S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
The library manages all of your music files. This is where you can find the tracks you want to play and load them into a deck <interface-decks>
or sampler <interface-sampler>
; see library-loading-tracks
. Mixxx imports your music library automatically when it is run for the first time, see configuration-import
for more information.
If you want to backup (or delete) your library refer to appendix-settings-files
and look for mixxxdb.sqlite
.
The sidebar on the left contains different collections of music. The track list view on the right displays the tracks in those collections.
Sidebar:
- Search: Search for tracks in your Mixxx library.
- Tracks: View and edit your whole collection.
- Auto DJ: Automatically load and crossfade tracks for unattended mixing.
- Playlists: Arrange tracks in a set order.
- Crates: Organize tracks in (unordered) collections.
- Computer: Navigate, view, and load tracks from folders on your hard disk and connected devices.
- Recordings: Record your mix and view previous recordings.
- History: Browse lists of tracks played in past mixing sessions.
- Analyze: Generate Mixxx-specific data for tracks before a gig.
- External Libraries: Access your existing iTunes, Traktor, Rhythmbox, and Banshee libraries.
Track List:
- Sort: Display and sort track collections by different criteria.
- Load: Drag tracks you want to play to the waveform display.
- Edit: Rate tracks and edit track properties.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
A sortable list of all the tracks in your music library.
- Customizing the view
Move columns by clicking a column header and dragging it to another position. Right-click on a column header to show or hide individual columns. Adjust the column width to fit the contents of the rows by double-clicking on the separator between two column headers.
- Sorting Tracks
Tracks are automatically sorted by the active column. Click on the active column header to reverse the sort order. Click on another column header to change the active column.
Multi-Column sorting
You can sort multiple columns by clicking up to three column headers you wish to sort your tracks by. This makes searching for tracks in a large list more efficient. Clicking twice on a column header will reverse the sort order.
Example:
- Click on the
BPM
column header -> list is sorted by BPM - Click on the
Year
column header -> list is sorted by year. If year is equal, it is still sorted by the last criteria, e.g. BPM. - Click on the
Genre
column header -> list is sorted by genre. If genre is equal, it is still sorted by year. If genre and year is equal, then it is sorted by BPM.
- Click on the
Random sorting
Click on the
Preview
column header to randomly sort tracks.Sort keys by circle of fifths
Click on the
Key
column header. The order starts with C at the top, then its relative minor (a), then adds 1 sharp (G), then G's relative minor (e), and so adding sharps/removing flats around the circle of fifths. ForLancelot <configuration-key-detection>
notation, it starts with G#m at the top, which is 1A in that notation, and proceeds alphanumerically (minor keys appear before their relative major keys in this case).
- Rating tracks
Make sure the
Rating
column is not hidden. Rate tracks by hovering over the rating field and clicking the stars.- Track Inline editing
Mixxx reads
metadata
from the tracks to fill the columns of the library. Double-click on a field, edit the data, and hitEnter
when you are done. Go to the chapteredit metadata <library-edit-metadata>
for detailed information.- Loading tracks
To load a track into a
deck <interface-decks>
, you can either drag it to the waveform display, use the context menu or usekeyboard shortcuts <shortcut>
. Go to the chapterlibrary-loading-tracks
for detailed information.- Importing tracks
Mixxx imports your music library automatically when it is run for the first time. Go to the chapter
configuration-import
for detailed information.- Previewing Tracks
To pre-listen to tracks in your headphones without loading them to a regular deck, click the icon in the
Preview
column. Go to the chapterlibrary-previewing-tracks
for detailed information.- Cover/Album Art
Mixxx can display cover art it finds for a track in the library. It will search for available cover art in the following places in order and will use the first one it finds:
- The first image saved in the track's ID3v2/Vorbis
tags<metadata>
- An image file in the track folder (if there is only one image file there.)
%track-file-base%.jpg
in the track directory for%track-file-base%.mp3
%album%.jpg
cover.jpg
front.jpg
album.jpg
folder.jpg
Mixxx supports the following image types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp
- The first image saved in the track's ID3v2/Vorbis
- Rescan Library
If you want to manually refresh your library without exiting (for example because you added or moved files) you can do this with
Library --> Rescan Library
in the menu at the top of the application window. You can prompt an automatic rescan when Mixxx is started underPreferences --> Library --> Rescan on startup
.Rescanning the library will add new files to the library and mark tracks as missing if the corresponding file has been deleted. It tries to detect and relocate missing tracks if files have been renamed or moved into another directory.
