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User guide Version 3.0 build 52 2 Introduction to mixing 2.1 Non stop music 2.2 Beats 2.3 Beats Per Minute 2.4 Cross-Fading 2.5 Beat-Matching 2.6 DJ Mix Pro features 3 Installing DJ Mix Pro 3.1 Files 3.2 License 4 Music files 4.1 DJ Mix Pro compatible file formats 4.1.1 Music file formats 4.1.2 Song list file formats 4.2 Searching and importing files 4.2.1 In the database 4.2.2 In the play list 5 Play list 5.1 Play list display 5.1.1 Song titles 5.1.2 BPM 5.1.3 Mix 5.2 Managing the play list songs 5.2.1 Importing from database 5.2.2 Directly adding files 5.2.3 Saving play lists 5.2.4 Exporting song information 5.2.5 Exporting sound to disk (registered users only) 5.2.6 Moving songs 5.2.7 Deleting songs 5.2.8 Examining and setting song properties 5.3 Playing songs 5.3.1 Starting to play songs 5.3.2 Playing behavior 5.3.3 Stopping sound 5.3.4 Forcing transition now 5.3.5 Sending to Headphones listening mode 5.4 Mixing songs 5.4.1 Mixing behavior 5.4.2 Mixing settings 5.4.3 Default mixing settings 5.4.4 Taking control 5.4.5 Taking more control 6 Sound outputs 6.1 One soundcard, no headphones 6.2 One soundcard and headphones (mono) 6.3 Two soundcards and headphones 6.4 One soundcard with 2 outputs and headphones 6.5 Tuning the sound output 7 Headphones listening mode 7.1 Objectives 7.2 Usage 7.2.1 Solo mode VS 2 songs mode 7.2.2 Setting playing limits 7.2.3 Setting target volume 7.2.4 Setting lengths 7.2.5 Requesting beat matching mix 7.2.6 Setting target pitch 7.3 Trying the settings 7.4 Navigating from mix to mix 7.5 Advanced mix theory 7.6 Advanced mix using DJ Mix Pro 8 Database 8.1 Benefits 8.2 Database display 8.2.1 Database song titles 8.2.2 Database BPM 8.3 Managing the database songs 8.3.1 Adding files to the database 8.3.2 Saving a database 8.3.3 Moving songs in database 8.3.4 Resetting songs order 8.3.5 Deleting songs in database 8.4 Using the database songs 8.4.1 Sending to play list 8.4.2 Sorting songs 8.4.3 Finding songs in a huge database 8.4.4 Examining songs properties 8.4.5 Quick listening to songs 8.4.6 Filtering songs 9 Beatlock Analysis 9.1 Definition 9.2 Behavior 9.3 Control and options 10 Miscellaneous features 10.1 Equalizers 10.2 Secure mode 10.3 Statistics 10.4 Sound pitching 10.5 Transporting Beatlock data files 10.6 ID3V2 tags handling 10.7 Command line options 10.8 Winamp2 plugins 10.8.1 DSP plugins 10.8.2 Visualisation plugins 10.9 Playing jingles 11 Options reference 11.1 Song defaults tab 11.2 Beatlock options tab 11.3 Sound output options tab 11.4 Misc options tab 11.5 Prelistening options tab 12 Song properties reference 12.1 Mixing options tab 12.2 Tag infos tab 12.3 Beatlock infos tab 13 Have fun 1 WelcomeBeatlock Technology is proud to present the DJ Mix Pro User Guide.This document will help familiarize you with DJ Mix Pro. After reading this you will fully understand playing and mixing music files in a very easy and intuitive way. You should also be able to easily perform live DJing if you have the correct cables. Before computer based music, you typically had to have a lot of equipment (several disc players, a turntable, plus amplifier and speakers) and had to operate many buttons. Now you can perform similar mixes with just one mouse click. 2 Introduction to mixingWe are not claiming DJ Mix Pro performs the best mixes around. Professional DJs use their heart and feelings too.But we think DJ Mix Pro handles “most” mixes better than a just random mix the way some players do, and performs rather good mixes if you give it a little help. If you are not a purist, mixing is not really very difficult. You just have to sequence music in a pleasant way. Here are basic rules. 2.1 Non stop musicThe most important rule in mixing is non-stop music. You should have silence only if you want it, because you need a pause.When you are doing a series of songs, songs should play continuously, at thesame perceptual volume, overlapping at the boundaries. 2.2 BeatsBeats induce the music tempo. They are usually made up of regular patterns of drum hits, but can also be made up of the instrument’s notes themselves in the event there are no drums.The beats can be very easily heard in most dance music like Disco, Dance, Rock, … It’s the BOOM BOOM BOOM in Techno or more discrete tching tching tching in Jazz. One objective of mixing is to keep people dancing, thus not disturbing their rhythm any more than necessary. You have to work on clever song sequencing. This is “your” work, and DJ Mix Pro can’t replace you for that. 2.3 Beats Per MinuteBPM stands for Beats Per Minute. It is a measure that gives you the music tempo.A song that BOOMs exactly twice per second will have a BPM around 120. DJs use BPM to sequence songs that have similar tempo and organize clever sequencing. 2.4 Cross-FadingWhen overlapping 2 songs doing a mix, if the mix doesn’t occur at the first song’s end, you will have to lower its volume gradually to zero, performing a fade out.Similarly if the mix doesn’t occur at the second song’s beginning, you will have to start it silently then raise the volume gradually, doing a fade in. Fade in and fade out are important in the mix. Between fade in and fade out, the time during which both songs are playing together is the mix. 2.5 Beat-MatchingBeat matching is a DJing technique that consists of having the beats of the 2 songs occur at the same time during the mix. The audience then has the feeling it is the same song.The best DJs around do it, slowing or accelerating one of the 2 songs (pitching) until the beats are in sync, then controlling the pitch to stay in sync for several seconds. Performing this manually requires a lot of technique, but gives very interesting mixes. 2.6 DJ Mix Pro featuresDJ Mix Pro allows you to perform easy mixes, even beat matching mixes.You can make real time mixes, quickly moving your mouse, doing all the work manually But you don’t have to. We rather suggest that you prepare the mixes “offline” using ”headphones listening” mode, while other songs are playing on the speakers. Just let DJ Mix Pro do the tedious part (fade in, pitching, fade out) while you concentrate on the creative part (which song to play next, how long to make the mix, the fades). You can try your mixes offline, using headphones. DJ Mix Pro will then reproduce the mixes you have created when the mix time has come! This method allows you to feel more confident, mixing/playing your choices offline, letting the program do the difficult part. It helps you to become a successful home DJ. Even if you don’t want to do live DJing, DJ Mix Pro is still great for playing music at home or in environments with no DJs, like bars, aerobics classes or public events. Letting the program mix using the default settings still gives reasonable results, sometimes surprising the audience by changing songs without people noticing it. The last popular usage is compilations production. DJ Mix Pro in its registered version is also very good at producing 75 minutes of mixed songs that can be used to fill an audio CD (using an external CD burning program). 3 Installing DJ Mix Pro3.1 FilesThe installation is pretty straightforward. Choose another location if the default location doesn’t please you.Nothing is put in the Windows registry or in external subfolders, so un-installation is also really easy: either run the un-installation program or just delete the installation folder. DJ Mix Pro distribution is composed of several files, please do not modify the original distribution. DJ Mix Pro cannot work as a standalone file. The main files are:
