"DIY project" may conjure up images of something hacked-together and rustic, but then you see projects like this one from William "Logo." Cheap-looking, mass-produced controllers, begone — behold the luxury US$400 and some construction talent can produce!

Logo shares the project on EM411:

After being dissatisfied with a dozen or so controllers, and due to the lack of quality affordable DJ mixer style ones on the market, I bit the bullet and went the DIY route. Overall it cost around $400 to make (it would of been about $300 if I didn’t make several ordering mistakes and splurge on super nice faders). It was by far the largest electronics project I’ve taken on and have the scars to prove it (aka I wanted to throw it out the window several times). Painful but worth it. I’ve never felt anything so damn hefty. It consists of 16 knobs, 5 faders, 16 arcade buttons, and 32 MIDI controlled LED buttons.
I plan on using it primarily for "crazy" 4 channel chopped up DJ sets in Live and simple sets in Traktor. I’m also in the midst of making some simple step sequencers for it in Max to take advantage of the fancy led buttons.

And, of course, having a controller no one else does? Priceless.

This project makes use of the popular MIDIBox project, but we’re also expecting solutions soon based on Livid’s MIDI DIY control board. Which you choose comes down to the configuration you want, but we’ll have more details on the MIDI DIY soon.

More photos (including electronics pr0n shots of the innards), including those above, at William’s set on Flickr:

MIDIBox

Previously, also featuring increasingly-popular arcade buttons:

All-Arcade Ableton Live Controller, DIY Hardware by The Prevolt

There are various ways to bridge the gap between vinyl records and computers, as we saw last week. You can cut records with digital timecode. You can build controller hardware that simulates the resistance of a motor, or mechanically control digital media using the turntable platter. And then there are the brute force methods, like strapping mice to turntables.

Squarely in the brute-force camp, our friend Ean Golden at DJ Tech Tools has added 7" records to the wheels on Vestax’s VCI-100 USB controller. If you want to do the same violence to your VCI-100 (I love how abused Ean’s VCI is looking, especially with those custom arcade buttons), Ean has a tutorial:

Add Records to your VCI-100 Jog Wheels [djtechtools.com]

The VCI still doesn’t feel like a turntable; I think it’s best thought of as something new and digital. And you do lose access to some of the controls. But I love that it’s customized in this way. Maybe I’ll add hubcaps to mine.

Since this week has become Unplanned Unofficial Vinyl Week, I might as well keep going. Vinyl with printed timecode is just one path. Here are two examples (one recent, one upcoming) of products that have found other means of connecting digital sound to the turntable. If a product like Traktor Scratch or Serato Scratch Live represent the maturation of the integrated vinyl + hardware + software solution, these two tools virtualize the turntable experience in other ways. And they demonstrate just how much control technology can change in music, turntable or no.

The Numark X2, above, as pointed out by beatfix in comments, is a hybrid of two approaches. It’s a conventional turntable (meaning you can actually hook it up to an amp and hear something, which isn’t the case with timecode-encoded vinyl). But it also uses the turntable to manipulate an MP3 CD. Now, obviously, Numark has missed the obvious next step: why not transmit control data to a computer instead of a CD? The X2, with a street well below US$1000, isn’t new; it’s been around a couple of years. But I’m still waiting for the concept to be applied to a computer output. (Anyone?)

In the opposite direction, the Stanton Control System, unveiled at NAMM in January and due to ship in June, does away with the turntable. The deck, the SCS.1d, simulates the feel of a turntable with a high-torque motorized platter and even a motorized pitch fader. Personally, I love this — and think it could be a sign of other, non-DJ controllers with tactile feedback. (You heard it here first. Uh … but I do expect that to take a while, as tactile control design is hard.)

This November, digital vinyl as we now know it will turn 10 years old. This setup is pretty simple in theory: instead of music, put encoded timecode on a record, then decode that timecode to provide information about where the record is in relationship to the needle. The idea is basic enough that, patent or no patent, it was inevitable that various developers would pursue the technique (and the very difficult work of implementation). Simulate the effect of scratching or needle dropping on a computer, and you’ve got virtual DJing, as found in products from Serato, Stanton, Native Instruments, Ms. Pinky, and others.

And as of Friday, it seems that the ongoing saga of a dispute over digital vinyl, beginning with the 2006 "divorce" of digital DJ titans Stanton Electronics and Native Instruments, may be over. NI released a statement Friday saying they had not only settled a US civil action patent case over their use of digital vinyl in Traktor Scratch, but had agreed to license the technology from N2IT Holdings, the US patent owners for digital DJing.

Apologies for the cat photo cliche, but … this involves patent law. We’d better have something cute and furry around to get through it.

The conclusion — the two have settled, Traktor Scratch is licensed per-use from N2IT, and N2IT’s patents are valid:

Native Instruments acknowledges the validity of patents held by N2IT, and has now fully licensed their usage worldwide for its TRAKTOR SCRATCH digital DJ system and related products.

