Gemini Sound Products is sponsoring the InternetDJ.com remix competition beginning on August 15th 2005. The winner will receive a prize pack from Gemini DJ including the brand new CFX-20 Professional Touch-Sensitive CD Player, a pair of DJX-1 headphones and a special “DJ Bag” with lots of swag from InternetDJ and Gemini. DJ/Producer Saeed Younan will contribute the source samples for his unreleased song “You Know I Got It.” Anyone who wishes to enter the contest has 30 days to download the core sound files, remix the track in a genre that is within their own personal expertise and upload it to a special area of InternetDJ.com. After the 30 days, the upload facility for the remix competition will be closed and the songs will be prepared for voting by InternetDJ.com members and visitors. The top three from the voting process are then delivered to Saeed Younan who will select the winner of his own volition.

A Dj got the Ax in Liverpool for simply taking his girlfriend home. They police think the grisly murder was racially motivated.

Two Dj’s in St Louis thought it would be a great idea to give tips on how to disarm and injure police. Interestingly local residents and the cops took offense and flooded the station with complaints. Not surprisingly they were fired shortly there after.

The most impacting DJ news of the week, a dj used a hammer to kill his girlfriend. The Dj then hung himself in their home in Spain. Its not known how long but the police guess that it was three to five days before they found the bodies.

Scratch Academy is a school for DJ’s in LA. The school is pretty intriguing on their online site. They go to great lengths to make the case that the school is justified by labeling the courses in the format of colleges and splashing the word career around. The names teaching the courses are top notch and the course work seems to make sense but to suggest to a young man or woman that it is a career choice seems irresponsible.

Have you ever sat around after a great party with your friends ? I know I have, worn out and tired discussing the nights events and things to come. Sometimes during those discussions we would talk about how cool it would be if Microsoft started up a website for dj’s. Man that would be awesome…

uhm ok back to reality.. it never crossed our minds.. microsoft.. music.. doesn’t really sound like something the maker of Windows and Internet Explorer would be interested in. Well it turns out they are interested.

Microsoft has started up a community site for “electronic artists” called Crossfader. The site is well designed and has a polished look that few sites for the dj community have had.

Crossfader has a message board that is broken up in two sections. The first a section is called “The Booth”. The Booth is geared towards the discussion of genres of music. It has a forum for the all the general electronic dance music genres and one for hip hop. The second section, called “The Knowledge”, is for technical discussion. In the section “The Knowledge” there are forums covering gear, performance tips, and promotion. The forums are not very active yet, but since the site is new that is understandable.

Also the site has some limited content in the form of writing and music. The writing was interesting but read more like a blog than a professional writing. The music was top notch offered in formats for Windows Media Player and regular mp3.

The question though is will a community of traditionally underground artists thrive on a corporate run site ? It is interesting that Microsoft would release a website in such an informal fashion. If they maintain the informal atmosphere the site might retain the trust of the dj’s.

So will Microsoft be at the Winter Music Conference next year with DJ’s ?

DJ’s sit down, I have some frightening news for you, Technics Turntables are going away.

In the future you will find them but they are going to be the exception and not the norm. Its not going to happen tommorow, or next year but it will happen before the end of the decade.

Why ? You gasp. Quite simple really they are a dieing technology.

There are three primary types of DJ’s that used them. The mobile dj, the mix dj, and the turntablist.

The Mobile DJ’s are primarily concerned with money and portability. For them there is little art or nostalgic pleasure in playing on such an antiquated piece of gear. That means the mobile DJ’s were the first to ditch it and made them the de facto pioneers in new technologies like video mixing, cd’s and now digital ( mp3 ) mixing.

The Turntablist is a specialist and wants to scratch only. There are newer instruments, the QFO mainly and the Stanton STR-8, that are better equipped to allow them to practice their art. The Technics while the first deck used by many turntablist is no longer the preferred table.

Finally the are mix DJ’s that love the Technics are the last holdouts but even they are starting to see the trend. With famous dj’s ( ie Sasha ) experimenting in new mediums it is only a matter of time until other dj’s follow this trend.

Even Technics creator admits the downfall of the equipment by beginning to search for the replacement to the venerable1200/1210 by experimenting with DVD turntables and other new technologies.

What do think will be the next generation ?
Think I am all wrong ( I’m not though ) ?

NPR covered a story about Ipods starting to replace DJ’s at weddings. The trend seems to have been ongoing for the last few years. As it gets easier for couples to replace the DJ with their own personal play lists with the Ipod will there be a future for the wedding DJ ?

Certainly there will be for the mobile DJ’s that offer a value addition service.

Double Edge Films produced a short film called Spin that is a must see for any DJ. I am unable to describe it with out giving it away but I found it very entertaining I hope you do to.

Unfortunately Double Edge Films doesn’t have much on their site describing whom they are so I can’t give you much of a background on them.

Evidence is mounting that vinyl as a useful DJ medium is going away. With the rise of DVD, CD, MP3, and IPOD dj setups more and more DJ’s are starting to experiment with the use of these new devices. The dj holdouts that are expected to last are turntablists which are very demanding of the amount and types of manipulations they can perform. Even they though are beginning to venture away from the traditional turntable into more specialized gear ( read the QFO ).

Despite arguments from many DJ’s test have shown that the audience can not tell the difference between digital and analog recorded sounds. Since DJing is a performance for the audience and not the DJ ( unless your a bedroom DJ no shame in that ) the DJ’s that perform without the hindrance of 60 pounds of vinyl and with the advantage of 10,000 songs in their ipod will begin to dominate.

The key to this next wave of DJ’s really taking over is taking the focus off of what the DJ is doing with his hands and redirecting it more on the music being played. The dj’s that figure this out will be the next top dj’s.

I have noticed two tactics in the release of pro audio equipment and promotions. The first tactic consists of sponsoring as many events that the company can. The thought being, if the corporate name is associated with the artists that it will help drive sales. The second tactic is the release of a never ending stream of improved products. The idea being musicians will rush to stock their studios with the latest gear.

I have a slight issue with the second track, which I refer to as the treadmill strategy. It relies on disinformation and uncertainty to work. Many times the instruments that they push in the new season are only marginally better than what they are intended to replace.

The moral is be sure that you do your research before replacing or buying your gear.

New Toneworks Signal Processor

Toneworks released a new signal processor using Korg technology at its heart. The processor uses knobs for its manipulation and offers a wide range of preset effects.

Roland Updates 16 Track Recorder

Roland released an updated version of its BOSS BR-1600CD 16 track recorder. The new features include increased base amp models, enhanced realtime vocal-pitch correction, and the ability to synchronize playback with another BR-1600CD.

Shure Launches Grammy Camp

Shure launched a camp for educating teenage musicians. The camp includes courses on the creative process and technical aspects of performing, recording and distribution.