DJ Charlie Darker mixing at the Poleng Lounge in San Francisco.  Photo by: Craig Young
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It’s midnight at the Poleng Lounge in San Francisco and walking beyond the entrance is a challenge for party goers, the place is so packed they have to wait in line to walk a few feet. The crowded dance floor keeps clumsy revelers from hitting the floor, at least until the music stops. A young woman waits patiently to speak to the DJ. Several minutes pass, finally DJ Charlie Darker leans down to listen to her, she wants him to play some hip-hop.  Darker tells her “I am playing hip-hop.” Oh Dang! Where the hell has she been? Darker has been spinning hip-hop since he fired up the turntables and his MacBook Pro. 

Darker, who is a member of the West Coast-based DJ collective Jimi Handrix Experience, believes the days of the DJ controlling the party have passed--replaced by party goers dictating the music thanks to mainstream radio. But, Darker believes it’s the DJ’s job to tell the crowd what music he thinks is hot.

For Darker, the means to that end is Scratch Live--DJ software and hardware by Serato and Rane. The system functions exactly like a traditional DJ setup with vinyl-topped turntables connected to his MacBook Pro allowing him to record his own scratches, hook up a microphone, and scratch audio files on time. The application also allows Darker and other crew members to upload thousands of audio files of different genres of music directly to their rigs. They don’t have to worry about a specific song that was never released on vinyl, “House, classic rock, hip-hop, whatever--we can play what we like. We can show a little bit more of our personality at the club through music, we can share more with people.”

Darker says using Scratch Live is all about having the flexibility to mix production with his DJing. “Hooking up with artists I work with, now I can play their songs the night of (a show), we finish the track here (Darker’s studio) and bring it to the club.” When generating ideas Darker starts with a clean slate, he might have an acappella track in his head, but doesn’t want to a paste just any song on top. Instead he’ll create his own beats in Reason 4.0 and upload the track to his MacBook. Darker stresses its trial and error matching tracks in the tone of the beats he makes, which why he practices in his studio before performing a new mix in the club.

Darker says at the club when his set reaches a certain tempo range, “and I want to twist it up and the crowd will accept it, I’ll pull it off” he'll start incorporating his own produced tracks into the mix.

Regardless of the hardware or software, it comes down to the DJ’s own unique voice and personality. Darker cautions DJ’s entering the game with promo CD’s cut and pasted with audio software. Promoters are wise to DJ’s with good promo CD’s, but can’t reproduce the sound live or remix on the fly at the club. That’s why Darker always includes files of himself performing live at shows or in his studio.  His method of recording himself in his studio is straightforward. He uses the iSight camera on one of his MacBook Pros to record himself mixing live and loads the file on his MySpace page and YouTube.

Darker’s Weapons of Mass Production:

Vestax: PDX 2000 Turntables,PMC 05 III SL / PMC 07 ISP / PMC 08 Pro Mixers
Shure: M44-7 Stylus
Rane: Serato Scratch Live SL-
Roland: Fantom X6
Akai: MPC 60 / MPC 4000
Digidesign: Digi 002 (pro-tools)
Propellerheads: Reason 4.0 (software)
Apple: Power Mac G5 Macbook Pro: 2.4 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
and of course... Vinyl