Third-Party Utilities for Traktor Pro

Written by Hedgehog on November 16th, 2009 39 Comments

Native Instruments doesn’t offer any API or plug-in interface for Traktor Pro so that the program can be as stable as possible. However, some brave developers out there still try to get even more out of Traktor Pro by creating their own tools to work with it. In this article, I try to cover all of the available Traktor add-on apps. If you know of any more, please let us know about them in the comments.

DATABASE/PLAYLIST MANAGEMENT

TRAINSPOTTER
This applications queries Discogs for missing track-data and cover art. It also allows you to create dynamic playlists by tag, year, key, import date or even advanced custom playlists by using XQuery-statements. It also lets you encode your wave-files to flac or mp3 and create+record or rip tracks based on Discogs data.

Works with: Traktor 3 – Traktor Pro 1.x (tested with Traktor Pro only)

Platforms: Windows; OS X (Java-based)

ADVANCED PLAYLIST EDITOR
This simple utility lets you create Playlists for Traktor using its library. It also lets you edit your music files’ tags.

Works with: Traktor 3 – Traktor Pro 1.x

Platforms: Windows; OS X

RAPID EVOLUTION 2
Here’s a music-database program that helps you in finding the right track to play next while you mix. It helps you look for songs that will best fit with your current one playing, taking into consideration BPM, style, key and time signature. (It can also detect the BPM and key of your music files). You can even share all of that data with other Rapid Evolution users. RE2 can directly import several DJ-programs’ databases, including Traktor’s. During mixing, you can put it above the Traktor library and drag your chosen tracks directly onto a deck, which can look like the screenshot included here.

Note: Rapid Evolution 3 is in the works and should be available shortly.

Works with: Traktor 3 – Traktor Pro 1.x

Platforms: Windows; OS X; Linux (Java-based)

TWITTER APPS

TRAKTOR SCROBBLER
This is my own tool.It doesn’t require a running IceCast Server to determine the running track, but can be used while broadcasting. Support for other plattforms such as Last.fm is planned.

Works with: Traktor Pro 1.x

Platforms: Windows

TWITTER DJ
Probably the most famous 3rd-party tool for Traktor Pro, Twitter DJ was programmed for Richie Hawtin’s label M-nus. It tweets your currently played track, but requires IceCast Server in order to run.\

Works with: Traktor Pro 1.x

Platforms: OS X

TRAKTOR METADATA LISTENER
This tool is minimalistic. It is a console application and doesn’t need IceCast to work. You just write your Twitter username, password and a customized message for your tweets into Traktor Pro’s Broadcasting preferences, and you’re ready to rock.

Works with: Traktor Pro 1.x

Platforms: Windows; OS X; Linux

MISCELLANEOUS

TRAKTOR PRO LAUNCHER
This is another one of my tools. It lets you start up different versions of Traktor Pro. Basically it just swaps in and out the corresponding settings.tsi file, a task that is pretty tedious to do on your own in my opinion. I am planning to introduce an extended version that gives you the ability to define different Traktor Profiles.

Works with: Traktor Pro 1.x

Platforms: Windows

TSI-VIEW & PRINT
Here’s a program by RainerH, the writer of the Traktor Bible. Have you ever been annoyed about the small windows showing all MIDI & hotkey assignments? If so, then this tool might be handy for you. It displays your assignments and allows you to print them. Sadly it doesn’t work with Traktor Pro 1.2 yet. There is also an online version of this tool.

Works with: Traktor Pro 1.0 – 1.1

Platforms: Windows for the downloadable version; any for the online version.

DEATH BY 1.2

A couple of Traktor Pro-oriented utilities have been made basically obsolete with the Traktor Pro 1.2 update. But if you’re planning on sticking with Traktor Pro 1.0-1.1 for some reason, Traktor Tools (Windows-only) includes three different tools: TSI Merger merges the hotkey or MIDI assignments of multiple tsi-files; Channel Changer swaps the MIDI channel for assignments in a tsi-file; and Deck Remapper remaps the deck assignments to another deck.

There is also the Traktor Modifier Viewer (Windows-only), which shows the current Modifier values in the titlebar of Traktor Pro 1.02. ?Isn’t needed anymore, as Traktor Pro 1.2 added the Modifier panel in the MIDI-Mappings.

