iPod DJing is still very new to the world of DJing, and certainly the potential of using an iPod for DJing hasn’t been fully explored by DJs most people still see the iPod as an MP3 player, but when you consider an iPod is a small ’simple’ computer then you can begin to see why a device as small and portable as an iPod could be a real asset for DJing, point to note, the Pacemaker is the next step in iPod DJing, and whilst its great, its expensive and a totally different machine, this is really about exploring the iPod as a product range and its function in DJing.
Capabilities: the iPod can play, fast forward, rewind and pause music, as you would expect from any music or MP3 player. The jog wheel is fantastic and one of the control features that sets the iPod apart from other MP3 music players. The iPod software and computer software iTunes are both also very strong in their offering, certainly from a Programming and set planning perspective, and really for any iPod DJ, this is the key focus, after all the iPod isn’t a DJ tool, not, at least, in its current state. Another key strength of the software and one that supports the art of programming a DJ set is the ability to create playlists.
Limitations: The iPod whilst being fantastic with heaps of storage, is first and foremost an MP3 music player, so to Dj on an iPod requires a degree of playing around and working around these limitations, hopefully these will get addressed as the appeal and attraction of DJing grows and a big enough market devlops for DJing on an iPod to justify Apple making a DJ compatible DJ iPod. Another iPod limitation is that there is only one output, so there’s no way to use your headphones to adjust your track whilst another is playing out, for DJing this also a bit of a downer. But lets be realistic, the iPod is an MP3 player, in the same way that a CD player, cassette player or Turntable are music players, basically, despite all their functionality, the iPod is a player, and to use it for DJing, you need to give it some leeway.
Benefits: DJing with an iPod has massive advantages, for one, you can you entire DJ music collection in your pocket, its also fantastic for DJing on the go, and for mobile DJs, its a great backup, saving you space and the curse of the DJ back (backpain from carrying vinyl), if you add to this that DJing on an iPod is still in its infancy, and really the full potential of DJing on an iPod is still being developed, you’ll be ahead of the game. On top of all this, as the iPod is digital, it means you can broadcast your music quickly and easily accross the web and with certain iPod accessories, you can record sounds and music to your iPod, and potentially use them in set literally straight away. All this means that despite some serious limitations, there are solutions to over come them, and the full potential of DJing on an iPod is still yet to come.
Now there are two ways to approach iPod DJing, depending on your budget and how flexible or innovative you want to be. 1. if you have some budget, the easiest and most conventional way to get into iPod DJing, is to get an iPod DJ unit, you can find units like the Cortex Dmix-300 for pretty good prices, and these iPod DJ units are literally like DJing with two decks and a mixer, with jog wheels that control each channel from a single iPod. alternatively 2. you can get two iPods, setup the music with the BPM format mentioned here and get a mixer, if your looking for portability you could look at a micro mixer.
Essentially, DJing on an iPod is fantastic fun, it allows you just as much if not more flexibility as any other form of DJing and allows you to carry your entire collection of music in a unit the size of a cigarette box.
The software for an iPod essentially organizes your music, however if you plan on DJing music on your iPod, you’ll need to consider the limitations and features of iTunes and the iPod and use these to your advantage. Good organization helps when you DJ. Lucky for you here is a decent solution for anyone looking to DJ with an iPod.
First, before moving any further there is one key aspect that needs to be considered: an iPod and the iPod software doesn’t yet allow you as a DJ to alter the pitch on its own, whilst there is DJ equipment that allows you to alter pitch, the iPod itself and iTunes doesn’t currently have a feature to do this, after all this would requre the software to edit the structure of the track. there is however a slight work around, we’ll look at that later.
To organize music on an iPod, you need to look at iTunes. An iPod, stores music naturally in groups, these are as follows:
Artists
Albums
Songs
Genres
Composers
(and podcasts and audiobooks, but we won’t need this)
If you are using the iPod to play music, then usually using the Album group is fine. Now, for the organization.
