Written by Dubspot Instructor and DJ product specialist for Native Instruments Mike Henderson aka DJ Endo

Have you ever heard two songs that when mixed together, sounded like they were “meant to be” and went perfectly together from beginning to end, and almost appeared to be singing together? Most likely, the reason these two songs probably sounded so good together is because they are “in key” with one another. A key is the major or minor scale around which a piece of music revolves. For example, a song in the key of C Minor has its harmonic center or “do” at C, and revolves around a minor scale.

More and more DJ’s today are mixing “in key” or mixing “harmonically.” Some DJ’s who use Harmonic Mixing religiously include Armin Van Buuren, BT, David Guetta, DJ Shadow, DJ Skribble, Dubfire, Enferno, Marcus Shulz, Nic Fanciulli, Nick Warren, Paul Okenfold, Pete Tong, Reid Speed, Roger Sanchez, Saeed Younan, Spor, Tiesto, and Z-Trip.

In order to mix harmonically, DJs must know the musical keys of all of the records they play. Once they know the key of all their tracks, they can then sort their music collection by key, and play tracks that are in the same or complimenting keys, so that the songs they play will appear to “sing” together, and DJs will have full control over the energy of the room by picking keys that boost, and lower the energy of the crowd. Not only will Harmonic mixing help you choose records that are musically compatible quicker, and make your DJ sets flow better, but it will also sonically improve your sound since you are playing tracks that compliment each others frequencies. When you mix harmonically, your vocals, melodies, and basslines will be in key, and will blend musically, making your tracks appear to “sing” with one another.

Harmonic Mixing works for every genre of music from Hip Hop, House, Dubstep to Ambient and Techno. Even wedding DJ’s and Radio DJ’s who don’t mix will benefit from Harmonic Mixing.  Artists and bands who are putting out albums can order their albums by key to sell more records since it keeps their listeners interested and wanting more with each song. Producers can benefit from harmonic mixing because they can figure out the key of all their musical loops and samples and find samples that are in the key of the track they are making.

One thing you might be saying to yourself at this point is “This is all great, but I don’t know anything about music theory.” Well, fear not. Today there is technology that will actually go through your entire music collection and write the musical keys into the metadata of your songs, so you can then view the keys in Traktor, iTunes, Ableton, Serato or whatever your DJ Program of choice is.

The most popular Harmonic Mixing software is called Mixed In Key – an application in which you simply drop all your music folders into the Mixed in Key Window, click the “Analyze” button, and when its done scanning you will see the keys appear in the Artist, Comments, Title, or Key field depending on which field you choose in the Mixed in Key preferences. Not only can you scan your music files in Mixed In Key, but it also works great for keying acapellas so your mashups are in key.

Once you’re done scanning all of your music, there is a simple chart you can follow called the Camelot wheel that will tell you which keys are compatible. The Camelot wheel can be found on Harmonic-Mixing or Mixed In Key. On this wheel, musical keys can be seen as “hours” on a clock. For example 4 o’clock corresponds to 4B or 4A. The “B” letter represents Major Keys, and the “A” letter represents the Minor Keys. To follow the chart, you can mix between songs by subtracting one “hour” (-1), adding one “hour” (+1) or staying in the same “hour”. So if you are in the key of “4A” , the next song can be 3A, 4A, or 5A. Its just like subtracting or adding one “hour.”

Music Theory wise, the Camelot wheel represents the Circle of Fifths. The Circle of Fifths shows the relationships among the twelve tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures and their associated relative minor and major keys. It is really helpful when you are composing melodies and harmonies and moving in keys within a composition. For DJs it is just a handy chart that will tell you what tracks will go well together. Here are some examples of key combinations I like to use that you can try when you’re Harmonic Mixing and what effect it will have musically and on the energy of the crowd.

Staying in the same key (4A – 4A) (F Minor – F Minor) – These tracks will both be in the same key and are therefore perfectly compatible harmonically. Playing two tracks in the same key will give the effect that the tracks are singing together.

Moving up a Fifth (+1 on the Camelot Wheel) (4A-5A) (F Minor – C Minor) – This will raise the energy in the room. Harmonically these two keys are almost perfectly compatible. Only one note is different between the two scales.

