Pick up the Pace(maker)

[Editor's Note: Jason Pace is a freelance writer, tech geek, and our guest blogger for today.  Believe it or not, despite his last name, he is not involved with the Pacemaker professionally in any way.  :)  --Aric A.]

Ever been to one of those parties where everyone starts reaching for their iPods, playing DJ and enjoying some tunes? Are they wearing neon bodysuits? (Nevermind, we’ll get to that later.) As for the party soundtrack, here’s your chance to kick it up a notch with automatic beat-matching, timestretch, pitch adjustment, looping, reverse playback, cuing, effects and then some. Did I mention this doesn’t involve two turntables and a mixer? 


If you haven’t heard, Pacemaker is a pocket-sized DJ system. Emphasis mine. Of course, you could boldface “DJ” too, looking at the features. It really does pack it in. Take a peek at the product page to see a pretty comprehensive list of DJ needs. Or go to the Pacemaker web site to see some slick vids and such, along with a vaguely creepy crew of Pacemaker fans in neon bodysuits. 


Regardless of your own clothing preferences, if you’re a DJ or musician you’d probably find this thing intriguing. The new version is a more affordable 60GB successor to last year’s award-winning 120GB model, with a bunch of new goodies thrown in for good measure. It’s not much bigger than the omnipresent iPod, and of course it features touch control like nearly everything does nowadays (kind of a cool-looking circular thing, in fact). It has enough under the hood to suit most approaches: playing back pre-recorded sets, executing a well-planned set with a little bit of improv thrown in, or just all-out winging it. Just plug in and go, without the need to haul around your gear. “Where’s my rig? Pow! In my pocket, right next to my cell. You never call.”


The other selling point is that Pacemaker works with the company’s Pacemaker Editor, which is software “tailor-made for quick and easy desktop mix production.” You can sync the Pacemaker with said software, adjust your mix, and then upload and share with the user community. 


There you have it. It’ll also be interesting to see how this thing is adapted/misused by the non-DJs out there. I could see noise artists using it in live situations, bands using it for on-the-fly backing tracks, and other applications. But the intended use is deejaying, and so far the reviews on that front look pretty promising. Check out the Pacemaker press page for links to some in-depth reviews.



–Jason Pace