I Loved This Article >

seeMARTINbreak

wow… good stuff here
cant wait to try them out!
will leave feedback on how it goes
Vinicius Hoffmann [Brazil]

Nice markkus!
I’m really sad about the TSI viewer not working in the 1.2.x versions of traktor, the mapping interface of traktor is awfull, I’m a beginner midi-mapper and I found it a pain to map with this screen and funcionalities.
I want to automate more things and view my TSI on a larger window, with Filters on the top row and things like that.
As Rainer told in the forums, NI had cryptographed the .tsi files for better performance
Vinicius Hoffmann [Brazil]

what i said sounds strange, i think that cryptographed is not the best word as it would degrade the performance instead, but I’m not finding the topic that rainer explained what happend…
http://blancodisco.com benny blanco®

Trainspotter is awesome for tagging your tracks and getting your collection file all sorted out. I believe most of the kinks have been ironed out at this point.
MiL0

CloneThing – allows you to adjust any of Traktors GUI elements (as well as any other app) and move them around/stretch them to your liking.

http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5489
http://www.ali.dj Hedgehog

If you make a Traktor-specific version which is easier to use I will include it in my list.
nateboogee

I would REALLY like a tutorial on how exactly to use Traktor’s broaddcast feature.

I have tried to set up scrobbler, but ran into problems. Maybe a tutorial on that too would be helpful.
http://www.djtechtools.com markkus

I just wanted to give props to the author of this post, Hedgehog (Alexander Zigelski; http://www.ali.dj). He created some of the tools listed here, but he’s not in our system, so it says “Written by markkus” at the very top. Cheers.
Anonymous

fantastic article
thank you
http://johnholdun.com John Holdun

Oy, that awful mapping interface is the bane of my existence as a sometimes DJ. I love experimenting with different controller layouts but I just can’t deal with that mess.

The plaintext TSIs of past versions of Traktor were at least negotiable but I’d love for someone to reverse-engineer whatever encoding they’re using now. If they played by the rules and saved the settings as real XML I would be happy to build an better editing tool, if only for my own use.
Remote

[quote comment="23816"]Oy, that awful mapping interface is the bane of my existence as a sometimes DJ. I love experimenting with different controller layouts but I just can’t deal with that mess.

The plaintext TSIs of past versions of Traktor were at least negotiable but I’d love for someone to reverse-engineer whatever encoding they’re using now. If they played by the rules and saved the settings as real XML I would be happy to build an better editing tool, if only for my own use.[/quote]
Agreed 100 times! O what I would do for a plain text .TSI! To be able to batch configure and write your setting instead the click, click, click, learn, assign, check.

I’m currently building my Reloop DJIE2 config and damh it’s hard. I have so much more respect for Ean now seeing as he can put out a TSI that works without hundred thousand quirks to it.
Double DutchDj

Cool post, love’n the Traktor pro launcher. Especially the different profile loader idea your brewing up, I guess there won’t be a mac version? Great work regardless tho!
http://facebook.com/djEddieK Eddie K

Wicked article, i love the diversity of posts we’re seeing on DJTT lately :)

Gonna try out metadata with my weekly netradio show tonight to see if it’s not too spammy.
http://www.ali.dj Hedgehog

@Double DutchDj:

Yeah this will be my first multi-plattform tool, but give me some time. I have to finish another project beforehand.
MY-T-M

First of all i would like to mention i’ve been visiting this site since a year or so, but until recently the articles just keep coming~!
Really great stuff, keep on going!
http://soundcloud.com/groups/fleater fleater

[quote comment="23812"]I would REALLY like a tutorial on how exactly to use Traktor’s broaddcast feature.

I have tried to set up scrobbler, but ran into problems. Maybe a tutorial on that too would be helpful.[/quote]
PM me as user fleater in the forum and I will go through what I know. I have been broadcasting for some time now….
MIKIE

Someone needs to make a simple “SKIN” changer … would be Awesome to get some different color’s in there …. REALLY ….
http://myspace.com/bobofuerte bobofuerte

Is there any talk of a video mixing software add on like serato?
http://www.djalexmartinez.com.ar Alex Martinez Parera

sweety post =)
LINGDUM

I post something on this thread:
http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6345

t’s a little plug-in that allow you to customize your desktop color. I found that it really useful for Traktor’s user
http://nocturne.en.softonic.com/mac
http://www.chromatouch.wordpress.com Leon Trimble

[quote comment="23849"]Someone needs to make a simple “SKIN” changer … would be Awesome to get some different color’s in there …. REALLY ….[/quote]
please… if anyone makes a skin changer for traktor i will cry. have you seen the state of virtualdj?
LINGDUM

[quote comment="23875"][quote comment="23849"]Someone needs to make a simple “SKIN” changer … would be Awesome to get some different color’s in there …. REALLY ….[/quote]
please… if anyone makes a skin changer for traktor i will cry. have you seen the state of virtualdj?[/quote]

You can use this!

http://nocturne.en.softonic.com/mac
chill

i still hate that in traktor pro there is no option to lock a playlist completely. i know consolidating clearly, but it is not the same, any ideas about a workaround to lock a playlist?

cheers
chill
http://findremix.com/friday-interesting-links-november-20th-2009/ Find Remix

Friday! Interesting links November 20th, 2009…

Some nice links to share with you this week:

Sound Localization with the Haas Effect at nickstutorials.com
Creating a Reverse Reverb Effect in Live at thecovertoperators.org
Make a Kick Drum in TAL BassLine in 4 Easy Steps at waveformless
Third-Party …
signaturex

HI Ean thanks for developing this…

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58636
http://www.membersonlyav.com Mikul

are there any plug ins for traktor to run the wave forms vertical and next to each other like serato?
http://ifnotwhynot.me DJSDive

I think Trainspotter was sold short by you:
“Tags all tracks that you have previously mixed together by querying your playlist history – now when you search for the current artist and track name in Traktor, the results show all the tracks that have followed it.”

I think there is a lot of potential in this app that lifts it far beyond being yet another “fix missing fields in id3 tags” tool.
http://www.stackinpaper.com keebs

I know it’s been said already, but I want to throw my “The TSI editor built into Traktor is horrible and needs to be fixed” comment in here too in case NI’s counting.

The lack of ability to even *resize* the window is just absurd. I just programmed a LaunchPad and Nocturn to Traktor and it was the most tedious thing I’ve done in a long time. Considering the release of their new X1 controller, it seems more time’s being spent on how to sell you hardware than it is to let users expand the possibilities of their software.
http://www.stackinpaper.com keebs

Oh, and thanks for the article too, it’s a great resource.
eddie

does anyone know of an utility that allows for swapping TSI’s when using traktor LE? I have 4 TSI’s and I have to manually rename them everytime I’m going to use traktor in a different setting…
G.Brown

I know this isn’t the place for it, but what i’d really like to see in Traktor Pro is the spinning album without having to be a Scratch user. I don’t know why they don’t or didn’t see that as beneficial to the controllerist… but it seems pretty standard to all djay software but traktor…

as far as the look of traktor, it doesn’t bother me the way it bothers a lot of other people. give me better beat detection (for hip-hop and old school soul) and the spinning album next to the scrolling wave and i’m good
BiBu Batzemann

Why are you argueing about the look of Traktor? Traktor is a professional tool for Pro-DJs. I like the look of traktor, because it’s always the same. So I got no problems using a laptop that’s not mine…
The sound matters, not the look!

By the way, forget about that lame VirtualDJ. I have never seen a ProDJ using it…
http://www.9lives.be/forum/music/813050-organiseren-music-database-dj.html#post15378632 Organiseren music-database (DJ) – 9lives – Games Forum

[...] [...]
Abc

A few pro Deejay’s using VDJ the prog insn’t so bad that we can say that it is crap. It has some good features and it has some bad features like Traktor X.
And I’ll think that Kids and newbies using VDJ to learn some stuff for free because of the home edition. But in my opinion software pogramms should always ur second choice. Keep that in mind!
Abc

A few pro Deejay’s using VDJ the prog insn’t so bad that we can say that it is crap. It has some good features and it has some bad features like Traktor X.
And I’ll think that Kids and newbies using VDJ to learn some stuff for free because of the home edition. But in my opinion software pogramms should always ur second choice. Keep that in mind!
Abc

A few pro Deejay’s using VDJ the prog insn’t so bad that we can say that it is crap. It has some good features and it has some bad features like Traktor X.
And I’ll think that Kids and newbies using VDJ to learn some stuff for free because of the home edition. But in my opinion software pogramms should always ur second choice. Keep that in mind!
Abc

A few pro Deejay’s using VDJ the prog insn’t so bad that we can say that it is crap. It has some good features and it has some bad features like Traktor X.
And I’ll think that Kids and newbies using VDJ to learn some stuff for free because of the home edition. But in my opinion software pogramms should always ur second choice. Keep that in mind!
http://twitter.com/staticshokx Nilesh Parmar

great, nothing for the mac then!
DJ DblA

Anybody able to point to any resources on HOW these plugins are created if you have a programming background?