iPhone 2.0 DJing

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Mr Awesomer
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iPhone 2.0 DJing

#1 Post by Mr Awesomer » Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:27 pm

This might rub some people the wrong way, but with today's more detailed information on iPhone 2.0, I got to thinking how awesome would this be:

DJ software designed for use with iPhone's touch screen.

Main out: headphone jack
Preview track: bluetooth headset

Two deck drag and drop song selection... touch screen mixer/sliders.

Limitations: Again with the screen size, and you'd be limited to 16gigs of music on hand (actually much less then that depending on what else you've got installed on your iPhone.)
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#2 Post by fredo » Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:25 pm

I suppose this would be a step up for the iPod deejays.

And any excuse to use a touch screen is a bonus.

Aside from on-the-fly deejay cameo's, I'm not sure if this type of set up is really a viable intermediary between the laptop and the iPod. I could see it as an iPod upgrade more than anything, should the software become available. The netbook thread starts to talk about an inbetween type of deejay setup, but without knowing the possible intentions of these portable deejay configurations it's hard to say what their value is.

Is there a list of situations where a laptop just wouldn't do? or would be overkill?

example:

-- band breaks
-- 1 hour slots at a late night (though I would still want my lappy) :wink:

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#3 Post by Surreal » Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:47 pm

fredo wrote:Is there a list of situations where a laptop just wouldn't do? or would be overkill?
It's nice being able to travel light. No laptop means one less bag, or I can shove everything into a backback without worrying about crushing my computer. Some airports are also picky about laptops and make you unpack everything and turn it on before letting you through (though I've never gone through with an ipod, so maybe they're picky about those too).

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#4 Post by GemZombie » Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:46 pm

I still want to get a small tablet-pc for DJing. It would be the ultimate DJ system.

I can't exactly say what about the iPod (and now iPhone) irritates me from a DJ point of view, but I know as it stands I wouldn't use it to DJ with.

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#5 Post by straycat » Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:03 am

GemZombie wrote:I still want to get a small tablet-pc for DJing. It would be the ultimate DJ system.
My dream is similar, but would involve a small tablet Mac. Which, according to very strong rumor, may well be arriving this year...

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#6 Post by lipi » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:36 am

straycat wrote: My dream is similar, but would involve a small tablet Mac. Which, according to very strong rumor, may well be arriving this year...
the newton is back!

i wouldn't count on it. it has been the favourite rumour for the past ten or so years. it's not any more believable this year.

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#7 Post by straycat » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:50 am

lipi wrote:
straycat wrote: My dream is similar, but would involve a small tablet Mac. Which, according to very strong rumor, may well be arriving this year...
the newton is back!

i wouldn't count on it. it has been the favourite rumour for the past ten or so years. it's not any more believable this year.
Hmm. I'm not so much thinking of a PDA - besides, that's really what the iPod Touch / iPhone is more than half-way to becoming.

Yes - the rumors could be false... but they're especially convincing this year - and the whole multi-touch thing is certainly making people look at touchscreens in a new light. Personally, I'd put money on them coming out with something along tablet lines within the next year or so.

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#8 Post by zzzzoom » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:40 am

I just got a free 8 GB iPod Touch (purchased a new MacBook and they gave me one 8) ) and I'm trying to decide whether to keep it or put it up on eBay.

Obviously, all my music wouldn't fit on it . . . and I have searched YouTube, etc to see what the music interface looks like (don't want to open the box until I decide if I'm going to keep it or sell it).

Does anyone have one of these things? I'm pretty sure bpm won't be displayed, etc . . .

Advice, anyone?

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#9 Post by straycat » Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:23 am

zzzzoom wrote: Advice, anyone?
Might be worth hanging on to. It's early days, but with things like this coming out for the touch, I'd say we're likely to see some suitable DJ tools being built for the touch / iPhone series. Could be wishful thinking, but I'm inclined to be optimistic.

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#10 Post by straycat » Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:14 am

Well - a couple of weeks ago, I succumbed to the lure of the iPhone - and I'm absolutely loving it.

Today, we had a gig where the organisers supplied the sound system... which steadfastly refused to play most of my CDs. Hadn't brought the laptop, as there was no power available (outdoor gig). Luckily, I was able to plug in my iPhone, and to my surprise, it proved an excellent tool for DJing. If it could have displayed BPM it would've been better, but at least I had my CDs as reference.... but track selection was a breeze, building up a playlist was nice and easy, and it was simple to drop in and out of that playlist as I felt like.

OK - so previewing is out of the question, but I only needed about four hours of music, and it was for a chiefly non-dancing crowd, so I could stick with the familiar stuff. Oh - and aircraft mode is a must. It can interfere with speakers from a much longer distance than my old phone ever could...

Obviously I'd still rather use a laptop, but as a backup device that fits in a pocket, the iPhone worked like a charm.

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#11 Post by Mr Awesomer » Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:48 am

straycat wrote:Oh - and aircraft mode is a must. It can interfere with speakers from a much longer distance than my old phone ever could...
haha... plus you wouldn't want to get a call mid song.

While not entirely DJing off the iPhone, I'm curious to try using the "Remote" application to control song selection while in various other locations of a venue.
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#12 Post by dogpossum » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:03 pm

Mr Awesomer wrote:
straycat wrote:Oh - and aircraft mode is a must. It can interfere with speakers from a much longer distance than my old phone ever could...
haha... plus you wouldn't want to get a call mid song.

While not entirely DJing off the iPhone, I'm curious to try using the "Remote" application to control song selection while in various other locations of a venue.

There's a DJ here in Sydney who uses his iphone for DJing during class - he uses it as a remote for his (mac) laptop I think... (I'm not really sure exactly how it works...). It's pretty cool stuff. He also uses it on its own for music in classes.

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#13 Post by straycat » Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:04 am

dogpossum wrote:There's a DJ here in Sydney who uses his iphone for DJing during class - he uses it as a remote for his (mac) laptop I think... (I'm not really sure exactly how it works...). It's pretty cool stuff. He also uses it on its own for music in classes.
There's a freebie 'Remote' application which one can download and use to control iTunes on your laptop from the phone. I have it, but have yet to play with it - I'll probably give it a go next Monday.

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#14 Post by straycat » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:11 am

dogpossum wrote:There's a DJ here in Sydney who uses his iphone for DJing during class - he uses it as a remote for his (mac) laptop I think... (I'm not really sure exactly how it works...). It's pretty cool stuff. He also uses it on its own for music in classes.
OK - had a play with this yesterday, and I'm very much impressed! They've not been content with making a straightforward remote - you use the iPod interface to browse through your iTunes library as if the music were all on the iPhone - the only difference is that when you hit play, it plays from the laptop. I'm so going to start using this next week...

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#15 Post by DJ Click Play » Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:22 pm

The Simplify app is an interesting twist as well. Play songs from iTunes over the internet *through* your iPhone. Works even on 3G as well as WiFi.

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