TRAKTOR PRO 2.9. Manual Englisch (2015)

• Hovering over the Slot Player of a Sample Slot, you get presented with additional Slot Pa-

rameter buttons. These govern the behavior and sound of all the Sample Cells belonging
to the relevant Sample Slot. See

for further information on the Slot

Parameter buttons.

• With the Play Type button in the Advanced Panel, you can switch between One-shot and

Loop mode of the Sample Cell. The Play Type indicator on the left side of the Sample Cell
changes its symbol accordingly.

The Advanced Panel of the Remix Deck is only visible in the Advanced Deck Layout. Dou-
ble-click the Deck's upper border to cycle through the various Deck Layouts.

See

↑

7.1.2, Remix Deck

for more information on this.

• With the Deck's GAIN knob in the associated Mixer channel, you can raise or lower the

volume of all Samples in that Deck at once.

• With the Deck FILTER knob in the associated Mixer channel, you can apply a lowpass/

highpass filter on all Samples in that Deck at once.

• With the FX Assign buttons in the associated Mixer channel, you can assign an FX Unit on

all Samples in that Deck at once.

• With the EQ knobs in the associated Mixer channel, you can shape the sound of all Sam-

ples in that Deck at once.

Remix Deck Hotkeys

Much more versatile than using the mouse, is the use of Keyboard Hotkeys. Depending on the
current state of the Sample Slot, a different action is triggered by the Hotkey:

• If the slot is empty, a Sample is loaded from the Deck above it.
• If the Sample is playing, but muted, it gets unmuted.
• If the Sample is playing unmuted, it gets muted.
• If the Sample is stopped, it starts playing.

Tutorials

Using the Remix Decks in Your Mix

TRAKTOR - Manual - 289

• If the Sample is playing, press and hold the key to stop and reset the Sample.

The Hotkeys for the individual Sample Slots, from left to right, are: [Z]/[X]/[C]/[V] (for Deck C),

and [B]/[N]/[M]/[<] (for Deck D).
Additionally if a Sample is playing:

►

Pressing [Shift] + Hotkey will stop the Sample and reset the play marker to the Sample

start position.

►

Pressing [Shift] + Hotkey again will delete the Sample from the Sample Cell.

►

If you press [Shift] + Hotkey once more, the item currently selected in the Browser List
will be loaded to the Sample Cell.

The Hotkeys will always control the upmost Sample Cell of a Sample Slot.
Please note that these are the Hotkey mappings for an English keyboard layout. In case of a
non-english keyboard layout, the key labeling will vary.

16.8.5 Saving A Remix Set

Once you think a Remix Deck might be worth saving, you can save it to the Collection, and
later on even use it as a single-line item in a Playlist. It's as easy as this:
1.

Double-click the name of the Deck in the Deck Heading.

Type in a new name for the Deck.

Click and hold the name, and drag it down into the Browser List.

→ Your new Remix Set is now saved to the Collection. Additionally, all Samples are stored

as individual Samples in the "All Samples" folder.

16.9 Using the Loop Recorder

Earlier we saw how you can use Remix Decks as a means for triggering One-shots and Loops.
This is all based upon existing audio material. The Loop Recorder, on the other hand, allows
you to record new material on the fly!

Tutorials

Using the Remix Decks in Your Mix

TRAKTOR - Manual - 290

The Loop Recorder.

You could, for example, capture the signal from the microphone input of your soundcard (or

mixer), record your scratching in real time, or just record a few bars of a particular track while
tweaking the FX settings.

Prerequisites

TRAKTOR now is in the following state:

• The track Techno 2 is still loaded on Deck B. The track is audibly playing and set to Mas-

ter. Deck A is stopped.

• The crossfader is all the way to the right.
• FX Unit 2 is in Single mode, assigned to Deck B, and loaded with your favorite FX. The

effect, however, should be turned off (

button deactivated).

The Loop Recorder is not available in LE 2 and ME 2.

16.9.1 Choosing a Source

The Loop Recorder can capture the input from several sources. You can choose the desired
source by clicking on the Source menu (the drop-down menu directly under the Loop Record-
er’s

DRY/WET

knob):

The Loop Recorder’s Source menu.

