Virtual DJ

Aug 14, 2012 by DJ_Lou

I have embraced technology and am excited when new products are introduced into the industry.  We used cassettes and 45’s when I started, so anything that would improve the technical aspect of the job was always a positive move.  The transformation from vinyl to CD was not easy for me, however I quickly adapted and appreciated how it changed the industry.  No more worrying about the record skipping or the turntable not being grounded.  No longer did I have to transport crate after crate of 12″ records into the venue.  One case did it all.  Now, DJ’s have the advantage of storing all of their music on a little hard drive in a laptop.  No matter how many songs you add, the weight never changes.

You have the music and the laptop, now what software to choose.  They all seem to cover the basics, but which one has the buzz on the street.  In my opinion, it’s Virtual DJ.

Virtual DJ is a computer software that lets the DJs mix by using a computer instead of traditional turntables.  This software, used by many professional DJs, is built on a technology invented in 1977 by Stephane Clavel, which makes it possible for the computer to automatically synchronize two pieces of music together.

You can easily create ‘loops’ automatically, add samples and gimmicks in a live environment, playing and smoothly scratching videos, etc…

Virtual DJ can largely outperform the traditional DJ interfaces.

Professional DJs will find there is a way to greatly improve the quality and creativity of their mixes, while beginners will find a way to perform in a very realistic way without any preliminary knowledge.

“Their site gets indeed more than 5,000,000 pages viewed per month, and more than 15,000 messages posted on the forums per month.  More than 1,000,000 forum users are registered, and they represent the early-adopters of this targeted market that is computer DJing.  As for the software, more than 50 millions uses are recorded from computers connected to the Internet (and without firewall) per year.” (source: Virtual DJ website)

Virtual DJ offers a free download.  Simply visit their site at http://www.virtualdj.com/.