iPad DJ VIDEO: Watch Rana Sobhany Break It Down

When Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPad, many people criticized it as little more than an over-sized iPod Touch.

They wondered: What did it offer them that their smartphones and laptops didn't already provide?

Some have come around to the iPad--critics gave it rave reviews when it launched--and adopted it as an ereader, media platform, gaming device, and more.

Rana Sobhany has conceived a creative and unusual application for her iPad: mixing beats.

Sobhany, who claims to be the first-ever iPad DJ, explains in a video interview from Robert Scoble how she does it.

Switched summarizes her technique:

All the music, sounds and effects she uses are pulled from iPad apps -- like Groovemaker House, Looptastic HD, iDaft, AC-7 Pro, Pianist Pro and Sonosaurus Rex -- all of which are stored on the device. So, rather than carry clunky equipment to a gig, Sobhany just needs her tablets, which will fit easily inside a backpack. Not only does this system make getting to a show easier, but it's much cheaper than a typical DJ setup, too.

See the iPad DJ in action in the video below.

Learn more about the iPad by checking out our guide to '13 Things You Need To Know About The iPad,' the '9 Worst Things About The iPad,' or our comprehensive review round-up. See our selection of 'iPad Killers'--alternatives to the iPad, which include Microsoft's HP Slate--here. We've also got '9 Reasons Not To Buy An iPad,' and a list of users' biggest complaints about the iPad thus far.

WATCH: (via @Scobleizer)

Comments

[Solipsistic Nation]

06:03 PM on 05/28/2010

I interviewed artists who are making music with iPads and iPhones on my show and I had the pleasure of talking with Rana. Give it a listen at http://solipsisticnation.com/?p=465

[IfIonlyknew]

03:36 PM on 04/25/2010

Bla..Bla...Bla.... But i like her screen saver.

[lockDown]

03:57 PM on 04/23/2010

And they said "true" music is played, not sampled. Yet the hip hop genre, largely sampled with few exceptions (eg The Roots - band) has proven longevity, influence and major profitability.

[adamhide]

03:19 PM on 04/23/2010

Interesting stuff, but a true DJ touches vinyl, not glass...

[Daniela Smith]

02:04 AM on 04/25/2010

As cool as this is, I do have to agree with you. It just ain't the same.

[Zenergy]

11:09 AM on 04/26/2010

Get out of the 90s. Just about every professional working DJ out there plays on CDJ 1000s, Serato, or Ableton (no, I'm not including you bedroom guys or local scene club rats in this). Vinyl is totally outmoded - with the internet, by the time a track has gone to the plant and gotten pressed, it's already stale. I throw raves every so often, and for the past few years the only reason I even bring turntables is for the opening/closing sets. In a some genres, like psytrance, nobody's pressed any vinyl for 7 or 8 years - it's all digital.

Also, she wasn't DJing in her little demo - running loops and an Electribe means it's a live PA, albeit a really lame one. She seems to have a limited grasp of the fundamentals of electronic music, and a lot of what she was saying, while factually correct, just didn't click as authentic knowledge.

Brilliant marketing piece by Apple, though, but it's still just as lame as that crappy iPod mixer from Numark.

[pallmallguy]

02:55 PM on 04/23/2010

ipad is basically a toy compared to professtional MIDI synthesizers

[ratsavage]

09:11 PM on 04/24/2010

Dude, she's not playing a MIDI synthesizer. Seemingly there is no MIDI involved, and apparently none of it is synthesized either (it is all sampled). What you should be comparing this to is either two turntables, or some combination of hardware and computers.

[Zenergy]

11:14 AM on 04/26/2010

The Electribe is definitely a MIDI sampler. I've got an old one around here somewhere, and it's definitely got a MIDI out, and plays nicely with Ableton. She also said that the programs were synced, which means she's got to have a MIDI clock running on one of them. They'd have to be, really, as I don't think the display is nearly sensitive enough for the kind of control you need to manually match beats.

[GoDogGo]

12:39 PM on 04/23/2010

There goes the "it'll never be used for content creation" notion...

Two weeks in and this is where we are. It's going to be interesting to see what people are doing with these six months from now.

