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Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2

1. You will hear the amount of the Delay Effect increasing and observe that the Effects Dis play moves to diagonally as both the Effect parameter moves to the both along the X axis and up the Y axis Now turn both of these knobs to the left You will hear the amount of the effect applied lessens 2 Now press FX buttons 2 and 3 so that all 3 FX buttons are engaged Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 94 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using FX All three FX buttons are now illuminated orange and you will now hear that the track playing is affected by 3 of TRAKTOR DJ s effects 1 Moving the DRY WET knob will now control all three of the selected effect variables along TRAKTOR DJ s Y axis Saving a Group of Effects When using TRAKTOR DJ s effects in your DJ sessions if you come across a combination of effects that you wish to utilize again at a later point you can store these by gt Pressing SHIFT MODE buttons The next time you wish to use this effect preset again simply press the MODE button again A You can only store one group of FX at any one time in TRAKTOR DJ A Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 95 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts 6 Hardware Reference This chapter details all you can do with your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller After a quick introduction to the main areas on your S4 and to their underlying concepts we will give a thorough description of each and every control element on yo
2. It is not recommended to run the laptop on battery as power management might slow the clock rate of the CPU down to save battery Disconnect all unused hardware e g printer scanner This will increase the amount of processing power available for your music software Laptops often are equipped with built in devices that disturb audio processing most com monly a network adapter or a wireless LAN card You might need to disable these devices while working with the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 9 3 Loose Jog Wheel Top Plate The flat round push sensitive surface of the jog wheels on your TKS4 was designed to be easily replaceable Due to heavy shocks or extreme vibration during travelling in some rare cases a jog wheel top plate might become loose or detached from the controller It can easily be reattached to the base of the jog wheel To do this 1 Align the connector pins on the bottom of the top plate with the corresponding clips on the jog wheel base 2 Hold the rubber rim of the wheel steady with one hand 3 Use the other hand to push the plate down into the round central area of the jog wheel and twist the plate around to the left anti clockwise until the pins click back into the clips on the base you may hear a clicking sound Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 188 Troubleshooting and Help TRAKTOR Crashes Once the plate has clicked back into place it should be securely fastened to the unit If it is still loose try
3. Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 46 Tutorials Looping and Cueing Deactivating Looping If you want to deactivate the current Loop do the following gt To deactivate looping push either of the Loop MOVE or Loop SIZE encoder The playback continues after the Loop D By pushing the Loop MOVE encoder when there is no Loop currently active you activate H looping the next Loop in the track will be activated 4 4 2 Using Hotcues In this tutorial and in the previous one we already used Hotcues to store Cue Points and Loops We want to show you here a few more details on their use Hotcue buttons with various assignments As already explained when pressing an unlit Hotcue button if there is no Loop active you store a Cue Point at the current playback position the Hotcue button turns blue and if there is a Loop active you store this Loop the Hotcue button turns green On the waveform of the software Deck you can see that a line with the same color appears in the track at the corresponding position Moreover a little number at the top reminds you which button you should use to jump to that Cue Point or Loop A waveform with a Cue Point stored as Hotcue 2 and a Loop stored as Hotcue 3 If you make a mistake or just decide you no longer want a particular Hotcue you can quickly clear it Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 47 Tutorials Using Samples in Your Mix gt Toclear a Hotcue hold down the SHIFT butt
4. It can be necessary when synching to a playing vinyl record or to the previous DJ You can combine it with TRAKTOR s advanced features thus further developing your own mixing style To show this let s mix a new track on Deck A with the one we just mixed in on Deck B From now on the track on Deck B is on air i e it is heard by your audience Hence we will now exclusively work on the left Deck which controls Deck A in the software First Steps 1 First check that the crossfader is at full right 2 With the track on Deck B still playing load the track House 1 onto Deck A reminder turn the BROWSE encoder to select the track in the list then push LOAD on the left Deck At first it may help to select a track with a similar BPM 3 Press PLAY on the left Deck to start the playback of the new track On the same Deck make sure the SYNC button is off 5 On the Mixer deactivate the CUE button above channel B s fader and activate that of channel A to hear the new track in the headphone mix you might need to adjust the CUE MIX knob accordingly B Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 37 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track Adjusting the Tempo The tempo for each Deck can be manually controlled via the TEMPO fader RANGE TEMPO Use the TEMPO fader to adjust the Deck s tempo gt Adjust the TEMPO fader on the left Deck until the track s BPM either sounds right or directly mat
5. Text appearing elsewhere labels of buttons controls text next to checkboxes etc is printed in blue Whenever you see this formatting applied you will find the same text ap pearing somewhere on the screen Text referring to elements printed on hardware is formatted orange Whenever you see this formatting applied you will find the same text appearing on the hardware Important names and concepts are printed in bold gt Single instructions are introduced by this play button type arrow Results of actions are introduced by this smaller arrow Pet Names for Software and Hardware Throughout the documentation we will refer to the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware control ler either as TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 or simply S4 Likewise the TRAKTOR software will often be referred as TRAKTOR PRO or simply TRAK TOR Hence a sentence like TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is a highly integrated DJ system allowing you to control TRAKTOR from your S4 shouldn t sound weird to you 1 3 System Requirements For the minimum system requirements your computer needs to meet see the TRAKTOR speci fications section of the Native Instruments website http www native instruments com en products traktor dj software traktor pro 2 specifications Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 14 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 System Requirements To check the compatibility with several operating systems please have a look
6. 4 4 1 Playing with Loops On your S4 each Deck is equipped with dedicated loop controls located in the Loop section right under the Deck Display The Loop section from left to right Loop MOVE encoder LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons and Loop SIZE encoder Setting a Loop with a Predefined Size Let s add a Loop to the track on Deck A SIZE O OR ai The Loop SIZE encoder gt To engage a loop on a playing track just push down the Loop SIZE encoder This will automatically add a loop at that position in the track Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 44 Tutorials Looping and Cueing The loop size will correspond to the number on the Deck Display just above the Loop SIZE en coder The Loop SIZE Display gt To change the size of the Loop just turn the same Loop SIZE encoder until the display reads the number of beats you d like the Loop to be Note that you can adjust the loop size either before or after you ve set the Loop When do ing it beforehand it will affect the next Loops you set Setting a Loop Manually You can also manually set loop start and loop end points To do this use the LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons in the Loop section The LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons 1 Press the LOOP IN button to set the Loop In Point 2 Press the LOOP OUT button to set the Loop Out Point As soon as you hit the LOOP OUT button a Loop is set and the track will start looping We already introduced the Snap mode
7. Ext will record from the Input FX Send Aux will pick up the signal assigned to TRAKTOR s Aux channel typically the S4 s mi crophone input for more info on how to use a microphone with your S4 please see 110 2 Adding a Microphone For our example we ll capture the main output gt Select Main in the Source menu Selecting the source is the only action that must be done in the software Everything else will be done from your S4 controller 4 71 2 Recording a Loop Let s now record a loop Adjusting the Loop Size Before we start recording we need to specify the size of the loop we are going to record Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 62 Tutorials Using the Loop Recorder gt Press the SIZE button on the S4 repeatedly to cycle through loop record sizes in bars You can see the current loop size in the software at the top of the Loop Recorder For our ex ample we ll choose a loop of 4 bars The selected loop size is displayed in the software Starting the Recording Now do the following 1 Cut the low and mid frequencies on channel B by turning the LOW and MID knobs fully counterclockwise 2 Turn the DRY WET knob of the Loop Recorder fully clockwise 3 When you re ready press the REC button The Loop Recorder will punch in REC button lit automatically punch out according to the selected loop size REC button back off and then begin playing PLAY button lit That s all there is to i
8. Processing State Control Panel 181 Q QUANT button and indicator 35 70 142 Quantize mode 35 70 142 Quick Loading samples 122 149 tracks 26 149 Quick References 209 R Rear panel 152 INPUT CHANNEL C section 155 INPUT CHANNEL D section 154 MAIN OUT section 153 POWER section 155 REC button 63 65 147 Recalibrating your S4 169 Recording a loop 62 Relative prefs 166 Relative mode 166 Remix Deck 48 concept 99 Quick Reference 212 Restoring the default settings 168 Reverb FX 57 S Sample Play buttons 50 65 120 Sample Play Buttons prefs 164 Sample Rate Mac OS X 177 Windows 180 Sample Slot 99 120 Samples 99 capturing from a track 52 grabbing from a track 121 151 loading 50 playback mode 51 123 playing 51 Quick Loading 122 stopping amp skipping back to start 51 triggering 51 unloading 54 124 SAMPLES indicator 112 Scratching on a track 115 Seeking through a track 115 Selecting track 26 Service Center 189 Setting a Loop in a track 44 117 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 230 Index Settings button prefs 173 Setup Guide 11 Setup Wizard 168 174 SHIFT button 110 tapping 130 Signal flow in channels 134 Single mode 59 144 SIZE button 63 146 Skipping back to start of track 35 SNAP button and indicator 70 141 SNAP indicator amp button 34 Snap mode 34 45
9. Hardware Reference The Decks gt By pressing SHIFT LOAD you unload the track from the Deck You will find more info on browsing and loading in section 16 7 1 Browsing Tracks and Sam ples Moreover the LOAD button lights up when you push the jog wheel s top plate e g for scratch ing see 16 3 6 Jog Wheel The LOAD button can be switched to an alternate assignment in which it activates a spe cial Jog mode for the jog wheel Please refer to section 7 3 S4 Control Options for more info 6 3 6 Jog Wheel oeckc The jog wheel right Deck pictured The jog wheel has several functions dealing with the playback of your Deck Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 114 Hardware Reference The Decks Tempo bending By spinning the jog wheel s outer rim you temporarily raise or lower the Deck tempo When you stop spinning the rim the Deck tempo returns to its original val ue Scratch By pressing and spinning the jog wheel s top plate you fully take over manual control for cueing up a beat back spinning or for scratching Also this can be very useful to precisely locate any particular point in your track Remix Set When you release the top plate the Deck returns to its previous playback state playing or paused Seek By additionally pressing SHIFT when spinning the jog wheel s top plate you can fast seek through your track Remix Set When you press the jog wheel s top plate the LOAD button abo
10. Set the Input Routing and Deck Flavors in TRAKTOR Instead of setting the input routing options and Deck Flavors manually as described here you can also use the Setup Wizard choose 2 Track Decks 2 Live Inputs in the menu click Fin ish and let the Wizard set everything for you Bear in mind though that the Setup Wizard ad ditionally resets all TRAKTOR settings to their default values For more info on the Setup Wiz ard please refer to section 17 5 The Setup Wizard In the TRAKTOR software we need to route the inputs of your S4 to the virtual input channels A and B and to set the lower Decks A and B to Live Input 1 Open the Preferences window by clicking on the Preferences button in TRAKTOR s Head er oC Ci 2 Go to Preferences gt Input Routing gt Input Channel A and select 1 In Ch A left and 2 In Ch A right in the L Mono and R menus respectively Mono 1 In Ch C left R 2 in Ch Cright 3 Go to Preferences gt Input Routing gt Input Channel B and select 3 In Ch B left and 4 In Ch B right in the L Mono and R menus respectively LiMono 3 In Ch Dieft R 4 In Ch Dright Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 203 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 with Turntables or CD Decks gr Go to Preferences gt Decks gt Deck Flavor and select Live Input in the A and B menus Click Close at the bottom of the Preferences window to confirm your modifications Deck A a
11. The RESET buttons are located above each of the TEMPO faders and allow a track s tempo to be reset at any point to its original tempo When this button is pressed it illuminates orange and locks the tempo at its original value Therefore moving the tempo faders will not affect the track s tempo at any point In case you don t use the TEMPO fader at all and play the Deck at its exact original speed you can lock the tempo and disable the fader on your S4 to avoid moving it by accident by pressing the RESET button To re enable the TEMPO fader gt Press the RESET button again FLUX Buttons The S4 s FLUX buttons are located above each of the TEMPO faders and when pressed will engage TRAKTOR s Flux Mode Flux mode lets you jump to cue points and loops without losing the overall phrasing of your tracks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 116 Hardware Reference The Decks Absolute Mode By default the TEMPO fader is in Absolute mode In this mode whenever you move the TEM PO fader on your S4 its position is transmitted 1 1 to the tempo fader on the software Deck which in the end controls the tempo of the software Deck Therefore the software Deck s tempo matches the TEMPO fader position on your S4 unless you have somehow changed the software Deck s tempo by other means such as Activating SYNC on that Deck to sync it to another tempo thus modifying the tempo on the software Deck As long as SYNC is on and the relevant
12. 53 70 141 Snapshot FX Unit 60 Sockets 108 FOOTSWITCH 153 IN 1 2 155 IN 3 4 154 MAIN OUT 1 2 1 4 154 MAIN OUT 1 2 RCA 153 MIC 155 199 MIDI IN OUT 153 PHONES 157 196 USB 156 Source menu Loop Recorder software 200 Storing a Cue Point 34 125 Storing a Hotcue 34 46 Storing a Loop 46 125 Switches 108 Switching between Deck flavors 170 SYNC button on Track Decks 33 69 129 Synchronization 66 Synchronizing tracks by hand 37 using automatic sync 33 System requirements 14 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 231 T Technical Specs 205 Tempo adjusting manually 38 automatically adjusting Sync 33 Tempo bending on Track Decks 39 115 TEMPO Fader 38 Absolute mode 117 Relative mode 166 Tempo Faders prefs 166 Tempo master 66 setting a Track Deck as 69 70 129 setting the Clock as 69 70 Tempo Offset buttons OFFSET in Relative mode 166 THRU USB switch 203 Track info 27 loading 25 playing 25 Track Collection 19 67 browsing 50 Track Deck 49 66 concept 99 Index Quick Reference 209 Tracks 99 TRAKTOR Clock 66 68 setting as tempo master 69 TRAKTOR mode 157 TRAKTOR 2 Manual 12 TRAKTOR DJ iOS Devices 73 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller 16 main areas 96 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Manual 11 12 Transport Section CUE 84 FLUX 85 SYNC 84 Troubleshooting 185 no audio 29 Turntable
13. Manual 128 Hardware Reference The Decks 6 3 12 SYNC Button The SYNC button The SYNC button activates deactivates the synchronization of the Deck to the current tempo master another Deck or the Clock The button is lit when synchronization is activated Activating the synchronization disables the TEMPO fader if it is in the default Absolute mode See section 16 3 7 Tempo Fader for more info Pressing SHIFT SYNC sets the Deck to tempo master the Deck tempo then serves as tempo reference for all other synched Decks and FX When the Deck is set as tempo master the MAS TER indicator lights up in the Deck Display see 16 3 4 Deck Display Informed at a Glance for more info For more details on the synchronization concepts in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 see the tuto rial in section 14 8 Synchronization Adjusting the Beatgrid with the S4 The SYNC button can also be used to adjust the Beatgrid of a track The Beatgrid which serves to synchronize playback of tracks may not have been correctly set by the automatic beat detection In this case you must adjust it manually to the beats of the track Most commonly Beatgrids do have the correct tempo but are shifted relatively to the beats of the track To correct such an offset proceed as follows 1 Play a reference track with a correct Beatgrid in Deck B and set Deck B to tempo master via SHIFT SYNC on Deck B 2 Play the track with the incorrect Beatgrid in Deck A and activ
