[TUTORIAL] iTunes & Traktor: Music library management and workflow for DJs
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  1. #1
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    Dec 2014
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    Default [TUTORIAL] iTunes & Traktor: Music library management and workflow for DJs

    Hi guys,

    I've lurked here for a while, but only recently registered. Some background on me: I've DJed for over 12 years now, and I've been using Traktor for about 2. I write software for a living (websites, mobile apps, etc) and dabble in video game development on the side (http://quake2world.net for any FPS nerds out there).

    I've put together a video tutorial explaining how I use iTunes Smart Playlists to manage my Traktor music collection, and how I use the comments meta-data field to capture textures and energy levels for my tracks and then navigate that information when preparing a set. As you might have guessed, I've applied my engineering mindset to the process, and so it's perhaps a bit more "systematic" than some of the other tutorials out there -- but I think that's a good thing! You be the judge.



    Hopefully some folks here will find it useful!

    Cheers,

    Jay

  2. #2

    Default

    I wish someone do one of these for Windows 7.
    Numark 4 Trak | VCI-400 | Fostex PM0.3 Bookshelf Monitors | The Triple Threat NI-F1, N1-X1-MK2, NI-Z1 | Serato DJ/Flip

  3. #3
    Newbie
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    Dec 2014
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    Default There's no difference!

    Hi bc6,

    There's absolutely nothing Mac-specific about this tutorial (I even say so about 10 seconds in ).

    One thing I did not mention in the tutorial which really helps minimize any differences you might encounter from platform to platform in general, is letting iTunes organize your music library. It's absolutely the easiest way to organize all of your tunes. Stop worrying about folders!

    To do this, there are two check boxes in the iTunes preferences you must enable:

    1) Keep iTunes Media Folder organized
    2) Copy tracks into iTunes Media Folder when adding to Library

    Here's a screenshot:

    Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 10.11.01 AM.jpg

    This way, when you download tracks from Beatport or whatever and open them in iTunes, they are copied into an appropriately named folder. You can delete the downloaded copy from your Downloads folder or Desktop or what have you. Likewise, as you tag your tracks and e.g. rename the artist or album, iTunes will update the backing folder structure accordingly. But the whole point is to forget about folders, and just let the computer worry about them. All you need to concern yourself with is the ID3 tags / meta-data.

    Anyway, hope this helps

  4. #4
    Tech Mentor sicnarf033's Avatar
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    Nov 2012
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    Default

    I am extremely OCD when it comes to music organization. It just makes life so much easier.

  5. #5
    Tech Convert
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    Aug 2014
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    Default

    Ohhh.. I love your list. So organized.
    MacBook Air 2011
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    http://soundcloud.com/official_djromeo

  6. #6
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    Dec 2014
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    Default

    Haha, thanks rocaso. It's not that hard to do! Take a rainy weekend and rate all of your tracks, and back-fill the comments fields. Going through your tunes from head to toe a couple times a year is also a great opportunity to retire some tracks that've been cluttering up your crate, too.

  7. #7
    Tech Mentor
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    Mannheim / Germany
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    Default

    great tutorial.


    MacBookPro 11,1 | i5 2,4GHz | 16 GB RAM | 256 GB SSD
    MacOSX 10.15.x | TraktorPro 3.x | VCI-100 SE FW 1.4 | VCI-400 SE (EGE)

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