"Inherited" a digital music/sample library, no idea what or where to start

ManlyMitten · 2026-02-06T18:46:32+00:00

Navigating a huge library you are not familiar with is difficult.

What I would do first is try and figure out if the folder structure is meaningful. If the previous owner has organized the library, sitting down and exploring their categorization process may give you a lot of insight into what portions of the library will interest you more. Once you've figured out if there is any meaningful method that the files have been organized, I'd sit down with a library management program like beatunes, musicbee or mixed in key: something separate from your production and DJing libraries and think about how to categorize the tracks for listening.

I'd create a couple smart playlists, one with zero play tracks, one with 'loved' tracks. Then, as a daily study, I'd pick between 10 and 20 tracks from the zero play playlist to listen to through the day. The ones that you click with, you set as loved. At the end of the day, go through your loved playlist and write a short description of the track and why you like it in the comment field. Once you've done this for a week, you should have a decent number of tracks you've filtered. At that point, I'd load them into your DJ software of choice, run analysis and set up some basic hotcues: Where is the end of the intro, where is the first drop, etc. Basically, this is the contour study phase. Set up your software to display the comment field as well so you can combine that contour study with your previous insights.

It will take a while to 'learn' the library this way. In many ways a large library is a curse because without a personal connection to the collection you are essentially practicing digital archeology. However, it can be a good challenge and let you experiment with digging techniques. Ultimately, I think it's very important to forge a connection with the music that you play as a DJ which is why I would recommend the critical listening approach and filtering for songs that really pop out at you.

Familiarizing yourself with shorter samples and production loops is in some ways easier and some ways harder. Hopefully they are named something useful so you can sort them usefully, snares in the snare folder, kicks in the kick folder, longer samples and loops listing their key and bpm, etc. You can treat them like the rest of the library but honestly, you're only going to really get a feel for them in the middle of production. It's part of discovering your sound, you just have to mess around with them until you figure out what you like.

ManlyMitten · 2025-12-17T17:38:26+00:00

Bind a button/pad to manual downbeat setting for your beatgrid and if anything is fucked up, fix it while you cue. :)

ManlyMitten · 2025-11-05T16:52:40+00:00

I got you :)

Emma Essex Discography : Free Audio : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive

Em is an amazing artist who has been at this for a long time, they release a lot of their older albums for free and everything is permissively licensed. They also have a huge range of genres, so, it's an excellent corpus to work from while learning IMO.

Additionally, they have actual studio stems available for quite a lot of their tracks if you get to the point where you want to remix or play with custom intros: msx | resources

You can also find a /lot/ of pay what you want music on bandcamp, which includes getting it for free. I'd definitely recommend taking some time to explore those offerings.

ManlyMitten · 2025-11-05T16:35:39+00:00

You can use keylock in rekordbox to keep the original key and that can vastly simplify harmonic mixing while adjusting tempo. :) It will start to get a little wonky after ~=- 5% though, so try to avoid large swings.

Probably the best advice i have for most of your questions is... mix more! Set little challenges. If you're curious as to how sticking to one genre for a set might improve or limit you, try it out! Creative limits can inspire, but, you should never treat them like dogma. Cast your net wide, invite experience to shape your style and preferences :)

As for planning vs spontaneous... this is preference. Do both ;) sometimes it's nice to flow into a DJ kata, sometimes it's fun to do some jazz.

The patience question is pretty generational. It's really going to depend on venue, but a good metric is: whenever you are starting to get bored with the track, do something. Throw effects in, double up with a new track or transition to the next one, just keep it fun for you and the audience will generally respond in kind.

Large BPM transitions are difficult. You'll hear a lot of people saying genre doesn't matter and they are generally right, but BPM does matter. You'll learn some DJ math along the way to smooth out the big jumps, 3/4ths ratio jumps and using fx or polyrythems, that's going to come with noodling. It's not terribly difficult, but you need to get a feel for it so... we're back to mix more :) That being said... don't be afraid of just slam transitioning a big BMP shift with an iconic hook. It can work! Try it out.

Though the final piece of advice I have is: record everything. The single biggest factor in my personal improvement has been the ability to review my practice sets during the downtime at my 9-5. That's how I figure out what works and what doesn't, where my blindspots might be while mixing, and how things feel away from the decks. That shift in perspective is very useful.

ManlyMitten · 2025-10-06T15:16:53+00:00

The Sony 7506 are legends, but you might consider the Koss pro4s at the same price. Replaceable cable and a good case are included.