3.2 LicenseIf you bought a license you can unlock the demo version using the license file data.Follow the instructions you have received and enjoy the full unlimited features of the program:
4 Music filesDJ Mix Pro works with music files on disk. The files can be remote (on a windows network computer, but not through internet) or on an ISO CDROM, but we strongly suggest you use files from your hard drives only.DJ Mix Pro does not support reading audio CDs. 4.1 DJ Mix Pro compatible file formatsDJ Mix PRO handles many files types, and creates some too.Here are the supported file formats: 4.1.1 Music file formatsMp3 files: all mp3 files are supportedOgg vorbis files: all vorbis files are supported Mpc musepack files: all files are supported Mp4 files: files are supported (experimental yet) AAC files: files are supported (experimental yet). DRM protected files will not work though. Wav files: simple wav files are supported (uncompressed, no loops). Most Wav files are like this. Wma files: unprotected wma files are supported. Choice to make a Wma file protected or not is done at file creation time, so if your file is already protected, there is nothing you can do about it. Other music file formats (voc, raw...) are not supported. 4.1.2 Song list file formatsM3u files: are winamp play list files. This file format has changed a lot and can still evolve, but DJ Mix PRO can load most m3u files.M3v files: are DJ Mix Pro play lists files. This file format is used to load/save a DJ Mix Pro play list with all the mixing settings. M3d files: are DJ Mix Pro database files. This file format is used to load/save a DJ Mix Pro song database. 4.2 Searching and importing filesThe first task of a DJ Mix Pro user will be to give the program some music files to play. This can be done either in the database or in the play list.4.2.1 In the databaseIn the database you can directly use the Windows explorer and your mouse, drag and drop some music files or song lists into the database window.You can also have the database search for files (music files and song list files) under a given folder hierarchy. Or you can have the database load specific files, either music files or song list files. 4.2.2 In the play listIn the play list you can directly use the Windows explorer and your mouse, drag and drop some music files or song lists into the play list window.You can also send selected items in the database window to the playlist.Or you can have the play list load specific files, either music files or song list files. Files loaded directly from the play list will be inserted in the database as well. 5 Play listThe play list is the core of DJ Mix Pro. It is the list of songs which are queued to play and mix.5.1 Play list displayThe play list displays 4 columns. Columns are simpler than in the database because no search information is needed here.Columns can be resized (thus hidden) according to your needs and the program will remember the column sizes. The database displays 10 columns. Columns are taken from the ID3 tags, file name, time length and BPM once computed.
5.1.1 Song titlesThe title is taken from the ID3 tag.If both ID3V1 and ID3V2 tags are present ID3V2 overrides ID3V1. If no tag is present, title is taken from the file name. 5.1.2 BPMDJ Mix Pro will try to compute the BPM for every file in the database (see Beatlock Analysis chapter).If you are using the demo version, DJ Mix Pro will try to compute the BPM for the first 11 files loaded only. Before computation occurs, the BPM displayed will be “???” During computation occurs, the BPM displayed will be “…” 5.1.3 MixThis column tells you if this mix (as currently defined) will be a beat matching mix or not. If no beat matching mix is possible you can see the reason by switching to ”headphones listening” mode.5.2 Managing the play list songs5.2.1 Importing from databaseSongs can be imported from the database. See «Database: Sending to play list». Songs imported from the database are considered new and take their mixing settings from the default mixing settings (See Mixing songs: Default mixing settings)5.2.2 Directly adding filesDropping or opening a .m3v file appends to the current play list. Each song’s mixing settings are also reloaded from the m3v file.Dropping or opening m3u files or music files also adds to the play list. Files added this way are new and take their mixing settings from the default mixing settings (See Mixing songs: Default mixing settings). All files directly added to the play list are also added to the current database. It merges the songs with the current database, adding the new music files to the ones already there. 5.2.3 Saving play listsIf you want to save the play list as is, including the mixing settings, save the play list in a m3v file.By default the play list is NOT automatically saved to autosave.m3v when the program stops, but you can turn this on. Be careful to save BEFORE playing because the default playing mode automatically removes the songs from the playlist that have been fully played. 5.2.4 Exporting song informationIf you want to save the play list song names, artist and length (to print it for example), export the play list in a txt file.Again be careful to export BEFORE playing. 5.2.5 Exporting sound to disk (registered users only)If you want to burn a mixed CD, here is how to proceed.Burning an audio CD requires that you feed your burning software with 70 minutes or so of wav file(s). Each file will be a track on the audio CD. You can have a single track, but it is generally much better to have one track per song. This section explains how to produce the wav file(s) that you need in order to burn, not how to burn them, because this is the responsibility of the burning software. First you will need 800 MB of disk space. Then you need to have the play list completely setup, mixes already defined and checked (using the ”headphones listening” mode is a good idea). You might also want to check the playing length in the statistics, so that you don’t have more music mixed time than your CD can contain. When this is done, and BEFORE playing the full playlist, you need to go to the options window, sound output tab. · Check that the primary soundcard is mapped to both channels of any available soundcard on your system… “Default” is fine(you want to make a stereo CD). · Check the “save sound to file box» · Don’t check save as mp3 · Check save one file per song if you want a separate file for each song or leave unchecked for a single wav file containing the entire playlist mix . · Enter the base file name. This is the tricky part, because base file name IS NOT JUST A FILE NAME but rather the complete path and file name, possibly using metacharacters. If you input just c:\mixedcd\track, wav files will be generated like this:
