I first started my career in the music business in 1977 when Dansette record players were the latest high tech gadget to have. The top models had 16, 33, 45 and 78 speed settings, this was the way ahead in the days of 10CC and Grease. I remember having two Dansettes and a 100w HH amplifier plugged into a couple of homemade speakers, quality of its day. I was up and running, my DJ career had started.
For me then, and for about 15 years after, record players were the way a DJ ‘spun the discs’. The record player became your closet friend. We had tape decks and 8 Tracks along the way but nothing bettered the turntable. As long as you mastered the art of turning the turntable back half a turn to allow it to get up to speed you could ensure the music started exactly when you wanted it to. And not forgetting to sellotape a 1p piece onto the cartridge to stop the needle jumping. Those were the days.
Then in the 90’s, along came the compact disc player. Small, compact and easy to use, but expensive. The older more established DJs did not want to change. We knew and loved our record players and felt very loyal to them. I did not want to give up my friend that I had relied upon for so many years but times were changing and the compact disc player became the norm. For many months I would use a compact disc player alongside my trusted friends until sadly the turntable became redundant and start to gather dust in the back of the garage. My loyalties had changed, I was now best friends with the compact disc player, a very close relationship I have had for the last 15 years. No more carrying beer crates of 7” vinyl’s and straining your back, no more blowing the dust off the needle, no more guessing when the record is going to end. The compact disc player was your saving grace, it had it all.
Then, a few years ago, along came the next appliance to play music, the computer and the amazing storage facility that it has. Brilliant, so far the best. But, and a big but, where do I begin when it comes to installing software to replace my loyal and trusted friend the CD player.
I have been a DJ Presenter for well over 30 years working in radio and television presentation together with live stage shows throughout the UK, I am a regular kind of guy. I want things to be simple. When I present music I want it to be played as it was originally recorded, not speeded up or sampled with something else. I want computer software to be like my old friends and to just play the music and keep me informed of when it’s going to end. Not much to ask surely?
Every piece of software I have viewed to play my tracks resemble looking at an aircraft flight deck. It seems the more options built into the software the more it will sell. Far too complex with too many ways of playing Dancing Queen. I was beginning to think I would need to enrol in a college course to teach me the in’s and out’s modern DJ software. Then, I was shown ROSI DJ. It was here, exactly what I wanted. Simply superb.
The DJ software is without a shadow of doubt, fantastic. You will not need a degree in computing to know how it works. It is simple to use yet complex enough to have your own radio station style playback at the touch of a button. The screen layout is large and colour coded for ease of use with the main ‘buttons’ very prominent to ensure no mistakes are made during live performances. Each of the two players can be used as ‘standalone’ units or in full automatic mode with the flick of a ‘switch’. In addition, you have 20 ‘hot start’ boxes which can be preloaded with anything you want from music tracks to jingles and drops. In effect you can have 22 different CD players all cued up and ready to go in one simple unit. A dream and a pleasure to work. The music library software is simple to use also, like most others, just type in what you want and it appears in a split second. Behind the scenes, in a separate programme, is the ROSI DJ Manager. Here the hard work is done, all automatically I hasten to add. It will read each track and mark the start and stop points for you, no more pregnant pauses. It will make sure the music is played out very tight indeed. It is also in the manager where you can edit your music and set up playlists etc.
I have now put my CD players on top of the turntables at the back of the garage to start gathering more dust as my loyalties have changed yet again. I now have a new best friend, ROSI DJ, SIMPLY SUPERB.