DJ Woody has always been a tinkerer with DJ gear. Back in the day it was quite normal to see Woody doing things with decks that he shouldn’t do (am I the only one who whistles the horn set in this video?), thus confirming his credentials as a turntable hacker. And while software companies are dropping millions on R&D to create new features, Woody simply engages his creative brain, digs into his gear stash, and comes up with something very cool, in this case polyphonic scratching on one deck. Wait what?
When you know how, it’s very simple. As the video explains, Woody splits the single turntable output to three channels on the Rane Sixty Four, essentially sharing the Serato noise map to control three Serato DJ decks, and has the beat running on the fourth deck in internal mode. Each of the three decks has individual pre-made note arrangements that are being controlled by the noisemap vinyl, and the rest is Woody’s skills in using the Vestax Controller One turntable to change the pitch via the buttons around the platter. Well the principle is simple (one noisemap controlling three channels), but the execution is incredibly complex, and pulled off effortlessly by Woody.
This is not unlike Traktor Remix Decks. But it’s the work that goes into figuring out such tricks — beating the odds to do things that shouldn’t be possible. And frankly it’s just lots of fun to dick around with DJ gear isn’t it?
Good work sir!