Obligatory Gear Post

Merry Christmas! Since I got a piece of music gear for Christmas (a totally awesome, and completely unexpected surprise, too), I thought it'd be a good excuse for a gear post.

I bring a variety of pieces of kit onstage, depending on the show, the venue, what sort of music I'm planning to play, how much room there is in the DJ booth... so at some point during the show, while I'm frantically jumping around, pushing buttons, someone will inevitably come up and ask "is that Ableton?" or "what are you using?" or something like that. So, to all those questions, this is the answer (at least right now, until I change my setup again, which happens spontaneously).

I've got two versions of the performance setup – one for Ableton Live, one for Native Instruments Traktor. I use each one differently, and if I had a second laptop (and two more hands, or someone to help with the performance) I could use them together. Then I have a different configuration for composing in the studio:


DJ Kit

Macbook Pro
Traktor Pro 2.5
Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4
Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 Flight Case
Sennheiser HD-25 II headphones
Midi Fighter 3D

It looks like I'm sponsored by Native Instruments when I play, because until I got the Midi Fighter 3D I used to bring along a Maschine controller, too. Truth is, as much as I love NI's gear, I'm not a platform zealot at all. Mac or PC? Traktor or Serato? Cubase or Logic? No preference. I'll just choose what works better for my needs at the time.

Live PA Kit

Macbook Pro
Ableton Live 8.2
Sennheiser HD-25 II headphones
JazzMutant Lemur
Native Instruments Maschine
Akai APC40
M-Audio Ozone
Midi Fighter 3D
Numark DM 2002x mixer (had it forever, beat up, but gets the job done every time)

I know that's sounds like a lot of gear for one person to run, but each device has it's specific purpose so it doesn't get too out of hand.

Studio Kit

Macbook Pro
Ableton Live 8.2
Native Instruments Maschine
Native Instruments Komplete 8 Ultimate
Sennheiser HD-25 II headphones
Technics SL-1200 MK II ( I only have one for recording from vinyl and scratching. The only time I ever had a complete pair of decks was when  I lived with an ex, and half the setup was hers).
Ortofon Concorde CC-DJS stylus
Numark DM 2002x mixer
JazzMutant Lemur
Akai APC40
M-Audio Ozone
Midi Fighter 3D
Apple iPad
No monitors (yes, I know. I liked Mackie HR-824s but don't know what to get instead now that they're discontiued, so I mix in the Sennheisers and mentally make up for the difference in bass response).

I'm very comfortable with the studio setup the way it is except for the couple holes I noted. However, there are a few pieces of kit that do look interesting enough for me to consider adding to the mix. Ableton Push just looks absolutely off the hook. I can see myself adding that to the mix at some point.

For a software-only solution there sure is a lot of hardware!