The library manages all of your music files. This is where you can find the
tracks you want to play and load them into a deck or
sampler; see Loading Tracks. Mixxx
imports your music library automatically when it is run for the first time, see
Importing your audio files for more information.
The sidebar on the left contains different collections of music. The track list
view on the right displays the tracks in those collections.
Sidebar:
Search: Search for tracks in your Mixxx library.
Library: View and edit your whole collection.
Auto DJ: Automatically load and crossfade tracks for unattended mixing.
Playlists: Arrange tracks in a set order.
Crates: Organize tracks in (unordered) collections.
Browse: Browse and load tracks from your file system and connected devices.
Recordings: Record your mix and view previous recordings.
History: Browse lists of tracks played in past mixing sessions.
Analyze: Generate Mixxx-specific data for tracks before a gig.
External Libraries: Access your existing iTunes, Traktor, Rhythmbox, and
Banshee libraries.
Track List:
Sort: Display and sort track collections by different criteria.
Load: Drag tracks you want to play to the waveform display.
Edit: Rate tracks and edit track properties.
6.2. Library - View and edit your whole collection
The Library displays a sortable list of all the tracks in your
music library.
Customizing the view
Move columns by clicking a column header and dragging it to another
position. Right-click on a column header to show or hide individual
columns. Adjust the column width to fit the contents of the rows by
double-clicking on the separator between two column headers.
Sorting Tracks
Tracks are automatically sorted by the active column. Click on the active
column header to reverse the sort order. Click on another column header to
change the active column.
Multi-Column sorting
New in version 2.0.
You can sort multiple columns by clicking up to three column headers you
wish to sort your tracks by. This makes searching for tracks in a large list
more efficient. Clicking twice on a column header will reverse the sort
order.
Example:
Click on the BPM column header -> list is sorted by BPM
Click on the Year column header -> list is sorted by
year. If year is equal, it is still sorted by the last criteria, e.g. BPM.
Click on the Genre column header -> list is sorted by
genre. If genre is equal, it is still sorted by year. If genre and year
is equal, then it is sorted by BPM.
Rating tracks
Make sure the Rating column is not hidden. Rate tracks by hovering
over the rating field and clicking the stars.
Track Inline editing
Mixxx reads metadata from the tracks to fill the columns of the
library. Double-click on a field, edit the data, and hit Enter when you
are done. Go to the chapter edit metadata for
detailed information.
Loading tracks
To load a track into a deck, you can either drag it
to the waveform display or use the context menu. Go to the chapter
Loading Tracks for detailed information.
Importing tracks
Mixxx imports your music library automatically when it is run for the first
time. Go to the chapter Importing your audio files for detailed information.
Previewing Tracks
To pre-listen to tracks in your headphones without loading them to a regular
deck, click the icon in the Preview column.
Go to the chapter Previewing Tracks for detailed information.
Cover/Album Art
Mixxx can display cover art it finds for a track in the library.
It will search for available cover art in the following places in order and
will use the first one it finds:
The first image saved in the track’s ID3v2/Vorbis tags
An image file in the track folder (if there is only one image file there.)
%track-file-base%.jpg in the track directory for %track-file-base%.mp3
%album%.jpg
cover.jpg
front.jpg
album.jpg
folder.jpg
Mixxx supports the following image types: jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp
Rescan Library
If you want to manually refresh your library without exiting (for example
because you added or moved files) you can do this with Library
‣ Rescan Library in the menu at the top of the application window. You can
prompt an automatic rescan when Mixxx is started under
Preferences ‣ Library ‣ Rescan on startup.
New in version 2.0: Reload Track Metadata from MusicBrainz, Change BPM
context menu options and Cover Art
Changed in version 2.0: All BPM related options are in the BPM Options sub-menu.
Right-clicking on selected tracks in the track list reveals the context menu:
Add to Auto DJ: Adds the content of the selection to either the
bottom or top of the Auto DJ
playlist for automatic mixing.
Load to Deck/Sampler: Loads a selected file to a
Deck, Sampler or
Previewdeck. Alternatively
simply drag it to the Waveform Displays. Note that you can’t load
multiple files at once.
Add to playlist/crate: Add selected tracks to playlists or
crates you have previously created. Alternatively, drag the selection to a
playlist or crate in the sidebar.
BPM Options sub-menu:
Change BPM: Allows to change the BPM to 50%, 66%, 75% or 200%
of the BPM set by Mixxx when analyzing the
tracks. If many of the detected BPM values are incorrect, you might want
to adjust the BPM Range in the
Analyzer Settings and re-run the
analysis.
