Marv Incredible
4:36 AM - 4 January, 2013
Please Serato, I hope you get back to paying more attention to threads like these. From the quality and depth of some of the comments, it's obvious that we're not just feature-seeking. There are a lot of talented, creative and forward-thinking users who spend a lot of time and money invested in your tools, products and brand.
We're the guys who go out and risk money buying and testing the new products and features; we report back bugs and detail what adjustments and enhancements you could make to make it even better.
I'm not knocking other software or its users, but let's face it, Serato users have traditionally been DJs who already knew how to scratch, mix and select... with decks, as opposed to getting into Djing primarily because the software/hardware made it easier or possible for them to do so. Many of us are hard-working, experienced DJs, who know what we're talking about, which gives you a distinct advantage, so how does it make sense not to listen? Especially when the competition, who obviously IS listening, is now able to offer features that Serato users have been asking for for years?
I know it's common practice for companies to spy out competitors forums, but I sometimes think the competition must be laughing at how long you take to act on these, often very good suggestions and how much leeway you give them to adopt them and get a lead on you.
Everyday that passes I find myself asking why I continue to support an increasingly out-dated and out-performed software system? I'll tell you some of the reasons. For one thing, your brand loyalty is strong and much of it well-deserved, but a lot of credit has to go to the users themselves and to Rane's own legacy of very satisified and loyal customers that you inherited when you originally decided to partner with them.
On a more practical level, it's because it can still do things better or more reliably than others, but that gap is narrowing by the day. I've realised tonight that whilst I would still only trust Serato at a live gig, for studio/produciton work, it increasingly makes a lot more sense to use something else. And for video, it's not like before, when there was only one real alternative (VDJ); there are now several other programs that either specialise in video mixing or offer it as an add-on, which again narrows the gap and compels someone like myself to consider the alternatives.
But anyway, back to the topic and the point i was originally going to make.
I recently had an experience mixing live with unfamiliar and unprepared tracks and it occured to me how much more important it would be to be able to skip BACK by a number of bars. So much so, I think it's even more important to me than being able to skip forward.
Several times when I was playing, I missed the phrase because I didn't know it was coming or what it would sound like when it did. It was worse when a major change happened after 7 bars instead of 8 or, like someone mentioned above, when there were a few unexpected extra/fewer beats.
This rarely happened to me back in the days of vinyl because I just knew the tracks. Back then, due to time, expense and my own picky tastes, the rate that I added new tracks to my library is nothing like what it is since going digital. On the other hand, this means I get to spend less time with each tune and sometimes, like my recent gig, no time at all.
Therefore, if you don't already know the track, being able to skip backwards is a much bigger advantage or at least, just as important.
Features like these aren't like sync, that allows someone who can't beatmatch to look and sound as if they can. They allow people like myself, who already know what to do, to do it in ways or at speeds we could only ever dream of before. They allow us to push boundaries and show just what heights the art and the technology can achieve when in capable hands.
In this case, my whole freestyle performance would have been much more fluid and seamless and I'd have 20 more reasons to continue supporting and endorsing Serato rather than 20 more reasons to consider going elsewhere.
Anyway...essay over.
Humbly,
M