If you input c:\cdtodo\song\%n - (%a) - %t, wav files will be generated like this:
When done, hit OK to save the changes. Then in the play list window, start playing (just hit play). Wave files will be produced while the sound is playing ( or faking playing in fast mode). Let the program play the play list entirely. If you stop the sound you will have to play from the start again. When the entire play list has finished playing, go back to options and turn off the «save sound to file box» and hit OK. The wav files should be all created and ready to burn. Warning!!!! BEFORE you burn your files to CD : YOU MUST remove the 2 seconds space before songs for all songs after the first song (ie : second song and the following songs) when you burn the songs to disc for the mix to play without a pause between tracks, as it is intended. For example, when you have the tracks in order and ready to burn in NERO, click on one of the tracks to highlight it, then right click and selelect all. While holding down the CTRL key, click on the first track to DESELECT it. The first track MUST have a 2 second pause to begin a CD. Next, right click and choose Properties. Change the Pause of 2 seconds to 0 (zero) seconds. Again, this will remove the pause between songs ON EVERY TRACK except the first, and allow the CD to play continuously ! 5.2.6 Moving songsPush the up or down buttons5.2.7 Deleting songsHit the delete button5.2.8 Examining and setting song propertiesEach song has physical properties, like the mp3 ID3 tags, the length, the Beats information, …Hit the properties button You can modify the Beatlock data if you need to (double the BPM / divide by 2 the BPM, shift by ½ beat), clear the Beatlock data. You can tag song files in this window. If you had selected several songs, you can even tag multiple files (except for title tag). In this case, fields displaying “(multiple values)” will be left unchanged. You can modify the mixing settings for the songs in this tab. If you have selected several songs, you can modify mix settings for all the selected songs. In this case, fields displaying “(multiple values)” will be left unchanged. This is not however the most convenient place to change an individual mixing setting. You should read the ”headphones listening” mode chapter to learn an easier way to setup an individual mix. 5.3 Playing songs5.3.1 Starting to play songsJust hit «mix with next» buttonYou can also double click on the song you want to play.
5.3.2 Playing behaviorOnce playing has started, songs will be played in sequence. A mix will occur between every song after the first.By default, once a song has completed playing, it is removed from the play list, but you can change this behavior in the options. You can also choose (under options) to have a repeating play list, mixing the last song with the first one. 5.3.3 Stopping soundIf you close the song currently playing, it will stop the sound with no mix.5.3.4 Forcing transition nowYou can force song transition in 2 ways:If you double click another song while playing, it will immediately stop the currently playing song and start the new song. This is not a graceful way to force a transition but it is the quickest way. You can also force a mix to occur immediately, which is nicer but longer. See «Mixing song with next» and «Mixing song with selected». 5.3.5 Sending to Headphones listening modeAll songs in the play list can be heard in headphones, and mix can be heard offline, while speakers are playing.Select the first song to mix in the playlist and hit the «Send to headphones» button 5.4 Mixing songsThe real power behind DJ Mix Pro resides in its easy mixing capabilities.5.4.1 Mixing behaviorWhenever a transition between songs occurs, either because you triggered it or because the mixing time has come, the following events occur:
![]() 5.4.2 Mixing settingsAll mixes are controlled by a few parameters taken from the properties of the 2 songs (see Play list: Examining and setting song properties):First song properties:
5.4.3 Default mixing settingsNew songs added to the play list (except songs loaded from a m3v file) will take their properties from the Options window, Songs default tab.You can change the song’s default before adding new songs, but once in the play list, you have to use the song properties window or ”Headphones listening” mode to modify the mixing settings. 5.4.4 Taking controlYou usually have to do nothing to perform the mix. Everything is time event driven and the mix will occur when the playing position reaches "mix at".But you still can decide to start a mix immediately if you want to. Just hit «Mix with next now» You can also force a mix with another song: select it in the play list and hit «Mix with next now» 5.4.5 Taking more controlNow, some people like to take full control of a mix.It is possible to take control of the volume, pitch in a song using the mouse. In this case, all automatic events (fade in/out, pitch moving) will be removed and the rest of the mix is up to you! However it is hard to control both songs with one mouse. So we introduced some keyboard shortcuts to be able to completely override the automatic mixing. Here are the keys and what they can do. Warning : some commands will turn off the default automix behaviour. See Toggling automix for details. 5.4.5.1 Choosing a song as next songFirst thing when you only see one song playing is to choose the song with which you will mix. This is done by selecting in the playlist the next song.If you want you can also do it with the keyboard : use control+PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN to move the selection in the playlist. 5.4.5.2 Loading next songNow you must load on screen this selected song. Use control+INSERT to load the second song. Use control+DELETE to unload the second song if you made a mistake.The song loaded will NOT start, it will just wait for you to start it. It is still time to move the start position of the second song if the current starting position doesnt please you. 5.4.5.3 Starting mix manuallyWhen the second song it loaded, you can start it using control+BEGIN. It will engage a beatlock mix by default (fade in, pitch set on second to match tempo of first). You can let the mix play, it will beatlock for the duration initially set. The beats might shift somehow afterwards.Notice : The normal "mix at" cue point is not set at the normal place. Instead is is placed at "extreme end" in the song, you can let the mix live as long as there is music. This is what we call turning automix off. 5.4.5.4 Controlling mix pitchIf the beats shift you will have to fix it by using the pitch control. You can alter pitch of first song using control+F2/F4, reset slowly the pitch using control+F3. Or you can alter pitch of second song using control+F9/F11, reset slowly the pitch using control+F10.5.4.5.5 Controlling mix volumeYou have full control of the volume too. There are 2 different controls : individual controls, not contrained to a normalized volume, and a crossfader, constrained to each song normalized volume (maybe easier).Individual controlsYou can alter the volume of first song using control+NUM7/NUM1, reset slowly the volume to the normalized volume using control+NUM4. Or you can alter volume of second song using control+NUM9/NUM3, reset slowly the volume to the normalized volume using control+NUM6. CrossfaderYou can alter the volume towards first/second song using control+LEFT/RIGHT , raise/lower both songs using control UP/DOWN. 5.4.5.6 Ending mix manuallyAnd when you want the first song to disappear gracefully (fade out and bye bye) just hit control+END5.4.5.7 Toggling automix behaviourWhenever you hit control+SPACE, you will toggle the automix behaviour of the program.Automix means it will perform a fade out and disappear at the defined Mix At position. No automix means that the automatix mix would occur only at extreme end of the song. Hitting control+SPACE again several times will restore the automix behaviour. 