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What is the big deal with net neutrality? For a generation of musical creatives that rely on the internet to share their artistic works, having equal access feels like a fundamental right. But that’s under threat in the United States – keep reading to learn more about what net neutrality is, how it’s under threat, and what a world without it could look like for DJs and producers.

Net Neutrality 101

The current state of internet regulation is a bit complex. Right now, the FCC’s Chairman, Ajit Pai, is proposing eliminating regulations that classify Internet service providers as public utilities. Because of this classification, there are explicit regulations that prohibit slowing down internet traffic based on content – or creating “high speed lanes” for traffic that they want to prioritize.

This level playing field is the concept of net neutrality – that all internet traffic is treated equally, and that service providers (often large monopolies – Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon) can’t “play favorites” in terms of which sites and services get priority.

Here’s a quick overview video explaining more:

Should Artists Care?

Yes, it’s a huge deal for anyone working in any art form that can be distributed via the internet. Just this week, a letter to the U.S. Congress from 150+ artists (including The Glitch Mob, Bassnectar, Gramatik, STS9, and others) encapsulated the issue pretty well:

For the artists of the future, and the culture of the future, we will not be silent.

Title II guarantees net neutrality and prevents powerful telecom giants like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon from deciding what art, as well as what news, is easily accessible online.

If the FCC votes to gut these protections it will explicitly allow Internet providers to charge extra fees that amount to a tax on the entire creative economy. A few corporations will have control over what you see and hear, while independent and up-and-coming artists’ ability to make a living will be devastated.

Without net neutrality there will be less awesome art. Period.

What Post-Net Neutrality Might Look Like for Music Producers + DJs

So beyond it being a nebulous threat to the creation of “awesome art” – what are real world hypothetical repercussions to the FCC’s axing of net neutrality? Here’s a few not-so-crazy ideas:

DJ Music Stores + Record Pools Could Increase Their Prices

Downloading music (particularly in high quality, more on that later) is a big source of internet bandwidth usage. In a post-NN world, ISPs will want to make sure that sites that have business models that revolve around using more bandwidth are paying their fair share – or get put in the “slow lane”. Sure, companies like Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes would be able to cover the cost – but smaller specialty services like Beatport, Juno, or even digital record pools for DJs would likely have to increase their prices to compensate.

Audio Platforms (Soundcloud, Mixcloud) Would Only Exist In An Industry-Approved Way

We still have a music industry that actively attempts to discourage upstart streaming platform. Major distributors have already succeeded in pushing rampant monetization (Soundcloud) or proprietary restrictions (Mixcloud) on these platforms.

But with net neutrality eliminated, major music distributors might have another negotiating trick up their sleeves.

“T-Mobile allows multiple video and music streaming services to bypass its data limits, essentially allowing it to pick winners and losers in those categories.

Consumers will likely see more arrangements like these, granting or blocking access to specific content” – via Wired

It’s no secret that telecom companies have a close – if not direct – relationship with media distribution companies. Look no further than Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal, a massive content creation company. It’s easy to imagine major labels and distributors negotiating with ISPs to put platforms like Soundcloud into the “internet slow lane” if they’re not willing to make specific concessions.

Sound illegal? It would have to be challenged in court – and would be much harder to win if ISPs aren’t regulated under Title II anymore.

Fewer Listeners / Fans

This one is pretty easy. If your potential fans have to pay more to access sites with your content on it, they’re less likely to get that far. This comment from Reddit encapsulates pretty well why a tiered internet service plan might reduce potential audience sizes:

Small / Startup Audio Platforms Would Be Less Likely To Succeed

“It can be hard for smaller companies to even get a meeting with large broadband providers. In 2014, when T-Mobile launched a program that exempted music streaming services from its users’ data caps, the founder of streaming service SomaFM complained that his company had been left out. T-Mobile added SomaFM to the program a year later, but it’s not clear how many customers SomaFM may have lost in the interim.” – Wired

Pretty much every website that we use as DJs was once a small company – or still is. When ISPs and telecoms are allowed to choose winners that they have business ties too, the smaller sites would take the hit. SomaFM is a good example, but remember when Soundcloud was a tiny site? Would it even exist today if it were subject to restrictive data speeds and caps?

Probably Say Goodbye To A Lossless Future

A common justification by anti-net neutrality proponents is that “bandwidth hogs” (high-volume data consumers) are being subsidized by internet users who don’t use a lot of bandwidth. It’s pretty easy to start to pick apart those arguments – but the subtext is clear: many ISPs feel like people who use more data should have to pay more money. Unless, of course, they’re using a service that the ISP wants to subsidize.

This means that users and media providers will both start watching their bandwidth usage even further when using audio and video. Many producers and DJs have watched internet speeds skyrocket over the last 15 years and assumed that lossless audio playback would start to become standard in every application. But barring some drastic change in audio file optimization, any “lossless everywhere” campaign would be instantly snuffed out by pure data costs.

What Can You Do About It?

We’re usually a pretty apolitical force here at DJTT – we’re all united by our love for sharing music, and try not to get too controversial. But because DJTT was born on the internet, this seems like a very appropriate issue for us to urge you all to take action on.

