It might seem counterintuative, but I like to keep very few crates, of very broad genres.

I have an Oldschool Crate(contains disco, motown, new jack swing), Reggae Crate(includes soca and some calypso), Urban(hate that term), House(all housey records, even cheesy dance) and Club (contains all the above).

I have some others, but for the most part, I play all out of the Club crate. I makes it easy when importing songs, and also I find it keeps me playing fresh shit most weeks.

I just organize each crate by BPM and get to it.

Then apply the same logic with SSL crates. You don't need 10,000 tracks with 50 crates/subcrates for an hour or two set, hell, even a 5 hour set. Just make a few crates for what you need for the night. Make two ScratchLIVE folders/databases, one for your "everything you have," the other for just what you need for that particular gig.

I'm a bit of a fool and left my manual in england when i went to visit the family...

How do I start a new database and how do I choose between them? I won't have to rebuild the overviews again/rescan ID tags will I?

Here's a screenshot of my organizing:

www.kid-av.com

Well, it's not covered in the manual as this is semi-advanced stuff you'll only find from reading the forums from us SSL gurus. All you have to do is rename your current ScratchLIVE folder in your My Music (PC) or Music (Mac) folder to something else, so assuming this is the one with everything in it, rename it to ScratchLIVE_ALL, or something like that, it doesn't really matter what you name it, just as long as you'll be able to tell which one is which later. Or if you use an external drive for your tracks then do the same except with hidden .ScratchLIVE folder on the root of the external drive.

Now when you start up SSL, everything will be gone obviously since you renamed the ScratchLIVE folder (which is where the crates/database are stored), and you are free to start a new database/crates. So do that, close SSL, a new ScratchLIVE folder is made in the Music folder with just those few crates.

Now, to "switch" between the two folders/databases, you just have to rename the
the "new" ScratchLIVE folder to something else also, then rename the "old" (i.e. ScratchLIVE_ALL) back to just ScratchLIVE.

Doing this, it's possible to make many different ScratchLIVE databases, 5, 10, 100, it doesn't matter. All that matters is the folder in your Music folder is named ScratchLIVE, that is all SSL looks for when you load the program.

This is the BIGGEST weak spot in SSL to me. They've made a few improvements, but the database and library functions could REALLY use some attention right about now.

I'm listening to, and enjoying this thread... but what's so weak about the current database? The search is powerful and instant, organization is great.

I do like the idea of multiple librarys, but couldn't you essentially do that by making crates and subcrates? For example a Main Crate Named SSL-AllTracks and subcrates with your chosen genres. And another Main Crate Named SSL-ClubSets with subcrates for that?

Everyone's got different styles or organizing, but this is what I would do. Use the color labels to mark must play songs, etc.

I'm gonna have to answer this when I'm at work, focused, at a desk on a full sized keyboard. Gotta get this off my chest...

iTunes Smart playlists for the win!


It's not that hard to organize your music. It really isn't. It's as difficult as you make it. The hard part is keeping up with new music, adding/updating your library and all of that. But, once you find your technique, it's quite easy; Just time consuming.

Now that I've had some rest, to keep my explanation simple (though most won't know what I'm talking about anyway), I'd like the SSL database to work more like Media Monkey's database. It has a few features SSL's is missing. Plus there's a small bug in the current 1.8.0 release (and there seems to be in almost every release).

Not in any particular order:

- Scan folders for DB updates (auto add/remove tracks)
- Cancel current operation feature (doesn't apply just to the DB)
- Overview version shown in DB (1.6, 1.7.3, 1.8, etc)
- Smart playlists/crates
- Bitrate shown in DB
- Volume/Auto-gain shown in DB
- Ratings (not my request)
- Confirmation on changing multiple track ID3 tags
- Improve load time (it's better now)
- Improve program closing time when ext HD attached
- Folders w/ no files get screwed up
- Ability to export crate/review listing to a text file
- Bring back Playedsongs.log

OK... I'm getting off the DB, so now I'll stop. Really, the first 3 or 4 are heavy hitters for me. If you see all the functions Media Monkey has with their database, you'd see. It's more or less a combination of what SSL already has along with a few improvements (BTW... Media Monkey has the same features iTunes has with a little more control, but you can't integrate ANY ol' program w/ SSL).

Another thing...

A LOT of DJs use the Import panel for DJing and have no clue what the main display is for. Although I feel that it's up to the DJs to know what it is and how it all works, that says something to me... some DJs would rather have an explorer/finder type browser rather than what they see. I'm not suggesting that be another option, just something else I see on the regular that pertains to the library.

isn't this already available?

