Author: Praxis

Gear Review: Native Instruments Traktor Trolley By UDG

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Packing for a night out at the club can always be underestimated; you may not know where you are going to wake up the next day, to say you aren’t going to stay up until the next party. As a digital DJ, your life is even more complicated, you have gear you need to schlep and watch after. Fortunately the folks at NI (with the help from bag aficionados UDG) have developed a carryall that is specifically designed for the working DJ.

This stylish trolley will part the sea of party goers as you approach the club, eliminating the need for a backpack, laptop pouch and controller bag. Inside this internally massive bag, there is more than enough room to secure all the tools needed to rock the dance floor for days on end. A perfectly fitted pouch for your Traktor S4 controller sits in the rear, while another pouch opens up for your laptop and all of its accessories. In the front of the bag there is even room for your headphones bag, external soundcard and the host of other cables and tidbits you always bring out. Remember that lucky Tiësto mix CD you got before Tiësto was big? Yep, you can even stash that in there…. along with several hundred other CDs. Think of this bag as the Doctor’s TARDIS, it is much bigger on the inside that what is seen on the outside.

When I first packed it up and headed out to a gig, I was amazed at how much stuff it fitted, and that my 18” Alienware laptop fit just fine. At the club, it was defiantly a sight to see, as your status from amateur to professional just changed. In addition, this bag is fully class compliant for air travel, and will fit perfectly into the overhead bin, assuring your gear’s safety when arriving at your out of town gig. Although it’s a bit on the big side for bringing to the café to work on music, this bag receives only the highest marks as an essential club companion for a serious night on the town.

Gear Review: Livid Instruments CNTRL-R

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While laptop computers have revolutionized the electronic music world, the one aspect that is lost is the connection between instrument and performer. Controller interfaces have solved a lot of these problems, however not every controller is created equal. A lot of the interfaces available are built as a generic set of features that can plug in to any DAW and act as basic implement to control features on the screen.

When Livid started developing custom MIDI controllers several years ago, people started talking. With their unique approach to interfaces, these brilliant engineers set forth to not only develop the most customizable controllers out there, but to raise their product’s status to a performance instrument. The development of this unique interface was spearheaded several years ago by world-renowned techno godfather, Richie Hawtin, and has finally made its way onto the market.

After roadtesting their controllers for countless hours, Hawtin and several other artists from his Minus label have shaped this unit into an interface that plays and feels like the drum machines and groove boxes of yesteryear. Using aircraft grade aluminum, the highest quality faders, knobs and RGB backlit buttons available, Livid hand builds each unit in Austin, Texas. Livid also includes remote scripts for either NI’s Traktor and Ableton’s Live. The real magic that makes this controller so special is a distinctive Ableton Max For Live device that was built specifically for this unit. The Drumstepp-R and Synthstepp-R are Max devices that turn your CNTRL-R into a 16-step drum or synth sequencer. If Ableton was lacking one thing in its studio revolution, it would be the fact that a 16-step sequencer was never provided in its bundle. While Live functions like a vintage drum machine in a sense, this controller has now provided the ultimate missing element, making your studio workstation flow just like a traditional analog studio.

The set up was a bit challenging to get going quickly; it wasn’t as fast as some other units on the market. But once it was up and running it was easy to start creating and jamming in a matter of moments. At first it seemed that you would only use this unit to step-program drums and tweak their sounds, but after several hours jumping back and forth between controlling the Drum Racks and controlling Ableton’s main functions (via a single push button encoder), it is clear that this sturdy device may soon rule the roost in the Ableton controller world.

There are certainly easier devices out there to get running for basic Ableton control, but there are no other controllers that even touch the ability to map their DAW and perform music like the CNTRL-R. If your music has been lacking as you feel like you are playing without an instrument, then this stand alone, USB powered controller-instrument is for you.

