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Managing Your Track Collection

Abstract

In this section you learn how to manage your Track Collection in Traktor.

In this section you learn how to manage your Track Collection.

About the Track Collection

The Track Collection represents all the music you use in Traktor. With the Track Collection you can organize, tag, and prepare your tracks for being played as part of your mix.

A benefit of the Track Collection is that it stores the metadata of the tracks, like track title, artist name, tempo, genre, key etc. It also stores Traktor-specific information about your tracks.

Compatible Audio File Formats

Traktor supports the following music file formats:

  • MP3

  • M4A (AAC)

  • WAV

  • AIFF

  • FLAC

  • OGG Vorbis

Notice

DRM-protected music files cannot be played back in Traktor. This affects for example AAC-tracks bought in the iTunes store.

Notice

WMA files are not supported in Traktor.

Importing Music Files from the Local Music Folder

You can import the music contained in the local music folder of your operating system:

  1. Right-click the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree to open the context menu.

  2. Select Import Music Folders.

    Traktor now imports the music files from the local music folder.

Adding Music from Other Folders

If you have stored tracks in other folders or on external storage devices, you can add these folders to the list of Traktor Music Folders as follows:

  1. Open the File Management page in the Preferences.

  2. Under Music Folders click Add…

  3. In the dialog navigate to a folder you want to add.

  4. Confirm your selection.

  5. Repeat to add all of your music folders.

  6. Click Close to apply the changes.

    When now selecting the folder Music Folders in the Explorer folder in the Browser Tree, Traktor scans the respective folders and update the Track List accordingly. Subfolders are automatically included in the scan. Hence, you don’t need to add them to this list.

Importing iTunes Tracks into Your Track Collection

You can import tracks from your iTunes Library into the Track Collection:

  1. Select the iTunes folder in the Browser Tree to display its content in the Track List. A double-click expands the folder in the Browser Tree.

  2. Select the track(s) you want to import into the Track Collection.

  3. Right-click on the selection to open the context menu.

  4. Hover the mouse over Import to Collection to display further importing options.

  5. Select either as Tracksas Looped Samples, or as One-Shot-Samples to load the selection into the Track Collection accordingly.

Importing Remix Sets

To import Remix Sets into your Track Collection:

  1. Expand the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree.

  2. Select the All Remix Sets folder.

  3. Drag the Remix Sets (*.trak) file on your computer and drop it into the Track List.

    The new Remix Sets are now added and appear in the Track List.

Show Tracks on Your Local Drive

To open the destination of tracks stored on your local drive:

  1. Right-click the track(s) in the Track List to open the context menu.

  2. Select Show in Explorer/Finder.

    Your operating system opens a window with the track(s) stored on your local drive.

Editing Track Metadata in the Track List

Each track in your Collection can contain track metadata properties such as track title, artist name, album name, cover artwork, etc. Traktor gives you the option to edit these metadata properties in two ways.

Tip

If you are using iTunes for collection management we recommend that you only edit tag metadata in iTunes.

  1. Select a track in the Track List to highlight it.

  2. Click in the property field with the metadata information you want to edit, for example,[ the artist name.

    A cursor appears in the property field.

  3. Edit the artist's name.

  4. If you want to edit further property fields, repeat the aforementioned steps.

  5. Press the Enter key on your keyboard to exit Inline Editing mode and confirm your entries, or press the [Esc] key to abort editing.

Editing Track Metadata using the Edit Dialog

Not all properties of a track are visible in the Track List. To get access to all available properties of a track, use the Edit Dialog. This dialog allows simultaneous editing of a selection of tracks.

Edit Dialog Overview

The dialog contains the following elements:

Edit_dialog.png

Edit dialog.

Editing a Single Track

Select a track in the Track List.

  1. Right-click a track to open the context menu.

  2. Select Edit.

    The Track List turns into the Edit dialog.

  3. Edit the individual information for your track.

  4. Use the drop-down menu in any track property field to select a previously stored tag from your Track Collection.

  5. To apply the changes, click the button labeled Apply or OK. Use the Restore button to undo any changes you have made, or use Cancel to abort editing and to close the Edit dialog.

Editing a Selection of Tracks

If you want to edit a selection of tracks, for example, all tracks of an album:

  1. Select the tracks in the Track List.

  2. Right-click to open the context menu.

  3. Select Edit to open the Edit dialog.

    The Edit dialog appears. Checked checkboxes indicate which of the attributes share the same value across the selected tracks. The checks also indicate that anything written into the related field will be saved to the metadata tag upon applying changes. Unchecked checkboxes indicate that the tracks do not have identical values for this field.

