View Full Version : Traktor - Am I missing something?
mattydinx
18-08-2011, 08:26 PM
I'm currently trialling(sp?) Traktor 2 LE which came bundled with my HC4500 and i'm not getting on with it at all.
Is it me, or is the way the library works a total farce? - Surely there's got to be an easier way to manage my music collection through it.
It seems to pull in my iTunes library from my mac into the collection when I don't want it to. Said iTunes library contains music from mixed compilations, my own recordings and songs, and generally things I'll never want to play when i'm DJing. It doesn't give me a simple option to 'remove from search db' like VDJ does.
My music's arranged on my HDD by decade then genre - Perfect in VDJ, just expand the folders and its all clear to see - Traktor just seems cluttered and clumsy - I don't want to set up new playlists or folders - It's already the way I like it!
Am I missing something with this program? - Everyone seems to rave about it but I'm just not getting it.
It seems to pull in my iTunes library from my mac into the collection when I don't want it to. Said iTunes library contains music from mixed compilations, my own recordings and songs, and generally things I'll never want to play when i'm DJing. It doesn't give me a simple option to 'remove from search db' like VDJ does.
Set your music folders in configuration. There isn't i believe an option to remove from searchdb. If the file is in the music folders you choose it will be in Traktor.
My music's arranged on my HDD by decade then genre - Perfect in VDJ, just expand the folders and its all clear to see - Traktor just seems cluttered and clumsy - I don't want to set up new playlists or folders - It's already the way I like it!
You can go to Explorer -> Music folders if you want to do it that way.
Am I missing something with this program? - Everyone seems to rave about it but I'm just not getting it.
Stable, used by the pros and brilliant for mixing ... with a bit of practice!
yourdj
19-08-2011, 08:15 AM
I have it and still prefer Itch by a mile.
is there a way to pull and copy your Itunes files in to traktor.
Bet there is there are allot of laptop savvy DJ's
I have it and still prefer Itch by a mile.
is there a way to pull and copy your Itunes files in to traktor.
Bet there is there are allot of laptop savvy DJ's
Itunes playlists are visible within Traktor as read only.
Traktor allows you to work with files that are in the Music Folders setup in Traktor and if this includes the Itunes folder then it will let you work with Itunes files. This is because Traktor needs to do it's own analysis of the files, like most DJ software.
If specific files are to be excluded then they should be moved to an area which is not included within the Music Folders. You can then run Check Consistency to find and remove the files which will no longer be available to Traktor,
equinoxdiscos
19-08-2011, 12:30 PM
I have built lots playlists in itunes - genres etc. I then import the playlists into Traktor and work with them that way.
I really like Traktor, but I guess everyone has their preference.
Alchemy
19-08-2011, 06:23 PM
I have used Traktor for a few years now and I really like it but one thing that constantly frustrates me is its inability to search for tracks at folder level. I don't think it's possible but I'd love to be proved wrong. :D
I have used Traktor for a few years now and I really like it but one thing that constantly frustrates me is its inability to search for tracks at folder level. I don't think it's possible but I'd love to be proved wrong. :D
Yes you can search within a folder, genre, artist, album and the search is restricted to that.
Alchemy
19-08-2011, 07:58 PM
Yes you can search within a folder, genre, artist, album and the search is restricted to that.
Yes, but what I mean is if you are looking for a track and you don't know what album it's on you can't search all folders (or can you?) :D
Yes, but what I mean is if you are looking for a track and you don't know what album it's on you can't search all folders (or can you?) :D
Yes, just search in Track Collection. wild searching is pretty good too so 'Rob Ang' will bring back Robbie Williams Angels in the results :D
Alchemy
19-08-2011, 08:14 PM
Yes, just search in Track Collection. wild searching is pretty good too so 'Rob Ang' will bring back Robbie Williams Angels in the results :D
I have about 1800 tracks in "track collection". I really don't want to import the other 10,000 into "collection" as that would make browsing for inspiration practically impossible. Can you import folders to the collection without breaking them down to track level?
