He's the DJ, I'm the Writer (Rafik on the Kontrol X1)

Having taken some time off to fondle the new Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol X1 on an away mission, Mr Postie (sounds better than Mr Courier-ie) just dropped off a pre-Christmas pressie in my open waiting arms - a spanking new X1 with a serial number (thus assuming it's a final unit) but sans the usual spiffing packaging. Who cares - I would have just torn it off anyway. And coinciding with this are a handful of cracking hot Rafik vids, showing off his shit hot skills, and also what a little practice can pull off with a heap of NI gear.

So what do the videos show? Well the entire Traktor family is working together as well as more than a nudge from Maschine too, which here is being used to trigger cue points inside Traktor, and the X1 is manipulating the effects. Rafik is pretty hot on those pads as well. I could probably barely remember where 3 samples were, let alone how to tie all the NI goodness together and make such a aurally pleasant sound. They reminded me just why I write about stuff, and DJs like Rafik use the hell out of it.

Posted by Gizmo on December 9, 2009 (Courtesy of Scratchworx)