Tutorials

Using the Loop Recorder

TRAKTOR - Manual - 291

In this menu, you have following choices:

• Main will record TRAKTOR’s overall signal.
• Cue will record any channel(s) whose Headphones Cue button is on.
• Ext picks up the signal assigned to TRAKTOR’s Input Send channel.
• Aux will pick up the signal assigned to TRAKTOR’s Aux channel—typically the micro-

phone input (for more info on how to use a microphone, please see chapter

↑

19.6, Adding

a Microphone

For our example, we’ll capture the main output:

►

Select Main in the Source menu.

16.9.2 Recording a Loop

Let’s now record a loop.

Adjusting the Loop Size

Before we start recording, we need to specify the size of the loop we are going to record:

►

Press the

SIZE

button repeatedly to cycle through loop record sizes (in beats).

You can see the current loop size at the top of the Loop Recorder. For our example, we’ll
choose a loop of 4 beats:

The selected loop size is displayed in the software.

Starting the Recording

Now do the following:

►

Cut the low and mid frequencies on channel B by turning the

and

MID

knobs fully

counter-clockwise.

Tutorials

Using the Loop Recorder

TRAKTOR - Manual - 292

►

Turn the

DRY/WET

knob of the Loop Recorder fully clockwise.

When you’re ready, press the Record button.
The Loop Recorder will punch in (Record button lit) and out (Record button back off) accord-

ing to the selected loop size and then begin playing (Play button lit). That’s all!
You can hear that our adjustments to the EQ are now part of the recording.

You’ll notice that the loop automatically started playing when it finished recording. If you

don’t want this to happen, just push the Play button during recording. Now the loop will
only trigger when you explicitly tell it to.

Playing with the Recorded Loop

You can control the balance between the looped recording and the main output using the Loop
Recorder’s

DRY/WET

knob:

You can stop and start again the recorded loop by using the Play button. By doing this, you’ll
notice the following:

• The Loop Recorder always stays in sync the current tempo master, which is Deck B at the

moment in our example.

• You don’t have to bother with the

DRY/WET

knob position when stopping the Loop Re-

corder. When you stop the Loop Recorder, the

DRY/WET

knob is automatically bypassed

regardless of its current position. This ensures a seamless transition with the main signal
at its original level.

Deleting the Loop and Trying Again

If you don’t like what you hear and want to try again:

►

Press the

UNDO

button when the Loop Recorder is stopped (when the Loop Recorder is

playing the button is hidden).

→ Now the recording has been cleared and you can try again.

For example, you could try again to record a loop from the track on Deck B, this time while
tweaking the FX loaded on the FX Unit 2:
1.

Turn channel B’s EQ knobs back to neutral position.

Tutorials

Using the Loop Recorder

TRAKTOR - Manual - 293

Press the Record button on the Loop Recorder and tweak the FX knobs and buttons of the
FX Unit 2.

Since the Loop Recorder records the audio (including any processing by the FX), you can cre-

ate brand new loops from your existing tracks!

16.9.3 Overdubbing

You can also dub over the current recorded loop, building additional recorded layers on the fly.

To do this:

►

Press the Record button while the Loop Recorder is already playing an existing loop, per-
form your tweaks, scratches, or vocals, and press it again to exit overdubbing.

→ The new audio will then be added to the existing loop.

►

If you don’t like the overdub, just hit

UNDO

and it will clear your last overdub and you

can try it again.

►

If you hit

UNDO

once more, it will act as a “redo” and bring back the overdub.

►

If you want to completely clear all the contents of the Loop Recorder, just press

DEL

while the Loop Recorder is stopped.

16.9.4 Further Uses of the Recorded Loop

One of the great things about the Loop Recorder is that you can use it to record loops that you
can then transfer to the Remix Decks. This is how it works:

►

Click on the Loop Length display of the Loop Recorder and drag the Loop from there to
an empty Sample Slot in a Remix Deck.

→ Now the loop has been stored, and you can record a new loop into the Loop Recorder if

you like.

→ Last but not least, the loop is automatically added to your Collection and can be re-used

whenever you want to!

