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In this video, Iím going to explain why you need to be using rekordbox and all the advanced features it brings.
Basically rekordbox is the iTunes for DJs and keeps all of your music organised with playlists, ready for DJing.
Rekordbox is DJ Software, but not for DJing, itís purely for creating your perfect music database to be played from your laptop, smartphone, USB or SD-Card.
Itís got something for every style of DJ, from artwork for vinyl lovers, through to memory and cue points for Hip Hop DJs.
The rekordbox workflow is circular.
Start by importing your music, organise and prepare, then export for DJing.
After your gig you can bring back any changes to update your library.
Rekordbox can be as simple, or as complicated as you want it to be, but if you donít take the simple step of analysing your music, youíll be missing out.
So, weíll start out with all the benefits you get just by dragging your music into the rekordbox collection.
And if you already use iTunes, you can drag playlists straight in from the ëBridgeí window.
As soon as your tracks are added to the Collection, rekordbox automatically starts to analyse the audio and ID3 track information to create a database.
All you have to do is make a USB key or SD-Card using rekordbox, and that database is exported at the same time.
rekordbox starts by analysing the music tempo and creates a beatgrid.
And for live recorded music, you can switch on our exclusive Dynamic mode that automatically warps the beatgrid to changes in tempo.
This beatgrid alone, brings three major advantages to your mix and is only enabled with rekordbox exported drives.
So the first point is Quantize on the CDJs.
With this on, whenever you create a Loop, or trigger a Cue, the timing will automatically lock to the nearest beat.
You can even create a loop in the middle of a mix and it will never go out of time with the other track.
And if you have Hot Cues set up in advance, you can jump to any part of the track, and sound like a pre-recorded edit.
The second is FX Quantize on the DJM-900 and 2000nexus.
These mixers can read the same beatgrid over the network and keep all of your Echos, Rolls and beat effects in perfectly time.
And thirdly, the new Sync on the CDJ-2000nexus makes it possible to lock the BPM across four decks, and even works for live recorded music.
Combine this with Quantize and you can drop accapellas, track parts, stems or loops straight into the mix, just like an Ableton Live set.
The beatgrid makes it possible to be more creative and adventurous, but Rekordbox can also analyse the musical Key.
So, the next time youíre browsing on the CDJs, it knows what is playing on the other decks and shows you what songs will mix in harmonically.
Another huge feature youíll be missing if you donít analyse your tracks with rekordbox, is the waveform.
See the track arrangement and never miss a breakdown or drop again with different zoom levels to see more detail or a bigger overview.
When it comes to organisation, rekordbox uses all the tag info to help you find the perfect track quickly.
Without rekordbox, if you simply put MP3s on a USB drive, all you have is the folders & file names to go by.
But the CDJs have a sophisticated browser that only works with the rekordbox database, and automatically presents you music
in categories like Artist, Key, BPM, Rating and more.
When youíre in Playlist, or list of tracks, you can also use the Sort option, to find unplayed tracks, or sort by BPM and more.
You can also use the CDJ to search for any part of the artist, label or song title text.
So far weíve covered what happens when you simply import tracks to rekordbox.
And you can already see the huge benefits this has for your next gig on the CDJs.
But thereís a lot of preparation that can be done in advance to make your DJ set a lot more enjoyable, that would simply be too stressful to do at a gig.
Like making playlists, setting up Loops and Cue points, and customising the CDJs in advance with My Settings.
The Hot Cue section is identical to the CDJs, but with rekordbox you get the option to tell the CDJ to automatically load them when you load a track.
Setting up to 10 loops or cues to memory for recalling later is easy.
Rekordbox also has an Active Loop feature, that automatically engages when the track gets to that point.
Adjust all of your favourite features in advance in the preferences panel and they are automatically added to your device when you export music.
Features like Vinyl Mode, Master Tempo, Pitch Range, Autocue Level and Time Mode to name a few.
Everything weíve shown you in this video can also be done on your smartphone or tablet with rekordbox mobile.
You can load a whole set onto your phone and connect it to the CDJs so youíll always be able to play last-minute sets.
One of the simplest ways to play your music on the CDJs and something that so many people donít realise exists is rekordbox Link.
The experience is almost identical to DJ Software and Digital vinyl systems, like Traktor and Serato, except, the CDJs are doing all the work and the laptop is just the music source.
And because the CDJs are doing all the hard work, rekordbox runs effortlessly on any computer, making it much more reliable than DJ software.
No more crashing or overheating computers mid-set from processer hungry software.
All you need is a single LAN cable and no additional soundcards or wiring, making setup fast and simple.
Even two laptops can be used at once, making it easy to switchover, or play back-to-back.
You can also access the laptop library using the CDJ screen, so you donít have to stare at the computer all the time.
But you can also load tracks to the CDJs remotely from the laptop.
Now youíre setup and playing on the CDJs, every change you make on the players is saved back to the library.
You can edit Beatgrids, add and remove Hot cues, Loops and Memory points, create and edit playlists and even Rate tracks that really work in your set.
Changes made when using Link are saved instantly back to the library or rekordbox updates when you next plug in your USB or SD-Card.
And finally, so you never forget the tunes you've played in a set, your track history from the last gig is also imported and saved as a playlist.
These can be exported as a text file or an iTunes compatible playlist, so you can share your tracklist and mix easily on the web.
Rekordbox is available as a free download from rekordbox.com.