14. SHIFT button loads a predefined FX Tets iA Pies ecton as set in Preferences gt Traktor KON TROL S4 gt S4 Control Options gt Direct FX 1 3 FX Mode button Normal switches the FX Unit between Single mode and Group mode lit when MODE Group mode activated SHIFT saves current settings as default settings snapshot These settings will then be recalled the next time you load this FX or by pressing the FX Button 1 Single mode only 12 5 Loop Recorder Quick Reference See section 16 6 The Loop Recorder for more details on these control elements Control element Function DRY WET knob Adjusts the mix between master output and Loop Recorder output SIZE button Selects the size of the loop to be recorded REC button No loop stored Starts stops recording a loop Loop stored Starts stops overdub recording UNDO button No loop playing Deletes the whole loop and all its layers Loop playing Undoes redoes the last overdub layer PLAY button Starts stops playback of the recorded loop Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 219 Appendix C Quick References Browsing Loading and Copying Quick Reference 12 6 Browsing Loading and Copying Quick Reference See section 16 7 Browsing Loading and Copying for more details on these control ele ments Control element Function BROWSE encoder Turn scrolls through the Playlist SHIFT turn scrolls through the Fa
15. You can import a selection of tracks from your iTunes Library into the Track Collection via the TRAKTOR user interface 1 Click the iTunes icon in the Browser Tree to open that node Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 23 Importing Your Music Tracks Managed by iTunes 2 Select the tracks to import into the Track Collection Drag the selection onto the Track Collection icon in the Browser Tree 4 Alternatively right click Windows or Ctrl click Mac OS X on the selection and choose Import to Collection in the contextual menu o 3 3 3 Importing iTunes Playlists You can directly import iTunes playlists as TRAKTOR Playlists via the TRAKTOR user interface 1 Click the iTunes icon in the Browser Tree to open that node 2 Select the playlist to be imported 3 Drag the playlist onto the Playlists icon 4 Alternatively right click Windows or Ctrl click Mac OS X on the playlist and choose Import to Playlists in the contextual menu Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 24 Tutorials Playing Your First Track 4 Tutorials This chapter will guide you through the most common tasks that you will encounter during your work with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The tutorials are workflow oriented They start with the simplest tasks and progressively lead you to more complex operation helping you to get more and more familiar with your TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 system After reading this you should have the basic know how allowing you to mix with T
16. we call them Cue Points This nota bly allows you to re use these points at a later stage or in a later session The four unlit Hotcue buttons gt Onthe right Deck whether or not the track is playing simply press one of the unlit Hot cue buttons on a downbeat let s say the Hotcue button 1 The Hotcue button lights up in blue you ve just stored a Cue Point that you can return to simply by pressing the same Hotcue button again The first Hotcue button is now lit in blue Snapping to the Beats You don t have to worry about dropping a Hotcue directly on a beat by default TRAKTOR will make sure this happens automatically This is because the so called Snap mode is on as you can see by the lit SNAP indicator on the Master Display located in the middle of the Mixer Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 34 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track The SNAP button and indicator on the Master Display With Snap mode on any point you set in the track will snap to the closest beat thus ensuring that you get directly to that beat next time that you jump to that point Aligning the Tracks Aligning both tracks is straightforward 1 Make sure that Deck B is playing its PLAY button must be lit 2 When you hear a downbeat in the other track press the Hotcue button you just used to store the downbeat position The playback position on Deck B jumps to the stored Cue Point as you can see in the TRAKTOR window and
17. 3 which allows you to make seamless transitions between various channels The Mixer of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware controller has a few additional features not to be found on usual DJ mixers though For example it includes a BROWSE encoder 4 for quickly browsing your Playlist content along with a set of indicators and switches in the Master Display 5 that give you quick access to vital information and options and last but not least the Loop Recorder 6 presented in more details below You will find a detailed description of every control element on the Mixer in section 16 4 The Mixer Mixer related controls dealing with the physical inputs and outputs of your TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 are also to be found on the front and rear panels of your S4 see section 16 1 5 Front and Rear Panels below 6 1 3 FX Units Adding effects to playing audio can tremendously expand the sonic possibilities of your mix For that purpose TRAKTOR provides you with a great selection of high quality FX These FX can be loaded into the so called FX Units The FX Unit 1 on the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 101 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts The FX Unit 1 in TRAKTOR By default two FX Units are active Both FX Unit 1 and FX Unit 2 can be freely assigned to any of the channels A D On the hardware side the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 also provides you with two FX Units la beled FX1 and FX2 on your controller w
18. 72 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ 9 Using the 4 with TRAKTOR DJ The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is designed to work with the TRAKTOR DJ app on iOS devices In this section we will describe the S4 s key functions when using it with the TRAKTOR DJ app The iOS devices referred to here are the iPad iPhone and the iPod touch A The iPhone app is known as TRAKTOR DJ for iPhone The S4 is currently compatible with the following iOS devices iPhone 5c iPhone 5s iPhone 4 iPhone 4S iPhone 5 jPod touch 5th generation jPod touch 4th generation iPad 2 iPad 3rd generation iPad 4th generation iPad mini A The iPad 4th generation iPad Mini and iPhone 5 all require Apple s Lightning to Dock AA adaptor to function with the S4 5 1 Key 4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ In this section we will identify how the S4 s key functions operate when you are using the TRAKTOR DJ app on your iOS device Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 73 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ 5 1 1 Browsing amp Loading Tracks Follow the below tutorial to quickly familiarize yourself with how to use the S4 to browse through your music collection in TRAKTOR DJ and load tracks accordingly 1 Press the BROWSE encoder to reveal the music file tree in TRAKTOR DJ Here your music will be categorized into either Songs Playlists Artists Albums or Genre 2 Press the BROWSE enco
19. Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 with Turntables or CD Decks Control via timecode vinyls CDs Scratch Control is not available in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 yet gt Starting from the basic setup we will connect the audio sources to both stereo input channels on your S4 and configure the required settings accordingly Before you proceed please follow the steps for the basic setup described in section 10 1 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Connect Your Turntables or CD Decks to the IN 1 2 and IN 3 4 Sockets INPUT CHANNEL B INPUT CHANNEL A LINE PHONO 4 IN PHONO 2 O Plug your external CD Deck s or turntable s into the IN 1 2 and IN 3 4 sockets gt Inthe INPUT CHANNEL A and B sections plug your turntable or CD deck to the IN 1 2 and IN 3 4 RCA sockets respectively Set the Input Level on Each Channel Accordingly gt Inthe INPUT CHANNEL A and B sections set the LINE PHONO switch to PHONO for a turntable and LINE for a CD deck or any other line level source see picture above Turntables Only Connect the Earth Lead s The Ground terminal screw gt When using turntables attach their earth leads to the Ground terminal screw on the rear panel of your S4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 202 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 with Turntables or CD Decks Set the LINE PHONO Switch to PHONO The LINE PHONO switch gt Onthe INPUT CHANNEL B set the LINE PHONO switch to PHONO
20. Beat matching manually 37 quantized 35 Beatgrid 67 adjusting on the fly 129 Beatjump prefs 164 Beatjumps 119 Beats manually aligning 39 BPM 70 BROWSE button 65 150 151 158 BROWSE encoder 26 50 140 cueing a track 31 Quick Loading 149 Browse mode 50 150 Browser 31 Browsing from your S4 148 Quick Reference 220 Buttons 104 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 221 Index C Calibration 169 CD deck 201 Changing the size of a Loop 45 Channel 18 28 101 134 Crossfader Assignment indicator 138 CUE button 33 37 136 Deck Assignment indicator 137 fader 30 41 137 FILTER knob 30 136 FX Assign buttons 58 134 GAIN encoder 30 41 134 HI knob 30 136 LOW knob 30 136 meter 30 41 137 MID knob 30 136 signal flow 134 Channel fader 30 137 Channel Gain Adjusting Channel Gain in TRAKTOR DJ 76 Channel meter 30 41 137 Clearing a Hotcue 47 Clipping 40 43 Clock 66 68 panel 68 setting as tempo master 69 setting the Clock s tempo BPM 70 Clock Master button and indicator 69 70 142 Collection 19 67 Common setups 191 Compatibility 14 Concepts 96 Connection Monitor Control Panel 183 Control Panel 178 Audio Settings page 179 Diagnostics page 182 Controller Editor 159 Controller overview 16 Copy mode 65 151 Copying from your S4 148 Quick Reference 220 C
21. Control Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 176 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Settings on Mac OS X 8 The 4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is equipped with a high end 24 bit 96 kHz audio interface You can adjust the audio interface settings to your needs and computer performance Depending on whether you work on Windows or Mac OS X you can adjust these settings in dif ferent ways 8 1 Settings on Mac OS X On Mac OS X you can adjust the settings for the S4 audio interface from within each music application In TRAKTOR gt Open Preferences gt Audio Setup to access the settings for the S4 audio interface There you can adjust the audio interface settings of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 You have two settings Sample Rate Choose a sample rate that is compatible with your music application and suited to your computing power A higher sample rate improves the audio quality but also causes higher CPU load Per default the sample rate is set to 44100 Hz CD quality The sample rate defines how many samples are played recorded per one second of sound A higher sample rate results in higher audio quality however 44100 Hz as used for re cording audio CDs is a common setting and absolutely sufficient for most tasks If your fi nal destination is CD you should use this setting or a multiple of it 88200 Hz For a bet ter understanding 48000 Hz is used by DAT recorders and for DVD films re
22. Deck We don t hear anything from Deck B through the speakers yet because we have set the cross fader on the S4 all the way to the left our plan is to slowly mix in the track on Deck B You can already give it a try by slowly moving the crossfader to the right you should hear the track on Deck B fade in whereas the track on Deck A progressively fades out as you move the crossfader further to the right Obviously our mix is not satisfying at all yet before mixing in the second track we first have to beat match it to the track playing on Deck A So for now pull the crossfader all the way back to the left If you don t hear any sound coming from Deck B even with the crossfader all the way to the right check the few troubleshooting guidelines in section 14 1 3 If You Don t Hear the Track above 4 2 3 Using Headphones to Prepare the Mix From now on let s get used to preparing our mix with headphones until the next track here on Deck B is ready to be mixed in Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 32 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track The CUE button on channel B gt On your S4 press the CUE button on the channel B The button lights up indicating that Deck B is now sent to the CUE channel which you will hear in your headphones At any time use the CUE MIX knob nearby to adjust the balance between the cued track Deck B and the main mix Deck A in your headphones turn it counterclockwise when you want to co
23. Decks Depending on your preferred way of DJing and Deck setup you will have different needs and perspectives for choosing your tempo master We will describe here the various use cases Letting TRAKTOR Decide for You the Auto Mode Let s first give a look at TRAKTOR s Clock gt In TRAKTOR click on the metronome icon at the top left of the window to show the Clock panel The Clock panel in TRAKTOR In this Clock panel you see the activated AUTO button meaning that we are in Auto mode The Auto mode is activated by default and this the mode we used in all the previous tutori als With AUTO activated TRAKTOR automatically switches the tempo master between Track Decks when needed that is to say when the Track Deck set as tempo master is stopped or when you load a new track onto it This way you don t have to worry about setting the tempo master yourself Should there be no other Track Deck playing the Clock would become the tempo master thus keeping in sync any FX still on air You can check this by doing the following Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 68 Tutorials Synchronization 1 Stop any playing Deck On the Master Display of your S4 the MASTER button and indicator light up indicating that the Clock currently is the tempo master A Q 2 Load two tracks on Deck A and B 3 Start the playback on Deck A Deck A now is the tempo master the MASTER indicator in the Master Display turns back of
24. FX Unit 1 in TRAKTOR If the first FX slot is currently deactivated press the FX Button 1 to activate it the button must be lit You hear the Gater cutting the audio at regular intervals You might want to deactivate the FX Buttons 2 and 3 in order to better hear how the Gater affects the audio Tempo synchronized FX Now try the following gt Set the FX Knob 1 to various positions and listen to the resulting effect on the audio You ll notice that the gating effect stays synchronized to the beat Among other things this can be very useful to temporarily emphasize the rhythm e g by transitions between tracks You can check this by moving the TEMPO fader on the right Deck by pulling the fader downwards you hear the track playing faster and the Gater following 4 6 5 Single Mode You can also switch each FX Unit to Single mode Instead of multiple FX with one parameter each Single mode will give you one FX but with much more control over its parameters This time we will do it on the right FX Unit labeled FX2 of your S4 1 Check that the FX Mode button MODE is off If it s on press it to switch that FX Unit to Single mode Press SHIFT FX On button for the FX Unit to load an FX You can hold SHIFT depressed and continue to press the FX On button to cycle through all the available FX until you see in the software one FX you d like to try Press the same FX On button this time without SHIFT t
25. Hardware Reference The Mixer If you rather use the channel faders instead of the crossfader for mixing you can deactivate the crossfader in order to avoid unwanted level inconsistencies between channels To do this deactivate all crossfader assignments by SHIFT pressing the corresponding FX Assign buttons You can customize the fading curve of the Crossfader in Preferences gt Mixer gt Crossfader Please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual for more info 6 4 4 The Master Display A T MASTER The Master Display The Master Display provides you with some vital information and controls for your TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 system Alert Indicator The Alert indicator The Alert indicator basically informs you that something might go wrong with your TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 system the indicator flashes if the Main Volume knob or the Headphones Volume knob is too low in TRAKTOR if the CPU meter is too high or if the power supply of your laptop is disconnected Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 139 Hardware Reference The Mixer USB Indicator The USB indicator The USB indicator gives you information about the status of the USB connection between your S4 and your computer The indicator should be continuously lit If it flashes there is no con nection to the computer or a problem with the driver gt Check that the USB indicator is continuously lit before going any further with your S4 Preview Play Indicator The PREVIEW
26. S4 Manual 127 Hardware Reference The Decks e Pressing an unlit REMIX SLOTS button will capture a Sample from the capture source Deck start playback retrigger playback e Pressing SHIFT a REMIX SLOTS button will activate the next Sample Cell in the Sample Slot 6 3 11 PLAY and CUE Buttons The CUE and PLAY buttons At the bottom of the Deck the PLAY and CUE buttons are the usual transport controls for the Deck PLAY Button The PLAY button starts stops the playback of the Deck The button is lit when the Deck is play ing Pressing SHIFT PLAY activates deactivates the Keylock on the Deck When the Keylock is activated the KEYLOCK indicator lights up in the Deck Display see 16 3 4 Deck Display In formed at a Glance for more info CUE Button The CUE button functions as follows When the Deck is playing pressing CUE skips to the Floating Cue Point and stops the playback When the Deck is paused pressing CUE sets a new Floating Cue Point which replaces the previous Floating Cue Point The track is played back from that Floating Cue Point as long as the CUE button is held depressed Upon release playback stops and skips back to the Floating Cue Point You can also press PLAY while holding CUE so that the Deck will keep playing after releasing the butrtons Pressing SHIFT CUE skips back to the beginning of the track The playback state playing or paused is left untouched Traktor Kontrol S4