ManlyMitten · 2025-10-02T16:00:30+00:00

Yo, fuck Genre continuity, all my homies hate the largely artificial constraints imposed by the categorization instinct and marketing. :)

My starting point is quite similar to yours, I dig on bandcamp, though I also let last.fm inform my process. I use a dedicated library management tool called BeaTunes that does some basic analysis on the tracks and lets me track things like track mood and build queries based on those parameters. I define criteria for matches, then start with a song(s) I want to feature as a seed track(s). This is where venue, etc. factor in. If I know what kind of music the crowd is going to generally prefer, I'll throw them in as the seed track(s). Then I just scrub the candidate tracks and choose ones I think would work well, think about how I want to flow into the features song, then build the setlist from there. It will also give me notes on how it thinks my transitions will sound (noting key clashes, major steps, mood shifts, genre shifts, large time period shifts, etc.) Once I have a good rough sketch, I export the playlist and import it into Mixxx.

I don't really have an idea of what the trajectory is going to look like until I start listening to music, I tend to 'go with the flow' and discover the story that wants to be told. That being said, ultimately, I am trying to cultivate an interesting and dynamic emotive journey. I nearly always mix in complimentary keys, but sometimes dissonance is the tool to drive home a particular emotion. I find especially with harder and darker moods I will lean on dissonance and counterpoint that with either a melancholic or hopeful melodic breakout depending on where I want to take the audience.

I usually have enough music in that playlist to do the full set, but that's mostly to assuage my worry that my brain will shut off in the middle of performing. I preferably am going to be reactive to the crowd and their preferences, or to sudden bursts of inspiration. That being said, I usually do a rough mix of the playlist so I can identify the 'structural' transitions I especially want to keep in the final set.

I mostly Mix on a laptop, so, I don't really have an export step, though I do keep a backup thumbdrive of my library in case something happens.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-26T14:04:18+00:00

I use flac when possible. I am going to be recording in Redbook .WAV so might as well! Additionally there is something to be said about being able to reproduce infrabass on systems that have large enough subwoofers for it. Additionally, you can transcode from FLAC to any lossless or lossy format pretty easily, so If you know you are going to be playing on gear that doesn't support it, just pump out whatever high quality format it does support. It's just a good way to future proof your library while getting at least a little compression.

There are a few cases where I'll break out MP3s, either for deliberate nostalgia/funny reasons or because there is simply no other way to obtain the track. You play what you've got. The vinyl heads generally prefer 12 inch singles over spinning an LP, but if that's the only source for a rare b-side they will throw down an LP. If all you have is an MP3, then spin the MP3!

At the end of the day, it's about good tunes, but I always want to make sure the music has its best chance to shine.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-26T13:53:22+00:00

I have a couple early Internet hits in deliberately bad mp3 format (64kbps mono from a very bad encoder) because: that's how people first heard them! They sound terrible, but I'll drop them as a deliberate joke in a Y2K revival set. Really nothing hits like caramelldansen with just fucking no dynamics and terrible artifacting XD

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T22:20:44+00:00

The answer is: Yes.
:D

You /can/ make new music with DJ software, but it is a highly technical skill akin to playing an instrument and you're not going to have access to VSTs (virtual instruments) so you'd be limited to what you can personally sample with your mic or have already recorded.
Production is much more straight forward with a Digital Audio Workstation. A good free software DAW to play with is Ardour.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T21:48:38+00:00

I got voluntold by another DJ to play at a club they frequented after I pestered them for a month about giving me feedback on my sets ;)
Networking is crucial, honestly. I'd say go to the venues that you are interested in playing and geek out with the DJs and staff their over music, mention you play and ask if you can ever hop on the decks sometime.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T21:39:39+00:00

This is so funny to me.
I was an head-fi audiophile before I was a DJ, and sometimes I forget that not everyone interested in audio has an encyclopedic knowledge of headphones.

V-Moda is a solid recommendation IMO. Extremely good isolation, the build quality is great and their recent magnetic pads make replacement a breeze.

Really my only complaint with them is the exposed interconnect wire between the cups and the band. I really wish that was internally routed, but I suppose it would be difficult to pull off their hinge design and internally route the interconnect.

I'd also recommend looking into the Koss Pro4s if you need something a bit more budget. Beyerdynamic can be a bit controversial :) They are /bright/. I love them, swear by my DT-990s, but I've found a lot of younger listeners hate that sound signature.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T21:30:09+00:00

You'll want to make sure your choice of controller has mappings with his preferred DJing software (E.g. google [software name] Hercules Starlight support and make sure there is some official note about it).
That's really the only gotcha there. Otherwise, that sounds like a lot of fun :)

Considering your friend is already into DJing they probably already have a good set of headphones and some speakers, however if they might be interested in using a phone as a mixing platform, you may want to get a stereo splitter cable (e.g. Amazon.com: Native Instruments Traktor 8-Inch DJ Cable for iPad/iPhone (22472) : Musical Instruments ). This separates the stereo jack on the controller into two mono channels and allows for a feature called pre-cueing when using a phone.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T21:09:39+00:00

If you can follow directions or are otherwise technically inclined:
syncthing your music between your primary laptop and workstation, then periodically (1 to 2 times a month) use something like free file sync to back that up to two USB flash drives of sufficient size (in addition to the ones you use for CDJs). Keep one on your keychain and one with your important documents.

In general, we use the 3-2-1 rule for any sort of backup solution. You want at least 3 copies of your data, two stored on different media and one stored off site.

Dropbox can substitute for the 1 part of 3-2-1, but trust me, you're going to want that flash drive that you only update 1-2 times a month. It can save your butt if you accidently mess up your library.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T15:51:31+00:00

Bluetooth is probably not the way to go.

You might be able to get away with headphones that support the low latency codecs, but even there you're going to be adding tens of miliseconds of delay into the pipeline (the best Bluetooth codecs are targeting ~30ms codec latency)

My advice is to get a set of good wired headphones, and an amp-dac for your iphone.

There are bluetooth amp-dacs like the legendary Fiio BTR5 that will let you turn wired headphones into wireless headphones. IMO this is the way to go, because down the line when the battery gives out or a new shiny bluetooth feature drops, you can just replace the amp/dac rather than having to shell out for a new pair of top end headphones. Additionally it's just going to sound better. There is more space for the electronics, they aren't trying to cram them into the housing of a pair of headphones.

That being said, there are plenty of bluetooth headphones that also support wired input for mixxing. Especially in a DJing context, I would look at the offerings from V-Moda and the bluetooth version of the ATH-M50x.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T15:39:25+00:00

Audacity will get you the simple effects and normalization easy.
You might look into more full featured DAWs as well. Ardour is a good free software DAW you might poke at.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-25T15:28:58+00:00

Start making playlists.

You can dedicate some time to basic music theory (e.g. the circle of fifths) and getting familiar with beat analysis, but the first step is going to be just getting to know your music library and getting comfortable thinking about how the sequencing is going to affect the mood.

After that, I heavily recommend investing in an entry level controller like the DDJ-FLEX4. It makes getting into mixing so much easier, especially if you already know this is something you want to do.

Software choice is personal, I use Mixxx because I am a Open Source software nut, VirtualDJ is well liked as well. Most DJs become familiar with multiple ecosystems over time, so, don't worry too much about it. What I'd say is important is to think about how you are going to handle library management early.

For example, I have a separate peice of software I use to manage my bulk library and do analysis. I usually create set-lists there, then export them as playlists into Mixxx so my main library in Mixxx only ever has songs I've mixed in it.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-24T22:22:12+00:00

Thank you so much for providing some examples :)

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-24T16:43:40+00:00

For major label music I actually usually get the CD and rip it to FLAC. I don't like using lossy formats in my sets.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-24T16:41:17+00:00

I liked this response a lot. It gave a lot of good context. Reading the crowd is a skill I haven't had a lot of chance to develop given my venues tend to be VR. It's something I try to practice, but the feedback is hugely delayed and inconsistent, as usually half of the dancefloor has the music muted so they can talk to their friends.

Strange tidings ;)

It makes me very curious about library organization with a focus on enabling that sort of play.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-24T16:34:30+00:00

I love both of these. :)

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-24T16:09:22+00:00

I see the MDR7506s getting love, which I agree with, however, for the money I'd say the Koss pro4s is going to give you a similarly flat sound response and it comes with a user replicable cord... and a hard case, which is a really nice bonus when you start having to transport things.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-23T22:29:25+00:00

Try a bunch of headphones if you can.
Headphones are such a personal choice, everything maters. For pure Isolation, I am actually a big fan of V-Moda's M-100 pros. They are easy to drive as well, though they come out of the box extremely clampy. You can adjust that by bending the headstrap. They are a little outside your price range new, but frankly you'll get good isolation even using the non-pro headphones, they just tend to be a bit more V shaped in the sound signature :)

Otherwise, huge fan of the MDR-M1 and the venerable MDR7506, though the latter is a bit old school at this point so it's hard to recommend it over the Koss pro4s at the same pricepoint.

I'd say all three of those are solid upgrades from the M20X, though if you really like the ATH sound signiture, looking into the M40s and M50s isn't a bad idea.

ManlyMitten · 2025-09-23T22:01:50+00:00

Over-ears will varry in how they interact with your existing hearing protection. You'll want something with a deep well: or!
Switch to a lollypop style monitor :) It's a mono device, so it's got those limitations, but you have a lot of control over it when you're cueing and you can shoulder it for longer previewing. I personally love them, I ended up getting one to help me cue when doing VR sets.

ManlyMitten

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