Livid Instruments CNTRL-R (MSRP: $699)

Gear Review: Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6

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Even if you drop the coin for Apple’s top-dollar laptop or Alienware’s flagship computer, you are still stuck with crappy audio that is not worthy of play even on a Greyhound bus. At some point you are going to have to upgrade to some kind of recording interface, a soundcard that deliver quality audio both into and out of the computer. The Komplete Audio 6 is a soundcard breakout box that connects to your machine via USB, and uses high-end analog to digital converters to transform audio. Unlike some interfaces in this class, the Komplete Audio 6 is powered completely from USB power and does not need an additional power supply plugged into the wall. Featuring four analog inputs (2 balanced XLR, and 2 1/4″ line-level TRS connections), and four analog outputs (2×2 Stereo 1/4″ TRS connections), there are more than enough lines in and out of the machine to get most of the recording you need done.

Additionally, this interface adds a fully digital input (S/PDIF RCA connections) adding a feature that is generally only found on the highest end cards out there. While most people will only use the main stereo outputs to playback their audio, you will find that the sound you hear will be some of the cleanest noise-free sound that you have ever heard coming out of your computer. Another nice upgrade from previous NI interfaces, is a new chipset that allows for zero-latency audio monitoring while recording live sources, generally a problem with most soundcards today.

This device comes packaged with everything you need to get your machine up and running as a recording computer. Included is a copy of Cuebase LE 6, Traktor LE2 and Komplete Elements MK2, enough to get you Djing, recording and making beats in no time. After a quick install, this interface was running and ready to use. NI makes their installation and registration process painless, and every DAW out there is built to handle and use NI devices. If you are looking to upgrade your audio experience and bring your sound into the new golden age, then this interface is the solution for your quandary.

Native Instruments (MSRP: $249)

Gear Review: Vermona Kick Lancet

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That solid four-to-the-floor sound of pummeling percussion, which permeates sound systems and ignites the soul, sums the driving force of modern dance music. Since this hard-hitting kick drum sound is the life of the music, it would only be a matter of time before someone built a piece of gear dedicated to creating this epic hit.

Vermona has been crafting handmade boutique analog instruments for many years and has been one of Germany’s hottest instrument exporters since day one. This sexy little box of knobs has been meticulously developed with everything you need to create the perfect kick drum. Encased in this vintage-styled box is not just some PCM based sample chip that plays back recorded drum hits; this machine has a 100% analog signal path and is essentially a drum synthesizer.

Starting with a sine or square wave, this lead oscillator seamlessly morphs from one wave to another depending on the overtone content you are looking for. Next, two envelope generators and a dedicated FM (frequency modulation) LFO to modulate the pitch, decide what sort of timbre and feel your custom kick drum will have. Add a bit of noise from the noise oscillator and you are on your way to blowing up the club. If your new kick sound isn’t fat enough, Vermona equipped this unit with a feature called “balls,” which for obvious biological reasons makes for a heavy-hitting addition to the kick’s man bits. Triggered via MIDI or your vintage drum machines, this box is easy to set up with whatever your studio profile demands in a matter of moments. When I first plugged this bad mo-fo into my mixer, I was instantly disturbing my neighbors with the pumping kicks that were at my disposal, ranging from deep 808 booms to more svelte 909 pitched knocks.

However, as easy as it is to get something up and running, the real magic lies deep within the programming, as a little knob turn here or there goes a long way. After hours of listing to the perfect kick of your dream, a slight adjustment of the pitch and subtle tweak of the FM knob could transform your timber to exactly where you never thought a kick could go. One of the things that really sets this device aside from all the other drum gear out there, is the fact that you can really tune your kick to the project that you are working on. Beyond just tuning the pitch of the kick to the pitch of your in-the-face bassline, you can impose very delicate subtleties to the tonal quality of your kick drum.

With the advent of inexpensive loop libraries and sample packs available to anyone with an internet connection, it is really an important epoch to start developing sounds unique to your inspiration. Look no further than this brilliant piece of German engineering, crowds worldwide will thank you eternally.

Vermona Kick Lancet (MSRP: $399)