It is, but only AFTER you load a song. It would be nice if it stayed there. From what I understand, there are other fields that are blank until you load the song as well.

I just have all my 30,000 + files organized by genre and then I have just a few crates of some of the newer hot stuff or things that work at certain venues. but keep in mind that I narrow all my tracks down so all my hip hop is organized into pop, undergound, jazz, etc. Same with my electronica. This works for me but only you will know what works for you and where you spin.

good luck

Thats most likely to increase the speed of importing. Theres a compromise between how much information ssl grabs when you import tracks and the remaining info it gets when you load it onto a deck.

So the smallest increase in time taken to import one song, multiplies by the number of songs, say a few 1000 and ends up being a significant wait.

Maybe they could make it an option, where you specify what info you need up front when importing.

^^^in reply to deezNotes

Is there a database or tool i can run my files through to fix tear/genre etc without manually doing it?

I thought about that, and that's something I'm willing to sacrifice if it means it'll take longer to import (meaning, forget about showing that data if it'll take too long).

However, looking at Media Monkey for example...if you select a folder, it does take a certain amount of time to process the data in that folder (grabbing all tag info and what not). But, you have the option to import that data into the database. When selecting the folder in the database, it loads considerably quicker (comparable to SSL). Even when adding the folder to the database the time is comparable to SSL.

The feature it has to scan particular folders for file updates/changes to the database would be a great feature to add for SSL. It could save me a lot of time when adding new music or changing file names etc. I'd like to specify a path for my crates and a button to scan the folder(s) for new files and/or changes; plus a cancel button to cancel the operation if needed.

I'm with sixxx on that. When I first decidd to get into DJing a friend who has been at it for years let me have about 5,000 of his songs. It felt like it took forever to go through, but I basically moved a long A-Z and filed everything. If I didn't know what genre to tag something with, I put it in a ??? folder so I would know to get to it later.

A few internet searches should help clear up that sort of thing.

When I run Serato all my ITunes lists are already there, so after that it is simply taking what I want from where I want and filling crates while I practice mixing.

My biggest problem is being current, I am seriously deficient in that area. My knowledge of what's hot tapers off somewhere in the 1990's.

I quit using iTunes when I bought my new MacBook Pro - I reorganized everything using Serato's crates, etc. You're all tempting me to go back!

Seriously though, there is no RIGHT or WRONG way to organize your library... it's about finding what's comfortable for YOU!

I set aside Tuesday mornings to update, build overviews and backup my music library. It takes about two or three hours, sometimes more, sometimes less (depends on how bad I'm slacking off).

The one thing that EVERYONE should do - no matter what your system - is BACKUP your library. I have a PC with my full library that never leaves my office - I also have an external drive with a full backup.

I love threads like this, I get to steal the smart ideas and make note of the NOT-SO smart ideas.

i got a chance to re-start from scratch (nice pun) as i installed leopard from scratch (hm), then 1.8.0-beta at the time

using itunes to import so i was creating smart playlists with the genres i came up with:

r&b (r&b, hiphop, rap, reggaeton, soul, garage)
rock (punk, nu)
metal (trash, gothic, speed, heavy)
house (electro, club, dance)
celtic (wave, chill-out)

the reason a lot of things fall into r&b it's because i would be playing it during the night regardless moving from one genre to another - and the reason i have metal and celtic it's because i use the pc to listen to music at home...

so after i call 2pac or pitbull r&b i know they will all fall into the smart playlist R&B...

then i have another r&b playlist called "r&b-favorites" where i drag and drop (while importing the tunes) the ones i defo would play - i get a single with the 3 or 4 different mixes - so i pick the one i like the most and drop it in there

a couple of other small playlists with accapelas, instrumentals and strange sounds (like a wave or some echo to use in between brakes - don't forget that although i play top40 or r&b my heart it's still house)

to back up the library i use a 160lacie (that goes along in the backpack) and it's synced with itunes folder

ta-da!

I like the idea of how you use smart playlists but it seems a little tedious, especially when ur adding 300+ tracks a month to add (ch)(clean)(uch) to every track u want the songs to fall into

Mass tagging feature and cut/paste will help you with this Sniffles...

It is tedious... I use 41 different codes to organize. The tough part is the first time you tag a track. After that if you want to move a song from here to there it is very easy using Smart Playlists. Easier then deleteing ... dragging and dropping.

ScratchTools is very nice also....

All the music I download/rip I load into winamp once a week or so. I listen to every track as quickly as possible to decide if I like it. Maybe only a few seconds per track on an album I don't *think* I'll like. This leaves you with a list of tunes that you actually play and keeps the library at a manageable size.

