djryudo
Hey, so I just came back from VDJ since it was in version 7 or 8. (Forget which.) I currently have the latest version, 2021 v8.5-64 b6106. I'm trying to see if I can stop VDJ from scanning songs and changing their key. I use MP3s, and I use a separate program to find the key for all my music. All keys are put into the Initial Key tag. VDJ reads the key from that tag just fine, and I have "useKeyFromTag" set to Yes. However, VDJ still scans all the music I scroll to and changes some of them. Is there another setting in options I haven't found that I need to change, or can you not stop it from scanning and changing the key?
Posté Tue 29 Sep 20 @ 5:36 am
groovindj
See here https://www.virtualdj.com/forums/236475/VirtualDJ_Technical_Support/VDJ_2020___Unable_To__Reload_Tags__Of_Any_Song.html
Perhaps VDJ is giving priority to KEY rather than INITIALKEY.
Perhaps VDJ is giving priority to KEY rather than INITIALKEY.
Posté Tue 29 Sep 20 @ 7:44 am
djryudo
groovindj wrote :
See here https://www.virtualdj.com/forums/236475/VirtualDJ_Technical_Support/VDJ_2020___Unable_To__Reload_Tags__Of_Any_Song.html
Perhaps VDJ is giving priority to KEY rather than INITIALKEY.
Perhaps VDJ is giving priority to KEY rather than INITIALKEY.
Before you continue, I think I have a temp fix? I have no idea. It's 4am and I'm confused. lol
When I was searching the forums, I ran into people with that problem as well, but I don't think this is the case. I'm going to give more detail because I feel like I didn't give enough in the original post.
I use MP3s for music. When VDJ sees a new MP3, it adds the MP3 and it's tags just fine. In other words, it reads the Initial Key tag just fine for every MP3. Actually, I did have the 2020 version when I came back to VDJ, but I just didn't use it a whole lot. Just wanted to see what was new. The 2020 version was fine and didn't rewrite the keys. After leaving it alone for a month or few, I updated it to the 2021 version. When I did, every time I would open a new folder, or scroll down in a folder in the browser, it will show a red progress bar on each song that's currently on the screen. Once the red progress bar is done, the only thing that changes is the key. It doesn't rewrite the MP3's tag, but from what I understand, it stores the new key that it gave the MP3 in it's own database. So my original key tag is fine, but VDJ is showing a different key in the browser. I could just right click on the song, go into the Tag Editor, and replace the database's new key, but I do have thousands of songs. lol
To reiterate, when a song VDJ hasn't scanned shows up on my screen in the browser, it shows the key from the MP3's Initial Key tag correctly, UNTIL VDJ sends a red progress bar across it. Then VDJ replaces the key that it has already gotten from the MP3 with it's own key, storing it in it's own database. So my goal is to stop the "Red Scanning Bar", for an extreme lack of a better term at 3:45am, from changing the keys of my music.
Anyways, I decided to see what would happen if I let VDJ rewrite the MP3's tags with it's new key in the Tag Editor. It does replace, and still reads the Initial Key tag. So it's using the Initial Key tag itself. So I don't think that's the issue here.
So, literally as I was typing this, I wanted to see if I could record the problem. It doesn't seems to be an issue anymore??? The "Red Scanning Bar" thing still happens, but no longer replaces the keys of my music. The ONLY thing I have done since I created this topic was right click my folder and clicked Reload Tags under Batch. I saw it fixed something completely different in another topic, but I guess I never checked to see if that fixed it.