27. Samples in Looped mode with the current tempo master SHIFT button Press and hold gives access to secondary functions of other control elements 12 3 Mixer Quick Reference See section 16 4 The Mixer for more details on these control elements The BROWSE encoder and BROWSE button are covered in 112 5 Loop Recorder Quick Refer ence below The Loop Recorder is covered in 112 4 FX Unit Quick Reference below 12 3 1 Main Section Quick Reference Control element Function MAIN LEVEL knob Adjusts the level of the signal sent to the Main Outputs of the S4 MAIN LEVEL meters Give a visual feedback on the pre knob level of your mix Orange LEDs light up when the signal is clipping or when the limiter kicks in on the software side Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 216 Appendix C Quick References Mixer Quick Reference 12 3 2 Channel and Crossfader Quick Reference Control element Function GAIN encoder Turn adjusts input gain level for that channel Push resets input gain level to O dB FX Assign buttons 1 and 2 Normal assigns the channel to FX Unit 1 and 2 respectively For use with four FX Units see detailed description SHIFT assigns the channel to the left and right side of the crossfader respectively The Crossfader Assignment indicator lights up accordingly High frequency knob H Adjusts the high frequency content of the signal Mid frequency knob MID Adjus
28. See section 6 8 1 MAIN OUT Section below 4 INPUT CHANNEL B section See section 76 8 2 INPUT CHANNEL B Section below 5 MIC Section See section 16 8 3 MIC Section 6 INPUT CHANNEL A section See section 16 8 4 INPUT CHANNEL A Section below 7 FOOTSWITCH socket This port can be used to attach any type of foot switch This foot switch can be used to trigger the record overdub control of the Loop Recorder see 76 6 The Loop Recorder for more info 8 MIDI IN OUT sockets Your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is also a MIDI interface Connect your external MIDI devices here 9 POWER section See section 6 8 5 POWER Section below 6 8 1 MAIN OUT Section The MAIN OUT section holds sockets for the main outputs of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller VOLUME BOOTH MAIN The MAIN OUT section on the rear panel 1 Main Outputs 1 2 RCA sockets 1 2 main outputs of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 line lev el unbalanced Use these sockets to connect your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 to an ampli fication system or master mixer with unbalanced inputs Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 153 Hardware Reference The Rear Panel 2 Main Booth Outputs 1 2 1 4 sockets 1 2 main outputs of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 line level balanced Use these sockets to connect your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 to an amplification system or master mixer with balanced inputs 3 LEVEL knob sets an independent Booth volume level for the 1 4 outp
29. Transport gt Tempo Obviously beyond the range of the software tempo fader this fader does not represent the Deck tempo anymore By moving the software fader with your mouse though the Deck tempo jumps back to the software fader position Load Buttons The Load Buttons setting allows you to choose an alternate function for the LOAD buttons on your Decks Load Buttons The Load Buttons setting Following options are available Load Track default Pressing LOAD loads the selected track on the Deck when using Quick Loading pressing SHIFT LOAD unloads the track from the Deck Jog Mode Pressing LOAD activates deactivates a special Jog mode for the jog wheel You can choose from two different Jog modes in the underlying Jog Mode Select menu o FX The jog wheel controls the FX parameter 3 in Hold mode in the FX Unit right above when releasing the jog wheel the parameter snaps back to its previous value o Filter The jog wheel controls the channel s FILTER knob in Hold mode when releas ing the jog wheel the filter snaps back to its previous value If a Jog mode is activated you can still load a track on the Deck by pressing SHIFT LOAD of course you can also load tracks via the Browse mode Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 167 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 S4 Control Options Jog Wheel The Disable Jog Wheel Push option will defeat the touch sensitivity of the KONTROL S4 jog wheels when checked If t
30. Windows will find the right drivers itself If you did not install the drivers on your computer Windows will install the wrong drivers Please disconnect the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 and follow the installation procedure de scribed in the separate Setup Guide Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 186 Troubleshooting and Help Hardware related Problems If you do not know whether or not you have previously installed the drivers of the TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 to your computer it is advisable to start again the stand alone installa tion setup program of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 available on the TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 installation disc If the setup program states that it will first uninstall the driv ers you already have installed the drivers on your computer In this case you can connect the device to any other USB port and Windows will find the right driver for it 9 2 3 Update the Driver gt Check NI Service Center regularly for driver updates 9 2 4 USB related Power Issues We strongly recommend you to use an external power supply with your S4 via the included power supply unit Although operation is also possible when your S4 is powered via the USB connection you then have following limitations the headphones output level is lower and all LEDs light darker If for any reason you cannot make use of any external power supply you should check the fol lowing points The port needs to fulfill the minimum power specification for a
31. a Hotcue slot see section 16 3 10 Hotcue Buttons Storing Loops to a Hotcue slot is only available for Track Decks The LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons can also have alternate functions when switched to Auto Loop mode You can do this in Preferences gt Traktor KONTROL S4 gt S4 Control Op tions See section 17 3 S4 Control Options for more info Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 118 Hardware Reference The Decks Loop MOVE Encoder The Loop MOVE encoder The Loop MOVE encoder allows you to activate deactivate looping move the Loop and jump in the track Loop encoder No Loop active Loop active Turn Beatjumps by the current loop size as Moves the Loop by the current loop size displayed in the Loop Size Display as displayed in the Loop Size Display SHIFT Turn Beatjumps by 1 beat steps Moves the Loop by 1 beat steps Push Activates looping current or next Loop Deactivates looping in track will be looped Bear in mind that all your actions affect a Floating Loop and not the original Stored Loop if any Hence if you plan to use the modified Loop later don t forget to store it For example you can do this by pressing an unlit Hotcue button see section 16 3 10 Hotcue Buttons Storing Loops to a Hotcue slot is only available for Track Decks Loop SIZE Encoder The Loop SIZE encoder The Loop SIZE encoder allows you to select adjust the loop size and to set a Floating Loop with the sele
32. at http www native instruments com compatibility Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 15 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Overview 2 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Overview This mini chapter will quickly introduce you to TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 s main areas and con cepts both on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware controller and in the TRAKTOR soft ware Take the time to read these few pages as they will familiarize you with the way TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 works and let you catch sight of the power of its design If you re famili ar with importing music files in TRAKTOR you can skip 73 Importing Your Music and start right away with the tutorials in chapter 14 Tutorials after having read this chapter Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 16 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Overview Hardware controller and software side by side 1 Decks TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 provides you with four virtual Decks The Decks are the place where tracks Samples and live input are played back The Decks can be seen as the virtual equivalent to the good old vinyl or CD decks just with a bunch of powerful additional features and the flexibility of a computer based system The two Decks on your S4 hardware controller allow you to control the four software Decks labeled A B C and D available in TRAKTOR The left Deck on your S4 can control Decks A and C in the soft ware The right Deck on your S4 can control Decks B and D in the software Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 17 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Ove
33. can do so via 1 Depending on whether you want to speed up or slow down a track s tempo ensure that the S4 s TEMPO fader is pushed to either end of its range or 2 Hold SHIFT and then return the TEMPO slider to its central slider point On releasing the SHIFT button you can now work your way through the next BPM range a range of 10 bpm either faster or slower you can repeat this process to speed up or slow down your tracks as you choose TRAKTOR DJ allows you to utilize a tempo range of 8 12 25 or 50 Reset Button The RESET buttons are located above the TEMPO Sliders on the S4 When pressed the but tons illuminate orange and will return a track to its original tempo This can be a useful feature when performing some creative mix transitions between tracks of significantly different tempo ranges 5 2 Using the Transport Section The transport section of the S4 is located below the Jog Wheels on either side of the S4 de vice The left transport section controls TRAKTOR DJ s Deck A and the right section Deck B Using the S4 s transport section you can control Playback amp Keylock functions Cueing amp Restart Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 83 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section Hotcues Loop Functions Move Functions Deck Sync amp BeatGrid Mode functions Flux mode functions This section will take you through the functions of each button in the transport
34. cope with as lower buffer size causes higher CPU load USB Buffer Use this menu in case you cannot achieve satisfactory Latency settings with the Process Buffer menu Lower the USB buffer size for smaller USB buffer packaging which should further reduce the audible latency If you notice any audio interruptions you should raise the buffer size until you have a clear sound free of dropouts Device Monitor Section The Device Monitor section holds two displays Processing State The processing state monitor provides feedback on the current status of the device There are three possible status messages o Idle controller is connected but no audio data is being streamed e Streaming driver is working and processing audio data o Panic driver stopped streaming Too many USB I O errors occurred in the interface communication Output Latency displays your system s output latency in milliseconds Notice there is also an input latency when working with the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The out put latency value does not represent the overall latency from pressing a button on the control ler to hearing the resulting effect at the output The overall latency is about twice as long as the output latency Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 181 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Settings on Windows The Control Panel 8 2 3 Diagnostics Page The Diagnostics page allows for monitoring the controller s performance and for detecting
35. customization options in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 occur in the Preferences window The Preferences button at the top right of TRAKTOR s window gt Click the Preferences button located in the right part of the Header at the very top of TRAKTOR s window to open the Preferences of TRAKTOR Alternatively you can select Preferences in the File menu of the Application Menu Bar In the Preferences window the settings are organized into various pages each of them dealing with a specific part of your system Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 160 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Settings and Preferences for the S4 Control Elements Audio Setup Output Routing Layout Switc Input Routing Layout Switch MIDI Clock Loading Transport Decks Layout Track Decks Sample Play B Remix Decks Mixer Global Settings Effects Mix Recorder Loop Recorder Broadcasting Browser Details Layout Manager File Management Controller Manager FX EQ and Filter Traktor Kontrol S2 Traktor Kontrol F1 The list of available pages at the left of the Preferences window 1 To display a particular page of settings click on the page name in the left column 2 Adjust the settings according to your needs 3 Once you have modified the desired settings click Close at the bottom of the Preferences window to confirm your modifications or on Cancel to discard them 7 2 Settings and Preferences for the 4 Control Elements In this s
36. er rors File View Help TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 CONTROL PANEL Coa Audio Settings FEE Drop Out Detection Connection Monitor Diagnostics gt 0 USB I O Errors 0 Number of Clients 0 Buffer Underruns USB Data Errors Reset Reset Information 2 9 2 Driver Version 13 Firmware Version Show Troubleshooting Guide Vv Interface connected The Control Panel with Diagnostics page opened The information provided in the Diagnostics page might be more of interest to advanced users however in case of problems you should always have a look at this page The Diagnostics page consists of three sections Drop Out Detection displays USB I O errors and buffer underruns when detected Connection Monitor displays client to driver connections and USB data errors when de tected Information displays information on driver and firmware version There is also a link to the Troubleshooting Guide here Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 182 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Using the S4 Audio Interface with Other Music Applications Drop Out Detection Section The Drop Out Detection section holds two displays and a button USB I O Errors counts USB input output errors A high USB O Errors count points to your system being overloaded Buffer Underruns Buffer underruns occur when your computer isn t able to process an audio buffer in time Reasons for underruns can be too many ongoing background ta
37. fader position Press both buttons simultaneously to lock the tempo to O the TEMPO fader is then disabled Both buttons light up to indicate the tempo locking Press ei ther button to unlock the tempo Both buttons light up dimmed when the TEMPO fader is near O Sets a Floating Cue Point at current playback position without stopping the playback This Floating Cue Point will serve as Loop In Point when you press the LOOP OUT button see below Lights up together with LOOP OUT when playback is within an active Loop LOOP OUT button Sets a Loop Out Point at current playback position and activates a Floating Loop between the previously set Floating Cue Point and this Loop Out Point Looping active Lights up together with LOOP IN when playback is within the active Loop lights up alone when playback is outside the active Loop Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 213 Appendix C Quick References Remix Deck Quick Reference Control element Function Loop MOVE encoder In Remix mode Push activates deactivates looping Loop active Loop move controls Turn to move the Loop by the selected loop size as displayed in the Loop Size Display SHIFT turn to move the Loop by 1 beat steps No Loop active Beatjump controls Turn to jump by the selected loop size as displayed in the Loop Size Display SHIFT Turn to jump by 1 beat steps In Legacy mode Turn adjusts the volume of Sample Slots when Sampl
38. front panel are retractable by pushing them softly you can hide them GY within the body of your controller to protect them against shocks during transport 6 10 TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 Modes Your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller can be used in two modes TRAKTOR mode and MIDI mode 6 10 1 Native Traktor Mode This is the mode that you will be normally using with TRAKTOR which gives you access to all the features explained in this manual Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 157 Hardware Reference TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Modes In Native Traktor mode your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 will communicate directly with TRAK TOR over USB using the Native Instruments proprietary NHL protocol which features high res olution translation of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 knobs superior to MIDI 6 10 2 MIDI Mode The MIDI mode allows you to use your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 as a normal MIDI controller In MIDI mode the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 will transmit only MIDI data via the virtual MIDI port that the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 driver will provide to the host computer s operating sys tem gt To switch your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 between TRAKTOR mode and MIDI mode hold and press the button KEYLOCK HE REMIX SLOTS IT mi eae Press SHIFT PREVIEW to switch between TRAKTOR mode and MIDI mode Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 158 Hardware Reference TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Modes When your S4 is in MIDI Mode the two Loop Displays will show ON To custo
39. into the upper Sample Cell of the first Sample Slot on Remix Deck D Techno 2 04 01 127 00 L Loopmasters 04 17 SYNC MASTER ie g E r W H H nn Ad gt CUE CUP 192618 1412 1 2 a ie 32 gt 4 gt 1 0 0 1 AutoGrid E E New Remix Set MASTER Techno 2 2013 08 28 15 13 Siam aa iam Sia Techno 2 2013 08 28 15 1 gt CUE CUPIN 4 182116 18 1 4 12 1 2 4 8 16 32 gt IN ouT Le i i x2 ka bo 127 000 GAIN 2 wid iE e o We just exported the active Loop from Deck B to the upper Sample Cell of Deck D s first Sample Slot The loop is now ready to play in Remix Deck D Furthermore provided that Snap mode and SYNC are active the loop is in perfect sync with the Track Deck B above Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 53 Tutorials Using Samples in Your Mix The Sample Play buttons offer you the same playback controls as described earlier press to unmute mute the Sample SHIF T press to stop it and skip to start next time it s activated SHIFT press again to unload As previously described you can switch the Sample Play Type between Loop and One shot mode see 74 5 2 Triggering the Sample Now you can load a different track onto Deck B but you will still have the Sample loop from the original song stored on the Remix Deck D to be retriggered at any time It s great for cap turing loops on the fly and using them to build an alternate mix If the Deck that you captured from wasn t playing a Lo