6 Sound outputsDJ Mix Pro is designed to work with one or two soundcards. It is recommended that you use headphones when doing live DJing, although this is not mandatory.In the options window, sound output tab, you can choose the soundcard for the play list output (Primary soundcard) and the soundcard for ”headphones listening” mode output (Secondary soundcard). 6.1 One soundcard, no headphonesIn this mode, everything played in ”headphones listening” mode will play on the speakers. This implies you don’t use headphones while DJing.Map both primary and secondary to both channels of your soundcard (this is the default). ![]() 6.2 One soundcard and headphones (mono)In this mode, the soundcard output must be split in 2 mono channels. This will require you to make or buy an audio “doohicky” (a Stereo Y-Adapter).This device is composed of a male stereo 3.5mm jack you plug into the soundcard on one side, and of 2 female stereo 3.5mm jacks on the other side. On these 2 jacks, one is the left channel of the soundcard and one is the right channel. You plug your headphones into one and the hi-fi cable into the second. Map the “primary soundcard” to the left OR right channel (your choice) and the “secondary soundcard” to the remaining channel. ![]() ![]() 6.3 Two soundcards and headphonesThis is the preferred mode. You have one soundcard dedicated to the (hi-fi) speakers and one to the headphones.Buying a 2nd soundcard is not really expensive and is worth it if you plan to DJ a lot. Map the “primary soundcard”to the first soundcard on your system and “secondary soundcard” to the other soundcard on your system. ![]() 6.4 One soundcard with 2 outputs and headphonesThis is also the preferred mode. Using a 5.1 soundcard you have one output dedicated to the (hi-fi) speakers and one to the headphones.Map the “primary soundcard”to the FRONT output on your soundcard and “secondary soundcard” to the REAR output on your soundcard. ![]() 6.5 Tuning the sound outputThe soundcard plays continuously, buffers, that are built and sent by DJ Mix Pro.Buffers are prepared in advance, covering by default ½ second of sound. If your machine is slow and attempts another parallel activity, the soundcard can run out of buffers before DJ Mix Pro gets enough CPU cycles to prepare and send more buffers. You then hear glitches. You can overcome this by playing with the sound output options. Increasing the buffers will make DJ Mix Pro less responsive but more tolerant to CPU bursts of activity. 7 Headphones listening mode7.1 ObjectivesThe term “headphones listening” mode can be misleading because the sound is not in headphones if you choose the «One soundcard, no headphones» configuration.The «headphones listening mode» mode is designed to see, listen to and modify individual mixes. 7.2 UsageOnce you have defined the playlist order, you can see and control all the mixes using the ”headphones mode” windows.Select the first song to mix in the playlist and hit the «Send to headphones» button Not all buttons are available if you have two songs loaded in ”headphones mode”, because you are restricted to the mix between these two songs. You can then go from mix to mix forward or backward. Close the ”headphones mode” windows when finished.
7.2.1 Solo mode VS 2 songs modeThe solo mode ( prelisten with only one song window) is useful to setup the fade in and fade out. The prelistening to the fade in/out will be done precisely on the fade in and fade out durations.The 2 songs mode ( prelisten with 2 song window) is useful to setup and quicklisten to the mix. The prelistening to the fade in/out will be done precisely on full mix zone duration(but without the 2nd song). If needed, pause the song using 7.2.2 Setting playing limitsYou can set the points where the first song will start mixing and the second song will start mixing.If needed, pause the song using You can have fine control on the playing position cursor on a paused song using the rewind Once a song BPM is known, what we call the interval unit is exactly one beat. Otherwise, this interval unit is half a second. Clicking, you move the position 8 interval units. Clicking while the Move the playing position cursor to desired start position and hit the «Start here» button Move the playing position cursor to desired mix start position and hit the «Mix here» button If you’d rather specify the desired mix end position, hold down the 7.2.3 Setting target volumeYou can set the target sound volume for the 2 songs. That means the volume that will be set at the end of fade in. Just adjust the volume cursor. This is directly connected to the 'Using volume' property.Beware : changing the volume manually overrides the automatic target volume and is remembered in the playlist. 7.2.4 Setting lengthsYou can set the fade out length and mixing length on the first song and the fade in length on the second song. Just play with the cursors. By default this duration is bound to beats, but you can unlock it using shift or control key.Note : You cannot set a mixing length longer than the time between mixAt and song end. So if you want to setup a longer mixing length and the cursor is blocked, you first must set an earlier mixAt point. 7.2.5 Requesting beat matching mixYou can request the mix to be a beat matching mix7.2.6 Setting target pitchYou can set the target pitch for a song. That means the song will be played with an altered BPM and the pitch will stabilize to this value after mix. This is directly connected to the 'forced pitch' property. This is also in relation with the 'forced BPM' property.Beware : changing the volume manually overrides the automatic target volume and is remembered in the playlist. 7.3 Trying the settingsHit «Listen to fade in» (leftHit «Listen to fade out» ( right Hit «Listen to mix with next» If you want the playing to stop when the mix is complete, you must press Retry your mix until you’re satisfied with it. The mix will happen on the primary output exactly the same way you heard it on the secondary output. It might happen that beatlock mix is not possible.
