In an industry that seems constantly drifting toward more of the same, it takes some effort to dig in and find unique and useful controllers. The difficulty of further perfecting the workflow around two decks and a mixer is being realized by bother manufacturers and consumers as more modular setups and touch based controllers enter the market. While neither of those options have been perfected, they are being toyed with in more interesting ways than the past few years have shown us.The interesting thing to me about DJing these days is the ability to craft my own workflow. It is, in fact, what I spend the majority of my time focusing on when I get a new controller or software. Molding a new method with a standardized set of decks (two platters, two or four faders, and a bunch of buttons and knobs) can be interesting, but eventually they all just seem to feel the same. Enter the QuNeo.

One of the heavily rumoured and accidentally leaked launched at NAMM 2012 were the new Rane mixers. Yes mixers plural as the baby Sixty-One and Sixty-Two 2 channel mixers were properly uncovered, rather than accidentally appearing on Instagram. We surrounded DJ Big Wiz as he gave us a complete walkthrough both mixers. Video after the jump.

Numark and Akai seem to have finally got that the iPad is a useful tool for DJing, provided it has some matching hardware. We've seen the iDJ Pro earlier this week, but the Akai MPC Fly was finally seen at NAMM. I was simply a non-functioning prototype kept in a glass cage, but we happened to be in the right place at the right time to get a demo of the actual app from the developers at Retronyms.

I know I have a heap of NAMM stuff to get through, but taxes come first. This story however is just too hot to miss. You know that Simon Cowell? Well he's decided to turn his attention from singers, acrobats and dancing dogs and try to find the next logical star. Yes, he's on the lookout for DJs. God help us.

It has become a bit of a tradition to nicely ask or give no choice to DJ VIPs to pose with the the famous, if not legendary skratchworx picture disk. This year was no exception when I crossed paths with the king and crown prince of the controllerism scene. Moldover is the acknowledged godfather and inventor of the name, and Ean Golden carries the torch for the growing scene.

Reader Ashley writes: “I’m suffering from ‘DJ’s block’. I have lost my creative edge when mixing. I mix quite a few genres as not to pigeonhole myself and like to play non-commercial tunes: urban, dance, d’n'b etc. But when practising or just jamming at home I am finding this happens to me a lot..." »

Have you ever dreamed of playing in another state or even country? I’m sure you have. It’s a dream practically every DJ out there has the moment they get on the decks. And it's not as hard as you might think... »

For many DJ, the most exciting thing about having a DJ app on their iPad is the idea that the unit can be used as an “extra deck”, plugging in alongside a normal DJ set-up for adding an extra audio source, rather than as an all-in-one DJing solution. TraxPad is an iPad only app which does just that. »

In the last two parts, we looked at setting up your accounts and customising your pages on both Facebook and Twitter. In this part, we'll look at getting your mix ready for promotion by uploading it to a free mix hosting service. »

Having had a transatlantic flight to think through all the stuff we saw, filmed, wrote about and played with on the NAMM floor, here are out top five things that we think every DJ needs to know about from NAMM 2012. »

It’s been almost two and a half years since the last DJ TechTools key detection software comparison. Times have changed and the software has moved on, so we took a fresh look at the capabilities of Mixed in Key, Rapid Evolution, and Beatunes-... Read more

Beatport seems set on becoming a hub for DJs with today's launch of a remix contest platform called Beatport Play.  This new dedicated site features songs from top-tier talent like Steve Aoki and enables budding producers to get their work on a... Read more

Today Simon Cowell announced he will be producing a new show in the search for great talent: DJ X Factor.  Following the success of the first season of X Factor, Simon shifts his focus with the help of Will Smith to what he calls "the new breed of... Read more

It’s been another wild year at one of the largest trade shows in the industry, and over the last few days, myself and the entire DJTT editorial team have been hard at work bringing you the latest and greatest from the convention floor. NAMM is... Read more

Native Instruments had a party last night to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Traktor, and there they unveiled their powerful new version of Traktor as well as the new piece of hardware we've been waiting to learn more about, the Traktor Kontrol... Read more

In the second part of our NAMM 2012 coverage we go deeper with Moog Music, Akai, and Buchla to get the inside scoop on some hot new music products. In addition we explore some new gear and videos from Waldorf, SONiVOX, Mackie and Kurzweil.

Monday January 30th from 7-930pm EST, production luminary Hank Shocklee (Bomb Squad, Public Enemy) and dubstep / bass producer FaltyDL will talk about workflow with Reason and discuss the new Balance audio interface.

Dubspot's Alex Burkat catches up with Loco Dice at Pacha in NYC to discuss growing up in Tunisia, the vocals on "Pimp Jackson is Talking," New York as a second home, and how he got his alias.

In this video, Dubspot Instructor, DMC World Champ, producer and demanding critic of sandwiches DJ Shiftee shares one of his most prized possessions - his Maschine mapping file for Traktor!