Reading between the lines here it sounds like you have your 'core' tracks of about 1800 that you use frequently at discos and know that they work and another 10000 tracks that you can call on for additional requests should they come in?
I too operate in a similar way in that I have have list of 'floorfillers' which i can refer back to if I need to change genre or do a party where people expect to here the 'expected' tunes.
The way to manage this is to put ALL of your tracks into 'Collection'. That way if you search in 'Collection' you can find anything easily.
Then put the 1800 tracks into a playlist called say 'Core'. When you search this playlist you will only be searching from the 'Core' list so inspiration will be easier, but you can always go back to 'Collection' if you need your other tracks.
In Traktor you can also have 12 favourite folders at the top of the search window. You might want to drag 'Core' and 'Collection' there so you can navigate more easily than navigating the tree menu in the left hand menu.
I find the favourite folders useful if you setup a playlist of a certain gig you can drag it here and refer to it easily.
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask further questions :D
Alchemy
20-08-2011, 07:27 AM
Yes, that's the situation exactly. After you saying that, I am going to take your advice and import all the tracks in my album folders to the "Collection" (it doesn't matter that they are on an external hard-drive does it?). I have been using Win 7 Explorer to search, but although this is really good it caused a slight glitch in the playback during MJ "Thriller" so I'll never search in Windows while playing again.
Thanks for the advice. :)
mattred
20-08-2011, 11:43 AM
Im not an expert on traktor but the way I organise my files in Serato SL / Itch is have lots of different crates. I can still search all if I want but I have crates set up of my normal plays for certain nights.
An interesting article of file arrangement here
http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/07/24/sorting-your-dj-music-library-the-klay-system/
and that is written about traktor
Matt
Alchemy
21-08-2011, 06:41 PM
In the end I decided to just import all the album folders into "Track Collection, I need to do some serious tidying up of the hard drive and having them all searchable will help immensely.
I am now sat looking at Traktor analysing the 10245 new tracks ( it's only got to 3900 after about 2 hours)
In the end I decided to just import all the album folders into "Track Collection, I need to do some serious tidying up of the hard drive and having them all searchable will help immensely.
I am now sat looking at Traktor analysing the 10245 new tracks ( it's only got to 3900 after about 2 hours)
Yes it will take a while :-)
Alchemy
21-08-2011, 09:36 PM
yawn, it's up to 5522 now, think I'll leave it on overnight.
Larry B Entertainment
22-08-2011, 09:16 AM
I actually prefer the Traktor collection over VDJ and PCDJ. I have never used the itunes function, I have always imported the folders straight into Traktor. The Favourite folders are a boon being able to have a playlist assigned to an F key.
Alchemy
22-08-2011, 01:35 PM
I actually prefer the Traktor collection over VDJ and PCDJ. I have never used the itunes function, I have always imported the folders straight into Traktor. The Favourite folders are a boon being able to have a playlist assigned to an F key.
Didn't know that, I really should read the manual :D
Larry B Entertainment
22-08-2011, 01:38 PM
Those 10 banks across the top of the collection window are your favourite banks and they are automatically assigned to the F keys. Just drag a playlist or even a folder over one of them to assign it.
Those 10 banks across the top of the collection window are your favourite banks and they are automatically assigned to the F keys. Just drag a playlist or even a folder over one of them to assign it.
On the Mac this doesnt work unless you press FN and the function key however it is easy to remap them to the number keys if you want easier access.
Alchemy
22-08-2011, 03:45 PM
Those 10 banks across the top of the collection window are your favourite banks and they are automatically assigned to the F keys. Just drag a playlist or even a folder over one of them to assign it.
Ha ha, I use them all the time but never knew they were assigned to F keys, then today because I now have 11500 tracks in my track collection and Traktor took much longer to load it, there they are, all labelled up F1 etc, untill my assigned names kicked in.
Never noticed that before :)
Ha ha, I use them all the time but never knew they were assigned to F keys, then today because I now have 11500 tracks in my track collection and Traktor took much longer to load it, there they are, all labelled up F1 etc, untill my assigned names kicked in.
Never noticed that before :)
Wow, we could be getting some Traktor converts soon! :D
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