Follow us on YouTube

MixPerfect Player
Documentation

Table of Contents

Introduction

MixPerfect Player is an auto DJ player designed to seamlessly mix your audio files, without significantly changing the pitch. However, some preparation is required to let the player mix songs automatically. But once you have done this, you can sit back and enjoy unique mixes time after time.

The application uses a database with manually set markers. This ensures that songs are mixed at the right points and it gives you even the option to add loops and play songs in shortened format.

Smooth and harmonious transitions are ensured, thanks to beat matching, optional gain control, beat filters and options to exclude overlapping elements in transitions, like beats, basses, melodies or vocals

Creating random or custom playlists is easy. You can generate them based on various criteria such as BPM, genre, record label, artist, year, or country of origin. Moreover, you have options to save your playlists or export them to audio files, enabling you to listen again or sharing mixes with friends.

How to start

First, select your music folder at SETTINGS. Then start adding audio files to the DATABASE (if desired, you can first import audio files into FILES to listen to them and find out their BPM's).

If there are enough records in the database, you can create a custom or random PLAYLIST based on adjusted SETTINGS. Play the playlist with the PLAYER. A playlist can also be saved and exported to audio files.

The player

You can only play a mix if you have added enough records to the database and created (or loaded) a random or custom playlist.

Controls

Use the icons at the top to start playing, pause, stop playing, or to jump to the previous or next track. To start and stop playing you may also double click on a song in the playlist. An alternative way to skip to another song is by clicking on a song in the playlist.

Volume

Click on the speaker icon to adjust the sound level.

Dynamic amplitude

The icon to the left of the speaker can be used to enable or disable dynamic amplitude. Enabling makes the sound level of all songs approximately the same. However, this can make soft moments undesirably too loud and make fades in and fades out inaudible.

TIP: If you use mp3's, an alternative and better method to make all songs approximately the same loudness is to use the free program MP3Gain, which can be downloaded at Sourceforge.net

Rewind or fast forward a song

You can rewind or fast forward a song using the slider at the top right. During a transition it is not possible to use the slider.

Keyboard shortcuts

The following shortcut keys can be used:

Playlists

The playlist section contains options to generate a playlist, save or load a playlist, and export a playlist to an audio file.

Creating a random playlist

Random playlists are based on your prefered settings. The length of a random playlist depends on the settings and the amount of songs in the database. Also it is important that you have selected a music folder at the settings.

Creating a custom playlist

Before you create a custom playlist, make sure that you have selected a music folder at the settings and that the database contains enough songs.

The picklist

The picklist shows the songs that you may add to your custom playlist. The list is based on prefered settings. The amount of songs to choose from depends on the settings and the amount of songs in the database. If you add a song to the custom playlist, the picklist will only show songs that can be mixed with the song you've added.

'Sort' select box:

Use this to sort the list by BPM, artist, record label, year or country.

'Search...' field

Type what you looking for in this field, and the list will be filtered on your search term. Remove your text with backspace to see the full list again.

Playing a song

You can listen to a selected song with the 'play' button at the left bottom. Click on the 'stop' button to stop playing.

'Add' button

Use this button to add a selected song to the custom playlist.

The custom playlist

The custom playlist contains songs that you've added from the picklist.

'Remove last song' button

Click on this button to delete the last song in the custom playlist.

Playing a transition

You can listen how the transition of a selected song to the next song sounds with the 'play' button at the left bottom. Click on the 'stop' button to stop playing.

'Apply' button

Click on this button to load the custom playlist into MixPerfect Player.

Saving the current playlist

Every time you run MixPerfect Player, it will load the playlist from the previous session by default. However If you want to make sure that you can restore a playlist at anytime, you can save it. The default folder for saving playlists is mixperfect/playlists, but you may choose any folder to save the playlist. The playlist file will be saved with the extension '.mix', so don't change that.

Loading a playlist

Every time you run MixPerfect Player , it will load the playlist from the previous session by default. However, sometimes you want to restore an earlier saved playlist. If you load a playlist, the current playlist will be overwritten. The default folder for saved playlists is mixperfect/playlists, but you may choose any folder to load a playlist.

Exporting the current playlist to an audio file

You can export the current playlist to a mp3 file. The default folder for exporting playlists is mixperfect/exports, but you may choose also another folder.

Exporting the current playlist to a text file

You can export the current playlist to a text file. The default folder for exporting playlists is mixperfect/exports, but you may choose also another folder.