If you’re in the U.S., there’s a few things you can do now (time is critical as the FCC is planning to vote in less than two weeks):

• write + call your representatives in Congress – Battle For The Net has a quick tool here
• attend a local protest in support of net neutrality
• amazingly, letters to the editor in local publications do seem to have an impact still on Congressional leaders. Consider writing something!
• share this article with your DJ and producer communities to get the word out

What happens when you have complete control over your DJ application’s interface? With many DJ software, you might be able to turn on or off various sections of the UI – but what about changing the layout entirely to your liking?  Soda, a newly launched DJ app for iOS, allows users to adjust almost every element in its design. Keep reading for a quick overview.

Soda Overview

The Interface

Soda’s release notes make clear that it’s an app best used on iPad or iPhones with at least a 4.7″ screen (that’s an iPhone 6 or larger). It makes sense – with the ability to design and customize the interface, more screen space is more fun.

In Soda, the interface is built on a page system, so DJs can build out up to 7 pages of controls (one for transport, one for FX, one for cue point juggles, etc) – or just focus on a single page if you prefer. Editing the interface is intuitive – tap edit, and then tap on any control or element to resize, rearrange, or remove it.

A host of elements exist – including beatjump, loops, loop rolls, cues, transport controls, and FX. The app even supports building out up to eight concurrent decks:

Other Features

Personally, while I love the power-to-the-people approach that Soda takes to DJ interfaces, what really matters to me is the feature set and app capabilities beyond the layout. For the most part, Soda seems to be dynamic and powerful – here’s the abbreviated feature list:

• Up to 16 nameable Cue-Points per Deck & Track
• Cue points can either be Hot-Cues or Loop-Cues. The latter can enabled to automatically kick in once the playhead passes the Cue.
• Zoomable color-coded Waveforms
• Ableton Link support
• 2 Send FX Chains
• AUv3 Effect support – include your favorite AUs into the set.
• 5 internal Effects (Delay, Reverb, Phaser, Flanger, EQ 3)
• Sample Import via Apple Document Picker & Files app.
• Browser access to your iTunes Library.
• BPM & Key detection, Time-stretch (Key-Lock)
• Fully MIDI mappable
• Split Output via compatible split-cable
• Compatible with any iOS-compatible audio & MIDI interface (no special remapping needed)

Wait, This Concept Feels Familiar….?

If you’re wondering if a modular iOS music application has been built before, it has. As it turns out, the app developer, zerodebug – has been behind a number of other modular iOS apps in our industry before. Included in that lineup is touchAble, an iOS controller for Ableton, and d(–)b, an iPad-only DJ application that was likely much of the foundation for Soda’s development.

Growing up in Washington D.C. underground dance scene, Sharam Tayebi, has been an instrumental figure in house and techno music as a DJ, producer and one-half of the duo, Deep Dish. Akhil Kalepu sat down with Sharam at ADE 2017 to discuss his musical roots in Iran and how his DJ and production rig has changed over the years.

Who Is Sharam?

For readers who aren’t familiar with Sharam, here’s a quick background – via Wikipedia:

For this style of interview, we love to add a taste of the DJ’s mixing into the article. Embedded below is a recent mix of Sharam’s, recorded at Mixmag’s In The Lab LA series – tap play and then read the interview below:

How did you first get interested in electronic music?

Initially, as a kid growing up in Iran, my sister and her husband got this Betamax VCR, which at the time was revolutionary. Nobody had a VCR, but they had it and my brothers and sisters had music on cassette tapes. Post-revolution you couldn’t get music in Iran. Whoever had them, had them, if you didn’t you had to get a professional studio to copy a cassette. There were these double-cassette decks, but the price of getting them was like getting a car, so I was trying to figure out, how do I copy this stuff? How do I take some songs that I like and put them into another tape? I ended up using the VCR as a recording tool.

There were some underground video shops, like truly underground shops that were smuggling this stuff in. I would rent videos like “Top 20 Video Countdown” from MTV. I would take the sound and connect it to a cassette tape and record it. Now it sounds like, “big deal!”, but back then, in Iran there was nothing like that. I figured out how to do that and that’s how I sort of got involved with music. I would do underground parties where I would be the only guy that had this music, and I really loved the attention I was getting because of it! I got fascinated with that stuff, and when I came to America, it was like a sea of music.

I would spend half of every day in record stores. Then I discovered a dance record store and I was like: “Oh my god, this is it. This is a whole different game.” I was really fascinated with all this stuff, that’s why I got into DJing and turntables and mixers.

When did you first start mixing?

I was mixing in Iran, except they were not really mixes, they were “chops”. When I came to the U.S. I started making these tapes but they were mostly pop before I discovered dance music. Then I discovered this thing called a turntable and a mixer, where you could mix this stuff together.

I would make mixtapes, and I wanted to be a DJ. I would throw school parties just so I could DJ. I got a bit into promoting in D.C. at George Mason University. Throw parties, make a hundred bucks, spend a hundred bucks on records so that the next party you could play ten new records. Import records were like 10 bucks, which was a lot at the time, while domestic records were four bucks. So you would wait for some of the records you really wanted, the import ones to become domestic for a fraction of the price.

I would make these tapes and handed them to some clubs. They would ask me to come and audition and I ended up getting jobs and different places, that’s how I ended up in the DJing thing.

Do you remember the brand of the mixer and turntables?

Yeah, Realistic. Radioshack Realistic. The non-pitch control turntable was a Pioneer, it was part of one of those box sets with an amplifier, casette and a turntable on top. So my brother had bought me that, I said, “Okay, this is fantastic but I need one that has a pitch control!” They were like, “What are you talking about?” My friends chipped in and got the Technic SL-1200.

