The widget let you organize your music into a beat and melody pattern to create an entire DJ set. Just click on tracks in the crate with your mouse or use your computer keyboard to navigate more quickly. Every transition is scored for its alignment with tempo and harmony, and you can hear how they fits together before playing them out in a live set.
To get started, choose first track in the crate on the left-hand side of the interface. Simply click on the track to move it into the transition rail on the right or hit one through eight on your keyboard to instantly load that track.
How to Use the DJ Widget
After you have tracks on the rail, the system will then study each hand off based off according to Camelot wheel theory. If there’s a smooth harmonic transition between tracks, the system will show a green fit label. If there is a challenging tempo jump or a key clash, it’ll be flagged with a red label. To reorder your set drag the numbered circles along the rail or focus one and use the up and down arrow key. You can then try out combinations until you get the harmonic flow just right.
Your set will automatically update to display its energy shape, BPM range, and harmonic join count below the rail. This give you a quick look at how your set builds up, peaks, or winds down as planned.
To hear what it sounds like with two tracks on the rail, click the audition button or press H on your computer’s keyboard. It’ll play back a blend of the two tracks using web audio, and you can set its length to your liking in the settings area underneath the rail. For a quick cut, select two beats; for a standard phrase, go with four; and if you’re looking for something long and gradual, try eight.
But what if transitioning directly from one song into another is just too abrupt? You can also rely on the bridge and weave buttons for this. Weave finds an unused song in the crate with same key as your last song and plays it. Bridge finds the most jarring part in your set and places a track in-between them that manages the hand-off. This keep your music cohesive and energetic without having to rifle through your whole collection yourself.
Below that is the transition lab where you can adjust the physics of your mix. It offer options for linear and equal-power crossfade laws so you can hear what happens to the volume levels as they come together. There’s also a Master Tempo toggle which maintains the pitch of the tracks whatever the tempo, just like in contemporary DJ software. Toggle it off and it will sound more like vinyl, shifting pitch naturaly as the speed increases.
Or you can predict how hard each transition will be. With the forecast button you get the precise cent shift and BPM ratio between two songs and it tells you what sort of blend to make, should it be a short cut or will a phrase length blend work better? That’s good if you’re working on sets where there are big tempo changes or you need to mix between tracks in different keys.
The sculpt button goes even further by rearranging your entire set into an energy flow that follows a pattern of rising, peaking, and releasing. When auditioning, use the master monitor level slider to control volume of the auditions so that you can make out the details of the mix but not have them be too loud.
There is also more information on the keyboard shortcuts and controls in the help panel at the top of the widget. You can expand or collapse this by clicking on the how to play button.
Now play them through, reverse the set-list and listen again; do you feel it flows better backwards? Experiment with other possibilities and observe how the musical fit changes. What you’re aiming for is an engaging and natural-sounding journey for the audience. Refine your plan using these tools until each shift becomes smooth.
To begin, load several songs onto the rail and then listen to the initial handoff. Experiment with different crossfade and blend length settings until you like what you hear. Once you feel comfortabley navigating the interface, experiment with bridges and weaves to resolve tricky transitions. After some practice, you’ll be able to plan complicated sets quickly and confidently.