Get ready for a brand new type of Serato Face! Serato has just launched a brand new remote control app, entitled Serato Remote. iPad owners can link their device to their laptop running Serato Scratch Live or Serato DJ, allowing easy access to effects control, SP6-sampler functions, library navigation, cue points, and more. Read on for a demo, feature list, and our first thoughts on the app.
SERATO REMOTE IN ACTION
SERATO REMOTE OVERVIEW
Available for download in the iTunes App Store right now, the app does err on the expensive side – matching Traktor DJ’s price (when it’s not free) – at $19.99. For this type of complete control, it could be a great investment for many Serato DJs who simple want to move away from staring into their laptop screen.
Serato’s video team does a pretty good job of showing off all of the features in the app in their demo video, but we’ve combined a trimmed-down version of their press release and some screenshots below for a simple summary of how each of the key features work:
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Serato Remote's FX Tab (click to enlarge) Effects Control: The FX performance tab gives you an easier and more creative way of controlling Scratch Live or Serato DJ FX. Select your favorite FX and control them in either latched or temp modes. Trigger Loop Rolls and FX simultaneously using our new Roll Mode. Combine all of your favorite FX into an easy to manage list using the Edit Fav FX function. This gives you quick access to the FX you use most often during your set. The QFX function available in the Virtual Deck area allows you to quickly manipulate FX while using the Pads or Sampler tabs.
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Deck Displays + Minimized Cuepoints (click to enlarge) Cue Points: Trigger or delete Cue Points with the tap of a finger. Serato Remote lets you control 5 Cue Points in Scratch Live and 8 Cue points in Serato DJ. Use big easy to hit buttons to control them on the fly.
- Virtual Deck Displays: Serato Remote gives you two separate view modes for the Virtual Deck area on your iPad. Select between either Virtual Deck View for displaying BPM, Time Elapsed/Remaining, Platter Position and Track Progress Indicators, or use Track Info View to see Artist and Track information. The app also provides a Waveform Overview area to show the current playback position, as well as any cue points or loops.
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SP6 Sampler Tab (click to enlarge) SP-6 Control: In the Sampler performance tab, the 4 banks of 6 sample slots are easily accessed in either Virtual Deck or Extended Mode. Adjust the volume and playback of each sample individually or use the Master Sampler Volume. Trigger, Hold and On/Off Playback Modes are available for each sample slot along with Loop. Serato DJ also allows you to Sync your samples.
- Auto Loops, Manual Loops and Loop Rolls: The Pads performance tab gives you control of your Auto Loops and Loop Rolls in the Virtual Deck View and in Extended View you can also access Manual Loops and Samples.
- Instant Doubles: With the flick of a finger you can drag and drop one virtual deck onto the other to perform Instant Doubles on your iPad.
- Library Navigation: Your Serato software library on your laptop is controlled by the Library Nav icon in the centre of the two virtual decks. Use the up and down arrows to navigate your tracks and TAB to crates, files or folders and touch and drag to either virtual deck to load. Holding down the arrow takes you into fast scroll view where a two-finger drag loads tracks.
A few interesting things to note about the video:
- The iPad stand with the Serato Remote logo – could this very well be a Serato product coming soon? Nice cable management!
- Notice the Pioneer DJM-900 very prominently featured at the center of this setup – another sign of Rane and Serato moving apart?
- Anyone else feel like the background of the video feels all too familiar?
- The video description notes that the iPad is connected via USB for low latency – we’ll have to test the app to see what type of latency it has over a wireless connection.
SERATO SCRATCH LIVE + SERATO DJ UPDATES
Serato is really packing a number of new announcements into this one press release – both of their apps have also received a brand new version, which primarily allows pairing with Serato Remote, but also includes a number of new features.
Scratch Live 2.5 Updates:
- Pioneer DJM-2000Nexus plug+play support
- MIDI Out LED Lighting – learn more on this Serato blog post
- Numerous bugfixes!