Tutorials

Using the Loop Recorder

TRAKTOR - Manual - 294

16.10 Synchronization

It is now time to give a closer look at the advanced synchronization features offered by TRAK-

TOR. Once you will get more familiar with them, you will be able to use these powerful tools to

build rich and complex mixes.

16.10.1 Introduction

In the previous tutorials, we have already seen TRAKTOR’s synchronization facilities many
times in action:

• We synchronized a track to the previous one before we mixed it in (see chapter

↑

16.4,

Mixing In a Second Track

• We played with Loops and jumped to Cue Points without losing the beat (see chapter

↑

16.6, Looping and Cueing

• We noticed that the Gater FX was synchronized to the track it was processing (see chapter

↑

16.7, Adding FX

• We captured a Sample from a track and it played in sync with the track (see chapter

↑

16.8, Using the Remix Decks in Your Mix

• We recorded a loop in the Loop Recorder and it played in sync with the track (see chapter

↑

16.9, Using the Loop Recorder

16.10.2 The Tempo Master

Note that, in TRAKTOR, the syncing concept has been extended and improved so TRAKTOR
SCRATCH PRO 2 users can also take full advantage of sync-lock when using Timecode Vinyl or
CD control!
For all this to work, TRAKTOR needs both a tempo and beat reference to which it can syn-
chronize things. We call this reference source the tempo master. The tempo master doesn’t
have to be the same source throughout the entirety of your mix, but there will always be one
source designated as the tempo master—and only one.

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 295

For example, by activating

SYNC

on a Track Deck, you are saying to TRAKTOR: “Synchron-

ize the track on this Deck with the current tempo master.”

In TRAKTOR, the Master Clock or any Deck can be the tempo master:

• TRAKTOR’s Master Clock can provide a tempo and a tick (which can be used for beat-

gridding).

• A Deck can provide the master tempo and the master phase.

TRAKTOR LE 2 users only have the option to set a Deck as tempo master.

You can prevent Remix Decks from becoming the Master Deck by deactivating the relevant
option in the Transport section of the Preferences. See

↑

14.8, Transport

for further infor-

mation.

Who’s the Master?

You can build your mix using various Deck setups: you can mix with two Track Decks only, or
make also use of the Remix Decks (default setup), or even replace the Remix Decks with an-
other two Track Decks.
Depending on your preferred way of DJing and Deck setup, you will have different needs and
perspectives for choosing your tempo master. We will describe here the various use cases.

What’s New in the New Synching Concept?

Up until now, if you had synced a track to another, the Phase has always been synced as well.
TRAKTOR now decouples the phase-syncing from the tempo-syncing when using TempoSync
mode. In other words,

SYNC

doesn’t get completely deactivated if TempoSync is selected and

you nudge the tracks out-of-phase—instead, it turns dim. If you use BeatSync, the

SYNC

but-

ton will turn dim when the tracks are out of phase, but TRAKTOR will then force the tracks
back into sync.
This concept allows all users, including the TRAKTOR SCRATCH users, to keep their tracks
tempo-matched, thus enabling them to raise the tempo of two or more tracks simultaneously,
even if their phases are shifted!

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 296

What Is Synced and What Is Not?

Basically, Samples playing in Looped mode and time-evolving FX are always automatically

synced to the current tempo master.
On the other hand, for each Deck, you can decide whether to use the automatic sync or not,

such as if you want to beat-match the Deck manually (see tutorial in chapter

↑

16.4, Mixing In

a Second Track

) or if you don’t want any beat-matching at all for that Deckk.

Letting TRAKTOR Decide for You: the Auto Mode

In TRAKTOR LE 2,

AUTO

is turned on by default. However, you can change the Deck MAS-

TER manually by clicking on the respective

MASTER

button of a Deck. The Master Clock

panel however is disabled.

Let’s first give a look at TRAKTOR’s Master Clock:

►

Click on the metronome icon at the top left of the window to show the Master Clock pan-
el:

The Master Clock panel in TRAKTOR

In this Master Clock panel, you see the activated

AUTO

button, meaning that TRAKTOR is in

Auto mode.