I have a winamp plugin that will copy the remaining files in the playlist to my serato folder.

The serato folder contains lots of genres that I've named myself. I listen to each track again and pick a genre for it.

Then in a mp3 tagging program I change the genre tag for each sub folder so that all tracks in the 'nu-jazz' folder have the genre set as 'nu-jazz'.

Then in itunes I create a smart playlist for each genre.

I also have smart playlists that combine genres. For example I have several genres for different hiphop styles. Also for different funk/nu-jazz styles. I can then create more smart playlists which contain multiple genres.

It also pays to use the itunes ratings feature.

Serato is terrible for organising music if you don't use itunes. I personally dislike the itunes program, so my installation of itunes is just for serato.

And keep an Excel file with all your codes.

As a tip, one way I quickly do mass taggings is to use 2 features of whatever tagging program you favor (which supports this). iTunes can do this, but there are scripts available only for mac.

Let's say you get an acapella album... like the Jay-Z one, and you want to put (Acap) at the end of each Title track? Once the Artist & Title tracks are set, I'll batch rename all the tracks to <Artist> - <Title> (Acap).mp3 Then, I'll run a command to "Tag from Filename" with the format of <Artist> - <Title>.mp3 It will pick up the (Acap) in the Title field and add that to all the Title tags.

I do this in different ways for different files. It helps me add things like [Lethal Weapon #109] to the Title tag or [Whatever Riddim] to either the Title tag and/or the grouping tags.

I also use Find/Replace in a few different programs to do mass changes on tags as well. There are shortcuts to do certain things... just gotta think about what u wanna do and what's the fastest way to get there.

i've been meaning to incorporate some automated scripts to my music management, but haven't figured out anything useful yet - does any mac user use Automator?

Another iTunes smart playlist guy here.

I usually try and stay organized somewhat before it even hits Serato/Itunes. I get most of my music via my Desktop and it gets dumped into an External (Music) Drive. On that Drive I have folders like JanPool, DecPool, etc.

I have sub folders Week1, week2, etc and that is where all the Urban Music goes.

I also have a Dance Folder: (play less so no sub folders) but that is where House and Dance oriented tracks go.

I have a "Other Folder" and that is where stuff posted here goes along with Mash Ups, found classics and other stuff goes.

THEN I copy the folder(s) over to another external that is my Serato Drive. and then I import those tracks into iTunes and they get dunped AUTOMATICALLY into a smart playlist called New Shit (easy to find) and then tag them individually for Genre (Instrumental, Radio/Clean, Acca, Dirty etc are already tagged from the pool).

They automatically get dumped into other Smart Playlists according to new Genre Tags....

If it get a Rap - it goes into my Rap Smart playlist, House - goes automatically to House, etc.

I also have manual playlist for certain clubs/events and a Playlist for songs I like called "Breakers" which is new music that I feel I should break or REALLY be playing.

One Question for DJ Lil Vito and others who have their crates set up by Beat Per Minute. I have been thinking about doing it like this but how well does that work and what would be a good method.

Let's say. like above you have a 60-69 (that covers slow and some Crunk), 70-79 (most of the Dirty South), 80-89 and 90-90 etc. how easy is it to keep a flow?

What about the overlaps. Some of the 92BPM stuff may mix with some 88BPM. but they are in different crates and may be overlooked. Does that happen?

I was thinking about doing something like 60-75 BPM then 70-85 BPM, then 80-95 BPM with OVERLAP so I can switch crates and still have the same songs in the upper or lower range of whatever crate/playlist I am in?

Does that seem like a better method?

I like your method of organizing. My question is:

Are these Crates/Subcrates created within Serato, or is it picking up your collection as its organized on your Hard Drive?

I cope my using drugs

Actually, it's easier than the way I do it. For instance, you could do all of the tracks at once by selecting them all and adding some code (code) to them. I just prefer to do them individually (Clean) (Inst) or whatever, because I like to see that tag when the file is being played to make sure it's in fact (clean) or whatever.

The other cool thing about codes is that you you can be in the ALL crate and just type in the code in the search box and that way you don't have to navigate through smart playlists/crates.

I give Sixxx credit for opening my eyes to using iTunes Smart Playlists.

He was the first person (that I personally remember) really sharing and slightly pushing this organizing method. After reading a couple of his posts and trying some other organizing methods that always seemed to have a glitch or two... this one seems like a winner.

Thanks man...