Serato DJ 1.2.1 Updates:
- Support for Numark N4 + Vestax Typhoon controllers
- Stability improvements + bugfixes!
Both of the new versions also come with free content from Loopmasters, designed to be used with the SP-6 sampler in each app – including some 808 drum hits, simple loops, and a few sweeps and builds.
Had a chance to download Serato Remote yet? Let us know your experiences in the comments!
[…] Navigation is limited to just a few basic screens that seem to mirror a lot of what you see on the Serato Remote iPad app. It was pretty impressive that there was very little lag in loading in track waveforms and […]
[…] Navigation is limited to just a few basic screens that seem to mirror a lot of what you see on the Serato Remote iPad app. It was pretty impressive that there was very little lag in loading in track waveforms and […]
[…] and music library navigation. It’s not unlike if Numark had taken Serato DJ’s iPad app, Serato Remote, and put the best features right into a DJ […]
[…] music library navigation. It’s not unlike if Numark had taken Serato DJ’s iPad app, Serato Remote, and put the best features right into a DJ […]
Hej Everyone,
I just bought a small tablet (Lazer or something like that) and I would like to know if it would work to connect my DDJ-SX to the Tablet and not use a Laptop anymore!
Does anybody know the iPad stand he’s using in the video? I really like how it fits behind the mixer and has a hole for the cables.
i like the part when he used the turntable effect, even tho he was using turntables -__- lol
i feel like this is the direction NI should have taken — making the ipad seamlessly control a whole section of the UI. I feel like Traktors remix decks could use this treatment .. but that would fuck thier remix hardware… whoops.
As for the question “Why not use TouchOSC?”, the advantage Serato Remote has is access to certain kinds of bidirectional communication.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think any of these things are user-accessible as output control data right now:
– Track Name/Artist
– Track Time/Current Position
– Overview Waveform with Cue Points Display
– Effects Preset Names
– Track Specific Cue Point Positions
Not only are these things included in Serato Remote, but they are all integrated in an extremely elegant way, with no need for debugging or for a middleware of any kind. $20 seems like a steal to me, and I’ve done controller mapping to a pretty extreme degree before.
rs
as a big time NI user, serato sucks. serato is for local club djs.
I’m really not going to take the time to address that comment since the list of world class DJ’s who use Serato is well known and out there for anyone to see. However, as someone who has provided sound equipment in the DC area for lots of top flight visiting DJ’s, I can tell you that CDJ-2000 or Technics 1200 and SL-3/DJM-900 or Rane mixers are almost ALWAYS on their riders. I have never once seen a Traktor S4 on a top flight DJ’s rider.
However, the reason I will be a Serato devotee for a long time is because of Rane products. I have a 15-18 year old Rane mixer I still use regularly for some live sound purposes. I bought it 10+ years used with no hesitation whatsoever. The chances of some Chinese-made (or wherever) Traktor S2 lasting that long (fully functional) I would ballpark around 1/500.
So it looking more an d more like i need an ipad….
Its great looking app does everything you need as usual Serato seem to be offering watertight integration rather than possible flaky open end version… They have covered all the bases and although a serato dj app for prepping etc would be nice there are lots of other apps which can do that.
I have traktor dj downloaded on my girlfriends ipad and aside from having to use her music selection the app has some odd ideas of where it starts tracks from even if you use cue points etc. If i was a pro traktor user i would have preferred to see something like this.
For me alone the efx integration is worth the money…
now to save for an ipad.
This looks really sweet, gonna have to be used by guys who are able to beat match with their ears, cuz I don’t think they have parallel wave forms (I know a “travesty” right lol).
Just wish there was traktor app like this, because all the shift layers they have with their current hardware is simply too confusing, something that changes the entire screen on a layout would be awesome (but I know they make wayyyy to much money with revision after revision of their hardware to make a traktor remote)
love how TNGHT made it as the intro track.