Lock/Unlock BPM: Locks/Unlocks the BPM of selected tracks so
you can’t edit them in the track properties. The
icon next to the track’s BPM in the library row is a toggle. Clicking it
will set the status to «locked», and the icon changes to .
Clear BPM and Beatgrid: Removes the BPM and beatgrid
data from the selected tracks in the Mixxx library. After doing this, we
recommend analyzing the tracks again.
Reload Track Metadata from File: If the track’s metadata changes,
(e.g. if you used iTunes to edit it,) this option lets you save the new values
for the selected tracks to the Mixxx library. See
edit metadata.
Reload Track Metadata from MusicBrainz:
Look up metadata online by searching the MusicBrainz database
and apply the search results to your tracks. See
edit metadata.
Cover Art Option sub-menu:
Choose New Cover: Select an image from the file browser as the cover.
Unset Cover: Delete any cover information saved for this track.
Reload from track/folder: Reload the cover from the tracks” ID3v2
tags or a picture in the track folder if the tags do not
supply any.
Hide from Library: Temporarily hides selected tracks from the track list.
Hidden tracks are listed in the Hidden Tracks menu item which is
explained below.
Reset Play Count: Marks selected tracks as not played in the current
session and sets their play counter to zero. The icon in the Played
column changes.
Open in File Browser: Brings up the selected files in your file manager.
Properties: Similar to inline editing explained above, the properties
dialog allows you to view and edit metadata such as title, artist, album, and
view the full file name and path. Note that you can not edit multiple files at
once.
Note
Most of the context menu items are available in file lists of other
views like Auto DJ, Playlists, and Crates as well.
The Missing Tracks view is accessible by expanding the Library tree item in the
sidebar. Any tracks that were previously loaded into your library but were
later not found on your drive will appear here.
Mixxx does not automatically delete records of missing tracks so that extra
metadata Mixxx might have (such as hot cues and beat grids) will not be lost
in case the file is replaced.
The features in detail:
Select All button: Selects all tracks in the current view.
Purge button: Purges the selected tracks from the Mixxx library, but does
not remove them from your computer. This will delete all metadata
Mixxx has for a track.
The Hidden Tracks view is accessible by expanding the Library tree item in
the sidebar. Any tracks that were previously loaded into your library but were
later set to be hidden from the library will appear here. Use the
Hide from Library context menu item in the
library view to temporarily hide selected tracks.
The features in detail:
Select All button: Selects all tracks in the current view.
Purge Button: Purges the selected tracks from the Mixxx library, but does
not remove them from your computer. This will delete all metadata
Mixxx has for a track.
Unhide Button: Removes the selected tracks from the
Hidden Tracks view and makes them available in the regular track
lists again. The tracks will re-appear in every playlist or crate they were
in before being hidden.
See also
To learn how to permanently remove tracks from the Mixxx library
using the Hidden Tracks view, see
permanently remove tracks.
New in version 2.0: You can drag tracks from deck to deck.
Tracks can be loaded into a deck in several ways:
Right-click the library track table: Right-clicking
on a track in the table will present the options Load in Deck 1
and Load in Deck 2, among others. Making either selection will
load a track into a deck.
By Using a Keyboard to load the selected track in the library track
table.
Drag-and-drop from library track table: Dragging-and-dropping a track from the
track table onto a waveform display will load the track into that deck.
Drag-and-drop from deck to deck: Once you’ve loaded a track to deck, sampler,
or preview deck, click on the track title and
drag it to another deck or sampler.
Drag-and-drop from external file browser: Dragging-and-dropping a track from
an external file browser directly onto a waveform display in Mixxx will load
that track. This function also works with some other applications. For
example, on Mac OS X, dragging-and-dropping a track from iTunes onto one of
Mixxx’s waveform displays will load it into that deck.
The search function filters the currently displayed list (e.g. a playlist,
a crate, or even the whole library) for tracks that match your search query.
Activate the search input field by clicking in it or pressing CTRL +
F (Windows/Linux) or CMD + F (Mac).
Type your search term(s). Mixxx filters the tracks as you type and shows only
those matching the search term(s). Search terms can include an artist’s name,
a song title, BPM, etc.
To clear the search string hit ESC or click the clear button right next
to the input field.
Hit TAB to cycle between the search and the list of results in the
library. Use the ARROWUP and ARROWDOWN keys to scroll in the
list of results.
Note
If the search input field has focus, the Mixxx keyboard shortcuts are
disabled, see Using a Keyboard.
Search operators allow you to form more complex search queries. They allow you
to limit certain search terms to particular properties of your tracks.
New in version 2.0: Adds location, album_artist, and key search keywords. Supports
human-readable time suffixes in time-based search query filters, e.g.