My method is by making the BPM crates a subcrate of my main hip-hop folder... this way I can click on the main hip-hop crate (with "include subcrate tracks" selected) and I can view all the files in the main hip-hop crate.

Organized within Serato. All of my song files are in one folder titled simply, "Music".

^^ I go about it the same way, One Folder, with different subfolders that separate the genres and styles. It wasnt until 1.7 that you can take full effect of the subcrates. Ill def look into that tonight. Thanks for the advice and ideas.

Sixxx,
I still dont get smart playlists... I guess Im not smart. LOL

iTunes for me has always been a good standalone player but for organizing, I havent really played it like that. Ill study up on it more tonight. New Years resolution, to be more organized within Serato.

You're very welcome.

for the bpms i used to do a r&b (70-100), (90-120) and (110-150) - when i think of it it was 5 r&b playlists (plus general and favorites)

so i ditched that method and got one r&b with them all, and another with the favorites - still organized by bpms

Sixxx,

If I follow the method that Vito did (Crates + Subcrates), Can iTunes smart playlists be used as subcrates, or playlists in general? Like Create a master Crate in Serato and drag playlists into it? Im looking for a better solution than how my music is organized in Serato at this point. I began to notice Ive been misisng key/hot tracks at gigs in recent times, Due to my inability to find em quickly enough in SSL.

Thanks.

Yes. iTunes playlists don't have to be Smart playlists and I believe you can also do subcrates in iTunes. Don't ask me how cause I don't know but I believe MSF had his library that way at the Sac Jammy Jam.

i've never found a way to subcrate itunes playlists in SSL or itunes.

Which is too bad, cause that's the one inconvenience I have with using smart playlists.

Smart Playlists are awesome. It takes a bit set it up, but once you have a good system, it's sooo easy to get itunes to auto-sort for you.

OK here is how I do it. I organize all my music by folders on my HD and all of those folders are in my MUSIC folder. I drag that one folder into SSL and if I have any new folders I subcrate those to my MUSIC folder.

I also manually label each track like this:
SONG NAME / ARTIST / ALBUM / COMMENT

118 BPM Another One Bites Sumthin New / Nevoc Vs Coolio & Queen / Crack4djs.net
128 BPM Piece of Me 2007 RmX / DJ Nevoc Vs Ms. Britney Spears / Crack4djs.net
128 BPM Sexual Eruption 2007 RmX / DJ Nevoc Vs Snoop / Crack4djs.net
130 BPM Dirty Deeds 2007 RmX / DJ Nevoc Vs. AC/DC / Crack4djs.net

OK so in my song name I manually type each BPM in front of the song name and then
SSL will automatically list songs by BPM and in Alphabetical order.

It is a pain if you have alot of songs to get it going, but once your 100% adding new songs takes only a few minutes And it lets you stay fairly organized IMO.

NeV

whaaat?

hahahaha. He-man. lol

lol @ crap4djs.net

My version of "Sub-Crates" with smart playlists..... (House crates)

i10.photobucket.com

i10.photobucket.com

No Sub-Crates was a big concern of mine too as well as having no control over the order of crates in iTunes... (as far as I know)

So I came up with this system.

^ i'm hoping for actual subcrates just so I can collapse some as I tend to use a combination of Smart Playlists and actual Serato Crates.

Yes... me too!!!

But this is the best I could come up with in the mean time.

I'm also in the process of rating all 6000 tracks i have so i can use that as criteria for smart playlists too..

About the Sub crate thing, The way I was going to do it was use both Serato Crates and iTunes.

I would let iTunes do all the organizational work/heavy lifting via smart playlists as far as genre and bpms , etc.

When that new smart playlist is the way I want it, I would then open Serato and create a new Crate and drag all those songs into it and then go back to iTunes and delete that Smart Playlist. Now I have all my former Smart Playlist songs in a Crate and now I can do Sub Crates from that if I want.

Kinda a pain in the ass, but that was the only way I can get the Crate and Sub Crate functionality and still use the power of Smart Playlists. I guess I have to recreate and delete every time I do a major update to the Library but with iTunes Smart Playlists it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

or...

Other option, looking at DPR250's example above would be to just keep the smart playlists running all the time. Usually Serato Crates are at the bottom of the Window so at a Gig, I could just keep the window scrolled to the bottom have of my Serato Crates visible in the window.

I haven't done this YET but it seems do-able. That is why I asked the question above about overlapping BPMs.

One other little app that REALLY helps with iTunes is this....

itlu.ownz.ch

Right now it is PC only.. but I understand there is a Mac version coming.