Going down a Fifth (-1 on the Camelot Wheel) (4A – 3A) (F Minor – B flat Minor) – I like to say this type of mix will take the crowd deeper. The tracks will sound great together. It won’t raise the energy necessarily but will give your listeners goosebumps!

Going from Relative Minor to Relative Major (Change Letter on the Camelot Wheel) (4A-4B) (F Minor – A flat Major) – This combination will likely sound good because the notes of both scales are the same, but the root note is different. The energy of the room will change dramatically.

Going from Minor to Major (+3 and change letters on the Camelot wheel) (4A-7B) (F Minor – F Major) – While these keys might have 3 notes that are different, the root note is the same and can give a great musical effect on the dancefloor, either brightening the mood or darkening the mood.

Going up a Minor Third (-3 on the Camelot Wheel) (4A – 1A) (F Minor – A flat Minor) – While these scales have 3 notes that are different I’ve found that they still sound good played together, and tend to raise the energy of a room.

Going up a Half Step (Modulation Mixing) – (+7 on the Camelot Wheel)(4A-11A)(F Minor – F Sharp Minor) – While these two scales have almost no notes in common, musically they shouldn’t sound good together but I’ve found if you plan it right and mix a percussive outro of one song with a percussive intro of another song, and slowly bring in the melody this can have an amazing effect musically and raise the energy of the room dramatically.

Going up a whole step (Modulation mixing) (+2 on the Camelot wheel) (4A – 6A) (F Minor – G Minor) – This will raise the energy of the room. I like to call it “hands in the air” mixing, and others might call it “Energy Boost mixing”.

Playing the Dominant Key of the Relative Major / Minor Key (+1 on the Camelot Wheel and change the letter)(4A-5B or 5B-4A)(F Minor to Eb Major) – I’ve found this is the best way to go from Major to Minor keys and from Minor to Major because the scales only have one note difference and the combination sounds great

Playing the Sub Dominant key of the Relative Major / Minor Key (-1 on the Camelot Wheel and change the letter)(4B-3A)(A flat Major to B flat Minor) – This is similar to playing the Dominant key of the Relative Major or Minor key, and is another great way to transition between major and minor scales, since the scales are only different by 1 note, and also sounds really good harmonically.

It is important to note that the Camelot system is a simplified view of harmonic mixing, and assumes that the tracks being played are either at the same BPM, or that the DJ is using “Key Lock” or “Master Tempo” on the CDJ’s or DJ program they are using. Key Lock and Master Tempo keeps the original key of the track, no matter what the tempo its being played at. If key lock is not on, then every 6% (technically 5.94631%) change in speed will shift the key up a half step (example a track in C Minor played at 6% is now in C sharp minor).

In the past I would’ve advised against using key lock because you may lose a lot of bass and high frequencies in your tracks, and also get unwanted sound artifacts if your tracks are pitched up or down from their original speed. However recently Traktor Pro and Ableton Live 8 licensed the new Elastique Pro key lock algorithm that sounds amazing. With the new key lock algorithm, it is almost impossible to tell the difference in sound quality with key lock on or off. Since this was released I rarely turn key lock off when I am DJing in Traktor Pro.

There has been a lot of controversy in the DJ scene about Harmonic Mixing. Most people who are against it usually haven’t tried it themselves, and once they do are blown away by the results. Some common complaints from the Harmonic Mixing ‘haters’ are “I do it all by ear” or “I just go with the flow and play what sounds good”.

Well the truth is good DJ’s usually CAN do it by ear, but most of their good track combinations came from a lot of trial and error, and practicing. Technically speaking, there are 24 possible keys in western music (12 minor and 12 major), and out of the 24 keys, only 6 keys are harmonically compatible with any given key (4 are in perfect harmony and 2 are in reasonable harmony). So only 25% of all possible choices are harmonically compatible. This means that if you don’t know the keys of your tracks your probably going to waste 75% of your time looking for the “right track”.

In the new digital age, we are bombarded with so much music that we don’t have the time to go through every release and figure out what goes well with it. Using mixed in key makes it possible to intelligently and quickly pick tracks that go well together and will make your music world much smaller, which in this day in age is a good thing.

Sure, just because tracks are in key with one another doesn’t mean they will work at that moment, or work at all together. However, you will at least know what WON’T go well together. I’m not saying by any means to be a slave to harmonic mixing but it will at least present you with some great options and combinations of what WILL work harmonically. Then its just a matter of picking that track that fits the vibe, keeps the pace, tells the story and rocks the house!