I only had the other turntable, so I learned how to mix with only one pitch control and I perfected my skills using that system. A lot of DJs use both turntables to change the speed, I always do it on one because that’s how I learned.

The Realistic mixer, which was only $80, but it turned out to be one of the best sounding mixers. We made the first Deep Dish album, Penetrate Deeper completely mixed on that.

How did you get into making your own records and remixes?

I met Ali through a mutual friend. I was throwing these parties and asked him to come DJ at my party. We had a lot of similar records that people were into like New York house, Detroit techno. I was more into the high energy stuff, he was more into trip-hop, acid jazz, rare groove, stuff like that. We had a lot of commonality but also a lot of differences in terms of what we were into at the time. He was into industrial music, which I [discovered] through him. He opened my eyes to a lot of stuff, I opened his eyes to a lot of stuff I was into.

We would listen to a lot of records and I was like, “We should try and make records!” He had some friends that had a studio. We went to the studio over the course of a week or two and knocked out four tracks. They helped us since we didn’t know our way around anything, but we knew what we wanted. We knew what needed to be done to these records, so we made them based on our influences. The first one ended up making a lot of noise, so we made another one, and another one and that’s how the whole thing started.

What were you using in the studio?

We were using our friend’s equipment. John Selway, who was a very proficient producer, and part of the Smith & Selway moniker, he and also BT were really the studio geeks at the time. So we used their studios and learned a lot of stuff from them. With BT we were using an MPC3000, and then we ended up buying one to use ourselves. Early on it was a 909, these IBM sequencers, very primitive. At the time, I didn’t understand any of that stuff. I just knew what was in my head.

I didn’t know any music theory. In fact, that was always one of the techniques that we had. Because I didn’t know any music theory, I would always have these crazy ideas, and everyone would be like “What are you doing? That doesn’t make any sense.” Ali had to be the in-between person saying, “Guys, just trust him”, and they would do it and it would turn out into something we never would have thought of. The unconventional way I was looking at it helped forge a sound that we weren’t even aware of making.

Later on we slowly got our own setup. Our first sequencer was Cubase. I remember the first equipment I bought was a Juno 106. I got it off one of those Want ads for four hundred bucks, the best thing ever. I was like, “Wow, I have a Juno!”

Do you still use your Juno?

Yeah! Still in my studio. I don’t use it as often because I’ve become very in-the-box. For me it’s all about time. Right now I love the way I can just basically make a track on my laptop, get on a flight, open it up, continue, get in a hotel, continue, bounce it, test it out that night. Next day, make changes, now in a weekend tour I can have a track finished without having to be in a studio.

I’m in the studio a lot, but more of my ideas are started on the road. Especially on shit flights. I do my best work on shit flights. There’s nothing more fun than starting a track from scratch on a flight, next thing you know three hours have passed and you have a complete, finished track.

What setup are you producing with on your computer?

I’m using Ableton. I used to use Logic a lot, but Ableton gives you the freedom to start projects fast. It gets what’s in your head down a lot easier, a lot more efficiently than Logic. I prefer Logic for arrangement, but there was a period where I was migrating projects from Live now and again. It’s all a matter of time and efficiency. I find if you really know what you’re doing, you can make a record sound just as good in Live as in Logic.

Any plugins you find yourself going back to?

I use a lot of Fab Filter. I use a lot of UAD. With UAD you must have the box with you, so usually I use the UAD stuff towards the end of the project. I use some Softube, Waves, SoundTools and also a lot of in-the-box stuff from Live and Logic. These are my go-to plugins. I’m not too much of a “gear-whore” if you will.

Once you’ve learned to use a compressor, they all pretty much do the same thing. It’s just a matter of how you use it, especially in the creative process. It doesn’t matter if you use a UAD or a regular compressor from Live. It really doesn’t matter. Maybe you’ll get it a little fatter, but it doesn’t matter unless you’re towards the end when you want to mix it. Now, I mix as I go along, but when you want to master it. I like to master so I can play it out. When the track is ready, I’ll send it to some professional person to master, but I’ve had my masters sometimes sound better than the professionals, and I’m like “Fuck, what do I tell this guy now?”

You produce your records with a mastering chain attached?

Yeah, I try to do that and mix as I go. Once I have half the project ready, I immediately go to arrange right away. That way the track will tell you where you need to put your focus on, and usually I like to play it out just to see how it sounds.

So yeah, I put a mastering chain. I have one I created and just dump it in, but it doesn’t work for everything. I like to just go through the process, put a limiter, an EQ, a little compression. I like to do that as I go along. One of the things I changed was that I used to start at 0 db for a track and redline like crazy. I’ve learned to start low, just from using other engineers, seeing what they do. As a DJ you always want volume, so when you’re making them you want them to sound loud too. Next thing you know there’s redline all over the place.

Over the years, has your live setup changed at all?

I used to play vinyl, then I went to burning CDs, then Traktor came along, which for me was revolutionary. Taking music, burning it onto CDs, writing what it was, that was a whole process. Traktor eliminated that, you could take a lot more music with you. By the same token, the more choices you have, the more confusing things can get. I love the idea of vinyl because you can only put 50 records in your box. Back in the day we used to travel with two of them. The idea was that to add five new records, you had to take five out. You were always optimized, the best records were always in your box. With Traktor there’s so much shit that you put in there. If you’re not disciplined about it, which 99 percent of DJs aren’t, including myself, next thing you know, you have so many records and then, “Oh shit, what am I going to play?”

