I’m a bedroom DJ, but I truly prefer to be in a desert dome rather than in my bed when playing a gig. With plenty of happy people shaking their butts on the dancefloor. My equipment is really basic (sort of), but I will let you know with updates to this page whenever I update or add more gear (or inspirations).
First of all, the music.
I mostly play music files that I regularly pay for and download from several sources, but mostly from iTunes. I also frequent import music to iTunes from my CD collection. I buy music also at other online stores such as Beatport and eMusic. Sometimes I share files with my friends, like swapping an album or two, so we can both enjoy great music. I think it’s still fair to the music industry, due to the amount of money I spent on buying music since I was 16 and that I keep spending nowadays, which has exponentially increased since then… =)
Then the people.
I play better sets when I perform live with people around, versus playing in my bedroom (note: I actually play in my living room). The happiest the people, the groovier the sound I come out with. It just happens, so come dance when I play. And try to make your best to be happy and noisy. It really helps a lot to make the music come alive.
Add a soul (tormented, please).
From techno to ambient to dub, I’m always trying to give a psychedelic twist to the tracks I’m playing. It just give me more pleasure when playing, and I prefer a “dirty” sound to a plain, metronomic beat, even if it’s killer track. I love white noise, and all the twisted sounds that make my soul dance.
Now on to the laptop gear.
Here comes the geeky part. Not really. I’m playing using an happy hippie laptop covered with flowers. It (she) looks shy and mellow, but I can assure you that she is a true road warrior, and she’s coming with me absolutely everywhere in the four corner of the planet. She is a 13″ Apple MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.11.x on a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Not really a top machine (a more powerful machine with a larger screen would work better with the DJ software), but she’s powerful enough for what I need.
DJ Software.
My DJ software of choice, after trying many PC and Mac DJ softwares, and mostly after a revelation at the Nowhere festival, where I put my hands on it for the first time in 2009, is the mighty Traktor Pro 2 software. I use a regularly licensed copy by Native Instruments, always updated at its latest release. Traktor feels just like a natural extension of me, and I developed a pretty deep attachment to the software.
I also use Wavepad as audio editing software for extra post production on studio mixes, and to convert the sets in .mp3 versions to share them online. The editor doesn’t have a fancy interface but it’s easy to use, the license was cheap, and it gets the job done. The average audio file I generate is set to generate 44,100 Hz sample rate, 256 Kbps audio bit rate files – good enough quality for an mp3.
Where would I go without my Kontrollers?
Introducing my precious Traktor Kontrol S4, freshly released at the time when I started the blog (November 2010). The Traktor Kontrol S4 really took my sound to another level and changed the way I play music – it also changed my home as I had to create a decent and accessible space to make room for it in my small apartment. My brand new TKS4 also gave me the inspiration for starting recording my mixdecks and sharing them through this blog. I also use Traktor Kontrol F1 when I play using Remix Decks, but sometimes I can play just out of my laptop via an audio card, of course always from Native Instruments, the Traktor Audio 2.
Traktor is for mixing, Ableton for production.
I started working with Ableton Live just recently, which I’m controlling with an Akai APC 40 MKII machine, and it’s a lot of fun! After a few classes with an Ableton certified professional trainer, I went on my own with the tons of tutorials you can find on the web. I still don’t have a full control of both software and hardware, but it’s coming, it’s coming… I do have a few tracks “under construction”, so just be patient, they will be released as soon as I’m happy with them, hopefully soon.
Headphones.
I have several headphones, according to what I need them for – indoor djing, outdoord djing, studio production or just listening to music on the go. I used to be loyal to JVC headphones for a while, but over the last few years I have been using mostly Sennheiser headphones, which are pretty much a standard for many DJs and producers.
WordPress and DIVI, of course.
Thank you also to the WordPress blogging platform, so friendly and flexible also thanks to the mighty WordPress developers community who daily come out with new exciting plugins and applications that make this blog work better! One for all, the Elegant Theme crew who created DIVI, the most flexible WordPress theme ever, which I have been using for the last few years on several websites. The first release of this blog was actually “mounted” on Origin, always from Elegant Themes – but as soon as I discovered DIVI, I got completely hooked.
And the social web.
The social web is the prime channel for the distribution of my music, since I still don’t have a deal with any label, at least for now. All my mix goes on my MixCloud account, my remixes and productions are posted on my SoundCloud profile, and I use Google Drive to host all my downloadable mp3 files. The social web is also a big source of inspiration for me and it’s great that we now have all these resources – I just wish I had it at reach… back in the day!
I hope you enjoy my music.
What are you still doing wasting time on this page? Go enjoy some of my music! Listen, dance, download and share!
