Skip to main content
  • Traktor Pro Manual
  • The Traktor Workflow

The Traktor Workflow

Abstract

The Traktor workflow consists of a number of steps from importing your music to playing and remixing tracks using Traktor's advanced functionality.

The following steps outline the key workflow of using Traktor. Each step is briefly introduced and provides links with further information:

  1. Importing Your Music: When you import your music, all music files get stored in the Track Collection. The Track Collection uses track-specific metadata to categorize the tracks by certain criteria. For more information, refer to Importing Music into the Track Collection.

  2. Browsing for Music: Once your music is imported in Traktor, you can use the Browser to find tracks by using the text search or navigating the Browser Tree. The Track List shows all tracks contained in the selected folder. For more information, refer to Browsing for Music.

  3. Loading Tracks into Decks: When loading a track from the Track List, Traktor analyzes its exact tempo and key information, creating the Beatgrid and the Waveform. This information is stored for each track in the Track Collection. For more information, refer to Loading Music into Decks.

  4. Start Playback of a Deck: To hear music from a Deck you need to adjust the Mixer controls of the respective Mixer channel and set the crossfader accordingly. Then you can start playback and the Waveform will start moving. For more information, refer to Mixing Your First Two Tracks.

  5. Cueing using Hotcue buttons: You can create Cue points and store them on Hotcue buttons. When triggering Hotcues the playback will instantly jump to the stored cue point position. For more information, refer to Working with Hotcue buttons and Flux Mode, Working with Cue Points.

  6. Looping: Traktor provides you with Loop controls for playing loops at pre-defined lengths. As with Cue points, Loops can be stored on Hotcue buttons and triggered at a later time. For more information, refer to  Working with Hotcue buttons and Flux Mode, Working with Loops.

  7. Finding and loading another Track: While the first track is playing you can browse for the next track in your Track Collection and load it into another Deck. For more information, refer to Mixing Your First Two Tracks.

  8. Syncing the Tracks: Since Traktor has analyzed the tempo and the Beatgrid for both tracks, you can sync them by using the SYNC button on the second Deck. Once you start playback on that deck, the beats of both tracks will perfectly match. You can also sync the tracks manually by using the tempo and synchronization controls. For more information, refer to Mixing Your First Two Tracks.

  9. Previewing the transition: The Mixer lets you preview the next track when preparing the transition using headphones. This allows you to find the right position for starting playback before using the crossfader to create a blend. For more information, refer to Using the Cue Channel for Mixing.

  10. Using Equalizer and adding Effects: To make transitions more flawless, the Mixer offers equalizer controls for sculpting the frequencies in your tracks. Additionally, Traktor features FX Units and Mixer FX for adding effects and creating interesting transitions. For more information, refer to Using the Equalizer, Working with FX Units, Working with Mixer FX.

  11. Remixing: With the built-in Stem separation, you can perform your music by muting or isolating individual musical elements in your tracks. You can also remix your music using Loops and One-shot Samples in Remix Decks. For more information, refer to Working with Stems, Working with Remix Decks.