FREE: JACKSON DJ

According to the creators of Jackson DJ - Van Aeken Software from Belgium - this software breaks with the past. It does not emulate the traditional DJ setup but truly unlocks the power of your computer. It is the first dedicated software package that offers sequencer-style mixing to the digital DJ. We decided to ask company founder Fancis Van Aeken about the ins and outs.

You promote Jackson DJ as a product "from the future". Please enlighten us.

"A program like Traktor basically simulates the traditional DJ setup consisting of a couple of turntables and a mixer. These programs have their use, but we have the feeling that computers offer new and maybe better ways to mix music. Our approach is based on the concept of “Intelligent Content” in which the tracks themselves know about their musical structure. They know where the beats and the measures are, in what key the music is, etc. The DJ then only has to bring the music together and care about timing and selection. This is a new way of doing things, and we believe it will become common in the future. Therefore our slogan: 'DJ Software from the Future'."

Why should laptop DJs choose for Jackson DJ? In what way does it stand out compared to other packages?

"Jackson gives you a lot of flexibility. You can re-edit songs while playing and you can perfectly beat-mix songs of different tempos even if the tempos are not fixed. All those things are impossible to do with vinyl and typical DJ software. Especially DJs playing electronic music can benefit from these features. And, of course, one reason to use Jackson 1.x is that it is now free. You don’t pay a penny."

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