I went ahead and tried to see if I could possibly recreate it with another folder. I used another music folder, one that was already made, filled with music, and already in the database. I scrolled and let VDJ scan them. Sure enough, it replaced some key tags. So I used Reload Tags, scroll down and let VDJ scan the rest of the music in the folder, and no longer had the issue. Next test, I made a new folder, but copied MP3s from a folder VDJ 2021 hasn't scanned, into that new folder. The new folder was in a completely different place in the computer. It did the exact same thing. Replaced the keys from the MP3 tag with it's own key. I didn't do the Rescan Tags thing that time, though. I did want to try to do a Rescan Tags with a new folder with the same MP3s, but VDJ didn't even bother scanning the MP3s. So the database knows what exact MP3s it's scanned, and it's not based off of the folder? idk man I'm not a programmer. This is beyond me. LOL
Anyways, I feel like this is a temporary fix. I don't plan on doing gigs any time soon, but I always want to be ready in case that changes. So if anyone has any better suggestions, please let me know.
Posté Tue 29 Sep 20 @ 9:23 am
Adion
If you have useKeyFromTags enabled it should not change the key.
Can you check if the original key is still displayed in the tag editor? (Under the key field, listed as "Tag:") ?
Can you check if the original key is still displayed in the tag editor? (Under the key field, listed as "Tag:") ?
Posté Tue 29 Sep 20 @ 10:28 am
djryudo
Adion wrote :
If you have useKeyFromTags enabled it should not change the key.
Can you check if the original key is still displayed in the tag editor? (Under the key field, listed as "Tag:") ?
Can you check if the original key is still displayed in the tag editor? (Under the key field, listed as "Tag:") ?
https://imgur.com/a/cJZzygP
Here's three screenshots I just took. First one is the tag editor for one of the songs affected. Second picture is the first group of songs in the folder that was scanned. They're in order of key before the scan with the screenshot happening after the scan. Third is pretty obvious, but that's the useKeyFromTag setting in options that I have set.
Posté Tue 29 Sep 20 @ 5:37 pm
Adion
So the file that is selected in the second picture is the one that is shown in the first picture?
Posté Tue 29 Sep 20 @ 8:23 pm
djryudo
Adion wrote :
So the file that is selected in the second picture is the one that is shown in the first picture?
The F#m, yes. Same one.
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 12:19 am
Ron Barend
F#m and 11A are the same.
setting "keydisplay" "Musical" ? setting "keydisplay" "Harmonic" : setting "keydisplay" "Musical"
setting "keydisplay" "Musical" ? setting "keydisplay" "Harmonic" : setting "keydisplay" "Musical"
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 9:50 am
groovindj
If you look closely you'll notice that in the tag and the comment, the key is listed as 1A (G#m) so presumably the problem is that VDJ analyses it as 11A (F#m).
[later] Just tested it here (same track) and MIK analyses it as 1A but VDJ says it's 11A...
[later] Just tested it here (same track) and MIK analyses it as 1A but VDJ says it's 11A...
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 10:23 am
Ron Barend
As far as I know, the key is read from the key tag, the comment tag is not relevant in this.
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 10:38 am
groovindj
ronbarend wrote :
the comment tag is not relevant
I'm not claiming that it is - I'm just saying VDJ thinks it's 11A but MIK thinks it's 1A.
It's probably one of those tracks that doesn't have enough note info for key detection to be 100% sure about it.
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 10:47 am
Adion
And as you see in the tag editor, the key in the tag is also 1A so with useKeyTag enabled it should be showing that one instead of the one vdj calculated
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 10:58 am
groovindj
So does useKeyFromTag look in both KEY and INITIALKEY?
If it does, which one takes priority, and how? Does a value in one take priority over blank in the other? What if there are different values in both?
If it does, which one takes priority, and how? Does a value in one take priority over blank in the other? What if there are different values in both?
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 11:16 am
djryudo
Hi I was asleep. lol
Yes, I know F#m and 11A are the same. I interchange how I say keys for no good reason, don't know why. I use the Harmonic display in VDJ just because it's faster for my brain to comprehend numbers. Thanks for the settings help, though!