Look at the status icon to know why.
7.4 Navigating from mix to mixYou can navigate from mix to mix, in the order defined by your playlist.If you hit «Listen to mix with next» If you hit «Listen to mix with prev» 7.5 Advanced mix theoryNow that you have mastered the mechanics of using DJ Mix Pro to create beat matching mixes, let’s take time to discuss what can make you mixes come alive and sound natural.In order to create "club ready" dance mixes you must consider the musical context of each mix as a song in itself. The concept of "musical phrasing" will help you to understand how to be creative with your mixes and keep everyone dancing without losing a beat. This section will give you the basic theory you need to understand natural sounding mixes and the next section will help you understand how to do it in DJ Mix Pro. Each song, whether dance, rock, jazz, R&B, rap, or hip-hop is composed of "musical phrases" that keep everything moving nicely throughout the duration of the song. Typically these phrases are organized into groups of 2,4,8, or 16 bars. Most "musical phrases" are made up of 2 or 4 bars for mixing purposes. A group of 4 beats/intervals can be considered a bar(in most cases). So 8 beats, 16 beats, 32 beats, or 64 beats can make up a "musical phrase". Typically musical beats or contents express some musical idea or expression then it repeats or goes to the next phrase. When creating a mix it is important to match not only the tempos and beats of the two songs, but more importantly you must consider the musical phrasing of the two songs as well. If the phrasing sections aren’t matched the mix will not sound like one newly created song, but rather like two unmatched beasts and worse yet, it will throw your dancers off beat when the mix moves fully to the next song. Let’s look at an example of two songs and how their "musical phrases" can be analyzed and beat matched to create a natural and seamless mix. For the pusposes we’ll use Song A and Song B to represent the first and second song respectively. The numbers represent the beats in each bar. Bad mixes : musical phrases don’t match up :
Good mix : musical phrases match
Let’s think about matching these phrases in this way. If you have a recording(song) of a person counting to 4(1,2,3,4) and repeating that over and over again and you wanted to mix that recording of a different person counting the same way, you would have to make sure that they were on the same number before mixing them in. In other words, you would match the tempos and the actual numbers they were on before doing a fade. That is how matching "musical phrases" works. You have to listen to each song and sync the start points of the "musical phrases" of the two songs to get a good mix. In the next section, we’ll discuss how to make all of this theory come to life in your mixes. 7.6 Advanced mix using DJ Mix ProNow that we understand the basics of creating good mixes, let’s use DJMixPro to do it. There several steps to setting up a good mix using DJMixPro. We’ll use the Song 1 and Song 2 example for clarity. Mixing Steps(must be done in headphones mode)
Set Mix LengthUse the mix length controller at the bottom of the Song 1 dialog. The mix length is set to the default mix length you have in the default mix options. Remember, mix length is the amount of time your songs will spend playing together. In essence, the mix length is the length of the new "song" you will create in your mix. For smooth transitions longer mix lengths are better than shorter ones. Usually for songs with a strong beat and moderate vocal content( dance, rap, techno, etc) a mix length of 32 beats is a good starting point. This gives enough time for a smooth fade in and the songs to play together before moving on to the next. Later you may want to adjust the mix length based on what sounds good musically. Make sure and change the mix length by some increment of 4 beats. The helps to preserve the "musical phrasing" you have set up earlier. Example: Mix length 32 beats. It is easier to make adjustments to 36 beats or 28 beats to preserve the musicality of the mixSet the Start point for Song 2Setting the start point for Song 2 makes listening to the mix rehearsal easier and also makes setting the mix start point easier too. The best place to set a mix start point is at the beginning of a "musical phrase." Often DJ Mix Pro will have already found the first beat it can recognize and will have set the start point there by default.You will probably have to move the pointer forward a few beats to find the next phrase start, by using the To check your start point press «Listen to fade in» (left Set the Mix point for Song 1What is important here is what you hear. Use the «Listen to fade out» (rightYou can directly use the «Listen to this mix» The music will start to play at the actual mix point. Remember in step 2 when we took so much time to set the start point for Song 2 ? Well now it will pay off, because once we get the mix start point set, our basic musical mix is done. Set the Fade in value for Song 2Although we you have your songs synced together in a nice smooth mix, a fade in is usually necessary. Just because Song 2 comes right in at the perfect spot in Song 1 doesn’t mean it will sound smooth. Usually the entrance of Song 2 will be on the first downbeat of the phrase and will have some sort of bass drum hit or vocal hit. If this comes in un-faded it sounds too abrupt in it’s entrance and takes away from the overall mix. Try a medium fade in time to start; Around 16 beats in a 64 beats mix. This will give the listener time to begin to notice the new song coming in gradually. It sounds much nicer this way.Set the Fade out value for Song 1Typically you will want Song 1 to be completely faded out by the time Song 2 starts its main chorus or verse or "musical phrase". You will have to adjust this value until you get something pleasing to the ear. Be careful not to set this value too short. If it is too short your fade out will be abrupt rough if Song 2 has not gotten up to full volume and rhythm.Extra Tips and Hints:
8 DatabaseThe database window is not mandatory. You can close it if you don’t want to use it. But it is a very useful tool when live DJing.8.1 BenefitsThe database window is used to manage your music files. It is designed to handle many of them (several thousand songs can be put there) and quickly sort or find the songs you are looking for.8.2 Database displayThe database displays 10 columns. Columns are taken from the ID3 tags, file name, time length and BPM once computed.Columns can be resized (thus hidden) to suit your needs and the program remembers the column sizes.