You can get tools that help you to identify the BPM (Beats per minute) of tracks, these include: beatunes for iTunes on Mac and this manual application, there are loads out there. now once every single track you have has BPM, you want to create Playlists in iTunes, the easiest way to do this is to use the Smart Playlist set the limit range, ie the BPM, now the groups in the playlist section of your iPod contain tracks by BPM.
Next, if you wish to setup other playlists on your iPod, you want to make sure they are allocated a number, by labeling the BPM related playlists as BPM 130, and your normal playlists as 1. xyz when you search through playlists on your iPod you’ll find the BPM playlists grouped together.
With in the playlist, iTunes allows you to dictate the order of your tracks, this is a great opportunity to think about how to order your tracks.
With this your iPod, now allows you to select playlists based on BPM, album, song, artist, and genre. when you are organizing your music, make sure that you enter this information into iTunes.
The iPod was invented launched in 2001 October by Apple. Whilst there were alternative MP3s and music was available online, what the iPod achieved was a success in branding and marketing experience. Essentially the iPod was the turning point in music, allowing whole libraries of music to be contained in a single pocket sized device. The iPod is essentially a mini computer, not to dissimilar to early computers, at the same time the iPod was launched Apple launched iTunes, a software that manages and plays back MP3 music.
As the technology evolved the iPod has gotten smaller and more flexible, paving way for opportunities to DJ and use the iPod as a DJ tool and DJ device that is far more flexible and easy to learn than conventional DJ equipment. As DJing become more and accessible, more and more people are keen to learn how to DJ with out having to spend a fortune on DJ equipment or spend ages having to learn how to use DJ equipment, making the iPod and DJ equipment for the iPod an ideal entry point and starting point for those looking to learn how to DJ.
The Pacemaker is fantastic, really the DJs iPod, essentially you’re taking an iPod, throwing in two channels a cross fader and a touch pad, with the additional controls on the Pacemaker, it makes the iPod look a little plain. The Pacemaker is the worlds first portable DJing device.
The Pacemaker is about the size of a PSP2, with a 120 GB hard drive, a full colour screen, head phone and speaker out puts, and a touch sensative cross fader and track pad. Its designed for DJing in mind and a lot of though has clearly been put in to the finish and working mechanics (you get that same iPod feel for the Pacemaker), in addition the Pacemaker comes with free DJing software that can be installed and used for DJing as well.
Whilst the iPod is fantastic and flexible, it does need additional equpment to allow you to Dj with it, whether this is as simple as an iPod micro mixer or as complex as the Cortex D-mix, the very fact that the iPod is an MP3 player and not a Mixer is what sets the Pacemaker apart from the iPod, and considering your looking at a DJ product that costs £500, if you travel a lot or if you’re looking for an MP3 DJ solution where you can use the same tunes you had on your iPod to mix with without having additional gear, then the Pacemaker is a fantastic alternative for iPod DJs, and really proves where things are going to progress in terms of iPod DJing and DJ equipment and technology. Check out the Pacemaker here.
So whats under the hood of the Pacemaker that sets itself apart for an iPod, and why as a DJ would you value this beyond an iPod? Lets have a closer look at the detail, with the Pacemaker, you can mix virtually anywhere, with two outputs, you can cue up a track whilst a live one is playing out, further to this, you can beatmatch, this was one feature that has always been a challenge for DJs DJing with iPods, and adjusting the Pitch of the music is one of the key parts of being able to DJ, the Pacemaker solves this for the iPod, you can also adjust the equalization of the high, mid and low ranges of the music of each channel, and add a variety of effects, additionally you have a cue button and the ability to temporarily store loops. Add to this that, like, the iPod the Pacemaker has its own software, one key difference is that in addition to allowing you to play back your music on the Pacemaker editor, it allows you to mix your own mixes…looks like this could be the one MP3 player that the iPod can’t live up to.