Automatically refreshing the metadata of tracks when files have been modified by an external application is not supported, yet. In this case you need to select the affected tracks and (re-)import their metadata from file tags.
Right-clicking on selected tracks in the track list reveals the context menu:
Add to Auto DJ
Adds the content of the selection to either the
bottom
ortop
of theAuto DJ <library-auto-dj>
playlist for automatic mixing. Thereplace
option deletes the Auto DJ queue first, and then fills it with the selected tracks.Load to
Loads a selected file to one of the available
Decks <interface-decks>
,Samplers <interface-sampler>
or to thePreview Deck <interface-preview-deck>
. Alternatively simply drag it to theinterface-waveform
. The number of available decks and samplers might differ, depending on the selected skin. Note that you can't load multiple files at once.Add to Playlist
Add selected tracks to an existing playlist, or drag the selection to a playlist crate in the sidebar. Choose
Create new playlist
to put them into a new playlist.Crates
The checkbox shows in which existing crates the selection is in. Changing the crates selection does not collapse the menu, which allows much easier categorization of tracks without going through the menu from scratch. Choose
Create new Crate
to put them into a new crate.Select Color
Assign a color to all selected tracks to indicate mood, energy etc. Select the black button at the top left to remove the color.
Metadata
- Import from File Tags: If the track's
metadata
changes, (e.g. if you used iTunes to edit it,) this option lets you save the new values for the selected tracks to the Mixxx library. Seeedit metadata <library-edit-metadata>
. - Import from MusicBrainz: Look up
metadata
online by searching theMusicBrainz
database and apply the search results to your tracks. Seeedit metadata <library-edit-metadata>
. - Export to File Tags: Saves
metadata
to files. Mixxx may wait to modify files until they are not loaded to any decks or samplers. If you do not see changed metadata in other programs immediately, eject the track from all decks and samplers or shutdown Mixxx. - Cover Art
- Choose New Cover: Select an image from the file browser as the cover.
- Clear Cover: Delete any cover information saved for this track.
- Reload from track/folder: Reload the cover from the tracks' ID3v2
tags <metadata>
or a picture in the track folder if the tags do not supply any.
- Import from File Tags: If the track's
Clear
- BPM and Beatgrid: Removes the
BPM
andbeatgrid
data from the selected tracks in the Mixxx library. After doing this, we recommendanalyzing <library-analyze>
the tracks again. - Play Count: Marks selected tracks as not played in the current session and sets their play counter to zero. The icon in the
Played
column changes. - Hotcues: Clears all saved
hotcues <hotcue>
andhotcue labels <interface-hotcues>
. - ReplayGain: Clears all saved
ReplayGain
values. - Waveform: Clears the saved waveform data from the selected tracks. This is useful if a file is overwritten by another file of the same name, or was edited externally (e.g. in a waveform editor). To clear the waveform cache for all tracks in the library, select
Preferences --> Waveforms --> Clear cached Waveforms
. - All: Clears all of the data above from the Mixxx library database at once.
- BPM and Beatgrid: Removes the
Change BPM
- Allows to change the
BPM
to 50%, 66%, 75%, 133,33%, 150%, or 200% of the BPM set by Mixxx whenanalyzing <library-analyze>
the tracks. If many of the detected BPM values are incorrect, you may try other settings in theAnalyzer Settings <configuration-bpm-detection>
and re-run the analysis. - Lock/Unlock BPM: Locks/Unlocks the
BPM
of selected tracks so you can't edit them in the track properties. The icon next to the track's BPM in the library row is a toggle. Clicking it will set the status to "locked", and the icon changes to .
- Allows to change the
- Update ReplayGain from Deck Gain: Applies the deck pregain knob value to the detected ReplayGain value for the current track. This is a way to update the ReplayGain value of a track if it has been detected incorrectly. When this option is selected, the pregain value for the deck will be centered so that there is no audible difference in track volume, so this operation is safe to use during performance.