How do organize your records and plan for sets?

I create playlists, but what I like as a DJ is the unpredictability. If I don’t buy new records, if I don’t get new promos, I feel like I suck as a DJ. The fact that there’s five or ten new records in my box rejuvenates my creativity and I program the night a lot better.

I’ve given this advice to people a lot. Create these playlists where it’s no more than 50 records. If you’re going to add some records in, then take some records out. I’m trying to discipline myself to stick to that philosophy. I [also] tag my records in a certain way. If I want to play a driving techno record with some melody in it, I type “driving, techno, melodic” and 50 records show up. It’s hard to remember names these days, unless it’s a specific producer that you like. Back in the day it was vinyl, so visually I would know the records. Now that doesn’t exist.

Do you mess with Stems or Remix Decks at all?

I did for a bit, but I found it to be distracting. It’s really cool to have a bunch of loops to play on top of each other. Sometimes technology companies consult with me, and [I tell them] “You cannot lose sight of what a DJ’s job is.” It’s to connect with the crowd and entertain and educate. When your head is in this box the whole time, there’s no room for connection. It’s like a robot playing.

Whatever technology comes my way, I try to keep my stuff as simple as possible. I’m not going to be a DJ who has too many things there. I see DJs using it but they’re not really using it, it’s just there for show. Maybe for a crash or snare or maybe create a loop. Theoretically it’s fantastic. I see some people creating a loop that gives it more energy –  but you could easily record that [as a new track and play it] in Traktor.

What’s easier to do? What’s easier to travel with? The whole Stems thing was really a fantastic idea to break a track down into these components and play them individually, especially acapellas, a hook that’s fully recognizable. But 99{f34407fc067802db9154e879a0b35441ea0c1d7f030828785c09a60e67002490} of the records out there, they all sound the same. What are you really taking out? It’s more like a novelty rather than a practical tool. I mean we supported it, we did it and I ended up not using it as much.

Any last tips or advice?

Don’t lose sight of what’s important. Making a record or playing for people, it’s entertainment. I always put as much value in the entertainment part of it as I do in the education part of it. I think a DJ’s responsibility is to not only entertain people but also educate them on new music. When people come to hear your music, but also come to be enlightened.

It’s important to do that and not just play your ten best hit records or the top ten Beatport or whatever. A lot of people do that because they want to enter with a bang and leave with a bang, but since everyone’s now doing that, people have caught on. So that’s the thing. Be true to yourself. Use technology as an enabler.

This interview was edited for clarity and length, special thanks to Sharam for sitting down with us at ADE! 

There are great DJ apps for iOS that let you connect a controller and use your iPad as a complete DJ system. Unfortunately, some of those apps only allow you to use specific controllers. Today, guest contributor Teo Tormo explains how to get around these restrictions and use whatever MIDI controller you want with Pioneer DJ’s WeDJ and Mixvibes’ Cross DJ.

WeDJ and Cross DJ only allow DJs to use a very limited list of controllers. This is often because of commercial settlements, or because the same brand that develops the app also sells the controller. But if you don’t have one of the “allowed controllers” there is a way to fool the apps and make them believe that one of those controllers is connected!

What You’ll Need:

If you want to use any controller with the WeDJ or Cross apps, you’ll need:

• A class compliant MIDI controller: Don’t know if your controller is class compliant? Check the manual. Also, usually class compliant devices don’t need drivers when used with macOS.)
• Official Apple USB to lightning adapter*: commonly known as “Camera Connection Kit” or “CCK”. You can use the new one that comes with USB 3 and an additional power port (very useful with some controllers that need additional power) or the old one with just a USB 2.0 connector.
• Midiflow iOS app*: You’ll have to buy the app and one in-app purchase, the “Controller Remapping” add-on
• The list of MIDI messages of the DDJ-WeGo3 and DDJ-SB controllers from Pioneer, you can download them here and here, respectively.
• It would be also useful to have your controller’s MIDI message list, but this is not required.

**Why the Midiflow app? Midiflow is an iOS app that allows to create virtual MIDI ports (and name them whatever you want) that can be seen by any other app, and also allows to patch virtual and real MIDI connections and remap MIDI commands between those connections. The app has some resemblance with Bome MIDI Translator, but made for iOS, and it’s also the key of this “hack”.

What’s The Plan?

It’s simple. We’ll create a virtual MIDI port with Midiflow with the same name that WeDJ or Cross expect to detect when looking for a connected compatible controller. That will be enough to make the app think the real compatible controller is connected.

After that, just remap the incoming MIDI messages from your controller into the MIDI messages that a compatible controller would send, and redirect all the messages to the new virtual port. You can also remap the outgoing messages from the app for visual feedback like LEDs.

The whole process is a bit long, but fairly easy to do once you understand how the whole thing works. I’ve completely remapped a Denon MC2000 and now it works like a charm with WeDJ. Here’s proof:

How To Set Things Up

First, connect your controller to the iPad using the CCK. Wait to see if the controller turns on and is correctly detected by iOS. If no error message pops up in the iPad, everything should be OK. If you have an error message about power consumption from the device, you need to fix that first.

