How to Load Dropkit Tracks Into Traktor Pro With Cue Points

Traktor Pro loads a Dropkit track like any other MP3: it reads BPM, key, artist, title and cover art from the standard tags, analyses the file for its own grid and key, and leaves cue points to you. The Serato hot cues embedded in studio tracks are not read by Traktor, so you place cue points in the Cue panel using the times in cue points.txt from the DJ pack, or, for a DJ edit, the start, intro end and outro start times in the comment tag. Because Dropkit intros and outros are exact bar counts on a fixed grid, each cue sits on a downbeat and takes seconds to set.

Steps

1. Collect the files and the cue sheet

For a studio track download the DJ pack and unzip it so you have the MP3 and cue points.txt side by side. cue points.txt lists the BPM, the key in Camelot, Open Key and musical form, the intro and outro bar counts, then each cue as a m:ss.mmm time with a name. For a DJ edit, press MP3 320; its cue times are inside the file's comment tag. Put the audio in a folder Traktor already watches.

2. Import and analyse

Use Import Music Folders, or drag the files into the Track Collection, then run Analyze on the new tracks. Traktor fills in BPM from its own analysis; it should agree with the TBPM tag because the file was rendered at a fixed tempo. Title, artist, album Dropkit and the cover appear from the tags. DJ edits carry the genre DJ Edit, which is handy for a smart list later.

3. Check the grid

Load the track and look at the beat grid. Studio tracks with the default Hard start on bar 1 begin on the first downbeat at 0, and a DJ edit starts with its drum-loop intro on a bar boundary, so the first grid marker belongs at the very start of the file. If Traktor placed it elsewhere, move the grid marker to 0 and keep the detected BPM. The tempo is constant, so one marker holds the whole track.

4. Sort out the key notation

Open the key settings and set Key notation to Open Key if you mix with Dropkit's OPENKEY values such as 1m, or leave musical notation to match the TKEY tag such as Am. Traktor runs its own key detection and may not read the OPENKEY tag, so if its result differs from the line in cue points.txt or the comment, decide which you trust and edit the key field by hand if you want the two to agree.

5. Set cue points for a studio track

Open the Cue panel. For each line in cue points.txt, jump to the m:ss.mmm time, snap to the nearest downbeat and store a cue point, then name it to match: intro end, first drop, outro start, vocal in. Studio cues are start, vocal in when known, intro end, first drop and outro start, so five cue slots cover a track. Set the intro end and outro start as the two you will use most for mixing.

6. Set cue points for a DJ edit

Read the comment, which ends with the cue list, for example start 0:00.000, intro end 0:30.476, outro start 3:12.000. Store a cue at 0, one at the intro end and one at the outro start. If you prefer counting, the intro end is Intro bars times four beats from the start, and the outro start is Outro bars times four beats before the end, so you can place both from the grid without looking at the comment at all.

7. Save and reuse the pattern

Traktor keeps cue points in its collection. Once you have done two or three tracks, the pattern repeats: cue at 0, cue at intro end, cue at outro start, plus first drop on studio tracks. Stick to the same slot numbers on every track so your hands know where the intro end is on any file.

Tips

• Keep cue points.txt in the same folder as the MP3. It is the fastest reference when you set cues, and it carries the Camelot and Open Key values in plain text.
• Use the same cue slot for intro end on every track, and the same slot for outro start. Consistency matters more than which slot.
• If a tempo-shifted DJ edit was made with Shift tempo to, the comment already lists the scaled cue times and the TBPM is the target BPM, so trust the comment over the original song's tempo.
• The WAV in the DJ pack has the same timing as the MP3, so cues set from cue points.txt fit either file.
• A smart list on album Dropkit gathers every file, studio tracks and DJ edits together.

Common problems

• Traktor shows a different key from the tag. Traktor used its own detection. Compare with cue points.txt or the comment and edit the key field if you want them to match.
• The grid marker is not at the start. Analysis chose a later beat. Move the first grid marker to 0; the tempo is fixed so the rest follows.
• No cue points after import. Expected. Traktor does not read the embedded Serato cues; set them in the Cue panel from cue points.txt or the comment.
• The cue from the sheet lands slightly off a beat. Snap it to the grid. The sheet time and the grid describe the same bar boundary; the grid is the one you mix on.