The patents held by N2IT relate to general principles of digital music playback using time-code records, which are being utilized in TRAKTOR SCRATCH as well as in other manufacturers’ digital DJ systems with time-code control.

Acknowledging the validity of N2IT’s patents is actually pretty sweeping. You can read N2IT’s primary patent on Google Patent Search. The key words here are that N2IT patented the basic idea of using a turntable with encoded timecode on it for DJing. Theoretically, that could open up other digital DJ products to patent liability — keeping in mind that NI is a special case, because it was a development partner on N2IT’s FinalScratch product and was familiar with the technology.

How We Got Here: A FinalScratch History Timeline

I’m neither a patent lawyer nor a historian of digital DJ technology, so I quickly get out of my depth with the twists and turns this plot has taken. But I can offer at least a basic timeline of what’s happened, which puts today’s digital DJing in some context — albeit a somewhat strange context.

It goes something like this:

Minimal techno pioneer, digital vinyl advocate, DJ superstar, and subject of a surrealist Internet parody and very popular joke t-shirt line Richie Hawtin is now evidently using Traktor and Traktor Scratch. So is Magda (of “make the tea” fame). So is Troy Pierce.

Gentle hint to NI’s DJ marketing: embrace it. Give us a special “Ubercoolische Edition” of Traktor Scratch. Heck, I’d buy one. I assume people in Berlin may also find it funny, given the influx of us Americans into their city. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read on.)

Internet memes aside, the real reason this is big news is that Hawtin was one of the DJs who threw his support behind digital vinyl with Stanton’s Final Scratch — the target market for NI with Traktor Scratch. (More recently, he used NI’s other rival — Serato Scratch Live. Thanks, Mateo.) Says Hawtin, “I find that Traktor is taking further steps forward while still remaining connected to the traditional DJ paradigm.” (Less connected to the traditional DJ paradigm, I think, are things like Ableton Live, which by its developers own admission was never originally conceived as a “DJ” program — for better or worse.) And jokes aside, I’m sure Hawtin can do some fun stuff with Traktor.

Richie Hawtin on Traktor, at Native Instruments

But I want to talk about something even more important: just as Hawtin’s label Minus Records is joining with NI for a world club tour for its 10th anniversary, the hilarious Ubercoolische site that parodies his minimalist lifestyle in Berlin is down. Happily, Google cache has preserved the white-wall apartment jokes for posterity (try a search). And you can still by the reflexive t-shirt. If anyone knows what happened to the site, let me know.

For old time’s sake, I’ve reproduced my favorite episode after the break, on Berthold Brecht. (Expletives left in for …effect.)

For the record, Magda thought it was funny, and apparently it was all in good fun because the authors of the site were fans (and actually booked the crew). You’ll know you’ve made it, too, when you’re the subject of a viral Internet parody.

Now that I’ve gotten this out of my system, next time I talk about Hawtin, Minus, or Traktor, I promise to be serious. But in the meantime:

There’s been quite some interest — and discussion of the relative merits of high-end mixers — in the boutique DJ mixer Ecler EVO4. It’s a more svelte rendition of the EVO5, and also doubles as a hybrid MIDI control surface. There’s still no word on pricing, but if it comes anywhere close to a US$1000 street, I think it could be serious competition for the cheaper but apparently flakier Korg ZERO range.

At least now we know what the thing looks like:

I like the design — it’s not hard to imagine digital musicians and laptopists/electronicistas having good fun with this as much as traditional DJs. The MIDI controls look a little disappointing, though.

Previously (with lots of comments):

MIDI + Mixing: Ecler EVO4 DJ Mixer Specs, EVO5 UpdateMIDI + Mixing: Ecler EVO4 DJ Mixer Specs, EVO5 Update

So, you’ve got a mixer, which is a box covered in faders and knobs that processes audio signal. And you’ve got a MIDI control surface, which is often a box covered in faders and knobs that looks a mixer, but doesn’t process audio signal. Why not combine them into one device?

That’s the approach taken by DJ-focused mixer maker Ecler. Their EVO5 (shown at right) does all of this, but at a hefty price premium — about U$1900 street. (That price could be more worth it, however, with updated firmware capabilities — more on that in a moment.) A rumored EVO4 at a lower price (expected at a non-cheap, but possibly mortal-compatible US$1000-1500) has been making the rounds on the Web. Today, Ecler confirmed those details and promised the final unveiling at Musikmesse next month in Germany and here Stateside for Remix Hotel Miami later in March.

No photo or official pricing yet (meaning if you’ve seen a photo, it’s an unauthorized leak or fake), but here’s what Ecler has to say:

Livid, best known for their VJ software (Union, Cell), have a new control surface for music and visuals called the Ohm. What’s nice about this control surface is that it’s clearly designed around specific user needs, with a control setup that should work well for music software (Traktor or any DJ software, Ableton Live, and custom Reaktor ensembles spring to mind), as well as visual performance. The pads are buttons, not velocity-sensitive pads, so this will be more useful for clip triggering (sound, visuals) than drum programming. That could make this more interesting to visualists than music folks, though at least some DJs will still be happy.

What we really love: the wooden case option, which costs the same as the metal version, looks cooler, and sheds two pounds. It’s also interesting to see Livid’s “patent-pending” design with the pads in the center and mixer-style faders split.

The basic specs:

• “Professional-grade controls.” (I’ll be the judge of that; Livid is in town so hope to get my hands on it soon.)
• 36 buttons in a 6×6 grid
• 8 faders, 1 DJ-style crossfader
• 9 function buttons, plus 8 trigger/mute buttons to go with the faders
• BPM tap button
• 5-pin MIDI out and USB

Livid Union 2.5 is included free if you’re interested in visual work. There are also demos of Ableton Live, FL Studio (Fruity Loops), and AMG One, though, so music is kept in mind.

The MIDI out could make this a nice companion to synths, too, and not just a computer accessory.

More on this soon. Of course, if you want a Viditar as your controller, you’ll have to get Livid to custom-build for you.

The Ohm is available for preorders now at an introductory US$790; the unit ships at $899 list at the end of the month.

Livid Ohm Hardware Product Page

And for more thoughts on what this can do for live visuals, video art, and VJing, head over to CDMusic’s sister site:
Livid’s New Ohm Control Surface, and the Hunt for the Perfect VJ Controller [Create Digital Motion]

Is the Wii controller the new mouse? They’re starting to pop up all over the place, with all sorts of applications. As the villain in Pixar’s The Incredibles says at the end of the film, “When everyone’s super, no one is.” The related principle is, “When everyone has a gimmick, it’s not a gimmick any more.” Result: the gimmick disappears, and people focus instead on sounds and (in the case of Wii) the fun of moving around. And that’s a very good thing. (Hey, we got far more mileage out of the darned mouse than we every should have.)

We saw a proof of concept scratching using SuperCollider and the Wii remote a few months ago. I enjoyed that the results were sonically a little strange. But our friends at DJWiiJ now have more practical scratching set up with Traktor.

More details:

Wiij Scratching Now a Reality - Demo Video Provided

Yes, turntablists, I know — it doesn’t sound so much like normal scratching. As one commenter noted here, though, if you want vinyl, just use vinyl. Here, there’s almost a cartoon-like, digital scratching effect, like what turntablism would sound like in a universe with different physics than our own. This also demonstrates what can be possible with a different controller: you can differentiate what you’re doing in terms of custom software or software setups and … well, practice. DJ ! says he’s practicing, for his part.

Keep the examples coming. Oh, and CDM isn’t becoming the all Wii, all the time network — I’m still catching up after a long weekend, but more soon. I’m hoping you’re also catching up on work, so we’re kinda even.

What? You actually still want more Wii DJing? Fine…

It’s a 12 x 12 FireWire audio interface. It’s a customizable mixer, with curves, filter styles, and ranges editable via a color LCD screen. It’s a MIDI controller. It’s an Italian sports car, molded by design house Giugiaro Italdesign. And it has password-protected audio output limiting, so those sleazeball DJs don’t blow your club’s speakers. (No, seriously. They need a password to defeat the limiter.) Hell, like you’re going to let anyone but you get their grimy hands on this. We’ve been watching the Ecler hardware, and its needlessly-overblown pre-launch hype. Now we can enjoy the hardware itself. And it is awful purty, even if you actually don’t need / can’t afford it. -PK

Ecler has officially launched the EVO5 DJ mixer + audio interface + effects unit at Messe, though you’ll have to wait until October to get your hands on one. Its yet-to-be-determined price will be in the range of $1500-$2000. Full details on this 5-channel digital DJ mixer can be found at Ecler’s new EVO product mini-site.

Here’s the quick rundown on the specs, if you’re not still distracted by the looks:

It’s got 24/96 converters and a 2-port FireWire sound card that supports 6 stereo inputs and 6 stereo outputs. Route any of these channels to your computer and back for effects processing, mixing tracks from your DAW of choice, or recording to computer, etc.

Eight editable effects can sync to MIDI or the built-in beat counter (which can output MIDI Clock): Delay/Echo, Filter, Flanger, Phaser, Transformer, Panoramic, Pitch and Reverb. You can chain two effects together and also save presets to your computer via FireWire with the included EVO5 software. There are also two editable effects just for microphone: a Noise Gate and Compressor.

10 push switches and 4 rotary encoders can be mapped to MIDI. 64 layouts include ones for Native Insturments Traktor and Ableton Live. As expected in a digital mixer, you can customize settings for EQ and fader curves. There is also an output limiter to help save speakers from impassioned DJs.

The user interface, designed by Giugiaro, features a 320 x 240 TFT color screen with 262,144 colors. Thanks to an anodized technique, the lettering and markings on the black aluminum faceplate will not fade before Ecler delivers another revolutionary DJ mixer.