundcard. Truly plug and play for those just starting out in the digital realm (or starting out in the DJ world at all). The “DJ in a box” controller is just a few year fad though. Something more than acceptable for the DJ that brings all his own gear and plays all night in bars or at private parties, but you will never see clubs adopt any of these controllers, even the Pioneer’s, and pro deejays aren’t going to want to be lugging these things around and trying to find a place to set up in a booth that already has thousands of $$$ worth of superior deejay equipment in it.

CDJ 2000

No, while some are claiming those all-in-one boxes are the future they aren’t. Something else is going to bridge the gap between them and a more traditional club set up. Companies like the already club standard Pioneer have hinted at the future with what they are doing with the CDJ2000. The price is out of reach for most people but you don’t have to have CDJ2000′s at home to be able to play on them. The CDJ2000 can control the DJ’s choice of software (Traktor, Serato Scratch Live, Virtual DJ) via a new, advanced, protocol called HID (Human Interface Device) over USB, giving the CD player full control over the software’s functions, and they can also play music files without the DJ bringing a computer at all, but instead just a flash drive, via Pioneer’s new Rekordbox system.

As this technology goes forward CDJ-type controllers will continue to be standard in clubs and HID will be the standard of working/traveling club deejays. Sasha, for example, just ditched all his controllers and gear he would travel with and uses CDJ2000′s exclusively (until that changes)… The current CDJ900/2000 firmware already supports four CDJs connected (via Ethernet) if you are using Rekordbox. Just one USB cable and you are ready to go. For SSL or Traktor you can connect four CDJ2000′s via HID as well, you’ll just need a USB hub (until they update the firmware to allow the Link function to work with software other than Rekordbox).

Rane Sixty Eight

Going further than CD/MIDI/HID decks with built in soundcards are mixers with soundcards built in. These already existed with things like the Rane SixtyEight and the Pioneer DJM2000, but these products are limited (the Rane only works with Scratch Live and is ridiculously overpriced, and while the Pioneer’s soundcard will work as a MIDI controller for pretty much any MIDI software, it does not enable tactile control of any decks). A nice start but not quite there.

What we are about to see is what Pioneer hinted at when they released the DJM900 this year. This mixer really does it all with a fully functional 4/4 in/out soundcard that can be used by almost any DJ software in existence, but it also is Traktor Scratch certified, and also outputs timecode signals for use with any other timecode software.

DJM 900

It just makes too much sense. The future is showing up with nothing more than your laptop, headphones, and a USB cable. That’s it! No controllers (maybe people will still carry their own Kontrol X1-type mini controllers for control of software effects), no audio interface, no multicore cables, etc… No setting up anything. Open up your software (which will all work on the new players/mixers) and start playing. That’s it. That is the future of the club deejay. Oh ya, and CD deejays can continue to keep playing the way they still always have been (there’s A LOT of pro club jocks that still only play CDs). The DJ-in-a-box fad will be short lived and even though it seems popular now pro’s are not really adopting it now anyways (it’s more of a hobbyist/wedding/bar deejay thing). There is no doubt about it.

Of course the DJM900 doesn’t solve all the problems of the digital DJ just yet. There is still the issue of all the different platforms, not everything works together perfectly, and interoperability isn’t quite there yet. But until it does the future is already here for clubs that invest in a DJM900 and a Serato SL box as this will cover 99% of digital DJ’s in the world today. Laptop, headphones, and a USB cable! For clubs adopting this mixer/interface platform that is it!

Will the next generation, maybe 2012′s batch of new and cool shit, get us closer to interoperability the club/DJ world needs?

~Vivenite

P.S. I’m not saying it will necessarily be Pioneer that becomes the standard club controller, although I think it will be, but some other company may up their game enough and/or be first to market with it and they will be the next Pioneer.

Here’s a blip from the interview with Lawler and the link to the whole thing below…

Do you think the spirit of rave culture as opposed to club culture is dead? Or could it come back?
It’s just changed. And I have to be brutally honest here … And this is something that I have wanted to say for a while now. Maybe it’s not a direct answer to your question, but I don’t believe “EDM”  is even what we do. Dance music is not the same as house music. Yes, it makes you dance — we all know that! But what I have seen happen in America in the last two years is the explosion of commercial pop-electro-dance music and so many people think it’s the same culture, the same scene as what we do with house and techno, and it isn’t! It so isn’t. Just because they’re both electronic produced tracks does not mean they should exist in the same scene. If I wanted to listen to pop music, I would choose a ballad or a rock song or something that just means something. This electro-pop-dance that all the R&B artists are jumping on is the worst music I have ever heard in my whole life — cheap, no soul, no meaning. [It's] only made to make money. I don’t even like calling what we do dance music, because some people think it’s a part of that. What we do is house and techno, and it does have a meaning and a feeling. Just as it’s always been, and just how it will always be for us that love house music.

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfade/2011/10/steve_lawler_interview_raving_ibiza_viva_music.php

BPM is a 10 day festival in “it’s almost not Mexico” Playa del Carmen. A less known Caribbean resort town about as far East as one can go and still be in Mexico (or on land). The untouched or “underground” Cancun if you will that is actually closer to the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cuba and even the Florida Keys than it is to Juarez, Guadalajara, or Mexico City.

www.thebpmfestival.com

This is our favorite Wintertime getaway, starting on December 30th,  kicking it off with a HUGE Circo Loco New Years Eve party headlined by living legend DJ Danny Tenaglia with support from some amazing talent in Luca Bachetti and (rumored) Nicole Moudauber. The parties don’t stop until January 8th with top dance artists like Steve Lawler to Dubfire throwing parties in Playa and other top acts such as Art Department, Carlo Lio, Cederic Gervias, Danny Howells, Lee Burridge, Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Nic Fanciulli, Nick Curly, Richie Hawtin, & Stacey Pullen, just to name a few!

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have been a part of the BPM Festival since the beginning and have seen it grow to such an important, communal and positive gathering of fans and talent over the past 5 years. I look forward to doing my best to help take it to the next 5 and beyond!” – Dubfire

“BPM is very important for me because it’s such a great way to start the year, with so many great parties happening that week.” – Marco Carola

“…It’s grey and shitty in most parts of the world in January and the Playa is calling! I’ve had great experiences there in recent years so looking forward to returning.” – Richie Hawtin

“First off Playa del Carmen is where my wife and I got married, and with the who’s who in our music scene playing down there during the cold winter months is even better, perfect get-away after the holidays.” – Stacey Pullen

“We have been hosting VIVa MUSiC Events there since it started back in 2008, and what always makes this special is the locations you can throw the party’s in and the people who attend BPM, We have always done our VIVa MUSiC Party’s at the Blue Parrot as we will this coming BPM Festival in 2012 and the atmosphere has been incredible.” – Steve Lawler

But that is about to change and San Francisco is about to get it’s first live taste of Marco at BASE’s Halloween party on 10.27.11. Marco Carola in SF, finally!!!

And now for some boilerplate promo from the promoter:
DJ Marco Carola Marco Carola is the recognized global ambassador of Italian techno. It’s a position he treats with the utmost care and respect—and one that stands him among the hallowed company of contemporary techno’s leading practitioners. Hailing from Napoli in the south of the country, Marco was among a small group of DJs and promoters who quite literally built the city’s scene from scratch back in the early-’90s. In 1995′s First Planet EP he became the first Neopolitan artist to commit techno to vinyl, paving the way for an entire generation of producers. These days Marco is a mainstay of Richie Hawtin’s Minus and Plus 8 labels, who, much like Marco himself, are one of the driving forces behind techno’s permeation of the worldwide dance scene.