Even though many DJs have an insatiable desire for new music, the Internet is so awash with listening and downloading options that without direction, you could fritter away many hours of screening music without netting anything to use in your sets. While everyone has favorite recording artists, there are many online tools that will help you keep up with those artists and find new music in similar styles that you’re likely to enjoy. We pulled together the music discovery habits of several DJ Tech Tools contributors to compile a list of sites and tips that is sure to keep you flush with usable new tracks. You may already know and use at least some of these, but a more well-rounded and complete routine will definitely keep you covered with all the new tunes you can handle.

INTERNET STREAMING

A lot of traditional Internet radio sites, such as KCRW.com, simply mirror or archive their companion terrestrial radio shows, but can still be a reliable source for quality new music. However, more innovative and dynamic Internet music streaming services are out there.

Pandora is a free Internet radio service that will customize an ongoing playlist according to whatever artist or song title you feed it. So if you type in the Bloody Beetroots, for example, you’ll get their songs and others that are determined to be good for fans of the Bloody Beetroots, such as Boys Noize, The Toxic Avenger, Justice, etc. Pandora uses the Music Genome Project — an ambitious effort started 10 years ago — to analyze up to 400 musical attributes and find songs compatible with each other. Give chosen songs the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to further personalize your station. You can access the service at Pandora.com or on their popular iPhone/iPod Touch app. However, Pandora is not available in every country.

Spotify.com, although currently only available in select European countries, is a downloadable app that lets you stream just about any music you want over the Internet for free. You create your own playlist or browse by genre. Listening to the music offline requires a membership with a monthly fee.

THE BLOGOSPHERE

This might be a little bit of nepotism, since DJ Tech Tools is itself a blog, but let’s face it: blogs have really taken over the mantle of influence when it comes to electronic music over the last few years. Because there are many thousands of music blogs, we won’t recommend single ones, but rather the aggregators and search engines.

For searching DRM-free MP3s that have been posted to blogs, we love Skreemr.com. The simple, Google-inspired homepage lets you search for music by song title, artist or album. Type in an artist name and hit the Similar Artists search button for a very comprehensive and accurate list. As an example, a search for artists similar to Joakim brought up a list of 100 other artists, many of whom we already knew, but also many other quality producers who were knew to us. Clicking any of those artist links takes you to a ranked list of MP3s available from blogs. You can play and download tracks straight from Skreemr, or link to the blog that posted it. Use the Advanced Search from Skreemr’s homepage to search for music by genre.

Perhaps the most commonly used site across all the Tech Tools peeps is The Hype Machine, or HypeM.com. This MP3 blog aggregator lists songs as they appear in associated blog posts, and you can listen to the tracks right there, link to the original blog post, or search for music by keyword. If you want to cut straight to what’s poppin’ off in the blog-o-verse, you can listen to the Hype Machine’s monthly radio show of hot tracks, hit the Popular tab for the most listened to tracks over the last three days, or check the most tweeted music on it’s Twitter charts. One tip for the Hype Machine is to save your favorite searches as an RSS feed. Say you discover a new remixer and search for him on the Hype Machine. In the Search Results bar, click the RSS button, which will lead you to an option to save that search in an RSS reader, such as Google Reader. Any new search results for your saved searches will then show up on your Google Reader page.

RETAIL DOWNLOAD SITES

Most digital download stores include genre charts, recommendation engines, DJ top 10s or other ways to help you sift through the infinite supply of music and find what you actually want. Sites such as Emusic and Amazon give you recommendations based on your past purchases that are remarkably useful. It’s almost spooky how well they can match up your musical tastes to new music you’ll like after only a few purchases.

In many stores, you don’t have to purchase anything to get useful recommendations. Electronic dance music stores such as Traxsource, Dancetracksdigital and Beatport offer bestseller charts for very specific genres, DJ charts so you can see what familiar DJs are playing, and lists of other tracks that people also bought in addition to the track you’re looking at on the site.

Many DJs organize their music collections within iTunes, which makes the iTunes Genius feature very convenient. Once you turn on the Genius feature, you can open the Genius sidebar, which will pull up the top albums and songs on the iTunes Store by the artist you’re listening to, as well give you Genius Recommendations: suggested songs by similar artists available in the iTunes Store. It’s a very handy feature in a ubiquitous piece of software. However, I do have a complaint that Genius Recommendations aren’t always available. For many electronic artists, some of them as well-known as Crookers and Authechre, the Genius  sidebar only suggested top albums and songs by that artist, but no other similar artists.

…AND ALL THE REST

Don’t sleep on these other avenues toward fresh music.

