Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Algoriddim

December 18th, 2009 - A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Vestax Spin and the bundled software from Algoriddim, djay. I contacted the folks at Algoriddim and asked if they would be able to answer a few questions. Frederik from Algoriddim kindly agreed to answer some questions. The questions I asked were a compilation of those that I had, as well as some that were asked of me through Youtube, and by email.

> What is your role with Algoriddim? Please tell us a little about yourself. Are you a DJ?
Yes, I DJ occasionally in Munich when time permits.

> There are many great DJ applications out there. Why did you want to create djay? What is the philosophy behind the software?
Indeed, there are great high-end DJ applications out there. But we felt that there is a need for a true native Mac application that ties perfectly into the user experience expected by Mac community. In addition, we come from classical vinyl DJing, trying to transition to the digital world we found there is a huge increase in complexity. We wanted to bring DJ as an art form back to its simplistic roots while still incorporating the endless capabilities and advantages of digital audio processing. This is reflected in djay’s straight forward user interface and the simplicity also allows any ordinary iTunes user to enter the exciting world of DJing.

> What makes djay stand out from other digital DJ applications?
Ease-of-use, native Mac experience, quality, price.

> Why did you decide on such tight iTunes integration over traditional file structure models that your competitors use?
We’re all using iTunes. Why force the user into using a separate file structure for every single application. We want the user to launch djay and get going right away: no cumbersome importing of files and databases. And we think that’s what most users, from beginner to pro, appreciate most.

> Almost all DJ applications use waveforms to aid in cueing the songs while djay does not. Even though djay has native BPM analysis, I find the experience to be closer to real vinyl where you have to listen during pre-cueing to make sure that the second track comes in on time. djay seems to be otherwise geared towards a beginner DJ. Why did you decide on the spinning record/marker instead? Are waveforms in djay’s future?
The real-world turntable setup has proven to be a great interface, simple to use and fun to watch. Especially, someone new to the game might get confused quickly by a complex waveform display. That being said, we’re constantly working on improving and expanding the capabilities of djay. Watch out for future versions… we have great stuff in the pipeline!

> The included MIDI controller templates and MIDI learn are great features. I especially like the ability to have multiple MIDI controllers at once. One thing a reader asked about and that I was unable to execute, was mapping the turntable pitch effect to a rotary fader, something you can’t do right now since the pitch effect is binary, and controlled by steps in the UI. Will future versions have the ability to customize parameters in this way?
For the initial release of the MIDI Learn feature we focused on making it as easy as possible for anyone to map a controller, quite in contrast to most other MIDI-capable programs where you often need to be a MIDI expert to do anything with your controller.

That being said, djay has some smarts built-in to detect what kind of control you are using (button, fader, rotary). The detected control type is reflected by the icon in the table for each MIDI mapping entry.

For rotary knobs, this auto-detection needs a little more input from the MIDI device to be accurate, so sometimes you might need to turn that rotary knob a few times before djay detects it as such (and the icon changes). You should then be able to map the rotary knob to things like the pitch effect. Note that auto-detection only takes place for newly-added mapping entries, so you might want to delete a previous mapping entry for your rotary knob in djay (using the backspace key) and then start over by turning the knob. (Not sure if this is documented anywhere properly, we’re working on expanding the Help…)

Since there are literally thousands of MIDI controllers out there, please let us know if something doesn’t work as expected so we can track down any compatibility issues.

> The previous question perhaps leads to this question which is whether or not djay will support external effect plug ins in future versions. I see that djay uses the AU standard for effects, so will users in the future be able to apply 3rd party AU plugins?
djay already supports 3rd party AU effect plugins. If they are properly installed on your system, they will show up in the menu of available audio effect units.

> djay saves the BPM (although not in the song’s actual meta data) in what I assume is its own database, however it does not save the cuepoints once djay is closed. Is this a feature that will be implemented in future versions? If/when that feature is available, will there be the ability to add more than 3 cuepoints per track?
Correct. Currently you have to manually save the cue points once you’re happy with them (from the table-1/2 menu choose Cue Points > Save Cue Points). Check for future updates though, as we might simplify this process.

> I like the inclusion of a sampler. Will the amount of available sampled sound slots be increased in the future?
Can’t say, but anything’s possible in the future.

> How did Algoriddim and Vestax come to work together with the Spin?
We have had a great relations ship with Vestax over the past few years. In fact, they have been the exclusive distributor for djay in Japan since early 2008, with great success. We have worked on integrating djay with their VCI-100 which they built a custom djay face plate for. It was a logical step for us to take this to the next level.

> Did Algoriddim have any say into the Spin design process?
It was a joint product development. And both our experience in designing easy-to-use Mac-like products suitable for a total novice in the field and Vestax’ world-class Pro audio experience came into play. The fusion of consumer oriented and professional level design is what makes this product appealing to such a broad audience out there.

> What does the future hold for djay? With the framework already in place, have you considered extending djay to cover VDJing? For example, Virtual DJ has some ability to mix visualizations.
We have very exciting stuff in progress.. stay tuned

Thank’s Frederik!