1:30, 1m30s, 1m30, 90, 90s. Supports negative search
filters.
Mixxx supports the following filters:
Text filtering: artist, album, album_artist, genre, title, composer,
comment, key, location
Supports fuzzy matching of key searches. The following example list tracks
with harmonically compatible keys to C# minor.
~key:c#m
You can combine operators but there’s no way to do an “OR” search right now.
The following example list all tracks by “Danger” over 3 minutes long that
are rated 4 or 5.
artist:Dangerduration:>3mrating:>=4
Negative search filters. Use the - prefix as negation operator. The
following example would find “hip-hop“ from any year but 1990.
genre:hip-hop-year:1990
Examples for text filtering
Examples for numeric filtering
Examples for duration filtering
artist: “com truise”
bpm:140
duration:2m10
album:Danger
bpm: >140
duration:<2:10
genre: Trance
year: <2010
duration:>1m35s
title: foo
bpm: >=140
duration:>62
composer: foo
rating: <=4
comment: foo
bpm: 140-150
genre:hip-hop -genre:gangsta
played: >10
Note it doesn’t matter if you have
space between the colon and the
argument or not. Quotes must be used
for multi-word text arguments.
Note that you can put a space after
the colon but currently there must be
no space between the operator and the
number.
Note that you can put a space after
the colon but currently there must be
no space between the operator and the
number.
To pre-listen to a track, activate the Preview column in a library
view. Clicking the icon in the library’s
Preview column loads the selected track into a special Preview
Deck that will only output sound in the
headphones channel. Click the
icon to stop the playback.
Alternatively, select a track from the track list of the Mixxx library, drag the
track to the waveform view of the Preview Deck
and click the Play button next to the waveform.
To display the Preview deck, press CTRL + 4 (Windows/Linux) or
CMD + 4 (Mac).
Mixxx reads relevant metadata from the tracks and displays them in the
library columns. You are free to edit most metadata, and Mixxx offers a number
of different ways to do so. Note that some information can not be edited, such
as bitrate, size, length, type, filename, and location.
Note
Mixxx does not support editing the metadata of many tracks at a time
(bulk editing).
Warning
Changes to a track’s metadata will be saved to the Mixxx library,
but not to the track itself. Mixxx wont touch your audio files
to prevent data loss.
Click on a single track in the library and select Properties
to open the editor. Add or change values in the editable fields, and save your
changes as explained below.
Apply: Accept the changes and leave the editor open.
Cancel: Discard the changes and close the editor.
Previous/Next: Load the previous or next track in the current library
view.
Reload Track Metadata from File: Prompts Mixxx to re-read the metadata
of the selected track (such as when you have modified it externally with
another application.)
Reload Track Metadata from MusicBrainz:
Look up metadata on-line by searching the MusicBrainz database. See
below.
The MusicBrainz wizard in Mixxx allows searching the MusicBrainz database and
applying the results to your tracks.
Click on a single track in the library and select Get Metadata
from MusicBrainz. Mixxx fetches track data from the MusicBrainz database and
displays the search results.
Select the best match from the search results by clicking on it in the list.
Apply: Apply the selected MusicBrainz metadata to the track.
Close: Close the wizard.
Previous/Next: Load the previous or next track in the current library
view and perform a MusicBrainz lookup on it as well.
Fetching track metadata from MusicBrainz can fail:
if Mixxx is unable to find the specified track in the MusicBrainz database,
if Mixxx cannot reach the MusicBrainz servers (if they are down,)
or if you are not connected to the Internet.
Hint
The MusicBrainz service has been designed for identifying full audio
files. If a track is less than 2 minutes long, identifying the file will
likely fail. Identifying a layered mix-track or mash-up may produce false
positives in the result list.
If you have modified file metadata in third-party software, select
Library ‣ Rescan Library in the menu on top of the
application window. This prompts Mixxx to re-read the metadata from all
tracks in the library.
Popular software to edit metadata of audio files include:
The Auto DJ queue is a special playlist that contains extra
controls for automatic mixing. This is useful when taking a break from live
mixing or for using Mixxx as media player.
The Auto DJ features in detail:
Shuffle button: Randomizes the order of tracks in the Auto DJ playlist.
Add Random button: Add random track from Auto DJ track sources.
Skip track button: Skips the next track in the Auto DJ playlist.
Fade now button: Triggers the transition to the next track.
Transition time spin-box: Determines the duration of the transition. A
negative value will add a pause between tracks.
Enable Auto DJ button: Toggles the Auto DJ mode on or off.
