Analysis of Product Design | 40122524

EXPERIENTIAL
DESIGN
ANALYSIS OF
PRODUCT
DESIGN
DJ EQUIPMENT
&
THE
IMPORTANCE
OF TOUCH
FRANCIS
CORRIGAN
40122524

02 03
WAX +
NEEDLE
The traditional method of
mixing and scratching
grouded in haptic feebac.
Analysis of
product
design
Looking into the haptic qualities of dj equipment
Where other systems such as hi-fi’s and personal music devices have transitioned into predominantly touch screen
devices, DJ equipment despite attempts to completely digitise the genre, has found a happy medium retaining
almost complete physical input over the vast majority of controls and stayed true to its touch based roots.
From a purely technical standpoint, analogue controls
offer far greater precision. When you twist a knob or
slide a fader there is a one to one relationship that cannot
be equaled by moving your finger on a touch screen,
which will undoubtedly have at least some latency
between your movement and the change in music. This
traditional method of operating mixers is far superior
because of the palpable controls, the user can feel their
way around without having to be inherently focused
on the controls themselves, and once familiar muscle
memory will determine along with audio feedback how
far to turn the knobs or slide the faders without a second
thought. Especially in turntablism there are certain
aspects of the art form that cannot be performed without
using wax and needle with your hands such as a tweak
scratch, which is performed with the turntables motor off
and the platter spun manually whilst the DJ manipulates
the vinyl. Similarly the hydrophonic scratch has the DJ
rubbing their thumb in the opposite direction from their
fingers creating a reverberation effect on the forward
momentum of the turntable, these examples and many
other are simple not possible without the pure and haptic
qualities of turntables and vinyl.
Moving onto vinyl
itself. Nothing can truly
match the feeling of the
vinyl under your fingers,
lifting the needle on to the
record and hearing the first
click and pop. You can literally
move the music with
your hand, drag it back,
slow it down or speed it up
all with a flick of the wrist
allowing various methods
of directly manipulating
the music in a creative
manner. These methods
when performed with a
certain amount of skill
can be compared to and
as creative as any musical
instrument.
Vinyl is music in its
most physical form, it is
a tangible sound format
where you can actually see
the changes in the music
if you look closely, and it is
these same ridges you see
that contain the music and
at the same time give such
a tactile feeling with just
the right amount of grip
whilst controlling the vinyl.
This has been emulated
to varying degrees
using jog wheels on CD
decks and MIDI controllers,
the vast majority
of which are stationary.
These allow nudges
forward and back of the
music along with spin
backs (and forwards),
however audio produced
is digitised noises and not
actual music being manipulated.
This was then
improved upon by Denon
and subsequently technics
with CD decks which had
rotating platters giving a
more natural feeling of
control over the cd something
more akin to vinyl,
however it was always going
to be an emulation and
never a replacement for
the tactile feel of real vinyl.
“vinyl is music
in its most
physical
form”

04 05
DVSs
DVSs are changing how
we view DJing and blurring
the once very clear lines
betweent the physical and
digital.
Digital vinyl
systems
AND LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
It seems like a coming together of the digital and analogue
has occurred in recent years. DVS’s (Digital Vinyl
Systems) which first appeared around 10 years ago have
came on in leaps and bounds in terms of functionality
to the point where using them is almost indistinguishable
from using traditional vinyl. This marriage of the
traditional turntable and vinyl with the contemporary and
digital combination of hardware and software looks to
be the biggest game changer that DJing equipment has
ever seen.
DVSs operate by using a combination of proprietary
hardware and software to control any mp3 with a special
time coded vinyl. The end result of these systems
is having a virtual record box that could fill a room that
is completely portable whilst retaining the haptic qualities
that accompany the mixing or scratching of vinyl.
When using these systems (most notably Serato Scratch
Live and Traktor Scratch) not only to you have a vastly
improved and easy to navigate collection of music them
way in which they operate virtually indistinguishable to
traditional vinyl. These timecoded vinyl look and feel
like the original format and when used in their relative
modes will perform exactly as if you have that track on
your turntable, if the needle is lifted the music stops,
drop it further inwards and it will skip ahead, and at this
point in their lifecycle latency is all but non-existent.
These systems are commonly used in the DMC World
Championships, one of if not the, most prestigious turntablism
competition in the world, which speaks a great
deal about their merits and closeness to the real thing,
they achieve.
“a marriage of the
traditional turntable
any vinyl with the
contemporary and
digital”
THE DOWNSIDE
The one drawback of this is loosing the very vinyl collection you are
trying to save carrying around. One of the most personal aspects
of DJing with vinyl is the act of going to a record shop and flicking
through huge crates vinyl by hand until you find those perfect
tracks. The memories associated with this along with the substantially
larger price tag per track than MP3s or CDs ensures people
look after their vinyl compared to the MP3s burnt on to CDs that get
tossed around the DJ booth without a second thought.
This being said the benefits greatly outweigh the bad points, along
with DVSs having the functionality to use old school vinyl in conjunction
with their timecodes ones concurrently allowing a cohesive
setup instead of mixing between to varied formats and control
platforms such as vinyl and CD.