DJ Endo – Live on Algorhythms – set in D minor [Radio Set - No Voiceovers] by DJ Endo

DJ Endo – Algorhythms in G Minor [Radio Mix] by DJ Endo

DJ Endo – Algorhythms in F minor [Radio Mix] by DJ Endo

DJ Endo – Algorhythms in A Minor [Radio Mix] by DJ Endo

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Free lessons on scales, roots notes, and more music theory topics discussed in the video, please check out musictheory.net

In the the first video, Endo breaks down how to use Traktor Scratch Pro with the Maschine hardware – click here to download DJ Endo’s settings for Maschine controller – or any MIDI keyboard or including your laptop. Endo also offers tips on creating your own MIDI settings, scrolling and previewing tracks, loading tracks, and also briefly touched on quantizing, synchronizing, key-point drumming, pitch-bending, and mixing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Traktor with Maschine Part 2, DJ Endo goes through the second and third row of pads: looping and triggering hot-cues; how to select loops, creating “maschine-gun” and other effects, setting markers and navigating through them (turning on/off quantize-mode for the “perfect beat”) Endo also touched on his “beat-jump” feature, skipping forward and backward, etc.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In Part 3, Endo touched on some of the coolest features in Traktor Pro and Traktor Scratch Pro (25 built in effects) and offers tips assigning and combining effects, manipulating and controlling them, tweaking the filter frequency, mangling beats and controlling gating, and switching “modes.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

The next two videos are about beat gridding in Traktor Pro, and DJ Endo covers everything  from setting your references for beat gridding to matching BPMs, creating grid markers, and using the Traktor’s synch button.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beatgridding in Traktor

Traktor Scratch Pro and Traktor Pro have proven to be the industry standard in DJ Software.  Traktor can help your DJ workflow tremendously depending on how much work you put into preparing your tracks.  Whether you are using Vinyl, CD’s, MIDI controllers, or even a mouse, Traktor has a very handy button called the “Sync” button.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The proper use of the Sync feature is commonly misunderstood in Traktor.  A common complaint with Traktor is “I press the sync button, and everything goes off.” This problem occurs because Traktor needs to know where the downbeats are in your tracks, as well as the speed (BPM) of your tracks. This is where beatgrids come into play. Beatgrids are the backbone of Traktor.

A Beatgrid is a series of Gridlines set across your tracks that mark the downbeats of your track, and tell Traktor the BPM of the track.

They are like Warp markers in Ableton Live, except setting a beatgrid in Traktor is much easier.  Once you set a beatgrid for your track, the BPM reading of your track will be accurate to the 1/1000th of a BPM, and if you are mixing it with another track that is beatgridded you can visually mix using Traktor’s Phase Meters.

Below is my method of beatgridding in Traktor. Some artists I’ve trained such as Victor Calderone, Dubfire and Nic Fanciulli use this method religiously for every track they play.

I would do all of your beatgrids in your headphones since the music is directly in your ear. I would also recommend doing beatgrids at home or on the flight to your gig, and not live at the gig.

1) Make sure Traktor’s Auto Beatmarker function is turned on by going to Preferences / File Management / BPM Detection Range / and turning on the option “Set Beatgrid when detecting BPM Range”. With this option enabled, Traktor will automatically set a beat marker in your track where it thinks the first downbeat is located. You also might want to change the BPM detection range to the Tempo (BPM) range that you usually DJ at.

2) Next you want Traktor to analyze your new tracks when you load them into a Deck. You will turn on this option by going to the Traktor Preferences / File Management and turning on the option to “Analyze New Tracks when loading into Deck”.  So, when you load a track into a Deck in Traktor for the first time, Traktor will Analyze the gain, transients, and BPM – and with the Auto Grid function turned on, it will place a beatmarker where it thinks the first downbeat is in the track.

3) To make sure you can hear Traktor’s Metronome over the track that you’re beatgridding, set Output routing to  “EXTERNAL” mode by going to the Traktor Preferences / Output routing and changing the output routing to “External”. Also make sure you have an output set for Deck A. For example, if you were using your built in output (Mac’s built in speakers or headphone output), I would set the output for Deck A to Output 1 and 2.

