warrensomebody
This isn't so much a feature request, as a whole new product suggestion. I really love VDJ's beat matching ability, and think it's the best out there. But it seems to me that once that aspect of dj'ing is "taken care of" it frees up the dj to get a lot more creative.
What I would like to see is a completely different kind of user interface to the VDJ engine underneath. I make a lot of mix CDs with Sonic Foundry's Acid Pro, and would really like to have a several aspects of Acid for live mixing. In particular:
- Acid allows the user to pre-calculate the BPM and downbeat points, and store this with the track. This is actually quite tedious with Acid, and VDJ's beat matching algorithm could be used to come up with an initial guess that's right most of the time. The user could then take this initial guess, and adjust the downbeat point and store it back out with the track (so you don't have to do it while you're mixing live).
- Acid allows the user to display each track in a separate row on a timeline. However, I would rather have a row per "turntable" since for long mixes, the track list tends to cascade diagonally down the screen. In addition, I would like to have more than 2 turntables -- basically one for each thing I want to play simultaneously.
Perhaps the best way to think about this product idea is that VDJ shows the mix graphically streaming by at the top -- the red and green waveforms for the 2 turntables superimposed. I would like to be able to scroll around that display -- basically look into the future -- and make adjustments before they're played. If we can make it easy to snap beats to a grid and slide tracks around on a timeline, then the dj is free to make many more changes than they could "under the playback head."
What this product would have that Acid doesn't have:
- a separate master playback head, and monitor playback head. Master playback would travel from left to right, playing whatever's on its path on the turntables. The monitor playback head could be easily positioned and started by the mouse to allow the dj to hear what they're cueing up in the mix.
- automatic time-stretching of tracks to match the master BPM. Throwing a track on a turntable would stretch or shrink it to the BPM grid for that part of the mix. Then the dj can slide it around to get it cued at the right point. What I'd really like is the ability to grab a point in one track and lock it to a point in another track -- and then grab and lock later points on that tracks to specify how it fits to the first (i.e. stretching by mouse-drag).
- master BPM track. I would like to be able to vary the master BPM of the mix as if it were a separate track. I.e. I should be able to put down two tracks at different points along the timeline, and then specify when and how to increase the BPM grid spacing to transition from one speed to the other over time.
- effects parameters could also be displayed in the timeline. Actually effects (like filters) could be applied to the master playback head (in real-time), or in advance to the monitor head. Twiddling a knob could show the value of that parameter superimposed over the track in the same way that Acid displays the volume envelope superimposed over the track's waveform. The user could then manipulate this curve with the mouse to get it just right, or to do things that couldn't be done in real-time.
Just some ideas. Let me know if you'd like more detail or explanation, and/or whether you'd like to mix this way. I know that laying track in front of an oncoming train isn't usually what djs are all about, but hey, if it allows us to be more creative, then I'm all for it!
Warren
What I would like to see is a completely different kind of user interface to the VDJ engine underneath. I make a lot of mix CDs with Sonic Foundry's Acid Pro, and would really like to have a several aspects of Acid for live mixing. In particular:
- Acid allows the user to pre-calculate the BPM and downbeat points, and store this with the track. This is actually quite tedious with Acid, and VDJ's beat matching algorithm could be used to come up with an initial guess that's right most of the time. The user could then take this initial guess, and adjust the downbeat point and store it back out with the track (so you don't have to do it while you're mixing live).
- Acid allows the user to display each track in a separate row on a timeline. However, I would rather have a row per "turntable" since for long mixes, the track list tends to cascade diagonally down the screen. In addition, I would like to have more than 2 turntables -- basically one for each thing I want to play simultaneously.
Perhaps the best way to think about this product idea is that VDJ shows the mix graphically streaming by at the top -- the red and green waveforms for the 2 turntables superimposed. I would like to be able to scroll around that display -- basically look into the future -- and make adjustments before they're played. If we can make it easy to snap beats to a grid and slide tracks around on a timeline, then the dj is free to make many more changes than they could "under the playback head."
What this product would have that Acid doesn't have:
- a separate master playback head, and monitor playback head. Master playback would travel from left to right, playing whatever's on its path on the turntables. The monitor playback head could be easily positioned and started by the mouse to allow the dj to hear what they're cueing up in the mix.
- automatic time-stretching of tracks to match the master BPM. Throwing a track on a turntable would stretch or shrink it to the BPM grid for that part of the mix. Then the dj can slide it around to get it cued at the right point. What I'd really like is the ability to grab a point in one track and lock it to a point in another track -- and then grab and lock later points on that tracks to specify how it fits to the first (i.e. stretching by mouse-drag).
- master BPM track. I would like to be able to vary the master BPM of the mix as if it were a separate track. I.e. I should be able to put down two tracks at different points along the timeline, and then specify when and how to increase the BPM grid spacing to transition from one speed to the other over time.
- effects parameters could also be displayed in the timeline. Actually effects (like filters) could be applied to the master playback head (in real-time), or in advance to the monitor head. Twiddling a knob could show the value of that parameter superimposed over the track in the same way that Acid displays the volume envelope superimposed over the track's waveform. The user could then manipulate this curve with the mouse to get it just right, or to do things that couldn't be done in real-time.
Just some ideas. Let me know if you'd like more detail or explanation, and/or whether you'd like to mix this way. I know that laying track in front of an oncoming train isn't usually what djs are all about, but hey, if it allows us to be more creative, then I'm all for it!
Warren
Posté Fri 10 Oct 03 @ 9:32 pm
Fruit
Do you know MixMeister 5 ??
Posté Fri 10 Oct 03 @ 10:25 pm
warrensomebody
No, but I'll check it out. Thanks!
Posté Sat 11 Oct 03 @ 12:01 am
cypress
Id buy it for sure
Posté Tue 04 Nov 03 @ 5:22 am
Fruit
Thanks for feedback.
FRUiT94
FRUiT94
Posté Tue 04 Nov 03 @ 9:01 am