One click adds new tracks... updates track info (in turn updating Smart Playlists) and deletes lost files. It is a real life saver...

Great thread. Subscribing...

I'm still ripping, I have'nt even got to the crating yet...

Also stay on top of the new stuff and keeping it organized. I get new tracks sunday and tuesday and organize thursdays. Its easy to fall behind if you don't stay on top of it.

I've been doing almost the same thing as Pumpin Payne. I use iTunes for mass organizing, but then have a few SSL crates that narrow things down a bit. For example, I have a smart playlist that is 90s Club Joints, so Ill create a crate with some of the best club tracks just to help narrow things down a bit. Its probably not the most efficient method but I just got into it and its helping me stay more organized

subscribing. very good thread. i just got serato and i imported all my itunes music/playlists but im not feelin my playlists, as many of them for personal use and icould care less about having them in serato.

is there a way to only import the music and not the playlists from iTunes?

oh yeah, lilvito, it's good to see you here. i talked to you a while back on prodj.com- finally moved over and got serato!

Welcome to the family!

How do I cope?

Crates with subcrates for different genre's like house, which has other internal genre's like commercial house, tribal, funky, deep, electro etc.....

How do I cope with having to consistenly update all of these crates?

xsolo.biz

You may want to create a new Library in iTunes, separate from your personal one. You can access any playlist through iTunes by holding SHIFT and then clicking the iTunes icon on your computer (Win).

Serato show follow iTunes' lead and load the last Library that iTunes used.

wait i think you're doing what im getting at. do you mean loading just the actual music but without the playlists from iTunes?

Bis could you explain how that could be more efficient? thanks

You can make multiple iTunes libraries. Just hold shift and start iTunes for PCs, for Macs you hold Atl/Option.

Now you can make a second library for just your "dj'ing" songs or whatever.

SSL can read multiple iTunes libraries now, so I think what ever library you had loaded last in iTunes is the one SSL will read/load.

^ What Konix Said.

Damn, Konix, I need to turn in my Apple Card, I didn't know that part, but makes sense (typical Apple commands). I know I could have two libraries by mistake - loaded some music without my external hooked up one day and guess where it went...

errr....




where ?

If you don't have your external hooked up it looks to your Music Folder on a Mac and creates a iTunes Folder. If you import or save anything or double click anything by mistake it dumps it there if your external drive is not hooked up.

So I have two iTunes Libraries attached to that computer but I didn't know I could pick which one to boot up by holding the Option key. It even gives you the option at that point to create another NEW library - pretty cool.

So when you have multiple libraries in iTunes, Serato will only pick up the library thats currently chosen in iTunes?

yep or last one used.

^ Maybe, I have had it load before with all my tunes missing but this was a while back (before 1.8) ...

Konix?

And another question.. I have my music on an external, organized by genre folders. Itunes read s from its library. Do all of you have all your music in the library folder? I would hate to have my music all one folder unorganized. Is that correct?

Or can teh songs be anywhere and the library just puts the data of where the song is located without having to have the actual song in its library folder...

in iTunes you can have iTunes organize all the music for you, it puts it in ONE folder with subfolders by artist, then by the album. If you can get used to using iTunes to manage all of your music (which i recommend, as it offers some very convenient features) then you only need to worry about dragging and dropping songs/mp3's into iTunes and DONE.

If you like to have your OWN folder/directory structure for your music than you can drag and drop files from those folders onto iTunes and iTunes will simply add the track to the database. Just don't move the file or rename the folder the file is in or iTunes will not find it anymore until you relocate the file by browsing for it in iTunes or adding it once again (not recommended).

Serato does not care what how iTunes sees the database and where your music is stored, it just loads whatever you see on iTunes. If tracks are missing in iTunes, tracks will be missing in Serato, its that easy.

ah thanks. I have my own directories/folders sorted by genre/year.. every year i make a new folder like "hip hop - 2008"...

I gotta figure out the best way to incorporate smart playlists... I dont really look thru the hip hop/year crates anymore as theres one too many of them now. I made crates based on when the song would get played "warmup, primetime" etc... but even thats getting cluttered now.

What I've just been doing is 1st (the time before last) I just made a crate of all the stuff i was in the mood to hear, and then if something wasnt there i just moved it in before i played it. I didn't really like that, so the next show i just started with a blank crate, and with my first song, decided where i generally wanted the night to go and just dragged tracks in and pulled them up from my vinyl. This kinda took a while, but i just did a quick mix out to the next song and then it was basically smooth sailing.
whats been annoying the shit out of me is that for some reason some of my tracks are red. I deleted a bunch of doubles out of itunes, but i didnt delete ANY originals, and for some reason theyre still red. i dunno. i have sl 1.6 right now, and i have a feeling when i upgrade itll fix the problem, but any suggestions about what to do if upgradeing/ reimporting doesnt work?