4) In the Traktor Preferences set the Mouse Control to “SNAP” mode by going to Preferences / Transport, and changing the Mouse Control Mode to “SNAP”. This will make it so you can click directly on the transients (kicks, snares etc) inside the track with your mouse. Also Make sure the option to Highlight Beatmarkers is turned on in Preferences / Global View Options

5) The next thing you will want to do is turn the “Cue” button on for Deck A on Traktor’s Mixer, and also turn the tick button on in the Master Panel. This will make it so you can hear a metronome over the track loaded in Deck A.

6) Next open your “Grid” panel in Traktor by clicking on the Arrow beneath the “Active” button in Deck A, and then click on the “Grid” button to open the Grid panel.

7) Now, load a new, unanalyzed track into Deck A in Traktor. When Traktor is finished analyzing the track, you’ll notice a white marker in the Track. This is your auto-beat marker. You’ll also notice a series of evenly spaced white lines across the track. This is your beatgrid. Each of these white lines is where Traktor thinks the beats are in the track.

8) Zoom in as far as possible on the waveform by using the + and – buttons in the deck. Click on the top waveform (in the deck) and click on the first kick drum in the Track with your mouse. You can sample the kick drum by clicking the mouse button and holding it. It is best to set your grid markers on the first beat of a bar.

9) Once you’ve found the first kick drum, set a 4 beat loop starting at this point by clicking on the number “4″ beneath Deck A.

Now click on the play button and listen to how the Metronome lines up with the Track.

10) While the loop is playing, you will want to shift the grid left and right with the top 2 MOVE GRID Buttons. This will shift the entire grid left and right. Keep moving the grid left and right until the metronome is perfectly in sync with your track. If you are new to doing beatgrids, I recommend shifting your grid far to the left and far to the right of the beat, so you can hear how it sounds when the tick is off beat, and then adjusting it back onto the beat – not unlike tuning a guitar. If you need to move the grid faster, you can hold the control button. In this step you are only using the TOP 2 Grid buttons. Do not touch the bottom 2 yet.

11) Now that you have the first 4 beats perfectly synchronized to your metronome, let the track play by clicking on the loop button (4). Now you are going to listen to see if the metronome stays on beat with the track as you skip forward in the track. If it does, then skip through the song by clicking on the waveform and listening at different points of the song to make sure its on beat, then skip to the end.

If the metronome is drifting off beat, listen to the track from the beginning and use the bottom 2 BPM INC / DEC buttons to make the grid lines closer or farther apart. This is also changing the BPM value. Usually for tracks you buy on Beatport you will not have to use the bottom 2 buttons. You will just need to shift the grid left and right, and maybe change the BPM from 127.999 to 128.000.

12) Now set a 4 beat loop at the end of the track, preferably on the last measure of the track that has percussion. Listen to how the metronome lines up with the last 4 beats. If it lines up perfectly, then you are done. If not, use the BPM INC/DEC buttons to compress and expand the grid until the metronome perfectly lines up with the last 4 beats. Now your BPM reading will be accurate to the 1/1000′th of a BPM. Usually if you’re BPM shows up as an even number like 128.000 this means that you don’t have to touch the bottom 2 grid buttons, and that you only need to shift the grid left and right.

13) Once you are done, and the metronome perfectly lines up with the track from beginning to end, click on the LOCK button to save the beatgrid to the track. This will save the beatgrid to the tracks ID3 information and will make it so if you send the track to another Traktor user, they will have your beatgrid, cue points, and loops inside the track. If you do not click the lock Icon, Traktor will still remember your beatgrid in your Traktor collection, but will not write the beatgrid to the actual track.

Now that you have a beatgrid set, you can use Traktor’s SYNC button to keep all of your tracks perfectly synchronized, and they will never go off beat, and all of your loops, and effects will be perfectly on beat.


Be sure to check out the first and third installments as well…

Be sure to download the special Traktor settings that Endo created for the videos so you can follow along.

Should we take the time to learn a software-specific piece of hardware, rather than focusing on open and freely configurable control surfaces that can be programmed however we want?

More than the APC40, Native Instruments’ Maschine strongly says ‘yes,’ and after some initial reluctance to go down that road I can now clearly see the benefits.  If you optimize an environment for a certain task you can improve your workflow and be more creative…resulting in less headaches and more fun with actual music making.  Of course, it’s also fun to spend your time building and inventing new devices and set ups, but ultimately we be better of getting started with making some music right away.

