djay is a digital music mixing software program for DJs on

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, iOS, Android, visionOS, and Meta Quest created by the German company algoriddim. It allows playback and mixing of

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital signal (signal processing), digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical sampling (signal processing), ...

files with a

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

that tries to simulate the concept of " two turntables and a microphone" on a computer. Before the commercial release in November 2007, djay had initially been released as

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

in June 2006. In December 2010 the software was also released for the

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

, and subsequently for

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

and

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

in March 2011. Its interface consists of two

turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

, a mixer and a music library showing songs and

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

s from

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. djay for iPad received an Apple Design Award in 2011.

Features

iTunes integration

djay's iTunes integration allows the user to mix songs directly from the

library. It provides the option of browsing the library, for example by

Playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

Artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

, Key, or History. Dragging songs onto the turntables in djay, transforms them into virtual records complete with album art.

Streaming services

djay supports multiple

music streaming services A music streaming service is a type of online streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to s ...

: * djay for macOS, iOS, and Windows supports

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

, Tidal,

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards disk jockey, DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that ...

, and Beatsource * djay for Android supports Apple Music, Tidal, and SoundCloud * djay for visionOS supports Apple Music Neural Mix is disabled with Apple Music and Tidal.

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

integration was removed in July 2020.

Automix

Automix mode enables djay to automatically mix songs from the

library, and play them instantaneously with DJ-style transitions. Using the Automix Queue the user can step in any time and immediately queue up tracks.

Transitions

djay's instantaneous beat and

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

detection allows the user to match the BPM of two songs for a transition. On pressing the SYNC button the software automatically syncs the BPM of the two songs so that both are smoothly aligned.

Record live performance

djay allows the user record live mixes and save them in high-quality sound files. It also contains a built-in organizer arranges, previews or exports the recordings.

Multi-Touch trackpad control

Mac has a tool called the

Multi-Touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one somatosensory system, point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CE ...

trackpad. djay can dynamically utilize this trackpad to fully control the software with versatile

gestures. For example, a rotating gestures can adjust the EQ, while two finger swipe gesture can scratch the record and operate the crossfader.

Live sampler

There is a built-in sample pack featuring 20 high-quality sounds made by ueberschal, a company in the sampling industry. In addition, djay allows the user to create custom samples from the turntables or the microphone.

Mixer and EQ controls

djay consists of a 3-band equalizers, gain, line faders, and a crossfader that provide the user with the necessary tools needed for a DJ setup to seamlessly blend one song into another.

Neural Mix

Tracks can be separated individual song elements called stems, allowing instruments, vocals, and drums from multiple tracks to be mixed independently. This is useful for remixing songs, creating

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

versions, and creating mashups. Neural Mix is disabled with Apple Music and Tidal.

Harmonic Match

The software can automatically detect a song's key and matches it to songs of the same key within the

music library. It also allows the user to transpose songs into different keys, and even sort the entire music library by key. This functionality can be used for harmonic mixing.

High-quality audio FX

djay includes three FX control panes for different mixing styles: a one-touch panel for instant FX, a custom pane, and a 2D touch interface. Effects include Flanger, Phaser, Echo, Gate, Bit Crusher, Filter (High Pass, Low Pass), as well as six preconfigured instant effects: Absorb, Drift, Sway, Crush, Punch, Twist are bundled in with djay.

Beat-matched looping & cue points

djay has a range of different looping styles: Auto, Manual and Bounce. The use can manually set loop in and out points, use Auto-Loop to continuously loop part of a song, or remix live using Bounce-Loop to mash up the song, all in perfect sync with the beat.

iCloud integration

The program can work with

iCloud iCloud is the personal cloud service of Apple Inc. Launched on October 12, 2011, iCloud enables users to store and Data synchronization, sync data across devices, including Apple Mail, Calendar (Apple), Apple Calendar, Photos (Apple), Apple Ph ...

(and

Match), meaning the user can sync it with the iTunes library in the cloud. In other words, tunes are synced between every iOS device connected on the cloud. All of these devices can run djay, and cues and BPM information edited or added in will appear immediately in all of the others. There is a remote control available for iOS to control the djay app from the macOS app over WiFi.

Pre-cueing

djay allows the user to preview and prepare the next song through headphones before playing it on the main speakers by simply connecting a

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

audio interface or splitter cable. The software offers different audio hardware configurations.

Live microphone

djay allows the user to add live

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...

input into the mix. Using Echo or Pitch-Changer effects once can transform vocals for an appropriate MC performance.

MIDI controllers

djay supports controllers such as Vestax, Numark and other manufacturers. In addition, djay features a

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

learn system allowing users to configure and map any controller to their preference.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official djay for Mac websiteOfficial djay for iPad websiteOfficial djay for iPhone websiteOfficial djay for Microsoft Windows
MacOS software Windows software DJ software Audio mixing software