The world of DJ equipment evolves every day. As usual, this change is met with a mixture of excitement and skepticism. When CDJs became the mainstream choice for club DJs, turntablists shuddered at the thought. Then came MP3s, Serato, Traktor, MIDI controllers, Auto Sync and Beatmatching – with each iteration the schism between who was considered a “real” DJ and an impostor became larger. Removing the need for finesse and skill led to a slew of young DJs entering the scene. Traditionalists considered these new comers talentless. While it is no secret that it takes less actual skill to mix tracks now, removing the need for a DJ to micromanage tracks allows for a greater level of creativity. Cue point juggling, controllerism, live sampling and looping all would not be possible (or certainly not as commonplace) if DJs were still using Technics.
Enter Smithson Martin’s Emulator, the first touch screen MIDI controller. This revolutionary piece of technology for DJs and producers melds midi-based software and touch-screen hardware with stunning results. Is it a gimmick or the next step in the evolution of DJing?
Emulator is ‘the world’s first and only fully customizable, multi-touch software for professional DJs and music producers.’ It is the flagship development of Smithson Martin, a yet unknown software company specializing in DJ technology. The tech is absolutely gorgeous, its functionality, however, seems suspect. As a DJ, tactile response and accuracy is a huge part of the experience, and anyone with an iPhone knows that accuracy is not the forte of a touch screen device.
Until we see this in action and use it for ourselves it’s impossible to make a solid judgment. It is novel, and definitely ambitious – but does it have a place in the DJ world? Only time will tell.
deadmau5 used something very similar (possibly this but redesigned by himself) at earl’s court
I don’t buy it. I think I’d rather stick with timecoded devices and controllers.
emulators will be the next big thing once they start getting made specifically for this purpose. you can already buy an emulator and hook it into your computer and use traktor with it so its not like you can’t already do this.
this is the easy way out of djing it looks like virtualdj pro on a piece of glass.
Yea nick, you’re right. I saw him use (what I thought was this exact thing) at earl’s.
i could be wrong but i think ive seen videos of Deadmau5 using something like this.