Cassette turntablism is a thing, and you need to watch more tape DJ videos from Japan

DJing was born in hacks, DIY spirit, counterculture – in artists reinventing how machines work. So enough of DJs all using the same machines the same way. Watch what happens when your deck is a deconstructed DIY cassette machine.

Every home should have these, if you’re serious about music, really.

I wrote about this phenomenon back in January – artist Ōedo Technica hacked into karaoke machines and transformed them into uniquely controllable DJ decks.

Watch a hacked DJ technique made with karaoke tapes, by Ōedo Technica

But whether you caught that during some COVID lockdowns or missed it, this scene apparently has not stood still. Here are some new close-up shots of those machine mods, with a clearer view of the custom controls and display – plus some utterly insane turntablism skill as tape DJs develop mad chops on the devices.

It’s so crazy, it ought to reduce even some experienced DJs to feeling like they just switched on CDJ sync for the first time.

Just posted today, with the apparent instruction “Let’s make, grow, and spread cassette tape DJ-Business!” (It’s Japan, so this also comes with some kind of green alien cartoon character with a ton of cassettes.)

Yes, totally, let’s! That view count should be higher. Go CDM readers – share widely.

I’m your venus, I’m you’re Walkman.

Check out this hot cassette mix, too:

Or top-down view, with breaks:

This time, we get a better look at the decks, too. Even with Japanese labels, you can get a sense of what’s going on. And yeah, the fundamentals here remain – pitch, transport, position: