Here at Traktor Tips we receive many questions from readers, although we would love to answer them all it is not always possible. This week I thought I’d address the issue many people have with relocating music files.

Yanni Guabi writes:

[quote] “When we grid and lock a track . When we copy the track to another folder on the mac and try to upload it again to traktor, its unlocked and we have to grid it again . Why is that ?”[/quote]

To answer this question, I have produced the following text and video.

Relocating Music Files

What happens when I move tracks?

Traktor analyses your file structure and writes tags and information to each track using that structure, as soon as you move tracks around,Traktor gets a little confused and is unable to locate the track. The same is true of iTunes.  Think of iTunes and Traktor as a window into your file system.  Moving the files within Traktor or within iTunes is fine, but as soon as you start moving them in the filing system of either, thats when things start to get messy. This is when one needs to start relocating music files.

The video below will show you what happens when you move tracks in the computers filing system and how you can relocate them.

Things to remember when moving tracks

My advice to you would be to pick your preferred method of file management in the early days of using Traktor. Yes, it is possible to change the way you sort tracks later, but if you have your preferred way set up from the beginning, then you wont get confused with your music management methods later on. Traktor Tips cover’s this in depth in the Basics Course.  Whether you are using files and folder on your computer, or the iTunes filing system (iTunes can be set to organize your files and folders or just reference them) the following points apply when moving tracks:

• Be sure you want to move the tracks
• If you move a track in the iTunes filing system, be sure to relocate via the iTunes relocate.
• If you manually organize your music in folders (without the aid of iTunes) and you move tracks, be sure to relocate using Traktor.

Keep it organized

The organization of music files within traktor is a broad subject and a great one for discussion.  It is always down to the user as to which method they personally prefer. There is no right or wrong way, so long as you are aware of the organization methods you are using and you keep it tidy. Tidier than your bedroom if you can!

If you have burning questions that you would like answering you can hit reply to any Traktor Tips newsletter you receive – we cant promise to get to everyone personally, but will do our best to answer the most popular issues.

Our online basics course provides some in depth information on managing your music file system 

Happy Organizing!