So the white sheet has been pulled back, and American Audio’s monster MIDI controlling VMS4 has been laid bare. This 4 deck beauty blends analog and digital in one slight oversized box as well as a heap of other goodies too.
The video gives the best overview in one bitesized 2 minute chunk, but most interesting is the emergence of a new version of Traktor. I’m guessing that a new 4 deck version of Traktor LE is coming, but still seems to be in the stages of delicate negotiation right now so no info is available. But the rest of this unit is out in the open, and it’s quite some piece of kit.
Tom says $499(usd) in the video, but the official web page says $699. I’m sure this mixup will be sorted soon, hopefully in the favour of the lower price tag.
Thanks again to the crew at DJTECHTOOLS.COM 51 Comments
Over the years we have managed to crank out a surprising number of Traktor FX tutorials, many of which teach fundamental FX tricks that can be used with any controller or software. NI recently asked me to film a few of my favorites for the release of the new X1 controller. We were happy to oblige, and all 4 FX tutorials, along with a comprehensive list of our other FX video tutorials, can be viewed after the break.
PART 1- UPGRADE YOUR BEAT MASHER
PART 2- FREEZE TRANSITION
PART 3- LOOP SYNTH
PART 4- JUGGLE SAMPLE
ADDITIONAL WATCHING
Here are a few of the other Traktor FX tutorials we have posted over the past few years:
As some of you may know, online writers are required to disclose if companies in their articles provided any free equipment or money to them. NI paid me (Ean) as an artist to create some cool FX videos that show off Traktor Pro and the X1. DJ Tech Tools did not get paid in any way to post them on this site – and never takes any money from manufacturers to post articles. We are not promoting or endorsing the products used in these videos, but feel the information contained within might be helpful to all of our readers. Our main interest is in creating a community of really talented DJs; the equipment that you use to get there is totally up you!
M-Audio Torq 1.5 introduced Tempo Anchors, its method for reining in songs that fluctuate in tempo. Inconsistencies in tempo can occur for a number of reasons, but Tempo Anchors may come in particularly handy for live recordings, older songs that weren’t recorded to a click track or complex tracks for which the Torq software can’t precisely detect the beat.
SYNC OR SWIM
If a song’s tempo fluctuates or Torq has trouble analyzing the tempo, then it will be more difficult to sync that song to others. Also, sometimes corrupted digital audio files will be cause a song to go out of sync or glitch because Torq will skip over a small portion of the song and then keep going. In those cases, Tempo Anchors may also help. See the video to learn how to set Tempo Anchors, which are saved in a song’s TQD file that Torq creates, so you don’t have to repeat the process more than once for a song.
A couple of things to remember about tempo anchors:
• If Torq’s automatic BPM is really far off the mark, play the song and use the Tap Tempo function by clicking in the BPM display box to get the tempo close before dropping tempo anchors.
• Always set them up before your gig — not during your gig — unless you really like to live dangerously.
• You don’t have to go crazy with them. If the auto BPM detection got pretty close to the mark, in many cases tempo fluctuations are minor, and you won’t need to drop a Tempo Anchor on every several downbeats. Often, a few tempo anchors can go a long way toward straightening out your tracks.
The need for tempo anchors serves as another example of why you can’t let yourself get lazy as a digital DJ. Software tempo analysis is still far from perfect, and if you assume that the analyzed BPM on your screen is correct before testing it, you could be embarrassed during your gig. The more preparation you put in before performing — including setting Tempo Anchors, the more fun both you and your audience will have. -Markkus Rovito
