There have been many mumblings in quieter corners of the scene about Native Instruments working on some sort of hardware controller. Indeed, when the DJ journalistic collective was carted off en masse to Berlin, we half expected to be pawing a lump of vorsprung durch technik style controller. But now it seems that NI may well be teasing us with glimpses of the new thingumabob in action. Youtube clip follows.
Update: Street price seems to be confirmed at $200. Thanks to Engadget.
Here's the Youtube clip being spread around by NI:
It goes without saying that if anyone was going to have one - or in this case 2 of them - it would be Ritchie Hawtin. But these aren't the controllers that we were expecting. Saying MIDI controller usually conjures up images of VCIalike jogwheeled boxes, but these appear to be very much tailored to controlling the finer points of Traktor - loops, cues, play/pause etc. Hopefully this will include track selection and loading too. I imagine that what you see on screen will be closely mirrored on the controller, especially if very tight integration is the aim.
Looking at the form factor, the layout appears symmetrical, and most decidedly split down the middle. So it looks to me that 1 controller will handle 2 decks, which would also explain why Ritchie Hawtin has 2 of them. And they also appear to come in handy little cases too. I'm guessing that they're not too heavy. I would also hope that they can be used for other software as well as Traktor.
NI clearly want us to know more, but I guess we'll just have to wait until they decide just how much they want to tell us. I'm pretty sure though that you'll read it here soon enough.
Please post the usual slew of unanswerable questions below. NI may choose to answer them. Or not. Either way, it looks like NI are really busy people and responding to what the market wants. I know I'd like to see one sat either side of my mixer.
24 comments to this story
On September 29, 2009, bishyb commented...
Do want...
Nice USB cables too
On September 29, 2009, djeverlast commented...
looks like overpriced crap to me
On September 29, 2009, D Square commented...
I love the surprised look Ritchie gives as if he was not aware that video was being recorded of this performance. There were 6 shots of the new midi controller!! Nice tease.
I hope they keep the price reasonable.
On September 29, 2009, Gobbinboy commented...
I wonder if we'll see them this side of Christmas?
On September 29, 2009, Double DutchDj commented...
Dam!! I'm jus getting to grips with my potential choice's of midi kit to buy this weekend at BPM and now NI throw this controller shaped spanner in the works.
Thanx to the latest Traktor update my current setup doesn't get half the new potential out of the 4 Fx units, so I've been dreaming about a purpose built Fx controller based on a solid well spaced battle mixer style. Looks to me NI have answered my dreams.
For one mr hawtin usually is armed with a 4D to control Fx and Loops, can't see any 4D in vid, and the fact Fx has to be Traktors ultimate strength my guess is these controls are aimed at getting the most out of the Fx units.
Any ideas if these units will be at BPM?
On September 29, 2009, sweep commented...
the only reason i would go to such a clubnight is for the chicks,couldn't care less about the dj doing nothing.
@djeverlast - without knowing anything about the controller, what it does, how it feels or even the price - you still feel qualified to pass such dismissive judgement on it based only on a few seconds of a Youtube clip?
@Double DutchDJ - I'll ask about BPM but I wouldn't hold out much hope.
On September 29, 2009, Double DutchDj commented...
@djeverarse - thats quite the insightful comment, open minded chap aren't we!
@Gizmo - sorry for the OT, any chance you'll be wearing a scratchworx shirt this weekend? would love to put a face to legend behind this site.
On September 29, 2009, djeverlast commented...
sorry didnīt want to hurt anyones feelings. time will proof me right 4 sure!
What's more interesting to me is the total lack of a timecoded medium. I can't see any decks or CDJs on his booth. Does this means that you can control everything on Traktor using the new controllers, even mixing functions like pitch bend and faders? Is Traktor moving away from traditional setups and slowly going fully digital?
On September 30, 2009, Base commented...
@I1 Kirm Richie stopped using pitch long time ago. He sets beatgrids in Traktor and relies on its sync function.
@Double DutchDj Richie was actually using 2x1D and 92 before.
So my guess is that 2 of these can control all 4 FX banks as well as transport/loop controls for all 4 decks. I just hope they have built in interfaces, so there is no need for Audio 8 DJ.
On September 30, 2009, Voodoo commented...
My only question is....WHERE CAN I GET THIS DOPE USB-CABLES?
On September 30, 2009, gurke commented...
header picture is crap. this video was posted by Native Instruments on Youtube and there is also the NI logo in the video.. keep your eyes open folks, its promotional stuff.
@gurke - that is rather the gist of the entire post. As stated, it's an NI teaser.
On September 30, 2009, Nasferatu commented...
hmmm...
Overpriced?....in my opinion, NI have been very competitive considering the quality of the products (based on my experience as a resident DJ using Traktor Pro with ZERO issues since its launch)
Crap?.....If you've held an Audio 8 DJ in your hand, and heard the output from it, they don't have a rep for producing crap.
A dedicated controller would be a welcome piece of kit for me. For example, say what you will about MixMeister, but when coupled with MixMeister Control it makes for a nice workflow. I expect nothing less than seamless integration from NI. The video should actually reinforce this as it isn't just any DJ/Producer, but rather Richie Hawtin. I personally know Richie and can vouch for his reliability requirements for gear... if he's playing a gig with this stuff, then you know for sure it works, and works well.
Say what you will about their music; at that level (Cox, Tiesto, Hawtin), the gear is as much a part of the performance as the music they play. Regardless of genre...top level djs put their reputation on the line when endorsing gear (as do we) some are just pickier than others. Whether you're rocking it in your bedroom, or in Ibiza, equipment failures and/or malfunctions are not cool.
I'm looking forward to the specs of this new controller, and welcome new innovation from mfrs that are willing to spend the R&D cash.
quote:"Does this means that you can control everything on Traktor using the new controllers, even mixing functions like pitch bend and faders? Is Traktor moving away from traditional setups and slowly going fully digital?"
Traktor has been able to work this way well before it ever supported use of timecode. At it's heart, Traktor was pure software - not a DVS.
But your point is 100% correct. I think NI's move towards a more "digital" experience is shown best by the removal of some of the more tactile messages in Traktor Pro that existed in 3.4. The old absolute pitch bend message is a good example - replaced with a crappy incremental message that's totally inappropriate for platter use. It SEEMS like they assume that everyone is going to rely on grids/sync, or else why remove the old (and vastly superior) message?
On October 2, 2009, Mauri Moore commented...
it's very Ugly to see a Bid Star dj with all this cables in the dj booth ...NOt good at all .
On October 2, 2009, Mauri MOore commented...
A BIG Dj ...sorry
On October 3, 2009, ekwipt commented...
I think that's the only problem with all this stuff "the cables"...that's why the pioneer CDJ2000 is such a great idea, although a bit limited and too pricy.
NI Traktor Pro users should be able to buy one big cable with eight RCAs, there's no need for the multicore cables with TP.
A great idea would be for all these companies to implement an easy plug n play cable system, maybe the new Intel/Apple lightpipe cable could be used by all, imagine one cable having to be plugged into any Scratchbox, mixer, CDJ etc
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On September 29, 2009, bishyb commented...
And no - I won't be wearing a t-shirt. You'll just have to spot me.
24 comments to this story