Once the controller is on and connected, open Midiflow. The first time opening the app, it will look like this:

Tapping the “+ Add” label will create a “routing”. In Midiflow, a routing is formed by a MIDI in port, a list of modifiers (instructions of “what to do” with concrete MIDI messages) and a MIDI out port. Next up:

• Tap the upper “+” icon and a menu with a list of physical and virtual input ports will pop up. Tap in the physical port of your DJ controller to select it as the MIDI in port of the routing.
• Now tap in lower “+” icon and in the end of the menu select “Add virtual input”. In the window that will pop up, just write PIONEER DDJ-WeGO3 (use this exact upper and lower case and spaces between words).
• After adding the new virtual output, tap it in the menu to select it.

If everything is right, when opening WeDJ or Cross DJ, the apps will react as if a DDJ-WeGO3 were plugged into the iPad .In WeDJ the interface should change from this:

To this:

And in Cross DJ, a message will note that a DDJ-WeGO3 is detected and ready to use:

Keep in mind: the DDJ-WeGO3 is a pretty basic controller, but is compatible with both WeDJ and Cross DJ. If you are using Cross DJ and want additional controls for the filter and FX, you can fool that app by naming the Midiflow virtual port as PIONEER DDJ-SB – but you’ll instead have to use the MIDI messages list of that controlle. In this tutorial we explain how to remap the messages for the DDJ-WeGO3 virtual port option.

Now To Remap Some Buttons!

Once everything is connected, it’s time to convert the MIDI messages from your controller into the MIDI messages a DDJ-WeGO3 would send. Let’s start by remapping the Play button on the left deck. This is easy – and it’s a good example for any other button:

• First go to Midiflow and activate the Midi Monitor by tapping on “Midi Monitor: Notes & CTRLS”
• Open the Config menu on the upper right corner of the app and in the Midi Monitor options choose “Hex” (believe me, it’s much more easy to do this in hexadecimal)
• Now press the left deck Play button of your controller and watch the two messages that will appear on the Midiflow screen:

The MC2000 that I’m using sends two MIDI messages when pressing Play. The one starting with 9 is a note on message and the one starting with 8 is a note off message (sent when the button is released). The second number, 0, is the number of the channel. When talking about hex MIDI messages, the channel number is the result of adding 1 to the second cypher of the message, so 0+1=1. So this message is sending the note on using channel 1.

43 is the key of the note. If you check this MIDI data conversion chart, 43 corresponds to G4 in a piano keyboard.

40 and 00 are velocity levels. The MC2000 I’m using is a bit “special”, because usually the note on messages from DJ controllers send 7F (127 in decimal) as velocity value; note off values use the common 00 value for that.

Open the list of MIDI messages for the DDJ-WeGO3 (linked earlier). Check the exact message that the Pioneer controller sends when you press play: 9n 0B dd

The message starts with 9, so it’s also a note on message, the “n” is a variable that must be set to 0 for channel 1 and 1 for channel 2, 0B is the key (exactly B-1 on a piano keyboard) and “dd” is also a variable for the velocity value. A correct MIDI message from the left deck play button of the DDJ-WeGO3 would be 90 0B 7F for the note on, and the note off would be 80 0B 00, and also 90 0B 00. Here’s how to map that:

• In Midiflow tap on the “+” icon of the previously created routing. In the pop up, scroll down to “Controllers” and tap on “Add Remapping”.
• Scroll down and tap “Message (e.g. SysEx)”, in the pop up type 90 43 40 and tap Done. The message will be added, then tap “Done” in the upper right corner of the “Remap Controller” menu.
• Scroll down to “Outgoing controller” and tap on “MSB: CC0 (Bank Select)”.
• Scroll down again to “Message” and type 90 0B 7F. You have just mapped the note on message.
• Now repeat the process with the note off message. If you have done it in the right way you will be able to start and stop the loaded track in the left deck using the Play button of your controller. (Wow!)

If you’re using WeDJ, you only have to remap the note on messages (except for the FX buttons, those need the note off message to be remapped as well). If you are using Cross DJ, you’ll need to to remap every note on and note off message. You can remap every button using the above explanation and a careful hand. Be careful with some functions! For example, FX buttons on the DDJ-WeGO3 use specifically channels 5 and 6 (messages starting with 94 and 95). I recommend to create different routings for the messages of every channel, it is better to classify all the remapings that way.

Turning On Lights

Both WeDJ and Cross can send MIDI to your controllers for visual feedback, but you have to first convert the incoming messages from the app. Here’s how:

• First, create a new routing instance –  tap “+Add”
• in the new routing, set a new MIDI input using a virtual input port with the same name as the MIDI out from earlier: PIONEER DDJ-WeGO3.
• As MIDI out for the routing, set the MIDI input of your controller. If you play or pause a track, you’ll see in the MIDI monitor of Midiflow new messages in the translator, that messages are the ones that control the lights.

• On the second page of the MIDI messages list of the DDJ-WeGO3 (first “Indicator name” block) you’ll find that the message that lights the Play button of the left deck is 90 0B 7F, and the one that turns off the light is 90 0B 00, same messages than before. The other messages you’re seeing are for lighting the jogwheel and Cue button.
• Not every controller has the same MIDI message assigned for the action and the lighting, so check the MIDI messages list for your controller to find the right message for lighting your Play button. On my MC2000, the message for turning on is B0 4A 27, and for turning off is B0 4B 27 (Those messages start with B, more on that later…)
• In the new routing, now add two new remappings using the same method as before. Use incoming messages 90 0B 7F and 90 0B 00, and the right outgoing messages for your controller.

