The December 2008 edition of Mobile Beat Magazine is the traditional “Gear Guide” issue for the next year.  The best thing about this year’s issue is that it features more gear for computer DJs than ever before!  This year’s issue dedicates even more space to hardware controllers, mixing programs, DMX/intelligent lighting hardware & software, karaoke, video and a whole lot more!  There is also a pretty comprehensive list of dealers, an excellent article by DJ Dr. Drax - President of the ADJA - and even a ProDJ Publishing ad for my newest book nestled in there.  (more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2009 Technology Tour with
Charles E. Snyder III

10 December 2008

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Nationally recognized author and seminar presenter, Charles E. Snyder III announced Wednesday his plans for a “2009 Technology Tour” of the U.S. to promote his newest book from ProDJ Publishing - Introduction to Computer DJing & CPS.  Kicking off the tour in February 2009 with a stop in Las Vegas for the Mobile Beat Convention, he will be making stops at several other special events including ArmsDJ, DJ Times Expo and the Computer DJ Summit. 

(more…)

Just when you though that the design dream-team at Denon couldn’t top their already considerable accomplishments, they turned around and surprised the DJ Industry again with another top-notch innovation.  Specifically I am referring to one of their newest releases, the Denon DN-HC4500.  And there are a number of features and characteristics that make this a unique controller over it’s cousin, the Denon DN-HD2500.  (more…)

Audio Grabber is one of the more popular programs available for ripping music and karaoke, especially among Mobile DJs. This is even more so the case since Audio Grabber has been freeware since February 9, 2004, meaning that you can easily visit the website and download the required software and codecs, all for free! But one of the few features that makes this program appealing over more stable and streamlined programs is the fact that it can also rip your karaoke CD+Gs digitally. Short-comings aside, Audio Grabber as one of the first utilities for ripping and encoding MP3s, has garnered an impressive list of awards from a variety of software sharing/download sites. (more…)

The next day - Monday - was looking like it was going to be quite a busy day.  The schedule had seminars lined up all day long and going into the evening hours and the plan was for everyone to get together after dinner for the big party.  Also during the course of the afternoon, Tricerasoft was going to be conducting a workshop for all those folks who chose to learn all the ins and outs of Swift Elite.  Of course there was also plenty of time scheduled for all of us to break for lunch and again for dinner too. (more…)

The DN-HD2500 by Denon DJ, is a hard drive based media and dual CD deck controller that was first unveiled in 2006.  This “nerve center” readily lends itself to being the most pivotal piece of gear in your entire system, especially if you use it in conjunction with a Computerized Performance System.  With 40GB internal storage capacity, the HD2500 can easily perform the task of backup too should your dual CD deck go on the fritz and/or your CPS craps the bed - making the switch to a backup as seamless and quick as it can get!  (more…)

Abstract:

The Advanced Computerized Performance System seminar presentation is based upon the three books I have written and more than ten years of CPS field experience. The Advanced CPS Seminar covers advanced system software and hardware configurations as well as covering essential requirements for using a CPS with karaoke, video mixing, live recording, intelligent light control and so much more.

This interactive presentation involves and engages the audience throughout with ample time for Q & A. Typical run time: 60-90 minutes.  (more…)

Well after a short breather from writing laptops suck articles, I found another conversation about laptops that sparked my creativity and gave me the next great idea of telling you why laptops suck (for DJing that is).  This conversation, like way too many to count, talked about issues with the audio noise/interference coming from a laptop and ways to (cheaply) work around it.  Of course these threads where someone complains about a laptop doing this or not doing this is far too often also followed by some form of statement where the laptop-sufferer is looking for a free or the cheapest way out of their laptop blues - but I digress…  (more…)

I will be writing reviews about our favorite toys, DJ Gear!  Most of the articles will focus on computer related gear, but there will also be a few others about some of the more popular alternatives too - stay tuned!

The following message I received from my good friend Brian Smith, Platinum Disc Jockeys.

Wolfy- how good are the dvd’s as a learing tool for cps dj’ing- I’ve got a couple of platforms- OTS and PCDJ most prevelant- worth the investment?

(more…)