- The prepare crate, is a
feature that made a huge impact
on the way that I DJ.
Once I wrapped my head
around how to use it.
It can help you mix faster.
Help you have an overall
more cohesive set.
And help you have a less
cluttered DJ library.
Now it's a feature that
most DJ software has,
but, many DJ's rarely use it,
or even know about it at all.
So in this video, I'll break
down what the prepare crate is
and why you should be using it.
Now if you're interested in
more tips and tricks videos,
just like this one, make sure
you subscribe to this channel.
But now, let's get into
what the prepare crate is
and three ways that can help you
get the most out of using it.
The prepare crate is a
call-back to days of carrying
actual vinyl record crates.
In those days, a DJ would search
for the next record to play
and they would pull it up
halfway, out of the crate,
as a way to mark them
without making a mess.
In the world of digital
DJ-ing, the prepare crate
is a playlist with some special traits.
Now you can think of the prepare crate
as somewhat of a temporary crate.
Music that you add to the prepare crate
will be removed when you
close your DJ software.
Now another trait, is
that most DJ software
have a keyboard shortcut,
or physical buttons on your DJ
controller that'll allow you
to quickly add songs
to your prepare crate.
Then finally, most DJ
software will remove the song
from the prepare crate when
you load the song to the deck.
So let me show you some examples of that.
So first of all, here in Serato DJ,
you'd have to click on this right here,
to open this middle panel, to
open up your prepare crate.
Now, I can go ahead and
scroll through my playlist.
And instead of having
to click and drag a song
up to the playlist like that to add it.
Which, I mean it doesn't take too long,
but when you're adding a lot of songs
it does add up on time.
You can actually just hit
a keyboard shortcut really quickly.
In the case of Serato DJ
it's, command P, or on Windows, Control P.
And you can just quickly
add a bunch of songs
to the prepare crate just like that.
Now, another feature that it has is that,
once you load the song.
Say I load this to the left deck.
Notice that the song
automatically disappears from the crate.
That let's me know that the
song's already been played.
And then I don't have to worry about
wondering if I've played that song or not,
if it's in my prepare crate.
And again, even if I have some
songs loaded into the prepare
just like this, if I
was to close Serato DJ,
and then reopen it, this
prepare crate window
would be completely empty.
So again, you can really think
of it as a temporary crate
that's only going to be available and open
as your DJ software's open.
Now that you're more familiar
with what the prepare crate is
let's go over three ways
that I use the prepare crate
that makes me a way more effective DJ.
Now this first one is
something that I like to call,
using the prepare crate as
a quote unquote, brain dump.
Now in this case, say I
was mixing these songs
just like this, and I was playing them.
(click)
(slow upbeat music)
And as that song's playing,
maybe I'm trying to think of
what song to play next.
Normally if I didn't have a prepare crate,
I could only pick one song at a time
then I'd have to kind of think of
what song I'm gonna play next.
And then, load that one.
But using the prepare crate,
even as the song's playing,
I can just go ahead and
save multiple options
of possible songs I'd want to play next.
And this is really handy,
especially if you're playing
for an open format crowd,
or a crowd that you're
not too familiar with.
And you get to kind of
be a little bit more
creative with your mixing.
And you're not playing
from a set playlist.
Having a bunch of options
instead of just loading
one song at a time, makes
such a world of difference.
Because, say the song that you've loaded
isn't going over too well with the crowd.
You already have a couple more
options here in the prepare
that you can just load right away.
And switch out of, right away,
instead of having to kind of
scroll through your library
and try to find another song to load.
Every time that I start playing a song,
I'll go ahead and find
two or three more tracks
and load them into my prepare.
Just in case the song that I'm
playing doesn't go over well,
I have more options to
switch to another track.
And, same thing, once I
load that track and it works
I'll go ahead and scroll
through my library again
and add a couple more and just
keep this continuous flow going.
It just makes the process
of finding the next track
to play so much faster.
Instead of going one-by-one,
you're able to save multiple options.
And another great reason
for this is because
you're saving multiple options,
it helps you build a more cohesive DJ set.
Because say they're, you know liking maybe
in this case, they're
really feeling Kaytranada.
You can save a bunch of Kaytranada songs
that you have in your library.