Remapping knobs and faders

Knobs and faders use different kinds of MIDI messages called “continuous controls” – abbreviated as CC. Those messages:

• start with B
• then the channel number (0, 1, 2… remember to add 1 to get the real channel)
• after that comes the CC number – a two cypher hex number (from 00 to 7F)
• finally the control value (the absolute position of the control) with two more cyphers that can range from 00 to 7F.

Usually a MIDI controller with faders and knobs uses a different CC for each physical control and it has 128 steps, but a lot of newer controllers use a combination of two CCs for achieving a higher resolution of 16384 steps.

The DDJ-WeGo3 is one of those controllers with higher resolution, but don’t worry – Midiflow is ready for that.

In this example, we’ll remap the left deck volume. The controller sends messages using CC 13 and CC 33 (in hexadecimal, in decimal are 19 and 51), and channel 7. When using two CCs for high resolution, the data from the first one is known as MSB (most significant bit) and the data from the second one is LSB (least significant bit). The MC2000 I’m using sends the data of the left deck fader only using CC 05, channel 1, so I’ll map it like this:

• Create a new routing instance. Keep in mind that now we are remapping CCs, not note on messages, and the lists of CC numbers will be shown in Midiflow using decimal, not hex.
• Delect MC2000 as input and the virtual DDJ-WeGO3 as output.
• Scroll down to Controllers and tap “Add remapping”. Tap “Show all” under the predefined list of CCs.
• Tap CC5. The menu will send you back.
• Scroll down to Outgoing Controller and tap CC5 to change it, in the next menu scroll down to “Show all” and tap CC13. The menu will send you back.
• Now select the MSB+LSB option of Precision. A second CC will appear under CC19 labeled as LSB, and it will be automatically set to CC51. Tap Apply Modifiers in the upper left corner.
• Now we have to remap the out channel, scroll down to Remap Channel and set it to 7. Done. Remember that you can add more remappings to this routing only if the output uses channel 7 – the channel remapping affects every remap in the routing. If you need to remap CCs to another channels, just create more routings with different channel remapping.

Now To Map Jogwheels

You have two map two different controls for the jogwheel: the touch sensor of the top (a note on/off message) and the rotation (a CC message). The jogwheels of the DDJ-WeGO3 use the same MIDI channel as the buttons for their decks. This means you can add the remaps to the same routing we created at the beginning of the tutorial. Here’s how:

• Look for the note on / off messages your controller sends when you just touch the capacitive upper part. On the MC2000, the messages are 90 51 7F and 80 51 00. The DDJ-WeGO3 uses the messages 90 36 7F and 90 36 00 for that. Add two remaps for the note on / off messages.
• The DDJ-WeGO3 uses the CC34 and channel 1 for the left jogwheel rotating messages, but my MC2000 uses CC81. I explained the method for remapping CCs in the last section – use it!
• If you remap both controls correctly, you will be able to pitchbend on the outside of the jogwheel, and scratch if you press the top of it and rotate.

The list of MIDI messages for the DDJ-WeGO3 shows a different message for rotating the jogwheel on the outside (pitchbend) but it is not essential to map it.

What About Audio?

There is no problem setting the outputs to your controllers interface. Apparently WeDJ and Cross DJ don’t restrict soundcards by their interface name. Both apps only look for the name of the MIDI ports to activate the control functions. So, simply go to the preferences of the chosen app and select the right ouputs for the main out and the headphones.

That’s’s all! With the above instructions, you should be able to remap almost any controller and make it work with WeDJ and Cross DJ. Maybe the most important thing you have to remember is that you only need a virtual port created with Midiflow (the only iOS app I’ve found that can do this) with the same name of a compatible controller to fool both apps, everything else (the remapping) is just a question of time and patience. Have fun – and let me know in the comments if you have questions!

One of the most legendary house DJs – Carl Cox – is apparently an avid user of Richie Hawtin’s MODEL 1 mixer. In a new video released by the PLAYdifferently brand, Carl talks through his setup and explains the basics of how he mixes.

Carl Cox DJ Setup Talkthrough

Gear used by Carl in this video:

DJ Mixing Tips from Carl Cox

There’s a few key lessons in this “How I Play”-esque video. While a lot of it does feel a bit heavily focused around the MODEL 1 mixer (it’s a product video, not a pure interview), the ten minute session in the booth with Carl reveals some great tips and inside secrets. Here’s a few we loved:

CDJ Platter Useage Shows Audience That The Mix Is Live

“I always start my sets with [the CDJs]. People want to see something from me which is tangible, so if I’m playing a track, they want to see the action. If I do that (Carl backspins on a CDJ), you hear that. I’m able to do spinbacks, cuts, loops, and track marks [beat jump].”

Carl’s very right about this – people still expect to see DJs have some tactile interaction that lines up with sound. CDJ platter manipulation is a great way to prove, very quickly, that it’s not a prerecorded mix coming through the speakers.

Planning? Who Needs It!

Carl doesn’t plan his DJ sets – instead, he builds up a collection of records for a gig and chooses from it. It’s a common technique for many DJs, especially in the digital age. We highly recommend building large playlists and choosing from them instead of trying to program out the entire night.

