Can the DM2 Out-Turn the Turntables?

Todd asks: "The DM2 looks like it would be a nice interface for a Digital DJ, but is hindered by the software that comes with it. Anyone know of any projects that are going to try and use it or have great potential to use it. I think it teamed with a pro-audio card and some good open software could revolutionize the DJ industry." I don't know about its revolutionary properties, but it does look to be a nifty tool, and it looks to be the perfect thing to learn on. Basically, the DM2 is a turntable emulator not a real set of turntables. So you can learn a bit of the art without scratching your valuable vinyl on the real thing.

Comments

DM2 != turntables...

[digitalmuse]

well, I've seen these and played with them in a few stores, and let's face it, they ain't the miracle 'wheels of steel'... mixing is a tactile, sensory, feedback driven 'process' for lack of a better term. Watch a true DJ play the decks, they drag fingers on the label to slow a track down just enough to get the beats matched. They twist the post between their fingers to get a little more speed and make magic happen.
I've been learning for years, and I still don't feel that I'm half as good as I should to be when I spin at house-parties. I'm still learning some basic tricks, tweak-scratches, roll-backs, all of the tools the man (and woman!) behind the wheels rely on to move a party and make the choons bump.
I've also gotten pretty heavily into tools like Sonic Foundry's ACID and the old MIDI and .mod players that I still use on my BeOS boxen. They provide a clinical, digital interface that allows you to play with musical themes, components and transitions in ways that your average beginner cannot even approach. But again, I still consider it just a tool to further my knowledge of how a good groove works and how to utilize all the musical influence that there is around me.
The DM2 is another tool in this arena, but it is not the philospher's stone, and I doubt that in it's present incarnation it will go much beyond the starter-kit market who doesn't want to cough up $500 for two cheezy belt-drive 'tables and a mixer that cross-fades like a brick. It does however present an opportunity to expose more people to the aspects of 'turntablism' that seems to be the vogue.
I would like to note that blahtree brought up an important tool that I remember from the days when BeOS was still considered viable... :) the Final Scratch [finalscratch.com]. By using true turntables as the proven interface, you allow the masters of wax to use all their flare, body-scratches, almost everything they have spend countless hours practicing and refining (well, everything but hydroplaning). But the actual sound is created through the digital manipulation and control of MP3's and other audio formats. While it may not be a truely optimal solution for some, it does meld the two most popular aspects of the old-school vinyl camp with the digital precison and endurance of the new digital-era digi-jays. I cannot count the number of times I have had to retire old vinyl that had given it's best and finally just gotten to worn to play. These days I'm prone to rip stuff to mp3 and play with it there for a while before I start eating away at it's life-span by putting it under the needle.
Now while I do have all my classics on vinyl (I've culled it down to 200-300 of my favorites) I would love to be able to show up at a gig with just a wallet of DVD's and not have to worry about herniating over 120lbs of wax. (tho' the final scratch still requires you to haul your 90 lbs. coffin. Hey, those SL-1200's are 40 friggin' pounds each, but that just keep us "I've been DJ'ing parties 7 nights a week and haven't seen daylight in a month" phreaks in shape.)

As I have heard said, "In the 80's every kid wanted a guitar, now they all want their own set of turntables."

Do any of these solutions run on *nix?

[t0qer]

I've read about both finalscratch which runs on BeOS and the mixman, which is a mac/windows device. What about the open source linux based stuff? I've found only 1 called terminatorX on freshmeat about a year and a half ago. Just for kicks I let a DJ friend of mine try it with a optical mouse and he liked it. We tried putting the mouse over a vinyl that was spinning and he was sold.

Our setup is kinda cute. I gave him a K62 300mhz stripped down to nothing but X. He is a windows users, (please no boo's) so in order to run it headless we use reflectionX to connect to the machine and provide an X display. He bought 2 of the newer versions of the MS optical mouse (faster, increased response) and gutted them down to just the optical sensor which sits in a nice enclosure glued to the side of his turntables.

*laughs at this thing*

[Jonny 290]

Oh God. Another "DIGITAL DJ" plastic toy/flashy app. IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK.

I'm a drum and bass dj, and I actually started out by mixing digital music. How did I do it? Two copies of Winamp, panned hard left and right, a little plugin called Pitchfork, and a five dollar Radio Shack mixer from a flea market. I learned the basics of beatmatching and mixing whilst I was broke.

What's the difference? It was hard as shit. It sounded horrible when I fucked up. It was not automatic beatmatching. I had no tactile feedback.

Fast forward two years. Got myself twenty records to start spinning when I got a real job. Hopped on a friend's tables. Within two weeks, i had ten-year veterans of the local house and jungle scene pushing me up against the wall, yelling "You have had to be spinning for a year to mix like that!"

I learned the basics with a FREE, difficult interface. Now i've got a crate full of records, a booking every weekend, and I have fun. Crutches like this only hinder it and propagate the notion that a:dj'ing is easy and everybody can sound good, so everybody should be a dj, and b: only shitty club CD DJ's exist. Not that CD DJ'ing is totally worthless, but it's not the same art.

/me hugs his vinyl. :)

www.djjonny290.com