Djay for Mac. Don’t Break Your Back

How chuffed was I when I found out that the Germans have perfected a DJing app for the Mac that works with iTunes, and feels like your spinning vinyl!

I used to Dj for fun not so long ago – things like birthdays, house parties and the odd bar. Since moving away from my record collection; which is still crated up in my garage in London, I’ve really missed my decks and the experience of mixing. What I don’t miss is lugging 100 odd records half way across town and back. Thats where DJay caught my attention.

The first thing I noticed was the interface – more like what I was used to when using the real thing. This looks more like a DJ app than a technical sound engineering program. Also, having your entire iTunes library ready to go means bye bye to heavy record or CD cases.

A killer feature is the ability to use your MacBook trackpad to perform scratching, backspins and crossfader cutting. The software can also be paired to a USB hardware controller, although at the moment Algoriddim say that only the Vestax VCI-100 and VCM-100 are supported fully. I’m hoping they will add support for simpler and less expensive kit soon.

I’ll be playing with Djay and posting some mixes created using the software soon. So far it seems stable and responsive. What stands out for me is that you have to use your skill to mix – not rely on auto BPM and cueing functions. Oh, and did I mention it only costs €39.99!