Auto mode is activated by default, and this the mode we used in all the previous tutorials.

With

AUTO

activated, TRAKTOR automatically switches the tempo master between Decks in

the following situations:

• When the Deck set as tempo master is stopped.
• When you load a new track / Remix Set onto it.

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 297

This way, you don’t have to worry about setting the tempo master yourself during your mix.

Should there be no other Deck playing, the Master Clock would become the tempo master,

thus keeping in sync any FX and/or looped Samples still on air!

You can check this by doing the following:
1.

Stop any playing Deck. The

MASTER

button in the Master Clock panel lights up, indicat-

ing that the Master Clock is currently the tempo master:

Load two tracks in Deck A and B.

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 298

Start the playback in Deck A. Deck A now is the tempo master: the

MASTER

button in the

Master Clock panel turns back off, whereas the

MASTER

button in the left Deck Display

lights up:

Start the playback on Deck B and beat-match the track on Deck B with that on Deck A
(whether manually or via automatic

Sync

Stop Deck A.

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 299

→ Deck B now is the tempo master: the

MASTER

button on the left Deck Display turns off,

whereas that of the right Deck lights up:

If you play sets with two Decks only, or if you prefer to do your beat-matching manually, the
Auto mode might be for you: it guarantees that each new track in the mix follows the previous
tempo reference.
If you’d like to do a combination of manual and synced beat-matching, again leave the

AUTO

button engaged and enable the

SYNC

button for individual Decks as needed:

• If

SYNC

is enabled, the new Deck inherits the tempo from the previous tempo master.

• If

SYNC

is disabled, the new track plays at its own individual tempo.

Note that you can also manually set a particular Deck As tempo master:

►

To manually set a Track Deck as tempo master, simply click the Deck’s

MASTER

button.

Using the Master Clock as Tempo Master (TRAKTOR PRO 2 / TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO 2
Only)

If you run beat-mixed sets with more than 2 Decks, possibly along with synchronized Remix
Decks, you should use the Master Clock as tempo master. The Master Clock will always give
you a solid tempo reference that will not change unless you want it to. Also, if you intend to
only do beat-synced transitions and would like to stay within the same general BPM range
throughout your set, this is the ideal mode to use. To set it up, do as follows:
1.

In TRAKTOR’s Master Clock panel, deactivate the

AUTO

button.

Click the

MASTER

button in the Master Clock panel to set it as the tempo master.

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 300

The Master Clock panel should now looks like this:

Now activate sync on all Decks by pressing the respective

SYNC

buttons.

This way, all Decks will instantly follow the Master Clock’s tempo. You can then set the Master

Clock’s tempo to the tempo you intend for your set via the numeric field to the right of the

MASTER

button (see picture above):

►

Change the Master Clock’s tempo by clicking the displayed BPM value and dragging your
mouse vertically while holding the mouse button depressed (of course you can also assign
raising or lowering the tempo to a keyboard hotkey or MIDI control).

→ You can see the tempos on every Deck changing accordingly.

As in Auto mode, you can change the tempo master at any time by pressing

MASTER

on the

desired Deck.

Setting TRAKTOR’s Master Clock as tempo master is now recommended for all TRAKTOR
versions, including the Scratch versions, because the phase is now handled separately from
the synchronization. This means, even with Timecode Vinyl or CDs, you can tempo-lock
tracks and you’re still able to tweak the phase through nudging and scratching!

16.10.3 The Beatgrid

A Track Deck can serve as a reliable tempo master only if its song’s tempo was precisely deter-
mined during automatic analysis. If not, the “reference” provided by the Deck would not be
correct. Tracks are analyzed by TRAKTOR in order to determine the BPM (tempo) as well as
the position of the beats (“transients”). Using this information, TRAKTOR creates the so-called
Beatgrid which provides the phase-reference for synchronization.

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 301

A track's waveform with the Beatmarker (1) and the Beatgrid (indicated by the white vertical segments, (2)).

