Livid Instruments has to be one of my favorite companies out there and I don’t even own one of their products yet. Livid is known for their controllers and software for DJing and VJing. They are the ones responsible for some of my favorite controllers out there: Ohm series, The Block, and the new Code. Their craft is unmatched in the controller department and create some of the best stuff out there hands down.
I’ve been rocking an APC40 for over a year now and have totally beaten it up. All the knob caps are slowly coming off and overall getting some serious tear with time. I’ve looked around for a better solution and it always seems to come back to Livid. After doing some research it’s obvious that they are who I’m going with next. The software and diversity that their controllers have is unmatched. Also the build quality is probably the best around especially if you are a traveling performer.
Right now I’d say if you’re looking to step your game up and do some serious sequencing or live setups the Livid controllers are probably what you have been looking for. I’m glad I started off with the APC40 and eventually added a launch pad but it’s time to evolve. There are endless amounts of options possible with these controllers.
Overall I’m a huge supporter of Livid and can’t wait to upgrade to their products. I highly recommend looking into the Ohm series if you’re comfortable with the APC40 already. Also if you’re thinking about building a monomer or use a launchpad check out the Block. The Code is also a very versatile product that almost anyone could figure out how to add to their set.
The last thing I’m going to say is that the Livid people understand what it is to be an artist and have a unique style and look so they are totally open to making a custom design for you. You can mix and match all sorts of enclosure options and led colors. Also if you’re the DIY type of person they sell their brain and addons so you can build your own custom controller with their rotaries and buttons. They make it so easy for anybody to get behind them.
Decided that last nights live mix should be online. There are some issues here and there since was hijacking my audio stream and sending it out to glitch.fm server but ohh well it’s all about sharing music with you. I had a real good time recording this mix. It showcases more of what I’ve been doing in live sets. There is more of a chill feel to this one but that’s sorta the mood I was in last night. Lately my live sets at clubs have been way more hype but this is the sorta stuff I’ve been listening to on my free time when just hanging out.
Expect anything when I’m playing out live though. The middle of the mix I just wasn’t feeling to progressive build I had started and brought it back down to how I was feeling. All I play really depends on how I’m feeling in the moment. I have no problem forcing drastic bpm changes. It’s always going to be about where I want to go.
Alright lately I’ve been hard at work trying to organize an event for this years WMC. All my free time goes to trying to get everything ready for this. Now that I have become a Glitch.fm DJ and now just waiting to have everything ready to go on air. I’ve been practicing and trying out new things.
Unfortunately my cue hasn’t been working. It will be sorted out but it hasn’t stopped me from recording stuff. Yeah its a bit dodgy but practice makes perfect. Not to mention if get use to mixing without cue and know my tracks that well, then wow I’ll be amazed.
I put together a Crunkkkk mix that was going to showcase to people what I’ve been up too lately. It’s not the usual dubstep stuff I play in my car or around house. This is straight hip hop + electronic beats. That’s the true definition of Crunk, well according to Wikipedia =P
Last night I recorded a straight Glitch set because I realized ehhh too much of Crunk doesn’t seem to work that well now that I went back and listen to it and other mixes. That made me realize well lets go back to the glitch stuff but more glitch hop instead of hardcore crunk.
I don’t really believe in tracklist for my own sets. I put so much time into going out and finding tunes that I feel you should have to really want it to find it. There is nothing like finding a track from a mix you enjoyed and getting the single. That’s why I release most my mixes in 128bit or 96bit. I like to play the whole track out most of the time and don’t need rips of just singles.
Hope you can dig some of this stuff. Feel free to let me know how you feel. Be nice… total newb over here and only been using Ableton and APC for about a month. Not to mention lots of these tracks weren’t even prepped.
All those who are wondering when my radio show is… It’s going to be every Monday 11pm-1am EST. I’ll be sure to remind you to tune in ;P
It has finally been unvieled to the world! The partnership of Ableton and Serato has produced something that looks to change the face of DJing all over again.
The Bridge is an updated version of Serato that integrates the session view that we’ve all come to know in Ableton into the Scratch Live interface. Launch clips and controlling them via decks or CJS. Also they’ve out done themselves with having it all work together and using many tricks that Ableton has for mixing. Sampling couldn’t have become easier either.
