Hybrid Rekordbox library

Hi all,

I'm considering formatting my mac because it's nearly full and I feel like it could use a fresh clean slate.

However, I don't want to lose the accumulated music and hot cues etc. I gathered over the years.

My idea is to migrate my current Rekordbox library to an external drive and start collecting new music on my formatted/clean mac.

Whenever I open Rekordbox (with our without my external drive hooked up) I want to be able to see all (so also the music on my external drive) my music. I don't need to play them, just see and be able to find them. This would allow me to add them to playlists and prepare for gigs (correct?). The idea is that I only need the external drive to export it.

Also, thoughts on how to organise this and a suggested workflow to backup to a 2nd external drive would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

michiel January 06, 2021 09:40 Answered

Official comment

Hey Michiel,

You could do exactly as you described, but don't just move the rekordbox library - once you're running from that database, also EXPORT the entire collection to that drive. Booting rekordbox without the drive connected will give you a blank database (and you can always toggle over to the external drive as the database if you want), but with the drive connected, you can play from that export device, the only thing that wouldn't be saved is the play history (songs aren't logged or turn green to indicate they've been played). But! The other thing is you can import the songs back into your collection and it will retain the beat grid and hot cues.

Pulse January 06, 2021 17:36

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Hey Pulse,

Thanks. I don't really need play history so that's fine!

Just to check:

I don't wish for a clean Rekordbox database.

I always want to be able to see my 'old' music in Rekordbox (which will be located on an external disk) and my 'new' music (which is located on my harddrive).

The idea here is that I can prepare for gigs on the go. So let's say I open Rekordbox to prep for a gig (without my external disk hooked up) and create a new playlist. In this playlist I will drag 10 tunes of my 'new' collection and 10 of my 'old' collection. I won't be able to play the 'old' music but will be able to form a playlist. Whenever I'm near my external disk I will hook it up and be able to play this playlist through export mode or export the playlist to my USB.

I guess I just want to move my music to an external disk to save space.

Does this make sense?

ps. Should I follow these instructions concerning the export of my library >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNbZEqRo_tU&t=237s&ab_channel=Pulse

michiel January 12, 2021 14:26 0 votes

If it's just a matter of where the audio files are stored, you can move them to the external drive and not sweat it. You can always manage the music even if the files are not physically present (I do this myself - my music is all on an external, but the database is internal). This would negate the need for running anything from the export device as you don't need to export.

Pulse January 12, 2021 17:31 0 votes

Thanks, Pulse. To conclude can you confirm this is the way to go?

I'm going to format my entire computer.

Before I do that I'm going to export the Rekordbox library file to an external disk. Also I'm going to export the folder containing all my music files to the same external disk.

When reinstalling my computer I will move the Rekordbox library file to my clean computer and open it with my external disk connected.

This should work right?

michiel January 12, 2021 19:02 0 votes

If you're going to format, then I would certainly recommend making a backup or moving the database externally first, then once you've got everything back running, either restore the database or move the database back from the external drive. You can keep all the music on the external.

Pulse January 12, 2021 20:22 0 votes

Ok, great, Thanks!

michiel January 12, 2021 20:29 0 votes

Hi Pulse,

I've come across some issues. Can you help me?

I first moved my 'Master database' and my entire library to the external drive.

After installing Rekordbox on my clean computer I have moved my Master database from my external drive to my clean computer.

So far so good, but,

Whenever I try to eject my external drive whilst connected to Rekordbox (either through the app or through finder) either Finder tells me I can't do this because Rekordbox is using the app OR Rekordbox is telling me Finder is using it. Quitting Rekordbox (or Finder for that matter) does not make a difference. All the apps that could use my external drive are closed/quit.

Next problem:

About 1300 tracks are not able to be found through auto relocate while I'm 100% sure these tracks are on my external drive AND in the folder I'm telling Rekordbox to search in. I do notice however that some of these tracks are based in sub folders. So, I set the Rekordbox auto relocate fale to EXT DRIVE > DJ > ALL MUSIC

The ALL MUSIC folder consists out of 2 folders (90% of the music is based in 1 folder) but alot of the music is situated in their own sub folders. Is this the problem why Rekordbox can't find the lost tracks OR is there a different problem I should look at? Also if it is the problem how can I mass move these tracks out of their folders in to the "ALL MUSIC" folder.

Thanks

michiel January 22, 2021 19:11 0 votes