So it has been a couple of months since my last post, and in reflection of that it seemed pretty negative in many respects. The whole principle of writing a journal in an open, honest blog is to challenge and be critical of the entire process. I was practically moaning about having to invest in a new Apple MacBook Pro in my last post. There’s no denying they are less value for money these days, with their ring-fenced upgrading capabilities. However, I am lucky I can just buy one – if I couldn’t, then I would’ve been stopped in my tracks entirely. As it turns out, the new Mac is just the ticket.

So far I’ve managed to test Cross DJ with video output, without excessive CPU pressure, or lagging in the feed over a ten metre HDMI cable, which is in itself risky territory. I’ve also attempted using Ableton and Resolume together, which it handled fine as well. Expanding on that latter point, I’ve had to address some opinion in how I am performing the show, which has given me some personal doubt and frustration. Perhaps I am too sensitive, likely. Maybe I care about how the show will be received, very likely – although I do not like to admit or surrender to that point. The show is being treated as a prototype, as with anything it will evolve with time and with greater capability and degree of intuitive authenticity.

It seems that the process of bypassing an actual installation in the venue, for pre-engineered visuals fused with the appropriate music tracks has been put into doubt by someone close to me whom I hold in high regard, and is also a DJ and music prodcuer. The fact that I am using a laptop, with MIDI controllers on stage as opposed to turntables or more apparently, CDJs, has been questionned. Currently I do not own CDJs and choose to DJ using primarily vinyl, or Traktor Pro, sometimes with timecode vinyl, sometimes with MIDI controllers. Each format is a completely different way to play and has an impact on the energy and spark in each set. It’s frustrating to me that the concept of playing a set, of entirely my own music, a large portion of which has been created for the show, in equal unison to the visual element created for the show, is somehow less credible than plugging a USB flash drive into a CDJ and primarily playing a set of music acquired through promos and Beatport in the days prior? I don’t need to prove I can beat-match, I frequently do this with the same turntables I purchased twenty years ago, without analysed digital files nicely mapped to a solid grid to avoid drift. Lets face it, DJing with two CDJs is pretty restricted aside from the looping facilities and merely a convenient, safe, solid option for many travelling DJs. However, having three or four at one’s disposal makes it much more interesting and resembling a four-deck, layered Traktor Pro set without synchronization. However, how many DJs do you see covering the BPM counter in the corner of that big Nexus display? None! A CDJ is basically a computer, but because it was developed from initially having the capability of actually playing CDs (very rare these days), the medium up from vinyl, it is still regarded by some as a neccessity as a real DJ. Congrats you can match the BPM from the display and refine the none-existent drift from Rekordbox preperation. If anyone is asking me, CDJs are the easiest way to play a set. Plug in a USB flash drive, no need to have a laptop in the booth, no screen-wall between you and the crowd, perfect.

The reality of this venture I have undertook is I cannot currently justify spending the amount of three MacBook Pro laptops on three CDJ2000 Nexus, Serato and a compatible mixer with which to rehearse this show, when the venue are unable to provide the gear. Solution: play from a laptop on the fly with MIDI controllers. I have researched and tested the practicality of using Ableton Linked with Resolume. This method has the bonus of Ableton being capable of playing MOV files as audio, and launching the clips simultaneously in Resolume via macro MIDI mapping my Xone K2. However, having spent some time with the Live 10 and Avenue 6 demos, there is a slight lag in synchronicity between the two programs. Using Ableton also means I would need to ‘warp’ the files for synchronization within the session, while Resolume would be triggering unwarped duplicate files, and subsequently not matched in tempo. I expect there is a way to do this, which I have not discovered yet. With most Resolume and Ableton tutorials online, they simply show you that once you have triggered your audio clips in Ableton, with the Ableton Link you can then trigger video clips in Resolume and they will be matched in tempo. I have not yet found a working example where the video and audio need to be synchronized for the duration of the track/song – like a specific music video. There will be a way to do this, but I am yet to find it.

Another software package I have never previously heard about and saw in use by chance is Virtual DJ. At the hotel I was staying in Spain a few weeks back, there was an act performing a Queen tribute with visuals matching the music and backing track. I went to the toilet and upon my return saw the glowing laptop screen from the booth at the back of the room. I glanced over and asked the engineer what software she was using – Virtual DJ she said, claiming it was great. This resembled Cross DJ, Serato and Traktor Pro with its deck layout, but it was also playing video. How come I have never heard of this software? Why would I need to – Traktor is the most appropriate, solid application available from a techno DJs perspective, so why look elsewhere? I was curious, so I did some research and found that it is primarily used by scratch DJs, or those wanting to have karaoke sessions, automatic playlists with video output as such. Visibly it looks amateur and as Cross DJ is developed by the people that created Pioneer’s Rekordbox, I have decided to hang fire with my choice of performance software. Although I will say this – Native Instruments, please integrate video into Traktor Pro!

The project itself has been challenging and perhaps a little ambitious. I wanted to ensure I produced an abundance of ambient, housey and dub techno tracks for this first show. Music which had decent lowend frequencies to generate interesting patterns. However, observing water motion with loopy, repetitive music is still somewhat boring – even for someone with my interest in the style. Therefore I decided to use effects in both FCPX and Cross DJ to manipulate and distort the water formations. Why not? There are no rules, like techno. The water is still the source of the visualization, it’s merely being manipulated in a creative way, as per my vision. Further down the line, having an actual installation in a venue with a live camera feed being piped to a computer running an application such as Resolume, would provide the desired results. Real-time, sound-source visualization with the ability to also overlay effects, other clips and manipulate in unison with the DJ or performer. As I am the DJ and VJ in this instance, I have to compromise.

I decided to include the classic speech for Hans Jenny’s Cymatics documentary in my introduction. This would be followed by dropping into an ambient, dub style track with an emphasis on the bass groove and subsequent Cymatic water patterns in motion. These are the only two planned elements of the show, with every other track following played on-the-fly as a standard DJ set, depending on the response from the audience presence. At time of writing I have completed around fifteen tracks, many of which were conceived with this show in mind and subsequently delve into dubbier and house territories, unlike my typical, techno musical output.