Quickswitch

[lover]

This is an open topic regarding Quickswitch.

 

Quickswitch is a DJ controller that was invented by Joe Ward. He's a really down to earth guy with lots of great ideas. He's a working DJ, and also a firefighter. Joe approached me a few years back about a project he was working on, and he showed me a video of what it could do. I was impressed that he was able to use classic DJ techniques to take advantage of current DJ technology.

 

The concept is simple, but the theory behind it takes some time to grasp. Unlike the dicer, which use is self explanatory, Quickswitch is limited to your imagination. It might seem useless if your imagination (or skill level) isn't ready for it yet. We shouldn't refer to this as a midi controller, this is a DJ CONTROLLER. It's like the cap on a soda pop & your front door...both are used to keep things in our out, but serve ENTIRELY different purposes.

 

When digital vinyl first came out, we couldn't put our fingers on it, no pun intended, but the issue was the lack of a controller. The best ideas are always the ones that are so simple that it never came to anyone's mind. The things you can do with Quickswitch you wouldn't even think of doing with Serato on your laptop. Since everything is custom programmable, you really come face to face with choosing a direction you want to go within the world of endless possibilities. I make beats, so I definitely wanted my first go ahead with Quickswitch to be based around the idea of scratching and chopping beats at the same time.

 

I set all of my cue points in a row for both left and right channels, and I currently have the loop rolls triggering from 1 of the 6 foot pedals. This allows me to chop beats while simultaneously loop rolling and scratching. I have all my loop functions set as buttons on both left and right channels. This allows me to get in and out of preset loops, or set them live. We will release a series of videos which showcases each technique individually, which will later all be used in a full demo.

 

What I love about Quickswitch is that it doesn't break the flow of what most DJs already do, if anything it challenges you (in a fun way) to incorporate the buttons with your DJing.... I've found this to be hours of fun. So far, the only possible intimidating factors would be that you're able to make Quickswitch as complex or as easy as you want it to be. It doesn't have a dedicated function, it's a canvas that you shape to fit your vision. I'm currently trying different button/pedal arrangements in search for a standard setup which all users can build from.

I haven't really touched on everything, but if you have questions, maybe that would be a good place to start up a conversation.

 

Here's an example of what it can do

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVNRnzFPqR0

 

Lover

[Chris]

I've a few questions to start the ball rolling...

 

Are the buttons piezometers or microswitches... or something else?

 

What's the I/O as far as MIDI (and anything else?)

 

How close is this to production, and what has become of the prototype designs we saw when this was first announced?

 

What is the USP of the Quickswitch?

[doppelkorn]

What is the USP of the Quickswitch?

 

I'd echo this in asking why should I buy one at all, given the wealth of controllers already available? As lover (the Ruck) said in his previous post, if the switches are not midi (but can be), could I use this to control other things like pyrotechnics? What I/Os does it have full stop? When will it come on the market and at what price?

 

EDIT: can I just draw people's attention to something. lover (The Ruck) is basically coming on here and in four posts has only talked about a) a product he is endorsing and b) himself. You asked me not to get caught up in "group hate" but it's easy to think negatively about someone who exhibits this kind of behaviour, not getting involved in the forum at all unless it's to advertise himself or his products.

 

Welcome to the forum!

[djdiggla]

Initially I didn't see much of a difference than most other controller out there (and at the heart of it there isn't), but I like the foot pedal idea. I'd be even more interested if it functioned as a phrase looper somehow too (maybe it does). I'm more interested in this as a Ableton controller--or turntable on one side, Ableton on the other.

 

My concern is ALWAYS price--it looks expensive. It may or may not have more flexibility, but is it worth the price (for me)? Maybe.

 

I like that the inventor is a firefighter. It shouldn't matter, but does to me.

 

Has lover tried The Bridge? I'd be interested to hear how this integrates with it.

 

 

EDIT: I noticed their site is down and the shop account is frozen... what's up with that?

[muzzell]

thats a sick vid mate

[texas pete]

ok... please correct me if im wrong, im not sure I completely get this...

 

so it should be possible (however dumb it may seem) to scratch something up, loop it, double it up on both tables then juggle it all up, then loop the juggle (leaving you with a loop of your juggle of your looped scratch) all on the fly ?

[Matt3r]

possibly

[djdiggla]

lol. I figured he'd diss us.

[lover]

I'm going to get respond to everything at once, so I'll get answers to some of these questions from Joe.

 

Joe Ward, the creator, also invented these custom light turntables which are controlled via Quickswitch.

They change colors on beat, and can be seen by using clear serato vinyl. In this instance, Clinton Spark's

name was cut into the 1200 platter, when the lights shine through, you can see the name. The music is eh,

but check the lights.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_mxv1rf-mU

 

Joe told me the site will be up tomm.

[mattnice]

i like the lights,and you was right that is defo meh, i think that is honestly the worst song of 2010.