Podcasts

There are a ton of free EDM mix shows available as podcasts online. A little searching on iTunes or Google will have you swimming in them, or check up on your favorite DJs, magazines and music sites to see if they offer podcasts. Many of them offer tracklistings, so you can take note when a track really catches your attention.

Reference Sites

Discogs.com has a watchlist feature for registered users, which gives you automatic updates on releases from your favorite artists and labels. The Discogs overall database is quite extensive, and a quick browsing of user reviews/comments often yields cool tips on similar artists.

Anyone who’s anyone has a Wikipedia page, right? Chances are you can look up your favorite artists on the online encyclopedia, and if you don’t find a list of similar and associated artists, you should at least get a discography of remixes, singles and albums.

Email

Want fresh tracks right off the cutting room floor? Hook up with other burgeoning producers and become part of their “feedback pool.” One DJTT staff writer shares his tracks with friends and receives a bunch of tracks in return, offers feedback on them, and plays them out if they’re good enough. Exclusive tracks aren’t just for Oakenfold or Cox anymore. Anyone can make a quality track in their bedroom and then email it out to their network, so get in on it.

Pay Services/Pools

One Tech Tools contributor recommends Direct Music Service (DMS) a paid download site just for DJs that covers all types of genres, including hip hop, R&B, rock, 80s, pop, reggae, mashups, and others. DMS offers only DJ-friendly mixes with intro and outros, many of them exclusive edits. There are three tiers of subscription rates ranging from $29.95 a month (or $269.95 a year) for 40 downloads a month or $64.95 a month ($449.95 a year) for unlimited downloads.

Also, check out our recent Digital Record Pool Round-Up.

Torrent Sites

Using torrent sites is definitely a vice that way more people partake in than admit to. Even in a time when many artists will boast about how popular they are on blogs, which also give music away for free, torrent sites can still elicit feelings of shame even in diehard downloaders. But if you are going to get music from torrents, you may want to specialize. There are private torrent trackers out there that focus on certain types of music, and you can gauge the quality of the music by how many people in the community have downloaded and commented on it.

Huge props go out to BentoSan, Cam, Deraadt, DJ Solomon, Ilya and mikecharles for their input on this article.

Most smaller Midi controllers are low profile, allowing them to slip easily into your bag but are too low to use with turntables and mixers. This makes using small controllers along with standard dj gear slightly awkward. Those of us that are on the taller side also suffer from controllers that are too far away and not at playing height. The solution for both problems? A few pieces of gear that are already in your bag + a very simple 25 cent investment that will raise up most small midi controllers to a playable height without adding any weight to your bag.

4 CORNER SOLUTION

DVS users of Serato Scratch and Traktor Scratch suffer from this problem more than anyone. They need to have their control surfaces at the same height as the turntable/mixer or its very hard to access in a pinch. The Solution? Use something that is already in your bag- a Needle box- to raise up the controller. The only thing you need? 4 Sticky feet, placed on the 4 corners of both top and bottom of your box.  This will keep everything firmly in place and at the perfect playing height. The box sticks to the booth and your controller stays glued to the box, allowing some fierce button banging without any slippage.

WONT IT SLIP?

We thought you might ask- so I shot a little video of our good friend Solomon trying out his new 25 cent stand using the Midi-Fighter and Serato Scratch. Download the Midi-Mapping he uses if your interested in trying it out.

WORKS WITH SOUND CARDS TOO!

Dont have a Needle box in your bag? Chances are you also have a sound card or serato box in there. Just add some rubber feet to the top and your set.

Larger Controllers work too. Just use a slightly larger sound card or needle box and they will stay put as well.

Every so often, I’m reminded of a simple fact: the greatest machine on the planet remains the human machine. So, yes, it may seem strange to one of the uninitiated to imagine strapping an iPhone to your wrist. And yes, musicianship in the digital age is partly about triggering, not just playing (though Onyx can really blow on his Akai wind controller.) But the bottom line is, the precision of movement and the genius of human musical creativity wins out. However unusual the technological solution, it can still tap into that power.

In the video above, our friend Onyx Ashanti shows off his proof-of-concept work-in-progress as he assembles a new musical rig. Open source patching software Pure Data (Mac/Windows/Linux) is the sound source, proof that you can substitute free software at the center. The controller is an iPhone running TouchOSC (though this makes me want to revisit ultra-portable, open, embedded hardware with sensors). And yes, that’s a Yamaha WX5 wind controller, a digital input tool of choice for those with a wind background. Onyx says this is only to be one of two iPhones.

Expect craziness to come, but I like watching things in progress, too – so I couldn’t resist sharing.

http://onyx-ashanti.ning.com/

Correction: Instead of looking closely at what Onyx was playing, I relied on my memory, and egregiously called the WX5 an Akai EWI. Thanks to commenters for spotting that.

