CONSUMER REPORT
Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Ean Golden
Digital DJ software has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year. In a race to gain dominance, many companies have filled their software with cutting-edge features, gadgets and tools to take your set to the next level. The question most people ask me is: What system should I use? With major updates just released by the industry's two biggest players, Native Instruments Traktor DJ Studio and Rane's Serato Scratch Live, that question gets even harder as both offer a host of incredible features. Let's look at some highlights of each and try to help answer that difficult question.
SCRATCH LIVE
This industry upstart has a massive amount of momentum behind it. DJ Jazzy Jeff is just one of many top names who use the program religiously. Serato has been slowly adding a few features here and there but has focused on stability over extras. Now, with the latest update, 1.5, the company has collected a shortlist of really hot features that could even give the new DJ tool on steroids — Traktor 3 — a run for its money. Let's take a look at a few of the most useful.
Looping
This is huge. Up until now, only Traktor could offer looping within a song, allowing you to extend an intro, outro or hot breakdown. You have to set the loops manually in Scratch Live, either by looking at the waveforms or by punching in and out by ear, but you can save as many as nine loops within a song and not have to worry about setting them on the fly.
Instant Cue
Not a brand-new feature but a crucial one that is changing the way DJs perform. With Scratch Live, you can set a temporary or permanent cue point in as many as five places. Pressing the corresponding number on the keyboard can instantly access any of the saved cue points. Imagine setting up a cue on the kick, snare and hat or the 1-2-3 of a James Brown intro and replaying the timing and order as you choose. Instantly jump back to the start of the song if you dropped it in the wrong place or replay that hot intro for another 16 counts.
Censor
Exclusive to Scratch Live, you can instantly throw the song into reverse for a moment or a full phrase. As soon as you let go of the Censor (reverse) command, Scratch Live jumps back to the correct place in the song without losing a beat. That is great for quick accents at the end of a build up, editing out an offensive line on the fly or for out-of-this-world rhythmic effects. Try throwing it after a snare for one beat at the end of a phrase to create a hot turnaround.
Pong
No other software can claim to have Pong. Bored at that wedding and tired of pretending to DJ while you play a recorded set? No problem. Just Control-Shift-click on the setup button, and you will have entertainment for hours. Make sure you have a song loaded in each deck, and then you can use the turntables to control the pong paddles!
Instant Double Records
Now if only a record plant could perform this trick. With a track playing in either deck, press Control-Shift-Arrow, Left or Right. The opposite deck will instantly load the playing song to the precise spot it's playing at — beat juggling, sampling and extended parts all at the push of a button.
TRAKTOR DJ STUDIO 3
It appears that Reaktor and Traktor 2 had a secret affair, and Traktor 3 is the brainchild of the two. Traktor is the clear winner in terms of sheer number of features, but it can get a little confusing with all the options. Here are few of the really tasty ones you should know about.
Four Decks
Everyone always wants a third deck, and now you can have four always-available sources of music. All four decks can be mixed inside the software, routed out through a soundcard to a DJ mixer and controlled by turntables with the Stanton ScratchAmp 2 FireWire audio interface that comes with FinalScratch 2. The mixing potential is endless; now you just need to figure how to use the thing.
Effects
The FX section is basically your standard Pioneer DJM-600 mixer effects. You have a solid reverb, Allen & Heath Zone:92 — style filter, flanger and delay. The delay has a great Freeze function; when you press the button, it throws the delay into 100-percent wet signal and echoes out the current phrase. This creates a dramatic build that, when used in conjunction with a filter, drives the dancefloor into a frenzy. My favorite effect is the Beatmasher, or instant glitch effect. Yes, glitch and stutter effects have become a little overused, but they sure are fun to play with! Traktor's Beatmasher can instantly chop up any phrase in miniscule slices or several bars, repeating the effected phrase for as long as you want. Then, release the action button, and the song pops right back in time.
Fully Modular
Finally, you can create the workspace you want. With all these effects, decks and tools, the Traktor interface really does resemble the cockpit of an airplane. You can fully customize what controls you want to see and logically group them for your workflow. The interface can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be at any moment, with locking screen sets and recallable pages of controls.
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