One great feature that I know I’m going to take advantage of is Play Hard(ware) where it allows you to hook additional hardware controllers like the new APC20, launch pad, or APC40. It will automatically change the Ableton layout to match your controller and have your clips run like regular tracks using Scratch or Itch. Truly the possibilities are endless.
Those of you who are into recording mixes and tweaking them up to sound perfect can also export recorded sets in Serato into an Ableton file. This lets you go back and edit or add anything into the mix.
The future is now and we are going to start to see DJs and Producers starting to share a common bridge. This to me is big because now a DJ who is use to conventional Scratch setup has oppertunity to finally pick up on Ableton and enter into production a lot smoother. This also gives a chance for producers to get a feel for using decks or CDJs in mixing with an environment they are familar with. Everyone wins here and only helps to push things further along.
Alright I’ve been quite busy planning a WMC Event for Miami Glitch with some help from Glitch.fm.
I hadn’t worked on APC for awhile and decided I needed some practice. I ended up getting my own stream the other night and did a 2hr set live. It went extremely well except I didn’t record it. It was my best yet also =(
Decided that I needed something to show a tad bit of what I’ve been doing it. It’s been almost a month since my last mix. Wanted to do something very similar to go back and see if progress has been made. Unfortunately my 30 day trial of Ableton just ran out so I couldn’t use CUE and was doing this mix solely off Master. I’m not entirely too proud of this but know it’s better than my first attempt. Like others said, only way is up from here.
Now that I have Ableton sorted out I can add all my new music and have CUE setup. I’m extremely excited to start my radio show. It will give me tons of practice plus keep me on my toes.
Feedback is welcomed. Have lots to learn still but it’s starting to come together. Making a lot less mistakes and trying to get use to doing this under the influence considering if I ever play out. Got to be ready for anything at any time.
I was asked awhile back by my amazing new friend, Adam aka Munkz, if I wanted to DJ a house party. It would have to be a glitch hop funk oriented set similar to Pretty Lights show we had recently been to. I Agreed.
Women are silly creatures and turns out party was a no go at their place. I let Adam know that I have no problem moving the event to my house. I’ve been working on this parties set for awhile and had tons of friends asking if they could attend this event. He said forsure and December 18th is my first small glitch event. I’ve been hard at work and in a matter of less than a month I’ve picked up Ableton and APC40. It’s going to be the start of something BIG!
The party is a few days away now and feel fairly comfortable and ready for this. Instead of recording a live mix for December I plan on recording my set at this party and releasing it as my December mix.
Get ready Miami I’m going to try my best to bring this glitch sound to the mainstream as much as I can. Makes me sad when I see the events that go on the other side of the States. Miami, I believe in you and hope you embrace this.
Expect a more IDM Glitch mix for January. December has been more oriented to the glitch-hop and going to start 2010 with more of a mellow IDM feel of glitch.
After I record this mix on Friday hopefully it’ll be the last piece of my resume for Glitch.FM. This might get me the radioshow I’ve always wanted and goal for 2009 reached.
I wanted to write an actual post. The past couple of months have been life changing. Mid 2009 I decided that I was going to follow one of my dreams of learning how to DJ. The past 2-3years of my life I spent too much time listening and finding music (dubstep) that it really took most of my energy. It even affected me at home because I was so obsessed. 2009 was a new beginning for me and things had to be rebuilt. I had so much emptiness that I needed to fill.
The thrill of finding new tracks and ordering the latest dub on record took on a whole new purpose. The music was all that could fill the void. All this energy transformed me into a whole new person. I would go out almost every night to catch every DJ set I could from locals and international DJs who spun dubstep.
It had been years since I had begun to party like this. Eventually I began to see familiar faces every night I went out. Facebook and MySpace are quite powerful tools and eventually started networking quite a bit. Kept my distance but would have a conversation here and there.
It really dawned upon me that all these years of following the music I was one of the few. It became apparent to me that the scene was now at its prime and getting ready to explode. The time was right and I had already invested so much time into the music that it only made sense to begin DJing.
Afro Monk
February 25th by Afro Monk 
Tags: APC40, Code, DIY Controllers, Launch Pad, Livid Instruments, Ohm, Ohm64, The Block, VJ
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