There is a lot to be said for having a dedicated and specialized controller for a specific task: Maschine shines when it comes to loop style midi recording in a grid/step environment.  It’s charm is all about eliminating too many options and focusing on the essential functions of midi programming while mapping them out to a well designed piece of hardware.  The software and plug-in complement the hardware, and they both not only replicate but enhance each other so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  This makes for an intriguing experience, and surmises what is novel about Maschine (whereas an APC is solely mirroring and controlling some functions of the software).  Generally some tasks can better be done with the software (computer) and some better with the hardware controller.

What musical tasks exactly are going to be easier or better done with Maschine than with Live and an APC?

Some of the uses are:

1)  MIDI control mode: as controller for Ableton, Battery, Massive, Traktor and more.  The knobs transmit MIDI CC messages.
2)  Pad control for impulse or drum racks in Live.
3)  Drum sequencer: Real time step recording and editing by using the pads for entry and display.
4)  Input quantization changeable to correct as you play.
5)  Sounds and effects: outstanding library for many styles, plus easy browsing and great sonic quality.
6)  Slicing: quantized or transient based.
7)  Automation: real time or by drawing using hard and software for unique sound design.

In MIDI control mode we can use Maschine as a controller to jam with clips and scenes, however we only have 16 pads, 8 knobs, and no crossfader, which will give us less immediate control. For that use I would prefer an APC, especially when working with a big set.  However Maschine is cool because it’s smaller and bus powered and offers many other functions all in one box.

Obviously there are the drum pads that have a great touch and track all the subtleties of live playing. Any MPC users will feel at home right away, and NI being a great sound design company, you get a superior drum library with a more intuitive and easier to use browser system than the one in Live. The value of better organization and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) with more visual feedback cannot be understated.  Like Traktor, the Maschine plug-in has a clean look and is easy to read.  You can use it as a more specialized production tool inside Live for hands on MIDI production (mainly drums, but not only).  Compared to the endless possibilities of Ableton, Maschine is all about gaining a better focus through simplification and strategic limitation: it basically is an eight-track sequencer which can use up to eight separate kits or instruments (groups).

In Maschine you get 8 instrument groups with 16 sounds, and 64 MIDI patterns can be associated with each group.  A pattern combined with a group in arranger is called a ‘clip.’  Songs are created with up to 64 scenes, with clips organized vertically for simultaneous playback. You can freely switch between them very much like in Live.  While a scene is running you can easily flip thru the patterns associated with each group.

Everything can be done with the illuminated pads very much like with the APC, except here the pads will display the MIDI content of the selected group as it occurs in real time, or as part of a step grid. This allows for a much deeper live interaction with the music than you would get with an APC (at least at this point).  Also, lets not forget that unlike with the APC or Launchpad you get touch sensitive pads, which allows for additional control possibilities using velocity and aftertouch.

I would use Maschine to do live MIDI programming and modification, while the APC and
Live’s session view would be better at playing clips in a big set or for control of effects and racks, as well as DJ style mixing/mashing.

Unlike with Ableton’s Drum Rack, a kit in Maschine is limited to only 16 individual pads; however you are not limited to one sample per pad.  A sound can use several samples that can be arranged across velocity layers for incredibly expressive results.  A really cool feature here is that a pad could also be played chromatically by switching to keyboard mode.  Used as such, every velocity layer would be mapped to a different key( at least as far as I know).

Another level of drum interaction is provided by the quantized Note Repeat function, which allows for 4 programmable preset stages set anywhere between ¼ to 64th notes.

When in record, it automatically writes the selected sound across the grid at a given quantization for accelerated beat programming.  This is particularly useful for adding live fills, translating pad pressure into volume intensity.

When it comes to adding swing Maschine also offers some interesting new concepts: there is group swing and master swing setting.  Individual controls for each instrument are applied as a percentage where 0% is straight, 50% is funky, and 100% pushes the notes all the way (nothing new there); however, it will let you apply that swing with different ‘cycle’ values (besides the typical 8th) which opens the door for experimentation with less mechanized or grooving feels.  Add to that the ability to invert the swing to create a push feel for some note values, and a lazy one for others, and you end up with a very innovative and detailed groove control system.  Nothing quite like Ableton’s groove pool though, and I wish I could export my MIDI to use some of their good stuff here, or let me import groove templates. I’m not complaining though.  Also, for each REX file you import a pattern will be created and added.