  4. To change an attribute globally for all selected tracks, make sure that the box is checked.

  5. To edit your selected tracks one by one, use the Previous and Next buttons at the bottom of the dialog.

  6. To apply the changes, click the button labeled Apply or OK.

Use the Restore button to undo any changes you have made, or use Cancel to abort editing and to close the Edit dialog.

Editing Track Cover Artwork

Traktor allows you to either import or delete .jpeg cover artwork for tracks in your Track Collection.

Importing Cover Artworks

To import or replace Cover Artwork for tracks:

  1. Right-click a track or several tracks in the Track List to open the context menu.

  2. Select Import Cover.

  3. In the dialog select the cover artwork file on your computer and confirm.

    The cover artwork is now stored within the track file(s).

Deleting Cover Artworks

To delete Cover Artwork from tracks:

  1. Right-click a track or several tracks in the Track List to open the context menu.

  2. Select Delete Cover.

    The cover artwork(s) are deleted for the track(s).

Assigning Playlists and Folders to the Favorites

The Favorites area is the navigational tool located at the top of the Browser.

Pre-assigned Favorites

  • Preparation

  • History

  • Track Collection

  • All Tracks

  • All Remix Sets

  • Demo Tracks

  • Demo Remix Sets

Assigning Folders and Playlists to the Favorites

You can assign any folder or any Playlist in the Browser Tree to the Favorites:

  • Drag the folder or Playlist name from the Browser Tree and drop is onto a free (not assigned) Favorite slot.

    Now you can access the Playlist quickly by clicking on the relevant Favorite.

Track Collection Maintenance

In this section you learn to maintain your Track Collection in terms of consistency and security backups. There are many things to keep track of such as removing obsolete tracks or relocating tracks that have been moved to another folder on your local drive, etc. These maintenance processes can be time consuming, so we recommend to not perform these tasks during live situations.

Checking Consistency of your Track Collection

Importing tracks without analysis, reorganization of local music folders, and deleting tracks from from local music folders lead to an inconsistent Track Collection. To keep track of your changes you can execute a Consistency Check on your Track Collection and get a detailed result in the Consistency Check Report.

The Consistency Check Report Dialog

The Consistency Check Report provides an overview of your Track Collection and provides options for immediately solving problems.

TP3_Analysy_report.png

Consistency Check Report dialog.

  • Tabs: Selects the individual tab with detailed information about the Consistency Check Report.

  • Relocate button: Opens the Relocate dialog to start relocation of missing tracks.

  • Remove Missing button: Removes references to not existing tracks from the Track Collection.

  • Analyze button: Starts analysis of tracks to be analyzed or to be re-analyzed, respectively.

  • Lists all missing tracks in the Track Collection.

  • Lists all tracks in the Track Collection that need to be analyzed or re-analyzed, respectively.

Show Overview Tab
  • Total Tracks: The total number of tracks in your Track Collection.

  • Tracks Missing: The total number of tracks that have been deleted from your hard drive or moved from their original location.

  • Tracks Not Analyzed: The total number of tracks that have not been analyzed.

  • Tracks Missing Stripe: The total number of tracks that have been imported and analyzed but their Stripe view information has been moved or deleted.

  • Total Tracks To Analyze: The total number of tracks that need to be analyzed or re-analyzed, respectively.

  • Lists all missing tracks in the Track Collection.

Missing Tracks Tab
  • Lists all missing tracks in the Track Collection.

Tracks To Analyze Tab
  • Lists all tracks in the Track Collection that need to be analyzed or re-analyzed, respectively.

Executing Consistency Check

  1. Right-click the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree to open the context menu.

  2. Select Check Consistency to execute it.

    Once Traktor has run the check, the Consistency Check Report will appear showing the results.

Executing Consistency Check on Traktor Startup

To execute the Consistency Check and show its Report when starting Traktor:

  1. Open the File Management page in the Preferences.

  2. Check the box labeled Show Consistency Check Report on Startup.

  3. Close the Preferences.

    The Consistency Check will now be executed each time you start Traktor.

Notice

Executing the Consistency Check on startup can increase Traktor’s startup time.

Analyzing Tracks Manually

In a live situation, analyzing tracks or even collections of tracks can be very time consuming when importing them into the Track Collection or when loading tracks into Decks. The moment for the analysis can be determined on the File Management page in the Preferences. You can also switch it off entirely. In this case, you can analyze your tracks manually when not in a live situation.

Notice

Stem files always need to be analyzed before loading them into a Deck.

Executing the Analysis
  1. Right-click a track or a selection of tracks in the Track List to open the context menu. You can also right-click a Playlist in the Browser tree.

