Hardware/controllers used “offline mode no controller”:
I have over 85k files according to DJay but I actually have over 100k files according to Serato but half of it is duplicate files, I know, I make a lot of playlist,
I like how DJay ignores duplicate files and gives you the exact files you have.
after loading all my Serato crates, which takes me around 48hrs or more, I just need to know how to refresh my library so DJay can add new songs I have added to my crates, I use the “refresh Library” but this seems to work very well on my Tidal Library but not my Crates library.
What I used to do is create “Playlists” and manually drag songs into it and that did the Job,
if I had new songs to add I just drag the folder into my playlist and Djay would load the new tracks into my playlist and into Djay Pro.
That is my Work around, but is there an easy way? Can Djay automatically do this?
Hi @eecy_cee, thanks for sharing the details about your setup and your issue. I believe our assignable “auto import folder” will solve your issue by automatically populating new tracks you add to this folder into My Crates. Please refer to the video below at around 7:49 and let me know if this helps. Thanks!
Slak_Jaw, crate import only imported about 10% of my music. What would someone do, if this was their first software and had no “crates”? Thank you again!!
Hi @djamplive, in my personal experience, using iTunes/Music works the best for importing your music library into djay. First add all of your music to the standalone iTunes/Music app on your computer. Then you can access this library through the Local Music source in djay. Then I copy this music to the My Collection source in djay and create all of my regular and smart playlists within the My Collection source. One of the other advantages of using My Collection to organize your library is that your playlists can contain local music and streaming music.
Thanks for all of your responses Slak_Jaw. couldn’t I just copy the music right from my folder on my external hard drive then? ive done this with a couple of songs and it seems to work well.
If you want to work directly with your local files:
Drag tracks directly from an external drive to My Collection, this will import the tracks. (note: dragging a folder into My Collection, will not create a playlist; it only imports the list of individual tracks in that folder.)
Or create links in My Files to your music folders. This is my preferred method, because a.) links in My Files will update when new files are added and b.) dragging a link from My Files to My Collection will create a playlist AND import the tracks.
Finally, in macOS, you can edit metadata in both My Collection and My Files.
Some reasons to use Apple Music (Local Music) with your DJ Library:
Cleanest way to sync your library to an iOS device.
Can backup and restore playlists (.m3u files).
Notes:
In my personal setup, I use all 3 methods, all pointed at a single master library.
My Files has direct links to all my music folders
Apple Music is pointed at all my music folders. It is also where I maintain playlists.
djay Pro is set to automatically update My Collection when it detects new tracks in my music folders
In my experience its best to create a playlist and rename that playlist, then drag songs accordingly,
on my external DJ Hard drive I have 2 main folders called
1 - Remixes
2 - 12s All
On DJay I create 2 playlists in the “Playlist Column”
1 - Remixes
2 - 12s All
I drag my “Remixes” from my DJ hard drive folder into my “Remixes” playlist on DJay Pro
Then I drag my “12s All” from my DJ hard drive folder into my “12s All” playlist on DJay Pro
The reason why I do this is to make it easier for me to search for songs, If I want to search for a remix version of a song, I search in the “Remixes” playlist
If I want to search for a song I will just search in the “12s All” playlist
I’ve experienced a huge lag in DJay Pro when I search my whole collection for songs also you cannot type fast cause there is so much lag.
This is the main reason why I do it this way just to search for songs easily.
after all the advice I have gotten from the DJay Mods, I have found that the “Auto import” function is not what I expected,
what I expected from DJay “Auto Import”
1 - when I update a crate with new songs, I expected that DJay will update that crate with the new
tracks I added.
2 - In reality DJay just adds the new tracks to the overall library on your laptop. DJay does not add
the tracks to the crate that you had placed the tracks in.
If I want the new tracks to be added to the crate that I updated, then the only way to do this is to “Import Crate” again, I have to repeat this process every time I add new tracks.
This process takes a long time especially with 80 - 90k files on your external hard drive, it is not a incremental update, but it should be.
When I play live I use “My files” section, this is also a workaround for me is using:
“My Files”
The only issue I have with using “My files” is I cannot search “Sub Folders” for music, I can only search for music on actual folders with no Sub folders.
This is why I use my crate playlist to search for songs as mentioned above.
If I add new tracks into my DJ hard drive, I simply re-add my folders again to refresh my library.
I just have to remember to do this.
Remember how I achieve all this is to setup your library like how you would like your crates to look,
My folders on my external DJ Hard drive are exactly what my crates look like, this is from years of organising my DJ hard drive.
Once you have done this then you use a simple Java App called “Itch Sync”
every time I want a new crate, I create a new folder in on my DJ hard drive, then I run “Itch Sync” and when I open Serato my crate has been created and the songs are added.
once you have done all this, then you use the DJay “import crate” function to import all your crates you have created with “itch sync”
This is my current workaround with my short experience with DJay,
until DJay improves their library management,
what I want is better search functions on DJay
ON Serato you can choose what you want to search i.e. Name, Artist, File Name, etc.
there is a dropdown menu and you check what you want to search for,
This way Serato is not overwhelmed with searching for everything,
it just searches the “Field” you want.
Which is what’s happening with DJay.
ask me any question in regards to this post thanks:)
I find if I searched “playlist” it searches faster with no lag.
If I searched “My Collection” then its a bit slow, and it feels like its using a lot more processor to do this.
The typing is still a lil laggy,
I tried this on my Mac Book Pro with 16gb ram and I had a 4sec sound dropout, (searching “My Collection”)
I currently have a Mac with 32gb ram and I have a slight lag (Searching “My Collection”) but no dropout at all.
You are also correct that if all songs are analysed then this helps a lot:)
My search functions seems to be smooth for now but the real test is when I’m live with DJ hardware connected, so I will get back to you.
Also Just to add, I have requested that DJay implement “Filename” Tab, that is not currently available in DJay library tabs,
I have renamed all my files to use “Filenames” Tab, that incorporates Title, Artists, BPM, its easier for me having 1 column instead of having several columns so my filename will look like this.
California Love … 2pac (remix) 92bpm
My current workaround is using the “Composer” column tab.
I have requested this and I’ll wait to see if its on the next DJay update
Why I say this is I have passed this on to one of the DJAY mods and they replied saying they will pass this on to the Dev team. I don’t think this is a difficult request imo.
I also know how slow it is for any request on the Serato forums, I’m hopefull about DJay cause of how quick the mods are responding to messages. Trust me I know how long things take.