[mikeoregon]

11:52 AM on 04/23/2010

Rana is splendid! She's already created a performance using iPads she's had for two weeks and she's only going to get better. It's an awesome achievement. She's planning to work in her own guitar playing, and don't forget, in a show she is continually monitoring the mood of the floor and adapting quickly. She's got a quick mind, really fun to watch her in action.

Cynics, back to your rocking chairs.

[shockaslim]

12:16 PM on 04/23/2010

She is actually a marketer, She aint no stinkin DJ!

[Merckx]

11:44 AM on 04/23/2010

This is a game changer folks. You are going to see a ton of new uses for the I-pads.
pretty darn cool.

[bring in swat]

11:20 AM on 04/23/2010

from bill hicks on people in marketing...genius!!! maybe DJ MaxiPad will read this...very fitting....

http://sennoma.net/main/edits/Hicks.html

[bring in swat]

11:09 AM on 04/23/2010

UHG....boring and cool for the sake of thinking something is cool just because it's the new thing...this kind of pedestrian attempt at being musical is a joke, when will this stop. she doesn't "create" she uses stock run of the mill pedestrian sounds and beats...do something besides hit play. this is like the 7/11 of music, or rather sound...it's not musical or creative, anyone can load up stock music, video, art work and pretend to be creative....YAWN.

[GoDogGo]

12:34 PM on 04/23/2010

You're dismissing the machine by criticizing a genre of music? Sorry, but anyone who's made modern music (be it hip hop or electronic) knows the creativity involved in mixing.

Perhaps your grandkids could smuggle some Dub Step into the rest home for you.

[Zenergy]

11:51 AM on 04/26/2010

Sure, there's a ton of creativity in mixing, as well as a keen appreciation of compatible sounds and rhythms. Sadly, she had neither of those. Even when her programs were supposed to be synced she still couldn't match a beat, because she's apparently ignorant of the fact that just because two things are playing at 120 bpm doesn't mean they'll sound good together. She was key clashing all over the place too - I've listened to a lot of bad EDM over the years, and that was spectacularly horrible.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when real musicians get a hold of the iPad. $500 for a battery powered touch screen that could sync with Ableton or Logic and that runs vst's would be absolutely incredible and a real game changer for live PAs. Until then, however, we're stuck with clueless marketing hacks trying to astroturf their material.

[daveanders]

10:33 AM on 04/23/2010

"Rana Sobhany is not a marketer, at least not in the traditional sense. She is a brand storyteller who believes that polish is the key to success in creating a lasting and memorable brand."-http://www.crunchbase.com/person/rana-sobhany

i love how she plants the 'average joe' in the background to add to her 'brand stroytelling'.

[AndyWright68]

09:48 AM on 04/23/2010

IPad DJ?

I got this plugged into that and that plugged into this and I need this for that but other than all that IT"S AN IPAD! Oh...I also need two of them. Well, I can barely see the controls without getting my face 6" from the screen or get my fingers on them with out touching other controls but other then that I can do an amazingly less than average job!

[GoDogGo]

12:37 PM on 04/23/2010

Ever see a modern DJ at work? They use Macs. Pioneer mixers. Etc. Often over $10k grand of complex professional equipment. If you watched the video, I think you'd see she's using a total of $1200 to do something far more accessible for us non-professional mixers. That's phenomenal.

[ratsavage]

09:16 PM on 04/24/2010

You are completely missing the point.

Half of the plugged in stuff she described was the audio output. You would need that regardless of the sound source. Also all DJs use two sources and a mixer -- that is the standard setup, only instead of having dedicated hardware, like a turntable, she used iPads, which she demonstrated is a much more flexible sound source, as you can load different apps onto the same iPad.

[EastVillageNYC]

08:41 AM on 04/23/2010

L.A.M.E.

[halmsi]

08:33 AM on 04/23/2010

What's great is that the DJ has stopped shopping and started crafting.

Excellent display of getting something working that is useful and looks to be incredibly fun. I guess I'll throw my Tech 1200s on the auction block soon and get with the times.

Awesome!

[Terri Walsh]

08:23 AM on 04/23/2010

that looks like FUN. :)