Track comments will save your life

**Philhouse** · 03-17-2012, 12:41 PM

I don't know about you guys, but sometimes when I'm rocking out at a gig and I know that perfect track that will destroy the dance floor and I drop it, people go crazy and I'm having the time of my life, but then I realize that I have no idea where to go from there. The dance floor is packed and I'm watching the track time slowly count down while I search through hundreds of songs to find something to mix into, which can be a real momentum killer.

So to combat this problem I started adding track names that I know will go well with that song in the track comments.

For example:

Name________ Artist________ Comments

Quality soul________ Opiuo________ Soul food fight - Bobby C

That way if I can't find another song quickly then I always have a quick out avoiding any sloppy mix with tracks you have to throw together before you run out of time.
Found an artical on dj tech tools awhile ago about doing this, no idea where it is though.

**deejaygo** · 03-17-2012, 01:20 PM

Been doing this since I got serato and began organizing crates. Real good tip. Organization is key and comments help especially since they come up when searching too

**Xzentric** · 03-17-2012, 02:13 PM

Its amazing to think how dj's used to cope with just vinyl, two decks and a mixer.

**Philhouse** · 03-17-2012, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Xzentric

Its amazing to think how dj's used to cope with just vinyl, two decks and a mixer.

Gods amungst men they were....

**Somedj** · 03-17-2012, 03:36 PM

i actually have a crate called "timeless bangers" that I throw all my "sure to knock their socks off" tracks into. Just in case my brain is clouded by too much juicy juice or if I experience dj block, like you're talking about.

**Subprime** · 03-18-2012, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Philhouse

Gods amungst men they were....

Aww thanks mate, always nice to be called a god

**m:cake** · 03-18-2012, 06:55 AM

and it all comes back to knowing your tracks... i experienced the same problem when i switched to dvs, i bought a lot more tunes than before.
I started to make some digital "crates" for known and unknown tracks and I am just using the known ones at gigs..

**Waterbeat** · 03-18-2012, 08:20 AM

Tracks to mix into in the comments is a neat idea. This could be an interesting thread if we're willing to share how we use comments. Could be a lot of other good ideas out there.

I use Traktor and try to put some kind of comment in every track about the characteristics of the track so I can quickly find it and tell what it's going to do. I keep all the tracks in one folder and use the search and sort functions to get to tracks I need. For instance, if a track sounds "deep", I put that in the comments, regardless of the track's genre. Then, when I'm in a situation where I'm trying to play deepish stuff, I can search for "deep" and get all the Deep House tracks and also all the other genre tracks that sound deep. So when I'm prepping new tracks, I think about the characteristics of the track and stick that in the comments. I think in doing this, it's important to figure out and follow certain conventions so it works consistently. Doesn't matter what they are, as long as they are consistent and meaningful to you.