006 007
TURNTABLES
THE ICON THAT IS THE
TURNTABLE
Much has been said
about vinyl but without its
counterpart the turntable
it is useless. The turntable
is one of the integral tools
of a DJ and it’s prevalence
in DJ and electronic music
culture has resulted in it
achieving somewhat of
an iconic status, much in
the way the guitar is perceived
in the rock world.
The object in itself is so
well recognized an engrained
within the dance
scene people who have
no idea how to operate
them will be found wearing
t-shirts emblazoned
with images of technics
1210s Turntables are noted
for their simplicity in both
form and function, and it
is this which makes them
so easy to use yet incredibly
hard to completely
master. To deal with the
stresses put upon them
with scratching turntables
have a lot of heft to them,
they are much more robust
than their relatively flimsy
CD or MIDI counterparts.
Most quality brand turntables
are built to stand the
test of time and will easily
last 10 years or more with
minor repairs for wear and
RECORD SALES
Turntables, and in
particular the Technics
1210mk2’s are iconic
withing the dance music
industry.
Vinyl for a period of time had seen a steady decline,
however recently sales have been growing year on
year and are the highest they have been for twelve
years.
This is testament to how resilient this media is, it has
and will stand the test of time. It is much more preferable
when Djing and when it is not being played it can
be viewed as a collector’s item, people will vehemently
protect a record of theirs from being mishandled,
but could the same be said for a CD? And when it
comes to creating memories and emotional attachments
the most popular format of these times the
mp3; it doesn’t have a look in.
CRITICAL
EVALUATION
This part of the portfolio is a wellexplained
argument on why in particular
turntables and vinyl still have a place in
modern DJ culture, in spite of the huge
advancements in CD and MIDI hardware.
Mainly due to the fact they have a much a
more natural and one to one relationship
with the body.
There is a substantial amount of
multimedia included to back up these
arguments especially in the hands on
videos showing the extent of user interaction
achievable when turntables are used
to their full potential.
Strong conclusions are drawn
regarding the future of DJing technology
and equipment. How turntables have
been around since the beginning of the
phenomenon and with the introduction
of DVS look like will be around for much
longer by combining the best elements
of the digital age with the familiarity and
hands-on tactility of traditional Djing.
Some of the document strays slightly
into areas such as the sound of vinyl
and the memories associated with the act
of purchasing it. Although this is slightly
off subject the act of purchasing records,
and the memories associated with physically
browsing through them in store are
entirely relevant and creates more attachments
than any other media could.
To further inform readers who may
not have used turntables before, videos
of famous DJs talking about the format
could have been beneficial however I was
unable to find any online.
Another slight issue is the volume
of content within the document, what
is contained is of substance however if
more research had gone into, in particular,
the feeling of using vinyl in relation to the
body it could improve it drastically.
Record
Shelves
Whilst a collectable item
and each a memory,
travelling with records can
be awkward, The amount
shown hereand even more
can easily fit in a latop bag
using a DVS.
“Recent
record
sales
are a
testement
to the
resiliency
of the
media”