I’ve been dj’ing for a while now and I’ve seen some crazy mixers or other outlandish gear but I’ve always managed to make them do what I want them to do. Until this Friday. I hate to admit it but I lost a battle with the maddest mixer I’d ever seen. The Behringer Digital Pro Mixer DDM 4000. This piece of electronica is without doubt designed by a an evil nerd, with a big fetish for buttons with light in them, who has been bullied by dj’s in school and wants to get back at them.

You must know that most dj’s are not that bright on the technical front. You might think there’s a contradiction in that, but there’s not. Dj’s are primarily music lovers and take the technical side of their job as a necessary evil. I know dj’s who have problems connecting the decks to the mixer, for example. The ideal mixer for a dj is simple and reveals what it does and how to do it at the first glance. That’s why Rodec and Pioneer mixers are so popular. It’s hard to not understand them.

But this particular mixer is the complete opposite of all that. For starters, it has buttons everywhere, most of them with names that leave you oblivious about their use. And they all got a light build in. The mixer is so shiny you don’t need extra lights in the room. Which is the only possible good thing I can say about this piece of gear. On top of that it’s a digital mixer with a little LCD-screen offering you plenty of options to choose. Which is a big mistake. We don’t need “flexibility” you can program through controllers which each have multiple options assigned to them.

When Behringer proudly state that it’s “jam-packed with creative tools, yet its intuitive layout will let you feel at home in an instant. Editing, storing and recalling your settings is simply a breeze!” they talking out of their ass. The first thing that springs to mind when discover you need to mix with it is “where the hell is the manual”. Not a good thing at 1am after you had a few beers. It took me 20 minutes to find how I could get sound through my headphones. One of the more elementary features of a mixer I would think.

I’m not going in further detail about the hassle we had with it but after a while it became funny. We managed to get some sound out of it and we settled for that. We didn’t even try to use the effects. Reducing it to the most basic mixer you can think of. One with 2 faders and little to nothing more. Which is a bit sad if you see it bragging with all the lights and stuff.

Apart from that we had a good time. Once you’re able to play some music, most of the frustration is forgotten and you make the best of it.

Any club owners in Belgium interested in a decent sound ? If so, check this.

Thanks to Kris for the link.

In the entire Digital Download evolution, like Qtrax aiming to make everything free and gathering income through adverts and you giving up a lot of privacy, there’s only one site I’m really feeling. Not that I’ve checked them all but this one feels correct at first sight. I’m talking about Ithinkmusic. What makes it so special is that it brings together a lot of decent independent labels and provides them the possibility to create a shop of their own and sell their music through that. Or like they say:

“Ithinkmusic enables a community of independent record labels, artists and retailers to create and sell a catalogue of music to the public. This community can manage and display content online, network between buyers, sellers, and creators of music, as well as manage revenues from the sale of digital music files.

Ithinkmusic provides its user base a complete solution for the distribution and merchandising of digital music online. The user base includes professional and amateur artists and labels, as well as their fans, customers who buy music and their friends. Ithinkmusic creates an interactive network of musicians, fans, and music stores that ties each of them together using the same application to make online record stores that sell digital content.”

This is all great, no doubt, but it would be worth nothing if the music stinks. But luckily it doesn’t. With labels and artists like Restless Soul, Freestyle, Sick Trumpet, Wah Wah 45 and alike the quality is solid. So if you buy Digital take a look at this site first. It’s not as big nor complete as some others but you’re supporting the artists and labels more.

This weekend you can visit the Sound & Music Expo at Thurn & Taxis in Brussels. Something new. Looks interesting and if I get up reasonably well tomorrow around noon, I’ll visit it. There’s a festival too but, to be honest, that’s as plain as most festivals in this country are. More info here.

That Kicksnare.be is a place to check regularly has been told on this Blog before. But I want to give extra attention to my favourite section of the site. Where they visit a producer’s studio and talk about the gear he uses. Brilliant and very interesting. Last addition to the series, Jerboa, is an absolute bliss to read. Very nice work, keep ‘em coming. For those of you who that can’t read a word in Dutch, this site is a reason to learn the language.

The Wickywacky dancemachine aka Kris send me this. Don’t really know what this site in Japanese is all about but it has a lot of pictures of vintage soundsystems placed in common livingrooms. It certainly proves there are some mad Japanese on the loose.

I need to go to Japan.

Had the pleasure to twist knobs on this baby, last 2 parties I played. Going Joe Claussell with the music. If you ask what it is ? Well it’s basically the same as the EQ’ing on your mixer but a zillion times more powerful and clear. It’s what the big boys use. Like most Detroit and NYC house dj’s.

It looks like it is simple but it’s actually custom made by some French dudes called Jérome Barbé and DJ Deep. Check their site. It’s top notch when it comes to EQ’ing like their mixers are top notch when it comes to rotary mixing. Mind, the isolator costs as much as a decent high end mixer. But we know 2 DJ’s from around the way who got one and which whom we shared decks these last 2 weekends. Thanks for letting us play with it.

Damn addictive though. Like I said, went Joe Claussell on it sometimes. Which means: overdid it a bit. But is so much fun and some songs are made for knobtwiddling.  

Stumbled upon this site about homerecording (sorry, only in Dutch). Great source of info on the subject. As well technically as legally. Check it out.

Further on the subject. What software / hardware do you use to record mixtapes? And to edit mixes or songs?

Both Disco Dalglish and myself are planning on buying a new mixer for home-use. On top of that JH Eenders where all Onda Sonora events take place needs a new mixer. We do have an idea of what we want but it’s always nice to hear other opinions. Which mixer do you prefer and why.

Oh, and please leave the corny “A Moulinex” jokes behind.

To go on about the Brussels Sucks issue. Record Shops. Since we lost Music Mania we’re in the desert when it comes to new stuff. Our Second Hand shops, they’re allright but far from super. I like Lost in Music Records a lot and can dig United Music and Kozmic. Most others are overpriced and not all that funky. Know better addresses to find the goods elsewhere for reasonable prices.

For new vinyl Brussels is hopeless. You can find some funky things at Lost in Music or United but the choice is rather limited. Music Man, Doctor Vinyl and others are mainly selling the music I try to avoid. I actually buy more records in Amsterdam (Rush Hour still the greatest, ace service) and Paris (just discovered 12” Records and lovin’ it) than in Brussels nowadays. Still they all got their gaps in the selection they offer. Filling those with orders at Juno, Vinyl Junkies (although I’m not that exited about their service) and HHV.

Where do you buy your records? And does the choice satisfy your needs ?