The two CDJ-2000NXS2s (what he calls the “outside players” in the video) are not controlling Traktor Pro via HID. Instead, they’re actually external players that he’s syncing up to Traktor. The editing in this video and Carl’s explanation are confusing – but as our commenters have pointed out below, it’s the CDJs are controlling Traktor via HID.

Traktor FX: T3, Beat Masher, and Flux

On his D2s, we don’t see Carl do too many complicated things – but he does use a few effects to layer, loop, and repeat what’s already playing. He shows off T3 Delay, Beat Masher (which he calls “the looper”) and even taps into Flux mode to show how to quickly create ad-hoc loop builds.

Watch more artist interviews:

Once again, we begin our annual Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale tradition here at DJ TechTools! If you’re not familiar, it’s a once-a-year massive sale on all kinds of DJ and production gear. Keep reading to find out what’s on discount, how to get the prices, and why shopping at DJTT is better than other sites.

Black Friday DJ Gear Sale

Our DJ and producer gear store throws only one big sale each year. Almost everything in the store is on sale – and if you log into your free DJTT membership account, you’ll see steep discounts that last through Monday. If you don’t have an account, it’s quick and painless to get one.

The sale is on now, and ends Monday, November 28th at 11:59PM PST.
We’ve highlighted some of the best deals (keep scrolling) – or simply click below to see everything:

Visit the DJ TechTools Black Friday store page

Why Buy With DJTT?

In our highly curated DJ store, we’re real DJs and producers who run things. Everyone at DJTT pitches in this time of year, chatting with you all as we answer questions and help you find the best gear for a great price. Amazon and Guitar Center won’t have these deals – and absolutely won’t chat with you and give you honest buying advice. We will.

In turn, the success of our Black Friday sale fuels other parts of our DJ community. Last year’s sale helped us improve the blog design, build the Midi Fighter 64 for the public, and much more.

Midi Fighters: 20{f34407fc067802db9154e879a0b35441ea0c1d7f030828785c09a60e67002490} Off

The Midi Fighter Twister, 3D, and 64 are all premium MIDI controllers. They’re perfect for professionals and budding stars alike. We regularly see them in use in studios, by finger drummers, in visual booths, and onstage in all types of rigs. They’re all 20{f34407fc067802db9154e879a0b35441ea0c1d7f030828785c09a60e67002490} off – there won’t be any better deals on these, ever, so grab one now.

Midi Fighter 3D Midi Fighter Twister Midi Fighter 64

Controllerist Backpack

We designed one of the most utilitarian backpacks out there for DJs – it’s large enough to carry DJ controllers, but I still can rock it as a carry-on on every flight. We’re knocking this awesome bag down to the lowest price we’ve ever sold it for – $119.

Get this backpack

Chroma Cables: 50{f34407fc067802db9154e879a0b35441ea0c1d7f030828785c09a60e67002490} off

Our USB cables are second to none, and with plenty of colors, you can customize your setup. They’re 50{f34407fc067802db9154e879a0b35441ea0c1d7f030828785c09a60e67002490} off in the store this year, making them 2-for-1. Score a set (or more) – just $7.50 each:

Get Some Cables

Chroma Caps: $1.49 Each

Our custom knobs and faders got a massive refresh earlier this year, which improved their quality. They’re a great way to breathe life into older DJ gear, color-code your controls, or just give you a more grippy set of knobs to use when playing out.

Upgrade To Chroma Caps

Ableton Live (With Free Upgrade to 10): $150 Off

Yes, this is one of the best times to purchase Ableton Live – and now we sell the digital version in the DJTT store. It’s $150 off for Suite, and $90 off for Standard. When Ableton Live 10 comes out early next year, you’ll get the update for free.

Standard Suite

Other Deals We Can’t Advertise: Chat With Us

Many of our deals are top secret – meaning you have to log into the store to see what the actual sale prices are. It’s easy and free! If you have any issues or questions, just chat with us (the DJTT team, not random sales people) in the popup in the store:

Custom gear in a heavily saturated world of gear is rare – but French producer and live performer Vitalic has a unique controller with Ableton built-in. Watch the custom unit in action from a show in Paris, then keep reading to learn more about the features and design.

Vitalic’s KOCMOC In Action

Vitalic has a pretty incredible live show. It’s a paired-down studio setup, with Ableton Live at the core and a few pieces of outboard gear. If you haven’t seen him in action, tap into this fun set live streamed from Paris on Monday night by Cercle:

Gear used:

More Shots + Feature Set of KOCMOC

Il y avoir un contrôleur et Avoir un Contrôleur ? #Vitalic #Kocmoc #NDK19 pic.twitter.com/gBHnNm3F5d

— BADÄZZ (@SPJZRWDR) October 20, 2017

The controller has a screen in the center of it – which from many shots in the livestream, appears to be running Ableton Live in Session mode. This looks like a pretty nice way to remove your laptop from the stage, but wouldn’t it make more sense to increase the resolution some on this screen to make it easier to see what’s going on?

To the right of the KOCMOC is an Apple Magic Trackpad. This is a good indication (but not a guarantee) that the brains of the unit is a Mac (perhaps a Mac Mini or headless laptop):

On either side of the KOCMOC appear to be power, ethernet, MIDI and audio connections. We’re not entirely sure of the I/O capacities of the device – but the audio connections do seem to be limited. Perhaps there’s an external soundcard in the mix that’s being used with the line mixer on the left side.

