The software where a DJ prepares music: it analyzes tracks, sets cues, builds playlists and exports everything to a USB stick for CDJ and XDJ players.
[Collection]CollectionThe main list of all the tracks rekordbox knows and has analyzed. A track lands here when you import it.
Drag files or folders from Finder or File Explorer into [Collection] — rekordbox adds and analyzes them.
Mentor tip: Keep your music in one folder on your drive and don't rename files after importing — otherwise rekordbox will lose them.
[Playlists]PlaylistsYour track selections: by genre, mood, venue or a specific set. You can group playlists into folders.
Set up a structure: “Warm-up”, “Peak”, “Closing”, “Backup”. It's the playlists that go onto your USB stick later.
Mentor tip: A “Tonight” playlist with 2–3 hours more music than your set will save you in the club.
Intelligent PlaylistSmart playlistA playlist that builds itself from conditions: genre, BPM, key, date added, rating, My Tag.
Create an intelligent playlist like “new this month, 120–126 BPM” — fresh tracks are always at hand.
Mentor tip: Fill in genre, rating and My Tag right when you import — then intelligent playlists work on their own.
My Tag / Rating / Color / CommentsYour own track tagsYour own tags (energy, vocals, set time), a star rating, a color and a comment. TRACK FILTER on the CDJ works with them.
Tag tracks by energy: 1 for warm-up, 2 for medium, 3 for peak. In the club you filter by tag in a second.
Mentor tip: Fewer tags, more use. 5–7 clear tags beat 40 random ones.
Library backupLibrary backupSaving the rekordbox database (cues, grids, playlists) to another drive or to the cloud.
Back up once a week and before updating the software or your computer.
Mentor tip: Losing a library with thousands of cues means losing months of work. A backup takes a minute.
Analyze Track — [BPM / Grid] / [KEY] / [Phrase] / [Vocal]Track analysisrekordbox works out the tempo (BPM), beatgrid, key, phrases and vocal sections, and draws the waveform. Without analysis, the player won't have SYNC, QUANTIZE or an accurate waveform.
Turn on auto analysis in the settings, or select tracks → right-click → [Analyze Track]. What gets analyzed is set in [Preferences] → [Analysis] → [Track Analysis].
Mentor tip: Analyze everything at home in advance: your USB stick should only have analyzed tracks on it.
[Normal] / [Dynamic] / [Auto] + BPM rangeAnalysis mode[Normal] is for a constant tempo within a set BPM range (for example, 70–180), [Dynamic] is for tracks with a drifting tempo (live recordings, old funk). [Auto] is available with high-precision grid analysis.
For electronic music, use [Normal] with a suitable BPM range; for live instruments, use [Dynamic].
Mentor tip: If drum and bass is detected as 87 instead of 174, narrow the BPM range and reanalyze.
[GRID] panelBeatgridThe vertical lines on the waveform are the beat positions the analysis found. SYNC, QUANTIZE, loops and Beat FX on the players all work from the grid.
Open the track in the [1 PLAYER] layout, turn on the metronome and check that the lines match the kick; if they don't, shift the grid and mark the first beat of the bar.
Mentor tip: Check the grid in 2–3 places in the track: the start, the middle and the end.
[Analysis Lock]Analysis lockProtects a track from reanalysis and grid edits — your manual adjustments won't be overwritten.
Fixed the grid? Turn on the lock in the [GRID] panel or by right-clicking the track.
Mentor tip: Reanalysis wipes out a manual grid. Lock everything you've edited by hand.
[Key]Key in the libraryA column showing the track's key. It can be shown in classic notation or in alphanumeric notation (like the Camelot wheel).
Sort a playlist by key and pick neighboring values — the transition will sound harmonic.
Mentor tip: Key analysis isn't perfect: your ears have the final say.
[Phrase]Phrase analysisrekordbox splits the track into parts (intro, up, down, chorus, outro) and shows them in color above the waveform.
Use the phrases to plan your transition: start the new track at the border between parts.
Mentor tip: Phrases are a hint, not a rule: check by ear where the breakdown really starts.
[CUE] / [Set to 1.1Bars]Cue pointThe track's start cue. rekordbox can set the cue on the first beat automatically (the [Set to 1.1Bars] setting).