Can’t stand the Traktor bias of this website. Gotta be for the people.
19.99 is expensive? You’re basically getting the best possible add-on midi controller for Serato DJ and Scratch Live. It’s like an X1 and F1 and Dicers and Midi Fighter and all other modular type add on controllers. It does exactly what anyone using Serato DJ or SSL would need it to do.
It’s like all of those things, except you’re not getting any hardware. It actually requires a rather expensive piece of hardware, and iPad 2 or newer. As other commenters have pointed out, all of this has been pretty much possible using TouchOSC and other hardware.
TouchOSC is $5. Check out one such mapping here: https://maps.djtechtools.com/mappings/817
I really hate that argument.. oh but your not getting hardware. Someone who has an ipad and doesn’t want to spend $175 on a Midi Fighter Spectra, for example, shouldn’t complain about $19.99 for something that may make your job/life easier. I have TouchOSC and the Lemur for ipad app and enjoy both very much but at the same time i enjoy things that are easy to set up and there’s something about using a product designed by the company said software is designed to control. Sort of like only buying Traktor branded products to control Traktor Pro i guess.
Plus i strongly believe that anyone who uses TouchOSC is the type of person who wants to have things a very specific way and will continue to use TouchOSC. This is for everyone else.
well said, I like to DJ, not map obsessive compulsive lil crap and for days cough cough cough cough
All i ever hear midimap nerd DJ’s talkabout is their sick mapping (that they sniped on a forum)
While the rest of the world talks of sick remixs and tunes well played. I prefer the latter
Is the latency on TouchOSC improved? Last time I used it it was quite noticeable, from what I gather the remote app works a bit tighter across the connection.
I don’t understand how browsing through your library with your ipad and using the touch screen is any different from browsing the library while looking at your laptop and using the touchpad…same same but different if you ask me. For some reason the photos aren’t enlarging, would love to see those. Thanks for the article DJTT.
Serato still hasn’t released the update for Twitch users and that’s really irking me now. Instead, Serato has produced another promise one thing, deliver another. The Bridge for Itch never happened and now I find out that instead of working on SeratoDJ for my controller (originally promised by Winter 2013), I see that Serato threw its hat into the tablet game with a very crude interface, way too late. Maybe they only have a few people working on the software, but the project director needs to be fired. Serato isn’t focusing on what they do best, they’re showing that they’re playing catch-up with the rest of the world.
If I understand it correctly, I have to look at both screens to see which track I’m loading, if I want to use the Remote’s browse controls?
Also, if I want to find a track by name (that’s personally what I do 99% of the time) I have to go back to the computer?
It looks neat, don’t get me wrong, but I’m having trouble seeing what I gain, in real terms, over something like a Dicer. I’m still having to refer frequently back to the laptop to get the definitive answer on a lot of status questions, just now I’d have one more screen to carry around, set up, and stare at.
rs
No iphone app- that sucks
I don’t understand their targeting at all. Why wouldn’t you just get Lemur or TouchOSC and roll your own?
Have you ever worked with lemur? Lemur is also 49.99. This is specifically targeted toward the ssl users. Hents why it’s called serato remote. Just like mapping for traktor controllerist this is a mapping with a brand for serato users.
I’ve been doing this with TouchOSC for years. http://youtu.be/Qttlbkft8WE
Interesting to see a completely different approach to NI being taken by Serato… I’ve done a walkthrough/first-look video, hope some of you might find it useful.
That’s just great but I don’t have an Ipad, I have a (nervous) Twitch. When is Serato releasing an update for the now unusable Itch? What about the Bridge?? What does “late summer/fall” even mean? Autumn in NZ? That’s like next year
Twitch will eventually get use of Serato DJ. The Bridge is dead.
unusable Itch? Still seems to work just fine on my Twitch…
looks like there is no track info (title artist) anywhere on the screen witch means there is no way to use it unless you are infront of you computer. library scrolling also means being infront of the computer. So it’s not a cure for the Serato face 😀
But it looks like a good added controller for Serato Live and those Serato DJ controllers that are missing some futures because of hardware limitations.