Pretty much. Such Is Life mixing Electronic music. lol
This is a super good question. I didn't think about how the useKeyFromTag setting itself reads the tags. Could you elaborate, Adion? I would be surprised if it reads from the Key tag, as VDJ itself writes to Initial Key from the Tag Editor. That was tested with a MP3 that I removed the Key and Initial Key tag from. If it is the "Key" tag, that would certainly suck for me.
ronbarend wrote :
F#m and 11A are the same.
setting "keydisplay" "Musical" ? setting "keydisplay" "Harmonic" : setting "keydisplay" "Musical"
setting "keydisplay" "Musical" ? setting "keydisplay" "Harmonic" : setting "keydisplay" "Musical"
Yes, I know F#m and 11A are the same. I interchange how I say keys for no good reason, don't know why. I use the Harmonic display in VDJ just because it's faster for my brain to comprehend numbers. Thanks for the settings help, though!
groovindj wrote :
It's probably one of those tracks that doesn't have enough note info for key detection to be 100% sure about it.
Pretty much. Such Is Life mixing Electronic music. lol
Adion wrote :
And as you see in the tag editor, the key in the tag is also 1A so with useKeyTag enabled it should be showing that one instead of the one vdj calculated
groovindj wrote :
So does useKeyFromTag look in both KEY and INITIALKEY?
If it does, which one takes priority, and how? Does a value in one take priority over blank in the other? What if there are different values in both?
If it does, which one takes priority, and how? Does a value in one take priority over blank in the other? What if there are different values in both?
This is a super good question. I didn't think about how the useKeyFromTag setting itself reads the tags. Could you elaborate, Adion? I would be surprised if it reads from the Key tag, as VDJ itself writes to Initial Key from the Tag Editor. That was tested with a MP3 that I removed the Key and Initial Key tag from. If it is the "Key" tag, that would certainly suck for me.
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 5:30 pm
Adion
For mp3's there's only one tag field defined.
Anyway, I tried to reproduce, but with useKeyFromTag enabled the key does not change while scanning.
When useKeyFromTag is enabled, the Tag Editor will also show the value that VirtualDJ did read from the tag initially.
Since that is different from the current value in the tag (just underneath the key field in tag editor) it appears that either the key was manually changed in VirtualDJ, or the file was scanned in other software after VirtualDJ had already seen it.
You can select the affected files in the VirtualDJ browser and select Batch->Reload Tags to make VirtualDJ re-read the tag and update the key from there.
Anyway, I tried to reproduce, but with useKeyFromTag enabled the key does not change while scanning.
When useKeyFromTag is enabled, the Tag Editor will also show the value that VirtualDJ did read from the tag initially.
Since that is different from the current value in the tag (just underneath the key field in tag editor) it appears that either the key was manually changed in VirtualDJ, or the file was scanned in other software after VirtualDJ had already seen it.
You can select the affected files in the VirtualDJ browser and select Batch->Reload Tags to make VirtualDJ re-read the tag and update the key from there.
Posté Wed 30 Sep 20 @ 7:28 pm
djflexvibrations
try going into settings then options then in the search bar type usekey and make sure usekeyFrom tag is set to no. I had the same issue when I did this it corrected my key
Posté Fri 02 Oct 20 @ 12:01 pm
Ron Barend
The question then remains who is right, the initial key in the file, or what VDJ calculates. I assume that the first mentioned is the truth, until the moment that VDJ writes its results to 'tkey' or 'key' in the file.
Posté Fri 02 Oct 20 @ 12:49 pm
djryudo
Really sorry for not posting for awhile. Work is rough at the moment. I'm considering this issue fixed, so you can skip the rest of this post if TL;DR
So, I messed with it awhile longer, and I really can't fix the issue. The last thing I really want to do is remake the database just to see if that fixes the issue. (I say "remake" because I'm use to the VDJ7 days where you just delete the database file. Not even sure is that's a thing anymore. Haven't bothered looking.) What I have confirmed, as Adion said, is doing Batch - > Reload tags fixes the problem. So, if anyone in the future happens to have the same problem, this is what you do:
First, use whatever third party key finder program you want. If you use MP3s like me, Initial Key is the only tag VDJ reads. You can make a "Key" tag, but you need a third party program to make it, and it's not read by most programs because it's not a default tag for MP3s. Therefore, VDJ only reads the Initial Key tag from MP3s.
