Question re: Traktor, Smart Playlists and Remix Sets
Deeeeep breath:
I’m trying to get my head around how the Traktor Collection works, and how iTunes Playlists are used in Traktor.
I understand that you need to re-import the iTunes Playlists into Traktor every time you update your iTunes library. Not a problem. That means I just have to update iTunes AND THEN Traktors collection once a month.
Here’s when I get confused.
You can save remix sets (for me it will only be 4 loops or samples per set, 'cos I won’t be using an F1) to the Traktor Collection ONLY, right?
So, when I save some remix sets to the Traktor Version of the iTunes Smart Playlist, can I still update the Traktor Collection (Smart) Playlists every month (when I add new tracks to iTunes), or will the Traktor Playlist be over written by the iTunes playlist, and the Traktor playlist DOESN’T include remix sets???
Damn - I don’t think I can even follow that train of thought…
Basically - how can I keep my Traktor Playlists sync’d to my iTunes SMART Playlists, while keeping my newly added Remix Sets in the Traktor Playlist???
For info - my SMART iTunes Playlists will be sorted by KEY. So I’d like to be saving the Remix Sets to the Playlist that matches the KEY of the track the Remix Set is made from…
Yes. But you can import them into Traktor as a static (ie - representative of the Smart Playlist at the time it was imported) playlist.
I’d hoped there was a way to keep my iTunes SMART Playlists (which will ONLY contain .mp3 files of whole tracks, and is updated weekly/monthly) sync’d with my Traktor Collection (which, as well as the whole tracks, will ALSO include Traktor generated Remix Sets, Loops, etc…).
The reason for this is that I want to keep the original track, and the related Remix Set in the same playlist, which would be sorted by KEY.
I’m trying to avoid having a separate folder for Remix Sets… But at the moment, I can’t see a sensible way of doing it…
But if you import a Smart Playlist into Traktor, the TRAKTOR PLAYLIST does not update when the iTunes Node does…
Re: Remix Sets - obviously, the Remix Set will be in the same key as the original track that it was created from. So I’d like it to show up in the same playlists as the original track. That way, when I’m browsing for tracks, I can see which ones have an associated Remix Set, 'cos it will be right there next to the original track. So the playlist would look like this:
02A - 090 - RJD2 and Cannibal Ox - The F Word
02A - 090 - The Pharcyde - Ya Mama
02A - 091 - Eazy-E - Eazy Duz It
02A - 091 - Eazy-E - Eazy Duz It (Patch’s Remix Set)
02A - 092 - A Tribe Called Quest - We’ve Got The Jazz
02A - 093 - KRS-One - MC’s Act Like They Don`t Know
I don’t know if it’s gonna be possible - because the Remix Set can only be saved in the Traktor Collection, and the Smart Playlist is created by iTunes.
The current way to do it is long-winded and convoluted, but if I have to do it by copying tracks to individual folders in Traktor when I update my iTunes Smart Playlists then that’s what I’ll have to do.
iTunes playlist and Traktor playlists deal with two different databases - the “traktor collection” (which you should be playing from) is Traktor’s database, which you have to add songs to in order to work with them. The iTunes “smart” playlist is updated on the fly, but Traktor has no way of updating its own playlists when that happens. Smart playlists are useful in Traktor but you have to keep in mind that the songs are not yet in the Traktor collection until you put them there. You can still use them from the itunes playlist but you will miss some features like seeing the key or being able to change the information. So the short answer to your question is no.
As long as you don’t remove any tracks from the smart playlist in iTunes, you should just be able to open up the playlist in the iTunes tab, select all tracks and drag and drop them into the static playlist in Traktor. That will only add tracks to it that are not already in the playlist, thereby keeping your remix sets in the playlist.
I’m sure it won’t delete anything from it, if you drag the actual files from the iTunes playlist into the Traktor playlist (I have not tested this, but I don’t see why it would work any other way). It may duplicate them, but then all you have to do is right click on the playlist and click remove duplicates.
