SonodexDJ-Begriffe explained simply.
The most important terms around DJ sets and library care, briefly defined and explained in practice. For beginners and small-time DJs, without jargon.
BPM
BPM stands for “beats per minute”. The value gives the tempo of a track: at 128 BPM, 128 beats fall in one minute.
Read explanationBeatgrid
A beatgrid is a grid of bar markers that a DJ program lays over the waveform of a track. It tells the program where every beat and every start of a bar is.
Read explanationKey
The key describes which root note and which mode (major or minor) a track is built on, for example A minor or C major.
Read explanationCamelot wheel
The Camelot Wheel is a wheel with twelve numbers and two letters (A for minor, B for major) that simplifies the circle of fifths for DJs. Tracks with neighbouring codes sound harmonious together.
Read explanationHarmonic mixing
Harmonic mixing is the technique of choosing and blending tracks by their key so that melodies, chords and basslines sound together instead of working against each other.
Read explanationCue points
A cue point is a saved position in a track that you jump to with a key press. DJs use them to mark start points, transitions and special moments.
Read explanationHot cues
Hot cues are cue points assigned to individual pads on your controller or player. One press jumps straight to the saved position and plays from there.
Read explanationLoops
A loop is a section your DJ software plays over and over until you release it. Typical lengths are 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 beats.
Read explanationPhrasing
Phrasing means starting and blending tracks so that their musical sections (phrases) begin and end at the same time. Phrases are usually 8, 16 or 32 bars long.
Read explanationEnergielevel
The energy level is a number, usually from 1 to 10, that describes how intense and driving a track feels. The higher it is, the more pressure on the dance floor.
Read explanationClipping and true peak
Clipping happens when an audio signal exceeds the maximum level and the peaks are cut off. True peak is the highest level the signal actually reaches after conversion to analogue, measured in dBTP.
Read explanationBitrate (MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV)
The bitrate states how much data per second an audio file uses, in kbit/s. For lossy formats such as MP3 and AAC, the higher it is, the better the sound and the larger the file.
Read explanationMetadata and ID3 tags
Metadata is additional information in an audio file, such as title, artist, album, genre, year, BPM, key and cover. In MP3 files it is called ID3 tags.
Read explanationSmart playlists
A smart playlist (Smartlist) is a playlist that fills itself by rules: all tracks that match BPM, genre, key or rating end up in it automatically.
Read explanationUSB stick for Rekordbox and Pioneer players
A DJ USB stick contains your tracks plus a database with playlists, cues, grids and covers that Pioneer players read. You create it by exporting from Rekordbox or from other preparation software.
Read explanationOrganise your DJ library
Library maintenance means naming, tagging, sorting and backing up tracks consistently so that you can find them quickly before and during the gig.
Read explanationWarm-up-Set
A warm-up set is the opening of an evening: the DJ plays more restrained tracks to get the guests in the mood without taking the energy from the main act.
Read explanationBuild a set
Building a set means choosing and ordering tracks so that tempo, energy and mood form an arc, rather than just a series of songs that fit.
Read explanationBPM by genre
Every genre has typical tempo ranges in BPM. They help you pre-sort tracks and plan transitions. They are guide values: individual tracks are often above or below.
Read explanationRekordbox: USB stick not recognised
If a USB stick exported with Rekordbox is not recognised by the Pioneer player or shows no tracks, the cause is often the file system, the library type on the stick or the file format.
Read explanationLast updated: · The terms refer to Sonodex 4.9 but apply to any DJ software.
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