Once you add the MP3s to the VDJ database (aka start the program and have the MP3 in a folder the database searches), let VDJ do the "Red Bar Scan Thing" to all the MP3 in the folder. Once it's done, simply right click the folder in the browser, go to "Batch", then click "Reload Tags". Wait a little bit (depends on the amount of files in the folder) and VDJ will refresh the browser with the key that's in the MP3's tag, and not the one VDJ provided.
Now, this is NOT to say that VDJ's read of the music's key is wrong. In fact, I've found it to be right in most cases. I checked about 50 songs, and VDJ has about the same error ratio as the third party program I use. So I wouldn't be so worried about the whole VDJ scan thing if you don't use third party key software. It's just as good if you're as lazy as I am. Most of the times VDJ would just switch the key to the corresponding "harmonic" major/minor key. (aka 11A [F#m] to 11B [A Major]) You just gotta know what's what. : P
Thanks for helping me out, everyone. It's frustrating, but this fix isn't too bad in my opinion. Better than right clicking every song and editing the Tag Editor. Thanks for the Reload tags option, VDJ!
So, I messed with it awhile longer, and I really can't fix the issue. The last thing I really want to do is remake the database just to see if that fixes the issue. (I say "remake" because I'm use to the VDJ7 days where you just delete the database file. Not even sure is that's a thing anymore. Haven't bothered looking.) What I have confirmed, as Adion said, is doing Batch - > Reload tags fixes the problem. So, if anyone in the future happens to have the same problem, this is what you do:
First, use whatever third party key finder program you want. If you use MP3s like me, Initial Key is the only tag VDJ reads. You can make a "Key" tag, but you need a third party program to make it, and it's not read by most programs because it's not a default tag for MP3s. Therefore, VDJ only reads the Initial Key tag from MP3s.
Once you add the MP3s to the VDJ database (aka start the program and have the MP3 in a folder the database searches), let VDJ do the "Red Bar Scan Thing" to all the MP3 in the folder. Once it's done, simply right click the folder in the browser, go to "Batch", then click "Reload Tags". Wait a little bit (depends on the amount of files in the folder) and VDJ will refresh the browser with the key that's in the MP3's tag, and not the one VDJ provided.
Now, this is NOT to say that VDJ's read of the music's key is wrong. In fact, I've found it to be right in most cases. I checked about 50 songs, and VDJ has about the same error ratio as the third party program I use. So I wouldn't be so worried about the whole VDJ scan thing if you don't use third party key software. It's just as good if you're as lazy as I am. Most of the times VDJ would just switch the key to the corresponding "harmonic" major/minor key. (aka 11A [F#m] to 11B [A Major]) You just gotta know what's what. : P
Thanks for helping me out, everyone. It's frustrating, but this fix isn't too bad in my opinion. Better than right clicking every song and editing the Tag Editor. Thanks for the Reload tags option, VDJ!
Posté Mon 05 Oct 20 @ 4:32 am
groovindj
As you've solved the issue with 'reload tags', I'm curious about one thing...
Did you use Mixed In Key on your files after you had added them to your VDJ database?
Did you use Mixed In Key on your files after you had added them to your VDJ database?
Posté Mon 05 Oct 20 @ 7:44 am
djryudo
groovindj wrote :
As you've solved the issue with 'reload tags', I'm curious about one thing...
Did you use Mixed In Key on your files after you had added them to your VDJ database?
Did you use Mixed In Key on your files after you had added them to your VDJ database?
Before. I keep all my music on a backup HDD that's not a part of the OS, and when I buy my music, it goes on the OS HDD first. VDJ does not have a database for my OS HDD. So, I download the music to my OS HDD, use MIK on them, then move them to the backup HDD. I've been doing this since VDJ7 because of how VDJ adds the tags to it's database. It's just easier to let MIK add all the tags before I move it into the database.
Posté Mon 05 Oct 20 @ 7:48 pm