And have them all ready to go.
Because you know they're liking that vibe.
Or you can load in a couple more songs
that fit that same kind of
vibe into your prepare crate.
So, it just builds a more cohesive set
because you know you're
going in one direction.
Instead of frantically looking
for what next song to play.
It gives you more time to just build out
a set that you know that's gonna work
while another track is playing.
And at the same time, say
you're going in one direction
and you know maybe the
crowd's gotten tired of it
or they're not really
feeling the kind of music
you're playing after a while.
You can just go ahead,
and clear everything
in your prepare crate.
And just pick some more songs
while that song is playing
and you're ready to go
with another set of tracks
that you can just start playing in.
And maybe it's a different
kind of direction you're wanna go in.
And having all of those ready to go
makes making that
transition so much easier
and so much smoother.
Especially in a situation
like that where you might
be a little frantic because you know,
maybe you're losing the
dance floor a little bit.
It makes getting out of
those kind of situations
so much easier and allows
you to do it so much faster.
Another way that I find
using the prepare crate very useful,
is to avoid what I like to
call, single use playlist.
Now if you're playing
a lot of private events
maybe a wedding where, the bride and groom
have given you a playlist
of songs they'd like to hear
during their reception.
Or maybe a private event
where they give you a playlist
of songs that they need to hear.
Or in the case of maybe, a holiday party,
during Christmas time and,
you know they have a whole bunch of songs,
Christmas songs that they wanna hear.
Instead of having to create a playlist
or crate in the case of
Serato, and have it saved here,
you can just have these in your library.
And then just kind of, grab a bunch of 'em
and just have 'em up here.
And now you have all these Christmas songs
that you know you wanna hear.
Or maybe if its a wedding,
bride and groom songs
to play during the reception.
And it just saves you,
from having to create
a playlist that you're
only going to use once.
And you can just go ahead and
just burn through these songs
just like that.
And again, since it's in the prepare crate
you know they've been
played once they disappear.
It just makes for a great
way to keep your playlist
a little more tidy instead of
having a bunch of like I said
single use playlist.
A playlist of songs you're
probably never gonna
you know use again in that kinda sequence.
Instead of doing that,
you can just drop them
into the prepare crate
and once you're done with your gig
there's nothing to delete
out of your playlist folders
or anything like that.
They're gone, and you're good to go.
Now the third way that I
like using the prepare crate
is in the case of highlighting
what I like to call,
short or mini sets.
So, I'm an open format DJ,
and I play a range of different genres.
And, just to keep my kind
of sets a little bit more
personalized and have a
little bit more creativity,
I have certain combinations of
songs that I've come up with
that I know work together.
Maybe they work together
with, similar melodies,
or word-play or tone-play,
something like that.
Instead of having to create, more playlist
with just three to five songs in them,
I can just go ahead and
use the prepare crate
to just go ahead and
add them really quickly.
So for instance, I'll play this song
together with this song,
together with this song.
And instead of having to create a playlist
with just these three songs,
because this is a really good combination
that I know really works well.
I can just throw these in the prepare,
instead of having to
create a brand new playlist
just for something like this.
And I have a ton of
these that I go through
during the night.
Now there are some DJ's
that like having these saved
in a playlist folder and
having them all laid out here.
So, if you like doing that,
by all means go ahead and do that.
But this is just another
great option for people
that don't like having
tons and tons of playlist
here that you know they could just,
use this prepare crate to
just kind of load them in
really quickly because they already know,
what kind of combination
that they're gonna use.
Many DJ's don't even know
what the prepare crate is.
And it's such a powerful tool
that changed the way that I DJ.
By using these three
prepare crate techniques
that I just went over,
you can not only have
more cohesive DJ sets, but
you can also have a more
organized DJ library.
Now if you haven't already started using
this powerful feature that's
found in most DJ software,
you should give it a try,
and see if you find it as useful as I do.
And now we hand it over to you guys.
How do you pick the next
song that you're gonna play
when you're playing out live?
Go ahead and leave that
down in the comments below.
I'd love to hear what
you guys have to say.
And as always, if you're
interested in more tips and tricks
videos just like this one,
make sure you subscribe to this channel.
But now, get good, get out
there, and make the moments.
(heavy bass relaxing music)
