While the vast majority of DJs stick to the core workflow of track to track until closing time, there are some out there who have taken the standard DJ methodology and expanded it into something more. Richie Hawtin is one of those very people, and while he does play other people’s music, he does it in a slickly layered way. And in this video, he explains how his new MODEL 1 mixer is the throbbing heart of his current setup.
Yes, it’s clearly a promo for the mixer, but it does give great insight in how he crafts and weaves his sets. The lack of physical decks will immediately put some people off, but it’s absolutely worth watching the whole thing, if only to get an understanding of how someone outside your regular sphere of DJing has reached the upper rungs of the DJ ladder, and consistently filled dance floors for many years. Yes, it’s possible to do that without a turntable in sight.
INSPIRING
Personally, I found this video to be quite inspiring. As someone who has A to Biggedy B’d his way through the last 30+ years, my mind has recently started to wonder about doing more with music. I ponder the idea of taking all the classic sounds I used to play and throwing them at new tech. I’m a firm believer that music transcends technology, and you should experiment with gear as a tool and not a rule and see what happens.
A lot of innovation has happened via happy accidents, and I’m looking forward to seeing what can be done with a folder full of golden age Hip Hop beats and loops in a 4 deck workflow. And who is to say that I can’t?
I hope some of you can watch this video with an open mind, and maybe even take away some inspiration for your own DJ setups. I just hope that some of you can walk away with a little more knowledge and appreciate that it’s not just pressing buttons and twiddling knobs.
The MODEL 1 is only available directly from the PLAYdifferently site for £2550.