Craig Finn of the Hold Steady once remarked that “everyone’s a critic, but most people are DJs.” He was right then and even more so now, as the potentially unqualified force their musical tastes on everyone within earshot.
DJing used to be a thing that required a good bit of skill, and most of all, the time, the taste, and life experience to gather a decent enough record collection to get started. iPod mixers, laptops, and Serato put an end to that, and now, with Pacemaker, even the basic requirements for multiple pieces of gear are gone. This handheld device, currently available in Europe, makes it remarkably easy for anyone (with $825 USD to spare) to get into the grind within minutes.
A color digital display, two-channel mixing, and a 120GB internal hard drive are just some of the features the Pacemaker offers, not to mention the ability to allow users to change the pitch, beatmatch, loop, cut, stutter, and add a variety of effects to regular old MP3s, all on a device roughly the size of a TV remote. Pacemaker.net, the website of the product in question, allows owners to upload their own mixes to the site directly, in a social networking interface that connects users with one another.
The potential for Pacemaker to be a revolution in public performance as well as DJing remains to be seen, but it does recall the UK television series “Nathan Barley”, and its titular hipster predicting this piece of gear by about three or four years. Although his was a cell phone as well. No word on whether Pacemaker will offer voicemail capabilities, but the thought of forcing anyone who calls you to check out your latest techno mix is either the next best thing, or a reason to start writing letters again.
