Colourize compatible tracks in track table for harmonic mixing

[RAFFI TEA]

Harmonic mixing is a great technique to blend songs together.
Mixxx currently provides a key code column, so why not colourize compatible tracks in the track table -- based on the track which is currently playing.

[Norayr (norayr)]

i just commented under the bug #674067, but let me paste it here as well.

i second this.
i need it very much.
when i play with pioneer hw it helps me by showing key near the track in green colour by signaling that this key is compatible with the key of what is played now so it is one of the choices for the next track.

when you play for hours, and are not able to prepare everything in advance, or if you have to improvise because you read the audience, this is very helpful.

and absence of it is literally a showstopper for using mixxx in many cases.

[Norayr (norayr)]

sorry, one addition.
this is a feature which is very simple, but adds a lot value, it is very significant.

i think if i were fluent in c++ and if i did know mixxx codebase, the db, i would add it like, not more than in a couple of days. may be i am wrong, and there's a lot of things to damage.

but still, please understand that this is really must have attribute for dj software.

[Be (be.ing)]

This is not simple. Mixxx has no concept of a focused deck to reference in the library. That would have to be added before anything like this is possible.

[Daniel Schürmann (daschuer)]

This is not necessarily required. Mixxx has s concept of a current Track which is displayed In the window title. That can be used.

[Be (be.ing)]

It is nice that there is already a mechanism for automatically selecting that deck, but that is not good enough. The user must be able to explicitly set the deck or their library could filter in a way they don't want.

[Sean M. Pappalardo (pegasus-renegadetech)]

Sure, that's the ideal, but we can start with Current Track for now and expand later.

[Be (be.ing)]

Please, no ugly hacks. Do it right or it will be more distracting than helpful.

[Norayr (norayr)]

>Mixxx has no concept of a focused deck to reference in the library.

what is focused deck? the one which is currently playing?

>Mixxx has s concept of a current Track which is displayed In the window title. That can be used.

exactly!

>The user must be able to explicitly set the deck or their library could filter in a way they don't want.

pioneers don't have that feature, i believe.

>start with Current Track for now and expand later.

once you have current track, you may use something like this to find the tracks with compatible key: https://mixedinkey.com/harmonic-mixing-guide/

i understand you may already know that. i am just afraid that may be you'd consider compatible track by only the same key. the key may be different, but they might mix well.

[jus (jus)]

As workaround, you can use the SEARCH function for now.

Knowing the key of the track currently playing, just enter that key into the search, and get all harmonically compatible tracks. You can also combine that with other operators like BPM: , to get more granular results.

* Supports fuzzy matching of key searches using the ``~``operator. The following example lists tracks with harmonically compatible keys to C# minor.
~key:c#m

https://mixxx.org/manual/latest/en/chapters/library.html
Note: Looks like the link to them manual is currently down

[Milkii Brewster (mxmilkiib)]

This would be incredibly handy.

Rekordbox has had the ability to select the deck for their traffic light indicator system since 2018; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26C6MowxSy0

Though, as Phil Morse points out and breaks down in their really good CDJ-3000 review - https://youtu.be/9eECvYYAwbg?t=2370 - there are really six options to choose from, not just four, though covering that range in Pioneer gear is apparently a new thing.

(An alternative option to having it in the library could be a UI feature in a similar shape/location as the Spinnies but that would indeed be an advanced faff that would need a lot of thinking out to get right. Just colouring the Key column fields and having a dropdown for current/deck1/deck2/deck3/deck4, as a straight copy of other implementations, would seem most sensible.)

((Also, is it not "Open Key" rather than "OpenKey"? Full name "Open Key Notation". Even the graphic from the Mixxx blog post about it has the space.))

[Uwe Klotz (uklotzde-deactivatedaccount)]

Compatible keys extension: https://github.com/mixxxdj/mixxx/pull/3205

[Milkii Brewster (mxmilkiib)]

If Mixxx were to adopt a traffic light system for key matching (relative the existing 'current track' mechanism or a drop-down menu/MIDI selection/whatever), I think it would make further sense to also signify tracks to the user that would work harmonically after a small pitch-change.

Maybe the key cells of truly harmonicly compatible tracks could have the standard traffic light look, and tracks that would need a semitone nudge would have just a thick border of the colour around the cell edge, and ones that need a full tone change would have a very thin but still noticeable border?

[Swiftb0y (swiftb0y)]

Mixxx now uses GitHub for bug tracking. This bug has been migrated to:
https://github.com/mixxxdj/mixxx/issues/6018