Another view from above:

After watching the set embedded above, it looks like Vitalic uses the knobs on either side of the screen as filters and device control knobs. The pads underneath are clip launchers (and maybe also mapped to step sequencers, but it’s unclear). The faders along the bottom of the screen are (fairly obviously) for each channel in Ableton.

Who Built It?

This unit has all the tell-tale signs of being a Livid Instruments design – the buttons used are very similar to other Livid controllers like the cntrl:r they designed with Richie Hawtin:

We know that Serato DJ 2.0 is just over the horizon. The real question: what new features and functionality will the New Zealand-based DJ software company bring to the table. In today’s article, we take a speculative look at the features DJs might see in a new update to the software.

Author’s Note: This article is not based on any exclusive or confidential knowledge about Serato DJ, simply our own and other’s speculation.

Serato DJ 1.0: A Quick History

The other week saw the launch of 1.9.10. We suspect this will be the last update to the software before Serato DJ 2.0. It’s been over 5 years since Serato DJ 1.0 was released. At the time, this was a very careful transition for the company, which had two divergent software platforms: Serato ITCH (for controllers) and Serato Scratch Live (for DVS users).

Since 1.0, the software has built out their purchasable expansions. Beyond FX packs, DJs can buy Serato Video, Serato Flip, Pitch ‘N Time DJ, DVS, Club Kit, and iOS control. It’s remained a closed system, meaning that only approved hardware is compatible with the software – but the number of approved devices has grown dramatically compared to what SSL and ITCH saw.

Serato DJ Pro 2.0 In Private Beta?

We can confirm that an upcoming version of SDJ is already in a private beta state. A beta user anonymously posted a screenshot of the software and the associated beta forum on Serato’s site – and let it leak that the new name for Serato DJ will be Serato DJ Pro. When the company has put previous versions of their software into a beta, it’s usually 1.5 – 3 months before the final version goes public.

Our best guess is that Serato DJ 2.0 will launch at NAMM 2018, which takes place in the middle of January.

What Features Might Serato DJ Pro 2.0 Have?

Looking at the current state of Serato DJ, here’s some speculation about what a new version could include:

• MIDI Mapping Overhaul: It would be great to see a brand new take on MIDI mapping in Serato DJ. More advanced logic and modifiers, as well as basic features like cue point color matching for MIDI devices would be magical.
• Serato Sample Features Built In: Much of Serato’s resources for the last year have been used to build a powerful VST, Serato Sample. Why not incorporate some of that hard work by adding features from the VST to Serato DJ? For instance, imagine if you could quickly have the software suggest cuepoint placements on all tracks without cues already – similar to how the VST suggests samples.
• Full Offline Player Mode – It feels a bit odd that SDJ is one of the few pieces of software that doesn’t allow you to do basic DJ mixing without plugging in hardware. If DJs are registered users, why not allow them to do basic mix testing in an “offline” mode?
• Daytime Mode – In the days of Serato ITCH, there were white skins for the software. This allowed it to be easily used in bright sun (daytime gigs!). You can always just invert your screen, but having it built-in the software’s design would be superior.
• Library Management (Track Purchasing, Tagging, Ratings): Essentially, why not take all of the ideas that were in the Beatport Pro desktop software and put them into a DJ application? Being able to tag music, sort it intelligently, and buy new tracks all within the software could be useful – if done right.
• Spotify Integration (Post-Pulselocker): Serato just lost their fully-integrated streaming music library, Pulselocker. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they turned around and cut a deal with Spotify, like what Algoriddim’s djay has?
• Echo Out Quality: A lot of DJs who moved over from Scratch Live have Serato DJ’s Echo Out effect high on their list of annoyances. Echo Out in Serato DJ can sound distorted, leaving many DJs to apply reverb or use the Break Echo effect instead.

Code Optimizations / Processor Load Improvements

After adding so many features and expansions throughout the last 5 years, it’s easy to imagine that the codebase is pretty messy and ready for an overhaul. We suspect that Serato isn’t oblivious to the Mac and Windows move away from 32-bit applications towards 64-bit – but it could present a big challenge for supporting older hardware that doesn’t/won’t have new drivers written for them.

Particularly of note here: we often have seen Windows users and people who use Serato Video complain of a high CPU load and audio dropout warnings. We’ve also seen reports of issue with GUI responsiveness and waveform jittering after the 1.8 version came out. These issues likely can be most easily fixed with a larger overhaul of the SDJ code – the kind you might expect from a 2.0 release.

New Companion Hardware?

When Serato DJ 1.0 launched, it was championed by the then brand new Pioneer controller, the DDJ-SX. The controller and its family has gone on to be one of the top selling all-in-one DJ controllers of all time.

Pioneer DJ clearly wants to prioritize hardware that promotes their own Rekordbox ecosystem, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see a DDJ-SX3 launching alongside the 2.0 version.

The obvious choice for a hardware partner is Rane. While they were sold to InMusic last year, the brand is inextricably linked to the Serato software in most DJ’s minds. Their two new products, announced in August, aren’t available in stores.

What Serato really needs beyond the Seventy-Two and Twelve is a new all-in-one controller that’s budget-friendly and gets new DJs interested in the software. In the past, it would be crazy to consider Rane releasing an all-in-one controller, but with their new owners shared engineering team (Denon, Numark), why not?