Just got my Kontrol S4 back from Daniel, so I got some nice times ahead!

MIDIfighter, designed by workgringo at workgringo.com

I had just the MIDIfighter for a short period, as I was trying to get my new studio in order. But as one might expect I could not just keep it at that.
This is what I am aiming for ultimately ofcourse:

First things first though. I will most probably go and raid the local Ikea to purchase a 4×2 Expedit cabinet, some Capita legs, and some isolating floor panels so that I can finally start building my studio in the attic.

Next to this Daniel(James Dan) and I will be finally setting up a firm basis for RSTRCTDnl. This will become the home stomping ground of our Restricted Sessions, that will also be featured on SimplyRadio’s Simply Electro.

Production-wise 2012 will also be a nice and challenging  year. The liquid d&b(Sparkling Tree) project Daniel and I are working on is working to be a promising track. Mastering and EQing will take place this week.
If this works out to be the fine track we think it to become, we will be talking experimental projects that can work out into a musical expedition not yet encountered!

More on all of this as it will develop of course.

Being that I still have a strong affinity with my Inline skate past, you can only imagine I was stoked when I read the following on the facebook-page:

1. Real Skaters,
2. Real Products,
3. Real Skatespots.

DJ TechTools has teamed up with Mono to produce a high-quality bag for large controllers like the Native Instruments Kontrol S4. Mono are the team behind some of the nicest bags in the industry, and after we created our own S4 shoulder bag, they offered to take it up a notch with their signature design and construction. The resulting product is super-impressive and quite possibly the best looking way to travel with a large controller. To celebrate this announcement, DJ TechTools is offering a special Winter deal during this December.

> continued on DJ TechTools

One controller that rules all

What’s the most searched MIDI controller on Google? The answer might surprise you. It’s not a studio mainstay like the MPC or Trigger Finger. It’s not a relatively new controller or a futuristic, buzz-worthy device. Nope. It’s an unassuming collection of encoders that’s been on the market for the better part of a decade.  Is it worthy of a spot in your arsenal of gear? And, if you already own one, how can you make the most of it?

Carrying around the BCR, DJTT stylee!

Read more on DJTT about one of my favorite MIDIcontrollers.

What can we expect?
A few experts over at DJTechTools already came up with this mockup:

nem0nic(Craig Reeves) was able to conjure this up together with a few others, photojojo(Chris Jennings), by just watching this youtube vid.

When can we expect it?
Novation stated around the fifth of April this year? (Thanks for reminding, Twumpy!)

From 360 Degrees in Dubai to Compania in Portugal to Berghain in Berlin. Every big venue that counts, is using Funktion One nowadays.

This has to do with the great sound characteristics of the soundsystems. Just check the vid and be amazed by the vision and innovation of Tony Andrews, founder of FUNKTION ONE.

NAMM is the years premiere event where all the music related manufacturers descend upon Anaheim California to present their newest equipment to the distributors, stores and general public.  It’s a mad house with everyone presenting their take on a small number of similar ideas with each company positively sure that their product is the best and that they have a magic crystal ball telling them what the consumer (us) will want next.  Most of the time the manufacturers are living in their own dream world, promoting ideas that are either out dated or from a distant parallel universe, but there’s still no shortage of chatter, praise and pure determination to push their latest updates on the attendees hoping to make another sale in order to keep the whole industry plodding forward.  Thankfully, in between all the bartering and schmoozing you can find a few dedicated companies, both industry standards and small startups, with inspired ideas that are genuine and will help push the creative use of technology forward.

For the DJ/Performer, NAMM 2011 definitely heralded the year (finally) of the digital controller.  With turntables and even CD players finally moving to the side (if not to the back of the booths), the NAMM floor was filled with companies flogging every type of digital DJ/performance controller imaginable.  From the ‘First Mix’ controller (http://www.geminidj.com/firstmix) for the next generation DJ, to even Pioneer finally realizing that their CDJ’s were not the answer most people were looking for and finally offering not 1 but 2 controllers each specifically setup for Traktor and Serato respectively. In between the avalanche of controllers there were also various (mostly) unsuccessful attempts to update the DJ Mixer, various plugin developments and some interesting new hardware announcements.

Continued on Richie’s own blog.

DJ Techtools is selling decals. You will be able to choose from ‘DJ TECHTOOLS’, ‘MIDI FIGHTER’ and even the famed ‘PLAY/PAUSE’ logo.

They are available in black and golden, amongst other colors.

Please check this DJTechtools forum thread for more info.

Toon of Tonecontrol.nl was kind enough to have me test this beauty for a period of 10 days, after which I could decide to keep it or sent it back.
Almost needless for me to say that the HDJ-500 was completely blowing away all the prejudices I had against ‘em, to have me decide to keep them.

While mailing with Toon, we came to an agreement to conduct the review in dutch.
Follow this link to read it.

But what if, you find that one controller is getting close, but is not close enough. At that point you can choose to DIY a modification to multiple controllers, or even build one from scratch.

Enter Ray, who as Controlled Demolition is the current BeatBattle champion in Germany.
Even though the Akai APC40 came close to his liking, he thought the Akai APC 40 was not enough.

The Akai APC40 is one of the best designed controllers for Ableton Live, Ray thought it was still lacking control.
He decided to merge this controller with an Akai APC20, in order to fulfill his needs.

He merged these two and decided to call it APC80. Many think 40+20 would be 60 but, being that this modification leaves you  to dabble with a grid of 80 buttons, this name only seems logical.

I had the change to get to know Ray through MIDIfight club, the party that had me going to spin tunes in Tresor Berlin earlier this year. But all I can say is; this remarkable cool guy has devised a beast of a controller.
Here you can see both Ray and the APC80 in action. I have to warn you though, all speech is handled in German, but all commands are done in MIDI. And you know the creed: “In MIDI we Trust!”, right?