  2. Select Analyze (Async).

    The Analyze dialog opens.

  3. Select the options for the analysis.

  4. Click OK to start the analysis.

Analysis Dialog Options

The dialog box provides two options:

  • All: When selected, this analyzes tracks according to the default settings selected in Analyze Options page in the Preferences.

    Notice

    For locked tracks the All option does not permit the BPM, Beatgrid markers, Gain, or Key to be overwritten.

  • Special: When selected, you are provided with a more detailed range of analysis settings that can be performed on tracks:

    • BPM: When selected Traktor analyzes the track to calculate the tempo. In the drop-down menu below you can pre-define the tempo range you want Traktor to analyze.

      Notice

      In case you are analyzing a large number of tracks with very different tempos, select either a wide range or leave it to automatic. However, narrowing down the tempo range will provide more accurate results.

    • Set Beatgrid: Sets the Beatgrid on the track and aligns it to the nearest downbeat. If the track already contains a Beatgrid, Traktor will move it accordingly.

      Notice

      Beatgrids cannot be set without checking the BPM, as the two options are interlinked.

  • Key: Detects the track’s Key.

  • Gain: Removes the current Gain values of the selected tracks, and replace them with an Auto-Gain value during analysis.

  • Replace Locked Values: Momentarily unlocks tracks for letting the options selected above apply to locked tracks as well.

  • Parallel Processing: Enables parallel analysis of tracks.

    Notice

    This option increases CPU load and should not be used in live situation.

Relocating Missing Tracks

If you have restructured a music folder on your local drive, the references to the contained tracks in the Track Collection lead to missing tracks. This can be corrected by relocating the missing tracks:

  1. Right-click the track(s) in the Track List to open the context menu.

  2. Select Relocate.

  3. In the browse dialog navigate to the destination where your missing track have been moved. To find multiple tracks in different folders, navigate to the top-level folder where they are stored. You can even select your main hard drive folder.

  4. Confirm your edits.

    The track is now relocated.

Deleting Tracks from the Track Collection

To delete tracks from your Track Collection:

  1. Right-click the track(s) in the Track List to open the context menu.

  2. Select Delete from Collection.

  3. From the security dialog select one of the following options:

    • delete from collection: Deletes the track(s) from the Track Collection and from all Playlists.

    • additionally remove Traktor tags (may take some time): Deletes the track(s) from the Track Collection and from all Playlists, and all Traktor specific tags will be removed from the music files.

    • additionally delete file(s) from hard drive: Deletes the track(s) from the Track Collection and from all Playlists, and deletes the music file(s) from your computer.

    The tracks are deleted from your Track Collection.

Saving Your Track Collection

The Track Collection will be automatically saved each time when you close Traktor. However, you can also save your edits in the Track Collection manually:

  1. Right-click the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree to open the context menu.

  2. Select Save Collection.

Exporting Your Track Collection

You can export your entire Track Collection for a backup on another hard drive.

  1. Right-click the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree to open the context menu.

  2. Select Export the Collection to open the Export Tracks dialog.

  3. Enter the title for the backup in the Playlist Title field. Do not remove the $ symbol in the beginning.

  4. Select the path to store the backup in the Destination field.

  5. Select the file format in the Export Format drop-down menu.

  6. Select Copy Tracks To Destination.

  7. Click OK to confirm.

    Traktor now exports your Track Collection.

Restoring the Track Collection from an Automatic Backup

Each time when you change something in your Track Collection and close Traktor, a backup of your Track Collection is created in the Backup folder in Traktor's Root folder on your local drive. If you delete something in your Track Collection by mistake, you can restore to an earlier version:

  1. Right-click the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree to open the context menu.

  2. Select Import another Collection to open the browser dialog.

  3. Double-click the Backup folder to open it.

  4. Double-click the Collection folder to open it.

  5. Select the backup version to which you would like to restore.

  6. Click OK to confirm.

    The Track Collection is now restored to a previous version.

Clearing Your Track Collection

To clear your Track Collection:

  1. Right-click the Track Collection folder in the Browser Tree to open the context menu.

  2. Select Clear Collection.

  3. From the security dialog select one of the following options:

    • clear collection: Deletes the tracks from the Track Collection and from all Playlists.

    • additionally remove Traktor tags (may take some time): Deletes the tracks from the Track Collection and from all Playlists, and all Traktor specific tags will be removed from the music files on your local drive.

    • additionally delete file(s) from hard drive:Deletes the tracks from the Track Collection and from all Playlists, and deletes the music files from your computer.

    All tracks are deleted from your Track Collection.