Tools of the Trade: Carlo Lio

Tools of the Trade: Carlo Lio

4 November, 2010 | 7.47AM

• Written by: Beatport Mike
• Filed under: Music News: carlo lio, rawthentic, tools of the trade

Peer into the DJ booth when Carlo Lio is in the mix, and you might be surprised. The turntables and CDJs most likely will be turned off, with the only glow coming from his laptop and the blinking blue lights on the Native Instruments X1 controllers he uses to map out his percussive tech-house grooves.

Carlo Lio, the owner of Toronto’s Rawthentic Music, has steadily climed higher and higher up the superstar DJ ladder, with an impressive discography spread out over some of the most highly rated techno and tech-house labels. His keen ear for patient, tracky tribal cuts and floor-freakin’ techno monsters has impressed Dubfire (who Carlo frequently tours with as the opening jock) as well as Carl Cox, Paul Ritch, and numerous techno heavyweights worldwide.

We caught up with Carlo Lio to find out what he’s using for his performance tools, and received some great insight into the world of a vinyl junkie turned 100%-digital DJ.

To begin with, tell us a little about your DJ setup. What format are you playing?

This past year I’ve moved on to Traktor Scratch, which was long overdue, in my opinion. I started out with vinyl, then CDs. So I’ve been through all the stages of evolution as a DJ. When I moved on to Traktor, I decided to use the program internally, therefore no CDs or vinyl. My tracks are beat-synched and ready for mixing once loaded. I’ve decided to take the internal route, because I feel it gives me a lot more freedom for creativity in my sets. Especially when using four decks. As of now I am using two Native Instruments X1 controllers, playing four decks. The only real customizations I have are a an abundance of shortcut key mappings that allow me to pretty much do everything in Traktor much faster.

How do you organize your music?

I mainly organize all my music using playlists within Traktor. Not through iTunes. The music is first categorized by standard genres. For example, tech house, house, techno, deep house, djtools, bootlegs, acapellas, etc., and then broken up into more in-depth genres if needed. For example: open house, percussive house, vocal house, funky house.

Before gigs I will also create a playlist for the night, usually titled with the name of the club or party I am playing at, along with the date. This is useful in many ways, because It allows me to condense the new music I have for the week, seeing only the new music I plan to play for the night. Also, I usually tend to remember certain tracks I played at certain gigs. So if there something I’m looking for and don’t remember the name, I can go back to the gig playlist and find it there.

Since I come from the vinyl days, I always want my cover art option on. To have a visual connection to each song really helps me when browsing through my music. At the end of the day, nobody will remember what every song in their library is just by looking at the name or label.

How many hours do you spend preparing music for an average gig?

Before a gig I usually prep for about 60 to 90 minutes. This consists of beat-gridding all the new tracks being brought into Traktor, running them through Mixed In Key, putting the tracks into their proper genre folders, and, finally, creating my playlist of new tracks for the night.

Do you make edits of commercially released tracks to play out, or do you pretty much play tunes “as is”?

I definitely consider myself an edit junkie. I’m extremely picky these days, and I tend come across to many cool tracks that lose my attention after a few minutes. So I cut out what I don’t like and leave in what I do like. I tend to make really loopy edits because when using four decks, I feel it’s better for me, as I’m constantly mixing and throwing in new things. But yes, I obviously play tunes “as is,” of course. Some tracks just shouldn’t be touched!

Do you typically bring only one or two major styles of music to a gig, or do you pack options for many different possible vibes, depending on the mood of the dance floor?

Its all about options for me. This is also the beauty of Traktor and categorized playlists. Anything and everything is at your disposal. I tend to flow through quite a few genres through out the duration of my sets, from deep house to techno, hence why I enjoy playing longer sets. At the end of the day, today’s DJ should always be prepared for anything when walking into the room you are about to play. The vibe and mood of the dancefloor is the most important thing, and your ability to adapt to this makes or breaks your performance.

