Some thoughts on touchscreen DJ’ing UX
A few friends sent me the following video by design student, Greg Werk, which some are heralding as the "future of DJ'ing"...
Multi Touch Light Table: GERGWERK from GERG WERK on Vimeo.
and here's another video demo that utilizes iPads.
Thoughts:
- Greg's description of having to haul all your gear to the club is very misleading. No self-respecting club would be without decks and a mixer. I also find it hard to imagine one digital DJ platform becoming the defacto standard for DJ'ing in the way that the Technics 1200s have for three decades now. One of the main advantages of a standard Technics setup is not having to worry about things like latency, version numbers, crashes, upgrades, etc As a DJ, you can be fairly confident that you'll have reliable tools to work with that have little variation from place to place. If touchscreen DJ'ing does take off, I imagine a variety of platforms competing against each other and since most DJs are particular about the tools they use, they'll probably want to bring their own setup rather than relying on the club.
- Greg rightfully calls out the flaw in having a flat surface from which the DJ has to focus their attention. Fixating down for long periods of time distances the DJ from the crowd so I found it confusing when the video illustrated a system that forces the DJ to look down at all times. A performer using a physical controller or mixer can usually control the gear blind once they've used it enough. The orientation of objects in 3D space provide something for the hands to bump into (sort of how most keyboards have a raised edge on the F and J keys) which allows the DJ more freedom in where they direct their eyes. Perhaps this could be mitigated in an all touchscreen based system if there were physical anchor points for the hands which guaranteed proper placement. Haptic feedback could help here as well.
- I don't recall if Greg mentioned this in the video, but if the interface is only displayed right in front of the DJ, facing upwards... then no one aside from the front row in the crowd will be able to see what the performer is doing (even then, they may have to do some extreme neck craning to get a glimpse of what's going on). One solution is to have the interface projected on the wall behind the DJ (similar to how cameras display the hands of turntablists in DMC battles), but unless the performer is doing a significant amount of manipulation, I can see the projection becoming quite dull after the initial "wow" factor wears off.
Artists like Daedelus have the right idea in using their instrument as a way of bringing the audience into the performance...
(jump to 2:45)I think any digital instrument that attempts to capture the feeling of an acoustic one (like that of a violinist), needs to have this element of transparency. In the absence of that, the performer just needs to be entertaining and crazy, a la Girl Talk...
- No touchscreen surface will provide the same level of tactile feedback as something with knobs and sliders. There is more fine grained control with physical objects... less chance for error due to mis-taps/swipes... and it just feels more physically satisfying.
- From a UX presentation standpoint, I have to hand it to Greg for putting together a compelling demo video. I particularly enjoyed the performance he gives at the end as he makes the system feel real by combining well timed hand movements with the demo playback on the screen.
- I also like the gestures he chose for controlling the virtual decks and mixer, but I think for the system to really shine, it needs to introduce concepts that would not be possible in any other DJ'ing platform. Things like looping, cue points, multiple effects are all available in various hardware mixers and digital packages like Serato and FinalScratch. What are the things a DJ could do that are uniquely well suited for a touch interface? Showcasing those will help make a much stronger case for this style of DJ'ing over more traditional and time-tested systems.
more thoughts on Autechre
-- The openers were a hip-hop DJ and a noise artist... very fitting since that's exactly the space Autechre sit right in between.
-- The club, La Machine, was gorgeous... perhaps the fanciest club I've ever been in. Which is hilarious since as soon as Autechre took the stage, all the lights were turned off. Their performance is about the space inside your head, not about them or anything else.
-- This was my 4th time to the see the band and the only one where the crowd didn't seem to thin out as time went on. The French clearly have a high tolerance for experimental music.
-- As I've written about before, enjoying an AE show is all about having the right mindset. There were no pauses in between tracks... no recognizable songs... basically nothing you'd find in a concert setting that allows you to latch onto something. It's truly a unique mental exercise in concentration.
-- Just as soon as you get into a groove and think you know what's going on with the music, they change it up... it's the equivalent of trying to hold water in your hand... just as soon as you think you have it, it starts to slip away. I love this aspect of their performance. This also makes it really hard to remember or describe the music that was experienced... it's completely fluid and evolving.
-- Another beautiful aspect of the show is looking around and observing other people in the audience... many have their eyes closed, some look exasperated, some are moving around to the music, others look like they just want to get the hell out of there. I posit this form of visual accompaniment to their music is more entertaining than the run of the mill screensaver visuals found at most electronic music shows.
Essentially what I want to say is that I think these guys are geniuses... they view sound as their giant sandbox to play around in... whether they acknowledge it or not, their art's connection to meditation and mindfulness is very inspiring and I thank the Gods that they exist and continue to make music.