The Skip track, Add Random and Fade now
buttons are only accessible if the Auto DJ mode is enabled. The Search field in
the upper left corner is disabled in Auto DJ. By default, Auto DJ removes tracks
after playing them but if you want it to play the same tracks over and over
again, you can activate the Auto DJ Requeue option in
Preferences ‣ Auto DJ ‣ Re-queue tracks after playback.
Auto DJ Crates
New in version 2.0.
It is possible to add random tracks to the bottom of the Auto DJ playlist. The
tracks are chosen from a set of crates that you have set as a source for
Auto DJ, or from the standard library. Mixxx will normally try to select tracks
that haven’t yet been played. You can set a minimum number of tracks that are
always available for selection no matter when they were last played in
Preferences ‣ Auto DJ ‣ Minimum available tracks in Track Source.
Playlists are ordered lists of tracks that allow you to plan
your DJ sets. Some DJs construct playlists before they perform live; others
prefer to build them on-the-fly.
Playlists are not directly loadable into decks as Mixxx is primarily
intended for live, attended performance use. However, you can right-click a
playlist to queue it to Auto DJ, so in a sense you can
«play» it.
Create a playlist: Right-click on the Playlists sidebar item
and select New playlist. Name the playlist and click
OK.
Add Tracks: Add tracks to a previously created playlist by
dragging-and-dropping a selection of tracks from the library or playlists onto
the name of a playlist in the sidebar. Alternatively, use the right-click
context menu in the library’s track list.
New in version 2.0.
Analyze Playlist option in the context menu.
Import playlists by dragging-and-dropping them into a playlist in the sidebar.
Import playlist and Export playlist context menu
options remember the last selected playlist directory.
The total number of tracks and total duration are displayed next to the
playlist’s name.
Right-click on an existing playlist name to access the different features in
the context menu:
Add to Auto DJ: Adds the content of the playlist to the
Auto DJ queue for automatic mixing.
Rename: To rename a playlist, just enter a new playlist name and click
OK.
Duplicate: Sometimes you want to build a playlist based on an existing one.
Select the playlist you would like to duplicate, choose
Duplicate Playlist, name the new playlist and click OK.
Remove: Removes an unlocked playlist. Tracks that were in the playlist
remain in the library for later use.
Lock: This icon indicates a locked playlist. If a playlist
is locked, you cannot add tracks, rename or delete the playlist. Choose
Unlock from the context menu to unlock the playlist.
Analyze entire playlist: Forces the analysis of the tracks in the playlist
in the Analyze view.
Crates are unordered collections of tracks, just like DJ cases
holding your favorite records.
Create a crate: Right-click on the Crates sidebar item and
select New Crate. Name the crate and click OK.
Add Tracks: Add tracks to a previously created crate by
dragging-and-dropping a selection of tracks from the library or playlists onto
the name of a crate in the sidebar. Alternatively use the context menu in the
library’s track list.
New in version 2.0.
Analyze Crate and Auto DJ Track Source context menu
options.
Import crate and Export crate context menu
options remember the last selected playlist directory.
Displays the total number of tracks and the total duration next to the
crate’s name.
Right-click on an existing crate’s name to access the different features in the
context menu:
Rename: To rename a crate, enter the new crate name and click
OK.
Duplicate: Just like playlists you can duplicate an existing crate.
Select the crate you would like to duplicate, choose
Duplicate Crate, name the new crate and click OK.
Remove: Removes an unlocked crate. Tracks in the crate are still available
in the library for later use.
Lock: This icon indicates a locked crate. If a crate is
locked, you cannot add tracks, rename or delete the crate. Choose
Unlock from the context menu to unlock the crate.
Auto DJ Track Source: Use this crate as a source for random tracks in
Auto DJ, see Auto DJ crates .
Analyze entire crate: Forces the analysis of the crate in the
Analyze view.
Import crate: Import tracks from external playlists in various file
formats to a new Mixxx crate.
Export crate: Export a crate to various file formats, such as
m3u, pls, or csv. This allows you to use the data in
other applications.
Crates are unordered collections of tracks. Unlike playlists, they cannot
contain duplicate entries and do not support arranging tracks within them.
Often DJs group tracks by genre, keep lists of favorite tracks, and/or prepare
lists of tracks they want to play at a particular party. In these cases they
rarely care about the order since they will choose it at the party based on the
dance floor and mood. They certainly don’t want duplicates in these lists.
Crates serve these purposes. You can think of them like labels in GMail or Web
2.0 tags for your music.
If however you want to plan out a specific set and practice the transitions,
you will want an ordered list of tracks. Playlists serve this purpose.
Browse mode works like a file manager and allows you to load
tracks from anywhere on your computer that are not necessarily already in your
Mixxx library.