Ohh! For my next show, i think im going to organize everything by mood! Any thoughts on this? I'm thinking:
Open
builds/ getting pumped
peaks
breaks
declines
genre transfers
closes
Good idea, bad idea?

The only reason I don't run separate crates by genre or year or whatever and run the BPM in the title is because you may never ever think to mix a few songs together, but if your looking through in BPM order they may fall near each other.

Very good point....

just organize within hard drive ( external also ) and drag and drop in 1.8.
i dont depend on itunes and never will i rather depend on organizing myself.
i feel doing it by genre year and if its a hit helps me.
for instance make a folder for 80's and make another folder inside of that for 80's greatest hits.and no matter what you find what your looking for in your hard drive:)

Hey man thats a wicked idea i may have to steal it!!! lol!

I do this by simply tagging those exact words on the comments of my music.
That way you can still keep it in a genre crate if you want.
With iTunes I make smartplaylists that sort all this shit out for me just based on comments. Its insane.

If you don't want to confuse a mood keyword say with a tittle of a song, then create a symbol or code word for it:

upbeat tracks = [UPB]
rock influenced tracks = [RCK]
urban influenced = [URB]
latin influenced = [LAT]

It helps you avoid finding stuff you don't need when you search for whatever comment you are looking for. and abbreviating with a bracket ([RCK], [LAT]) helps
you save time when searching as well...

But yes, it is a good idea to do what you described!

As the yrs turn..... Is this thread still opened or is there a new thread on Organizing?
My question is which is better for sorting/tagging a LARGE (almost 1gb) music collection..Media Monkey or Itunes? Anyone used both but then chose one over the next?
I've always built my crates/subcrates in Serato from the ALL folder but its adding up & getting to be a burden on the new 32bit Serato Dj/Itch. Instead of having multiple crates & subcrates bogging down the program I wanna organize folders first on external Hd.. idk, maybe by Genre-Year-Album then use Itunes or media monkey to build subcrates.

there was another thread on here that i got lots of information about tagging and organizing music with. i like sixx's tagging method it helps alot.

eyeam6.blogspot.com

i organize my hd with folder and subfolders by genres sometimes i add special folders depending on the party/club im playing. on my internal hd have most current and most played tracks, on external i have everything archived and for just in case purpose.

tri-tag for id3, platinum notes, and mixed in key for bpm, key, volume then scratchools to sync folders with crates.

once its all done cue point, beatgrids and tags inside serato.

Thanks for the mention Draven1327


One thing worth mentioning is that Serato DJ (Not Scratch Live) has a hard time dealing with songs that are inside lots of folders on your hard drive. It's best (if you have a huge library) to have all your songs in one folder that Serato DJ can read from. This will increase load time and decrease CPU use.

nm

so how does iTunes fit into this scenario? Bc I know if you have the option checked to let iTunes sort your music, your music will be in a load of different folders by artist name

Correct. So you don't want to do that anymore... at least not with Serato DJ.

I personally dragged every file out of every folder and put it on one folder when I got Serato DJ. I experienced no issues with crashing at start up.

nm

Thanks Draven1327 for the Link to 6's blog I like that system sixx what also made my day was Scratchtools! I can work with that, I tried downloading it but there's no download button on the scratchtools.de site? Since am using a PC to organize is there another version of Tri-tag not for Mac or similar program?
Hey 6 I know u use Itunes but ever tried mediamonkey for HEAVY DUTY tagging?

just passing on great info lol :-)

yeah i had the same problem that's why i split my library internal and external. plus i try to limit subfolders.

there is a download for it but its one of the threads. forum.scratchtools.de scratchtools 0.0.9 is the last one they updated to, i think. you might have to create an account if it doesn't let you access the page. they explain how to use it too.

sorry havent used pc in forever but im sure there is programs out there to help sort out id3 easily.

This is what I use to sync crates to folders, code.google.com

Works like a charm. The newer version will let you do multiple drives (internal and external) but I could never get it to work on my PC. The Mac it works perfect.

THANKS GUYS!! I downloaded scratchtools succesfully. I'll also have a look at serato-sync

Not really. iTunes and scripts within iTunes has worked great for me.

nm

I do like the tagging method with iTunes but recent versions of iTunes have just been annoying me. Not as user friendly as it once was in my opinion.