The track’s Beatgrid is not only important when a Track Deck is set as tempo master, but also
when you want this Track Deck to be synchronized with the current tempo master, whichever it
may be.
The included demo tracks used in the tutorials were previously analyzed and have a reliable
Beatgrid. Before you can effectively use the synchronization facilities on your own tracks, you
will have to analyze and beat-grid them as well. By default, this is done automatically when
you load a track for the first time in a Deck, but this may not be good enough for all tracks,
therefore you can adjust the Beatgrid manually.

16.10.4 Other Useful Tools for Synching

Lastly, we would like to quickly mention here three other interesting features related to syn-
chronization: the Snap and Quantize modes, and the Keylock function.

Snap and Quantize Modes

As you probably remember, we already mentioned Snap and Quantize in the tutorial in chapter

↑

16.4, Mixing In a Second Track

. They are other important tools that can help with synchroniz-

ing your tracks:

• The Snap mode ensures that any Loop or Cue Point you set in a track will snap to the

closest beat.

• The Quantize mode ensures that any jump you make within the track will retain the phase

sync—may you jump to a Loop, a Cue Point, or a beat without worry.

Click on the

and

buttons in the Global section to enable/disable Snap and Quantize

modes:

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 302

The S and Q buttons allow you to activate/deactivate Snap and Quantize mode, respectively.

Depending on what you are about to do, you can decide to enable or disable them at any time.
Here are a few examples:

• If you want to set a Loop starting directly on a beat, activate Snap and press an Auto Loop

button around the desired beat.

• On the contrary, should you wish to set a Cue Point at the beginning of some backing vo-

cals that don’t necessarily start on the beat, deactivate Snap before pressing an unlit Hot-
cue button.

• If you’re about to mix in a synched track and want the downbeats of both tracks to per-

fectly match, activate the Quant button before you press Play (or some Hotcue button).

• On the other hand, if you want to jam around with a Sample loaded on a Remix Deck and

make some stutter-like effects by pressing the corresponding Hotcue button repeatedly,
you might prefer to deactivate Quant to create repetitions shorter than one beat.

Locking the Key of Your Tracks

When synchronizing tracks, you alter their tempo and, consequently, their pitch (or key). Slow-
ing down a track will cause its pitch to drop while speeding up the track will cause its pitch to
rise. For small tempo adjustments, this is not really serious. But when the tempo is changed
more drastically, the resulting pitch shift might get problematic: kick sounds would lose their
power, vocals would sound unnatural and silly, etc.
To avoid this, TRAKTOR provides you with a Keylock feature that uncouples the pitch (key)
and the tempo (BPM) of a track:
1.

Load two tracks with quite different tempos on Deck A and B. (The default value for
TRAKTOR’s internal Tempo fader is +/-8 %—therefore the tracks should not exceed a
tempo range difference of +/-8 %, otherwise you can’t sync them manually. However, you
can choose a bigger tempo range via Preferences > Transport > Tempo)

Tutorials

Synchronization

TRAKTOR - Manual - 303

Start the playback on both Decks and synchronize Deck B to Deck A.
You can clearly hear how the key of the track on Deck B changed.

Now press the Keylock On button in Deck B. This activates the Keylock on that Deck.

→ The key of the track goes back to its original pitch, thus preserving most of its acoustic

feeling. In the Mixer and in the corresponding Deck, the Keylock indicator lights up to

remind you that the Keylock is active on that Deck:

If you activate the Keylock button in the Mixer, the current key will be preserved. Use the

KEY

knob to change the key which can allow you to harmonically mix into a track in anoth-

er Deck.

16.11 Harmonic Mixing

Most of you will be familiar with the experience of hearing tracks that work incredibly well in
the mix together, creating a musical blend pleasing to the ear. More often than not, this is
down to the fact that these track combinations are in the same key (or complimentary).
The technique of Harmonic Mixing previously relied on either knowing the key of tracks (man-
ually by using a piano for example), or using additional software to identify it. TRAKTOR's key
detection now automates this process. Key can quickly be utilized in the selection process of
identifying harmonically complimentary tracks (and avoiding key clashes).
Harmonic Mixing relies on TRAKTOR having Key Lock engaged!

Tutorials

Harmonic Mixing

TRAKTOR - Manual - 304

TRAKTOR PRO 2.9. Manual Englisch (2015) - part 18