8.2.1 Database song titlesThe title is taken from the ID3 tag.If both ID3V1 and ID3V2 tags are present ID3V2 overrides ID3V1. If no tag is present, title is taken from the file name. 8.2.2 Database BPMDJ Mix Pro will try to compute the BPM for every file in the database (see Beatlock chapter).If you are using the demo version, DJ Mix Pro will try to compute the BPM for the first 11 files loaded. Before computation occurs, the BPM displayed will be “???” During computation occurs, the BPM displayed will be “…” 8.3 Managing the database songs8.3.1 Adding files to the databaseDropping a .m3d file or music files into the database window appends to the current database. It merges the songs, adding the new music files while leaving the ones already there.Searching for files takes all supported files (m3d, m3u, m3v, wav, mp3, ogg, wma, mpc, mp4, aac) in the folder hierarchy you select and adds the files to the database. Using «Open a database» you can add all selected files to the database. You can add .m3d files or music files directly by dragging and dropping them into the database window. You can add one file or several files at a time. 8.3.2 Saving a databaseYou can save the current database to a m3d file. By default the database is automatically saved to autosave.m3d when the program stops, but you can turn this off.8.3.3 Moving songs in databasePush the up or down buttons8.3.4 Resetting songs orderHit the «record this order» button8.3.5 Deleting songs in databaseHit the delete button8.4 Using the database songs8.4.1 Sending to play listThe purpose of the database window is to send songs to the play list queue.Hit the «Send to play list» button You can also drag songs and drop them in the play list to send them to the play list. Songs enqueued in the play list will be played in order, but you can change this order and the way the mix is performed until that particular mix is executed. If you wish to send in the play list, but not at the end of the playlist, just select the position in the playlist after which you want songs to be inserted, hold down the 8.4.2 Sorting songsClick on any column title to sort the songs in the database. The first click will sort ascending but a second click will sort descending.If you want to sort using several keys (for example by BPM then by title) click on the columns in reverse key order (for the example, click title then click BPM) Note: since build 48, the sort is done in respect to the language. Accents, punctuation, cases are ignored. For example in french, Claude François and claude francois will sort identically. 8.4.3 Finding songs in a huge databaseIf you want to look for a song, you can open the search pannel, type your search string and hit search.
Search will show you the cell matching the input string. Hitting next will search down the column, then the next column, top to bottom and so on, until next match is found. When searching for a match, only letters and numbers are significant. It is not useful to type spaces and characters because they are ignored. A quicker way to search is to put the input focus on the list (click in the list once). Then directly type your search string (you dont need to type spaces or punctuation or symbols. They are just ignored). The selection will move to the next match. Hit the return key to go to next match. 8.4.4 Examining songs propertiesEach song has physical properties, like the mp3 ID3 tags, the length, the Beats information, etc…Hit the properties button You can modify the Beatlock data if you need to, (double / divide by 2 the BPM, shift by ½ beat), or clear the Beatlock data. You can tag song files in this window. If you had selected several songs, you can even tag multiple files (except for title tag). In this case, fields displaying “(multiple values)” will be left unchanged. 8.4.5 Quick listening to songsIf you hit the quicklisten button8.4.6 Filtering songsIf you want to show less songs in the list, without removing them from the database, you can apply a filter.
A filter can be a inclusive filter ( if selecting «include one» or «include all» ), which means you will keep the songs that match the selected criteria. A filter can be an exclusive filter ( if selecting exclude ), which means you will not keep the songs that match the selected criteria. A criteria match means that the words of the filter phrase are found in the selected columns. If «include one» is selected, one word from the filter phrase is enough to have a match. If «include all» is selected, all words from the filter phrase must be found to have a match. You can also match against a phrase by putting double quotes around your phrase. When applying a filter over an already filtered list, the filters are additive. You can name filters, and save them. When done, it is easy to reload a filter by selecting it in the «filter name» combo. 9 Beatlock Analysis9.1 DefinitionDJ Mix Pro computes in the background the beats and BPM of all song files it meets.This task is called Beatlock analysis or beatlocking. This is done automatically in the background, you do not have to bother about beating on your keyboard. Beatlock mix (beat matching mix) becomes possible whenever one song and the next song in a row are succesfully Beatlock analysed, and are BPM compatible (10% of tempo difference or less, configurable in the options dialog) as well. This what is shown in the mix column. 9.2 BehaviorDJ Mix Pro will take all files in the order they were loaded and check if there is already a Beatlock data file (blk).If yes, it will load data from this file. Otherwise it will perform a full file analysis. The analysis takes some time (let’s say about one minute per song), but when completed the results are stored permanently in a blk file. The BPM column shows the activity being done on files. If “…” is displayed, file analysis is being done. If a BPM or “BAD” is displayed, analysis or data load occurred and nothing more will be done on the file, unless you delete the Beatlock data.