Music games Rock Band and Guitar Hero are simple enough in terms of gameplay, but testifying to the power of people’s passion for music, their impact has been staggering. At a time when purchasing recorded music has waned from a 90s peak, downloads for games are proving surprising growth, despite pundits predicting the segment would cool off. The talents of the Harmonix team attracted the collaboration of the download-averse surviving Beatles and family members. But most importantly, the popularity of these games has translated into renewed interest in learning to play real instruments. It’s no accident popular music chart sales are surging, or that you will now find a new selection of digital and acoustic (but serious) instruments at your local Best Buy, often located right next to the games section. (Even as a witness to this trend, I was surprised recently to pick up an extra KORG nanoKONTROL in the aisle next to Rock Band.) Heck, even sales of music notation software are growing.

I’m uncertain of the extent to which a game like Rock Band can be identified as the cause of these trends, but there’s no question that popular music making is on the rise, and games are part of the shift. Perhaps it’s a matter of games changing the way people feel about making music. After all, a lot of early music training is very much like a game: to learn a new instrument, you simplify the playing of that instrument into more basic exercises. Obviously, that helps develop chops, but it also boosts confidence, giving a music student a feel for what it’s like to play successfully. (And, let’s face it, even experienced pro players sometimes need to defeat anxiety.)

The dark side of all of this has been that the music itself has been limited to a narrow selection of top-of-the-charts hits and popular classic tracks. Rock Band Network doesn’t yet address the limited instrumentation (guitar, bass, drums, voice), but it does open production to a new range of artists – and that, in turn, could be the beginning of much more to come. By allowing anyone to author and distribute tracks for a nominal subscription fee on Microsoft’s Xbox creation community, Rock Band Network is all about opening floodgates.

Having followed the story here on CDM since last year, I’m thrilled that the Rock Band Network store itself is now live. The results run the gamut from relatively big-name artists to more obscure contributions. (Phone giant T-Mobile will pony up some cash to highlight an “Artist of the Month” from the community, in the interest of shining a spotlight on lesser-known acts.) The only bad news is, while the store is international, the Rock Band Network isn’t immune from the music industry’s trouble crossing national borders; as our own Jaymis discovered to his dismay, countries like Australia are left out. I hope to talk to Harmonix and Microsoft about how they plan to make these kinds of efforts more global with time.

For those countries covered, though, you can now enjoy the store as both an artist and listener (or make that “player”). Starting on launch day last week, of Montreal, The Shins, The Hold Steady, Steven Vai, and geek God Jonathan Coulton were onboard. (“The Future Soon,” anyone?) I’m pleased that among other artists, we have Flight of the Conchords to look forward to.

But I will say, whether you appreciate these games or not, there are promising signs for the music business here, without question. Harmonix’s founders began work with experimental musical interface research, as with many of the readers of this site. Oddly enough, though, what they found was by some measure an entirely new industry.

By the numbers:

• Rock Band Network launches with over 100 songs, out of a private beta; expect far more.
• Artists choose pricing tiers and get a 30% royalty (high for this kind of royalty, at least for a typical indie artist).
• 1,100 tracks are currently available on Rock Band, prior to the many, many more expected on RBN.
• Some 4,300 users have registered on RBN to contribute tracks and/or perform peer review. That’s significant growth for Microsoft’s XNA community, and it’s prior to a wider launch that will be an order of magnitude bigger.

Harmonix info:
How to Submit a Song; scroll down to “Adding a song to the pipeline.”

How to Become a Peer Reviewer (aka playtester)

I’ll see the Harmonix team this week at GDC; I’m looking forward to it. Let me know if you have questions for them. It is a reminder, though, of why I’m glad to spend my travel time in March at the Game Developer Conference even in place of South by Southwest. I think a lot of our future may be at the former as much as the latter. (Well, and if not, I still get to geek out with discussions of adaptive music engines.)

If this stuff does interest you, don’t miss our previous, exhaustive Q&A’s with Harmonix (thanks to the folks there for being so forthcoming):
Inside the Rock Band Network, as Harmonix Gives Interactive Music its Game-Changer
Your Band in Rock Band: Rock Band Network Beta Opens, Q&A with Harmonix

Why should Create Digital Music and Create Digital Motion (and, well, their editor) go to a game conference? This year, in particular, the annual gathering of game developers in San Francisco means a real convergence of gaming culture and digital music and motion, of ideas about how interactivity can work (and the challenges of making interaction design creative), of generative and adaptive music and new cultures of digital media. Aside from that, of course, there’s no particular reason.

