Much of the current dj vampling is done with rhythm assistance or quite simply pre-prepared. For example, Coldcut has recently shown a video during their show of George W. Bush altered to sing Hendrix numbers. The precision of these live performances at times undermines the live feel. That said, many dj's have begun using the Pioneer dvd mixers (DVJ-X1) over the last couple years. These are larger versions of the cd mixers made for dvds. They can store samples, can scratch, save markers... really quite flexible. (A decent description can be found here.) DJ's Yoda, Shadow, and many others have spearheaded this work. In all fairness, however, it must be said that these $4000 Pioneer decks are in large part "loaned" to these well known artists, which makes pioneering a more comfortable ride!

A large part of the dj's who are vampling do so with the accompaniment of beat-heavy background music. This is because the shows are largely geared to the dance scene mixing up footage from well known works (Star Wars for Yoda). Audio-visual performers such as AddictiveTV, who put on one roller coaster of a show, use the DVJ mixers as well with a beat-heavy background. Warning, they slather their logo over already pirated material, is that punk or what? Yar!. Here's an example of these types of mixes: "TAKE THE LEAD".

The dvd mixers for now are unwieldy and somewhat clumsy to use but that's no doubt short lived. They aren't perhaps the ideal for creating longer more experimental works as the GRID systems do. Also they don't give you the same kind of contact with speed and intensity that some of the touch pad set-ups, either home made or like the Korg "kaos pad" do. The best bet still seems to use some combo of a variety of tools... more to come on this....