Interesting reading, Ben's reply at the Pioneer DJ forum after performing his one hour track Modular1 live using 4x Pioneer CDJ-1000MK2, 2x Pioneer CDJ-1000, 2x Alesis AirFX and 6 prepared cd's.
http://forums-archive.pioneerdj.com.../2751075014/p/2
quote: | I am Ben Liebrand, and here is some background info on this thread:
About innovative:
The track modular-1 is a one hour trance track I composed for my upcoming DVD with DJ Visuals.
These DJ Visuals were created by myself using 3D software running on Silicon Graphics Hardware, composited and edited on Digital Fusion and Final Cut Studio. These visuals find their roots in the Artwork I designed and created to accompany the Grandmixes I make each year (the 1st of which was in 1983 but more about that later).
Modular-1 was composed in Ableton Live! and due to the load of synth plug-ins needs a 2x2.5 GHz MAC G5 to run on smoothly. Such a Mac is not what I would prefer to tug along into a smokey envrionment such as a dance party. The track could be split up, but needed a minimum of 6 stereo pairs to capture all instrument groups. Only one track held drums and another percussion. I used 2 cdj1000 MK1's and 4 MKII's which I can asure you, the MKI's and MKII's do NOT run in sync as they run slightly adrift even at locked 0% settings. Furthermore, there where no beats to sync to in 4 out of 6 players as they consisted of sequences often running syncopated to each other. 3 of the 6 players ran thru Alesis AirFX units for real time filtering and effects. And the set ran for over 40 minutes. When DJ-ing live I always use 4 Pioneer CDJ1000's running different tracks on all 4 with up to 4 tracks running in sync with all 4 faders open. I have been doing this since 2003, and am using CDJ1000's as the very first DJ's since 2001 (The 1st CDJ1000 I ever used had no serial number and a huge orange sticker on the bottom reading "sample").
On with innovative:
In 1978 I was probably one of the very first DJ's who used videoclips in a club, played from a U-matic recorder. I was one of the 1st DJ's to use SL1200's when everybody was still using Thorens in 1979, One of the 1st to use 3 SL1200's in 1980, the 1st DJ in The Netherlands to mix the 1st non-stop radio show on Dutch Radio. It was the 1st time that SL1200's were heard on National Radio as all turntables used by the NOS (Dutch Broadcasting Society) were EMT's. I was the 1st to mix a yearmix with more than 100 tracks in 1 hour in 1983, the 1st DJ in the Netherlands to also produce and remix in 1983, the 1st to use a Linndrum computer in a live DJ-set in 1983, the 1st to use tapeloops for beats in a DJ yearmix in 1984, the 1st to use SL1200's who triggered phase locked digital samplers in 1985, the 1st to play videoclips in sync with vinyl mixed records in 1986, the 1st to use an AKAI sampler in a live DJ set in 1986, the 1st to broadcast his mix digitally from a Sony PCM-F1 in 1986, the first to use the Sony PCM F-1 on a beta hifi deck with timecode running along with my multitrack outtakes for remix purposes in 1986, the 1st DJ actually playing all instruments, doing the arranging, engineering and mixdown himself on all remixes for other artists, the 1st to mix a 1 hour dance mix completely digital in 1988 using AKAI DR1200 digital tape recorders, the 1st to mix and edit it in 1989 using an AKAI DD1000 digital editor, the 1st to use 2 AKAI DD1000's synced to timecode to make a more complex mix in 1990, the 1st to have some 20 headphone amps + headphones hanging round my DJ booth so people could listen in to my headphone cue to hear what I was doing in 2001, the 1st to use 2 turntables + 2 CDJ1000's + 2 AirFX units in 2002, the 1st to use 5 CDJ1000's in a DJ set in 2003, the 1st to use 4 ever since that day in 2003 and now 6 in 2005 for making a live mixdown of my track modular-1. An idea by the way which came up less than 12 hours earlier and was not rehearsed or tested previous to performing it live before an audience of mixfreaks.
I am sure some of these things might have been done by others at the same time or even earlier, but remember, there was no such thing as Google or even internet at the time and therfore no means to research it or find out otherwise what other people were doing. It was simply what I felt I needed to do.
I hope this answers your questions on the subject of innovative, and YES, the mixfreaks party's are meant to show of and explore the boundaries of DJ-ing. And what to one person might sound as showing of, certainly as listed in the form above, to me at the time it was simply pushing the limit and raising the bar, for that is what I prefer to do.
Greetings Ben Liebrand
(Who invites all to see him spinning live on 4CDJ's and convince themselves.) |
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