Track Prep

What it's for — Track Prep is where you analyse tracks, edit beat grids, place hot cues, and review cue suggestions before using a track in a live set. Well-prepped tracks give Auto Pilot and the cue engine everything they need to fire at the right moments.

The screen, region by region

Tab strip (top) — Two tabs:

• Library — Browse and select tracks from connected Pioneer USB drives, local files, or the tracks currently loaded on your decks.
• Show Memory — Tracks you have already used in the current show, with their prep status preserved.

Prep Run strip — When tracks in your library still need analysis, the toolbar shows an Analyze all N button. Starting a run docks a progress strip above the library: "Preparing X / Y" with the current stage, an estimated time remaining, and a Cancel button. When the run finishes you get a summary — "N tracks analyzed" — with a Generate cues button to turn the fresh analysis into suggested cues in one step. Failed tracks are reported honestly ("N need attention", each with its reason) rather than silently skipped. Bulk prep pauses automatically if you start a live set (Auto Pilot arms) and resumes when it disarms.

Track overview panel — When you select a track in the Library tab, this panel shows a compact waveform of the full track plus BPM, grid, and key badges. Click a point on the waveform to preview that position.

Editor (full panel, opens when you double-click a track) — The detailed editing surface:

• Waveform canvas — Full-colour waveform with beat markers, phrase blocks, and hot-cue markers overlaid. Drag a hot-cue marker to reposition it. Pinch-to-zoom or use the zoom controls.
• BPM / beat-grid editor (Cmd+B) — Adjust the BPM and snap the beat grid. Use tap-tempo or enter a value directly. Drag beat markers to fix grid offset.
• Key / Camelot display — Shows the detected musical key in both standard and Camelot notation. The Library screen highlights compatible keys for the currently playing track.
• Phrase strip — Colour-coded phrase blocks (Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Outro, etc.) derived from the track's structure analysis. Phrases are the primary input for Auto Pilot and phrase-triggered cues.
• Cue suggestion list — Suggested cue positions generated from the track's analysis. Each suggestion shows the moment type (drop, build, chorus peak, etc.), beat position, and confidence. Click the test-fire button on any suggestion to hear what firing at that moment would sound like. Accept a suggestion to add it to the cue stack.
• Analysis confidence and loudness chips — Indicators showing the overall quality of the analysis and the track's integrated loudness.

Common tasks

1. Open a track for prep — Browse to it in the Library tab, then double-click the row. The editor opens.
2. Analyse a track — Analysis starts automatically when you open a track that has not been fully analysed yet and Auto Pilot is not currently armed. You can also click the Analyse button in the prep status panel to start analysis manually.
3. Edit the BPM and beat grid — Press Cmd+B to open the BPM/beat-grid editor. Adjust the BPM value or drag the grid anchor. The waveform snaps to the new grid in real time.
4. Move a hot cue — Drag its marker on the waveform canvas to the new position. The marker snaps to the nearest beat.
5. Accept a cue suggestion — In the cue suggestion list, click the checkmark next to a suggestion. The cue is added to your cue stack with the suggested trigger already configured.
6. Test-fire a suggestion — Click the play icon on any suggestion row. The cue fires immediately so you can preview the output before committing.
7. Prep the whole library at once — Click Analyze all N in the Library toolbar. The Prep Run works through every track that needs analysis (local files, USB tracks with incomplete analysis, un-prepped deck tracks) two at a time in the background — sound-checking with a CDJ connected is fine. When it completes, click Generate cues to review suggestions for the freshly analysed tracks.
8. Zoom the waveform — Press Cmd+= to zoom in, Cmd+- to zoom out.

Tips & gotchas

• Analysis runs automatically on open, but only when safe. If Auto Pilot is armed (a live set is running), auto-analysis is suspended to avoid interfering with the show. Prep tracks before arming Auto Pilot, or manually trigger analysis between sets.
• USB tracks benefit from enhanced analysis. Tracks on a connected Pioneer USB drive receive additional analysis that merges rekordbox data with CueSync's own DSP pass, giving more accurate phrase detection and energy curves than either source alone.
• Editing BPM or grid demotes ready state. If a cue was marked Ready before you change the grid, it drops back to Drafted — the cue's timing may have shifted.
• The classic editor is still available. Track Prep opens the Score Canvas editor by default; if you prefer the classic single-waveform editor, switch under Settings → Advanced. Your cue list is identical in both — the choice is purely about the editing surface.
• Optional analysis features live in Settings → Analysis. On-device extras — Vocal Detection (tags vocal tracks and marks where vocals return after a long instrumental break, feeding cue suggestions), Intro & Outro Boundaries (detects phrase changes in the first and last bars so short intros aren't swallowed), and Drop Detection — are off by default and only affect local-track analysis; Pioneer tracks keep their rekordbox-authored phrases. See Settings.
• The loudness chip is a read-out, not a control. Integrated LUFS and loudness range appear next to BPM and key so you can spot brick-walled or quiet masters at a glance. To fire cues on loudness, use the Loudness Transition trigger (Production edition) — it fires once when the track's live loudness enters an absolute LUFS band, which stays consistent across tracks in a way relative energy levels can't.

Related

• Library — Browse and select tracks from all sources
• Cues — Manage the cue stack that accepted suggestions feed into
• Show Timeline — Visualise the fire plan against track structure