9.3 Control and optionsYou may turn off the Beatlocking if you think you do not need it.You can stop all analysis (if any) by selecting the «Stop beatlocking» menu item. Resuming will occur when you select «Start beatlocking» menu item. You may also turn the «Do beatlock analysis on songs» off in the global options dialog before you actually load songs. The BPM search is done between lower and upper BPM limits found in the options. Avoid giving BPM ranges that are too large because DJ Mix Pro can confuse BPM and its double or half. 10 Miscellaneous features10.1 EqualizersThere are 2 levels of equalizers in DJ Mix Pro. The master equalizer is global and is used for all songs. You can access it in the action menu.Even if you close the window, it is still used until you reset all track bars to 0 Db. Each individual song in the play list can also have a local equalizer. Local equalizer settings are stored in the m3v files as well as mixing settings. 10.2 Secure modeThere is a special playing mode in DJ Mix Pro (Secure Mode) that asks for a confirmation anytime the user selects on option which can cause the sound to stop. It can help avoid catastrophic glitches caused by accidental actions on the part of the user. This is especially useful with mouse pads.Try it and use it if you like it. 10.3 StatisticsThe statistics window computes the playing time. If there is a selection in the playlist, total length of that selection is reported. If no selection, total length of on all songs in the playlist is reported. It also computes the total playing length (which is different since there is overlapping when mixing).10.4 Sound pitchingPitching digital sound is not easy. We have tried 3 different algorithms for pitching, none of which is perfect.You have the choice between
10.5 Transporting Beatlock data filesIf you wish to use DJ Mix Pro on several computers and want to share Beatlock data and music files, you must leave the blk files next to the music files.You can then copy the blk files ( or access via network share) as well as the music files. To do this, check the “Laave beatlock data near mp3 files» option 10.6 ID3V2 tags handlingID3 V2 tags are something newer, more complex and more fragile that ID3V1 tags.It takes also more time to read them. This is the reason why we choose to turn this processing off by default. If you want to use these tags, turn the option on. 10.7 Command line optionsYou can run the program with command line arguments (on the DOS prompt).The most commun usage is to give file names as arguments. The program will load them in the playlist. You can also use these options to control the program from a script. Some options are designed to override the options of the options window. Usage : DJMIXPRO [ options ] [mp3_file1] [mp3_file2] ... If files are provided on the command line, play will start immediately. Options :
--play : Will force the player to start. --noplay : prevent player from starting. --nodbscreen : Will prevent Database screen from showing. --dbscreen : Will force Database screen to show --noautoload : Will prevent autosaved playlist to load and save. (overrides the «Options dialog» value). --exitwhendone : Program will exit after all songs have played. (but beware , will not work if «Loop mode» option is enabled) 10.8 Winamp2 pluginsAny clean Winamp 2.x DSP or Visualisation plugin should work with DJ Mix Pro. Just copy it (and its dependencies if any) from the Winamp/plugins folder into the DJ Mix Pro/plugins folder.The main source for the 2.x plugins is the classic winamp site (site for Winamp2.x) 10.8.1 DSP pluginsIf you want to have enhanced sound filters ( dynamic compression, megabass, ... ) you can install some DSP plugins in the plugins folder.Best DSP plugins working with DJ Mix Pro :
10.8.2 Visualisation pluginsIf you want to have nice animations in synchronisation with the music, you can install some visualisation plugins in the plugins folder.The major component you’ll find is probably the Winamp Visualisation Studio (WVS) ( aka Advanced Visualisation Studio, AVS ) version 2.5, available in winamp 2.x Standard of Full ( but not in Lite ). Copy the vis_avs.dll file and AVS folder into the DJ Mix Pro/plugins folder Best visualisation found are :
10.9 Playing jinglesThere is an item in the database and playlist windows menus allowing to mix in immediately the selected song. This song will be played in "Jingle mode" and will not interfere with the defined playlist.The way the jingle is played depends on the "raw jingles" option : When selected, the jingle will play at position 0 till real end, with no fade at all. When not selected, the jingle will play like other files, using the song settings for start position, fade in. 11 Options referenceHere are a lot of interesting options plus default values that are applied to songs loaded in the playlist. 11.1 Song defaults tab![]() Do volume normalization : new songs will have their «Use normalization» property set to this. Means that songs will be all played at the same perceptive volume. Do fading detection analysis : new songs will have the «use fading detection» property. Do fade in : new songs will have this «Fade at begin» property set to this. Songs will perform a fade in when starting to play Do fade out : new songs will have the «Fade at end» property set to this. Songs will perform a fade out before stopping. Do pitching done on both songs : new songs will have this value for «pitching done on both songs» property. Mixing length : new songs will have this «mixing length» property. Note : if default mix at is negative (relative to the end of songs), you cannot set a mixing length longer than the default mix at absolute value. Fading length : new songs will have this «fading in/out length» property. Pitching length : new songs will have this «pitching length» property. Default start at : new songs will have this «Start at» property. Default mix at/Default stop at : new songs will have this «Mix at» or «Stop at» property. This field accepts negative values, that are relative to the end of the song. Note : «Mix at» means the mix will begin at the specified position, while «Stop at» means it will end at the specified position. The difference it that you define the start or the end of the mix, with the mixing length in between. All time length text controls accept this syntax : mm:ss.xxxwhere mm are minutes, ss are seconds and xxx are milliseconds. valid inputs examples follow : or xxx Beatsvalid inputs examples follow :
11.2 Beatlock options tab
Smart limit maximum : maximum move of start or stop of a song when allowing smart limits. Limit BPM detection to : upper and lower bounds of BPM search. Limiting BPM width search avoid some BPM bad guesses and helps DJ Mix Pro to Beatlock better. Tip : it’s a good idea not to let upper limit be greater than ( lower limit * 2 ) since BPM detection easily mistakes with half or double BPM. Allow tempo adjustment of percent : here you define the pitch change limits. See a mix occurs for more details. Tip : Allowing changes more than 8 % usually leads to ugly results. 11.3 Sound output options tab![]() Use Direct Sound : sound output will use DirectSound instead of the WinMM module. If DirectSound is not available on your machine, the item will remain grayed. Soundcard updates per second : number of times per second the soundcard receives sound buffers. If you choose too many times per second (more than 12 for example) your sound system will become CPU stress sensitive and may play dirty sound, but having many updates per second makes the program more reactive because you reduce the commands delay. Number of soundcard buffers : choose the number of buffers the program uses. If you choose too few buffers, the program might become out of buffers if another program uses much CPU, but having few buffers makes the program more reactive because you reduce the commands delay. Primary soundcard : soundcard to use for songs in playing mode. It can be any of your system soundcard. Primary mapping : channels of the primary soundcard to use for the primary output. Secondary soundcard : soundcard to use for songs in headphone mode. It can be any of your system soundcard. Tip : a second soundcard to add in the system or a 5.1 soundcard to replace a one output soundcard is less than 40 USD on a standard PC ... Secondary mapping : channels of the secondary soundcard to use for