[Giveaway] Share your TRAKTOR story and win timecode vinyl

Kaiwan_NI

Thanks for all the stories. So many different paths taken, all crossed at this intersection/on this very post! Interesting to see quite a few mentions of NAMM as well.

Keep them coming. 💿

dan1amad0r

I started DJing in 2005 and I didn't know how to do it. Until I found Traktor and I went crazy. How a software is able to simplify my workflow by adding features that enrich when I DJ.

I have been using traktor for many years. It has made my work easier when it comes to DJing in a simple way and without headaches. Thanks Traktor!

Greetings from Gran Canaria, Spain.

Sebastian.G

My beginning with Traktor is with FinalScratch 2 top top with Traktor DJ Studio 3

Then traktor Scratch (beta) with the Audio 8 card...

and now with the DJM Nexus + Traktor DVS

But also in CDJ + Traktor DVS, which I find perfect

and since 9 years with the DDJ SX controller + Traktor

Good Job & Happy Birthday...

Timothy Dwight

My story with traktor is all about how I started djing with it. My brother was a dj and he used to play with pioneer mixer, cdjs, and turntables, all hooked up to traktor using timecode. I remember watching him practice in the basement. I really didn’t care much about djing then. I’d just watched him out of boredom, and sometimes helped him carry his equipment to gigs. One day he asked me if I wanted to try what he was doing, and I said “sure”. And so I put my hands on dj equipment and he started explaining what the software was and how he was able to play whatever track he wanted on traktor from his itunes library (we had similar taste in music so it was cool to be able to mix in a track that I recognized from his playlist). This was back in 2011, when traktor was still at its first version. And here I am today, I’ve been djing for over 10 years, some gigs with my brother and many others by myself - and traktor is still the software I use daily. I love djing and performing and traktor has been part of this journey since I first used timecode cdjs and vinyl with it. Now I own a Z2 and X1 since 2017 and carry it around (along with turntables) with me at gigs.

Here’s a silly picture of my brother and I djing in Italy, and one of myself :) Ciaooo!

PZZO

My Traktor journey started about 18 years ago.

I was in high school, and I was a total Trance addict. Growing up in Canada in the early 00's, people were still completely ignorant to dance music sub-genres (wasn't it all "Techno"?!), so I pirated all my music on Soulseek. The chatrooms on there had DJs who hosted internet radio streams and live sets. As a kid, I was totally enamoured by what they did: I wanted to be like them.

Most DJs had huge vinyl collections and recorded straight off their mixers. I naively asked my parents if I could have DJ equipment and got totally rejected (lol), so I had to figure out something else. I found out some used DJ software to broadcast from their computers: at that moment, I pirated a copy of Traktor DJ Studio and that's where my "DJing" journey began.

I didn't have any tutorials to learn from - I just kinda figured out how to mix by clicking around with the mouse and realizing what sounded good (keeping the beats in sync, cross-fading tracks, starting on the '4', ...). That alone only got me so far, and people with actual equipment had the (basic) advantages of EQs, monitoring, and two hands!

Eventually I figured out how to emulate everything I needed from DJ equipment. I had keyboard shortcuts to increase/decrease the EQ and pitch-bend. I found an old 5.1 soundcard in my parent's garage and used the back speaker channels for the master output - front speaker channels as monitor - and used that to cue tracks. I then had a male-to-male speaker cable go from the soundcard and into the microphone jack of the motherboard, and used that to broadcast over the internet. In 2005, I streamed my first DJ set using this absolutely crazy setup with no proper equipment - just a keyboard, mouse, an old soundcard, and Traktor DJ Studio - and I was absolutely ecstatic. My alias was "blubmeister", and I mixed Trance music on Soulseek like that for 6 years.

In 2012, I graduated university and got my first full-time job. When my first paycheck arrived, I bought myself a Traktor Kontrol S4 MK1: my very own DJ equipment, and a legitimate copy of Traktor Pro 2.

Traktor has been absolutely monumental in my life. There's a lot of horrendous DJ industry trends these days (hardware-locks, subscriptions), but Traktor has always been - to me - the software that allows anybody to DJ. You could do it with literally anything at your disposal, and make it work with whatever workflow you want - even if it's just a keyboard and mouse. Nowadays I still run Traktor through DVS and an Audio 6 (but I play House music now), and I think I'm still gonna be a loyal customer for years to come. Thanks for everything!