Ario’s favorite albums of 2009
It's that time of year again... although, I feel less pumped about my list this year than in years past. I spent more of my listening time in 2009 on older stuff I'd slept on for awhile (e.g. Silver Apples, Can, Faust) vs new stuff. Perhaps it's a by-product of getting older, but it seems rarer n' rarer to hear new music that actually stands up to the test of time and warrants repeat listens.
My consumption of new music hasn't gone down at all, but I feel like I'm discovering fewer 5 star albums (where the whole damn thing is good from end-to-end) than I used to.
Twist my arm though, and here you have my top 10 for the year (album covers link to video clips):
01. Kings of Convenience - Delcaration of Dependence
I've been a long time fan of these guys, but re-fell-in-love with them just as I heard they had a new album coming out. I know their music bores many to tears (*cough* Dave *cough*), but I'm a huge unrepentant fan. What can I say, they speak singularly to my inner sad bastard. Hoping to catch them live next year (and hoping even more that Erlend does another DJ Kicks record).
02. Röyksopp - Junior
If my #1 choice was all about melancholic introspection, this was my get-up-n-go album of the year which probably accompanied me on half of my outdoor runs. Röyksopp isn't the same band we heard on that first record (which I still long for), but I continue to be a fan and wish I hadn't missed out on their tour earlier this year.
03. The Sight Below - Glider
Technically, this is a 2008 release, but it came out in November and didn't go into my regular rotation until this year. It's the perfect record for "getting into the zone" and focusing. Broadly categorized as ambient, but most of the songs here have a subliminal driving beat in the background that give the song a pulse. I can't count the number of times I put this on at work when I needed to crank on some designs. I hope Raf won't take my utilitarian usage of his record as a negative 
It's seriously a gorgeous album and I can't wait to hear what he comes up with next.
04. Zomby - One Foot Ahead of the Other
I heard a lot of dubstep this year, but not much of it held my attention for very long... especially since the genre is driven by singles, not albums (here's my favorite dubstep single of the year while we're on the subject). Having said that, this record (listed as an EP... an EP with 9 songs???) really did it for me. The sounds are super pure, clean, and would be at home in any modern remake of an 8-bit NES game. Now if only someone could get the guy to show up for his own gigs.
05. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Playing the Piano
I also re-fell-in-love-with Sakamoto this year, revisiting as much of his backcatalog as I could get my hands on. I was all set to see him perform his piano works in Birmingham, but that gig was canceled 
Regardless, his music left a big mark on my 2009 and I suspect it will continue to do so for the rest of my life.
06. Patrick Cleandenim – Orange Moonbeam Floorshow
This was a random discovery made at Other Music in NYC. Really catchy tunes in the vein of Pet Shop Boys and other great dramatic synthpop of the 80s. I'm curious to see where he goes from here.
07. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
It really took me awhile to get into this record, but then I finally succumbed to the awesomeness that is Karin's solo project. I still long for new Knife, but this album, plus her Royksopp contributions will help tide me over until the next one comes out. (also file this under "shows I wish I could've caught this year").
08. Eluvium - Life through Bombardment
Another album that probably shouldn't be in this list (it's a 2009 comp of older material), but I'll bend the rules since it's what really got me into his music. I fell asleep to this more than anything else over the last 12 months (a high compliment). It's painfully pretty.
09. Omar Souleyman - Dabke 2020: Folk And Pop Sounds Of Syria
This was definitely the "funnest" find of 2009, just look at that album cover for crissakes! I have to thank Other Music again on this one... seriously, I had no idea people threw down like that in Syria. I can only hope living in Europe means I have a greater chance of seeing him live next year... preferably at some huge wedding.
10. Portico Quartet - Isla
The importance of brick n' mortar record stores is proved yet again with this latecomer to the list... picked up at Rough Trade in London. Fantastic instrumental compositions for fans of Tortoise and Cinematic Orchestra. Would love to see them perform sometime.
And that's all she wrote. For 2010, I'm looking forward to hearing the new Massive Attack, Burial, and Radiohead records. It sounds like Trent is already itching to come back out of hiding too and I'm praying it'll be more like Ghosts than anything else he did with NIN. Maybe Aphex or Boards of Canada will surprise us with something too?
I've checked out most of the other top ten lists floating around the web and it looks like Animal Collective came out as top dog. I can appreciate the band for their playfulness, but I never felt compelled to go back to this album. Maybe I will once all the fanfare dies down.
What were some things you dug this year that may have been overlooked by everyone else? I'm particularly interested in under-represented genres in my list like hip-hop or metal (does anyone even make good metal any more? I suppose that depends on who you ask and how you define "metal"... I know Isis and Circle are still doing good stuff). Whatever happened to bands like Faith No More, Ministry, Helmet? I suppose Tool are still around, but we need some young blood to step up and kick some sonic teeth in!
'Till next time...
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See my list for 2008 here.
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After all, people pay thousands of dollars for diamonds, even though diamonds do nothing but look pretty. A video game suit of armor looks pretty and protects you from video game orcs. In both cases you’re paying for an idea.
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