Hide from Library
Temporarily hides selected tracks from the track list. Hidden tracks are listed in the
Hidden Tracks
menu item which is explained below.Open in File Browser
Brings up the selected files in your file manager.
Properties
Similar to inline editing explained above, the properties dialog allows you to view and edit metadata such as title, artist, album, and view the full file name and path. Note that you can not edit multiple files at once.
Note
Most of the context menu items are available in file lists of other views like Auto DJ, Playlists, and Crates as well.
M.Linke <kain88@mixxx.org> S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
The Missing Tracks view is accessible by expanding the Library tree item in the sidebar. Any tracks that were previously loaded into your library but were later not found on your drive will appear here. Mixxx does not automatically delete records of missing tracks so that extra metadata Mixxx might have (such as hot cues and beat grids) will not be lost in case the file is replaced.
The features in detail:
- Select All button: Selects all tracks in the current view.
- Purge button: Purges the selected tracks from the Mixxx library, but does not remove them from your computer. This will delete all
metadata
Mixxx has for a track.
Hidden Tracks
M.Linke <kain88@mixxx.org> S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
The Hidden Tracks view is accessible by expanding the Library tree item in the sidebar. Any tracks that were previously loaded into your library but were later set to be hidden from the library will appear here. Use the Hide from Library
context menu item in the tracks <library-tracks>
view to temporarily hide selected tracks.
The features in detail:
- Select All button: Selects all tracks in the current view.
- Purge Button: Purges the selected tracks from the Mixxx library, but does not remove them from your computer. This will delete all
metadata
Mixxx has for a track. - Unhide Button: Removes the selected tracks from the
Hidden Tracks
view and makes them available in the regular track lists again. The tracks will re-appear in every playlist or crate they were in before being hidden.
To learn how to permanently remove tracks from the Mixxx library using the Hidden Tracks
view, see permanently remove tracks <library-removing-tracks>
.
Tracks can be loaded into a deck in several ways:
- Right-click the
library track table <library-interface>
: Right-clicking on a track in the table will present the optionsLoad in Deck 1
andLoad in Deck 2
, among others. Making either selection will load a track into a deck. - By
control-keyboard
to load the selected track in the library track table. Use keyboard↑
and↓
arrow button to select a track,Shift
+←
to load into Deck 1 andShift
+→
to load into Deck 2. - Drag-and-drop from library track table: Dragging-and-dropping a track from the track table onto a waveform display will load the track into that deck.
- Drag-and-drop from deck to deck: Once you've loaded a track to deck, sampler, or preview deck, click on the
track title <interface-track-info>
,track artist <interface-track-info>
or cover art and drag it to another deck or sampler. Note that you can also drop tracks onto Playlists and Crates in the sidebar, as well as into track tables of active Playlists or Crates. - Drag-and-drop from external file browser: Dragging-and-dropping a track from an external file browser directly onto a waveform display in Mixxx will load that track. This function also works with some other applications. For example, on macOS, dragging-and-dropping a track from iTunes onto one of Mixxx's waveform displays will load it into that deck.
RJ Ryan <rryan@mixxx.org> S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
The search function filters the currently displayed list (e.g. a playlist, a crate, or even the whole library) for tracks that match your search query.
- Activate the search input field by clicking in it or pressing
CTRL
+F
(Windows/Linux) orCMD
+F
(Mac). - Type your search term(s). Mixxx filters the tracks as you type and shows only those matching the search term(s). Search terms can include an artist's name, a song title, BPM, etc.
- To clear the search string hit
ESC
or click the clear button right next to the input field. - Hit
TAB
to cycle between the search and the list of results in the library. Use the↑
and↓
keys to scroll in the list of results.
Note
If the search input field has focus, the Mixxx keyboard shortcuts are disabled, see control-keyboard
.
Note
The Computer
and Recording
views currently only support simple case-insensitive filtering.
Search operators allow you to form more complex search queries. They allow you to limit certain search terms to particular properties of your tracks.
