Is it possible to DJ for four hours using a single ipod?

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I've got one as backup in case my laptop screws up, the way I see it I have the following options:

- Burn a few cds and mix from a song on the ipod to a song on the cd then back again and so on.

- DJ using all cds. One to another then another and so on.

- All Djing on laptop (this is what I'm hoping for but my laptop is a wild beast who will skip on a whim).

But my query is, can you play a full set using just an ipod? I mean play one song, and queue the next up and have the crossfade thing switched on - also does an ipod have a crossfade function and is it any cop?

I understand you can create playlists on itunes beforehand and simply play them but this limits how much I can chop and change throughout the night so I don't really fancy that.

I've just borrowed my girlfriend's mini ipod (4gb capacity) tonight so I'm new to this whole ipod thing - and I'm already cursing itunes for slowly demolishing my pc. For context, I'm djing for a bunch of 35+ gay gentlemen tomorrow night (as detailed in this thread: I have been asked to DJ at a clubnight for the mature gay gentleman, help me with a playlist.). A quick easy guide to this would really help. And happily, the promoter doesn't really know shit all - he said he wanted to hear Cliff Richard and Boy George but when I met up to test the equipment I played a bunch of of hi-nrg (Outrage, Flirts, Bobby O) and the 7ft viking pre-op transsexual who'll be working the door, and his boyfriend, raved about it so that's what'll be going down in downtown Manc tomorrow night. Hurrah.

― Affectian (Affectian), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:41 (twenty years ago)

no crossfader on my model at least

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

unless you have pre prepared playlists with cross fades, no you can't.

i once played at a party and both the turntables stopped working and all i had was an ipod. there would be a slight (annoying) pause between every song. this girl came up after about an hour and said 'i feel i have to tell you this, but you are undoubtedly the worst dj i have ever heard'. ha ha!

― stirmonster (stirmonster), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

yeah, apple really needs to come out with a crossfadeable ipod.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:50 (twenty years ago)

Ah balls, I thought the crossfade function was an inbuilt feature.

― Affectian (Affectian), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

the last time i dj'd, i used a laptop that i'd imported a few hundred songs onto. i created a new playlist, put the crossfade on, and then dragged songs into the playlist throughout the night.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

If iPod is ever good enough for a DJ tool (cueing up with wheel, phrase/loop sampler, etc.), I'm sure they'd sell a billion more...

more long term, you might want to look into Final Scratch, pricey but seems worth it, and alot of clubs/bars are starting to buy them.

― milney gauzem (dr. t), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

xpost. That's precisely what I intend to do but I've had problems in the past - the laptop royally screwing up and doing milisecond long pauses in the middle of songs. I need a backup in case this happens again. I hope the ipod would wash all worries away but instead all I've got is a system bogged down with that fuckawful itunes program.

Winamp's crossfade function is good enough for this type of thing (fairly small bar, medium size dancefloor). If I get fancy then I'll suss out Final Scratch and DJSS and them other ones.

― Affectian (Affectian), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

Tip: burn a few CD's with "blocks" of 4 pre-crossfaded tracks. If the regular stuff fails, you can juggle with those, with the advantage that in the worst case you only have a pause every 4 tracks.

― Siegbran (eofor), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 20:16 (twenty years ago)

That's a great idea. What program would you recommend? I've used something called Mixmeister Pro 4 in the past to do something similar but ended up with a few skips/glitches on the resulting cd.

― Affectian (Affectian), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

http://webbeatz.de/Newz/images/musikmessewow8.jpg

― SRS (SRS), Wednesday, 29 June 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

Pretty prototype, but I don't see any pitch control.

― Rob Uptight (Rob Uptight), Thursday, 30 June 2005 02:46 (twenty years ago)

If you can get another iPod, you can run both of 'em through a mixer and 'fade' tracks in and out by reducing the volume on one while increasing it on the upcoming track. Pretty low budget, and there's no hope of beatmatching, but I've done it and it worked out OK.

― cdwill, Thursday, 30 June 2005 04:00 (twenty years ago)

yeah, apple really needs to come out with a crossfadeable ipod.
-- jaymc (jmcunnin...) (webmail), June 29th, 2005 8:50 PM. (jaymc) (link)

ok, this reminds me:

is there some kind of software that can determine the BPM of a given set of songs, then create a playlist of a given length based on a pattern of accelerating-then-decelerating BPMs????

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 30 June 2005 04:09 (twenty years ago)

xpost re. that picture: i like the idea of dj's trying to execute daring, dramatic scratches using only that little "wheel" on the front of the ipod. like doing a scratch with their little finger, then spinning around in place for a while to make up the slack.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 30 June 2005 04:10 (twenty years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4637575.stm

Check that out Affectian.

― FranklinT, Thursday, 30 June 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Ah thanks, this 'ipod mixer' that was briefly mentioned suonds interesting. I agree with most of it too, even Mylo at the end - it's all about the *right* choice of song above all else (with the stuff I play anyhow).

― Affectian (Affectian), Thursday, 30 June 2005 15:02 (twenty years ago)

this girl came up after about an hour and said 'i feel i have to tell you this, but you are undoubtedly the worst dj i have ever heard'. ha ha!

That's pretty bad, but I have so much worse. One time I was Djing and this girl came up and asked if I needed help. Like, in a very empathetic way.

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Thursday, 30 June 2005 15:08 (twenty years ago)

For cueing stuff up on the fly with an iPod, use the "On The Go" playlist, by highlighting a song on the menu, then pressing and holding the center button. The drawback is that you can't change your mind once you've made a selection, so it's best not to get more than a couple of songs ahead of what's playing.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 30 June 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)

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