Maschine offers a good amount of detailed editing, including velocity (start, decay, cut-off, volume), pitch, sample start/gate/reverse/sustain, attack/hold/decay, amp and mod envelopes, variable LFOs with phase and sync, as well as multimode filtering.  You can record each parameter in real-time with the controller or the software.

Native Instruments is already known for interesting effects and great sounding filters; with Machine you can apply them both with inserts or auxiliary sends, and easily create automation tracks for every parameter as you play a track.  With real-time tweaking and the great overall sound quality, the mangling and transformation possibilities produce amazing results almost instantly. You can record real-time automation tracks as a part of each pattern. I really wish I could do that in Ableton to clip envelope automation instead of just using a pencil.

When it comes to integrating Maschine into Live, you should look at it almost as a parallel universe that coexists side by side with only a few bridges in between.  The most powerful one at this point (Version 1.1) is the ability to render a MIDI pattern into an audio clip in Live simply by drag dropping it from the Maschine plug in.

Individual group outs can be routed to separate tracks of course, however besides sync there is no MIDI CC integration provided at this point.  This might be frustrating when you don’t accept Maschine as a hardware/software environment, and only want to use it as a plug in. You really have to learn both the hardware and software usages if you want to get the best use out of this Instrument, well worth it since it will make some important things easier and better in the end.

The functions are generally very ergonomic and stripped down to the basic options required when making beats or other musical parts.  Eliminating extraneous options is the nature of the game when it comes to create an ideal workflow for studio or performance.  Like with an MPC, you can put together an entire track in no time in a very fluid and direct way – and it’s always fun to do.

For future updates I’m wondering if Native is going to open up Maschine’s automation for use with other controllers.  That would be a game changer for plug-in users.  MIDI file export or groove template import would also be a desirable addition… it might already be in the works for the next update, or so I hear.

Maybe NI doesn’t want to see the same thing that happened with KORE repeated, where many opted to go just for the software version and use other controllers, even though as a controller Maschine’s hardware generally has a lot more to offer than Kore.  NI’s main achievement lies in their innovative approach to integrating software and hardware in a very functional way, whereby the combination is more than the sum of its parts.  Here, most of the heavy lifting has already been done, as the conceptual groundwork has been laid and there seems to be a lot of interest both in the Ableton and NI communities to see more integration in the future.  For now, you will have to accept some limitations when using Maschine with Live.  Nonetheless, users get a superior setup to compose MIDI drums in a more hands-on way, and for MPC users this will be a no brainer thanks to the many parallels in functionality.  For Live users, in Version 1.1 we now are able to trigger scenes and sounds, either with program changes or notes. Sounds can be switched to ‘MIDI out,’ and may use other instruments instead of the built in sampler as sound sources.  But, this is also where the tricky part starts: when using Ableton as a host you have to use the VST plug-in (not AU) to get just one MIDI channel output routed. Still, you could easily trigger a Drum Rack loaded with synths or simpler/sampler drums when in piano roll mode… one note per instrument only of course.

Since Ableton is not able to transmit on more than one MIDI channel you might want to run Maschine in NI Kore, where you can use all 16 channels to play separate plug-ins across the entire keyboard, in addition to the Maschine samples.  This really seems to be the only way to go if you want full MIDI implementation, which Ableton by itself strangely lacks. However, Kore offers a formidable solution for that and many other tasks, a worthy topic in its own right: using Maschine in Kore for triggering plug-ins on multiple MIDI channels.

to be continued…

heinrichz

Of the free demonstrations, the first will be at the Apple Store in SoHo from 6:30 to 7:30pm, on 11.16, with Mike Henderson, aka DJ Endo.  He will be talking about digital DJing with Traktor.

The second will be on 12.7, at Dubspot, and cover the new Komplete 6 software bundle, NI’s all encompassing collection of their software offerings, as well as Machine.  A special host is TBA.

Dubspot will also be offering a comprehensive weekend workshop covering Traktor, which will run December 5th & 6th from 7 – 10pm, and a new Synthesis w/ Native Instruments course will begin soon as well.  Email info@dubspot.com for more details.