Mixxx supports the following filters:
Text filtering: album_artist, album, artist, comment, composer, crate, genre, grouping, location, title
- Examples
artist: “com truise” album:Danger genre: Trance title: foo composer: foo comment: foo genre:hip-hop -genre:gangsta
Note
It doesn't matter if you have space between the colon and the argument or not. Quotes must be used for multi-word text arguments.
You can use = to find exact matches. It reveals only tracks where the entire property text equals the search term. As without =, you must use quotes for more than one word. The first of the examples below will find only tracks where the title is "wow" (case-insensitive like the default search), i.e. not "wowy", "oh wow!" or "wow (Hej Remix)".
- Examples
title:=wow title:= "Track 1" artist:="DJ Flop"
Numeric filtering: bitrate, bpm, played, rating, track, year
- Examples
bpm:140 bpm: >140 year: <2010 bpm: >=140 rating: <=4 bpm: 140-150 played: >10
Note
You can put a space after the colon but currently there must be no space between the operator and the number.
Special filtering: key, duration, added, dateadded, datetime_added, date_added
Supports fuzzy matching of key searches. The following example lists tracks with harmonically compatible keys to C# minor.
~key:c#m
You can combine operators but there's no way to do an “OR” search right now. The following example lists all tracks by “Danger” over 3 minutes long that are rated 4 or 5.
artist:Danger duration:>3m rating:>=4
Negative search filters. Use the
-
prefix as negation operator. The following example would find “hip-hop“ from any year but 1990.genre:hip-hop -year:1990
Search for empty fields. The following example lists all tracks without a genre. It works for all text fields, including crates.
genre:""
- Examples
duration:2m10 duration:<2:10 duration:>1m35s duration:>62
Note
You can put a space after the colon but currently there must be no space between the operator and the number.
M.Linke <kain88@mixxx.org> S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
To pre-listen to a track, activate the Preview
column in a library view. Clicking the icon in the library's Preview
column loads the selected track into a special Preview
Deck <interface-preview-deck>
that will only output sound in the headphones <interface-head-main>
channel. Click the icon to stop the playback.
Alternatively, select a track from the track list of the Mixxx library, drag the track to the waveform view of the Preview Deck <interface-preview-deck>
and click the Play
button next to the waveform.
To display the Preview Deck <interface-preview-deck>
, press CTRL
+ 4
(Windows/Linux) or CMD
+ 4
(Mac).
Hint
Click on the Preview
column header to randomly sort tracks.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
Mixxx reads relevant metadata
from the tracks and displays them in the library columns. You are free to edit most metadata, and Mixxx offers a number of different ways to do so. Note that some information can not be edited, such as bitrate, size, length, type, filename, and location.
Note
Mixxx does not support editing the metadata of many tracks at a time (bulk editing).
Warning
Mixxx won't touch your audio files by default. Changes to a track's metadata will be saved to the Mixxx library, but not to the track itself.
If you wish to write modified track metadata from the library into file tags, check the box in Preferences -->
Library --> Track Metadata Synchronisation
.
- Track Inline editing:
To enable inline editing in the
library <library-tracks>
go toPreferences --> Library --> Miscellaneous
and check the box "Edit metadata after clicking selected track".Select any track in the
Mixxx library - Inline editinglibrary <library-tracks>
and click on the field you want to edit. If the field is editable, it will become an editable text box. Enter a value and hitEnter
when you are done.
- Properties editor:
To open the editor right-click on a single track in the library or any track label in decks or samplers, then select
Properties
in the track menu. You can also double-click any track label in the decks or samplers to open the editor directly.Add or change values in the editable fields, and save your changes as explained below.
Mixxx library - Properties editor- OK: Accept the changes and close the editor.
- Apply: Accept the changes and leave the editor open.
- Cancel: Discard the changes and close the editor.
- Previous/Next: Load the previous or next track in the current library view.
- Import Metadata from File: Prompts Mixxx to re-read the metadata of the selected track (such as when you have modified it externally with another application.)
- Import Metadata from MusicBrainz: Look up metadata on-line by searching the
MusicBrainz
database. See below.
MusicBrainz is an open-source
music encyclopedia that collects music metadata
and makes it available to the public.
Mixxx library - MusicBrainz Wizard
The MusicBrainz wizard in Mixxx allows searching the MusicBrainz database and applying the results to your tracks.
