After years on the software side of DJing, it appears that Native Instruments is finally producing its own DJ controller. Richies got a new toy to play with and we want one too! Here he is trying it out last week in Berlin @ Saturday Adventure Club and we’d imagine he used this at the Contakt show too. No news on a release date yet.

excerpt from djtechtools.com

“In this video he is using:

2 of the new controllers for FX and loops

+ 1 Maschine (for  sample triggering)

+ 1 analog mixer for levels and EQ

= A modular FX/transport controller  for Traktor Pro?

Normally Ritchie uses the Allen & Heath Xone 3D, and it looks like these two NI controllers may make a good replacement for the now aging Xone 1D. It might also be very useful for people with two deck controllers who need extra control over one more deck or the additional FX units in Traktor 1.2. Don’t hold your breath on a release date; this is an early teaser with no word on when it will hit shelves, so chances are high it won’t come out until some time next year.“

Also here is an amazing video of Richie Hawtin during his 7hr set! at Time Warp Mannheim 2009 this year. Here he is messing round using NI’s Maschine. Only he could pull this off, he’s the most hands on dj going!

What a gig, oh I hope there’ll be another contakt show again! ILT 2008 was good but this was better. The Visuals were amazing as always but where it really beats all other shows was the sound. Brixton is a massive venue and at some points if you looked up, you’d actually think the gig was outdoors because you couldn’t see the roof, and the sound travelled brilliantly throughout. We always feel that if the bass makes your nose tickle than you know its a good soundsystem! It was full but quite easy to get up the front if you wanted. Bizarrely they had no smoking area so there was at first a massive queue of people waiting to get out for a smig. But by the end of it, everyone was smoking inside, nobody gave a fook! The music certainly seemed more techno than the show at ILT2008 but i could be wrong. Federico Maurizi and Barem as support acts were great too. Here are some vids i got on the phone, there suprisingly ok actually! But i’m a retard as i brought my camcorder this time only for the thing to die on me as i walked in the door.  Grrrr!!

The lads over at Resident Advisor have up a pretty interesting interview with Richie about his upcoming contakt show at London’s Brixton Academy, Hitting 40, the months ahead and obviously a lot of talk about M_nus. Tis a good read, here are some extracts…

“You have one more Contakt show coming up in London. Why did you decide to do it again this year?

Well, we had so many emails from people who didn’t get to see the show. So we decided to do just one more, just to please some of those people. Also, at the same time, it’s just to kind of have another time all together. We had so much fun last year, but in a way it was so crazy and busy putting the event together that we only realized how much we were having after. So we sat back and said why don’t we do one more this year and really enjoy it maybe as much as we should’ve last year.

We’ve also been working on a documentary called Making Contakt, which will be previewed at the ICA in London the day before. We wanted to show everybody how long and how much planning it took to do a show like that. And then do one more show the next night to kind of celebrate that, and then put it to rest.”

I hesitate to mention it, but you’re almost 40. Is there a temptation to sit down and take some time out, think about what’s next? Looking at your DJ schedule over the next few summer months, I’d guess not. It looks pretty ridiculous.

My DJ schedule is always ridiculous in the summer, but honestly the fall schedule is lighter than it has been in years, as I need some time to focus on the upcoming projects for 2010. Am I taking time off to slow down? No, I’m taking time off to actually put some time into some other things that I don’t find time to do right now. And being nearly 40…I actually honestly just can’t wait to get over 39 and get into 40 because I’m really excited about that.

Read the full article here

Pete Tong goes to Berlin to meet the creators of Traktor (Native Instruments) and their best buddy Richie Hawtin. Richie talks in depth about the first time he saw a computers potential with mp3’s way back in 1999 to the day himself and friends split ways over arguments about digital vs vinyl. He also talks with excitement about new NI products such as their Drum machine (Maschine) and its capabilities along with his excitement for a few upcoming shows, in particular his b2b set with Ali Dubfire at Exit and playing alongside Josh Wink who also uses Traktor on the Cocoon terrace in early August. (Wish I could see that!)

Anyway its a great listen with a few ok tracks thrown in between. Enjoy!