In today’s world of global music, the electronically-led bias grows stronger year on year. From live artists to bedroom DJs, one of the questions that regularly rears its head when considering software choices is “What is Traktor DJ?”.
For many people, either just starting out or even established artists and DJs, there are clear preferences around both hardware and software used to bring music to the masses (or your neighbours, whether they like it or not!).
When you are starting on your journey into the world of a DJ, you are immediately met with a vast choice of routes to begin honing your craft. For many, the most affordable and easiest route to playing in clubs is buying a controller made by the likes of Pioneer or Denon and downloading an accompanying DJ software for your laptop or PC.
With a whole host of available DJ software options out there, it can be easy to get lost in the possibilities and all of their varying features or pros and cons. One choice that often seems to come out on top is Native Instruments’ Traktor DJ software. But “what is Traktor DJ” and why is it so popular?
Could it be the advocation from Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Nicole Moudaber, Chris Liebing, Pan-Pot, Tale of Us, Joris Voorn, Nic Fanciulli, Danny Tenaglia, Josh Wink, SBTRKT, Magda, Modeselektor and many more of the world’s finest electronic artists and DJs? Maybe. Is it software that you can pick up and use without all of their years of technical experience? Most definitely.
You’ve heard all about who uses it, but the question remains unanswered…
What is Traktor DJ?
Berlin-based Native Instruments first developed the now industry-leading DJ software roughly two decades ago. In its simplest form, Traktor DJ is a flexible plug and play mixing software, championed for its integration with many chosen club equipment manufacturers such as Pioneer and Allen & Heath.
What is Traktor DJ? – Mixing Capabilities
Traktor allows you to mix up to 4 tracks together at the same time. You can choose to use an internal or external mixer, as well as independent FX panels for each track deck – again both internal or external. This is the very essence of Traktor’s faceplate. Of course, there is so much more you can do with it in terms of mixing, but it’s a great approach to master the basics of this section as it will become the bread and butter of everything you do beyond it.
What is Traktor DJ?: Browser and Library
Traktor DJ’s browser feature is another area in which the platform has continued to excel over the years. It allows you to view and create playlists, internal and external drives/folder, and it also displays customisable metadata fields for your music, making it easier for you to browse and make snap decisions while playing music.
The last thing you want to be doing is scrolling frantically through an entire archive of music to find a track, whilst the one that is playing is coming to an end. Traktor DJ’s browser section makes it easy to eliminate panicking scenarios and also streamlines the arrangement of your library all in one clear and easily visible place.
What is Traktor DJ?: Easy and Efficient Set Up
Upon starting Traktor DJ for the first time, you will notice its efficient setup wizard. Having been one of the go-to software for almost twenty years now, Native Instruments Traktor DJ makes it as easy and as accommodating to get you playing music as quickly as possible. Its archive of mapping presets for an array of different mixers and controllers (including all of their own and hundreds of others) means that you can plug in your controller and have all of your audio routed and be ready to spin in minutes.
If you are confident in your understanding of mapping controllers, Traktor DJ also offers you the ability to complete the setup manually instead of using their setup wizard. This means you can use your controller or decks and mixer in a way that you prefer, rather than the way it was intended – often the sign of a true artist!
What is Traktor DJ?: Completely Personalisable
One of Traktor DJ’s most unparalleled USPs has to be its selectable levels of complexity. From a simple 2-channel set up to 4 channels and multiple remix decks, it’s entirely personalisable layout suits not only your preference but your confidence.
Understandably, when you’re in the learning phase of a new skill or you’re finding your feet it can be overwhelming when you’re met by something that has a seemingly endless amount of buttons, knobs or faders. With Traktor DJ, you can choose from one of its preset views/layouts or you can simply build your own via its in-depth settings menu.
As the world of DJing continues to evolve, it means that the way we play music evolves to. Traktor DJ seamlessly continues to offer more diversity in respect of your preferred physical setup, offering an almost building-block type constructional facility inside of its software to mirror what you have going on at your fingertips. True versatility to match your creative capabilities!
What is Traktor DJ: Our Final Thoughts
Once you start delving into the boundless potential of Traktor DJ as a whole, you start to see a completely different answer to the question “What is Traktor DJ”. In all honesty, and this is the beauty of many years at the height of its game, Traktor DJ is whatever you want it to be.
At its core, it can be a simplistic 2-channel DJ software for you to use in your bedroom; or it can be a multichannel live performance tool that you play to thousands of people using. Answering the question, “What is Traktor DJ”, is a little like opening a can of worms as it has a whole world of possibilities inside a powerful yet tidy shell.
If you’re a beginner or intermediate level DJ, it can be great for learning the basics or developing on what you already know. For expert and elite-level artists, it can serve as a platform to support your wildly creative approach to engineering live performances. It is whatever you want or you need it to be, and that is the greatest selling point of them all.
Simply spending a few hours playing around with Native Instruments Traktor DJ will tell you everything you need to know about why it is hailed in the way that it is.
There is so much more to the software in terms of individual features and functionality, but it can become overwhelming if you try to digest it all in one serving. We will revisit in the not too distant future to give you a deeper dive into Traktor DJ’s ins and outs, as well as some handy tips and tricks that will help you maximise what you get out of using it.
We hope this gives you an answer to, “What is Traktor DJ”?
