You’re live in the mix, struggling to locate the next track. Is it labelled incorrectly? No logical search will uncover it. Times up! You missed your opportunity to drop it.
We’ve all been there. It may be time for a music library clean-up!
Optimising your library could mean a whole host of maintenance, from deleting broken, lost and duplicate files to renaming typos, correcting weird formatting and filling in missing data.
And that’s before any preparation for playlist migrations between DJ software!
Thankfully, the Lexicon app can easily take care of those time-consuming tasks.
For a monthly fee, it does all the grunt work involved with library maintenance and gives the option for unlimited cloud back-up!
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It will also effectively transport entire playlists or music libraries between DJ platforms, bringing over all performance data such as Cue Points and tags!
Here we break down some of Lexicon’s most valuable features, as demonstrated in our YouTube video, Lexicon Review.
Installation
Lexicon runs on Windows and MacOS and can manage and convert libraries from and to rekordbox, Serato DJ, Traktor, VirtualDJ and Engine DJ.
Before completing any tasks within Lexicon, as with any operation, it is strongly advised to back up your music library in the unlikely event that the worst should happen!
Importing music
Lexicon first needs access to your DJ software’s music and needs to know which music files you want it to work with. It does not host the music but points to its location within your computer or external drive.
Import your music library by going to the left-hand panel of Lexicon’s home screen and press the Sync button.
Next, press the Import Tracks and Playlists button at the bottom of the screen.
Select your chosen software to import from, for example, Serato DJ. Once complete, you will find all of your Serato DJ playlists on the right-hand side of the screen.
Choose Full Import to get everything or Playlist to specify a playlist to import.
Choose Full Import or Playlist
Lexicon will import all of the library/playlist meta-data, including all performance data and file location, but will not import the actual file (mp3, WAV etc.)
Now your Serato DJ tracks have been imported into Lexicon.
Combining playlists and selecting fields
One of Lexicon’s most valuable abilities is its flexibility. You can easily mix and match all of your music libraries as required!
If you now want to add a rekordbox playlist to the Serato DJ playlists, press the Sync button.
Then select Import Tracks and Playlists and choose rekordbox as the software you want to import from.
Next, choose Playlist from the import options to migrate a single playlist rather than your whole rekordbox library.
To merge the rekordbox playlist into the already present Serato DJ playlists you previously added, simply check the Merge With Current Library option.
Before confirming, a check box to Create Backup is available to allow a data backup of the playlist before adding it to Lexicon. This is good practice as it will enable you to change your mind later.
Another option to note here is the Select Fields button which allows you to confirm which meta-data you want to import. The transferable fields consist of:
Title, Artist, Album, BPM, Key, Genre, Comment, Rating, Remixer, Label, Composer, Grouping, Lyricist, Year, Track #, Cue Points and Beat Grid.
Preparing playlists for migration
To ensure that the just added rekordbox playlist will sync to Serato DJ, press the Sync icon. Then, in the Sync To field, select Serato DJ.
Next, choose Playlist rather than Entire Library, as we know it is only a single playlist that is not formatted for Serato DJ.
Choose the rekordbox playlist and confirm the fields you wish to be carried over, such as hot cues and beat gridding.
Finally, press Sync to Serato DJ and Lexicon will confirm when the task has been completed. The playlist will now exist in your Serato DJ library with all of the performance data from rekordbox!
Smart Fixes
Within Lexicon’s main menu is a fantastic time-saving tool designed to give your library uniform and clarity. Smart Fixes will complete large laborious tasks with automation in seconds!
This tool contains several options for cleaning up your music files’ names:
Fix Casing; Remove Number Prefix; Extract Artist From Title; Remove Garbage; Replace With Space; Remove URLs; Fix Encoded Characters; Extract Remixer; Add Mix Parentheses; Remove Common Text
A demonstration of Fix Casing is given in our YouTube video. In the example an mp3 file labelled as follows: 04 let me blow ya mind feat gwen.
Fix Casing return results
With Fix Casing applied, the title becomes 04 Let Me Blow Ya Mind Feat Gwen.
Then, with Remove Number Prefix applied, it becomes performance ready, reading: Let Me Blow Ya Mind Feat Gwen.
The track title optimized for performance
Eve, the artist who performs the track, is part of the meta-data of this file, so in Serato DJ, searching for Eve will bring this track up. Her name also appears in the Artist field of the Serato DJ library.
To apply any of the Smart Fixes, simply click on your fix of choice and press Scan. A results page will load all applicable tracks that Lexicon believes would benefit from the fix. Select the tracks from this list that you wish to apply the chosen fix to, then select Confirm to make it happen.
For each of the other Smart Fix options, Lexicon will explain their purpose when the cursor hovers over them.
Genre Clean Up
Carefully categorising your genres can be a powerful sorting tool, helping your sets run smoothly by cutting track search times.
The Genre Clean Up option can be found next to the Smart Fixes option in the left-hand pane of the website when the cursor hovers over it.
This will open up a page containing all of your genres. Here you can click on several at a time to streamline them. For example, if you have several variations of Hip Hop, like ‘Rap’, ‘hip hop rap’, ‘R&B rap’ etc. You can select all and regroup them as the same thing.
List of genres found within a music library
This is an effective way to simplify the indexing of your library and will make navigating it much easier.
After performing any maintenance in Lexicon, it is best practice to Sync with your DJ software of choice as soon as possible to carry the changes over.
Cue Point Generator
Lexicon have added useful tools found in other music management software for convenience.
Cue Point Generator is one such example, known from Mixed In Key. This feature, among many others, is designed to keep everything in one place to help streamline your overall workflow.
This option lets you quickly set default cue points to hundreds of files simultaneously, saving valuable time!
The preset parameters for the automated cues are: Start; Drop #1; Breakdown #1; Drop #2; Breakdown #2 and End / Fade out.
Lexicon analyses the tracks and formulaically puts in these cue points using either a Drop Detection or Music Change algorithm.
Although the algorithm can get it wrong from time to time, the cue placements, on the whole, seem to be on point.
The generated cue point names are customisable, and you can hand-pick a selection.
To use this feature, select the tracks you wish to generate cue points for and right-click. Scroll down to Use and choose Generate Cue Points.
Next, you’ll see the option to overwrite existing cue points and select your preferred algorithm.
The generator works well for DJs who frequently download hundreds of tracks and don’t have time to put in bespoke cue points for the ‘road testing’ phase of their music’s life. The generated cue points, as with bespoke cues, can be overwritten when necessary.
Find Tags and Album Artwork
This feature helps give your music collection a professional polish as Lexicon searches through Beatport, Spotify and Discogs for track information and artwork to fill out any missing meta-data fields within your music files.
It will also give your tracks an energy and danceability rating as an exclusive field. These fields are a useful resource as they are searchable within Lexicon. They can assist in finding the right sound when building a set, such as a high danceability track search to create a peak hour playlist.
Find Mixable Tracks
Another tool for set building and preparation is the Find Mixable Tracks option.
Simply choose a track that has to be played within a set, right-click and choose the Find Mixable Tracks option. A new list of complimentary tracks will pop up.
These have been sorted by Lexicon using factors such as close BPM range and keys that are the same as, or compatible with, the lead track.
You can toggle the parameters of what Lexicon will return before you conduct a search. Refine your search further by insisting on certain tags. Perfect if preparing a set where all tracks need to have the ‘clean lyrics’ tag, for example.
If the Mixable Tracks returned are to your liking, you can save the playlist by clicking Save As Playlist to get a ‘Mixable with (track name by artist name)’ labelled playlist.
Utility
The drop-down Utility options within Lexicon host the following essential library clean-up solutions:
Find Duplicates; Find Unused Files; Find Broken Tracks; Find Lost Tracks; Other >
Deleting duplicated files is a great way to save library storage space. Conduct a Find Duplicates scan to get a list of your duplicates. Unlock the list as it is locked by default to prevent accidental deletions.
Once unlocked, tracks can be sent to archive, ready for permanent removal from your computer. Find the Archive by hovering over the Play button on the left-hand side of the screen; then the option will appear.
The Archive Cleanup options are: Delete From Hard Drive; Move To Folder; Do Nothing.
Deletions from the archive are permanent and can only be retrieved with a system restore.
Finding duplicates and deleting them can be done in bulk, meaning you can perform this pruning of your library in very little time!
As a side effect, you may find broken track links within your DJ software. If, for example, your software was using a duplicate file which you deleted, it will need to be pointed towards the original file. Find Lost Tracks helps with this issue. It will search your drive for the deleted, duplicated track’s original file and point the DJ software to its correct location.
Find Unused Files
Downloading more than you play? If so, you’re in good company. Many of us are guilty of this as the need for material is real. There are bound to be tracks that have gone unused and will never see the light of day in a set. Lexicon can show them to you with Find Unused Files.
Once you have the list, you can review it and choose to delete everything or hand-pick the files you want to delete.
This is a great opportunity to see if there are any recurring artists you download a lot of, don’t end up playing and avoid downloading their stuff going forward.
Backing up with Lexicon
Something that strikes fear into every computer user’s heart, let alone a working professional who relies on its content for a living, is the thought of suddenly losing everything!
Lexicon has a couple of backup options to steady those nerves.
The first is a database backup which will save your music library’s metadata to a drive of your choice or their cloud server. Use this database to restore onto an alternative computer running Lexicon.
Perhaps you keep all of your files on multiple external Hard Drives, so your performance laptop remains clean. In that case, when swapping to another laptop, the database backup option is ideal. Simply install Lexicon onto that next machine and unpack the backup to be up and running in no time!
This is great if your music is saved several times on external devices. If not, perhaps the cloud backup will give better peace of mind as you can easily back up your entire music library to Lexicon’s cloud server.
To make a database backup, simply click the backup option and choose to save a database backup to an external device. You can also save to Lexicon’s cloud server, which can be accessed with a simple sign-in on any compatible device running Lexicon.
To save tracks to Lexicon’s cloud, right-click on your tracks and select Upload To Cloud.
Tag section
Tags are beneficial for narrowing search returns. They are an efficient tool for finding what you want. Adding tags to your tracks gives your library management software scope and precision to cut search times dramatically.
To add tags to multiple files, select a music folder, a playlist or crate etc. Then select all of its files, right-click, choose Edit, and then Switch To Recipies. In the Tags section, click on Add Tags and choose a tag. For example, Peak Hours, House, Vocal, etc.
There are plenty of logical tags to label your music as precisely as possible. With the tags in place, you can now create more specified searches, for example, peak hours house tunes which are also vocal anthems.
Tracking down music
Finding new music is a key to success for many DJs. Track Matcher helps DJs access the music they have heard and want.
If you hear a great playlist on Spotify, you can paste its link into Lexicon. This will return two lists; Tracks Found and Not Found.
Any tracks found in your library will show up in the Tracks Found section and may be selected to add to a playlist of your choosing. The Not Found list simply shows all the tracks you currently do not own.
Selectable list of Tracks found
Lexicon also includes inbuilt access to charts from: Apple Music / iTunes; Shazam Local Charts; Historical Charts; Beatport; Billboard Charts.
If you find a track that suits your needs, access to the track’s purchase page is just a click away.
In addition, there is a section for DJ record pools, but direct integration currently only exists with LateNight. If you are subscribed, you can download straight from within Lexicon.
Another great tool for hunting down music within Lexicon is Track Finder. It will find which stores you can buy music from when you feed it a Spotify or Tidal link or simply drag a track directly from Spotify.
A handy way to see who has the track and for what cost!
Analysis
Find stats about your music library using the Analysis tool. You’ll learn about your entire library, from how many tracks and playlists there are to which artists have the most tracks in your library.
Having an insight on most played artists could uncover a musical crush you weren’t aware of and prompt you to think about switching it up! You can also keep an eye on the newest artists added within the last 30 days.
Genre distribution can help you keep in touch with how eclectic your music library is as it gives you an exact breakdown of how many genres make up your library and which are occupied by the most files.
The data analysis gives you easily digested visuals for an alternative angle on how and what you play.
Subscriptions plans
Pricing in the UK starts at £13 per month for the Basic plan, giving you access to all of the library management and clean-up tools, plus basic customer and community support. To gain access to Lexicon’s cloud, a Pro plan is needed.
The Pro plan costs £30 per month, after an initial £13 for the first month. Both plans offer two months free per year if paid for annually rather than monthly.
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You also get unlimited music file and database backups to their cloud with the Pro plan, plus access to the mobile app, which is coming soon.
Whilst maintaining a music library is not the most enjoyable or glamorous of tasks, it can contribute significantly to successful performance as a DJ.
This revolutionary app offers an alternative way to keep on top of things and has greatly simplified the task, making it much easier to manage and far less time-consuming.
In Lexicon’s words, ‘You can finally replace iTunes in your DJ workflow.’ And that’s just the beginning. It seems you’ll be able to replace a whole host of DJ software tools with this one-stop music-management hub.
Want to achieve success as a DJ and level up your skills fast, check out our Complete DJ Package. For a budget-friendly one-off fee, members get lifetime access to all of our DJ courses, exclusive regular tips, tricks, personised support and feedback every step of the way and much more!
Designed to give you a lifelong resource for staying on top of your game and getting the gigs you love!
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