40. lated to the physical inputs and outputs of your controller They are extensively described in sec tion 16 8 The Rear Panel and 16 9 The Front Panel 6 2 Types of Control Elements Your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 holds various types of control elements which we will quickly describe here 6 2 1 Buttons HotCue buttons on your S4 Buttons are spread everywhere over your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 They can have three Flavors Some buttons trigger a function when they re pressed trigger action e g the Hotcue buttons hit one of the Hotcue buttons this triggers the playback to continue from there Some buttons switch to another state until they are pressed again toggle action e g the PLAY button hit it once and it starts the playback press it a second time and the playback stops A few buttons activate a certain state for the time they are held depressed gate or hold action Notably this is the case of the SHIFT buttons see below All buttons of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 are equipped with LEDs that give you various info Basically the LED indicates the button s current state but its exact meaning varies for each button for more info please refer to the description of each button later in this reference chapter Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 104 Hardware Reference Types of Control Elements The SHIFT Buttons Instead of triggering any function themselves the SHIFT buttons one on each Deck
41. mixer A solution con sists in using this other mixer as master mixer This mixer will receive the mix coming from TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 and thus act as middleman on the way to your amplification system Starting from the basic setup you only need to change the connections at the Main Outputs of your S4 Before you proceed please follow the steps for the basic setup described in section 710 1 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Connect the Main Outputs of the S4 to Available Inputs on Your Master Mixer gt Onthe rear panel of your S4 unplug the cables connecting the Main Outputs of your S4 to your amplification system and connect the Main Outputs 1 2 1 4 balanced or RCA unbalanced sockets to an available stereo input channel on your master mixer depend ing on the type of inputs supported by your master mixer On the master mixer make sure that the input channel receiving the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 signal is set to line level Connect the Outputs of Your Master Mixer to Your Amplification System gt Don t forget to connect the outputs of your master mixer to your amplification system and make the necessary level adjustments on your master mixer 10 4 TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 with Turntables or CD Decks With this setup you can plug turntables or CD decks or any other line level source to the two stereo inputs available on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 and use them in your mix on two dif ferent channels Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 201
42. mode the whole Sample will be played once The Remix Slot button acts as fol lows Playback state Remix Slot button Sample stopped Press to start playback Sample playing Press to stop playback and reset it to start position Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 123 Hardware Reference The Decks Unloading a Sample You can clear a Sample Cell by pressing SHIFT Remix Slot button The button s LED turns off More Controls over the Samples By default the Samples are loaded and played on the lower Remix Deck Deck C on the left and Deck D on the right The Remix Slot buttons represent the Sample Cells inside the Sample Slot of the Remix Deck while the LOOP section Hotcue buttons and transport section control the upper Track Deck however by pressing the Deck Assign button you gain full Deck control over the lower Deck 6 3 10 Hotcue Buttons The Hotcue buttons The Hotcue buttons labeled 1 to 4 have different functions depending on whether the controlled Deck is a Track Deck or a Remix Deck For a Track Deck they represent the first four Hotcue slots of the Deck Hotcues allow you to quickly jump to the stored Cue Points and Loops they are assigned to Using Hotcues is only available for Track Decks If the Deck in focus is a Remix Deck the Hotcue buttons control the Sample Slots of the Re mix Deck See also section Hotcue Buttons in a Remix Deck Context at the end of this chap ter Hot
43. of the loop itself stays at the predefined size of the first recording 6 6 4 UNDO Button The UNDO button allows you to delete the recorded loop or to undo redo the last overdub layer When the Loop Recorder is stopped pressing UNDO deletes the recorded loop and all its overdub layers if any When the Loop Recorder is playing pressing UNDO undoes the last overdub layer only Pressing UNDO again redoes this last layer This is useful if you don t like the last layer that you recorded It can also be used for punching the last layer in and out during your live performance Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 147 Hardware Reference The Loop Recorder 6 6 5 PLAY Button The PLAY button starts stops the playback of the Loop Recorder provided of course that something has been recorded into it When playback is stopped the playback position skips back to the loop beginning Playback is also automatically triggered while overdubbing the currently recorded material is played while a new layer is being recorded 6 6 6 Copying and Saving the Recorded Loop Once you have recorded a loop you sure can leave it in the Loop Recorder and mix it with your main mix using the DRY WET knob as described above But you can also copy it to any free slot on a Remix Deck and use all Sample related features on your recorded loop To copy a recorded loop to an available Remix Slot 1 In TRAKTOR select Loop Rec as the Capture Source on the Rem
44. of their characteristics tags like title artist name BPM genre length etc The place where TRAKTOR specific information about your tracks is stored The basis on which you can create your Playlists The Track Collection is not Moving copying nor converting any audio file to some hidden location Modifying in any way the hierarchic structure of your files on your hard disk Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 19 Importing Your Music Importing Music Folders To make use of the Track Collection you have to populate it by importing your music files 3 2 Importing Music Folders TRAKTOR offers an easy import function for tracks stored on your hard drive gt Right click Windows or Ctrl click Mac OS X on the Track Collection entry in the Browser Tree and choose mport Music Folders from the menu Preparation IK Tra 6 History B All Cover Art Releagmport Music Folders Import Traktor Pak Ls tH Labelg A Import another Collection Export the Collection on Oo ofBw p The contextual menu for the Track Collection with the Import Music Folders entry selected By default this process imports all music files contained in the My Music folder of your operat ing system TRAKTOR analyzes music for certain characteristics BPM etc when importing tracks for the first time This function takes some time to process Be sure to prepare the tracks you want to use in a DJ set beforehand if you want to use features s
45. purpose regardless of the Deck Flavor Remix Deck Track Deck or Live Input Both Deck Assign buttons one on each Deck The Deck Assign button labeled DECK C on the left Deck and DECK D on the right Deck al lows you to switch the focus of your S4 Deck between the two Decks it can control in the TRAKTOR software gt On the left Deck press DECK C to switch the focus between Deck A and Deck C gt Onthe right Deck press DECK D to switch the focus between Deck B and Deck D When the focus is on the lower Deck Deck C or D the Deck Assign button lights up Simultaneously the DECK C or DECK D indicator lights up instead of the DECK A or DECK B indicator in the Deck Display see 16 3 4 Deck Display Informed at a Glance below along with the Deck Assignment indicator in the corresponding channel of the Mixer see 16 4 3 The Channels and the Crossfader Secondary Function Switching Between Layouts The Deck Assign buttons also allow you to switch between Layouts in TRAKTOR Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 111 Hardware Reference The Decks gt Onthe left Deck press SHIFT DECK C to switch to another Layout in TRAKTOR gt Onthe right Deck press SHIFT DECK D to switch to another Layout in TRAKTOR You can customize the Layouts that will be activated when pressing each Deck Assign button by going to Preferences gt Traktor KONTROL S4 gt S4 Control Options Please refer to section 17 3 S4 Control Options for m
46. running through the procedure again Although it may not be necessary for opti mum use we recommend recalibrating your jog wheels after detaching and reattaching the jog wheel top plate For further details on jog wheel calibration please refer to the separate Jog Wheel Calibration Guide in the TRAKTOR 2 documentation folder 9 4 TRAKTOR Crashes In case of a crash during runtime please contact the Native Instruments technical support team and send them your crash log You will find the crashlog in the following folders Windows My Documents Native Instruments Traktor 2 Crashlogs Mac OS X Users Library Logs CrashReporter 9 5 Getting Help 9 5 1 Knowledge Base Readme Online Support gt Open the Service Center application and click on the Support button in the upper right corner Here you will find direct links to the Native Instruments Online Knowledge Base and the Online Support Form The Online Knowledge Base gathers useful information about your Native Instruments product and can be of great help to solve possible issues you may encounter when working with Native Instruments products If no Knowledge Base entry matches your problem or if the matching entry does not solve the problem you can use the Online Support Form to contact the Technical Support team with Na tive Instruments The Online Support Form will ask you to enter information about your hard ware and software setup This information is essential for our
47. s FILTER knobs clockwise cuts the low end frequencies whereas turning counter clockwise cuts the high end You ll notice here that when you move a FILTER button to the right HPF the Filter also moves to the right along its X axis within TRAKTOR DJ and vice a versa to the left LPF Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 78 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ TETETET ETAL IILILLELI TIPPEE Turning Channel A s FILTER anti clockwise to initiate a LPF Filter and the corresponding Filter movement along the X Axis in TARKTOR DJ 5 1 7 Headphone Cueing The CUE VOL knob located on the front panel of the S4 adjusts the volume levels of the head phone output The CUE MIX knob determines whether you hear the main mix only the cue channel only or both signals in your headphones PHONES CUEMIX CUEVOL AO The Headphones input and CUE controls on the front panel of the S4 Cueing a track in your headphones works in the following way 1 Load Decks A and B each with a track Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 79 ot es 10 T1 12 13 14 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ Click the play button on both Decks to begin playback Turn the CUE MIX knob to the center position Set the headphone volume to a comfortable level by adjusting the CUE VOL knob With the channel faders up move the crossfader back and forth to hear one track then the other Move the c
48. set will snap to the closest beat see the tutorials in section 14 2 Mixing In a Second Track and 4 8 Synchronization for more info on this The Snap option affects both Cue Points and Loops When the Snap option is active both the button and the indicator light up Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 141 Hardware Reference The Mixer Clock Master Button and Indicator MASTER The Clock Master button and indicator The Clock Master button allows you to set TRAKTOR s Clock as tempo master When the Clock is set as tempo master both the button and the indicator light up For more info on the whole synchronization concept in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 please re fer to the tutorial in section 14 8 Synchronization Quantize Button and Indicator QUANT The Quantize button and indicator The Quantize button allows you to activate deactivate the Quantize mode With Quantize ac tive all skips within audio Hotcues Beatjumps etc are beat accurate for example if you trigger a jump before a beat the playback jumps at the equivalent position before the target beat This way your track always stays in sync allowing a perfect real time remixing When the Quantize option is active both the button and the indicator light up See the tutorials in section 14 2 Mixing In a Second Track and 74 8 Synchronization for more info on this Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 142 Hardware Reference The Mixer 6 4 5 The BROWSE Encoder
49. t Start g Troubleshooting and Help This chapter covers the most common issues Most of what can go wrong when setting up and using TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 should be listed here along with some tried and tested ways to solve these issues 9 1 TRAKTOR Won t Start 1 Check the system requirements for TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The minimum requirements are the very least you can get by with and are often not enough for advanced use i e Keylock FX Increasing your RAM may save you a lot of trouble 2 Make sure you have the most recent TRAKTOR version installed Make sure that you have not clicked an outdated application alias shortcut 4 Try to restart your computer Disconnect any other audio interfaces and computer periph erals like printers scanners and the like 5 Try to rename the file collection nml in the TRAKTOR 2 Root folder to restart TRAKTOR with a clean Collection and then re import the renamed Collection For more info on the Root folder please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual 9 9 2 Hardware related Problems This section lists the points that you shall check when something seems to be wrong with your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller 9 2 1 Basics This might sound obvious but the first things to check are following Make sure that the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is connected to the computer via the includ ed USB cable Check that the controller is turned on ON OFF switch on the rear panel must be engag ed Traktor Kontr
50. the playback continues from there Both tracks now are perfectly aligned ready to be mixed Sticking to the Beats Again you don t have to worry about pressing the lit Hotcue button exactly on the beat by de fault TRAKTOR will make sure that the beats of both tracks stick together and that the jump doesn t ruin the beat matching This is because the so called Quantize mode is on as you can see by the lit QUANT indicator on the Master Display see picture above With Quantize mode on whenever you jump through the track e g by pressing a Hotcue but ton the playback jumps to the nearest position that preserves the beat matching thus ensur ing that the current sync doesn t get lost when you jump through the track 4 2 6 Interlude In Case the Left Track Is Over The track House 1 on Deck A has been playing since we started with the tutorials and it might happen that the playback reaches the end of the track In this case just do the follow ing gt On the left Deck press SHIFT CUE to skip back to the beginning of the track You can then resume from where you left off Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 35 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track 4 2 7 Mixing In the Track by Using the Channel EQ and Filter Now would be a great time to audition some of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 s EQs and filters The EQ and FILTER knobs on channel B gt Turn any of the EQ or FILTER knobs on channel B to hear the effect on the cued
51. track The EQs and filters are excellent tools for making adjustments to tracks before mixing them in so that you get the smoothest transition possible The most common technique is to filter the bass line out of the incoming track having 2 bass lines running simultaneously rarely sounds good We will now carry out a first version of the mix for real Thus turn the CUE MIX knob fully clockwise to hear the main mix in your headphones or put off your phones and listen to your mix coming through your amplification system Do the following 1 With the crossfader still on the left turn down the LOW knob on channel B to take the bass out of the track on Deck B 2 Progressively mix in channel B by gradually moving the crossfader from the left to the center position Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 36 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track 3 When both tracks are running together and you want to bring the bass back in gradually decrease the bass amount of channel A while simultaneously increasing that of channel B 4 Complete the transition by gradually moving the crossfader all the way to the right You just did your first mix with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 4 2 8 Doing Everything by Hand You can also do your mix manually instead of using TRAKTOR s sync and cueing facilities Most probably you won t do everything by hand in your everyday DJ work Nevertheless it is a good idea to get familiar with the handcrafted way
