Creative ways to use hotcues?

2

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  • c0nsul
    c0nsul Member Posts: 326 Pro

    I think this belongs here:

    https://youtu.be/OTlXKlTxg2w?feature=shared&t=420


    Start at about 7 min. It's a creative cue point mapping enhanced with fx.

  • Kayya
    Kayya Member Posts: 198 Advisor
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/97535#Comment_97535

    This issue has been very revitalized and something has happened. I can say that I am happy.

    As in this example, I would like the hotcues, which have become standard and sorted, to be analyzed by traktor pro by coloring them according to their type. Grids and waveforms are there :)

  • Patch
    Patch Member Posts: 315 Pro

    Check out Shiftee’s video on “Plooping” on YouTube. It’s an old vid, but, the mappings are the same, and it’s a fun way to use cue points.

  • thefunkyboulevards
    thefunkyboulevards Member Posts: 27 Member

    Mixed in key help me anlot. But i always like to set in traktor 4 main hotcues. I think this is the basic but at the same time the better quantity of hot cues for a performance.

  • V01d
    V01d Member Posts: 15 Member

    i only use hotcues to have a gsood transition loop to have time to load a new maschine-projejct during livesets

  • Sûlherokhh
    Sûlherokhh Member, Traktor Mapping Mod Posts: 2,592 mod

    I use #1 for a Load Marker at an appropriate downbeat, #2 (optional) for a Fade-In Marker if the intro is really long, placed at the beginning of the first (intro-) break before the first drop, #3 for a standard Hot Cue at the beginning of a midway break and #4 for a Fade-Out Marker right where most of the istruments have been taken out and there is still some basic beat/melody.

    #5-8 for Loops around some interesting section scattered along the track and a safety Loop at the end. I usually don't set them beforehand (except #8), unless i already get a cool idea while prelistening the track for the first or second time.

  • Voyager
    Voyager Member Posts: 16 Member

    Hotcues are a realy good idea, i should use them more and i wish i could label them.

    First one would be start of the track, then maybe some loop points and possibly waste one to mark the end of the good part of the track. (the bit where you want to mixed over before you reach it)

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,026 Expert

    I use #1 for Load, #2 for Fade in (if needed), #4 Fade out (if needed).

  • Owner
    Owner Member Posts: 548 Guru
    edited October 2023

    I use my Hot Cues in different ways:

    Most of the time my #1 is for the Grid as long as the track starts with a downbeat. If the track has a weird intro, melody or vocals before the first downbeat, I use Hot Cue #2 for the Grid and then Hot Cue #1 for the vocals or whatever comes before so I can scratch with it or if the vocals / melody allow it, do an Auto Loop, as long as it should allow a clean sequence. If the melody or vocals cannot be looped cleanly, I simply use Hot Cue #1 to scratch in this case.

    The other Hot Cues are then used for the build up, drop, verses, hook lines and breaks (here mostly as an auto loop). I Like it to use Breaks for Auto Loops and made my transitions or drum fills in this place. Mostly Hot Cue #7 and #8 are at the end, placed so that I can use perfect phrasing when mixing for the next track, i.e. 32, 16 or 8 beats before the end.

    If it makes sense, I reduce my cue points to only 4 and use the first (upper) row of the most common battle mixers as reference points and the bottom row for finger drumming, i.e. beat, snare, hi-hat or melodies.

    Depending on the song structure, I also need Hot Cues for beat jumps. I always place the Hot Cues on the first beat of a chorus so that I can, for example, jump from chorus 1 directly to chorus 2 or 3, allowing me to create my own short edits on the fly.

    As a simple example, I often use O.P.P from Naughty by Nature when I have students in our academy, because this track has a clean intro, 3 choruses and an outro, it is very easy to mix and skip verses so you can shorten the song length.

    E.g. I can jump from chorus 1 to chorus 2 or 3. Most of the time I jump from chorus 2 to chorus 3 and then have an outro to mix the next track cleanly. Ideally something that starts with a voice. So there is no clash with two different voices.

    Bildschirmfoto 2023-10-01 um 22.16.08.png


  • wahala
    wahala Member Posts: 18 Member

    I use a lot of vocal samples in my mixes. These are stacked into a remix set and triggered with f1. Hotcues are largely used as a marker for when to release the samples.

  • Plucky mac
    Plucky mac Member Posts: 4 Member

    I just have fun with it learn through videos tutorials

  • Royal Tee
    Royal Tee Member Posts: 40 Member

    Been using hot cues since vinyl days...

    So it's important for me to shorten or lengthen or drops... I can't imagine using software without it.

  • djsmex
    djsmex Member Posts: 26 Member

    Hi,


    I like to set my own hot cues and use them in melodic and rhythmic ways as well as for beat juggling. For example, by setting four cue points to kick, snair, hat & crash, I can tap in rhythmic patterns or by setting three or more cues to notes or chords, I can play melodic parts.


    Use to do this with the cdj's hot cues too.


    The other way I use hot cues is for fast scratch cue points when using timecode.


    have fun!

  • Tunaiters
    Tunaiters Member Posts: 3 Member

    I wish Traktor had true colored coded cue points... tho I personally use the existent/native colored cue points with a different purpose than they are originally intended for, in the following way:

    • WHITE (beat grid) = use it to set the first beat grid, but then also additionally to signal the start of a buildup (longer than 2 bars) that typically ends on a drop.
    • YELLOW (Load point) = I disable Traktor's native function to use these as load markers, and instead use it to signal the start of a short (2 bars length or less) fill, a vocal phrase or an FX sound, before a drop, a break or any other important point in the song (eg. intro, outro).
    • BLUE (hot cue) = to signal a drop.
    • ORANGE (fade in/out) = to signal the start of a break.
    • GREEN (loop cue) = for looping points.

    I also add comments on the cue point labels to provide further details on what the cue point is about and its length in bars. For instance:

    • On WHITE cue points I may add "Bld8bDrp", meaning ther's a build of 8 bars length before a drop, or "Voc8bDrp", meaning the cue point has a vocal and after 8 bars, a drop.
    • On YELLOW, "Fill1bDrp", to signify that it's a drum fill or similar, with a drop after 1 bar, or "Fx1bDrp" or "Voc1/2bDrp", or even "FeelGood", if it's a pure vocal phrase...
    • On BLUE, I may simply identify if the drop is the "Verse1", "Verse2", "Chorus", ...
    • On ORANGE, typically I add a comment with the length of the break, as in "Brk32bDrp", or if it contains a vocal "Voc16bDrp"
    • On GREEN, which I normally use as some rhythmical loop, I simply state its nature with "Drums", "Percussion", "High End", ...

    Maybe my method can be found a bit over-complicated... 😅 ...but it works wonders when used consistently, and allows me to improvise and perform in ways not possible (or very hard) otherwise 😊

  • oviwan
    oviwan Member Posts: 111 Helper
    https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/98098#Comment_98098

    Is there a way to check the comments added to a cue point without triggering the cue point?

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