Technology and New Music
This past week, I spent some time learning more about digital music solutions. For example, iPods. No, I don't have one yet. Although an associate of mine described them as 'toys'. Numark has a new product out - an iPod mixer with two docking stations. I suppose that I like the idea of being able to bring an extra 3,000 songs to a party without lugging the boxes of CDs, particularly for the rarities.
I also took a look at the Traktor Digital DJ version 3 software. That seems like a great creative tool, particularly for home mixed projects. Version 3 is $279. Version 1, which seems powerful in its own right, is $60.
Then, regarding music storage, I have been updating my massive Excel spreadsheet set up as a database. I think it is time to replace this with an off-the-shelf software solution. I found a great program called CATTrax. I'm evaluating the demo version now. Version 7, the latest, is $40 - which is quite affordable (http://www.fnprg.com/catraxx/catraxx.html). The thing that I like about this program is that you can sync any CD to the global music database and instantly get the song and artist information without having to manually download it. Music Magic, an application that I saw advertised in Mobile Beat magazine, looks powerful as well, but is priced over $100 (http://www.musicmagic4u.com). It was designed by the father of a mobile DJ.
Some music purchases over the past week or two:
* Risky Business - Film Soundtrack
* Heartbeat - Ryuichi Sakamoto
* So Many Men, So Little Time - Miquel Brown
* Some Cities - The Doves
* Parliament Gold - Parliament
* Pure Funk, volume 2
* The Best of the Temptations - vol. 1, the 60s
* Fantastic Voyage (the Greatest Hits) - Coolio
DJ Sebastian Marquez, a new friend/associate who I met through Craig's List (http://www.craigslist.org) was generous enough to provide me with a compilation disc of salsa/Latin favorites so that I'll be better enabled to respond to the inevitable question from partygoers ("could you play some salsa music?"). The compilation features songs by Celia Cruz, Tony Vega, Son Boricua, Tito Nieves, Oscar De Leon, El Gran Combo and more!
I also took a look at the Traktor Digital DJ version 3 software. That seems like a great creative tool, particularly for home mixed projects. Version 3 is $279. Version 1, which seems powerful in its own right, is $60.
Then, regarding music storage, I have been updating my massive Excel spreadsheet set up as a database. I think it is time to replace this with an off-the-shelf software solution. I found a great program called CATTrax. I'm evaluating the demo version now. Version 7, the latest, is $40 - which is quite affordable (http://www.fnprg.com/catraxx/catraxx.html). The thing that I like about this program is that you can sync any CD to the global music database and instantly get the song and artist information without having to manually download it. Music Magic, an application that I saw advertised in Mobile Beat magazine, looks powerful as well, but is priced over $100 (http://www.musicmagic4u.com). It was designed by the father of a mobile DJ.
Some music purchases over the past week or two:
* Risky Business - Film Soundtrack
* Heartbeat - Ryuichi Sakamoto
* So Many Men, So Little Time - Miquel Brown
* Some Cities - The Doves
* Parliament Gold - Parliament
* Pure Funk, volume 2
* The Best of the Temptations - vol. 1, the 60s
* Fantastic Voyage (the Greatest Hits) - Coolio
DJ Sebastian Marquez, a new friend/associate who I met through Craig's List (http://www.craigslist.org) was generous enough to provide me with a compilation disc of salsa/Latin favorites so that I'll be better enabled to respond to the inevitable question from partygoers ("could you play some salsa music?"). The compilation features songs by Celia Cruz, Tony Vega, Son Boricua, Tito Nieves, Oscar De Leon, El Gran Combo and more!
posted by Gregg_AmbientDJ at 9:21 PM
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