I’ve been experimenting with different DJ set ups lately, to see how I can best utilise what the digital revolution has to offer.
Recently, I purchased a Behringer BCD2000 to midi control Serato and Ableton. Not the standard use for the product but I think it works fantastically, without latency issues and it's heaps easier to configure for midi than my Ozonic keyboard
I use the BCD2000 to trigger loops and samples in Ableton as well as midi control Serato. The result is that with a mixer, laptop and BCD2000 I can dj with Serato and add anything I want (loops and samples) over the top with Ableton, including a mic heavily ladened with effects to make vocoder and swooshing noises. Lots of fun, let me tell you!!!
So for the record - the BCD2000 – My thoughts on a cheap as chips midi controller with dj software package
HARDWARE
FADERS: Smooth, light and responsive
PITCH ADJUST: Weighted to replicate turntable style which was a nice surprise
KNOBS: Functional but lacking clear indicator of where they are pointing to
BUTTONS: A little plasticey but fine and functional. Not as smooth as buttons on my DJM600
INPUTS: Lacking rear phono/line channel for Channel A. BIG MISTAKE. This means you can plug two turntables in but not two CDJ’s
SOFTWARE:
ADDING SONGS: Very quick. I added 883 songs in a few minutes with one click
LOADING SONGS: Also very quick for waveform to display
SCROLLING: Using jog wheel was effective. Some apparent slippage at points
CUE: Simple, intuitive and easy
PITCH ADJUST: Hard to make fine tune movements
PITCH BEND: Needs some getting used to. Fortunately jog wheel % movement is adjustable
MIXING: Found this difficult. Maybe some time to and adjust get feel will make this easier
EQ’s: TERRIBLE!!! Mid range controls too much of the frequency range and is way too sensitive.
LOOPING: This works well, but beat mixing your loops with another track was difficult
FX: Only used the filter thus far and was effective. It’s possible to load other external FX
STABILITY: Ran fine on my DELL 9300 with 100gb HD and 1gb RAM
MIDI:
This is what I bought it for, and like the BCF and the BCR it works well. Assigning midi learn functions in Ableton as well as Bome’s MT was easy. Using the same buttons to control pitch bend and pitch adjust in Serato was infinitely more easy to keep a mix in time that using the BDJ software. I use the jog wheel to scroll through my crates in Serato. The knobs are assigned to ableton to control channel volume and delay wetness and feedback. The buttons trigger play samples and scroll through scenes.
SUMMARY:
I’ll be using the BCD to midi control Serato and Ableton. For this I think it’s a great midi-controller. Lots of knobs for different things. The BDJ software is toy-like and maybe a great place to start if you have a laptop.
For the price it’s a great gadget with many and varied uses. I’ll be getting my value for money for sure!
Link to a mix i did with Serato, Ableton, a DJM600 and the BCD2000 as a midi controller:
http://waxdj.com/djs/2422/