52. your headphones 3 Next to the PHONES socket turn the CUE MIX knob fully counterclockwise On the top panel of your S4 turn the BROWSE encoder to select any track in the Playlist 5 Now press the PREVIEW button The selected track is loaded into the Preview Player as indicated by the Preview Play headphones indicator in the top right corner of the Master Display in the middle of your S4 gt A MASTER 6 On the front panel turn up the CUE VOL knob to a suitable level You should hear the track playing in the Preview Player Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 31 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track By turning the BROWSE encoder you can seek through the track and cue other parts of the track To unload the track from the Preview Player press the PREVIEW button again You get back to the list browsing You can select another track for cueing or load the de sired track on a Deck 4 2 2 Loading and Playing the Second Track We will choose the track Techno 2 and load it on Deck B as we did on Deck A in the previ ous tutorial 1 Turn the BROWSE encoder to select the track Techno 2 in the Playlist 2 Press the LOAD button on the right Deck to load the track on to Deck B In the TRAKTOR window the track info and waveform appear on Deck B 3 Press the PLAY button on the right Deck to start the playback The track starts playing The PLAY button lights up and the waveform starts moving on TRAKTOR s
53. 201 Tutorials 25 video 11 i i Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 232 U UNDO button 64 65 147 Updates 190 USB indicator 140 186 USB issues 186 USB socket 156 194 User Forum 190 Using a master mixer 201 Using four FX Units 173 Using the S4 as default audio interface 184 Index Using the S4 audio interface with other music applications 183 Using the S4 with a laptop 188 Using turntables and or CD decks 201 V Video tutorials 11 W Waveform 27 47 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 233
54. 4 Manual 198 Appendix A Common Setups Adding a Microphone Before you proceed please follow the steps for the basic setup described in section 10 1 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Connect Your Microphone to the MIC Socket The MIC socket and its dedicated GAIN knob On the rear panel of your S4 plug your microphone into the Microphone socket MIC Before you connect your microphone make sure that the GAIN knob next to the MIC socket is turned fully down Set the Input Routing in TRAKTOR and Adjust the Microphone Input Level If you have configured the basic setup via the Setup Wizard the audio input routing is already set for your microphone and you can skip this section Otherwise set the input routing as follows 1 Open the Preferences window by clicking on the Preferences button in TRAKTOR s Head er 2 Goto Preferences gt Input Routing gt Input Aux and select 3 In Mic In mono and 4 In Mic In mono in the L Mono and R menu respectively L Mono 3 in Ch Dieft R 4 iIn Ch Dright 3 While keeping an eye on the small level meters to the right of the L Mono and R menus sing something in your microphone at the loudness at which you will sing during your per formance and adjust the Microphone Gain knob GAIN located next to the Microphone Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 199 Appendix A Common Setups Adding a Microphone socket MIC on your S4 until the level meters on y
55. 4 5 Using Samples in Your Mix The Remix Decks are a great way to add Samples to your set or capture Samples from Track Decks for on the fly remixing Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 48 Tutorials Using Samples in Your Mix New Remix Set SYNC C3 Bells 1 bee ee ene eee b cs Beis 1 CUE CUP A 162116 18 1 4 12 1 2 4 8 IN our PACINE The Remix Deck C with a Sample loaded in the upper Sample Cell of the first Sample Slot You can also use the Remix Decks to build new tracks on the fly layering One shot Samples and Loops on top of each other Now let s find out how to control the Remix Decks with your S4 aA In case you were using Sample Decks in an earlier TRAKTOR version don t panic All for G7 mer Sample Slot functionality stays preserved Prerequisites As always we assume here that you already followed the instructions in the previous tutorials TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 now is in the following state The track Techno 2 is loaded on Deck B The track is playing and audible By the way from now on we will use Track Deck to describe Decks that play tracks so that we can easily distinguish Track Decks from Remix Decks In TRAKTOR you can see that the two upper Decks A and B are Track Decks whereas the two lower Decks C and D are Remix Decks The Deck A is stopped if it s not the case press the PLAY button on the left Deck The crossfader is all the way to the right Trak
56. C and D In this section each menu represents a Deck and is labeled accordingly gt To change the Flavor of a Deck click on the corresponding menu and select the desired Flavor Click Close at the bottom of the Preferences window to confirm your modifica tions If you activate one or two Live Inputs for using external audio sources on the corresponding channel s of the Mixer make sure to set the audio input routing accordingly as explained in the next section You can also reset your Decks to some basic configurations by starting the Setup Wizard Bear in mind though that the Setup Wizard additionally resets all TRAKTOR settings to their de fault values For more info on the Setup Wizard please refer to section 17 5 The Setup Wiz ard 7 4 2 Adjusting the Input Routing The audio interface of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is perfectly tailored for use with the TRAKTOR software Its audio inputs can be routed to the desired locations in TRAKTOR ac cording to your current setup and needs You can do this in two ways via the Setup Wizard or via the Preferences of TRAKTOR Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 170 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Other Settings of Interest Using the Setup Wizard When setting up TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 the easiest way is to start the Setup Wizard This allows you to choose from a set of basic Deck configurations and to forget about any audio routing settings these will be automatically configured according
57. Deck is not the tempo master the Deck tempo cannot be manually controlled via the faders they are deactivated both on the software and hardware Deck Switching the Deck focus on your S4 to the alternate software Deck in which the tempo fader may have another position Moving the tempo fader in the software using the mouse Relative Mode You can also switch the TEMPO faders to Relative mode In this mode each TEMPO fader on your S4 affects the tempo fader of the software Deck relatively to its current position even if this position does not match the position of the TEMPO fader on your S4 This notably resolves possible conflicts between the TEMPO fader and the Deck synchronization or Deck switching To activate the Relative mode open Preferences gt Traktor KONTROL S4 gt Tempo Faders Please refer to section 7 3 S4 Control Options for more info in this 6 3 8 Loop Section The Loop section The LOOP section holds all necessary controls for setting and modifying Loops in your tracks Remix Sets The LOOP section consists of two buttons in the middle and two push encoders on the sides From left to right you find the following controls Loop MOVE encoder LOOP IN button LOOP OUT button and Loop S ZE encoder Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 117 Hardware Reference The Decks LOOP IN and LOOP OUT Buttons The LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons The LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons allow you to manually define a Floating Loop
58. FX Unit and Bringing In the FX c ccscesecssesssseeeseeeesesees 57 4 6 4 Controlling the FX Unit c ccccecssssssssessssessesessescsssarsssssssessssssssscsssaassaansaeesseescaseeeaes 58 4 6 5 SING le Mide iii ntinciana Sik hae MARAE Ain MAA id DARL ENA RAGE ina 59 4 6 6 Stonea Snaps hi neern E E E EETA 60 Using The LOOPIRCCON Gl escinu o E ia ieee aeenresba ean sink 60 47 1 CHOOSING a Source ccsescessesessescssessssessssessssesssscessassssassseassseassssassasassavansanensanescanessaee 62 47 2 Recording a LOOP sicir sinerien nnii 62 4 1 3 Overdub DIN oreren an E E EE EE E R 65 4 1 4 Further Uses of the Recorded LOOP c csssscssessssessescsescsssscssssessssesesesssrsscaneseeseaeeeees 65 SYNCHIONIZATION 2 22 AaA NIAAA AA RHPA R ne MaG a A Annes 66 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 5 Table of Contents 48 1 troduction enen een e staces vt sean tential E atssanneee od 66 4 8 2 Whos the Master sissrrieusraieane ii nn eativdcher acai aati 68 4 8 3 Other Useful Tools for Synching srasni 70 4 8 4 If CONCIUSION ave ss eensiades tvertathe ds Ries NN 72 5 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ asisseceicscvesissnsnstecpucencpsicteceteewndtoewedsanenopacuscsackemniopsdecuvsiis 73 5 1 Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ c c ccessscscsscesssssescsssscscsssscsesssscsessseecsssecrstscseseseseesneeenees 73 5 1 1 Browsing amp Loading Tracks c ccsssssssescssessssessssessescsssscsssssssasessassssssescsuescaneseessaesees 74 5 1 2 Quantize FUNC
59. Faders 107 channel 30 137 TEMPO 38 Favorites 26 Filter FX 57 FILTER knob 30 42 136 for mixing in a track 36 Flavor Deck 99 109 170 Floating Cue Point 118 Floating Loop 118 Focus 110 111 FOOTSWITCH socket 153 Front panel 156 Headphones socket PHONES 157 Headphones Volume knob CUE VOL 157 Microphone Volume knob MIC VOL 157 FX 55 default 56 loading Group mode 58 loading Single mode 59 synchronization 67 tempo synched 59 FX Assign buttons 58 134 174 FX Buttons 1 3 57 60 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 224 Index FX Knobs 1 3 58 60 FX On button 57 59 FX Unit 18 42 55 101 Assigning to channels 5 135 controlling 58 DRY WET knob 57 60 FX Buttons 1 3 57 60 FX Knobs 1 3 58 60 FX On button 57 59 Group mode 56 144 MODE button 56 59 Quick Reference 218 reference 143 Single mode 59 144 snapshot 60 using four FX Units 173 G GAIN encoder 30 41 134 Gater FX 58 Ground terminal 152 202 Group mode 56 144 adjusting FX Dry Wet balance 60 H Hardware Reference 96 Headphone Cueing CUE MIX 79 Headphones 31 Headphones Cue button 35 37 136 Headphones Mix knob CUE MIX 31 33 37 157 Headphones socket PHONES 31 157 196 Headphones Volume knob CUE VOL 31 157 HI knob 30 136 Hotcue 5 8 prefs 164 Hotcue buttons 34 46 on Remix D
60. Hz 40 kHz Microphone Input Full scale level 1 kHz 31 3 dBu DNR a weighted 1 kHz 85 7 dB THD N 1 kHz 0 04 Frequency response 1 67 dBu 20 Hz 240 kHz Phono Inputs Input impedance 47 KQ Full scale level 1 kHz 23 5 dBu DNR a weighted 1 kHz 90 2 dB THD N 1 kHz 0 05 Crosstalk 1kHz 100dB Audio Outputs D A Channels 4 Sample rate 44 1 48 88 2 96 kHz Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 206 Appendix B Technical Information Technical Specifications Audio Outputs D A Bit resolution 16 24 Converter Cirrus Logic Line Outputs 1 4 TRS balanced Max output level 18 dBu DNR a weighted 105 dBu THD N 1kHz 0 003 Frequency response 0 35 dBu 20 Hz 40 kHz Crosstalk 1kHz 111 dBu Line Outputs RCA unbalanced Max output level 12 dBu DNR a weighted 105 dBu THD N 1kHz 0 002 Frequency response 0 35 dBu 20 Hz 40 kHz Crosstalk 1kHz 111 dBu Headphones Outputs Load impedance 16 Q 600 Q Max output level 32 Q load 2 dBu DNR a weighted under load condition 99 3 dB Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 207 Appendix B Technical Information Technical Specifications Headphones Outputs THD N 1kHz 0 013 Frequency response 1 dBu 20 Hz 240 kHz Crosstalk 1kHz 111dB Power S
61. KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Connect the Power Supply 1 Connect the included power supply to a power outlet using the appropriate adapter for your region 2 Connect the power cord plug to the Power Supply connector labeled POWER on the rear panel of your S4 INPUT CHANNEL A N PLWER LINE PHONO 2 WN 1 USB 15 1 2A JN OFF Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 192 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup We strongly recommend you to use an external power supply with your S4 via the included power supply unit Although operation is also possible when your S4 is powered via the USB connection you then have following limitations the headphones output level is lower and all LEDs light darker Moreover your device might then be subject to USB power related issues as explained in section 19 2 4 USB related Power Issues Connect the S4 to Your Computer via USB Before connecting the controller to your computer make sure it is in a stable playing position Turning the controller on its head while it is connected to your computer can cause decalibra tion of the jog wheels which is indicated by constantly flashing Load buttons Placing the de vice back in the upright position and switching it on and off will reset the jog wheels to the correct state In the unlikely event that the jog wheels still do not respond as expected after power cycling recalibrating the jog wheels manually might become necessary For further info
62. LINE PHONO 4 IN 3 Ts Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 195 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Connect your Headphones to the PHONES Socket Front Panel gt On the front panel of your S4 plug your headphones into the Headphones socket PHONES TRAKTOR PHONES CUEMIX CUEVOL A e Oe Before putting on headphones always make sure the headphone volume knob CUE VOL is set to minimum To set the headphone volume to minimum turn the CUE VOL knob counter clockwise until it reaches its end stop Then while playing music slowly increase the head phone volume by turning the CUE VOL knob clockwise until it reaches the desired listening level Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 196 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Turn On Your S4 gt Onthe rear panel of your S4 engage the ON OFF switch to turn on the device Look at the top panel of your controller after a quick LED animation the USB indicator in the Master Display might flash for a few seconds then it should stay lit This confirms that your S4 is correctly recognized by your computer If the USB indicator stays flashing there is a problem with your USB connection and or driver Please refer to section 19 2 Hardware related Problems for more info on how to solve this is sue Start TRAKTOR Start the TRAKTOR software for example by double clicking on its alias shortcut on your desk top The T
63. OP OUT buttons on Track Decks Loop Buttons The Loop Buttons setting The Loop section allows you to manipulate Loops in your track Following options are available Manual Looping default When this option is selected the buttons have manual looping functions o When no Loop is active the LOOP IN button sets a Floating Cue Point whereas the LOOP OUT button sets a Loop Out Point and activates a Floating Loop between the Floating Cue Point acting as Loop In Point and this Loop Out Point Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 165 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 4 Control Options o When a Loop is active holding one of these buttons while spinning the jog wheel al lows you to move the corresponding Loop In Point or Loop Out Point Auto Loop When this option is selected the buttons have auto looping functions o When no Loop is active the LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons set and activate a 4 beat and an 8 beat Floating Loop respectively e When a Loop is active the LOOP IN button halves the Loop s size while the LOOP OUT button doubles it Tempo Faders The Tempo Faders setting allows you to switch the TEMPO faders between Absolute mode and Relative mode Tempo Faders The Tempo Faders setting Absolute default The tempo fader in the software Deck directly mirrors the TEMPO fad er position on your S4 Relative The TEMPO fader on your S4 affects the tempo fader on the software Deck rela tively to i
64. PAWNS cinch ive oh i eoen sire cteateounateorinccnm E E raise araeee ak 143 6 5 1 Single Mode and Group Mode cssssscssesessesessescssessssessssessssesssscassavassaansaessaescaescaes 144 6 5 2 FX Unit Reference cccscsscsssesssscssescsssssssesssssssssssssscsssacsssavssssresssuesssnescanescansaceseaeeseas 144 6 6 The Loop RECOrCED cuissardes ara N E ENS 145 6 6 1 DRY WET KINOD iaaea a a ES 146 6 6 2 SIZE BUON Sorian aN cette E ENEE TEN E E 146 6 6 3 REC BUUUOMN 2s ction naaien oboe Mane a A 147 6 6 4 UNDO BUTON cia scene credits idtnkntindvinkin Animes dive dininanidinmnd Mako 147 6 6 5 PLAY BU WOM crror E wea ees coed aessaes deen Gaee oes 148 6 6 6 Copying and Saving the Recorded Loop c sssssssssssssssssessssessescsssscsssatssssessaessaeseaes 148 6 7 Browsing Loading and Copying c csscssssssssssssessescsssssssssessssesesssscsrsacsssacassavessasesssescatescaeaeess 148 6 7 1 Browsing Tracks and Samples u c cccccsccccssssssssssccesssessssssescsssscsesscscstsssecesesseessetsceees 149 6 7 2 Copying acros sathe SMr ciaee E nen E E 151 6 8 MMe RAF Panel sssssecannpranonraar E T 152 6 8 1 MAIN QUT Sectii S 153 6 8 2 INPUT CHANNEL B Section c c ccscsscssssssesssssssssessescsssscsssssssssessssesssseacarestansseessaeeneas 154 6 8 3 MIG SOCUON weeattrx ce ferntcn cantare E E E IO ER 155 6 8 4 INPUT CHANNEL A Section c c ccssescssessssessssesssssssescsssscsrsssssssvessssssssreassusscsneatessaeeees 155 6 8 5 POWER Secti
65. Play indicator The Preview Play indicator lights up if a track is loaded into the Preview Player TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 allows you to cue your tracks and Samples in the Preview Player before you load them gt Push the PREVIEW button to load the selected track Sample into the Preview Player You can see that something is loaded in the Preview Player via the lit Preview Play indi cator in the Master Display and the illuminated PREVIEW button see section 6 4 4 The Master Display The illuminated PREVIEW Play Indicator Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 140 Hardware Reference The Mixer While a track or Sample is loaded into the Preview Player holding the PREVIEW button and turning the BROWSE encoder serves as seek control You can load this track or Sample as usu al depending on whether you are using Quick Loading see above or Browse mode see be low Pushing the PREVIEW button while an item is loaded into the Preview Player unloads it from the Preview Player For more info on the Preview Player see section 16 7 1 Browsing Tracks and Samples Switching between Native Traktor Mode and MIDI Mode Pressing SHIFT PREVIEW switches your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 between native Traktor mode and MIDI mode For more info on both modes see section 6 10 2 MIDI Mode SNAP Button and Indicator The SNAP button and indicator The SNAP button allows you to activate deactivate the Snap mode With Snap active every Cue Point that you