Keyboard shortcuts

Above options can also be actived in the PLAYER section with the following shortcut keys:

The database

Use the database to add audio files that you want MixPerfect Player to play.

'Add record' button

Click on this button to select an audiofile and add it to the database. The file that you choose must be inside a subfolder of the music directory you've selected at settings.

'Edit' button

Click on this button to modify a selected item.

'Delete' button

Clicking on this button will remove a selected item from the database.

'Sort' select box

Use this to sort the list by artist, title, record label, catalog number, year, country, genre or BPM.

'Search...' field

Type what you looking for in this field, and the list will be filtered on your search term. Remove your text with backspace to see the full list again.

Playing a song

You can listen to a selected song with the 'play' button at the left bottom. Click on the 'stop' button to stop playing/

Adding or editing a record

To add or edit a record, you must open the the database and click on the 'Add record' button or 'Edit' button.

Input fields

You may add song information like artist, title, label, catalog number, country, year, genre. Those fields are not required but if you enter them, you can use the filter options in settings to create playlists based on one or more of these fields. If you leave the fields 'artist' and 'title' blank, the player will show the filename as alternative.

The 'genre' field

You may add multiple genres in the 'genre' field, seperating them by a comma. You can use this field to add genres like 'rock', 'techno', 'rap', but also you can add keywords like 'strong beats', 'romantic', 'german vocals', 'remix', 'sad', 'happy', 'covered song', 'male vocals' et cetera. Or you can type the name of a producer for example, so you can later create a playlist with songs made by this producer.

The 'BPM' field

MixPerfect Player does automatically calculate the estimated BPM of the song. You may alter it, if you know the exact BPM. This is not required but can be usefull with placing markers. After you placed markers the exact BPM will be recalculated.

Adding a sleeve

It is not required to add a sleeve. You can use the button next to the sleeve field or the grey square to open an image. The image file must be in the indicated sleeve folder. Allowed file extensions are: .jpg, .bmp, .png.

The waveform

The audiofile is displayed as waveform. This make it easy to find mix points.

Changing the waveform scale

The height of the waveform can be changed with the slider at the left of the waveform to to get a clearer picture.

Zoom buttons

Use the zoom buttons below the waveform to zoom in, zoom out, zoom to a selection or to display the full waveform.

The cursor

The cursor is the yellow vertical line in the waveform. You can move it by clicking somewhere in the waveform. This is usefull for zooming and playback.

Playing a song

You can listen to (a part) of the song with spacebar or the play button at the top left. First move the cursor to the position from where you want to listen. You can also zoom in if necessary. Then click on the stop button or hit spacebar again to stop playing.

Placing mixpoints

You can indicate mixpoints by zooming in, place the cursor at the wanted position and select a marker in the marker box at the left of the waveform. Set the selected marker by clicking the 'add' button. If you made a mistake, you can always remove a marker with the 'delete' button.

Intro markers (keyboard shortcuts I and SHIFT + I)

Intro markers are required and indicate the begin and end position of the intro. You get the best result if you choose the least noisy parts, for example only beats, a vocal or a melody. You can often recognize such quiet parts in the waveform. If you add a 'intro begin' marker, an 'intro end' marker is automatically set (if possible) and the intro will get a yellow color. You can do it vice versa: first add an 'intro end' marker, and an 'intro begin' marker will be set automatically.The automatically placed marker is an estimated position (based on the BPM input field) and possible must be moved a bit for an optimal result. Important: the intro must always has a length of 32 beats (this may be less If you place a loop).

Intro prestart marker (keyboard shortcut P)

After you have set the intro markers, you can also place an 'intro prestart' marker (if desired). This can be useful if a voice or melody starts just before the beginning of the intro. The 'intro prestart' marker must be set before the 'intro begin' marker.

Intro loop markers

It is also possible to mix songs with a short intro (less than 32 beats) by placing an 'intro loop begin' marker and an 'intro loop end' marker between the intro markers. After placing those intro loop markers, right-click somewhere in the loop and enter how many times the loop must be repeated. If you don't know how to calculate this value you may also enter the number of beats between the 'intro begin' and 'intro end' markers and the number of beats between the 'intro loop begin' and 'intro loop end' markers (separate both values by a comma).

