Example setups

DJ night: rekordbox cues drive lasers and visuals

A DJ plays on CDJs. The same tracks sit in ShowTimeCoda as a silent cue list, with each track's tempo, beat grid and drops taken from rekordbox. The laser or visuals operator presses GO as each track comes in and again at each drop; ShowTimeCoda sends Art-Net timecode and the track's BPM to BEYOND.

Example setup, not a customer story. Check it with your own gear before a show. ShowTimeCoda does not hear the CDJs: the operator follows the DJ by ear and eye. Following the decks live (TCNet, PRO DJ LINK) is planned, not built.

You need

• A rekordbox library with the set's tracks analysed, and memory cues or hot cues at the drops and breaks.
• The same audio files on the ShowTimeCoda PC.
• BEYOND (or another program that follows Art-Net timecode), on the same PC or on one wired network.
• An operator beside ShowTimeCoda who can see and hear the DJ.

Steps

1. rekordbox. Check each track's beat grid, set the cue points, and choose File > Export Collection in xml format.
2. Cue list. Drag the set's tracks onto ShowTimeCoda's cue list in running order. Set each cue's Volume to 0, so ShowTimeCoda adds no sound to the DJ's, and Then to Cue the next item and wait.
3. Import. File > Import from rekordbox… and pick the xml. The BPM column fills in and the cue points appear as sub-cues (2a, 2b…) with their names. Play a few and check that the drops land where the music drops, on MP3s especially.
4. Timecode. In Setup > Show timing choose the frame rate BEYOND uses. Give track 1 a Start TC of 01:00:00:00, track 2 02:00:00:00 and so on (or use Auto-offset). In Setup > Art-Net timecode switch it on and send to your network's broadcast address, as in Laser show run from ShowTimeCoda.
5. BEYOND. Programme each track's lasers against its timecode. In Setup > OSC triggers tick Send each cue's BPM when it starts, so BEYOND's tempo follows each track.
6. Run it. When the DJ brings a track in, press GO: it starts the track and its timecode. At each drop press GO again: it jumps to the next sub-cue at once, with the name on the button. If the DJ lets a section run on, turn on ↻ for the sub-cue before the drop: it repeats until you press GO. To go straight to a sub-cue, click it (it goes on standby) and press GO.
7. If the DJ changes the tempo. ShowTimeCoda plays each file at its own speed. A track pitched up or down, or mixed over a long blend, drifts from the CDJs. Keep the lasers tied to sections (the drops) rather than to every beat, and press GO to jump to the next sub-cue to catch up.

Settings at a glance

Check before the show

• Every track's BPM matches rekordbox's (half or double is the usual fault; fix with ½ or ×2).
• The Art-Net light in the status bar goes green when you press GO, and BEYOND's timeline moves with it.
• Rehearse with the DJ's real running order: a track that is not in the cue list has to be added by hand mid-show.
• The operator knows which sub-cue is next from the button, and that Esc is Panic.

See GO and sub-cues and Import from rekordbox in the manual.