More > Media Center 12 (Development Ended)
MC For Laptop DJing
glynor:
I received this personal message from the new user Travis regarding using MC12 for DJing using a Laptop. After discussing it a bit, I realized that this information could likely be quite useful to other users as well, so I decided to post it here... So...
First, Travis's initial question:
--- Quote ---Hello! My name is Travis and I just downloaded the 30-day trial of MC last night. I do some DJing a few nights a month and had heard from some DJ friends that MC works very well as DJ software. I saw that you do a lot of DJing so I thought I'd ask if there are any threads on this forum dedicated to DJing dances/weddings etc.? I certainly don't mind figuring things out for myself but it would be awesome if a thread existed that talked about creating multiple zones for cueing songs - setting up different output devices - creating/editing/saving playlists etc.
If you happen to know of any threads like that please let me know.
Thanks in advance!!
-Travis
--- End quote ---
glynor:
Hey Travis! Welcome to Interact.
I certainly do use MC for DJing. Primarily at weddings and parties, but I've done some work at a local bar as well. It really is a great tool for these purposes...
Unfortunately, there is no "one thread to rule them all" when it comes to this. Some things I'd look into though are (in no particular order):
[o]multiple zones -- especially synchronizing zones and using separate sound cards
[o] detached display -- not sure if you use projectors or TVs for a full "multimedia show" but MC + DJing + G-Force + Projector == impressive.
[o] any posts by the user Mastiff on multiple zones
[/list]
My general setup goes like this:
1. I have a Laptop (a MacBook Pro running Windows XP via Bootcamp -- though that doesn't really matter) with a M-Audio Transit external USB audio device. My media lives on a 500 GB external drive, until they finally get some bigger laptop drives available.
2. I set MC up with two zones. I name one "external" and one "internal" and set them to the appropriate output devices (one for each). I make sure both are set to appropriate DSP and crossfade settings. I happen to like to set both to System Volume, but some people prefer using the Internal volume control. To me, too many volume controls can get confusing.
3. I generally run both of these outputs out into my little Mackie 1202 mixer (a great, portable mixer BTW). Then I generally set the headphone/control room output from the mixer to monitor the muted channels. That way, while music is playing using one of the zones (say "external" for example), I can simply mute the inputs in the mixer for the other zone ("internal") and build my playlist using my headphones.
4. Build a short initial playlist ahead of time. Start playing that on the External Zone. Then switch to the muted (but audible through my headphones) Internal Zone and start building my next playlist fragment.
5. When the current playlist for the "external" zone gets near it's end, I stop any playback on the Internal Zone's playlist (make sure to do this before you un-mute), fade-out the playing "external zone" (via the mixer), un-mute the "internal zone" on my mixer, start playback on that list, and fade it up.
6. Then, I mute "external" on the mixer and start building another fragment in that zone on MC. Switch back and forth as needed, rinse, and repeat. This makes it very nice to "work ahead" but still be able to move my playlists with the "feel" of the crowd (and honor any special requests in a reasonable period of time).
Another way to do the same thing, if you don't have a mixer available (or if your mixer doesn't let you monitor muted input channels over the phones) is:
EDIT: This method is nice because it is a bit simpler and it doesn't require a mixer. If you don't need a microphone (or if the house system handles that on its own), this is probably the way to go!
1. Plug your headphones directly into the onboard audio on the laptop. Set up a "Headphone Zone" and a "Soundsystem Zone".
2. Build your initial list ahead of time and start it playing on the "Soundsystem Zone"
3. Switch MC to the Headphone Zone and use it to build the "next hunk" of the playlist as you want. (I generally build the list in a "temp" playlist I have that I empty out each time.)
4. Once you get a reasonably sized hunk built, simply select all the files and right-click --> Send to --> Play (Soundsystem Zone) --> Add. This will send the files to the Playing Now list on the currently playing "external zone", adding them in order and set to play after the current songs end. You can also choose "Add (As Next To Play)" if you want to interrupt your previously running list for a second and then go back to it (I use this for requests a lot).
5. Then I just delete all those files from my temp playlist, switch back to the Headphone Zone, and start building the next fragment. This way you can easily build fragments a little at a time, and listen to whatever you want over the phones without the audience hearing what you're up to!
