djay

AppYourMac – May 8, 2009: Suppose you’re a hard-working business assistant who works in a cubicle at a big name company and you have a secret knack for dj-ing. You’re afraid to show off your talent to everyone, but your best buddy from college shoots you a text saying that he needs you to be his dj for his birthday party. You’re ecstatic but then you realize that you have no dj equipment whatsoever. No need to fear, djay is here! djay is a reliable and easy-to-use dj software that allows you to mix and match different songs and make an awesome jam straight from your Mac.

When you open the program, you’ll be amazed at the impressive interactive dj turntable. It looks very similar to a real turntable. Furthermore, it is very simple to use. On the right hand side of the window, your entire iTunes music list will appear. All you have to do is select a song and drag it onto the turntable, depending on which side you drag it to. From there, you can control the speed and sound of your song. Each table has volume, pitch, and speed controls, knobs that adjust the frequency of the song, and even buttons that create awesome sound effects to your tracks. The only two sound effects available are the echo effect and the reverb effect. You can transition between both tracks and you can even scratch your records back and forth, just like a real dj. Additional features include the ability to record your tracks and you can even turn on your mic and get the crowd pumping…or maybe you’d like to show the Frank Sinatra side of yourself.

After I tested the product, I was very pleased with the interface and its unsurpassable simplicity. However, I was a little disappointed because some songs on the playlist have a lock icon next to them. Although I dragged a song with a lock icon to the table, I noticed certain discrepancies. Unlike a song without a lock icon, I can’t scratch the record, it doesn’t transition very smoothly between tracks, and I can’t add echo or reverb effects. I believe a reason for this is that the songs purchased from iTunes have the lock next to them, so perhaps iTunes doesn’t want any major changes done to the track or else that would be a form of copyright infringement; this is only an assumption, though. The bottom line is this: if you want to make the most use of the features in djay, use songs that you either downloaded from a CD or songs you downloaded from third-party websites.

If you download the software from the website, you’ll have a trial period of only 10 days to test it out, but after that, you have to purchase djay for $49.99. Also, djay is only compatible with Mac computers. In summary, djay certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s an excellent, fun, and hands-on program and I believe that this program deserves some sort of recognition by aspiring and current dj’s.