Click on a single track in the library and select Get Metadata
from MusicBrainz
. Mixxx fetches track data from the MusicBrainz database and displays the search results.
Select the best match from the search results by clicking on it in the list.
- Apply: Apply the selected MusicBrainz metadata to the track.
- Close: Close the wizard.
- Previous/Next: Load the previous or next track in the current library view and perform a MusicBrainz lookup on it as well.
- Fetching track metadata from MusicBrainz can fail:
- if Mixxx is unable to find the specified track in the MusicBrainz database,
- if Mixxx cannot reach the MusicBrainz servers (if they are down),
- or if you are not connected to the Internet.
Hint
The MusicBrainz service has been designed for identifying full audio files. If a track is less than 2 minutes long, identifying the file will likely fail. Identifying a layered mix-track or mash-up may produce false positives in the result list.
If you have edited file metadata in third-party software you need to re-import the modified metadata into Mixxx manually by selecting the affected tracks, open the context menu, and then choose Metadata --> Import From File Tags
.
Hint
Rescanning the library with Library --> Rescan Library
in the menu on top of the application window will only detect newly added or removed tracks but no modifications of existing tracks. This is a known limitation.
- Popular software to edit metadata of audio files include:
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
The Auto DJ queue is a special playlist that contains extra controls for automatic mixing. This is useful when taking a break from live mixing or for using Mixxx as media player.
The Auto DJ features in detail:
- Shuffle button: Randomizes the order of tracks in the Auto DJ playlist.
- Add Random button: Adds a random track from track sources (crates) to the Auto DJ queue. If no track sources are configured, the track is added from the library instead.
- Skip track button: Skips the next track in the Auto DJ playlist.
- Fade now button: Triggers the transition to the next track.
- Transition time spin-box: Determines the duration of the transition. A negative value will add a pause between tracks.
- Selection Info label: Displays the duration and number of selected tracks. Press
Ctrl
+A
to get the total duration of the AutoDJ queue. - Enable Auto DJ button: Toggles the Auto DJ mode on or off.
The Skip track
, Add Random
and Fade now
buttons are only accessible if the Auto DJ mode is enabled. The Search field in the upper left corner is disabled in Auto DJ. By default, Auto DJ removes tracks after playing them but if you want it to play the same tracks over and over again, you can activate the Auto DJ Requeue
option in Preferences --> Auto DJ --> Re-queue tracks after playback
.
Auto DJ Crates
It is possible to add random tracks to the bottom of the Auto DJ playlist. The tracks are chosen from a set of crates that you have set as a source for Auto DJ, or from the standard library. Mixxx will normally try to select tracks that haven't yet been played. You can set a minimum number of tracks that are always available for selection no matter when they were last played in Preferences --> Auto DJ --> Minimum available tracks in Track Source
.
For more information, go to the chapter djing-auto-dj
.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
Playlists are ordered lists of tracks that allow you to plan your DJ sets. Some DJs construct playlists before they perform live; others prefer to build them on-the-fly.
Playlists are not directly loadable into decks as Mixxx is primarily intended for live, attended performance use. However, you can right-click a playlist to queue it to Auto DJ <library-auto-dj>
, so in a sense you can "play" it.
- Create a playlist: Right-click on the
Playlists
sidebar item and selectCreate New Playlist
. Name the playlist and clickOK
. The total number of tracks and total duration are displayed next to the name. - Import playlists: Right-click on the
Playlists
sidebar item and selectImport Playlist
. Select one or more playlists and clickOK
. Mixxx creates an import of these existing external playlists as new Mixxx playlists. Add Tracks: Add tracks to a previously created playlist by dragging-and-dropping a selection of tracks from the library or playlists onto the name of a playlist in the sidebar. Alternatively, use the right-click context menu in the library's
track list <library-tracks>
.Hint
If you have a track selected in the library, all of the visible playlist and crates that it is in are shown in bold.