In our latest video series Road Test -- dedicated to road testing portable electronic music performance and production tools and gear -- Dubspot Instructor, DJ and producer Abe Duque takes various music equipment out of the comfort of the studio

Need some new headphones? Want some bright white ones that will stand out in a dark venue? Numark introduced its new set of DJ-style headphones appropriately dubbed the Electrowave.read more

Attention iPad DJs: Numark introduced iDJ Pro, a professional DJ controller designed to expand your iPad’s touch interface, seamlessly integrating with Algoriddim's djay for iPad app.read more

Make more mashups on the go -- Waves Audio Musicsoft Arts collaborated on Mashup, a new iPad app that lets you play and mix directly from your iPad music library as well as download exclusive trackread more

Expanding its lineup of iOS apps and tools, IK Multimedia has introduced the iRig Mix, a mobile mixer for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.read more

Soon, IK Multimedia will be launching yet another iOS app -- DJ Rig.read more

Music is deeply tied up with motion; seeing that in a machine is somehow satisfying. Soundmachines, from the enigmatically-titled Berlin studio TheProduct*, is an interactive physical installation made from optical turntables. By moving the “tone arm” – really in this case an optical sensor attached to an extended mount – you can change rhythms and … Continue →

Continuing our insight into this view into electronic music performance and art through the lens of BodyControlled in Berlin, we’re joined by guest writer Kristin Trethewey. Kristin, a Canadian-born video artist and curator, takes another look at LEAP and BodyControlled, on the eve of its second installment. She gets straight at the question of what … Continue →

Alex Nowitz for BodyControlled #2 from CDM on Vimeo. Electronic media artist Mario de Vega (Mexico City/Berlin) says his work plays with the creation of “unstable systems.” As part of the official Vorspiel, or lead-up, to Berlin’s massive Transmediale festival, here we get to visit two artists working with the materiality of live performance, drawing … Continue →

When we say “handmade music,” we really mean this sense of crafting something , of touching something – not so much the technique or the technology as the intention behind what you do. In a striking film portrait of Nick Zammuto for nakedmusicians.com, the craft of living is spotlighted as much as the craft of … Continue →

At last, you, too, can achieve great mastering. Mastering – a step by step guide to good sound by monolake Sadly, as Robert Henke concedes: i still think it needs to be louder and it lacks dynamics and punch. I STILL THINK IT NEEDS TO BE LOUDER AND IT LACKS DYNAMICS AND PUNCH! It’s like … Continue →

We here over at Beatport are long overdue in extending honors to one of the most crucial figures in dance-music culture: the promoter—the person whose vision creates a local outlet for fans to come together to celebrate the music they love. The culture wouldn't even exist without their support. Without the sounds and sights soaked up locally, today's producers and DJs would be without one of the most crucial sources of inspiration. In order to uncover the story behind producers' passions, we're reaching out. The first stop in our journey lies in Beatport's own backyard, in Denver, Colorado. Nicole Cacciavillano is head of Denver's biggest and best-known dubstep entity, Sub.Mission. Her events attract hundreds of party-goers with popular acts like Flux Pavilion, Borgore, Excision, and Datsik, while also servicing the most rigid dubstep die-hards with sounds from Hatcha, Distance and Appleblim. As they come up on their their fifth anniversary, we caught up with Nicole to see what it is that lies behind Sub.Mission's success. Read more on Beatportal

No one can deny that visuals and audio are intrinsically linked, and Fybe:one (aka Greg Haynes) is a brilliant, nay, blinding example of exactly that. Weaving his contemporary tapestry of graphic design and dreamtronic leftfield bass on his debut Harp EP, Fybe:one is turning the heads of both future-music fans and hip young professionals looking to spruce up their surroundings. Lucky for us, Fybe:one had a few minutes to answer some questions on where he is, how he got there, and where he plans to go! Read on, and while you're at it, check out his picks for January here. Read more on Beatportal

Tune in to Beatport Live today at 3pm MST (5pm EST / 22:00 GMT) as Ronski Speed takes trance to another level, live on our Ustream channel. The German DJ and producer has been a staple of the scene for nearly a decade now; check out his recordings for labels like Euphonic, Armada Music and Magik Musik on Beatport here, and catch our full archive of exclusive sets--including sessions from Gramatik, Moguai, and Morgan Page--at ustream.tv/beatport. Read more on Beatportal

We turn our attentions to the fringes of dance music—that nameless realm ("bass music" notwithstanding) where elements of house, techno, dubstep, hip-hop and more are dissolving into each other, resulting in a volatile fusion that tests the very definition of club music. El Kid (Sam Kidel) hails from the same Bristol scene that brought us Vessel, another of our Artists To Watch for 2012. The pair recorded a collaborative mini-album, in fact—VeElSkSiEdL—and both have released EPs on Left_Blank, the left-field label run by Ross Tones (aka Throwing Snow); along with Jabu, Kahn and Zhou, they make up Young Echo, a DJ/radio collective with links to labels like Punch Drunk and Immerse. El Kid's stumbling rhythms and grainy synths-and-samples interplay find companionship in the distressed sonics of artists like Shackleton, Actress, and Kassem Mosse, but describing his sound is ultimately more difficult than detailing his connections. That's one of its great pleasures, of course. Read on for a brief interview with the artist. Read more on Beatportal