(For those new to the column, Forward Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs — or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A Forward Migration Kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as photography, optometry, etc.)
This week we offer the second section of our three-part look at Mac OS software that current and budding deejays will find useful. Also make sure to take a look at part one in the series if you haven’t already read it.
FileMaker Pro
Todd Dunham did both mobile and radio DJing for many years and found FileMaker Pro to be very useful, he told MacCentral.
“Although not sound production software, it did a very good job of tracking songs and their info as well as requests, label contacts, etc.” he said. “I no longer have the database I designed for it, but remember it wasn’t too hard once I got the basics down for FM Pro.”
Speaking of which, Promo Only offers a FM database program used to distribute their CD catalog history, reports David Webb.
Party Pro Virtual DJ
Party Pro Virtual DJ is described by the folks at BayTex as “the best and only DJ tool for the Mac.” It lets you manually mix MP3, WAV, and MIDI in real time — or “leave your Mac mixing ’em while you enjoy your party.” Speaking of parties, you can set Party Pro Virtual DJ to automix beat rate between songs and even set each key of a keyboard to play jingles.
BayTex also makes Party! Live, a small MP3 and CD player that floats over every application. You can use it to mix your songs for continuous playing and lets you save your song lists with preferences. Party! Live can also be condensed into a tab so you can continue working while listening to your music.
MegaSeg
MegaSeg is DJ music automation software. The latest version, 1.4, introduced QuickTime video and Flash animation support. PowerBook users can utilize their S-Video output for full screen video displays on a TV or video projector. MegaSeg 1.4 features a “Voice-Over” option, which overrides the automatic fade out when a track is segued, allowing for play of prerecorded voice tracks or a QuickTime video over the next song in the Playlist.
The latest version also packs music library management tools. A new database format that can organize up to 5,000 media files, and supports multiple folders on internal, external, and network hard drives. In addition to QuickTime 4 support for MP3 ID3 tags, MegaSeg also features its own expanded tag format for the full range of supported media.
“I have a friend that is the instructor for communication for Snow College in Ephraim, Utah,” Brad Bradley told MacCentral. “During the semester breaks and over the summer, he totally automates the college radio station using an iMac DV and MegaSeg. The program allows you to set up play lists and does everything needed for unattended playback. If fact, over the Christmas holidays the iMac ran their radio station for two-plus weeks without so much as a hiccup. The only changes to the iMac was the swap of the 10 GB hard drive to a 45 GB hard drive for audio file storage space. They added a Maxtor 40 GB FireWire drive for archiving files and the ability to play from that drive if needed. It’s a cool system, and I don’t think that they are into the whole thing more that $1200.”
MegaSeg comes with N2MP3, which rips audio files to MP3. More info and a demo version is available at the MegaSeg Web site.
On Air
On Air 2.0, is a virtual radio studio (or virtual DJ mixer) for the Mac from TTH Design. According to the folks at TTH, it gives you all the tools you need for your own radio station or for your next gig as a DJ. Version 2.0 adds a fully functional sequencer, networking features to provide a virtual pre-fade-listening, a jog shuttle and more. Plus, On Air 2.0 comes with a choice of customizable “skins.”
OnTheAir Studio is an application designed to replace cartridge machines for broadcasting jingles, commercials or any kind of sound file. This application runs on any Power Mac or iMac computer and allows playback of an unlimited number of sound files by clicking on a button. Elapsed and remaining times are always displayed, as well as the total running time when using a playlist.
Then there’s OnTheAir Home Studio, designed to let any have their “own” radio station.
Next week: part three.