Pioneer DJ’s preparation and performance DJ software just got a new incremental update, Rekordbox 6.1.1. There’s a feature addition that everyone saw coming (TIDAL streaming library support) and a second feature that we didn’t anticipate: an Edit Mode for creating your own edits of tracks. Keep reading for the details.
Rekordbox 6.1.1’s Edit Mode
Edit Mode seems to largely be about finally bringing something akin to Serato Flip and putting it into the Rekordbox ecosystem. Essentially, DJs can take tracks that they own and build quick, simple edits using the Rekordbox interface and metadata.
Worth noting: you’ll have to subscribe to the Creative plan to unlock this feature, it’s not free – $14.99/month. We suspect this is the first of many features that get locked to that paid access.
The suggested usecases from Pioneer DJ include:
- “extending intros/outros for longer mixing” – seems like a loop would work just fine too, but ok, I understand that not everyone is quick on their toes everytime
- “cut out breakdowns to keep the energy high” yes, this is a great technique. However, if Pioneer DJ really wanted to support this type of on-the-fly section jumping, I really wish they would prioritize the interface and default lengths of beatjump on their players…
- “Palette Function” – this one seems especially compelling and powerful. Grab a loop from a track and add it to the sidebar, dubbed the “Palette” for use in other tracks quickly. This means if you’ve got a great loop or sound in one song, you can quickly copy and paste it over to another edit. Simple but very practical.
Once you’ve finished the edit, you can bounce the final audio file right back out into your Rekordbox collection for export or performance.
What it’s not: Look, edit mode is not a DAW or a multi-track editior. There’s just one track of audio in the mode, and it’s designed to be a simple tool, not something complex.
TIDAL Streaming Support
I think almost everyone knew this was coming because TIDAL support has been cropping up everywhere (Serato, Denon DJ Prime units, etc) in the DJ world.
With a TIDAL subscription, DJs have access to 60 million songs, 250k music videos, and even AAC or FLAC file quality (if you have a HiFi membership, which costs a bit more). Worth noting, you can use TIDAL tracks in Rekordbox’s performance mode, but there’s still no native support for it on even the new CDJ-3000 players – you’ve got to hook up a laptop to get that.
