Needle dropping is a hot topic that is showing up in both software and hardware, since everybody wants to scrub trough their tracks.

A nice battle between the Akai APC 40 and the Xone:4D as MIDI controllers for Ableton Live. It was today DJ House Container VS. OverSoft in a House Acapella session. We both did a little bit of preparation for a nice Ableton Live set and off we went.

Ableton and Novation have announced the next controller for Ableton Live, the Novation Launchpad. I’m surprised that they are going this fast since it was just a couple of months ago that the AKAI APC 40 controller was released. I can image that people might have bought the AKAI and now are wondering if they wouldn’t have been better off with the Novation Launchpad which seems to be less expensive.

As of today my mashups and mixes are available on SoundCloud. This community site makes it very easy for both composers and listeners to exchange music.

The acapella of the month October goes to Class Action – Weekend. While I was looking up more information about Class Action as band I was surprised how little there is available on the internet. There very small, one time only, success was in the Netherlands and not bigger then an alarm notation on April 23, 1983.

Pioneer has just announced their new product, the Pioneer CDJ-2000. It looks great and I already love some of its key features without even having seen them in action.

Why the Dutch rule the DJ scene? Maybe it’s because Crown Princess Maxima knows how to DJ, together with Armin van Buuren.

Today I stumbled on a link to a website about DJ Notation. A method that allows DJs to describe the composition of a song to enabled DJs to make better mix transitions.

-(0:23)=(0:46)#(6:12)\(6:48)–>

While new interview videos are released regarding the new next generation Pioneer CDJ the product starts to become a little bit more clear. A nice Photoshop made by elokuuta should give a rough idea of what to expect.

Exterior and Looks

The AKAI APC 40 gave me a nice first impression. It is a little bit bigger then expected, especially when I’m sitting behind it but does look well-ordered. I do wonder if there is a 19 inch rack mount possibility for it, didn’t find one during a quick search. Don’t think much people would be interested in it, but since it can be used for more then just controlling Ableton Live, you might want it to fit into a 19 inch setup.
The housing is from some hard PVC and should survive all the gigs when used normal. In the end it are the faders and encoders that are vulnerable.