Turn on auto cue on the first beat — on the player, the track will always be ready to start.
Mentor tip: Check that the cue sits right on the “one”, not on a rustle before the kick.
[MEMORY] (Memory Cue)Memory cuesSaved cues or loops that show up as bookmarks on the player's waveform. On a CDJ you step through them with the CUE/LOOP CALL buttons.
Set a memory cue at the start of every important phrase: the mix-in, the break, the drop, the mix-out.
Mentor tip: Turn on the countdown to the next memory cue on the CDJ — you'll know how many bars are left until the transition.
[HOT CUE] A–HHot cuesUp to 8 instant cues per track (A–H) that become buttons and pads on CDJ and XDJ players. You can give them a color and a comment.
Make a system: A is the start, B the drop, C the break, D the exit. Use the same colors for the same kinds of spots.
Mentor tip: Turn on [Auto Load Hot Cue] for the track — the hot cues will load onto the player automatically.
Saved Loop / Active LoopSaved loopYou can save a loop as a memory cue or a hot cue. An Active Loop turns on automatically when the track reaches that spot.
Save a 16-beat loop of clean rhythm in the intro — it gives you extra time to mix.
Mentor tip: Active Loop is handy, but remember it's there — otherwise the track will “get stuck” in the loop on air.
CUE AnalysisAutomatic cue placementDuring analysis, rekordbox places hot cues and memory cues by the track's phrases on its own (up to 16 hot cues and 10 memory cues).
A good starting point for a big library — then adjust the cues by hand.
Mentor tip: Turn on overwrite protection so auto analysis doesn't erase your manual cues.
[Hot Cue Bank Lists]Hot cue banksA set of 8 hot cues from different tracks (a cappellas, samples, drums) on the same buttons. It's exported to the USB stick.
Build a bank of vocal shouts and samples for your style and trigger them on the player.
Mentor tip: Not every device can load banks — check on your player in advance.
[Devices] — USB EXPORTUSB exportTransfers tracks, playlists, cues, grids and analysis to a USB stick for CDJ and XDJ players. Without an export, the player shows plain files with no waveform, grid or hot cues.
Insert the USB stick and it shows up under [Devices]. Drag the playlists you need there — rekordbox copies the tracks and data on its own.
Mentor tip: Export the day before, not an hour before your set, and test the stick on a player if you can.
Supported media (FAT32 / exFAT / HFS+)USB stick formatrekordbox writes to USB sticks in FAT16, FAT32, exFAT and HFS+ (HFS+ on Mac only). NTFS won't work. Which formats a player reads is listed in its manual.
For the school and for clubs, format your stick as FAT32 — both old and new players will read it.
Mentor tip: An NTFS stick from Windows is a common reason a CDJ “can't see” the media.
[SYNC MANAGER]USB syncAutomatically updates the selected playlists on the USB stick to their latest state.
Tick the playlists once — after that, when you connect the stick, you press sync and everything new arrives on its own.
Mentor tip: Good for when you keep playing the same playlists and only add new tracks.
LINK EXPORTPlaying from a laptop over the networkA laptop with rekordbox connects to the players over LAN or Wi-Fi, and the players see the computer's library in real time.
Handy at practice: you don't have to re-export your USB stick after every edit.
Mentor tip: In a club, a USB stick is more reliable: a laptop on the network is one more point of failure.
[Histories] / [Update Collection]Set history and syncing backAfter a set, rekordbox pulls the history of what you played from the USB stick. [Update Collection] brings the cues, loops and grids you edited on the player back into your library.
Plug in the stick after your set and look in [Histories] to see what you played and in what order.
Mentor tip: Your history is a great textbook: go through it with a mentor and see which transitions worked.
[EXPORT] / [PERFORMANCE]Software modesEXPORT is for preparing music and exporting it for players. PERFORMANCE is for playing with a DJ controller straight from rekordbox (effects, sampler, stems).
To prepare for a club, work in EXPORT. PERFORMANCE is for when you play on a controller with a laptop.
Mentor tip: Cues and playlists are shared between both modes — prepare once, and it works everywhere.
Lessons run on the school's Pioneer DJ / AlphaTheta gear. A mentor shows you every control live, and you mix your first track yourself.