Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Impact Sounds

February 14th, 2009 – I am not a DJ. Although I write and produce music with some of the songwriting characteristics of Producer-DJ’s, I do not have that skill-set. This has always been a weakness of which I’m fully aware, and I’ve always planned to remedy it.

This is not to say I have never laid my hands on 1200′s and vinyl, I just don’t do it regularly and I haven’t had enough time to get good at it. I have musical understanding that would make good mixes if I had the technical dexterity. So I’m finally taking the plunge and am committed to learn the craft full out.

Here’s the issue: I am looking to perform my own pieces so the set up must be digital. I cannot afford to press my music to vinyl, and I want to be  triggering samples at the same time on something like a Monome, live. If I had roadies it would be a cinch to haul around 1200′s and Serato Scratch Live, along with a crate of vinyl. Seeing as I’m only one man with no budget, that’s not going to work out.

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, so I have a wealth of research I’ve accumulated over the past half decade. I believe that digital controllers are finally getting good enough to consider for my needs. I’m a big fan of turntablism and want to add that to my performance, so I need a set up that will allow me to do some of that.

Stuff like the Numark NS7 and the Vestax VCI-300, have recently caught my attention because they are built to work with Serato Itch. Itch is basically a Scratch Live lite, that is designed around the controllers. Because of this, there’s no fiddling around with setting up the software to work with your controller, it’s already built specifically for it.

I like the spinning platters on the NS7, and it looks like a cool product. Some DJ’s worry about the quality of it given their experience with other Numark products, but I don’t have that bias. I read a review on DJ Tech Tools on the VCI-300 (they’re fans of Vestax as is evidenced by the customized VCI-100′s that they sell), that seemed positive overall. From that, it seems like it could be a tool that would work for me. Sure, it’s not as extensible with other software like Torq or Traktor as the VCI-100 is, but maybe I should just stick to Serato Itch until I can exploit the power of other software.

Anyways, I’m sure many of you out there are more experienced in DJing and turntablism (I guess in this case controllerism) than I. What are your suggestions for a good digital controller given the needs I outlined? Please keep in mind that my budget isn’t infinite. Thanks!

Don’t worry, I’ll still be practicing with vinyl back at home on full decks, but I’m looking for a digital set up for portable performances anywhere. I love vinyl, there’s no way I’m skipping it.