bob6397

I was thinking of playing a F song after a C song but using the match feature of Djay Pro. That brings F to +5. But that sounds horrible! (the key note and the F sign are now both lit in blue and the match feature say +5).
So I guess that I shouldn’t use this match feature, probably because C and F match already, F being C’s perfect fifth.
But then again, when is that feature useful, could you give me a concrete example?

F is C’s Perfect 4th – which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. The same key, Perfect 5th and Relative Minor should all work, but it will depend on the chord structure of the song amongst other things. There are no “set in stone” rules here unfortunately..

I have no idea what this “Match” feature is unfortunately so I won’t comment on that..

Also, been thinking about the different storage options you mentioned. I use Time machine and backup my MacBook about once every 10 days.I have a 1T external HD for that. I also found this weekend an old 250 G external HD.
I have 2 iTunes librairies: one is my “general” library and the other is my DJ library. The first one is much bigger. Let’s say I would like to delete all the files from my general iTunes library to make some space on my Macbook, could I just drag the entire “general” library to that 250G HD and then delete the files? I would then have my general library on my backup external HD and in Time machine on the 1 T external HD. Does that makes sense?

I don’t think that you can delete all the tracks just by dragging the library file..?

In theory, you could keep all your “General” music on an external drive, and then keep only your DJ music on the HDD of the laptop. For a while, I stored all of my music files on a NAS drive (before I started DJing) and ran iTunes from there so that I could use the same library from different PC’s (Before iTunes Match).. This worked pretty well for what I did with it, and there weren’t any delay’s really despite it all being on the LAN rather than on USB – even when on WiFi..

Hope That Helps,

bob6397

Erm.. None of the above.. Most (on this forum at least) would consider CDJ’s a set back from any controller, especially if you can’t get CDJ2000’s and either a DJM900 or 2000 Nexus mixer.

Apart from the Nexus systems (XDJ1000, CDJ2000), I wouldn’t bother personally buying any CDJ’s. And as the cost of a set like that is going to be at least £3000, I simply wouldn’t bother at all..

Proviso though – If you are really set on getting a pair of CDJ’s – make sure you get ones which A) Take a USB stick. This lets you pre-prep tracks through Recordbox – which is a good thing. All Club CDJ’s will have a USB socket now. (If they don’t, maybe you don’t want to be playing on them and take your controller?) and B) Have a USB socket. This will let you use them as controllers further down the line when you realise the limitations of not using a laptop in the mix…

bob6397

DJ Wyld1 – I was simply assuming that if he wanted to use iTunes then recommending FLAC would be a little counter-intuitive…

I am a Windows user and I use iTunes to manage everything – mostly because it syncs with my iPod and it syncs with Virtual DJ without any extra effort..

The way I would import tracks in this situation would be to use Audio grabber (or equivalent) to put them all into a temporary folder. I would then run them through MIK/PN etc. and then import into iTunes, which then stores the files in a decent folder layout. Then delete the originals.. 🙂

bob6397

Questions:
-should I let iTunes do all the work of organization my music? If not, what do you recommend. I’m not sure I get the folders organization.

I do. iTunes puts all of my music into the format it likes (folders by artist, then album) and it works for me. I organise all my tracks using the metadata and auto-playlists. Meaning that anything I tag also works in Virtual DJ.. It all just sort of works 🙂

-when importing my CDs which format should I choose (file size is not a problem)? Considering the software I’ll be using, that I get my music mostly from CDs and iTunes(AAC 256), sometimes from bandcamp or directly from producers and that I’d prefer not to have too many formats.

As you are on a Mac, I would consider ALAC – which is lossless, smaller file sizes than WAV/AIFF, has metadata, and works on Mac (unlike FLAC, an equivalent format). ALAC files will also sync to Android or IOS if you have any on your phone..

If using downloads from various sources, you can’t help what format they are supplied in. My library is a combination of MP3’s – most of my CD collection was ripped before file sizes weren’t an issue – and AAC files downloaded through iTunes. All are high enough quality to play out but very few are lossless.. Keep it to at least 320Kbps MP3 files or 256Kbps AAC files as a minimum.. Lossless is of course better but you would struggle to hear the difference.

-how do I proceed? Import through iTunes then MIK and Platinum Motes?

I would run the tracks through Platinum Notes, then MIK and then import into iTunes – so you don’t end up with either 2 versions of the same track or unprocessed tracks in your library. I personally don’t use either tool but I am considering getting Platinum Notes..

-the tags (genre, bpm…)before or after MIK and PN?

Either.. It shouldn’t really make a difference – but MIK will alter the tags of some tracks so before might be the better option so you don’t end up changing any of them? If you are using iTunes to do the tags though, I would do it after to save having to import over and over.. Make the system as simple as possible.

-anything else I should do?

Keep it simple. The more complex you make your system, the less likely you are to still be doing it in a few month’s time. Work out a quick, easy solution now and save yourself a headache when you have to re-do tracks down the line because you decide to change the way you do it. If it feels tedious now, you won’t still be doing it later on.

Hope that helps,

bob6397

No problem – any more questions, just ask 🙂

bob6397

From what I’ve read, if I put a C song on deck 1, I should choose either a F,G or Am song on deck 2 to improve my odds of mixing 2 songs that are harmonically compatible.
Is that generally correct ?

Yes. You can also mix a song to another song in the same key of course 🙂

And if I match deck 2 to deck 1 (F is now « sounding » like a C, right ?) then I guess that I should consider the song playing on deck 2 as a beeing a C to select the third song in the set ?

Not quite. If you have mixed from a C song to an F song, then you can now fade into the keys relevant to the F song – EG, the relative minor of F is D Minor, the 4th is Bb (B Flat) and the 5th is C.

This chart shows the Relative Minors, Perfect 4th’s and Perfect 5th’s for each key..

Hopefully that makes sense..

bob6397

I have used a couple of these (set to sound to light, but it wasn’t my event, I was only DJing) and they were on full.. Ignore anyone actually on the stage – they are there to be blinded 🙂

I do lighting design for some stage productions and we use about 30 500W Halogen lamps for one 30x20m stage.. No way 2 of those will be too bright.

bob6397

bob6397