When I first learned about Traktor Pro’s new Quantisation feature and using loops, cue points with the master/sync I figured with the right midi controller and enough buttons this could be a really exciting but creative performance enhancement.

It basically rivals Ableton Live but allows more freedom with ‘on the fly’ track choices and easier browsing within Traktor rather than having to pre-plan an Ableton set beforehand.  I mean lets be honest, most Ableton DJ’s now probably only use 2 channels of full tracks and another two tracks to add samples and loops over the top. Well apart from the fact that in Ableton you could play live melodies and leads over the top of other tracks, in Traktor you can do all the same with the full 4 decks layout.

Making sure all your Trak’s have been ‘beat gridded’ just like ‘warping’ in Ableton, and the quantisation feature enabled, all decks sync’d up to the master tempo all that is left for you to do is go through each track and set up up to 8 cue points or loop points.

Now you just need to get yourself an Akai MPD32 with 4 pad banks of 16 pads (for 4 different decks maybe?!?!). The MPD32 also has 3 banks of other controllers, the 8 faders which you can map to volume levels, key, filters, and anything else left to map, but the 8 rotary knobs are perfectly aligned for the 2 FX units in Traktor Pro. With the MPD all mapped up, you can now mash away through your 4 decks of synchronised Trak’s on firm large pads, triggering your samples, loops and cue points all fully in time and quantised never missing a beat.

If this all sounds like mouth watering fun, let me tell you it doesn’t stop there. The MPD32 is the only controller to come with external sync, meaning you can open up a midi output to the MPD itself, send the master midi clock to it and the extra Note Repeat feature it has adds to the creativity of your performance. With the MPD32 also in sync you can now enable Note Repeat,  hold down a mapped pad to let’s say a cue point of a snare then select your time division of a quarter and hey presto you have an on the beat snare roll for the duration of the time you hold down the pad. You can then speed it up by decreasing the time division giving a stuttering buffered effect on that cue point (NB. the note repeat function will only work when a track is not playing).

Apart from this awesome feature-set, the MPD32 has lovely weighted faders, large grippable knobs and the illuminated LED colours just makes it look fantastic in a live club situation. So if you want to cue up for the MPD32, you can order it here from us at www.soundware.co.uk or give us a call on 0191 260 33 33 for more information.