Kaiwan_NI

@Timothy Dwight Love the pic with your brother! It's my brother who introduced me to DJing as well.

B. Miller

1996 is when two turntables, a mixer and a microphone entered my house. Technic SL1200's, and a not-too-desirable Numark mixer. Money would be saved and spent on many evenings and weekends crate digging. At that time there was no Youtube how-to's, so everything was self taught from blending to scratching (Ahhh learning the crab) to beat juggling. As with numerous (countless) number of albums, I recall when Krs-One dropped Step into a world (Rapture's Delight) in 1997. I would listen to that song, on a loop, seems like 24/7. Once a second copy was purchased, beat juggling became a main stay in my house. This goes out to DJ BK. I love you always and forever my brother! You were a master performer and a master DJ.

djapnrcpro

I go back with Traktor all the way back to the Traktor FS ( Final Scratch before that). In the early 90s when I was just getting my feet wet on my hip-hop journey I was exploring every part of the culture. This story has to do with the time that I went to an actual recording studio to record a rap song with my friend Rodney. The studio was called B.I.O.Y.A. (Blow It Out Your Ass) in Paterson, NJ. I remember being amazed with how the ADAT machines would sync up together. I asked the owner/engineer how that is done. He looked at me like i was nuts and said SMPTE then explained what it was. We were sampling some stuff for the song and i said to him, you know what would be amazing if we could record full songs like sampling them and then syncing them with that SMPTE code like if you fast forward and rewind as if a DJ was scratching. He looked at me like I was nuts. My argument was like... if there was a way to do that it would be awesome. The records wouldn't get beat up and long scratch sessions wouldn't degrade the quality at all. He blew me off and told me that he had like 10 seconds of sampling time and that wasn't an option. I wanted to argue with that guy but since he was charging me by the hour and I was a teenager paying for the session myself It was like 200 an hour I had to get in and get out of there within two hours so I left it alone.

Fast forward about 10 years later I was now a pretty popular DJ and music producer who got booked to play some gigs in Seattle and Portland back to back with DJ B Mello. We went to a record store because the local manager heard I was in town and wanted me to stop by. His name was Kippy. I saw on display this pre-release version of Final Scratch and I lost my ******! I started screaming at B-Mello and saying.... Dude! This is what I was talking about for years and explained to him that this is going to be the future. Regardless of even testing it or anything I ordered it IMMEDIATELY. 0You have to remember at this time all of us DJs used vinyl in clubs and some of us were purists and wouldn't even go near a CD player at a gig because it wasn't "real". All through those early years of being in record pools and getting service directly from the labels, I would ALWAYS ask for vinyl AND CD copies of every promo they sent me. Most DJs at the time threw away the CD singles and kept the vinyl. I was preparing for the future and the future was in that record shop!

Final Scratch had it's flaws but the idea was monumental. When NI partnered with Stanton and made Traktor FS software it definitely improved the workflow but the sound quality was terrible. Next Came the true FINAL SCRATCH 2. That one was a game-changer. It was around the time when Serato was gaining traction but me being the nerd that I am, I used Final Scratch as my primary DVS system. That had its benefits and its flaws. One time I made the horrible mistake of updating my Traktor software right after I got off the airplane and hit my hotel room before a major gig at a huge nightclub in Seattle and my crates "disappeared" That was a terrible experience, to say the least, but I got through it battered and bruised but still made it work. Lesson: Don't upgrade software while you are exhausted right before a gig! Also, trying to set up a Serato Box and Traktor Box (without a soundcheck) on the same mixer wasn't the best Idea either. A story for another day!

Anyway... in 2011 NI sent me a Traktor Pro system with the AUDIO 8 interface. Even though I was using Serato more by then I was blown away by the sound quality and reliability of the newest version at that time. To me, Traktor is STILL the superior of the two sonically but as technology progressed Serato started to get more like Traktor in its complexity and functionality. Traktor had all these features almost 20 years ago. If Traktor was adopted more in nightclubs here in the US I think even more people would have been using it. Technology has caught up and new generations of digital DJs, especially electronic DJs really have gravitated towards Traktor.

I recently found my original install disc for FS and it made me reminisce. Shout to NI for all the things that you do for the DJ and Producer community. I am grateful for the tools and artist support that you have provided me over the years.

DJ A.P.

