![]() On my way back to New Zealand after the show I visited the Novation HQ in the UK and spent time with Lars and Matt from the their team to progress the idea of a new style of DJ controller forward. The very first time we exchanged concept drawings at a Messe show they turned out to be really similar in terms of form factor and control set, which is always a good sign. We didn’t have to have too many conversations before we realized we had quite similar ideas about where live performance and controller technology was heading. The collaborative design process kicked off a couple of years ago when we first started to talk to Novation. It’s a great glimpse both of their design thinking and how you translate a product like this to the market. Product Manager Dylan Wood of Serato writes us from Auckland to explain how the design came about, and how it came to fruition. (Akai’s APC made one misstep there – unfortunately, DJ booths are too often measured in handfuls of square inches, and even those atop the flimsy plastic cases that cover the turntables.) Straight from the source:ĭimensions – 350mm W x 275mm D x 65mm height (13.8″ x 10.8″ x 2.6″) But the Twitch at the very least looks less like the result of a product planning meeting and more like exactly the sort of thing digital musicians, DJs, and readers of this site might design for their own purposes. I’m still wrapping my head around it – and whether this will feel like a genius cockpit for music or a Frankenstein combo of other controllers. The Twitch has touchstrips, faders, knobs, and buttons, a strange hybrid of a lot of different ideas. The resulting tool even carries the “controllerist” moniker promoted in the past by artist/technologists Moldover and Ean Golden. More on how the applications work in the video: And unlike some rivals, the inclusion of an audio interface and USB bus power could make this more practical in the typical plug-and-play gig situation. ![]() There are beat slicing features, mixing and effects, a replaceable crossfader, and touchstrips that can be used for various purposes, which promises to be flexible enough to suit a range of applications. What you get is a do-everything controller and audio interface, all in one box. ![]() Second, the developers tell us they’re heavily influenced by the monome and controller hacking communities. (That said, you will see in the specs that they promise ITCH support for Serato will be “one-to-one.”) That’s something we’ve seen among general-purpose controllers, but usually the main selling point of DJ-specific gear is some sort of tight integration. The result of a collaboration between New Zealand DJ software developer Serato and UK hardware maker Novation, Twitch deviates from a number of norms.įirst, while made with Serato, it’s explicitly designed to support Ableton Live and rival NI Traktor via upcoming updates. Amidst various look-alike mixer-and-deck controllers, it fits in with those pushing to make computer control a hybrid of traditional DJ metaphors and new computer ones. We’ve got an inside look at the newest entry, the most recent device to explore just what should be mapped and tactile, and what should be left behind. The question of how to build controls to fly today’s live laptop music sets – whether “DJ,” “live PA,” or something else – remains open.
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