I have a folder that contains subfolders which are named by artist. Inside each of these artist folders may be album subfolders.

It's how I have been organizing my music since day one, and proved very useful when switching between applications in their early days (Traktor 1, Ableton, Mixvibes Serato etc).

My library is upwards of 350 GB, I suppose I'll have to start going through each song and check the ID3 tags of unreleased promo tracks / poorly named tracks / etc that I've been given or have made. :/

I do things the same way. When I started I created a master MP3 library folder on an external drive. Then I would just rip my CD's and drag the artist folder that the ripping process created to the master folder. It was simple when I only had a few thousand files, and it definitely made things easier whenever I changed laptops and then finally moved everything onto an internal drive.

Genre organization seems like a great method but I feel like it would be way too much work for me at this point to change the entire structure of my library. Thankfully I've always been good about my ID3 tags and grouping genres into crates. Otherwise I think I would have had to change things up a while ago.

Using iTunes and scripting seems like it works well for a lot of people too. I've honestly never given it a shot but I think changing up my workflow at this point would cause more problems than anything. I blame my OCD, but I like having full control of my library and would rather spend the extra time knowing that I have everything organized in a way that works for me.

So your crates in serato don't reflect the folder structure on your internal drive? You literally drag and drop every file into it's corresponding crate in serato?

^^I'll just use serato's file browser, drag and drop a tune from there into a deck.

I do have a few genre crates though....classic hiphop. Latest breaks. Latest ghettofunk. Stuff like that.


Or if I am going to do an event I'll whip up a special crate for that event.

^^Interesting thought though....having crates that reflect the file structure :/ At that opint what's the Diff in just using the file browser instead of crates?

Well I guess it's preference. I like to use the finder windows within Mac to organize. Then I use this simple little tool code.google.com in order to sync my crates exactly as my folder structure in my HD.

Ok 6xx, eyeam6.blogspot.com thanks..I'll try combining methods until I find my style...Just purchased a Macbook A1181 instagram.com so i'll deff be getting into itunes.

I like to use mediamonkey. It is much more flexible than itunes.i wished that you were able to select your organizer i t o serato instead of being stuck with only itunes.

After years of contemplating and a break from DJing, I decided to finally sort out my entire digital music collection and serato crate system. (I'm currently still doing this whilst doing backups to cloud services & ext drives).

The process involves me doing as DJ Shadow says:



I too prefer not to rely on iTunes, with their constant updates and bugs I prefer having the original files in the right folders which mimics my crate system - which is genre based. When you import new tunes to the folder just make a note of what folders have been updated and then just drag them into the crates and it updates - then analyse. EASY!

Got the idea from: youtu.be

Once I finally sort every tune, i'm going to go through and start added 'Must Play' subcrates into each genre - they already include subcrates like 'oldskool genre' and other sub genre crates.

It is very tedious procedure, but in the long run it will pay off. My very first crate system was very messy, but I managed to find tunes until it got overloaded by my constant updating - it got really messy and it took me ages to find tracks at times. I hate being at the laptop more than a couple seconds! In other words, I lost touch with what was in my music collection - a downside to being spoilt for choice indeed.

By the way I carry all my music with me because I like to be able to get a track if I need to - however - I may start to bring less music and go back to vinyl days when you would select what tracks you wanted to play for that gig - instead this time it's just a simple case of putting into another ext drive. We'll see how that goes! - in future I'm going to try harmonic mixing looks intriguing, never really had a problem in that area - but it looks like a worthwhile skill to have in your arsenal.

Okay... back to the sorting...

I'm sorting by drag and drop the entire second internal hdd into the all folder directly into serato; i.e all media, music, & video files. Next I created smart crates 1A-12A, then will used normal broad genre crates and create additional smart crates as needed. The database file is only 88mb in size for a 1.2tb of files loaded directly into serato. Backing to getting rid of back and corrupted files. Scanning everything into chucks of 1000-2000 songs and will do video files in smaller chucks due to size of the files. I'm using some of everyone comments to build the best setup i can get out of this application because it is still having library issues

v/r
-gc

So do you usually play all your songs in the SAME key - or do you mix a 1A with something from the 2A smart crate then a 3A song from that crate or what?

I can see if you are playing fist pump EDM where everything is 128 (or real House where key is important somewhat) - kinda makes sense

But it's like when I hear DJs that make crates by BPM or date added???