66. R KONTROL S4 Manual to get more familiar with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Manual After having read the Setup Guide and followed its instructions your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 system should be up and running The next step is to read this TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Man ual The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Manual first gives you a practical approach to TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 Then it provides you with a detailed reference of your TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 hardware controller along with extra information solving common issues specifica tions etc The next section will give you an overview of the manual content TRAKTOR PRO Getting Started Guide The Getting Started guide gives you a practical approach to the TRAKTOR software Here you will learn about additional features of TRAKTOR that extend beyond the TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 controller TRAKTOR 2 Manual For in depth information on all features provided by the TRAKTOR software please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual It is available as a PDF file in the Documentation subfolder of the TRAK TOR 2 installation folder 1 2 2 In This Manual What you are reading now is the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Manual This manual is structured as follows The first part is this introduction Chapter 12 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Overview quickly introduces you to the TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 user interface and its main areas both on the hardware side and soft ware side Chapter 3 Importing Your Music shows you how to imp
67. R Preferences via the settings in Preferences gt Decks gt Deck Flavor Or gt Click on the Deck letter in a Deck s upper right corner and select a Flavor from the drop down menu Track Deck Remix Deck Ls Live Input Internal Playback Scratch Control Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 109 Hardware Reference The Decks on Your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The two Decks on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 allow you to control all four Decks in TRAK TOR The left Deck on your S4 can control both Decks on the left of the TRAKTOR window the upper Deck A and the lower Deck C The right Deck on your S4 can control both Decks on the right of the TRAKTOR window the upper Deck B and the lower Deck D At any time each S4 Deck controls a particular Deck in the software we say that the focus of the S4 Deck is on that particular software Deck You can switch the focus of an S4 Deck be tween two software Decks e g between A and C This is done via the Deck Assign buttons see section 16 3 3 Deck Assign Buttons Switching Deck Focus below Depending on the Flavor of your Decks in TRAKTOR Track Decks Remix Decks or Live Input the Deck s control elements have slightly differing functions on your S4 These differences will be pointed out at the relevant places in the subsequent chapters Using a Deck as Live Input When a Deck is switched to Live Input the Deck simply forwards audio signals coming from your S4 s physical audio inp
68. RAKTOR KONTROL S4 The tutorials presented here and in the following chapter make use of the included demo tracks which were copied to your hard disk during the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 installation procedure Thus you can follow these tutorials even if you haven t imported your own music yet into the Track Collection For more info on how to import your music into the Collection please refer to chapter 13 Importing Your Music above 4 1 Playing Your First Track This first tutorial will show you how to load and play a track how to check the needed audio outputs and how to quickly troubleshoot your system if no music can be heard Prerequisites We assume here that your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 system is already up and running If it s not the case please follow first the instructions in the separate Setup Guide and come back here when you re done In case you already changed some settings in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 before you start with these tutorials we strongly recommend you to reset your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 system to the factory settings by doing the following 1 In the TRAKTOR software click the Help menu in the menu bar at the top of your screen on Mac OS X or at the top of the window on Windows and select Help gt Start Setup Wizard 2 In the window that opens click Finish at the bottom right corner without touching any thing else Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 25 Tutorials Playing Your First Track Your TRAKTOR KONT
69. RAKTOR window opens up Set the Deck Flavors in TRAKTOR Instead of setting the Deck Flavor manually as described here you can also use the Setup Wiz ard choose 2 Track Decks 2 Remix Decks in the menu click Finish and let the Wizard set everything for you Bear in mind though that the Setup Wizard additionally resets all TRAK TOR settings to their default values For more info on the Setup Wizard please refer to section 17 5 The Setup Wizard In the TRAKTOR software we set the lower Decks C and D to Remix Decks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 197 Appendix A Common Setups Adding a Microphone 1 Open the Preferences window by clicking on the Preferences button in TRAKTOR s Head er 2 Goto Preferences gt Decks gt Deck Flavor and select Remix Deck in the C and D menus A Track Deck B Track Deck C Sample Deck D Sample Deck 3 Click Close at the bottom of the Preferences window to confirm your modifications Notes The MAIN LEVEL knob and meters at the top middle of your S4 s top panel allow you to adjust and monitor the overall output level The CUE VOL and CUE MIX knobs on the S4 front panel respectively control the volume and the mix between the cued signal and the master signal in your headphones PHONES CUEMIX CUEVOL 10 2 Adding a Microphone Starting from the basic setup we add here a microphone and show you how to use it on the Aux channel of TRAKTOR Traktor Kontrol S
70. ROL S4 is now reset to the factory settings The tutorials presented here assume that TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is in its default factory state If it s not the case we cannot guarantee that you will experience what we describe here and you might miss important things to know 4 1 1 Quick Loading a Track Let s load the track Techno 1 from the included demo tracks on to Deck A Since Deck A is sitting in the left part of the TRAKTOR window we will use the left Deck on your S4 You can check this by looking at the left Deck s display you should see a lit blue indicator reading DECK A The Deck Display with a lit DECK A indicator To select and load the track we will use three control elements on your S4 Any of the two SHIFT buttons one at the bottom of each Deck a The BROWSE encoder in the top center of the Mixer The left Deck s LOAD button above the jog wheel While looking at the TRAKTOR window do the following 1 Hold SHIFT and turn the BROWSE encoder to select the Demo Tracks Favorite Favorites are customizable shortcuts sitting at the top of the Browser in TRAKTOR s window The tracks of the Demo Tracks Playlist appear below Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 26 ES Preparation I Track Collection amp History amp All Samples Cover Art Title Dubstep 1 Dubstep 2 House 1 House 2 TechHouse 1 TechHouse 2 Techno 1 Techno 2 ON OahWND All Tracks amp All Remix Set
71. Sample Play buttons set predefined Loops from left to right Loop on the previous 8 beats on the previous 4 beats on the next 4 beats and on the next 8 beats respectively Hotcue 5 8 With this setting the Sample Play buttons give you access to Hotcues 5 to 8 All features are the same as with the underlying Hotcue buttons 1 4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 164 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 4 Control Options Hotcue Buttons The Hotcue Buttons menu lets you choose between a Legacy mode where the Hotcue buttons behave as with TRAKTOR s former Sample Decks and a Remix mode where there was new functionality added to control TRAKTOR s Remix Decks This setting is only relevant in a Remix Deck context i e when the Deck is set to control a Remix Deck Hotcue Buttons Legacy Mode The Hotcue Buttons menu The following options are available Legacy Mode default In Legacy mode when pressing SHIFT a REMIX SLOTS button the controller will activate Edit mode for a Sample Slot where the Loop MOVE encoder and the Loop SIZE encoder control the filter and volume controls of one or multiple Sam ple Slots Pressing SHIFT a REMIX SLOTS button again will deactivate Edit mode for the relevant Sample Slot Remix Mode In Remix mode pressing SHIFT a REMIX SLOTS button will select the next Sample Cell in a Sample Slot Loop Buttons The Loop Buttons setting lets you choose alternate functions for the LOOP IN and LO
72. TIONS paseis tr E E tera iene 75 5 1 3 Deck Volume Controls and Crossfader c cssssssssssescssescssescsssstessssessssesssescansseessseesees 75 5 1 4 Adjusting Channel Gain cccccccscscccsscessssscscscssscssssssessessessescssssseecessesetesseseeeneeeenenss 76 5 1 5 Usine EOS eee cece E E EE E crectetabes cect 77 5 1 6 Using the FINGIS rannen a aida ids 78 5 1 7 Head phone Cuen g c ccciscssaciecsssscscassesetsiendscevescieasscecsssdaacssefassueact saves Ai 79 5 1 8 Deck Control cenere e anon E EE E T 81 5 2 Using the Transport Section siisii eenean aaaea aa aaia ia i 83 5 2 1 PLAY DUTTON S orainean inienn aena eade aranan arana ewei rabaan 84 5 2 2 CUE BUONS ceran a e r r teehee 84 5 2 3 SUNG MASTER BUTONS grunen EEEE E E wesistoatares 84 5 2 4 FLUX BUOM S vorecistecveverdieceirdtdws kA aadineiehdaiweldnuia adhe daeds ene 85 H 2 5 HOUCUE BUTLONS 02 ic csiie keine RMA BAR nha Gedd ii eA NIARME RANE Aas 86 5 2 6 WSIN g OOPS ixsc0scsssteectages Soecussidhin sates net A R T A 87 5 2 Using the MOVE Encoders c scccsssscssescsssssssessssessescsssscsssssssasessssssssreassusscareaeessaeeeees 89 5 3 USING EX a2eret ar asievinssessievenssiruaciaieanmameusasunradieu einai stsaeuaae teas aim 91 5 3 1 Reveal a Deck s Effect Display c cccsscsssssssessssessescssescsssscssssessssessssessssscansatessseesees 92 5 3 2 Using the S4 s FX Section ccccsccsssscssssssssssssessssessescsssscssssssssssesessesssueacsuescansaeeseaes
73. TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Native Instruments GmbH The software described by this docu ment is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media No part of this publication may be copied reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded for any purpose without prior written permission by Native Instruments GmbH hereinafter referred to as Native Instruments Native Instruments NI and associated logos are registered trademarks of Native Instru ments GmbH Mac Mac OS GarageBand Logic iTunes and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc registered in the U S and other countries Windows Windows Vista and DirectSound are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries All other trade marks are the property of their respective owners and use of them does not im ply any affiliation with or endorsement by them Document authored by Native Instruments GmbH Software version 2 6 4 09 2013 Special thanks to the Beta Test Team who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs but in making this a better product Disclaimer Contact Germany Native Instruments GmbH Schlesische Str 29 30 D 10997 Berlin Germany www native instruments de USA Native Instruments North America Inc 6725 Sunset Boulevard 5th Floor Los Ang
74. The BROWSE encoder The BROWSE encoder is used to browse and copy tracks or Samples in TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 You will find a description of these control elements in section 16 7 Browsing Loading and Copying 6 5 The FX Units The FX Units 1 and 2 on your S4 allow you to control the FX Units in TRAKTOR All controls of the FX Units in the software are mirrored on your S4 DRY WET G 1 The left FX Unit on your S4 1 FX On button 2 FX DRY WET knob 3 FX Knob 1 4 FX Knob 2 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 143 Hardware Reference The FX Units 5 FX Knob 3 6 FX Button 1 7 FX Button 2 8 FX Button 3 9 FX Mode button MODE 6 5 1 Single Mode and Group Mode In TRAKTOR each FX Unit can work in two different modes Group mode Each FX Unit boards three different FX chained in series Each FX can be controlled by one knob and one button Single mode Each FX Unit boards a single FX which can be fine tuned via the three knobs and three buttons of the FX Unit As a consequence the control elements on an FX Unit will have different functions depending on the current mode of this FX Unit You can switch between both modes from your S4 via the FX Mode button see below 6 5 2 FX Unit Reference The following table sums up the functionality of each control element in the FX Unit Control element Single mode Group mode FX On button Normal activates deactivates FX Un
75. USB 2 0 port 500 mA On certain computers the USB 2 0 ports do not meet the official USB 2 0 power specifi cation In this case you may see a message saying that there is not enough power availa ble to operate your device The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 may produce crackles or may not work at all In case of failures it is useful to check if TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 works if you discon nect any other USB device from the computer If your computer is unable to supply the necessary amount of bus power try connecting your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 to a USB 2 0 hub with external power supply Avoid con necting other devices to the hub as each bus powered device takes its share from the to tal amount of power available Once again the best way to avoid any power related issue with your S4 is to connect the in cluded external power supply unit Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 187 Troubleshooting and Help Hardware related Problems 9 2 5 Using the TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 with a Laptop Please check if your computer is suited for handling real time audio processing without drop outs The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Control Panel provides you with a useful tool to achieve this See chapter 78 2 2 Audio Settings Page for more info In general it is not recommended to use laptops with shared memory graphic cards You will need all the memory and processing power available for your audio software There are some steps to optimize your laptop s audio performance
76. Y button on the Loop Recorder start flashing letting you know that it contains a loop ready to be copied While holding the BROWSE button press the PLAY or REC button on the Loop Recorder to select it as source Still holding the BROWSE button press any flashing Sample Play button in the Remix Decks to select it as target Now the loop has been stored in a Sample Slot and you can record a new loop into the Loop Recorder if you like Moreover your loop now has access to all Sample related fea tures provided by the Remix Deck Last but not least as already mentioned the loop is automatically added to your Collection Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 65 Tutorials Synchronization 4 8 Synchronization It is now time to give a closer look at the advanced synchronization features offered by TRAK TOR Once you will get more familiar with them you will be able to use these powerful tools to build rich and complex mixes 48 1 Introduction In the previous tutorials we have already seen TRAKTOR s synchronization facilities many times in action We synchronized a track to the previous one before we mixed it in see 14 2 Mixing In a Second Track We played with Loops and jumped to Cue Points without losing the beat see 14 4 Loop ing and Cueing We captured a Sample from a track and it played in sync with the track see 74 5 Using Samples in Your Mix We noticed that the Gater FX was synchronized to the track it wa
77. ack to that point SHIFT lit button deletes Cue Point Loop stored in Hotcue slot button turns back off PLAY button Starts stops playback Button lights up when playing SHIFT PLAY activates deactivates Keylock KEYLOCK indicator lights up in the Deck Display Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 211 Appendix C Quick References Remix Deck Quick Reference Control element Function CUE button Deck playing jumps to Floating Cue Point and stops playback Deck paused sets a new Floating Cue Point Track is played back from that Floating Cue Point as long as CUE is held depressed Upon release play back stops and jumps back to Floating Cue Point SHIFT CUE skips back to start of track playback state left untouched SYNC button Activates deactivates synchronization to tempo master lit when sync acti vated SHIFT SYNC sets Deck as tempo master MASTER indicator lights up in Deck Display Pressing and holding SHIFT SYNC for more than one second moves the Beatgrid to match beats of current sync reference SHIFT button Press and hold gives access to secondary functions of other control ele ments Tap at least 5 times to redefine the track s Beatgrid 12 2 Remix Deck Quick Reference Deck controls for when the Deck in focus is a Remix Deck See section 16 3 The Decks for more details on these control elements Control element Function Deck Assign b
78. allows you to adjust the settings of the audio interface Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 179 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Settings on Windows The Control Panel TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 CONTROL PANEL Audio Settings gt Diagnostics Audio Processing 44100 Hz v Sample Rate 64 samples v Process Buffer Streaming 6 1 ms Device Monitor Processing State Output Latency The Control Panel with Audio Settings page opened The Audio Settings page consists of two sections Audio Processing settings for the analog to digital digital to analog conversion done by your audio interface Device Monitor displays information about the audio interface s processing status and your system s output latency Audio Processing Section The Audio Processing section holds two menus and one display Sample Rate Choose a sample rate that is compatible with your music application and suited to your computing power A higher sample rate improves the audio quality but also causes higher CPU load By default the sample rate is set to 44100 Hz CD quality The sample rate defines how many samples are played recorded per one second of sound A higher sample rate results in higher audio quality however 44100 Hz as used for re cording audio CDs is a common setting and absolutely sufficient for most tasks If your fi nal destination is CD you should use this setting or a
