Does anyone here use traktor dj studio?

stelfox

Beast of Burden
Is there a good manual for this program, or can someone teach me how do do anything other than make an absolute ungodly fucking racket with it, please?
 

bassnation

the abyss
Is there a good manual for this program, or can someone teach me how do do anything other than make an absolute ungodly fucking racket with it, please?

i used to use it, before i stopped djing that is!

its good, but like most computer mixing programs the algorithim for beat mapping (which is the process of mapping each bar to the audio of the track to enable you to mix it properly) is a bit hit and miss. i find it works perfectly for house and techno, but tends to go nuts when confronted with some highly syncopated jungle.

i used version 2.5 so all this info is based on that.

essentially, you need to load your tracks into traktor and analyse them. this will do the beat mapping for you, and will work out the tempo of each song. sometimes it will get it wrong (obviously wrong, like 90bpm for a track you know is at least 130 bpm). if this happens, you can manually go through and set each bar start and end against the wave form.

once you've done this, you can sort your tracks by bpm and come up with a playlist. mixing the tracks is a cinch - you can set cue points at multiple places in your song. this allows you to start from where you want.

i think the strongest feature of traktor is the looping. you can dynamically loop exactly what you are playing at the time (and it will keep time with your other track automatically). you can also set loop points anywhere in the file beforehand. very handy for mixing out before a crap bit which is not so easy with vinyl sometimes.

i don't really rate the filters, but using those heavily is not really my style.

when you are djing, the tracks will go out of time just like vinyl (although if you prepare the tracks beforehand by analysing them, this will be mitigated). you can either use the auto sync button which will automatically attempt to pull the tracks in time - but sometimes it gets it wrong. or you can nudge the tempo slightly, again just like decks and this is more precise. usually, you have to keep tweaking this while you are playing. however, 2.6 might well have improved on this.

as regards set up, i like to route the two traktor channels via the outs on my soundcard to my analogue mixer - means i can combine traktor with a record deck via the mixer which is useful. however a lot of people use digital midi mixers with traktor which gives you more control but can introduce a slight lag.

hope this is helpful to you.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
I use it to mix all of the HHR shows with Stel, it's quick and less pfaffing around than with Ableton I find. I go with everything Bassnation said about it, but I like some of the effects.
I wish it gave you a 16 bar loop function though, it jumps from 8 to 32 which is too much for me usually.
What problems you having? Though Bassnation prob knows more than me.
 

Oss

Member
I hate the clumsy browsing in Traktor (in cases when you don't have a fixed playlist and just want to browse), but can't really suggest any alternatives. I still use it every time I laptop-dj. It's nice to use the key assignation for yr favorite functions, since I don't have an outboard controller. As for beat synching, just keep hitting autosynch ;)
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
hey dave, email me privately, would be glad to help with any questions no matter how basic.

it's just a totally different way to deal with tunes to analogue djing and the only encounters i've had with mp3 djing have been with serato and final scratch so much more easy to understand, but i'll get used to it. i bought a real simple beginners' guide from amazon and that makes it look pretty straightforward, so i'm hoping to get to grips sooner or later. i think the only way to learn is by tinkering with it, but i could probably use a proper tutorial from someone experienced with it. am a bit of a spazz when it comes to sussing out new tech, once i get used to it, i'm normally ok.
 
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bassnation

the abyss
I prefer Soundforge Acid, much more straightforward.

i also use acid, but its horses for courses - i like the more sequencer based model that acid uses, if i want to construct something at my leisure. i wouldn't use it for an off-the-cuff performance.

i know a lot of people use ableton to play live, but again for me this is more of a production tool. live's beatmapping is even sketchier than traktors imo. i think you can do fantastic mixes with it, but its more work to chop up and correctly map all your tracks in advance.

for playing a spontaneous set, where you haven't tediously prepared all the tracks beforehand, traktor has to be the one, theres no doubt about it.

i guess it comes down to what you want to achieve dave, studio work or club nights?
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
i'm looking mainly for something that will do good, clean blends and that can be used in a club context alongside trad vinyl mixing. i know i want to use traktor, it's just getting proficient with it that's the sticking point. i'll get there tho.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
i'm been deliberating for a while whether to get a kontrol dj (or some dental work):

kdj_front_image.jpg

http://www.kontrol-dj.com/html_eng/index.html

Best midi controller I've seen for Traktor, but a bit pricey.
 
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Humbert

Wild Horses
Looks good, and £200-ish isn't outrageous but it's only got midi outs...no use to me.

I've got a Hercules DJ Console but it's far from ideal with Traktor. Reckon someone could clean up with a reasonably-priced Traktor-driven (sic) controller that ticks all the boxes cos I don't think such a thing exists yet.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Works out to be NZ$800 once its shipped here.

Yeah its frustrating... tis been rumoured for a while that NI is working on something... but who knows. The KDJ is designed for Traktor... V2 rather than V3. Though you could switch between the 4 decks using a button combo or what not.
 

Canada J Soup

Monkey Man
i'm looking mainly for something that will do good, clean blends and that can be used in a club context alongside trad vinyl mixing. i know i want to use traktor, it's just getting proficient with it that's the sticking point. i'll get there tho.
Doesn't Final Scratch run Traktor? If you're looking to use vinyl as well as a laptop, Final Scratch or whatever that Rane/Serrato equivalent is seems to be tailor made.
 

Numbers

Well-known member
Forget about traktor, I learnt about Jackson this weekend and it's pretty rocking. It maybe looks pretty basic, but surely does the job well. Best of all: the beta is free and it's absolutely stable.

Jackson said:
Jackson is DJ software that breaks with the past. It does not emulate the traditional DJ setup but truly unlocks the power of your computer. It is the first dedicated software package that offers sequencer-style mixing to the digital DJ.

Mixing tracks in Jackson is a 2-step process. Before you can play a track, you must rhytmically analyze it. Our BeatMapper tool makes this an easy and instructive process. Once you've analyzed a track, which you have to do only once, you can mix and manipulate the track in all freedom.

Our approach works with all styles of music. Whether the tempo is fixed or not, your beat-matching will be perfect, your loops will be smooth and your effects in sync.

Break away from fixed tempo and linear structure. Try our demo now.

If you're new to sequencer-style dj-ing and you have a broadband connection, have a look at our videos. They should give you a good idea what this is all about.
 

Numbers

Well-known member
Agreed, but you only have to do it once and it doesn't take too long to beatmap a track. Apparently there are discussions with online mp3-dealers to sell the mp3's together with their metadata. Once that happens, manual beatmapping won't be necessary anymore.

Weird enough I started to somehow like the process of beatmapping. Because it gives you a real quick overview of the structure of any track and its complexities (or its plain simplicity).

Anyway, the advantage of this prog is that beatmixing is always (read: always) spot on. It's just something you don't need to worry about anymore. Traktor doesn't beatmatch half as fine as this piece of software and crashes quite often on my pc.
 

DJL

i'm joking
That Jackson software looks good but it is PC only. Does anyone know of something similar and free for the Mac?
 
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