<there a sort column for that>

Yeah. I never understood the BPM range.... since there is a column to sort for that.

nm

to DJ Art Pumpin Payne; I mixed thru the different key to get new ideas of what music can work together and create different movement on the dance or tell story with the music let the people hear the music with a different flow/vibe to it so they will be guessing what next all of the time. ;-). I starting to play with the harmonic mixing more to give another tool to my toolbox. It also help me think of music in another way regardless of the genre. just my two cents. blessings and respect to all of the djs out there on the grind.

I wonder when Serato would allow us to set our own auto-import folder(s).

For a long time I was against iTunes but smart playlists and doug's apple scripts just changes up the whole game. Just read the fine print, don't upgrade programs as soon as a new update comes out and you should be fine.

That works - good answer - I subconsciously do this to when I float between Rap, Old School, and R&B - I think of what songs will fill or keep the floor - but also look at that one missing link song that may be a "Oh Shit" throwback that may be the same or adjacent key for a smooth mix.

the point is so you can free up your column sort for something else.

date added, artist, key tag, color code, whatever. If I have a 100-110 bpm range crate/playlist, I know everything in there is roughly the same tempo so I can now choose a different criteria to sort by instead of having to sort by bpm.

I guess that makes sense. I've never played by date added and I don't add key tags or color codes. I've never played by artist either since I just type in the search if I want a specific artist. But, don't get me wrong. It does make sense if you mix using those sorting methods.

One great tip I picked up on here is to create smart folders for each key 1A, 1B, 2A, etc. For each key subfolder I have a rule that all compatible key songs get put into the folder so in folder 1A, songs that are 12A, 1A, 1B, and 2A are automatically added when I bring them into my library.

This makes it really easy to find harmonically compatible songs in any genre.

Yeah out on the Internet there a chart created by a dj that gives you 4 options to mix with each keys. I installed a 2tb in cdrom bay and got 1.2tb of music and video files and got the 1a-12a smart crates along a standard crate for each folder on hdd. Running 1.7.8 SDJ with 123 standard crates and 15 smart crates which created a database of 93.5 mb. cleaning out all of the dups thru sdj so database will reflect the deletion, copies, moves that I make as I streamline the files. So did one gig and had no problems so far keep my fingers crossed blessings to all of us

But it takes up THIS MUCH >100< Space if you resize it - lol

And that Subfolder thing with adjacent keys makes more sense - that is retty cool if you think about it...

I guess I'm just too old school. Honestly, I think of songs to play usually 2 ahead of what I'm playing just by using the good ol' noggin. You know submerging yourself in the moment and kinda feeling the vibe of the next track(s).

Or a lot a times I also just think of an artist I feel like playing and search that way and since my BPM column is usually selected, it's easy to find something that may fit the tempo.

nm

I just found that when I was sorting by bpm, I'd generally just play what was nearby in the list whereas now I can change things up if I'm feeling a little in a rut.

Hey guys! i just started djing and trying to sort out my music files. Is there any way/tool to mass-tag songs? just hoping I can escape from doing it manually

thanks.

you can mass tag in serato - just highlight all the tracks, double click on the field you want to tag, type it in, and hit enter.

I use iTunes personally and you can use dougscripts if you're on a mac to get more powerful tagging abilities. There's a bunch of other 3rd party apps that also work like mediamonkey for pc or MP3tag for osx, and a bunch more.

Okay, will try dougscripts.. I'm on mac. So in addition to this question, do you organise the same folder structure on file level and also in serato? or you do it differently?



Okay, will try dougscripts.. I'm on mac. So in addition to this question, do you organise the same folder structure on file level and also in serato? or you do it differently?

I use tritag for mac. it's free and it changes the file name and id3 tag as detailed as you want. works great for organizing in folders as I do . then I just sync it with Serato.

its a bit time consuming when you have a ton of songs but i think it keeps it more organized

it may or may not be better than dougscripts, i've never tried that one

I don't bother with folder structure and just use playlists and smart playlists.

^^^What he said....

Usually ANY capable DJ software has an INTERNAL search feature built in so you don't have to DRILL navigate to find your tune....

RAP>ARTISTS>D>DRAKE>In My Feelings

just search "drake feelings" BOOM!

Somewhere here on the forum there is a thread about using [CODES] to tag music. It is designed so you don't have to worry about crates and folders just type a specific code and all the "Bangers" pop up.

I use it to auto update my Smart Playlists and Crates.

I have a genre code called [Hot radio] - anything with that tag auto-magically goes into a HOT RADIO smart playlist.

Same with House - I genre tag [House] like Deep [House] or Afro [House] or Classic [House] or Jackin [House] - i† dumps automatically in a smart playlist

ITUNES ITUNES ITUNES