Video killed the radio star (DJ)!

In the past, one of the ways I used to make extra cash was to DJ parties. It had been a while since I had done any DJ'ing, but thanks to my old DJ friends DJ Hans Batista and DJ Louis Ollino, I was again exposed to the DJ scene.

It started a few months ago when I went to Fat Tuesday and saw Hans who DJ's there every Thursday. He let me mix a few songs and I was in Heaven. The rush I felt from mixing in front of a crowd reminded me of just why I loved DJ'ing when I was younger. The people dancing and partying to your music is just an awesome feeling. Next, I had Louis come over and DJ one day for a small party I was having at my house and he was nice enough to leave his equipment for a week so I could play around with it. After that week I started thinking that I wanted to get some equipment of my own since my old equipment all went MIA.

I started researching, because I had seen a lot of DJ's using computer based systems and me being the techie that I am I wanted to get something computer based so I didn't have to be shuffling around any CD's or records. I started researching online and found a DJ controller from Numark called the Total Control. It had pretty good reviews and looked like it would do a good job of getting me computer DJ'ing. I played around with it for a couple of weeks and it worked well with the included Cue Le software. The more I played with it, the more it became apparent that I was wanting something more powerful. The jog wheels on the Total Control can scratch ok and are excellent for queuing and pitch bending, but I was looking for that old vinyl feeling. I started looking at CD decks, because I'd used the Pioneers at one point and they worked really well. I was also impressed with Hans' Denon 3500's as they have the real vinyl feel. There was only one problem with these CD decks, the price! These are both very expensive and considering that I'd need two of them I really didn't want to spend that much money. Then one day I was thinking and it came to me... Why spend so much money to buy a CD deck that emulates a turntable when I can just get real turntables? I'd always used Technics 1200's, but I'd heard that some of the other vendors have some really good turntables, that in many ways outperform the Technics at a lower price. I looked around and heard some good things about the Numark TTX's. I found some turntables at a good price and I went ahead and bought them.

When I first started using the Numarks I was amazed. These turntables are solid, and the motor is unstoppable. They have much more torque than the Technics and I could not make them skip (no matter how out of practice I was). In the end I was glad I went the turntable route and not the CD deck. I saved money and I have a better experience. The only drawbacks I have noticed is that they are turntables and in some situations, they are susceptible to feedback. Also, you have to remember to clean the needles often because too much dust can keep them from working properly. Still, these things are no big deal.

Getting back on the video theme, I had noticed the software had some video features. I had already upgraded to Virtual DJ (they make the Cue software for Numark), but my computer just wasn't able to handle the video very well. What I'd seen with the video so far was pretty cool so it was time to upgrade my computer. I upgraded the computer and "wow" this video stuff is incredible! My little project ended up being more than what I bargained for.

I've been using it now for a couple of months and have used it at a couple of parties (for friends) and each time the people just freak out and can't believe I am scratching videos with a vinyl turntable... Some people have asked me how I got the video on the record :).

So I'm thinking my project has gone pretty far and I'm very happy with my system, but what else can I do to really blow it out? Let's see, what if I could broadcast my video mixes live on the Internet? Considering I work at a web hosting company I figure it can't be that difficult to set up. I install some server applications and set up some html code and bam! I have my equipment broadcasting live. This is fun! I'd really like to set up an all music Internet TV station with live mixing and guest DJ's. I'm working on it, but in the meantime come back and you might catch me mixing or if not I'll just be playing some music videos.

DJ GI JOE