the secondary output. Save sound to file : when checked, sound played on primary card is saved to .wav files. This button will be grayed if sound is already playing or if you are using the demo version. Beware : this will work well only if you have mapped primary soundcard on BOTH channels. Also note that if you have mapped secondary soundcard on the same physical soundcard as primary, you’ll save everything playing in headphone mode as well. In this case you should turn on saving only when you’re finished setting up your mixes and not use headphone mode while saving. Base file name : THIS IS NOT JUST A FOLDER NAME but rather complete path and name used when saving to file. Program automaticly adds _001.wav, _002.wav, etc ... if not using metacharacters. You can use metacharacters to get intelligent naming : %a for artist name, %t for title, %f for original file name, %n for track number, %% for percent. Example : basename c:/cdtodo/song will produce c:/cdtodo/song_001.wav, c:/cdtodo/song_002.wav while basename c:/cdtodo/(%a) - %t will produce c:/cdtodo/(artist) - song.wav Save fast (but silently) : force saving to file to use the maximum possible speed. Sound will not play while saving. Encode file into MP3 : force saved files to be MP3 files (not recommended). Requires that you copy the Lame encoder dll (lame_enc.dll) or Blade encoder dll (bladeenc.dll) in the DJ Mix Pro folder. Make one file per song : if not checked, sound is saved in one BIG file until sound stops. If checked, sound is saved to many wav files, each finishing in the middle of each mix. 11.4 Misc options tab![]() Auto remove after play : remove song from playlist when done (incompatible with repeat mode). Repeat mode : automaticaly play first song again after last song. This is the endless mode (incompatible with auto remove after play). Work in secure mode : special mode designed to prevent b any mistake leading to sound stopping without mix. Shows a confirmation window for every dangerous action. Pre-load delay : amount of seconds before mix the next song is loaded. Save playlist at exit : automaticaly saves the playlist on exit. Automatically load playlist on program launch (playlist is saved in autosave.m3v). Save database at exit : automaticaly saves the database on close. Automatically load database on opening (database is saved in autosave.m3d). Try to use ID3V2 tags : turn on the search for ID3V2 tags. (otherwise, only ID3V1 is searches and this is way faster!). Use database cache : cache the database songs info in order not to scan all files id3 tags every time you open the database (registered version only). Enable to load the database at lightning speed. 11.5 Prelistening options tab![]() Prelistening delay : is the duration played before and after the mix. Lock to beats : indicates weither the cursor commands will stick to beats positions or not. Let playing after fade in : Indicates if the play will go on after fade in (prelistening to fade in) or after the first song’s fadeout (prelistening to mix). Show mute button : Option to display a mute button on the playing windows. Fade everything : Option to put an automatic fade out when stopping or pausing. Unique autofade length value : Use the specific value below. Otherwise use the song fading settings. Autofade length : The value for fadeout length when option above is checked. Raw jingles : Play the jingles without startAt, fadeIn, ... Just play it raw from start till end. 12 Song properties referenceHere is the most complex window of djmixpro. Do not be scared by the many fields in the window, as it will become clearer very soon. 12.1 Mixing options tab![]() Note : the next two fields do not appear when properties of several songs are displayed at the same time. Title : the song’s title if the file provides a mp3 title tag. Length : the song’s length. Note : the following fields appear even when properties of several songs are displayed. In such a case, if all songs have the same property value, the value is displayed. If songs have different property values, no value is displayed. Modifications apply only on properties that are set (not in indeterminate state). Try Beatlock mix at end : this song is going to be analysed by the Beatlock routines. At the ending position, djmixpro will try to perform a Beatlock mix between this song and the next in the list. Use normalization : at Beatlock analysis time, the song perceptive volume will be computed. The song volume will be adjusted at play time so that every song (having this property set) has perceptualy about the same volume. Use fading auto detection results : this song is going to be analysed by a fading search routine. If fading in/out already occurs within the song, no fading in/out is performed by DJ Mix Pro. If not checked or if not starting at pos 0/stopping at end of song , the «Use fade in/out» are used to determine if djmixpro has to perform fade in/out rather than the »Use Fading auto detection results« . Fade at begin : make song volume rise smoothly from 0 to about 100% when song starts. Note that when use fading detection is checked and song starts near position 0, this property is no used (auto detection results is used instead). A fade in is done if no fade in was detected in the song. Fade at end : make song volume smoothly fall to 0% when song stops. Note that when «Use fading detection» is checked and song stops near the end, this property is no used (auto detection results is used instead). A fade out is done if no fade out was detected in the song. Pitching done on both songs : if checked, both songs will change their pitch when mixing. If not checked, only the new one will. Changing pitch of both songs, you will be able to mix more songs togeither since the 2 songs allow about 16% pitch change instead of 8% with a single song. Using volume (percent) : If set to something bigger than 0, target volume after fade in (default 100%) . If set to 0, then the normalized volume is used, or 100%. Is overridden if you touch the playing song’s volume control. Fading in length : length of fade in ( time to rise from 0 to used volume) Fading out length : length of fade out ( time to go down from used volume to 0) Pitching length : length of pitch change for Beatlock mixes ( time to go from 100 to target pitch or from target pitch to 100%) Forced Pitch : permanent pitch applied to the song when playing ( in percent). If set, it means that the song is played with an latered BPM Forced BPM : BPM applied to the song when playing. If set, it means that the song i played with a forced pitch to match the requested BPM. You can set either a 'Forced Pitch' or 'Forced BPM' according to your preferences. Start at : position within song where mix starts. This doesn’t apply for songs not started by a mix. Mix at : position within song where mix starts. Can be a negative value if relative to the end of the song. You have to choose weither you are setting the 'Mix at' or 'End at' property. End at : position within song where mix ends. Can be a negative value if relative to the end of the song. Mixing length : total length of mix. (length between beginning of next song’s fade in and end of current song’s fade out) Note : if mix at is negative (relative to the end of the song), you cannot set a mixing length longer than the time remaining after the 'mix at' position. 12.2 Tag infos tab![]() Note : the following fields do not appear when the properties of several songs are displayed. In such a case the window is empty. File name : the song’s file name and location. Note : the 6 following fields can be edited to change the tags of the song. Title : the song’s title tag. Artist : the song’s artist tag. Album : the song’s album tag. Year : the song’s year tag. Genre : the song’s genre tag. Comment : the song’s comment tag. Length : the song’s length. 12.3 Beatlock infos tab![]() Note : the following fields do not appear when properties of several songs are displayed at the same time. Title : the song’s title . Length : the song’s length. BPM : this song’s BPM. Available only if Beatlock status is STATUS OK Volume when normalized : song computed volume level for automatic volume match. Number of beats : the number of beats collected during the Beatlock analysis. Available only if Beatlock status is STATUS OK Coverage of file : percentage of file containing beats detected by the Beatlock analysis. Beatlock status |