NI recently posted some excellent controllerism videos including the one above which features Dj Rafik combining cue point juggles with scratching in a remix routine of Chemical Brother’s “Block Rockin Beats”. For its execution and style alone, the video is worth a view but we want to take it a step further by showing you how to perform the routine yourself and provide the original MP3’s for Traktor Pro.
THE GOODS
To try your hand at this routine your going to need a few things:
- 2 Channel Dj mixer or all in one controller like the VCI-100
- Traktor Pro
- a 4 X 4 grid controller like the Machine or Midi-Fighter
- This Block Rockin Beats mp3 with Cue points for T Pro
- Any break beat in the 127 range- He is using a custom edit of Pon De Floor
- Any controller with a few knobs and faders.
- A mapping for a 16 button controller with the following layout. (machine and midi-fighter TSI forthcoming)
SET-UP
Rafik is using a custom edit of block rockin beats but you can accomplish basically the same thing with the original. Your going to speed up the track to match a break beat as shown above. Engage key lock and pitch up the key of the track to match pon de floor. (approx + 4.5 as shown above)
Part one 0:00-0:17
In the first 20 seconds both tracks are freely playing (sample-play, not sample-hold) but only the first note of each cue point should be heard. Use the buttons on your grid controller to jump between the different notes in time with the beat (only the bass line is sampled here). Work in the crossfader on your mixer to control how much sustain each note has. This will allow you to tighten the timing and allow for some negative space between the notes. In the final 2 counts trigger the famous “block rockin beats” vocal sample and cut the cross fader full right so the beat is temporarily silenced.
Controllerist TIP- When you first start learning this routine, slow down both tracks to 90 bpms or lower. Try to figure out the exact order of the notes at this tempo and perfect your timing before moving to a higher bpm.
Part two 0:14-0:30
Now he jumps into a straight sample re-triggering without the crossfader. In this section you will alternate between the bassline and drum samples free time, which can be quite challenging to keep in time. Once again, it helps to slow everything down while you learn the routine.
Controllerist Tip: Using two hands will allow you to drum faster between 2 samples. developing all 4 fingers to an equal speed for multi sample playing is the best way but this can take years to get down.
Part three 0:31-0:45
This section allows the full sample to play out and uses a single super knob mapped to 2 FX, a gater and beat-masher, to cut up the sequence. The trick here is that the beatmasher is being turned off by triggering the cue points. The length knob then turns the masher back on when touched, creating a single action in the best sounding range. While clever, this mapping is not terribly realistic in a club setting on a controller that will be used for purposes other than a single performance.
Controllerist Tip: For infinitely more expressive knobs map the beat masher as a direct control and the gater as a relative control so there is variance in how they interact. Map one knob to all 4 controls shown above in yellow. Vary the relative strengths between them for maximum wackiness.
Part two 0:45-end
There are 2 custom pieces of prep here that will help you pull off this routine. Much like the beatmasher/off trick these shortcuts enable Rafik to move through the sections without thinking too much about settings.
- do a custom edit of block rockin beats and add your own scratch samples to the end so they can be quickly accessed while scratching.
- store cue points 5 at the down beat of this scratch phrase. Map that cue point to a button near your FX knob and close to the turnable.
While I certainly know my way around a controller, we cant really help explain the scratching part of this performance. For that you may want to visit the guru of scratching, Mr. Qbert himself.
INTERVIEW WITH RAFIK
How long did you practice to develop the juggle routine?
it wasn’t more than 15 minutes for composing and execution. That might sound very quick, but I already had the song chopped up for my dj sets before (All bass notes and a single kick/snare) and it was very intuitive frome there on. Sometimes the best results are very simple. The scratching part and adding the hihat took more planning, it seems a bit ironic maybe.
The second video with the Soulwax Remix of MGMT and the vocal – that one took me a lot longer because i found it quite challenging to use two songs as “sample banks” at the same time and seperate the sounds and pads in my head. First I had the music bit, I later added the Vocal, so there was a bit of an evolution for that one.
Do you think that controllerism and turntablism will combine into one larger performance group in the future?
Not into one group, but I can imagine this: Let’s say turntablism is one martial art, controllerism another one: Some people will eventually end up practicing mixed martial arts. Beware of those dudes! 😉
I personally value vinyl culture a lot, it would be in my interest to keep it alive. But at the same time I can’t close my eyes to these incredible possibilities we have to be creative with the digital realm. I love experimentating in a zone where I am at least not sure if anyone has ever been there before. However, I really think controllerism and Turntablism are two very different things, each of them in it’s place.
I made these videos in an extreme fashion as a demo to what can be done with an incredible tool like TSP but when I play out, it is primarily about the selection, scratching is a bonus, the controller is a bonus, both extremely powerful.
My honest opinion is that it would also not benefit an event like the DMC world championships to include controllers. I have seen the efforts that were made (since 2003) and I feel it did not work out – explaining this would take too long i guess. Like I said, everything in it’s place.
I hope the focus for ‘controllerism’ will not be on going harder faster better stronger all the time, at least in the big picture. I don’t really want to put things in boxes, but for now I feel like a turntable is still the guitar (no matter if you scratch or ‘just’ play music), the instrument, and the digital world is the effects-kickboard that you may or may not use to enhance your performance.
Speaking for myself, I see both turntablism and controllers as two seperate passions that can both enhance one’s performance as a DJ, because a DJ is what I am in the first place.
Thanks to NI and Rafik for the good videos!