Right-click on an existing playlist name to access the different features in the context menu:
- Add to Auto DJ: Adds the content of the playlist to the
Auto DJ <library-auto-dj>
queue for automatic mixing. - Rename: To rename a playlist, just enter a new playlist name and click
OK
. - Duplicate: Sometimes you want to build a playlist based on an existing one. Select the playlist you would like to duplicate, choose
Duplicate Playlist
, name the new playlist and clickOK
. - Remove: Removes an unlocked playlist. Tracks that were in the playlist remain in the library for later use.
- Lock: This icon indicates a locked playlist. If a playlist is locked, you cannot add tracks, rename or delete the playlist. Choose
Unlock
from the context menu to unlock the playlist. - Analyze entire playlist: Forces the analysis of the tracks in the playlist in the
Analyze <library-analyze>
view. - Import playlist: Import tracks from external playlists in various file formats to the selected playlist. For more information, go to
library-third-party
. - Export playlist: Export a playlist to various file formats such as
m3u
,m3u8
,pls
,txt
, orcsv
. This allows you to use the data in other applications. - Export Track files: This copies all of the tracks in a playlist into a folder such as an external USB stick. Only files are copied, not Mixxx-specific metadata like waveforms or cover art that is not embedded in the file.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
Crates are unordered collections of tracks, just like DJ cases holding your favorite records.
- Create a crate: Right-click on the
Crates
sidebar item and selectCreate New Crate
. Name the crate and clickOK
. The total number of tracks and total duration are displayed next to the name. - Import crates: Right-click on the
Crates
sidebar item and selectImport Crate
. Select one or more playlists and clickOK
. Mixxx creates an import of these existing external playlists as new Mixxx crates. - Add Tracks: Add tracks to a previously created crate by dragging-and-dropping a selection of tracks from the library or playlists onto the name of a crate in the sidebar. Alternatively use the context menu in the library's
track list<library-tracks>
.
Right-click on an existing crate's name to access the different features in the context menu:
- Rename: To rename a crate, enter the new crate name and click
OK
. - Duplicate: Just like playlists you can duplicate an existing crate. Select the crate you would like to duplicate, choose
Duplicate Crate
, name the new crate and clickOK
. - Remove: Removes an unlocked crate. Tracks in the crate are still available in the library for later use.
- Lock: This icon indicates a locked crate. If a crate is locked, you cannot add tracks, rename or delete the crate. Choose
Unlock
from the context menu to unlock the crate. - Auto DJ Track Source: Use this crate as a source for random tracks in Auto DJ, see
Auto DJ crates <djing-auto-dj-crates>
. - Analyze entire crate: Forces the analysis of the crate in the
Analyze <library-analyze>
view. - Import crate: Import tracks from external playlists in various file formats to the selected crate.
- Export crate: Export a crate to various file formats, such as
m3u
,m3u8
,pls
,txt
, orcsv
. This allows you to use the data in other applications. - Export Track files: This copies all of the tracks in a crate into a folder such as an external USB stick. Only files are copied, not Mixxx-specific metadata like waveforms or cover art that is not embedded in the file.
RJ Ryan <rryan@mixxx.org> S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org> Sean Pappalardo <spappalardo@mixxx.org>
Crates are unordered collections of tracks. Unlike playlists, they cannot contain duplicate entries and do not support arranging tracks within them.
Often DJs group tracks by genre, keep lists of favorite tracks, and/or prepare lists of tracks they want to play at a particular party. In these cases they rarely care about the order since they will choose it at the party based on the dance floor and mood. They certainly don't want duplicates in these lists. Crates serve these purposes. You can think of them like labels in GMail or Web 2.0 tags for your music.
If however you want to plan out a specific set and practice the transitions, you will want an ordered list of tracks. Playlists serve this purpose.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
This mode works like a file manager and allows you to load tracks from anywhere on your computer and connected devices, that are not necessarily already in your Mixxx library.
Click the Computer
sidebar item to navigate the computer and find your music. Depending on your operating system
, your music will usually be found in the “My Music” or “Music” folder. Drag the files you want to import to the Tracks <library-tracks>
icon or directly to the interface-waveform
.
Note
Currently you can only drag files (not folders) to the Mixxx library.
Right-click on a folder and choose Add to Library
to add the folder as an additional music directory. Mixxx will watch this directory and its subdirectories for new tracks.
For more information, go to configuration-import
.
