Serato DJ Pro General Discussion

Talk about Serato DJ Pro, expansion packs and supported hardware

Question about Smart Crates

Shigz 6:24 PM - 18 January, 2018
If I want to do smart crates for every 10 bpm starting at 70 but I don't want any of the tracks in my 'Alternative music' folder to go into any of those smart crates, how do i do that? Is it possible? Thanks
Cwite 6:46 PM - 18 January, 2018
It should be possible.

Go in to your alternative music folder and mark all those tracks with an identification marker. I would put it in the grouping column. If this column (or one that you choose to use) is empty for all the tracks, highlight all of them, then in one type your marker to bulk tag. I would do something like #Alt.


Then set up your smart crate something like

BPM greater or equal to 100
BPM less than or equal to 110
Grouping does not contain #Alt (your marker)

That should do it

Match all of the rules.
Shigz 7:41 PM - 18 January, 2018
Great thank you this should work. Awesome response time!
mister_wilson 2:10 AM - 19 January, 2018
along this same line, you can use unique character strings in your ID tags to create all kinds of specialized smart crates. for instance lets say you have a crate/sub crate structure like the following:

hip hop
---80s
------urban
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
------rhythmic/mainstream
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
---90s
------urban
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
------rhythmic/mainstream
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
---00s
------urban
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
------rhythmic/mainstream
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
---10s
------urban
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
------rhythmic/mainstream
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime

You can use several of your unused id3 tags (remixer, comment, grouping, etc.) to batch add the following tags #hiphop, #80s, #90s, #00s, #10s, #urban #rhtyhmic, #warmup, #primetime, #closing

Now you can create smartcrates that span genre or whatever your "highest crate structure categories" are. Now if we can just figure out how to get smartcrates to show up on externl drives (or did they add this feature recently)
DJ Tecniq 5:11 PM - 19 January, 2018
I don’t really use smart crates. Can we stil not delete songs out of a smart crate?
938MyDJ 7:35 PM - 19 January, 2018
You have to delete the tag that makes it fall under that category.

Example:
In my case if I delete “jms” on a file, I can then delete it from my smart crates.

All of my club anthems/playlists are marked “jms” in Grouping Column. Being a musician, mixing in key is a big factor to me. So The keys are my primary criteria i.e. Key = Am & Grouping = jms... (then color coded from best = purple, better=orange, good=yellow, blue=warm up, green=slow/listening).

Any previously analyzed file I marked “jms” will be included on my club anthems/playlist.

Good Tip for Key maniacs like me...

is to have 12 crates in chromatic scale in this structure:

Abm - Am - Bbm
C#m - Dm - Ebm
F#m...

Objective is to get to 3x more on the same key by going +1 or -1 semitone only (to retain the good quality of the song).

Note: The Crates with 3 keys are not my Smart Crates. I update them from my Smart Crates with the below structure:

Am-C
Am
C
Dm
Dm
F
...

You can use the same idea for other Criterias too i.e. by Genre, BPM, Date Added.
DJ Tecniq 7:52 PM - 19 January, 2018
I see so i to create a rule just to delete a file? Say i have 10 songs i don’t want in my smart crate i have to make a rule for all of them?
DJ Tecniq 7:53 PM - 19 January, 2018
So say*
DJ Tecniq 7:53 PM - 19 January, 2018
Have to*
938MyDJ 9:16 PM - 19 January, 2018
No!

Delete the tag criteria from the file and then remove the file from your Smart Crate.

Here’s a simple step by step example.

Create a Smart Crate and call it “Tecniq”
Use RULE ‘Grouping’ is tnq
Go to your favorite Crate and open it.
Open (Unhide) the GROUPING Column.
Select 3 or 5 random songs
Type in tnq on the Grouping Column of each file.
Go back to your Tecniq Smart Crate - files should be there
Try to Ctrl+Delete them won’t work.
Remove the tnq from all files.

The Tecniq Smart Crate will be empty.
DJ Tecniq 9:54 PM - 19 January, 2018
Quote:
No!

Delete the tag criteria from the file and then remove the file from your Smart Crate.

Here’s a simple step by step example.

Create a Smart Crate and call it “Tecniq”
Use RULE ‘Grouping’ is tnq
Go to your favorite Crate and open it.
Open (Unhide) the GROUPING Column.
Select 3 or 5 random songs
Type in tnq on the Grouping Column of each file.
Go back to your Tecniq Smart Crate - files should be there
Try to Ctrl+Delete them won’t work.
Remove the tnq from all files.

The Tecniq Smart Crate will be empty.
Sweet thanks I’ll try it.
Cwite 7:55 AM - 20 January, 2018
Quote:
---10s
------urban
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime
------rhythmic/mainstream
---------warmup
---------primetime
---------closingtime

You can use several of your unused id3 tags (remixer, comment, grouping, etc.) to batch add the following tags #hiphop, #80s, #90s, #00s, #10s, #urban #rhtyhmic, #warmup, #primetime, #closing


Looks like I'm not the only one who looses far too many hours tagging tracks too :-)
Worth it in the long run though!
popnwave 3:24 PM - 20 January, 2018
Quote:

Looks like I'm not the only one who looses far too many hours tagging tracks too :-)
Worth it in the long run though!


I feel like 75% of time these days is refining such things in my library. My wife probably thinks I am cheating when I disappear a few hours to figure out how I want to enhance my tags.
Robbie O 4:00 PM - 20 January, 2018
Quote:
Quote:
Looks like I'm not the only one who looses far too many hours tagging tracks too :-)
Worth it in the long run though!


I feel like 75% of time these days is refining such things in my library. My wife probably thinks I am cheating when I disappear a few hours to figure out how I want to enhance my tags.


Honestly. If you don’t gig every other day. Playlist/crates are critical, least for me, to have a tight set. So that time “wasted” pays big dividends. My problem is I’m not consistent with my crates approach and I’m always coming up with a new system. Now i just make crates based on the event. Feels inefficient but does the job
Cwite 4:46 PM - 20 January, 2018
Quote:
My problem is I’m not consistent with my crates approach and I’m always coming up with a new system. Now i just make crates based on the event. Feels inefficient but does the job


That's the trick isn't it? Getting it right first time. How many time do you get half way through a genre or decade then think "what would be super helpful would be......"

I tend to tag decade, genre, sub genre, when it would be played in a gig, what type of gig it would be played at, the style, energy level, stand out instruments, my own personal 1 to 9 rating (and a 1 to 3 (favs) or 4 to 9 (dig deeper) cluster too), hooks, vocals, style, cover versions, samples, crowd pleaser, cheese, update of old, retro, and any word play tags or general theme / story of the song. These are just off the top of my head, but you get the idea.

I went through my history and found every actual gig I had done, and split them in to club, pub, mobile. I then concentrated on doing all of the above on these first. Works like a charm. I love going through all the other tracks and re-discovering songs as I tag them.


Quote:
My wife probably thinks I am cheating when I disappear a few hours to figure out how I want to enhance my tags.


Ha ha. I do do that!! My wife is probably in that club too. I go to a coffee shop, take the Dj2go2 and sit with no distractions for 2-3 hours lol.
938MyDJ 10:06 PM - 20 January, 2018
To understand how it works and make it work is the most important part.

The rest will follow...