DeadSignal

08/11/2024

ALL PRAISE THE HOLY GODS OF ELECTRONICS. I think we have a show tonight! 🤘

Live at just after 11 for Rock, Metal, D&B and general nonsense over at twitch.tv/DJ_DeadSignal

03/11/2024

Serato is absolute garbage 😒

I just bought a new controller (Numark Mixtrack Platinum FX) which is fantastic. I has a much nicer feel than my Pioneer yet that was royally overshadowed by just how bad the software was to use live.

I started back in the day, using Traktor, which was pretty good and moved into the Comic Sans of performance software that is DJAY Pro during the pandemic because they dropped the bombshell of Spotify support (great interface, really simple, crashes all the freaking time)

For the last 4-5 years, I've been using Rekordbox and, yes it's clunky and a pain in the arse to use on a laptop screen but it's rock solid, feature packed and very very good at what it does. Not to mention, it's basically the industry standard.

I strayed away this time because Pioneer's latest entry controller which replaces the DDJ-400 seems have no improvement on its predecessor and costs £280.

For £240, I got the numark with dual LED displays, nice heavy jog wheels and all round better build. I thought it was a no brainier.

Sadly, the limitations of Serato (Lite, and somewhat in the £250 Pro upgrade too) are unbearable.

1. Beat grid analysis.
Fu***ng terrible. Almost all tracks were off by almost 1/4. It simply gave up on anything that doesn't have a consistent time signature and it can't tell the difference between, 87.5bpm Nu Metal and 175bpm D&B. You also can't analyse files on the fly without loading them to a deck. Bu****it if you're loading requests from tidal.

2. Library management.
So I can make tidal playlists and something you call "crates" for my local files but can't mix them? F**k off! There's also no shortlist feature for requests / ideas. The absolute worst for me is the lack of track suggestions. The way I DJ, I don't plan sets, I'm far too ADHD for that to work. I also have one huge master playlist with over 1000 popular tracks that I use as my base. Rekordbox suggests 10-20 tracks of similar BPM / key / mood to play next. That's led to some of the most fun, unexpected (and god awful 😂) mixes I've ever done. That is a feature I simply can't live without.

3. Mixing
Beat syncing simply could not cope with anything "alternative" but worst than that, the BPM matching was to the nearest whole number! I found myself struggling to mix in a bloody Pendulum track! It would just start drifting and needed constant attention to make the transition passable. Also the lite version limits loops to 1 through 8 beats. No 1/2s or 1/4s or even 16s!

Such a shame. Love hardware but cannot live with the software.

I'm returning the Numark and getting a Pioneer DDJ-FLX4

29/10/2024

It's here! 🤩

27/10/2024

After 5 years, my DDJ-400 is dead. 😭

Full strip down, clean and a bit of re-soldering had it working flawlessly for about an hour tonight until it crashed Rekordbox. That's practically unheard of on my home rig. It then continued to crash it after changing USB port, cable and a reboot. I think the MIDI controller board has had it and I'm not risking it because (here comes the announcement)...

I'm DJing the main room at Schism Reading - HALLOWEEN (TWO ROOM SPECIAL EVENT) G:RAVE vs CHURCH OF MADNESS on Friday! 🥳 alongside Brad Agincourt and Jez Cooper (if he can stay out of the G:RAVE room long enough 😆)

One brand new Numark Mixtrack Platinum FX en-route.

I'm bored as hell with Rekordbox and it's painful to use on a laptops screen plus I've been meaning to play with Serato for ages.

Woo! New toy! 😁 Come to Reading on Friday and watch me twiddle my k***s! 😉

26/10/2024

DJ Controller fixed! Live in 5!
twitch.tv/DJ_DeadSignal

27/09/2024

Live at 22:30 over at twitch.tv/DJ_DeadSignal \m/

DJing Alt / Rock / Metal

14/09/2024

Tonight's setlist.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in :) ###

31/08/2024

From Signal to Noise
Friday 30/08/2024 - Setlist

A much more chilled show overall than usual, despite silly interjections and songs that should never be mixed (as always).

Thank you to everyone who tuned in.

1 - Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather for Ducks
2 - Muse - Bliss
3 - Weezer - Hash Pipe
4 - Republica - Ready to Go
5 - Joan Jett - Cherry Bomb
6 - RedHook - Bad Decisions
7 - Snot - Snot
8 - Mustasch - Feared and Hated
9 - Psychostick - NSFW
10 - Senor Bo****ks - Blasphemy
11 - The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches
12 - Korn - Got the Life
13 - Incubus - New Skin
14 - The Prodigy - Nasty
15 - CJ Bolland - It Ain't Gonna Be Me
16 - Bloodhound Gang - Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss
17 - System Of A Down - I-E-A-I-A-I-O
18 - Rammstein - Radio
19 - Vengaboys - Rocket To Uranus (Hitradio Without Perez)
20 - AronChupa - Llama In My Living Room
21 - Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill
22 - Faithless - God Is a DJ
23 - Mint Royale - Singin' in the Rain
24 - Benny Benassi - Shooting Helicopters (feat. Serj Tankian)
25 - Delerium - Silence
26 - Cosmic Gate - Fire Wire
27 - KELTEK - Awaken
28 - Coone - Toss A Coin To Your Witcher
29 - Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha
30 - Monsta - Holdin' On (Skrillex & Nero Remix)
31 - Pendulum - Driver
32 - Noc.V - OK Boomer
33 - Campbell - Would You (go to bed with me?)
34 - Chase & Status - No Problem
35 - Pitchshifter - Hidden Agenda
36 - venbee - messy in heaven
37 - Luude - Oh My (feat. Moby)
38 - Calyx & Teebee - Long Gone
39 - The Streets - Take Me As I Am
40 - Magnetude - Trail of Tears
41 - Dieselboy - Angel Dust
42 - Acraze - Do It To It (Sub Focus Remix)
43 - Foo Fighters - The Pretender
44 - Seething Akira - Knock Off God
45 - Various Artists - My Own Summer
46 - Agnis - Frozen
47 - Linkin Park - Numb
48 - Deep Blue Something - Breakfast At Tiffany's
49 - Counting Crows - Le Ballet d'Or
50 - Sneaker Pimps - 6 Underground
51 - Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line
52 - Morcheeba - The Sea