New in version 2.0: Add music directories directly from the Browse sidebar item.
Click the Browse sidebar item to navigate the computer and find your
music. Depending on your operating system, your music will usually be
found in the “My Music” or “Music” folder. Drag the files you want to import to
the Library icon or directly to the
Waveform Displays.
Note
Currently you can only drag files (not folders) to the Mixxx library.
Right-click on a folder and choose Add to Library to add the folder
as an additional music directory. Mixxx will watch this directory and its
subdirectories for new tracks.
6.10.1. Quick Links - Bookmark your favorite folders
Using the Quick Links sub-menu you can bookmark folders for direct
access. Click the Browse sidebar item and navigate to the folder you
would like to bookmark. Right-click and choose Add to Quick Links.
The folder is now pinned below the Quick Links. To un-pin that
folder, right-click and choose Remove from Quick Links.
The history section automatically keeps a list of tracks you
play in your DJ sets. This is handy for remembering what worked in your DJ sets,
posting set-lists, or reporting your plays to licensing organizations. Every
time you start Mixxx, a new history section is created. If you don’t play any
tracks during the session, it will be discarded.
This icon indicates the current session.
New in version 2.0.
Create new history playlist context menu option.
Export playlist context menu option remember the last selected
playlist directory.
Click on the History icon in the sidebar to switch to the History
view, then right-click on a session’s name/date to access the different features:
Add to Auto DJ: Adds the content of the session to the
Auto DJ queue for automatic mixing.
Rename: Rename a session. The default is the calendar date (YYYY-MM-DD).
Remove: Remove a previous (unlocked) session. (You cannot remove the
current session.)
Lock: Protect a previous session against accidental merge or deletion. An
icon indicates a locked session.
Create new history playlist: Split off the current history session and
add a new session without having to restart Mixxx. The current history must
contain at least one track for this option to be available.
Join with previous: Append the selected history session to the end of the previous
one.
Export playlist: Export a session in various file formats. This allows you
to use the data in other applications.
This section allows you to analyze your tracks in advance of loading them into
a deck. Analyzing tracks requires considerable CPU power and may cause skips in
the audio while performing, so it helps to have your tracks analyzed before you
play. See Analyze your library for details.
6.14. iTunes, Traktor, Rhythmbox, Banshee - Using external libraries
New in version 2.0: Support for Banshee music player
The external library views allow you to use music libraries you have created
in these third-party applications. You can access music as well as playlists. If
available, Mixxx automatically loads the external libraries from their default
locations on your hard drive.
Note
Playing a track from an external library will add it to your Mixxx
library.
Right-click on the iTunes icon in the Library tree and select
Choose Library to load the iTunesMusicLibrary.xml from a
different location. Select Use Default Library to reset.
Right-click on a iTunes/Traktor/Rhythmbox/Banshee playlist and choose
Import Playlist to import it into a new Mixxx playlist.
If you have an iTunes configuration file (*.xml) from a Windows or
Mac partition mounted in Linux, you can load it and use your iTunes tracks and
playlists as well.
See also
External libraries can be disabled under
Preferences ‣ Library.
The Library displays a sortable list of all the tracks in your
music library.
icon in the Preview column.
Go to the chapter Previewing Tracks for detailed information.
icon next to the track’s BPM in the library row is a toggle. Clicking it
will set the status to «locked», and the icon changes to 
.
icon to stop the playback.
The Auto DJ queue is a special playlist that contains extra
controls for automatic mixing. This is useful when taking a break from live
mixing or for using Mixxx as media player.
Playlists are ordered lists of tracks that allow you to plan
your DJ sets. Some DJs construct playlists before they perform live; others
prefer to build them on-the-fly.
This icon indicates a locked playlist. If a playlist
is locked, you cannot add tracks, rename or delete the playlist. Choose
Unlock from the context menu to unlock the playlist.
Crates are unordered collections of tracks, just like DJ cases
holding your favorite records.
Browse mode works like a file manager and allows you to load
tracks from anywhere on your computer that are not necessarily already in your
Mixxx library.
In this section of the library you can start and stop
recording your session as well as view previous recordings and the dates they
were made.
The history section automatically keeps a list of tracks you
play in your DJ sets. This is handy for remembering what worked in your DJ sets,
posting set-lists, or reporting your plays to licensing organizations. Every
time you start Mixxx, a new history section is created. If you don’t play any
tracks during the session, it will be discarded.
This icon indicates the current session.
iTunes (Windows, Mac OS X)
Traktor (Windows, Mac OS X),
Rhythmbox (GNU/Linux)
Banshee (Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux)