Musikmesse is a very big place. I know NAMM prides itself on the vastness of the show, but it would fit quite happily inside the Messe Halle. So you can imagine my annoyance at the focus of my attention being at one end of Musikmesse, but American DJ being at the polar opposite end. With a round trip of something like a mile, being a regular passer by from hall 5 (the DJ area) wasn't exactly easy. But I made it there briefly and trusty camera wielding sidekick Sean aka DJ Pegasus made it back to film a VMS4 demo. But we've had a problem…

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The ability to use just your computer alone to rock a crowd is nothing new at all. But the level of control offered was a tad limited, so a return to physical controllers was inevitable. But Inklen - makers of MIxEmergency - have thought a little differently and realised that there is another way to control your DJ software and have come up with an all new technology. Only a company with vision could come up with a control solution based on… ummm.. vision. Behold the wonder that is eyeCanDJ.

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While Mixvibes didn't have an actual stand at Musikmesse this year (the prices were truly astronomical), they did have a suite in a nearby hotel. And this is where I finally got to see their video rocking VFX package in action - and highly impressed I was as well.

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Video-SL always seems to be an underplayed card to me. I know there's some really cool stuff being done but it just doesn't get the coverage it deserves (Woody Madera post coming). So it was really good to see DJ Eskei83 using the Rane Sixty Eight with Video-SL on 3 decks - all 18 minutes of it.

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Just last week, Pioneer brought out the DJM-2000, and with it dragged the laptop back into the booth. So now the new species of CDJs are quite happy to play nice with rekordbox created USB devices as well as talking directly to your laptop of choice. But there is a third way, and one that will welcome DVS users into the Pioneer dominate booth too - HID. And the DJ software that owns all others - Traktor - is now all HID'd up and also playing nice with the CDJs too. Say hello to v1.2.5 of Traktor.

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There's a hot topic doing the rounds of manufacturers right now and that's how to swap from one digital DJ to another without awkward silences between sets. Last week we saw the Allen & Heath Patchbay make an appearance. This week, Rodec bring out their own solution to this thorny issue - the hilarious yet aptly named Patch Live… geddit?

UPDATE: Added some pictures.

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After the nervous breakdown suffered by the perhaps too new Pioneer CDJ-350 and DJM-350 on the the first day of Musikmesse 2010, the text came in on Thursday - "we have 350 up and running". So off we trotted AV'd to the hilt only to discover the same people looking stressed hunched over the same units. Thankfully everything was working as described and we managed to shoot a full demo courtesy of Martin Dockree from Pioneer UK.

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Star of the show at NAMM was the Scratch Live v2 loving Rane Sixty Eight mixer. And while I didn't get a chance to give it my fullest attention (I'd have been drawn in for hours), we did manage to get a handful of performances from Jeff Milligan and DJ Big Wiz. 3 videos follow...

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One of the key Numark releases at Musikmesse was the X5 mixer. While the X7 drags itself from the R&D dungeon into the realms of production reality, the X5 makes the perfect mixer for those not wanting 4 channels but do want scratch performance from a cosmetically akin family member. DJs Chainsaw and another DJ were on hand to demo the hardware partnership.

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Serato is such an important company and brand in the scene, that anything tagged remotely "limited edition" causes a global drain on the internet as record shops are hammered hard with pre-orders. The Serato Pressings range has seen eBay prices spiral with some stupid money changing hands. But some of it just isn't available to the general public. And I was blessed enough to get some of this booty for my efforts with skratchworx.

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In yet another of my fly-by visits between meetings (a detailed whinge about that another time), I spied something I hadn't seen before. Being accustomed to the darkside of OTUS controllers, this rare Albino version made an appearance at Musikmesse, alongside the still to released RAW version too.

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With an all too alarming regularity, Denon seem to be releasing a never ending stream of 4 channel mixers with a decidedly high end feel. NAMM was no exemption with the DN-X1600 poking it's nose out of the R&D lab. But it was only at Musikmesse that anyone from the team got to capture the glory of it. DJ Pegasus grabbed a heap of pictures and a very short video too.

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My 3 day trip to Messe was disorganised chaos from beginning to end. Having tried and failed to record a CDJ/DJM-350 demo on day 1, we returned the next day and successfully grabbed a 3 camera demo of the 350s. But as we planned how to get the spangly DJM-2000 demo in all its touch screeny DJ link rocking glory, everyone buggered off to the plane - leaving us all camera'd up and nowhere to film. But I did grab a small handful of pics, and the promise of a personal demo in the skratchlab.

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Last year (I think), I spied units that appeared to "pay homage to" Korg's Nano series. Well ICON are back with a seriously extended range of stuff for DJs, including an all new set of mini MIDI controllers that are considerably more original that last years efforts. And they're making sooo Mac Mini inspired interfaces too.

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In today's programme, I'll be showing you how to make a MIDI Controller. Firstly you'll need a very generous helping of Allen & Heath, a sprinkling of X1 and a smidgeon of Kontrol One. Put it all in a big melting pot, allow to slowly bake in the R&D over for a few months and all being well, you'll have the Reloop Contour.

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Seems that a piece of nextlevelness managed to slip through the cracks as I prepped for Musikmesse. I did receive a staggeringly huge image of said nextlevelness which I think I blame for my iPhone data usage pushing me into the red big time (don't switch data roaming on outside of your own country kiddies). But I digress. We've seen Numark's scrummy looking X7 mixer at NAMM. It still has the force field around it at Messe too, but it appears that there's a smaller version that's nearer to release. The perfectly formed X5 is the mixer to sits betwixt a pair of V7s.

