Traktor Pro: beatgrids, Flux mode, Loop Recorder, Pattern Player and DVS.

The difference between a mix that works and one that goes out of time is rarely the effect: it is the grid, the loop opened two beats late and the control vinyl that lost tracking. This guide covers Beatgrids, Flux mode, Loop Recorder, Pattern Player and DVS / Scratch, the parts of Traktor Pro that work with time rather than sound.

This requires the audio setup to have been handled in the installation and routing guide; without declared outputs, none of what follows will be heard.

Beatgrids

Traktor’s beatgrid is built with Grid Markers: each marker fixes the tempo until the next one, allowing several tempos within a single track. Automatic analysis places one marker with a constant tempo, a very reliable result for most tracks, and accuracy improves if you choose the BPM range for your genre in the analysis preferences. The grid is independent of Cue Points: deleting cues never changes the beatgrid.

When a track makes analysis difficult (complex rhythms, live recordings or tempo changes), open the advanced panel’s GRID page. The official procedure for tracks with few tempo sections is: delete all markers, put a Grid Marker on the first downbeat and at each change, align each marker with the beat’s attack by zooming in, adjust each section’s tempo with the BPM buttons and, once it is perfect, enable the lock so nothing moves it. For live recordings, the recommendation is to place a marker every 16 beats (or every 4 if the tempo becomes too unstable) and verify with the beat tick: if the click does not fall on the beat, the grid is offset.

A correct beatgrid is what makes Sync, quantised jumps, automatic loops and Pattern Player itself work; without it, all those functions work on a false premise. Beatgrids and variable tempo expands the general concept of grids and tempo.

Flux mode

Flux mode is a timeline-based transport technique: while you loop or jump to a cue, virtual playback continues silently and, on release, the track resumes exactly where it would have been without your intervention. You recognise it by the green waveform playhead and the flashing indicator in the deck header. Enable it with a click on its button; holding the Reverse button plays backwards for as long as it is held.

Its use is specific: you can extend a four-beat loop, scratch over a cue or make jumps without breaking the track’s phrase. It is the tool for improvising over a track without ruining the structure, and you should practise it with familiar tracks before relying on it live, because the longer the loop, the further the playhead jumps on release.

Loop Recorder

Loop Recorder captures a section of live audio from a source chosen in its drop-down menu. Its controls are few and quick: Size sets the initial length, Record records and records over it again (overdub), Play plays it, Delete/Undo/Redo undo it, and Dry/Wet blends the captured material with the main signal. In External Mixing mode, the only available source is EXT, because mixing happens outside the software.

It works as an instrument: record four beats of percussion, play them while the other track continues, add a voice over them, and the result remains available throughout the session. Details of each control are in the decks and FX manual; to archive the complete mix, by contrast, you need the Audio Recorder, covered in the next guide.

Pattern Player

Pattern Player is another FX unit mode alongside Single and Group, and lets you trigger rhythmic patterns synchronised to the master clock. Its panel includes a kit selector, a pattern selector (ordered by increasing activity), volume, continuous pitch from -12 to +12 semitones without time-stretching, decay and a ducking control that rhythmically moves the deck out of the way when the pattern sounds. Play/Stop restarts the pattern on the first beat and synchronises it with Traktor.

It adds a rhythmic layer without loading a track: an 808 kick over an intro, a clave marking a transition or a ride to open the second segment. Like any FX, it can be in send, post-fader or insert mode. It always sounds in time only if the deck’s beatgrid is correct, making it the best practical test of this guide’s first section: if the pattern wanders, the problem is not the pattern.

Two uses deserve practice first. The first is ducking: when enabled, the deck moves out of the way according to the pattern’s volume and decay, so a Pattern Player kick opens space in the track’s bass without manually changing EQ. The second is pitch: remember there is no time-stretch, so raising pitch shortens the sample and lowering it lengthens it; if the pattern changes duration when you move pitch, that is expected behaviour rather than a fault. Start with the 808 kit and low-activity patterns: they add the least conflict and best demonstrate how the master clock breathes.

DVS / Scratch

Timecode control (DVS / Scratch) turns control vinyl or a control CD into Traktor’s controller. The official configuration has four steps: choose the interface in Audio setup; set Mixing Mode to External and assign outputs per deck; assign each deck’s inputs in Input Routing; and, on the Timecode Setup page, select Scratch Control for the relevant decks and show the scope in the deck view. With that done, playing timecode makes Traktor calibrate automatically: the signal meter fills and the scope draws two circles.

From there, distinguish the modes. Absolute mode links needle and track position, allowing jumps by positioning the needle; relative mode responds only to movement, so loops, cues and beat jumps work even if the needle skips, and activates automatically when you enter a loop. Control vinyl has a lead-in zone, a playback zone and a browsing zone for navigating the list by hand; the control CD does the same with three tracks. Traktor supports up to four timecode-controlled decks at once, provided the interface has enough inputs. The DVS and timecode guide compares this approach with Serato and rekordbox.

Preparation and checks before playing

Close the loop with a ten-minute test: load a track, check the beatgrid with the beat tick, enable Flux and trigger a loop, capture something with Loop Recorder, trigger a pattern with Pattern Player and, if you use DVS, check that the scope maintains both circles throughout the track. Any fault that appears here will also appear in front of the audience, and finding it at home means fixing it in seconds.

Then save the Timecode Setup preferences and output routing exactly as tested. These are the two things most often lost after an update or a venue change.

Three details complete the setup. First, calibration: if the scope does not show two clean circles, check that the input is set to Phono or Line for the device, that the control cable is not rubbing and that the turntable is grounded; Native Instruments’ official timecode guide recommends starting there before changing any software parameter. Second, a worn control track: the initial tracking-position option compensates for a scratched record or a lost lead-in label. Third, 45 rpm mode, which only works if the turntable actually spins at that speed. With these three resolved, the rest of the day is music.

Next step

With time under control, hardware mapping and creating an archive remain: MIDI mapping, Controller Manager, Traktor Kontrol, recording, broadcasting and backups in the guide to mapping, recording, broadcasting and backups.