Richie Hawtin’s DJ setup

Richie Hawtin’s DJ setup

12 August, 2008 | 3.13AM

• Written by: Industry Boy
• Filed under: Music News: ableton live, traktor

Richie Hawtin is known for his love of new technology and currently employs a rather complicated setup to DJ with.

Anyone who has recently stood beside Richie in the DJ booth will no doubt have been scratching their heads because alongside an Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer he also has two Allen & Heath Xone:1D controllers and two laptops running.

“You know I’m one of Richie’s closest friends and I’ve known him for years, but even I have absolutely no clue what he’s doing in the DJ booth,” says Jon Gaiser, one of Minus’ biggest artists.

Richie explains to Beatportal exactly what the hell he’s doing behind the laptops.

“One laptop is running Traktor DJ Studio 3 and the other is running Ableton Live,” he says.

“There’s so much new music to play with these days and my new set up allows me to take control of the music much more than, say, the typical DJ setup of 2 turntables and a sampler.

“With my current setup I can search inside of a track, find the parts I want to use and mix them.

“Now I don’t need to worry about outdated skills such as beatmatching and I can fully focus and concentrate my attention on more creative details of the mix.”

Unlike many Traktor-based DJs, Richie Hawtin doesn’t bother with timecoded CDs or vinyl and instead just uses the software’s sync function.

He also midi clocks Traktor and Ableton by having Traktor as the master.

“People say that beatmatching is the art of DJing, but I’m sorry, beatmatching isn’t really creative, it’s just a skill,” says Richie.

“Sure, you can be pretty creative just by beatmatching and cutting up records, but I prefer to spend my time in the DJ booth thinking about the construction of an interesting musical journey and less about timing two records together.”

No Richie Hawtin set is complete without bucketloads of sound FX and Richie uses the filters of the Allen & Heath Xone:92.

“I run loops, delays and the ‘Beat Repeat’ effect off Traktor,” he says.

“I use Ableton for loops and for its FX reverb, flange and delay.

“I can nearly do anything with my current setup and I can run Traktor loops through Ableton’s FX or vice versa.

“But it can sometimes get a little hairy and you have to look out for feedback loops.”

With so many buttons to press and faders to flick, Richie Hawtin even uses his feet – a foot pedal in fact, in order to control some of the FX.

Nerds may point out that Richie Hawtin could avoid lugging two laptops and all that gear to gigs as he could technically do it all through Ableton Live.

“But anyone can do that,” he says.

“I believe that in order to create an interesting sound you need to find a unique and personal combination of hardware and software technologies.  This, along with how each individual interacts with these possibilities, is where the magic between man and machine begins.

“Each piece of technology has its subtleties and it is those little quirks that can make the whole show.”

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