Using the Quick Links
sub-menu you can bookmark folders for direct access. Click the Computer
sidebar item and navigate to the folder you would like to bookmark. Right-click and choose Add to Quick Links
. The folder is now pinned below the Quick Links
. To un-pin that folder, right-click and choose Remove from Quick Links
.
In this section of the library you can start and stop recording your session as well as view previous recordings and the dates they were made.
For more information, go to djing-recording-your-mix
.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org>
The history section automatically keeps a list of tracks you play in your DJ sets. This is handy for remembering what worked in your DJ sets, posting set-lists, or reporting your plays to licensing organizations. Every time you start Mixxx, a new history section is created. If you don't play any tracks during the session, it will be discarded.
This icon indicates the current session.
Click on the History icon in the sidebar to switch to the History
view, then right-click on a session's name/date to access the different features:
- Add to Auto DJ: Adds the content of the session to the
Auto DJ <djing-auto-dj>
queue for automatic mixing. - Rename: Rename a session. The default is the calendar date (YYYY-MM-DD).
- Remove: Remove a previous (unlocked) session. (You cannot remove the current session.)
- Lock: Protect a previous session against accidental merge or deletion. An icon indicates a locked session.
- Create new history playlist: Split off the current history session and add a new session without having to restart Mixxx. The current history must contain at least one track for this option to be available.
- Join with previous: Append the selected history session to the end of the previous one.
- Export playlist: Export a session in various file formats. This allows you to use the data in other applications.
This section allows you to analyze your tracks in advance of loading them into a deck. Analyzing tracks requires considerable CPU power and may cause skips in the audio while performing, so it helps to have your tracks analyzed before you play. See getting-started-analyze-library
for details.
S.Brandt <s.brandt@mixxx.org> Ukpai Ugochi <ukpaiugochiibem@gmail.com outreachy applicant>
Supported libraries:
- iTunes (Windows, macOS)
- Traktor (Windows, macOS)
- Rhythmbox (GNU/Linux)
- Banshee (Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux)
- Serato (Windows, macOS)
- Rekordbox (Windows, macOS)
The external library views allow you to use music libraries you have created in these third-party applications. You can access music as well as playlists. If available, Mixxx automatically loads the external libraries from their default locations on your hard drive.
Note
Playing a track from an external library will add it to your Mixxx library.
External libraries can be disabled under Preferences --> Library
.
Right-click on the iTunes icon in the Library tree and select Choose Library
to load the iTunes Music Library.xml
from a different location. Select Use Default Library
to reset.
- Right-click on a iTunes/Traktor/Rhythmbox/Banshee playlist and choose
Import Playlist
to import it into a new Mixxx playlist. - If you have an iTunes configuration file (
\*.xml
) from a Windows or Mac partition mounted in Linux, you can load it and use your iTunes tracks and playlists as well.
To read Rekordbox databases for CDJ/XDJ players on USB or SD devices, the database has to be exported to a USB or SD device with a FAT or HFS file system using the Rekordbox Export mode. Databases that have been moved to an external device via Preferences > Advanced > Database management
in Rekordbox are not supported.
- Plug your USB or SD drive in while Mixxx is running.
- Click on the
Rekordbox
item in the library sidebar to scan for Rekordbox prepared USB drives. If no Rekordbox devices show up, you can click onCheck for attached Rekordbox devices (refresh)
. - Click on the desired removable device. All your folders and playlists will be revealed for you to play from.
The following data is read:
- Folders
- Playlists
- Beatgrids
- Hot cues
- Memory cues
- Loops
Mixxx currently has one main cue point, one loop, and thirty eight hotcues. As such:
- All Rekordbox hotcues are mapped to Mixxx hotcues as expected, the first chronological Rekordbox memory cue is mapped to the Mixxx main cue.
- The first chronological Rekordbox loop is also mapped to the Mixxx loop.
- All loops (including the first loop), and all subsequent Rekordbox memory cues are appended as Mixxx hotcues following the previously imported Rekordbox hotcues.
- The hotcue and memory cue colors you assigned in Rekordbox are also imported, assisting in distinguishing between them.
