The Holiday Gear Wishlists of 10 Touring DJs + Producers

We’re at the end of the line when it comes to time to buy gifts for the holiday season. We thought it could be fun to hear from a number of real touring DJs and producers about what they’ve got on their holiday wishlists. Keep reading to see what these artists are craving this holiday season, it could be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Ummet Ozcan

Ummet Ozcan is a Dutch-Turkish artist once known for his productions and DJ sets in the big room house world, but he’s since moved to focus on more progressive pursuits. Check his recent release on Spotify. Here’s what’s on his holiday wishlist:

• Roland’s AIRA System-1: “For my productions I am always on the look out for fresh new sounds and this synth is equipped with the classic Roland oscilators which makes it a useful tool for sound design.”
• Pioneer DJ’s TORAIZ SP-16: “This Pioneer tool would come in handy to use as add-on gear in the booth. I would use it for extra samples or FX.”
• Roland’s TR-09: “Back to basics with this new but vintage drum machine based on the majestic TR909. The sounds of this classic have been very important in the early days of EDM. It must be great fun to play and make some cool drum loops with it.”

Danny Avila

Danny is a rising electro house and house producer from Spain, who has collaborated with Nervo and released on Spinnin’ Records. Listen to his most recent release here on Spotify.

• Output’s Exhale: “An insanely inspiring plugin by Output, which I could spend hours on using in the studio.”
• Pioneer DJ’s RMX-1000:  “Full on FX for my sets. It is so versatile to use during live sets. I never want to go without it.”
• NI’s Battery: “I’m completely in love with NI’s drum machine, Battery. I think there are few plugins out there, that will give you so much possibilities and are still so hands-on!”

Flash 89

Flash 89 is a rising Australian producer who has crafted a number of solid tracks and remixes – you might recognize this one of PNAU’s “Go Bang”; or check out his most recent Tattle Tail EP release.  Here’s what he’s hoping to add to his studio soon:

• Waves Bundle: “I already use a handful of the Waves plug ins on every production, particularly CLA vocals, Sound Pitcher and Rbass. They’re simple, easy to use but add a lot to the overall mix of a record. I’d love to get my hands on the WAVES bundle to add more dynamics to my mix and mastering.”
• Roland’s TB-03: “I’ve been writing records for a long time however I’m yet to dive into hardware in the studio. Writing house and techno on the 303 would be a great addition for that acid sound. What house producer wouldn’t want a 303?” Editor’s note – the 303 is long discontinued, but the TB-03, linked, is a pretty solid modern take on the same design. 
• Sonic Sounds’ Kick 2: “For me, the kick drum can make or break a record. Particularly if you want it to bang in the club or the groove to really get you moving. If I have a weak kick that doesn’t really lay the foundation for my mix I can quickly lose the vibe for an idea too. Kick 2 looks great and I’ve always been a big fan of the sonic academy team who have put it together.”

Leftwing:Kody

These two producers from the UK have been pumping out loads of tracks this year, with releases on Sola, Truesoul, Toolroom, Relief, and Desolat all in 2018. Here’s one of their most recent releases, produced as a collab with Todd Terry.

Here’s what these two have on their wishlist this year:

• Slate Raven: “This year it is kind of like a huge touch screen monitor you have in front of you where you can control all your faders/knobs and move around the arrange page easily. I’m really into hands on production and this get your hands off the mouse and into your project.”
• Beyerdynamic’s 1770 headphones: “A pair of Beyerdynamic 1770, I’ve heard great things about the low end on these headphones and as I usually work at night these look like a must have for me.”
• Sonarworks Reference 4: “This makes the most out of your current speaker setup and gives your room a truer response. It also does the same in headphones so can make mixing decisions on the road that you can trust.”

Godlands

Godlands is a recently signed Australian DJ who has just recently been signed to Dim Mak and toured her country, New Zealand, and Singapore. Listen to one of her tracks, “2 Clips” on Spotify – and then check out her gear wishlist below:

• Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 Synth: “Ever since seeing this pop up on swedish house mafia and Pharrel’s track ‘obe’ I’ve always wanted to play around with this synthesiser. It seems really fun and I reckon you could definitely get some super cool sounds coming from it. Plus, it’s super travel friendly which is always a bonus.”
• NI’s Maschine MK3: “Tbh this just looks like a lot of fun to play around with. I personally like to push myself in all directions when producing and live drumming or pad drumming is something that really interests me. I think it brings an organic feel to your production and it’s also really fun to do.”
• KORG Minilogue: “To own an analogue synthesiser would be a dream, I wouldn’t go past a korg. This mini analogue synthesiser could create some beautiful analogue sounds and would be an absolute delight to play around with.”

Teminite

Teminite is UK-based DJ and producer making drumstep and dubstep, and has just put out a new album in November, Uprising – free to listen on Soundcloud here. He’s ready to load up on Pioneer DJ items on his wishlist this year:

• Pioneer DJ’s HDJ-2000mk2 headphones: “I did some research and these headphones look incredible for both DJing and producing with. One of my favourite features is that they have a good amount of sound isolation, this is something I’ve always desired for a pair of headphones, particularly when I’m mixing in a club, or in a noisy environment. I also like the look of them because the ear pads are made of memory foam, and they look extremely comfortable to wear.”
• Pioneer DJ’s CDJ-2000NXS2: “These CDJs are always the ones I play on when I do a show. I’d love to get a pair of them so I can practice DJing on the exact same piece of kit that I’ll be performing with.”
• Pioneer DJ’s DJM-900NXS2: “This mixer is also normally the one I end up using on a show, I’d love to be able to practice on it to get more familiar with the various FX it features.”

Mauwe

Live downtempo pop duos might fall a bit outside of the “traditional” types of producers that we feature on DJTT, but we’re including this Bristol-based duo on the list all the same. If you’re unfamiliar, check out their recent release, Balcony Dreams, on Spotify. These types of acts often build some of the most interesting and fun live shows – as evidenced by their wishlist.

• 8+ output audio interface: “Given that so much of our music is electronic, we’re after a 8+ output audio interface to give FOH more control over different elements of our mix.”
• In-ears: “On top of that it’s always a little scary having to rely on a venue’s monitors (hello shared vocals AND music through one tiny speaker… behind us?!) so we’re looking for in-ear options for both of us and whoever joins us for performing on bigger shows.”
• Ableton Push controller: “Last but not least, an Ableton push controller would make our set that much less laptop-oriented visually. It’s always a fine line between pressing play and actually performing with a lot of electronic music, and we definitely want to be performing it as much as possible!”

LOSH & Senufo

This production collaborative duo have released a few solid tracks together this year, including a new one called In The Cut that’s well worth checking out. Here’s what’s Losh has on his list:

• Teenage Engineering’s OP-Z: “It is a fully portable 16-track synthesizer and sequencer, it would be amazing to have and play around with the different features it comes along to create innovative sounds.”
• Raven MTI2: “It displays your music production software on a multi touch computer screen and it is customisable to the users’ preferences. You can use this amazing gadget nust as if it was a real console with touch mixer, pans, sends and more. I would enjoy this one so much in my studio for how friendly it seems to control your DAW, plus it looks clean and elegant”
• Focal’s Clear Professional headphones: “They have an incredibly neat and balanced sound, just the perfect headphones to check your masters and mix your tracks. This one would definitely be a great investment for my productions.”

and here’s what Senufo has on their list:

• Kemper Guitar Amp: I’m mainly an in the box / soft synth kind of guy, but the Kemper Profiling Amp looks impressive. It can model pretty much any guitar amp and signal flow. I’d use it to re-amp everything from distorted basslines, keyboard patches, to vocals. I’m a guitarist, so having the ability to dial up any tone and then save the pre-sets for other sessions is paramount.
• Roland’s Boutique Synths: After working with the Roland Cloud for a scoring project, I caught the bug for some of the classic sounds that permeated the birth of electronic music. I’d love to get my hands on some of the Boutique reissues such as the TR-08 and TR-09 for those 808 & 909 drum tones. And I’ve been itching for 303, so the TB-03 would be amazing. But wait!! The JP-08 Jupiter-8 for those thick rave basslines and rich keyboard patches! And who doesn’t want to mess with a hardware vocoder (VP-330)?
• Sony C800GPAC mic:  I’ve been planning on working on a bunch of vocal tunes for 2019, and excellent vocals merit a great mic! This condenser microphone is WAAAAYYYY out of my budget, but if I’m going to dream big, then I’d love to have one of these in my recording arsenal. It employs a 6AUG vacuum tube which gives the microphone an amazingly warm sound. And anyone who’s anyone has used this on massive records. Although due to the cost ($9k), I’d be afraid some knucklehead would knock it over in my studio, and then I’d have to spend the rest of the session crying.

turtletheory

Cameron is a good friend of DJTT, occasional contributor (read his guide to recording a DJ mix and crowd noise), and is working on his first album as turtletheory, so I thought it would be awesome to include him here. He’s got a nice set of DJ/producer wishlist items to share:

• Soundtheory Gullfoss: “While a lot of plugins try to emulate vintage gear, this one embraces modern technology to intelligently bring out elements of your mix. Definitely a secret weapon on my mastering chain.”
• Traktor Kontrol D2 followup: “Though Pioneer’s CDJs are the club standard, I always try to keep things interesting by using a pair of D2s with HID control to jam on remix decks when playing out. Bummer that they’re now discontinued, but hoping to see NI release a similar standalone controller in 2019!”
• Devious Machines Texture: “An absolutely brilliant plugin that can do everything from add subtle character to a sound all the way to completely transforming it into something new. I use it on drums, melodies, and basses and it’s a total happy accident machine.”