I take it most of you have used Genius on iTunes at some point or another. I'm looking for something with similar functionality that will create Traktor compatible playlist based on genre, key, bpm, etc.
Anyone know if there's such an app out there?
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I take it most of you have used Genius on iTunes at some point or another. I'm looking for something with similar functionality that will create Traktor compatible playlist based on genre, key, bpm, etc.
Anyone know if there's such an app out there?
I really think that's part of the fun and enjoyment of being a selector. If you just want it automatic... I don't know. I consider DJing to be 50% skill, 50% selection. It's not overtly complicated... but it's an incredibly important part of how your personal flavor turns out.
You could always save off the genius playlist and put it back together in traktor. Thats as close as youre gonna get.
djing is really all about selection though, no machine can beat a good dj.
Delete tracks you don't love. Seriously I don't understand how people can have such huge libraries.
Trainspotter. Works with the Traktor collection. Does dynamic playlists by key, genre, whatever you like. also does key detection and discogs lookup.
I use it all the time
if you don't know your tracks inside and out, you really shouldn't be using them regularly
I like to have a good amount of music on hand because at sone gigs you never know. That being said I sort all my music into genres they from that make sets that contain the most recent music of that genre that I like say about 100-200 of my fav tracks at the moment and add and delete from those list. So I'll have a house, then house set, trance, then trance set and so on.
sorting by date is a good idea.
Don't know of apps, and frankly, I wouldn't trust it to keep tracks in a way that correlates with the way my brain remembers where things are.
I organize all my EDM tracks by date I purchased, and then into multiple playlists.
I haven't been DJ'ing all to long, but my library recently hit 1000 songs. Then I transferred over my favorites to my iPod... and was left with 347. That's still hundreds of songs to work with, but damn... I don't remember downloading that much crap.
there are some really useful articles (think they're called Power Tips) on how to use smart playlists to make finding track of a similar style easier
For example I have a bunch of smart playlists set up to select all tracks where the genre includes Funk and that are rated 4 or 5 stars. As I set the genres and stars myself. It picks out my favourite tracks. I also use MiK and the key and bpm are both in the comments field so that can be an aid
Then again I sometime just play what feels right .... josh is right, know your music.
Sorry, forgot to add ... the articles are on DJTT ...
a few years ago before i lost one of my collections on a failed hdd i would sort all my popular 'bangers' and 'tracks from ministry cds' by month and year which seemed to work well when playing to (younger and more ignorant) commercial dancefloors. worked well enough.
over the years i've tried many different approaches to filing my mp3's and filling burned cd's... all have worked well, but when you play everything enough it doesn't matter how or when it was filed where - my brain knew where to find it!
I've got a massive music collection coz I love music.
What I'm looking for is a better way to filter away the tracks I don't want, leaving me with say 50 tracks that have close key/bmp etc.
I'm looking at this as an inspiration tool when jamming at home. I'm thinking of it as a way to find and rediscover tunes in my collection.
Apparently Virtual DJ has a feature called geniusdj that can do what I want but there's zero chance of me buying Virtual DJ, I'm traktor to the core.
Thanks to everyone that posted usefull tips:D
I dont have a clue really... This is all i do... My car radio runs a sd card... I pick say 50 random songs that i dont know too well... And just stick them on it every so often... Ill listen to these for like 2 weeks and when i find a song that i really like or someone goes wow whats that.. I note it down and gets added to a play list which i then free style with other songs to see what works well together
good way of doing it... im pretty sure theres a way to do it on the ipod too while listening using star ratings and then anything with one star is taken from the playlist next time you sync. i read it somewhere yonks ago for the ipod classic.
i'd suggest making up playlists of 10-15 songs and listening to them 10 times in a row each, if you notice you start skipping to the next song after the first 3-4 times - delete those tracks.
If you're already using Smart playlists then just import those into Traktor before your gigs. You'll have to delete the old traktor playlist, but that shouldn't be an issue because you'll be importing it again with the better, stronger, faster playlist.
i love how people think that having a million tracks is a good thing...
It is if youre a request dj ;) "have you got this??" "yes infact i do along with every other song ever made"
Well then have a small DJing collection and a horribly large request section.
I have loads of tracks I like, but I wouldn't play out (well, I would, but I can't imagine the circumstances where I'd play them)
Good management of tracks for me is an essential
Can believe I'm getting shit for having lots of music. Last time I checked this was a dj forum and yes more music is better. I love every track in my collection. It spans the last 10 years of my life. Just about every cd I ever bought + my entire vinyl collection from back in the day. So many memory's.
Obviously its not all suitable for djing and there was a time when I kept my dj music in a separate folder away from my other music.
Along came a shiny new iPod, it forced me to install iTunes. iTunes mashed my entire collection together into one folder and it cant be undone.
Now I have to use iTunes to mange my music collection and tbh while its been awesome for my other music its been rubbish for my dance music.
I didn't know about the smart playlist thing till yesterday, gona have a play with it today. looks pretty useful.
To be honest most of the time when people say they have loads of music it means they've decided to become a DJ, went on demonoid or whatever and downloaded every single god damn electro house tune they could find and as a result don't know a single one of their tracks.
If you've steadily built up your collection and know your music, good for you.
This, hold option down when opening iTunes.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
When using multiple libraries, can you choose which one Traktor syncs with?
yes
Here's what I do.. I use Media Monkey (PC only, though) and I make sure all my EDM tracks have the correct genre (based on BPM and mixability, not super specific). For instance I have progressive house, electro house, dubstep, etc. Then in mediamonkey I made auto-playlists that are of each genre organized by the most recent tracks to the oldest, with a or 3 gigabyte limit, then that playlist is synced to my iPod. Then I listen to these playlists and I rate them on the iPod. I have another auto-playlist for my 4 star + rated tracks, also sorted by date, for each genre. That way I get all my latest, most highly rated tracks in one place, and I end up listening to that playlist the most, so I get very familiar with these tracks when I'm not even DJing. Then when I need a break from that, I'll go into the new stuff and discover all the great new stuff I just acquired. Then right before a gig, I'll load up my playlist and just drag all the songs into a new traktor playlist. I don't mix in key yet, but what I'd probably wouldn't choose songs for the night based on key alone, but I might change up my mixing order in order to better match key. I play mostly dubstep and a lot of it is in the same key of f# minor, because that's the lowest sub bass note most club systems can handle.
I have Folders called Funky House / Deep House etc..
Within them I have folders named 2005 / 2006 etc..
Within them I have folders Feb / March etc..
Apart from my pre-2000 stuff which is all in my Classics folder..
Works well..
I go back through them every now and then and delete quite a lot of stuff I've bought which I don't think would get played, so I'm just left with good music from previous years..
One thing I don't totally really agree with is having to learn all your songs inside out.
It depends what type of music you play but is it's house/dance based you should be able to mix it real easy..
When it was vinyl it was different because mixing was harder - you didn't have the visual clues traktor gives you so then you learnt every song.