Intro beat markers

If you've noticed the beats are not in sync after testing with the 'beat sync test' button, and if you are 100% sure that you made no mistakes (markers are at the correct position and loops repeat correctly), you can place a 'intro beat' marker on each beat position to correct this. It's sometimes necessary with old vinyl recordings.

Break markers (keyboard shortcuts B and SHIFT + B)

Break markers are required and indicate the begin and end position of the break. You get the best result if you choose the least noisy parts, for example only beats, a vocal or a melody. You can often recognize such quiet parts in the waveform. If you add a 'break begin' marker, an 'break end' marker is automatically set (if possible) and the break will get a blue color. You can do it vice versa: first add an 'break end' marker, and an 'break begin' marker will be set automatically. The automatically placed marker is an estimated position (based on the BPM input field) and and possible must be moved a bit for an optimal result. Important: the break must always has a length of 32 beats (this may be less if you place a loop).

Break loop markers

It is also possible to mix songs with a short break (less than 32 beats) by placing an 'break loop begin' marker and an 'break loop end' marker between the break markers. After placing those break loop markers, right-click somewhere in the loop and enter how many times the loop must be repeated. If you don't know how to calculate this value you may also enter the number of beats between the 'break begin' and 'break end' markers and the number of beats between the 'break loop begin' and 'break loop end' markers (separate both values by a comma).

Break mute marker (keyboard shortcuts M)

Optionally place a 'break mute' marker if you want to switch off the sound in the break at a certain point. For example, when a melody or singing begins just before the end of the break.

Break continue marker (keyboard shortcuts C)

Optionally place a 'break continue' marker if you want to continue mixing a small part after the break. This can be useful to complete a sung phrase or sound effect).

Break beat markers

If you've noticed the beats are not in sync after testing with the 'beat sync test' button, and if you are 100% sure that you made no mistakes (markers are at the correct position and loops repeat correctly), you can place a 'break beat' marker on each beat position to correct this. It's sometimes neccesary with old vinyl recordings. TIP: Intro and break must have approximately have the same length. To check whether this is the case, you can doubleclick on the blue or yellow part to compare their lengths.

Skip markers (keyboard shortcuts S and SHIFT + S)

With skip markers you can shorten a song. During playback, MixPerfect Player will skip the part between the 'skip begin' and 'skip end' markers. If you do this well, you will not notice this during playback.For example, set the 'skip start' marker at the first beat of a chorus. Then search for a chorus later in the song and put the 'end marker' on the first beat of that chorus. To test whether the cut sounds good you can place the cursor in front of the 'skip begin' marker and click on the play button. Please note that skip markers can only be placedbetween the 'intro end' marker and 'break begin' marker.

Intro and break checkboxes

Above the waveform you see checkboxes for the intro and break. It's not required to select any of these checkboxes, but if you want to create harmonious mixes, it's recommended to use them. Listen which elements (vocal, bass, melody, beat) you hear in the intro and break and select those checkboxes. Optionally you can also select the intro-fade-in checkbox (useful if the intro starts loud or with incomplete vocals), and select the break-fade-out checkbox (useful if the break has a loud ending).

'Beat sync test' button

You will get only smooth transitions if the markers are placed correctly. The 'Beat sync test' is a tool to check if you did it right. Click on the 'Beat sync test' button at the top left to open the beat sync test window. You see 2 players: one for the intro and one for the break. The time durations of both players must be the same.

If you play the intro or break you will hear overlapping beats. You can change the volume of the overlapping beats with the slider on the top. The overlapped beats must be in sync with the beats of the song. If this is not the case, click 'close' button to return to the database and check if markers are in the right place. Correct their positions where neccesary.

Saving the record

If you've passed the beat sync test, you can save the record by clicking the 'save' button at the top right.

Files library

At the file section you can import your audiofiles, so you can listen to them and add the songs that you like to the database. Also you can see the BPM of each song. This is especially usefull If you have few songs in the database.By first adding audio files of one BPM value, And then adding audio files of a subsequent BPM value, there are no major differences in BPM and the player can be used immediately.

'add folder' button

Click on this button to select folder with audio files. This must be a subfolder of the music directory you've selected at settings. MixPerfect Player does only add files with these audio formats: mp1, mp2, mp3, ogg, wav, aiff. It also skip files that are not stereo or have a samplerate other than 44100 Hz. You can cancel the file scanning process anytime and also resume by clicking on 'Add folder' button again and select the same folder.

