Two Turntables and a Microphone

I finally got that mixer from my friend at Guitar Center (very nice deal) and I chose this little discontinued number (they stoped making it in 2004 but it is new (read: unused) regardless. I had to download the manual which wasn't much fun and because Guitar Center is so goddamned disorganized, they had to order the power adapter from Stanton for me (my friend felt bad so he let me take all the free hookup cables I wanted so now I don't have to find those). Now all I really have left to do is build a rack case and practice my ass off. My drums training should come in handy but we'll see. This past weekend, Larry said he had some DJ CD players so I told him to come jam when we get back to Austin. I'm really loving how this equipment is pushing me deeper into my record collection and how it's really forced me to look at my collection as an organism with systems and a pulse. I've been breaking down songs, exploring records I don't normally pull out and finding some gems holed away in the back, begging to be played. I am a huge fan or the pitch (speed) control that I have over the CDs: I can speed up or slow down a track that sounds one way, and turn it into 2 more songs by playing with speed. If you have a record player, put on an old rock record, put your fingers on the label and gently push it forwards lightly to see what I mean. I hope that with enough practice I can lay down tracks at our parties this next semester. I still need another mono cable for the mixer (to connect to the players) and some small RCA speakers (think cheap RadioShack computer stuff) and it's really time to trade in the old headphones, they're 5 years old and leak sound like mad, so maybe I'll splurge and get some KOSS ones for $30-40 at my old place of business.

I have been thinking up the design for my case. all the units are the standard rack mounted 19 inches across. The controler for the players (the thing with the jogwheels on it) and the mixer sit on top of the actual players. The face of the players will point at my body as I play, whereas the controler and mixer will be on the "top" of the box. The length of the players is shorter than the distance from the bottom of the controler to the top of the mixer, and I think I'll use the little exra space for a power strip (with surge-protection) so that I can plug everything right into a wall outlet instead of having a million plugs going willy-nilly all over the place. I'll most likely get my brother David to help with the assembly if for no other reason than he is amazing with that kind of thing. His brain is great for spacial work and he can often see a problem long before the normal person would get to it. I would rather him tell me that he sees a problem with the design before I start than to have to run into it in the middle of construction. I plan on putting some pieces of wood arround the metal frame (which I'm making from standard metal rails from Home Depot) and then covering the wood with with either very thin carpet or perhaps plastic. I should have it done in a few days (weekend project?) and I'l post a picture of the setup here when it's done.

I am 100% sick of work now. I have 12 more days of work and it adds up to one failed troubleshooting step after another with no data, no results, and no fun. My friend's lab fucked off to downtown yesterday for lunch and drinks at the DWA and then shopping and hanging out at the West End Marketplace. I wish my lab had 1/2 as much fun as others do. But I suppose summer is for vaccations, and why should I get one? I am dying to get back and to get away from work due to how crappy my experiments have gone this summer. Even my mom was sympathetic this morning when I got out the door a little later than normal. I must have looked tired because she said she was sorry my lab work wasn't going well and that I didn't get any data. I hope my face doesn't belile my thoughts because I don't want to bring anyone down just because my stuff is fruitless. I'll perhaps post more later, but I got to see so many of my friends last night that I felt really good and quite a few of us are off the get some real Chinese BBQ (gotta love the real thing) later on tonight once we all get off work.


Hey boys, hey girls, superstar DJs, here we go!