A quick look at some event highlights with which I’m involved:
Tonight (Wednesday) is the debut gala for Gamma IV, the creative game design challenge by the Kokoromi Collective. You can check out the winning games on the show floor, as well.
http://www.kokoromi.org/gamma4/

The games themselves offer plenty of inspiration for live visualists and people exploring new interfaces for music. But there’s also a music lineup alongside, with Starpause, Phil Fish, Moldover, Baiyon, Class Prez, and Future Boy. A big thanks to my mate Starpause for putting that lineup together; I’ll also be doing a short live set.

Unrelated to GDC (but working out nicely since I’m in town), Thursday night is a meeting of the illustrious Bay Area Computer Music Technology Group (BArCMuT), with a big, all-female lineup of creative artists finding expressive new interfaces for musical performance. I’ll be giving a lightning talk before the full program, so say hi if you’re around.
http://www.meetup.com/barcmut/calendar/12702241/

Friday night is the free evening of One Button Objects, a set of interactive art pieces that explore what can be done with a single button. I’ll be talking more about that later this week; it really wound up being a great exercise, and even if you believe in rich, expressive control for music, forcing yourself to work with a single button is nothing if not enlightening. I co-curated the show with Heather Kelley of Kokoromi.
Event details: One Button Objects: Kokoromi + Gray Area Foundation for the Arts

Has this ever happened to you? You’re ready to drop the set of your life to an eager audience when a technical issue threatens spoil the evening. Panic stricken, your eyes dart around the room for a sound guy, who of course is absent or non existent. At this very pivotal moment- the night could be saved by your “Mix Master Macgyver” skills. Most of us have been Jerry-rigging turntables and the like since we first popped a penny atop the cartridge of mom’s home stereo and cut up “Sesame Street” records after school. Thusly I’m sure some of these tips you’ll already know but if the following information saves just one party then my job is done. After all the show must go on.

SLIP NAPKINS

The number one crucial piece of gear that seems to be missing or forgotten has to be slip mats. This one is a simple fix. Push paper bar napkins over the nipple of the turntable and voila!! I’ve heard of everything from doilies to whiskey bags used. Record sleeves or paper of almost any kind can be used in a pinch.

TONE HARM

Bad control signal or mono analog signal is often caused by poor contact between the tone arm and cartridge. Licking and sticking, although sometimes effective, can exacerbate the problem in the long run by causing extra corrosion to accure. Instead of licking, try using a #2 pencil eraser. Remove the cartridge, insert the eraser end of the pencil in the tonearm and twist it back and forth to clean the contacts. Do the same with the contact points on the cartridge. Don’t forget to blow the erasures away. Reattach the cartridge to the tone arm and throw down.

ZIP IT

Its a fact. Accidents happen in dark clubs, especially when alcohol is involved. If the tone arm is fastened and you attempt a bit to vigorously to place it on the record the handle and the cartridge may part ways making extremely difficult to cue records. Paper clips work well as a fix but better is a small zip tie. Affix the zip tie around the cartridge body and trim to length.

TISSUE ISSUE

A loose fader can be deadly in a set. Flying faders are the #2 cause of blindness in the club, right after alcohol and stilletos. If a fader easilly slides off.  take a small piece of napkin and fold it over the top of the fader post then wedge the fader on top. Make sure the piece of napkin is long enough to be pulled out rather than packed inside, which will add to your problems. Also take care not to tweek the fader by pressing too hard.

STARBURST X-FADERS

Largely due to the problem mentioned above, I cant count the number of missing faders Ive encountered. Some nicked, some no doubt shot across the room during vigorous mixing. You then spend the rest of your set trying not to bloody your fingers. Instead try this.. Starburst candies can be pressed over the bare metal fader tab providing a comfortable and delicious solution. Just dont let groupies eat them after words no matter how tempted they may be.

LEMON FRESH

One of my personal high points djing wasn’t opening for so and so, or headlining such and such club. It was actually at a small bar gig, on a Tuesday night, with a reputation for a jankey sound system and DJ booth. Opon inspection of the gear during set up I was unable to locate one of the turntable’s counterweight. Without this small but critical piece of the tonearm assembly records will not play. It was the only time I’ve ever encountered this particular problem but I’m sure its happened to others so I’ll share my fix. A small lime from the bar with a hole poked in the end can be slid back and forth to achieve the proper weight on the record. Not only did the show go on but, it was lemon fresh!!!

LOW TECH TOOLS

There are a few things that you can include in your bag of tricks that’ll help you out of a fix.  The above is what I carry with me and each item has proven to be well worth carrying along after all even MacGyver would have been shit out of luck without his trusty swiss army knife. Make sure along with the knowledge you have the tools as well and you’ll save many a night and hopefully create a more comfortable DJ experience for yourself.