79. arily bend the tempo and adjust the phase in order to cancel any minor offset Your tracks now perfectly match Note that this can also be useful when using TRAKTOR s Sync feature Indeed in some situations the automatic beat detection might need a slight correction for example in tracks with unusual low frequency content the beat feeling might occur slightly after the beat as detected by TRAKTOR If you couldn t make it to manually correct the Beatgrid of your track before you go on stage you can cancel the offset on the fly with the jog wheel s outer rim Mixing In the New Track gt When you re ready you can bring the crossfader over from Deck B and slowly mix in the track in Deck A You just did your first handmade mix with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Don t expect to be capable of manually matching beats right away though this requires in tensive training and can t be fully explained here in detail Practice makes perfect 4 3 Adjusting Levels Before going any further we would like you to be aware of how important it is to have your mix at the right level We provide you here with a few simple hints in order to get the best sound out of your mix Even if this section might look a bit technical please take the time to read these few pages as they can save you a lot of trouble especially in a live situation 4 3 1 The Theory By mixing you blend together signals coming from different sources and p
80. art flashing the Sample Play buttons on the Decks the Headphones Cue buttons CUE on the Mixer Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 151 Hardware Reference The Rear Panel If the Loop Recorder s PLAY button is not selected as source it stops flashing because it can not be selected as target gt Press a target to select it The source is copied to the target Copying a track triggers a track duplicate so that the track is loaded on to the target Deck playing from the same position as the source Deck After a target has been selected sources start flashing again in case you want to copy other sources to other targets gt When you are finished release the BROWSE encoder to deactivate Copy mode 6 8 The Rear Panel This section describes all sockets and controls available on the rear panel of your TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 Together with the front panel it provides you with the necessary elements for using other equipment with the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 headphones microphone turnta ble etc and setting your system up The rear panel of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 1 Kensington lock slot Attach your Kensington lock here to protect your device against theft 2 Ground terminal When using a turntable attach its earth lead here Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 152 Hardware Reference The Rear Panel 3 MAIN OUT section Sockets for connecting the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 to your main mixer or amplification system
81. at Is TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 1 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 We are delighted that you have chosen TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 1 1 What Is TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is a fully integrated hardware and software DJ performance system created by the makers of TRAKTOR TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 fuses the full featured TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 hardware controller with the state of the art TRAKTOR software The all in one TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller offers you an ergonomic DJ mixer a built in 24 bit 96 kHz audio interface and a high resolution control surface perfectly tailored for TRAKTOR All controls needed for live performances now are at your fingertips The TRAKTOR team at Native Instruments 1 2 The TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 Documentation 1 2 1 Where to Start TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 provides you with many information sources The main sources are meant to be read in the following sequence Setup Guide TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Manual this document and TRAKTOR 2 Getting Started Guide Your First Stop the Setup Guide This will guide you through the software and hardware installation of your TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 system from the very beginning to the first sound coming through your speakers This should be your first stop in learning TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 11 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Documentation First read the Setup Guide Then proceed with this TRAKTO
82. ate SYNC on Deck A 3 Use the outer rim of the jog wheel to tempo bend Deck A until the beats match the beats of Deck B 4 Once the beats are aligned press and hold SHIFT SYNC for more than one second to adjust the Beatgrid according to the current settings Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 129 Hardware Reference The Decks If you can t match the beats with this method most likely also the tempo of the Beatgrid has been wrongly detected In this case proceed as follows to set a correct tempo 1 Play the track in Deck A turn off SYNC 2 Tap the SHIFT button repeatedly at least 5 times to the beat of the music In this proce dure you must try to be very precise The longer you tap the better the result you will get If you pause tapping for two seconds you can resume tapping from scratch If you managed to visually align the Beatgrid with the beats of the track you can proceed as described above to also correct the offset For more info on Beatgrids see the tutorial in section 14 8 Synchronization 6 3 13 SHIFT Button m The SHIFT button The SHIFT button is a modifier holding SHIFT depressed while using other control elements grants you access to their secondary function This element always has the same functionality regardless of the Deck Flavor Track Deck or Remix Deck It is described in detail in section 16 3 2 SHIFT Buttons Accessing Secondary Functions above Tapping to the Beat On a Track Dec
83. ches the value of the other track s BPM which is displayed at the top of Deck B in TRAKTOR Manually Cueing with the Jog Wheel You can use the jog wheel to manually seek through the track and find a nice bring in point Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 38 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track oveckc Use the jog wheel to manually seek through the track 1 On the left Deck press and spin the jog wheel s top plate to seek through the track You can also fast seek through the track by holding the SHIFT button at the bottom of the Deck while spinning the jog wheel 2 Once you have found an interesting point for cueing let s say a downbeat keep pressing the top plate and release it when a downbeat arrives in the other track Deck A starts playing from that point Note that you could also stop the playback by pressing the PLAY button before you seek an interesting point with the jog wheel Once you have found the point you can release the jog wheel since the Deck is not playing you won t lose the point When a downbeat arrives in the other track press PLAY again on the left Deck Aligning the Beats In case you still hear a slight offset between both tracks you can use the outer rim of the jog wheel to adjust the track s phase and cancel the offset Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 39 Tutorials Adjusting Levels gt On the left Deck move the jog wheel s outer rim in the desired direction to tempor
84. ck Is Over c csscscessescsssesescsssstesesesssescsescssstessseesees 35 4 2 1 Mixing In the Track by Using the Channel EQ and Filter c ccscesscesestesestesteseseeeees 36 4 2 8 Doing Everything Dy HANG ysies aN 37 Adjusting Levels s 1 22 sstaitia tutta ici adetien ictittie na deitianiivieadattitated en 40 4 3 1 Th They nananana a A 40 4 3 2 The Pract Ciena E AE E E 41 Looping and CUEN recenter E bed eteoh ees 44 44 1 Playing With LOOPS ccccccscscsssscsesssscsessescsescsessssescessssscsessesssssvesessascessseseensseseecaeneess 44 4 4 2 WSU HOTCUES voisit eian a rA EEEN 47 Using Samples In VOU MK wsecactvesccnsevtverseserseevevenevetereveen n a AN 48 4 5 1 Loading a Sample from the Collection c ccscscsssscssescstsscsssstessssesesessstescseseessseesees 50 4 5 2 Triggering the SAMPIe ccccsesccscssssscsescsescscsscssscsssssscscescessnssesestseecesteseceeseseneseeerenes 51 4 5 3 Capturing a Sample from a Track Deck c ccscscssssscssessssessesessescsssscsssstsssstesssescaescaee 52 4 5 4 Unloading a Sample rsen EE 54 4 5 5 Getting More Controls over the Samples c cccssssssssssssessssessescsssscsseatsrsatessaescaeseaee 54 POROUS 5 digi tases end Sesion ul tive esol a E hapeiiielen oxibag yintontas 55 4 6 1 Group Mode uu ceecscsccsssscssesessesessesccsessssessssessssesssesessasssssssssssssearsasassavassavansanensaneacanessaes 56 4 6 2 Getting the EX UNI RADY ieren E operant aber 56 4 6 3 Assigning Decks to the
85. cording 96000 Hz is typical for DVD HD DVD and Blue ray Disc audio recording You should be aware that a higher sample rate also causes higher CPU load Latency Lower the latency value for a quicker response of your computer to TRAKTOR controller and software actions Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 177 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Settings on Windows The Control Panel When converting audio information to digital and vice versa the audio driver needs to store the data in buffer packages audio buffers which are then sent to and processed by the CPU The higher the buffer size the longer it takes for a signal to finally arrive at the out put as audio You might experience this as late response in between hitting a key on a con troller which controls music software on your computer and hearing sound at the output This delay is called latency You should start off with a higher latency value and gradually decrease it until you find the perfect balance between playability and audio quality for your system If you experience crackling at the audio output the latency value is very likely to be too low for your computer s CPU to cope with as lower latency values cause a higher load on the CPU 8 2 Settings on Windows The Control Panel On Windows the settings for the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 audio interface are accessed via a little tool called Traktor KONTROL S4 Control Panel The Control Panel was installed together wi
86. cted size Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 119 Hardware Reference The Decks Loop encoder No Loop active Loop active Turn Selects a loop size in beats for the next Halves doubles the Loop s size Floating Loop that you will set The se lected loop size is displayed in the Loop Size Display above the encoder Push Sets and activates a new Floating Loop Deactivates looping at the current playback position with the selected loop size You may have noticed that pushing either of the Loop MOVE and Loop SIZE encoders acti vates deactivates looping The only difference when activating looping via the Loop SIZE encoder is that you additionally set a new Floating Loop at the current position Bear in mind that all your actions affect a Floating Loop and not the original Stored Loop if any Hence if you plan to use the modified Loop later don t forget to store it For example you can quickly do this by assigning the Loop to a Hotcue slot see section 16 3 10 Hotcue Buttons Storing Loops to a Hotcue slot is only available for Track Decks 6 3 9 REMIX SLOTS Buttons The REMIX SLOTS buttons By default the REMIX SLOTS buttons control the Sample Cells of a Remix Deck In case the upper Deck is a Track Deck and the lower Deck is a Remix Deck the REMIX SLOTS buttons will control the Remix Deck s Sample Cells In case the upper Deck is a Remix Deck the REMIX SLOTS buttons will control the up
87. cue Slot States The LED on each Hotcue button indicates the current state of the slot Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 124 Hardware Reference The Decks Hotcue button Hotcue slot s state Unlit Empty Hotcue slot Blue Hotcue slot contains a Cue Point Green Hotcue slot contains a Loop Yellow Hotcue slot contains a Load Marker Orange Hotcue slot contains a Fade In or Fade Out Marker White Hotcue slot contains a Grid Marker Storing a Cue Point or a Loop into a Hotcue Slot You can directly store the current playback position into a Hotcue slot by pressing an unlit Hot cue button empty slot during playback A Cue Point or a Loop will be stored depending on the current playback position If the playback position is outside any active Loop a Cue Point will be stored The Hotcue button lights up in blue If playback is within an active Loop this Loop will be stored The Hotcue button lights up in green If you want to store a Cue Point while the playback position is within an active Loop deac tivate looping first for example by pushing the Loop MOVE encoder Jumping to Predefined Hotcues Pressing a lit Hotcue button jumps to that Cue Point Loop On a playing Deck playback con tinues after the jump on a paused Deck the track is played from that Cue Point Loop as long as the Hotcue button is held depressed Upon release playback stops and skips back to that point Deleting a Hotcue Sl
88. d on Deck B The track is playing and audible The Deck A is stopped if it s not the case press the PLAY button on the left Deck The crossfader is all the way to the right 4 6 1 Group Mode First we ll look at Group mode This mode allows up to three different FX to be used simultane ously in a single FX Unit We ll focus here on the left FX Unit labeled FX 1 of your S4 but the same applies to the right FX Unit as well The MODE button gt Press the MODE button to put the unit into Group mode the button must be lit In TRAKTOR you see three different FX slots stacked on top of each other in the corre sponding FX Unit see picture above 4 6 2 Getting the FX Unit Ready Let s load the three default effects and activate the FX Unit Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 56 Tutorials Adding FX 1 Hold the SHIFT button and press the FX On button at the far left of the FX Unit to load the three default effects You now have the Delay the Reverb and the Filter loaded 2 Choose which of the three loaded effects you want to activate by pressing the correspond ing FX Buttons 1 3 Of course you can use all three effects together simply activate all three buttons The FX Buttons light up to indicate the activated effects 3 As additional step turn the DRY WET knob fully counterclockwise we will use this knob later to progressively bring in the effects Your FX Unit is now ready to process
89. d on the rear and front panels only They allow you to plug various types of cables USB audio MIDI etc into your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 6 3 The Decks This section describes the handling of the Decks on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 After an overview of the general structure and the Deck Flavors in TRAKTOR we will describe the indi vidual areas and elements of the Decks on your S4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 108 Hardware Reference The Decks 6 3 1 Deck Flavors and Structure As described in section 16 1 1 Decks TRAKTOR s software Decks can have three different Flavors depending on the type of audio material you want them to handle Track Deck Remix Deck or Live Input By default Decks A and B are Track Decks when TRAKTOR is configured for use with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Decks C and D are Remix Decks then O 2 Track Decks 2 Remix Decks is the intended layout when TRAKTOR is configured for use with the S4 See also 17 5 The Setup Wizard for further information on configuring TRAKTOR using the Setup Wizard however you are not restricted to use this configuration both Decks on the S4 can control Track Decks and Remix Decks in TRAKTOR Selecting Deck Flavors For TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 it is recommended to use the Track Deck Flavor for Decks A and B and the Remix Deck Flavor for Decks C and D however you can control any Deck Flavor with the S4 s Decks To change the Flavor of a Deck gt Select the Flavor in the TRAKTO
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91. der again on Songs to enter into your song collection Turn the BROWSE encoder to scroll through your track collection 4 Press the LOAD button on the chosen S4 deck to load the track The viewing mode in TRAKTOR DJ immediately switches back to Deck view mode The LOAD button on the S4 s deck will now become backlit orange to indicate that the track is loaded 5 Trigger playback on the track 6 Press the BROWSE encoder again or press the LOAD buttons to locate another track in TRAKTOR DJ 7 Turn the BROWSE encoder again to locate another track 8 On your selected track press the BROWSE encoder again TRAKTOR DJ s Recommended Tracks will be revealed The app makes these recommen dations on the basis of Key BPM If you wish to navigate your way back up a tree node at any point you can do so by pressing a SHIFT button on the S4 whilst turning the BROWSE encoder To navigate back up to the group level Songs Playlists and Artists hold SHIFT press the BROWSE encoder 9 Load your next track into the available S4 deck You ll notice that the LOAD button on the track already playing is flashing orange ad Paying attention to a Deck s flashing LOAD button will help avoid loading a new track on top of an already playing track Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 74 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ 5 1 2 Quantize Functions Located in the center of the S4 device beneath the BROWSE encoder the QUANT b
92. don t have to bother with the position of this knob as long as you re not playing a loop on the Loop Recorder 6 6 2 SIZE Button The SIZE button allows you to define the size of the loop you plan to record Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 146 Hardware Reference The Loop Recorder gt Press SIZE repeatedly to select the desired loop size The selected loop size cannot be seen on your S4 for this you have to look at the Loop Re corder in the TRAKTOR window on your computer screen 6 6 3 REC Button The REC button starts stops recording a loop or additional overdub layers If no loop has been recorded yet pressing the REC button starts recording a loop with a prede fined size previously selected via the SIZE button The recording always starts on the next beat As soon as the loop is recorded it starts playing at the level defined by the DRY WET knob If a loop has already been recorded pressing the REC button activates deactivates overdub bing Overdubbing adds incremental layers on top of the recorded loop Unlike the first record ing overdubbing starts right away instead of waiting for the next beat Moreover overdubbing stays engaged until you explicitly stop it by pressing REC again possibly going on more than one loop cycle This allows you to add as many layers as you want to your original loop by re peatedly activating deactivating overdubbing Whatever the number and duration of the overdub layers the size