NRC PRODUCTIONS

#therealDJAP

Vinncredible

Happy 20 YEARS NATIVE. Glad to pre-read so many DJS and their come up stories. My Origin into TRAKTOR DJ all started with a trip to a family cookout, prior I was a strictly Vinyl/CD DJ. This particular day opened my eyes to gravitate towards something new many years ago. My cuzz'ns were using what was explained then, time code vinyl and a laptop with all songs to use while DJing. After a few minutes of watching them manipulate the usage of its program. I had a moment to shine, and step behind the deck and spin various tunes with out changing the record. LOL ~ After a few minutes, I enjoyed what I experienced and began to prep myself to own my own Tracktor set up. In a matter of months I obtained my own Traktor software and timecode vinyl and was @ it daily to master its usage and various features. Needless to say as time grew in digital skills, I also then discovered NATIVES MASCHINE Sketchpad app in iTunes. That began my production journey into creating tracks. (Some are featured on my Soundcloud page) Soon after, I went ahead and purchased the MASCHINE Studio DAW to expand my ideas. The fun didn't stop there, I discovered I can fuse the 2 as one, TRAKTOR & MASCHINE... The creative journey is endless with NATIVE products. Keep 'em coming!!

Grant Forrester

Although I’ve spent my entire life being involved in music on some way, the last 10 years or so has seen me change focus to raise a family. Slowly but surely the time to make music disappeared, but it was always there in the back of my mind - if only I could find the time! Then the pandemic hit us. I had a job in a school so still had to work all through every lockdown, but my children stayed home, as did me and my wife when work was over. We had to find ways to get through this. I needed an outlet for the tension of working during that time and then some friends started putting on zoom/dj parties. It seemed perfect. I got a preowned S2 controller and all of a sudden I was back! Everything I wanted to do came through this little box. I could lose myself and find myself all at once. It was everything I needed, and I haven’t stopped since.

Dj Michael

Hello everyone,

I'm Michael and I started djing at the age of 13. Since then I'm playing at cafes, parties & clubs in my country and around the world. Also, I started producing music at the age of 16 and keep going till now! 

I'm a music lover and as I say most of the time "everything is a remix in my life" 

Good luck everyone,

Michael! 

Dj Pala

My name is Tamas Palanszky, alias Dj Pala, live in Hungary and used to be a DJ since 20 years or more now. I have been using Traktor since 5 years, my colleagues told me to use it as makes my performance much better, and the I see, it works. I can forget my CD-s, pendrive, vinyl and able to create something unique as before. The main adventages I won on this change the less bags I need to bring, super easy to find any song in the most stressful time when it is only 20 seconds left, playlists for the different shows, prepare list for the requests instead of using paper or a word document. My performances were better and better when I have started to use the loops, different CUE points, the remix decks, musician key change, and now the colors, these are very good benefits.

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Nilesh Parmar

It all started in the 90's baby!

DJing from the age of 17 in my mate's attic, with one CD player and one belt-driven vinyl deck. I then took this hobby to pubs and clubs with a DJ agency in Newcastle whilst studying graphic design at Newcastle University. After leaving, I worked in the commercial sector for the likes of Tiger Tiger and Yates and then got the chance to do a Ministry of Sound Big Tunes event at the legendary Majestyks in Leeds. From here, I made the Ministry of Sound tour roster in 2005 and left the agency.

Whilst DJing from venue to venue, I noticed that each venue's DJ equipment was battered, sticky and sometimes unusable. CDs were also becoming unrealiable. Then comes along Traktor S2. This was a game changer for me and I have never looked at the competition just due to the pure ease of using this controller.

Along the way, this took me to support Bass Hunter at the BBC Radio 1, One Big Weekend in Kent a Dance Nation arena tour in the UK and Ireland and gave me a number 2 compilation album in early 2009 with Big Tunes Ignition which sold over 80,000 units. 

I now DJ with the Traktor S3 controller in Industria and Canvas in Mansfield and a few corporate events throughout the year.

I can't imagine DJing without my trusty laptop and DJ controller. Thank you Native Instruments for the journey to enable me to make this a career.

Kaiwan_NI

@Dj Michael said:

"everything is a remix in my life" 

That's such a good motto ngl

MozB

I started my Dj Journey at the age of 13 in 1987. I was at the local youth club using a twin turntable. i learned to mix on 2 hifi turntables that had pitch bend. i use vinyl as mush as i can then i bought and A6 with vinyl control about 3 years ago and that was it i was hooked to traktor. that carrying creates of vinyl is not long gone but using both medias is so much easier in life and my back lol