'Clear list' button

Clicking on this button will remove all files.

'Delete from list' button

Clicking on this button will remove a selected file.

'Add to database' button

Click on this button to add a selected file to the database. If a file has been added it will show 'Yes' in the 'Added' column.

'Sort' select box

Use this to sort the list by BPM, file, folder or 'added'.

'Search....' Field

Type what you looking for in this field, and the list will be filtered on your search term. Remove your text with backspace to see the full list again.

Playing a song

You can listen to a selected song with the play button at the left bottom. Click on the stop button to stop playing.

Settings

Adjust the settings to create a desired playlists. Changed settings can affect the length of playlists, but you can always restore the default values by clicking the 'default' button on the top left. The following options can be set:

Directories

Path audio files (required)

The main folder where your audio files are stored.

Path sleeve files (required)

The main folder where your sleeve files are stored. You may leave it blank if you don't want to display sleeve images.

GUI Theme

Color

This setting is only available on Windows OS. It sets the theme of the graphical user interface. Default is light (the default theme of Windows).

Playlist length

Minimum number of songs

The minimum number of songs the playlist must contain (a value between 2 and 999).

Maximum number of songs

The maximum number of songs the playlist must contain (a value between 2 and 999).

Minimum playback time

Minimum playback duration of the playlist (a duration between 2 minutes and 10 hours).

Maximum playback time

Maximum playback duration of the playlist (a duration between 2 minutes and 10 hours, or infinite length). Maximum playback duration. If Infinite is selected and a random playlist is loaded, an infinite mix will play.

Song length

Shorten songs

If you have placed skip-markers in songs, these songs can be played in abbreviated form. Default is Random, which plays songs alternately short and long, but you can also choose 'Always' Or 'Never' to play the songs in their original length.

Repeating

Unique songs before repeating

Prevents the repetition of the same songs. The choosen value determines how many unique songs should be played before a previously played song is repeated. You can choose a value between 2 and 100.

Speed

BPM of first song

The BPM value of the first song in the playlist. The selection list contains BPM's of songs from the database. Default is random.

BPM order of songs

Determine whether the speed of songs in the playlist should change in ascending, descending or random order.

Maximum BPM distance

Determines how much the pitch can be adjusted (a value between 0.5 and 1.0). The lower the value, the less noticeable the pitch adjustment. You can choose a value between 0.5 and 9.5. Default is 2.0, which adjust the pitch no more than 2 bpm lower or higher. This does not mean that the playlist cannot contain songs with a lower or higher BPM. The trick is that if a song being mixed has about the same speed as the current playing speed, it will continue at the original speed after mixing.

Pitch reset

Determines when the pitch will be adjusted to the original speed of a song. This way, the playlist can contain songs with very different BMP values ​​without excessively adjusting the pitch. The lower the value, the less noticeable the pitch adjustment.

Transitions

Keep beats going

Choose whether transitions always must have beats. Default is Yes, which prevents that some transitions don't have beats.

Filter overlapped beats

Specifies which song(s) should have filtered beats during a transition. During a transition it sounds better if the beats of one song sound less heavy. Possible options are 'Current song', 'Next song', 'Both songs' Or 'None'.

Combine beats

Choose whether beats from 2 songs can be combined during transitions. This option only has an effect if the database contains songs for which you have indicated whether beats are audible in the intro or in the break. Default is 'Yes', which results in overlapping beats.

Combine basses

Choose whether basses from 2 songs can be combined during transitions. This option only has an effect if the database contains songs for which you have indicated whether basses are audible in the intro or in the break. Default is 'No', which results in more harmonic transitions but fewer mix combinations are possible.

Combine vocals

Choose whether vocals from 2 songs can be combined during transitions. This option only has an effect if the database contains songs for which you have indicated whether vocals are audible in the intro or in the break. Default is 'No', which results in more harmonic transitions but fewer mix combinations are possible.

Combine melodies

Choose whether melodies from 2 songs can be combined during transitions. This option only has an effect if the database contains songs for which you have indicated whether melodies are audible in the intro or in the break. Default is 'No', which results in more harmonic transitions but fewer mix combinations are possible.

Always combine if no matches left

Generates a longer playlist if set to Yes.

Filters

The filter boxes contain data that you have added to the database. By selecting one or more items (hold Ctrl-key and click left mouse button) you can generate playlists with songs from specific artists, years, countries, record labels or genres.