Who wants to DJ on an iPad? Apparently millions of people do. From Records, to CDs, to Big MP3 Controller Units, and to laptops, the industry has been revolutionized one step further into the future, with a small thin electronic tablet called the iPad. Pretty good applications have been developed for DJ’s who want to experiment how to dj on an iPad.

Some of these applications include Baby Decks, iPad Kontrol, Mixr, and one of the originals, PadDeckX. As thousands of applications are being created for the new iPad, many more DJ applications are being developed as well. Along with the thousands of good applications being created, consumers have to beware of the ones that will be a big waste of money. Always keep your eyes on consumer reviews before purchasing an iPad application. If it’s free, might as well download it and try it out.

As a DJ, I am extremely excited to get my hands on the iPad and start playing around with many of the music applications. With that being said, I will not be replacing my current set-up to only dj on an ipad.

I will be using the iPad as an add-on tool to play loops, samples, fast mixes, and other cool effects. Currently, I am using an iPod Touch as a back-up mp3 player on my system. I even have a pretty effective sampling program that I mess around with while using my Denon HD2500 to play my main mixes. I feel like the iPad will be a fantastic addition, making it much easier to play samples on that large beautiful screen.

The applications to be able to dj on an iPad look similar to media DJ controllers used for physical cd and mp3 units. The difference is that there are no rubber or plastic buttons to push, no faders to control, and no physical knobs to turn. Everything is controlled with the touch of human fingers tapping and gliding across the hard plastic screen. When I am turning knobs, moving sliders, and pushing buttons, I feel in complete control and connected to my equipment and my music. When I use the iPad, it feels cold and I feel disconnected. I also feel like it’s cheating and get a little frustrated knowing that any kid can now do what it took me years to learn and perfect. It’s cool, it still will never look as cool as a dj using actual physical turntables or scratch wheels.

There are still drawbacks to only using an iPad to DJ. One of the most important elements in dj’ing (beat-mixing) is being able to cue a song (listen to one song in the headphones ONLY, while playing the other song (ONLY) through speakers. At this point the only way to play music out of an iPad is through the 1/8″ headphone jack. There is no way to separate the sound. Laptops have sound-card audio capabilities and dj mixers have that capability as well.

For hobby dj’s and just for fun, I think these applications are fantastic if someone wants to dj on an iPad. They can scratch, and beat mix, and play samples, load thousands of beats and sounds, have really cool interfaces, and are getting much better as new applications are developed. At this point, however, nothing can replace the trend in DJ’ing with the laptop and media controller.

Laptops have incredible storage capacity, high processing power, extremely mobile, and most Dj’s that use a laptop connect a media controller (ex. Vestex digital controller, Behringer, Cortex digital music controller, Denon HDN-HC5000 or HD2500, Pioneer SEP-C1, and the incredible Numark NS7.) Serato Itch, Traktor, PCDJ, and other high-end laptop software like Virtual DJ used with USB Digital Controllers, make DJ’ing on an iPad look like child’s play.

Kudos to Apple for creating the iPad. As technology evolves and other devices get smaller, I think Apple had the right idea with the iPad. As awkward as it may be for a professional dj to dj on an iPad, it serves as a practical device with many useful music applications. As for now, it’s may appear to be just a fun toy, but who really knows what the future holds for the Dj industry while the iPad is growing in popularity and capabilities.

While you may have all your equipment and technology, make sure you have all your important music for your parties. Technology may evolve and make previous equipment obsolete, but good music will always be good music.