Traktor Pro + Windows 7 Themes = Unexpected Crashing
Feb 6th
Since I’ve gotten Traktor Pro for my DJing needs, I’ve installed it on my notebook. I run Windows 7 Ultimate on it. The same day I installed it, I was fiddling around and it unexpectedly crashed on me. Subsequently, the program continued to crash. I couldn’t figure out why and my boyfriend couldn’t either. Native Instrument forums and Google was not able to provide answers. Through extensive “testing” over every time it crashed, my boyfriend eventuallyfigured out what the problem was.
Apparently Windows 7 (and Vista) likes to skin all open windows to its desktop theme settings. Mines was set to the fancy Windows 7 theme-ing. The main Traktor program window was able to adjust to the windows theme without a problem. Preferences window in Traktor was a different story. By default the Preferences window was unskinned. Since Windows 7 likes skinning everything, when it attempted to skin the Preference window, Traktor crashes. My boyfriend was able to isolate it. To resolve it on my end, I set the Windows theme to Classic. Traktor as not crashed again yet.
If you’re experiencing random crashing from just opening Traktor or opening the Preferences window and you are Windows 7 user using Windows using the fancy desktop themes, I suggest try setting the theme-ing to Classic. It may resolve your problem like it did mines.
25th IDMA Nominations
Feb 5th
Receiving news about the 25th International Dance Music Awards held annually at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, Florida via Twitter I submitted my ballot.
I was a bit disappointed with a bit of the nominations. I did vote for my favorite DJs – Cosmic Gate, Dash Berlin, Markus Schulz, etc. etc. I do agree Markus Schulz World Tour: 2009 was an amazing mix album and thus voted for Best Full Length DJ Mix. Glad to see Cosmic Gate as one of the entries for Best Remixer as damn… I love all the remixes they put out last year in addition to their 4th artist album. I think it was a good year for Cosmic Gate and they really got me hooked. I’m going to go with Markus Schulz as Best Producer with releasing his Dakota album. I was really disappointed when Gareth Emery’s podcast did not make the Best Podcast list. It was totally bs compared to some of the podcasts on the list. 20 minutes worth of music is not a podcast worth downloading in my opinion. Now, I am a bit biased being a huge Gareth Emery fan but bleh. I also found out that the TGEP was nominated 3 years in a row and not winning once. No! That doesn’t say anything about the podcast. If you haven’t taken a listen, I highly suggested. You won’t be disappointed.
But anyways with that said, go on over a vote. May be you’ll like the outcome. http://www.wmcon.com/idmaballot/finalballot/index.php
Traktor Scratch Pro
Jan 25th
After throwing down a few hundred dollars back last October, I finally received my product – Traktor Scratch Pro. This lovely thing is going to help me launch my DJ career as a digital DJ and may be down the line using CDJs. Like any DJ, I do enjoy the way vinyl feels, looks and sounds, but it is simply unreasonable to carry crates of vinyls around especially what I want to mix is electronic. Those vinyls definitely do not come cheap. I took the digital path as honestly it is the cheapest method in the long run.
I recently tested Traktor at Scratch and after a few attempts, my time coded vinyls were calibrated and I was playing tunes. I didn’t have my music mapped out so I was just mixing around, trying out my new toy. I haven’t used Serato so I can’t quite make the best review or comparison. May be once I get used to all the functionality Traktor offers I can review Traktor and its capabilities.
Though I don’t own decks of any sort (it’s very expensive and I’m saving up for it) but I can use them at Scratch, I’m in the market for a DJ controller. My intention of using a DJ controller is just to have something to practice and make mixes on without taking too much space. I think a DJ controller of some sort is essential for mixing. I’m hoping to acquire that in a couple months time or less.
So far pretty happy with Traktor. I can be overwhelmed easily just by thinking about all the information out there. It overloads my thoughts haha… So right now just taking one thing at a time. 
Perfecto Vegas, Rain Nightclub [01.02.10]
Jan 10th
Perfecto Vegas is Paul Oakenfold’s Las Vegas residency held at Rain Nightclub inside Palms Casino Resort on Saturday nights.
I was able to attend the gig by winning 2 VIP tickets after entering a Gareth Emery competition.
As Vegas is Vegas, this is where you dress to impress. I was just wearing something fairly casual and my boyfriend was just in a tee and jeans. Without a doubt I didn’t have those VIP wristbands, they would have never let me in. This is a nightclub so the women were in skimpy skirts/dresses and stiletto heels. It was hard to decipher who was at the club to see the headlining DJ or just in it for the scene.
The club was very spacious with a raised DJ stage and a high ceiling. It was almost a big cube room. The main floor had a small sectioned dance area, a bar area and bottle service booths. There were at least 3 additional levels. Two had more booths, the third level had another bar and additional booths. The 4th floor was above and behind the DJ stage. It looked like rooms up there, probably for the more very important people and bottle service.
The environment of Perfecto Vegas that night was difficult to determine. Rain being a Vegas nightclub , you couldn’t tell if the people there were for the scene or the music. With the bar being on one side of the club or on the third level, the only way to get there was cutting through the crowd towards the DJ stage. That was a bit of a bitch because you constantly have people walking through and into the crowd.
Though popular with a lot of EDM clubs, there were no lazer lights as part of the effects. The lighted, raised DJ stage and LCDs above the stage were nice to look at and it kept your attention to the front. There were fire effects that were positioned above the dance floor. You definitely felt the heat of the fire. My favorite part is when it rained foam. I thought that was a neat touch and one of the best part of the effects.
It was pretty annoying not having anywhere to sit without having bottle service. I was standing for 5 hours so my feet were hating me before the night even ended. I had a VIP wristband so I probably was able to walk out for a bit but I didn’t want to lose my dance spot. 
I was surprised by how hard Above & Beyond and Gareth Emery’s set was. The sound was really boomy in the club but that could have been due to the sound system and the shape of the club for that sound effect. I feel other clubs I’ve been too had better sound. I made some videos with a FLip digital video camera and the sound quality didn’t turn out so well due to the boom. I won’t be able to make a fairer judgment on the sound quality and the music until I go back again but I have doubts I’d be returning.
New Direction
Jan 4th
For those who occasionally stumble upon this blog or check up to see what I’m doing musically, I’ve decided to take a more professional approach with this blog. Everything you may have read before has been put away but look forward to what’s coming up next!