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Trade shows are always a calculated risk at times. You have a large audience of actual real people who can touch your latest shiny toys, as well as a global audience of interweb punters gagging for anything to satisfy their gear geek needs. So the temptation is often stronger than maybe it should be for manufacturers to ship the prototypes to the trade shows. What I'm trying to say is that we tried to film a Pioneer CDJ-350 and DJM-350 demo, but failed.

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Taking prime corner position on Vestax's far flung stand was the Vestax PMC-05ProIV. "Yeah whatever Giz.. big deal - we've seen that like a bazillion times already" I hear you cry - but this time it's different. The pictures you thought you'd never see are finally here. Behold the monochromatically beautiful black 05. In this case, less is absolutely and most definitely more.

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I'm still unsure (yes even now) about the ability of the iPhone to totally replace the DJ experience in your hand. But some apps have crept out that go some way towards at least helping. And this particular app - djay remote - doesn't aim to do the grunt, but does in fact take over the controls of djay on your Mac. And for the record, the promo video above was made by me - it's my first promo shoot and I'm really proud of it.

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The run up to this year's Musikmesse has been quieter than normal, making me think that I'm spending a shedload of cash and walking around aimlessly more then ever. But Pioneer unveiled the delightfully nextlevelness laden DJM-2000 last week. But the grapevine round these parts twitched with rumours of something else - that Pioneer carefully tried to hide the scent of from me with a smokescreen of spurious PR. But I knew… and this morning the truth is unveiled - say hello to the CDJ-350 and DJM-350. Messe just looked a lot more interesting.

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The digital age has revolutionised DJing and brought with it a wealth of massive benefits than most would never want to be without. But it doesn't make everything better, and one such area that it positively hurts is the DJ changeover. The cable switchover dance of death makes turns a once smooth move of a crossfader into a nightmarish birds nest of RCA patching. There have been products to make this easier (the Magma Switchbox and NI's multicore cables), but Allen & Heath have their own ideas about this - enter the Xone:PB.

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Seems to be Pioneer week on skratchworx. Not only do we publish a CDJ-900 review, announce the übercool DJM-2000 and spread the word about the impending freedom bestowed upon rekordbox, it seems that the CDJs and rekordbox get a bug busting and feature adding update too.

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For those of you who follow me on Twitter (add me for daily waffling and questions of great DJ importance), you'll have seen me actually moan about the ruthless efficiency of Numark for daring to send me a pair of the highly desirable V7s. It's just that I hadn't expected them to wing their way across the Atlantic quite so quickly. But they are indeed here, and as is customary I've unpeeled one from the safety of its cardboard armour and revealed the shiny naughty bits inside.

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When Pioneer's new species of CDJ pull itself from the primordial ooze, it brought with it rekordbox - MixVibes' music library management software, that hinted at a standard way for all DJs to manage their collections. But at first Pioneer were all "It's ours and you can't have it" and made you fork out for a new CDJ, just to get your hands on this tiny bit of software. But now, Pioneer have seen sense and are giving it away to the DJ world as of 17th May 2010.

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In a technology led scene, it's just way too soon have established traditions. But one thing is becoming almost expected these days - and that's the ritual of gear pr0n unboxing. And being the distinctly lucky bastard that I am, Allen & Heath have despatched their newest xone incarnation - the hugely desirable DX in all its 4 channel effects laden ITCH rocking glory.

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As witnessed today, Pioneer's reinvention of the DJ scene continues with a totally unexpected DJM-2000 mixer. But to make it complete, it needs some company - and the CDJ-900 is the ideal bread for this Pro DJ Link sandwich. I'm sure you all remember my first look piece in 2009 that skimmed the surface of the 2000 and 900 units, but self-certified fanboy Andrew Unsworth took off his rose coloured spectacles and put his CDJ experience to good use and wrote the first of the new CDJ reviews.

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As I coincidentally put together the official CDJ-900 review, news hits the twitterwaves of the next generation of Pioneer's mixer arsenal - the DJM-2000. As ever, it's an impressive beast, but until Pioner UK and/or Europe answer their emails, I won't be posting too much detail. But you can read the translated Pioneer Japan pages here and here.

UPDATE: Now with added video.
UPDATE 2: US press release added.
UPDATE 3: UK/European press release added.

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Button bashin' and clip launchin' is the new DJin' - or at least if you follow these pages that's the way it seems. To some, it's all rather alien and not what DJing is about, but for others its the next logical creative progression. So when Akai got cosy with Ableton and came up with the everso Live friendly APC40, the aforementioned DJs rejoiced as they now had something that could integrate into their existing setups. Andrew Unsworth applied his Live experience to the APC40 and transcribed his findings.

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Being the erudite and loquacious Englishman that I am, I find myself prone to bouts of verbal gymnastics - often taking you dear reader on a voyage around the more interesting parts of my mother tongue, as well as bending and positively smashing the accepted rules of grammar to smithereens. But one such voyage gave birth to a recurring meme across my many scribblings in these pages, and that particular offspring is "nextlevelness". And after a period of daily whois haunting, I have made www.nextlevelness.com my very own. But now I have it, what in God's name should I do with it?

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While the death of one iconic piece of Technics shaped DJ technology may seem lingering, another has most definitely been decided. The announcement of Pioneer's original CDJ-1000 was one of those you-remember-where-you-were moments which redefined the DJ game completely. But with the new species, in the shape of the CDJ-2000 and 900 having dawned, the CDJ-1000 now finds itself being shipped off to the technology retirement home. Yes gear geeks - the CDJ-1000 is now officially discontinued… well definitely in the UK anyway.

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