In 1999 Richie Hawtin embarked on a series of DE9 projects with the specific aim of exploring both existing and emerging technologies and how they might be employed within DJ performance, as Hawtin has put it, ‘an outlet where I can experiment with my thoughts on where the idea of DJing and performance are headed in the future.’ The first instalment Decks, EFX & 909 illustrated the practice he had initiated two years earlier. This was followed by DE9: closer to the edit (2001) which seen Hawtin make more than 300 edits from over 100 tracks, producing loops ranging in length from one note to four bars. DE9: Transitions (2005) was to herald the death of the turntable for Hawtin turning his attention to Ableton Live DJ/production software. Working from a premise the DJ need no longer synchronise or manually cue music, as this was automated in software, Hawtin could instead indulge in ‘a new era of the mix, that of the transition.’
I was lucky enough to borrow a copy of closer to the edit parts (2 vinyls containing 120 locked grooves) from the prodigously gifted DJ Anno. After painstakingly digitising all 120 loops I dropped them into Ableton Live and mixed them up with a Korg Zero 4 DJ mixer.
