The Milkcrate

Pacemaker update: sitting on the fence

Posted By: Shagz
Date:

Been meaning to drop an update recently, but you know, it's summer, things are busy. :) I gotta do a summary post real soon, mainly to properly announce on the site that I've started teaching at the Off Centre DJ School (!!!) but right now...

So, some more info on the Pacemaker got dropped recently, including some photos and some video.

As you can see in the photo above...well...I dunno, is that djing? Can you even tell who the dj is? (hint: she's not a guy) There's hardly any gear, you've got a small little cell phone-sized device that you're touching and tweaking with your fingers, you're surrounded by people watching you, trying to figure out what you're doing...ok, that last one isn't necessarily anything out of ordinary, but without any gear in front of you to give you a little space, people can get right up close, for better or for worse.

Plain and simple, I think the performance aspect is missing. The convenience is undeniably attractive - you could totally be a "mobile" dj in the true sense of the word now, setting up in a park or empty lot with a minimal amount of gear and packing up in seconds. The built-in effects sound pretty good, the interface could potentially rock my socks (hit the site and check out the Demos link, bottom left; it looks like they have some kind of "gesture recognition" for doing certain things) and it's just so damn cool and gadgety...but what are you sacrificing in order to get there?

Then again, how much more am I really doing behind the decks than what this dj is doing? Having your head down in your crates or your laptop isn't much different than having your head down over a gadget, perhaps.

I dunno...there's just something not right about it. Vinyl and turntables are part of the visual iconography of djing, I like to think people expect to see that, see the dj cuing something up, spinning it back, scratching it in, etc. And yet...I can't help but want one. :P

To get to the bottom of this, I think I'm going to have to start asking around, talking to YOU, dear reader/listener, and finding out what you think.

Is it generational? Are the youth of today, comfortable as they are with small portable gadgets like iPods and cellphones, going to find it rather easy to make the logical leap to a dj using devices like this? Do they even really care, so long as the dj is rocking the floor?

Tell me something people, what do you think?

Your Comments

DJ is the new Photoshop
Posted by: Mike Classic on

The iPhone is out.
This device is out.

How long before the two devices find a meeting point?
And how long after that will there be hot-shots doing a 360º Turn-table showcase on the dance floor. Throwing shapes while dropping platters for flare and pizazz.

At the moment, from an uneducated view onto the medium, it looks like it would be either a niche party trick to have one. Or, it'll be a more mobile and unique addition to your already impressive stack of gear.

Perhaps tie it in with some web two-oh apps and txt your MC shout outs onto a FlashMob dance party.

mke sm noyz!!1

Getting Physical
Posted by: Mike Classic on

Secondly,
On the point of the appearance of the speactacle: the DJ doing his/her work by madly octopussing your arms into deep milk-crates of abstract and eclectic vinyl is part of the show. Unless you can sexy it up, I think seeing someone thumb-typing away on a cell phone (by all outword appearances) would lessen the experience.

The DJ is supposed to be a cyborg, half-human/half-machine auralmancer beast; lofted above the dancers. A blur of tentacle arms mixing and mashing sounds on top of a technological cyber-punk chopping block. Electronic dreamscapes and deep rich funk groaning from the belly of this beast. It's exposed spine of RC jacs, mic cords, and hazardously daisy-chained extension cords give it life.

It's a spectacle to behold! The sharp beats and high snare of a rare kraut-rock punk band from the 80, railroaded by a deep soul rhythm harmony bootlegged and brought to life again. That sort of sound can only come from dark ,distant mythical hydra saddled by a DJ so insane as to tame this creation for his or her own.

Do you want all of that or would your prefer an almost 19 year old flicking through Fergie and Aphex twin on her T-Mobile. All the time getting SMS suggestions asking for more Freebird.

Where would you party?

The Freshness
Posted by: -C- on

Yeah, I saw this and wondered where it could be leading us. Interesting stuff indeed.

Now I heart my 1210s and my vinyl, I love spinning records, I love the sleeves the smell, the taste... errr..

I really think tho, that it's the music that matters. Any kind of showing-off-physical DJ performance (other than turntabalism, which requires that kind of a performance) has always left me cold.
For me the perfect party is where the DJ booth's in the corner of the room, with the DJ at the same level as the rest of the party. The DJ's part of the party, as they should be, rather than some pseudostar DJ pedestal nonsense that was concocted by overpaid pilled-up big-heads some time around the mid 90s.
The more we can get away from that and bring DJing back to what it should be (rocking the party), the better.

So I say bring it on, DJing's not moved on much since I started out 19 years ago. Lets get some freshness happening.

Rocking the party should be device independent. Yea, that's a really good point...
Posted by: Shagz on

"Rocking the party should be device independent."

Very well said!! In a debate I had over digital vs. analog djing, what we eventually arrived at is that the only people who care about these kinds of things are other djs. The dancers just want you to rock the party, and they don't care what you're using to do it.

And I agree with your point about the dj being "down with the people" so to speak. A DJ is nothing without the dancers, and the dancers need the beats; in other words, a dj is never bigger than his audience.

However...as I said before, vinyl is still an important piece of the visual iconography of djing, or at least the turntable is, and I don't think we'll ever *quite* get away from that. Turntablists certainly won't. Club DJs will be able to perform without it I think, but the turntable will always be part of the language, part of the design.

I've been using Serato for a year now (and I've been meaning to make a post about it for at least as long), and I have to say I really love the convenience of just having the decks, mixer and laptop. It's really opened things up creatively for me, having all that music available to me at a moments notice.

Pacemaker will only increase that convenience, but we'll have to see about those controls. I'm still a little worried about the size of the thing. I like sliders and knobs. ;)

Thanks for stopping by and posting! Pacemaker
Posted by: Dirty Tim on

Yo Shagz,

The Pacemaker is a part of the future. It's the power of what a human want and can create. Remember that in the beginning we had none, just land, hills, trees, bushes, seas and rivers. From kitchen utensils to driving vehicles all these things will never stop from stepping into new levels...NEVER.

At some point the CD decks will be as outdated as some people think turntables are. Look at it 500 years from now, The future: our children's children's children's children, want it easier faster shorter more minimalistic.

I think that before 3000 DJs are just mixing with a chip behind their ears with which they can visualize the turntable screen in front of their face and do the work to ROCK THE PARTY.

I wish I could witness that...

Peace,

Dirty Tim

Welcome to 2008, The Future is running.

Pacemaker update: sitting on the fence

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