Again. Welcome. The forum is very friendly (it constantly surprises me how many genuinely nice people there are on it). Ask any questions you want, and enjoy!
glynor:
--- Quote ---Thank you so much for the fast and in-depth response. I would certainly be using the second scenario if I decide to use MC. I just DJ at local swing dances. There are about 4-5 regular venues all of which have existing sound equipment so all I do is plug my laptop in and I'm ready to go (I use an external USB sound card from Turtle Beach). I just bought a PC laptop with a 120gb hard drive which will be ample for me for quite some time (I only put songs I will DJ on my laptop along with a few other favorites). Previous to owning my own laptop I was borrowing my girlfriend's (having gotten totally sick and tired of using CDs). But since that was a temporary solution I only loaded a few hundred songs that I knew quite well onto her hard drive. So I really didn't have any need to listen to a song before playing it. I have been using WMP 11 and would just drag and drop files from my library into the current playlist. Sounds like MC does not have drag and drop from one zone to the other? I guess I could live without that. Will MC show how many songs are in a playlist along with total duration? I've found that to be helpful in other programs. Really my needs are pretty simple as far as actually DJing at a gig. So long as I can listen before playing and add songs on the fly then I'll be fine. Really don't care about cross fading at swing dances where most of the music is big band swing and stuff like that. Do you use the BPM analyzer at all? If so, how accurate is it?
A lot of swing DJs either use two instances of Winamp or a combination of Winamp and iTunes but I like the all-in-one possibilities of MC. I'll play around with it a little more tonight - my next gig is a week from Wed.
Cheers!!
-Travis
--- End quote ---
And I'll be responding a little later... Gotta run now. Others might feel free to respond as well. ;)
glynor:
--- Quote ---Thank you so much for the fast and in-depth response. I would certainly be using the second scenario if I decide to use MC. I just DJ at local swing dances.
--- End quote ---
You're welcome! Gotta love swing dancing. My wife, I, and a friend all go to local contra dances once a month here (similar but not the same of course). Love it. Luckily, we have the luxury of live music for those though...
--- Quote ---So I really didn't have any need to listen to a song before playing it. I have been using WMP 11 and would just drag and drop files from my library into the current playlist. Sounds like MC does not have drag and drop from one zone to the other? I guess I could live without that.
--- End quote ---
You can, but that doesn't mean it's the best way. Just to be clear though... The whole point of Zones is to allow your computer to play two (or more) different things at the same time, and to direct that output to the proper devices independently. If you still don't need to listen to anything before you play it, then you won't really need to use multiple zones at all.
However, you can certainly drag-drop from one Zone to another. It just works a little differently than what you might be thinking. In MC, you can "split the view" and essentially create two new views on the right part of the program which work independently. The two views, once split, really work completely independently of one another (the tree controls whichever view you last "clicked on"). You can certainly put one of these "split views" in one zone and the other in the other zone and drag-drop between them. The Split View feature can be found at: View --> Split View. Play with it a bit and you'll see. I find drag-dropping to not always be so precise though, especially when working with a laptop trackpad.
--- Quote ---Will MC show how many songs are in a playlist along with total duration? I've found that to be helpful in other programs.
--- End quote ---
Yes. See the picture (click on it to enlarge):
Down at the bottom see the text reading "58 files (303.5 MB - 04:14:05)"?
MC will always show this text in the "info area" of the bottom toolbar. It will show the information for whatever file or files you have selected at that moment. If you have a whole playlist selected (you chose a playlist from the Tree on the left but didn't actually choose an individual file) then it shows the full run-time for that list. There are other ways to see this same info (the Tag window will also act as an info dialog if you have a playlist or more than one file selected), but that's the most easily accessible.
Incidentally, that above image is an example of what I described above. I have MC set to 2 split views, in column mode. I have a playlist visible in the left hand of the two views, and the "Playing Now" playlist visible in the right hand view. You can easily drag-drop from one to the other, and the two views can be in two (or more) different zones.
With MC, there's always at least 2-3 ways to do something. ;)
--- Quote ---Do you use the BPM analyzer at all? If so, how accurate is it?
--- End quote ---
I don't really use it for anything real. I do analyze my files and use it as a real "basic" indicator of tempo, but I wouldn't really be one to speak to the accuracy. I'm sure people have discussed it though... Try searching for "analyze audio" or "BPM" on the forums.
--- Quote ---A lot of swing DJs either use two instances of Winamp or a combination of Winamp and iTunes but I like the all-in-one possibilities of MC.
--- End quote ---
I suspect you'll end up amazed at what you can accomplish. Enjoy!
JaysonG:
ooh how did you change the split view to 3 columns?
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