Track waveform in "spectrum" display (similar to TRAKTOR PRO 2) VST/plugin

[joaosprovieri]

Photojojo, I use Mixed in key currently and it really helps me. But I totaly disagree with the advantage of using BEAtunes. The color that it gives just don´t make any sense to me. Once I was testing the software and I asked to analyze my tracks, it gaves me 3 different playlist orders in 3 different analyzing orders. Maybe I am just not used to it and must learn more about how it works and how this software can help me. Could you share your experiences with that?

[joaosprovieri]

A friend of mine uses a track tag which is composed by 7 different colors. Each color represents a track mood (like more deep, more disco, more tech, more acid, etc..). I really tried to do the same and organize my tracks by genre, but when performig everything is different and it is easy to finds song with similar genres that just don´t fit in the mix and makes the the whole atmosphere going too empty or too full. that´s why I decided to enhance more attributes to each track.

[joaosprovieri]

Good advice ksandvik, I really thank you!
But, when you tagging by energy level you mix songs with different styles also (disco with Deep for example)?
And sometimes it is hard to decide if a track will be level 3 and not level 2 or level 4. Don´t you use any kind of reference to know exactly with energy level should you tag your track?

[ksandvik]

Good advice ksandvik, I really thank you!
But, when you tagging by energy level you mix songs with different styles also (disco with Deep for example)?
And sometimes it is hard to decide if a track will be level 3 and not level 2 or level 4. Don´t you use any kind of reference to know exactly with energy level should you tag your track?

Well, I'm of the school that it's just fine to mix and match genres, monotonic sets with the same kind of music bores me to death. But others might have another opinion which is fine.

Anyway, as for energy levels, in my classification system it's something like this:

1 - (or 1 star if we talk about iTunes star marking) - slow stuff, ballads, ambient, not moving a lot...
2 - some rhythmic variation but not that much energy, but at least there's some pace
3 - basic rhythm and energy, the middle ground, average
4 - beyond average rhythm and energy, high energy
5 - high-high energy, the max, whatever that means in different genres

Then you could make your own classification system based on the genre itself, looking at dubstep the majority of my tracks are classified 3 here...

As for the final playlist, you just add more energy along the evening, peaking at a suitable time, let's say if this is a DJ gig from 10pm to 1am, you peak around midnight and maybe slow down 00:30 or so forwards.

[D-Kem]

200 tracks is just one crate mate.

Play them and mix them over and over. Trust your ears and heart,not software analysis or tags as tunes should link to emotion and feeling at the time which is different on every occasion. If your ears can't tell or you can't pick a track to match the mood then maybe DJing isn't for you.

Not being critical but I think many DJs become distracted by all this extra stuff which impacts upon being spontaneous and creative.

I'm sure others will disagree.

[ksandvik]

In today's Young Punx video podcast they transitioned from Sting's 500+ old lute music recording to contemporary glitch house. I wish more DJs would be as daring.

[Tommi Bass]

WTF.......... this is crazy shit.

Just play the tracks ...

Improvise......

I hardly ever mix the same track into each other........ i'm not slack... just been doing it a long time... and it is fun trying to get two tracks sitting in the mix... for sure the same genre .. in a club it can keep you on your toes a bit a good dj can mix anything in.

I have mixed in front of 1,000 people using another djs records as he collapsed and I had to quickly fill in for the last half hour.. piss easy.... I had never seen half the tracks in his bag before...... it was so good I carried on for another hour..lol

Twenty years ago I probably mixed the same few tracks into each other....... but I was learning then and we where creating the genres in the first place... so not a lot was produced of real quality....... plus we played dub plates of our own tracks so we knew what would work...

In my colour spectrum display waveform in tractor some of the tracks are very pretty shades of pink, purples and crazy shit.

I'm a mastering engineer........ this is mostly bollox to me what trakor does and it never... gets the gain function correct.

I like the coloured waveform for two reasons it looks pretty and gives me acid flashbacks...

[photojojo]

You can set your own mood color in beatunes. But let me clarify here, that I'm not a huge fan of beatunes for various other reasons. I think you need to get rid of the idea of having the wave forms there to help you pick songs. All this time you're spending on that would be much better spent listening to and studying your music.