Serato didn’t need this as nice as it is, its a shame to see their dev effort go to this at the expense of other more imporant things.
What they need is an app for setting beatgrids and cues etc, for non quant music it takes time to stretch the grids. This would be well suited to an ipad app.
Also what about fixing the software so that it doesn’t crash with big libraries
And likewise yet more waiting for them to finish releasing all the controllers for SDJ, helooooooo Twitch? VCI300?
I couldn’t agree more. There is a third party app for this though now: livecue.co.uk
What is the first song called?
tnght – higher ground
I was kind of against the app when I saw it in the newsletter, but now that video just blew me away.
This is what I wished Traktor DJ would have been 🙁
I think there’s a good chance that NI may follow with something like this…
Don’t think traktor would ever make a remote app… they make way too much money on their hardware (X1, Z1, F1, etc).
This would eat away so much at profits, and people would never have to buy MK2s (or whatever the next version) of their hardware, since it could be fixed with a simple (free) software update… yea not sure they are gonna go that route, unless they absolutely have to
Yes, unfortunately this will be no option for NI…
I appreciate what you are saying, but I think there is more to it than that:
1. Touch Control surfaces are not a full replacement for tactile controllers. They are best used when visual feedback is needed (e.g. Track names, named cue points, waveforms). They are rubbish for knob/fader adjustments in real time.
2. Serato now has a feature they can tout over traktor.
3. With volume, gross margins on software can be very high.
4. A “cheap” control option via ipad could be a gateway to the traktor system and might drive more hardware sales in the future.
5. Ipad control of traktor is out in the wild anyway (lemur,touchosc), but NI are in a position to make an integrated app which sinks the competition and puts them top of the hill. This might also be relatively straightforward given the success/experience/resources they have acquired during development of Traktor DJ.
Fascinating – on Facebook I’m seeing comments that are direct opposite of this, along the lines of: “Needs a standalone version to prep tracks and DJ offline!”
I would never have the idea DJing with an iPad only. Got no confidence using it. On top of it, Traktor DJ is currently unusable to beatmatch. I experienced that it starts the track after it’s own beatmatching, which is very odd sometimes. For ex. I start a track in time, and traktor set’s it a beat behind. Would love to have an iPad to control FX and 3+4 Decks as a Remote for my decks on Mac + ext. Mixer + CDJ’s or Timecode Turntables.
There are thousands of DJs using the iPad only for professional DJing. There are several other DJ softwares…
I didn’t want to put that in question, but for me it is simply unsuitable for now.
Can you please explain why none of those softwares are unsuitable?
I partly explained that in the post above, The beatmatching is not good enough and I need Deck 3+4 in my Mix and the option to control my FX without the entire screen is hidden, like it is in Traktor DJ. Again, this is only my opinion. For others it might be great.
I guess you didn’t try all iPad DJ software options…
Don’t be a prick. Showing people new things is awesome, being so god damn condescending, however, is not.
I’m not native english. I feel nothing condescending in this, and my intent was not to be. My intent is to suggest trying other software options, because most people thinks in Traktor or Serato only. Not just my app is there, so many others too.
Native Instruments have some catching up to do
Thing I noticed in the background to the right of the screen is two controllers with arcade buttons, now that looks interesting! This app looks really cool and it seems that if you dont need that physical feel of buttons, ipad is the way to go to control any software.
able to browse the tracks in ipad is a win, no more #seratoface, I wished traktor came up w/ something like this, when traktor dj came out I thought it’d be a remaote control app but no
So much for iPad app, when you still need to carry your laptop…
It’s a great compliment. I’m glad they didn’t try and make an all in one app personally.
The background in the video has got to be Ean’s DJ Tech Tools Review Lab?
yes, the background does look a bit familiar… they’re subliminally jackin your street cred