Although additional imported Rekordbox loops only appear in Mixxx 2.3 as hotcues, their loop information is stored in the Mixxx library and will become usable in Mixxx 2.4.
Mixxx supports reading your Serato library and crates both from your local hard drive as well as portable USB drives. Smart crates are currently not supported.
Serato stores information such as hot cues, saved loops, track color and beatgrid in the file tags. Regardless of whether a track is loaded into deck from the library or directly from the file browser, Mixxx will import that information automatically if present.
Waveforms, Gain values and "Flips" are not imported from Serato.
Note
Due to differences in the metadata format, importing Serato information from Ogg Vorbis files is currently not supported.
To import Serato libraries from external USB drives:
- Copy music library from Serato into external USB drive
- Plug in USB drive while Mixxx is running
- Click on
Serato
in the library. All USB drives containing a Serato library will be detected automatically. - For each removable device, the library and all crates from Serato will accessible.
If you have already added a track containing Serato Metadata to your Mixxx library in a Mixxx version that didn't support reading that data, you can reimport it from the file's tags via the track context menu.
Warning
This action will clear your existing cuepoints in Mixxx if the file contains Serato Metadata
To reimport metadata from files:
- Right click on the track to show the context menu
- Select
Metadata --> Import From File Tags
.
Hint
Decoders may slightly detect different track start and end times for files from different sources, this could possibly be because of the presence of countless encoders and decoders for MP3 and M4A/AAC. This problem may cause your cues to be shifted up by a few milliseconds. Mixxx might not always be able to mitigate this problem, but it's possible to shift all cues for a track at once as a workaround.
Removing tracks from the Mixxx library will not physically delete them from your drive. However it does delete extra metadata Mixxx might have (such as hotcues and the beatgrids), and removes links to playlists or crates.
- Click the
Library
item in the sidebar. - Find and select the tracks you want to remove, perform a right-click on them and select
Hide from Library
from the context menu. - Expand the
Library
item in the sidebar and click on theHidden tracks
sub-item. All tracks that were set to be hidden from the library will appear here. - Select the tracks you want to remove, or use the
Select All
button. - To confirm you want to permanently remove these tracks from the library, click
Purge
.
Hint
If you want to hide or purge only tracks from a specific folder you may use the location:
search operator <library-finding-tracks>
, or sort the table <library-tracks>
by "Location".
Hint
If you later decide to add some of the deleted tracks back, import them to the Mixxx library again, see configuration-import
.
Mixxx supports a variety of audio file formats:
Lossless | Lossy |
---|---|
FLAC (flac) |
MP3 (mp3) |
Wave <WAV> (wav) |
Ogg Vorbis (ogg) |
Aiff <AIFF> (aiff, aif) |
AAC (aac, m4a, mp4) |
Opus (opus) |
Lossless formats preserve every detail of the original recording and are recommended for the best sound quality. The FLAC
format compresses the files to take less space on your computer without sacrificing audio quality. WAV
and AIFF
files are uncompressed and take up much more space.
Lossy formats take up less storage space on your computer than lossless formats at the expense of reducing sound quality. Assuming an average track length of about 4 minutes, a 1 TB hard drive or solid state drive can store about 42000 FLAC
files or about 115000 MP3
files at 320 kbps.
There is no benefit to converting lossy file to lossless formats. The detail lost when making the lossy file cannot be recovered.
AAC (M4A)
is supported on Windows Vista and macOS 10.8 onwards. The Platform Update Supplement is required for Windows Vista.
On Linux, AAC
playback is disabled by default due to licensing restrictions. To enable the playback of AAC
files, build Mixxx from source with m4a/AAC files support.
Warning
DRM
protected files, such as m4p files purchased in the iTunes Store in 2009 or earlier, are not supported.
Warning
ALAC
files use the same container MP4 container format and file extensions (m4a, mp4) as AAC files, but Mixxx cannot play ALAC files. It is recommended to convert ALAC files to FLAC for use in Mixxx. This will not reduce the sound quality of the files.
Mixxx can not play music directly from audio CDs. Use a CD ripping program to copy the audio from the CD to files on your computer. It is recommended to save the ripped files in the FLAC
format. Many different programs are available to rip CDs, but not every program is capable of saving them to FLAC
.