How much does your set vary in tempo over the course of the night?

This is a great question! Personally I tend to flow between 123-127 bpm. I’m always changing the tempo during my sets, depending on where I’m at musically in the night. I love to peak, then bring it down and start the journey again. In my opinion some tracks are really made to play slower and some faster and I feel fluctuating in BPMs throughout your set will cause a greater experience.

Do you use loops, FX, etc.?

Yes, I love to use loops and FX. I have a DJ tools folder which consists of actual tracks that are just very loopy, as well as loops from sample packs that I really like that add well on top other tracks. Also, loops that I’ve made, of course, from tracks I’ve produced or projects that never went anywhere. Also within this folder, I have FX loops, vocal loops, and synth loops.

As for FX, I rotate through quite a few of them within Traktor. Reverbs, delays, gaters, and filters are what I tend to stick to most. I control these FX using the X1. It allows you to have up to six pre-set FX at your disposal, and you can manipulate all of them through the controller. I tend to use FX quite a bit, but again it all depends on the track being played. Something more peaktime that has a huge break or build may not need any added FX. But sometimes I do like to get loopy, and play tracks without too much structure, therefore I’ll create breaks and builds.

Do you generally record your sets?

I don’t record too often. When I do record, however, I do it internally through Traktor. An RCA into the “record” on the mixer and into the Audio8. Simple!

Anything you absolutely won’t do in your sets?

Hmmm, I have to learn to keep my drinks further away from my laptop. Hehe… I’m kinda clumsy. But off the top of my head, I don’t think there’s really anything I wouldn’t do. I like to get creative musically. I like to experiment, take risks. If it works it works, and if not… note taken!

When you’re headlining, what would you like to hear from the opening DJ?

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the role of the opening DJ is very important. To set and determine the mood for the night is quite a big obligation, in my opinion. I think openers should definitely have some knowledge of your music style when playing before you. I’m quite easy when it comes to the opener. Given my diversity and love for so many different genres of house and techno, I can easily adapt to whatever I am left with. But, if I had to break it down into specifics, anywhere between 123-125 BPM is cool, given the time of the night. Musically, I usually like to be left off with more of a tech-house vibe—groovy, sexy, and beefy. Nothing too overpowering since I like to start off slower and build.

What technological innovation would you most like to have, as a DJ?

Would be great to see an actual laptop with a proper sound card built in to run Traktor. Fewer wires, less setup, and less to carry is always better. It’s the one thing I miss about CDs or vinyl… the ability to walk on stage five minutes before your set and start playing.

Do you ever miss the simpler times, when all you had was a bag of records?

I can honestly say I miss this everyday. If it were up to me, we would all still be vinyl DJs. Something about it just can’t ever be re-created. Even with Traktor. From the sound to the visual aspect, the fact that you only had 40 or 50 tracks to choose from when you played a gig, as opposed to 400,000. Your technical ability at risk every time you played a set. That’s real and really exciting to me. I still have my 1200s and haven’t sold one piece of my vinyl collection. And I don’t plan to.

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you onstage (technologically… or otherwise)?

Luckily I can say I haven’t had too many horror stories in the booth as of yet. The last thing that happened that had “no common sense” written all over the situation was this guy tried to high-five me. The stage was elevated about three feet off the ground, and he needed to gain some sort of support to get that high, so he decided to grab the CDJ which was currently playing… grabbing the wheel and hitting the pitch control causing a few seconds of jibberish and scratching… I was like, “Dude?????” BUT we had a successful high-five!

Share some good music with us:

Peaktime favorite

Carlo Lio, “Black”

Opening track

Paul Bowen, “Clicks (Original Tech Mix)” [VIVa MUSiC Limited]

Track for when you really need to visit the bathroom

Any Radio Slave tune… hehe.

Closing track

Dilo, “Waheira (Mark Henning Remix)” [Igloo]

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