93. e turntable CD deck etc 6 8 5 POWER Section The POWER section holds the sockets for the connection of your S4 to your computer and to the power along with the ON OFF switch Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 155 Hardware Reference The Front Panel POWER USB 15V 1 2A ON OFF The POWER section on the rear panel 1 USB socket Connect here your S4 to your computer with the included USB cable 2 Power Supply connector Connect here the power cord 3 ON OFF switch Engage the switch to turn on your device 6 9 The Front Panel This section describes all sockets and controls available on the front panel of your TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 The front panel of your S4 holds the elements you might need during your mix Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 156 Hardware Reference TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Modes PHONES CUEMIX gy CUEVOL MIC VOL a ooo The front panel of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 1 Headphones socket PHONES Cue channel stereo output jack 1 4 Connect your headphones here 2 Headphones Volume knob CUE VOL Adjusts the volume in your headphones 3 Headphones Mix knob CUE MIX Adjusts the mix between master output and cue channel in your headphones 4 Microphone Volume knob MIC VOL Adjusts the AUX knob in TRAKTOR typically used for the microphone plugged in the Microphone socket of the INPUT CHANNEL D on the rear panel see 16 8 2 INPUT CHANNEL B Section above All knobs on the
94. e 198 Microphone Gain knob GAIN 155 Microphone socket MIC 155 199 Microphone Volume knob MIC VOL 157 200 MID knob 30 136 MIDI IN OUT sockets 153 MIDI mode 157 Mixer 18 100 channel 28 101 134 Main section 42 101 132 Master Display 34 139 Quick Reference 216 reference 131 Mixing by hand 37 using automatic sync 30 MODE button 56 59 Moving a Loop 46 117 Music files 19 Music folders 20 Navigate track by selected Loop size 46 Noise level 41 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 228 0 Offset manually correcting 39 ON AIR indicator 112 ON OFF switch 156 197 One shot mode 51 123 Online Support Form 189 Output Latency 181 Overdubbing 65 147 Overview 16 Index P Phase offset correcting 39 PHONES socket 31 157 196 Pitch tracks 71 PLAY button Deck on Track Decks 28 128 PLAY button Loop Recorder 63 148 Playing a track 25 Playlist 27 99 149 in iTunes 21 POWER section 155 Power supply 192 Power Supply connector 156 192 Preferences 160 Audio Setup page Mac OS X 177 Audio Setup page Windows 178 Decks page 170 Effects page 173 Input Routing page 171 Traktor KONTROL S4 page 161 Preferences button 160 Preparing the mix using headphones 32 Preview Play indicator 140 Preview Player 31 140 Process Buffer Control Panel 181 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 229 Index
95. e The main difference beside their size is that on the jog wheel the push movement is very tiny and is rather used for detecting whether you put your hand on the top plate or on the outer rim when spinning the jog wheel Hence this leads to two different rotation controls You can spin the jog wheel s outer rim You can spin the jog wheel by pressing and turning its top plate Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 106 Hardware Reference Types of Control Elements This makes the jog wheel a versatile element that gives you a very precise control e g for scratching seeking in a track or browsing in lists 6 2 5 Faders A fader on your S4 Faders are linear control elements with limited range All of them set absolute values with the possible exception of the TEMPO faders see 16 3 7 Tempo Fader 6 2 6 Displays Meters and Indicators A Display with various indicators J A meter Displays indicators and meters are single or multi LED elements that provide you with real time feedback about various states and levels in the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 system Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 107 Hardware Reference Types of Control Elements 6 2 7 Switches BOOTH MAIN A switch Switches are only available on the rear panel They control a few basic options needed when setting your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 up 6 2 8 Sockets The RCA main output sockets on the rear panel of your S4 Sockets are to be foun
96. e Slots are in Edit mode See also the Hotcue Buttons section in 7 3 S4 Control Options for informa tion on Remix and Legacy mode Loop SIZE encoder In Remix mode Push activates deactivates looping Activating looping automatically sets a Floating Loop at current playback position with the selected loop size Turn no active Loop selects a loop size in beats for the next Floating Loop that will be set The selected loop size is displayed in the Loop Size Display above Turn Loop active halves doubles the size of the current Loop In Legacy mode Turn adjusts the volume of Sample Slots when Sample Slots are in Edit mode See also the Hotcue Buttons section in 7 3 S4 Control Options for informa tion on Remix and Legacy mode Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 214 Appendix C Quick References Remix Deck Quick Reference Control element Function REMIX SLOTS buttons Unlit empty Sample Slot Press to load a Sample from the capture source at current playback position if playback is within an active Loop the Loop is cop ied Press SHIFT button to load the Sample selected in the Playlist Dimmed Sample loaded but stopped or muted Lit Sample playing Sample in Loop mode Press to start mute unmute the Sample Press and hold for one second to stop playback and reset it to start position Sample in One shot mode Press to start playback Press again to stop playback and reset it to
97. e TRAKTOR DJ deck will be lit red and the corresponding S4 SYNC button will flash orange To reset the SYNC function gt Press the S4 s flashing SYNC button You will immediately hear the tracks align again The S4 s SYNC button is no longer flashing orange and TRAKTOR DJ s SYNC is lit green BeatGrid Edit Mode Pressing SHIFT SYNC engaes TRAKTOR DJ s BeatGrid Edit Mode on a corresponding Deck While in this mode you can manually adjust a track s Beatgrid via Moving the jog wheel to adjust the waveform fixing the grid s phase HotCues 1 4 can be used to select the correct downbeat you wish to use Rotating the MOVE encoders will scan through a track in increments of 4 beats Adjust MASTER Clock Tempo You can use the S4 to adjust TRAKTOR DJ s master clock tempo by gt Press and hold the MASTER button rotate the BROWSE Encoder 5 2 4 FLUX Buttons Pressing either of the FLUX buttons located above the TEMPO sliders will engage TRAK TOR DJ s Flux Mode on the Deck Flux mode lets you jump to cue points and loops without losing the overall phrasing of your tracks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 85 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section 9 2 9 Hotcue Buttons The Hotcue buttons are numbered 1 4 on each transport area of the S4 These RGB backlit buttons directly reflect TRAKTOR s cue button coloring Setti Blue Cue point Green Loop Yellow Load Orange Fade In Out White Gr
98. e in this case and using signal clipping to let your mix sound dirtier is definitely not recommended to do this make use of the great FX selection of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 instead Checking the Level on Each Channel Each channel on the Mixer provides you with a vertical channel meter next to the fader This meter shows you the pre fader level of the signal on that channel i e the level of the signal before it is adjusted by the channel fader To adjust this level use the GAIN encoder at the very top of the channel Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 41 Tutorials Adjusting Levels A GAIN encoder sits at the top of each channel gt Adjust the channel s GAIN encoder so that the level displayed on the channel meter stays in the upper part of the blue area without reaching the orange LED Note that the channel s EQ and filter settings also affect the signal level as well as the possi ble FX Unit s it is assigned to Hence when modifying any of these you might need to re adjust the GAIN encoder accordingly Of course the artistic side of your tracks should not be overlooked for tracks with a variable average level over time e g a track starting with a soft intro you should consider the loudest parts of the track when adjusting the channel level Matching Levels between Channels Moreover in order to avoid any level jump when crossfading between two channels the aver age channel levels should match gt Before mixing
99. e modes in the tutorial in section 4 2 Mixing In a Second Track They are other important tools that can help with synchronizing your tracks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 70 Tutorials Synchronization The Snap mode ensures that any Loop or Cue Point you set in a track will snap to the closest beat The Quantize mode ensures that any jump you make within the track will retain the phase sync may you jump to a Loop a Cue Point or a beat Both Snap and Quantize modes can be enabled disabled directly from your S4 by pressing the corresponding buttons in the Master Display on either side of the MASTER button A Q The SNAP and QUANT buttons allow you to activate deactivate Snap and Quantize mode respectively Depending on what you are about to do you can decide to enable or disable them at any time Here are a few examples f you want to set a Loop starting directly on a beat activate SNAP and press the Loop SIZE encoder around the desired beat On the contrary should you wish to set a Cue Point at the beginning of some backing vo cals that don t necessarily start on the beat deactivate SNAP before pressing an unlit Hotcue button If you re about to mix in a synched track and want the downbeats of both tracks to per fectly match activate the QUANT button before you press PLAY or some Hotcue button On the other hand if you want to jam around with a Sample loaded on a Remix Deck and make some stutte
100. e perfect sections of your tracks to loop you can use the S4 to store these for use at a later point by gt With the Loop mode engaged in TRAKTOR DJ press an available i e non backlit Hot cue button The selected Hotcue button is now backlit green to indicate a loop is stored Ce To delete any stored cue points loops etc hold the SHIFT button whilst pressing the Hot H cue button you wish to delete The button will no longer be backlit Loop Slicer Mode Follow the instructions below to understand how to engage TRAKTOR DJ s Loop Slicer Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 87 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section 1 Trigger a loop on your chosen deck using either the Loop encoder or manually via the LOOP IN OUT buttons Press the MOVE encoder to engage TRAKTOR DJ s Loop Slicer mode You will notice that TRAKTOR DJ now converts the selected loop into slices Hotcue but tons 1 4 on the corresponding S4 transport section will now be backlit green and repre sent TRAKTOR DJ s Slices 1 4 The REMIX SLOTS buttons above them illuminate or ange and represent from left to right Slices 5 8 These illuminated buttons can now be triggered 1 Experiment triggering the Hotcue buttons whilst in Loop Slicer mode nm Triggering HotCue button 4 in TRAKTOR DJ s Loop Slicer mode Ce Whilst in Loop Slicer mode you have the opportunity to move the start point of the Loop by Cs turning the MOVE encoder Turn
101. e physical inputs to be used for each virtual input channel in TRAKTOR For example let s say that you are currently using the default Deck configuration two Track Decks and two Remix Decks and want to use an external audio source plugged on channel D Here is the way to go 1 In Preferences gt Decks gt Deck Flavor select Live Input in the D menu as described in section 17 4 1 Switching the Deck Flavors above 2 In Preferences gt Input Routing gt Input Channel D select 3 In Ch D left and 4 In Ch D right in the L Mono and R menu respectively LiMono 3 in Ch Dieft R 4 In Ch Oright Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 172 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Other Settings of Interest 3 Click Close at the bottom of the window to confirm your modifications Your external audio source is now sent to Deck D which acts as Live Input and forwards the signal to channel D on the Mixer 7 4 3 Using Four FX Units TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 provides you with a total of four FX Units By default the first two FX Units are activated You can activate the other two FX Units in the Effects page of the Prefer ences via the FX Unit Selector in the FX Unit Routing section FXI insert FX2 Insert FX3 insert FX4 insert Restore parameters when switching FX The FX Unit Selector in the FX Unit Routing section gt To activate all four FX Units click 4 FX Units in the FX Unit Selector 4 FX Routing Scheme With
102. ecks 55 on Track Decks 124 Hotcue Buttons prefs 165 Hotcues 47 clearing 47 deleting 125 storing 34 46 125 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 225 Importing music 19 Importing your music 67 Indicators 107 Information Control Panel 183 INPUT CHANNEL C section 155 INPUT CHANNEL D section 154 Input routing 170 iTunes 21 J Jog mode 167 Jog wheel 106 on Remix Decks 55 on Track Decks 38 114 outer rim 39 top plate 39 K Kensington lock slot 152 Key Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ Deck Volume Controls amp Crossfader 73 Keylock 71 KEYLOCK indicator 72 113 Knobs 105 Knowledge Base 189 Index L Latency 177 181 Layout Switch Left and Right prefs 163 Layouts 111 163 Level meters 41 Levels adjusting 40 Library iTunes 21 Limiter 43 Line Phono Inputs 1 2 RCA sockets IN 1 2 155 Line Phono Inputs 3 4 RCA sockets IN 3 4 154 LINE PHONO switch 154 202 Live Input 99 110 LOAD button 26 113 Jog mode 167 Load Buttons prefs 167 Loading Samples 50 tracks 25 Loading from your S4 148 Quick Reference 220 Locking the tempo on a Track Deck 116 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 226 Index Loop Buttons prefs 165 LOOP IN button on Track Decks 45 118 Loop mode 51 Loop MOVE encoder on Track Decks 46 47 119 LOOP OUT button on Track Decks 45 118 Loop Out Point 118 Loo
103. ection we will describe the available settings for the control elements sitting on the top panel of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller The next section will present a few other settings of importance for your work with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 161 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Settings and Preferences for the S4 Control Elements For a detailed description of all settings available in the Preferences window please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual In the Preferences window the settings for the S4 have their dedicated page judiciously called Traktor KONTROL S4 gt Inthe Preferences window click Traktor KONTROL S4 at the bottom of the left column to display the page of settings for your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller Audio Setup Output Routing Layout Switch Left Next Layout Inp Layout Switch Right Next Layout Direct FX1 Delay Direct FX2 Reverb Direct FX3 Flanger Sample Play Buttons AUTO Hotcue Buttons Legacy Mode Loop Buttons E Manual Looping Tempo Faders E Absolute Load Buttons E Load Track FX Jog Wheel Disable Jog Wheel Push Default Controlle FX Knobs Recalibrate Traktor Kontrol S4 Traktor K 1S2 EQ and Filter Knobs Recalibrate f Traktor Kontrol F1 Faders Recalibrate Crossfader Recalibrate Jogwheel eca ate Le Recalibrate Right On State Brightness Off State Brightness f The settings for your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller in the TRAKTOR Preferences T
104. eeeecceeeessessesseseeeeeseesssssneeeeeess 177 8 1 Settings on Mat OS X s isecnidudninidhatonnnadsinnanincdasiinvetidanadhnldandees 177 8 2 Settings on Windows The Control Panel c csssssssessssesssscssescsssssssssesessessssessssescsrsatessseensseeseas 178 8 2 1 Opening the Control Panel ccccsscssessssesessescssesssssssssessssesssscsrsavsssaansaessanescaneseaee 178 8 2 2 Audio Settings Page cccccccscessssssssesessescssescsssssssessesessssesssscessarssearssearssesssscareacanesaees 179 8 2 3 Diagnostics PARES cect nan e aaea a E raa E deren ea ean 182 8 3 Using the S4 Audio Interface with Other Music Applications c ccsccescstescesestesestesestestseseeees 183 8 4 Using the S4 as your Default Audio Interface ou ccsscssessesesesesescsescssestsssstesssesssteseatescaeaeess 184 8 4 1 WI COWS execs east ar tossed stra E aya dee T het goat res 184 8 4 2 Mac OS Asm reenn A A mevianscianes 184 9 Troubleshooting and Help n sssnssunnnnennnnnonnnnnnnnunnnnounnnennnnnnnnnannnnennnnennnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnn 185 9 1 TRAKTOR WOME Stalte E A EE E 185 9 2 Hardware related Problems sissies unnie E 185 9 2 1 BASICS eo een e E aa a e e a a aae a a fe scustaaesoiaerae 185 9 2 2 USB and Driver ISSUCS csscsssssssesssscssesssssssssessssesssscsssacsssavassaressssessareacaseacanesteseaeseas 186 9 2 3 Update the DriVOl v cserecccsveesererertv enter eanemntnennve avira 187 9 2 4 USB related POWER ISSUCSs lt sivedsesind dai cnivra
105. ees 92 6 Hardware Reference cccccccceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseneeeneseneeeeeeeneess 96 6 1 Areas and CONCEDIS aesseeeceettnies vende ivan teenie denne enti ote hind i 96 6 1 1 DOCKS ss sevevecsvevevetestveereretavieerereenieree trae E areas 96 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 6 6 2 6 3 6 4 Table of Contents 6 1 2 MIKE ia e a eas ates e a a e 04s 100 6 1 3 PX UTILS ieir I E E T ees dee eerie ees 101 6 1 4 Loop RECOMED sexieecsctevectveveeserwerivsernererrenmerecnvenstatsvanreetdnnamradisenradon ayers 102 6 1 5 Front and Rear Panels c csscsssssssescssessssssssessssessescsssscsssassssasessssesesscacausscaneaeeseaeesees 104 Types of Control Elements c ccccccceccsssessessssessssesccssssssessescssssesseecessasssserssestsseansacassacaneacaneaeess 104 6 2 1 BUUONS isisescereveus E E EE eonaiiniaauanionh 104 6 2 2 WN OD Scie 5 ts oxt ees ecex ees E eereeees a A noes eet eee 105 6 2 3 PITVCOCGES cfs sfy vous cana tta stra sat a a a usnaes es 105 6 2 4 Jos Wheels sean aa a a ats rane tan eaten ess tatate ce 106 6 2 5 Faders sotana n E a E aE NA eeh Antara E E 107 6 2 6 Displays Meters and Indicators c cccssccsssssssssescscsssssescsssscsesssscssssseseecseeseessescees 107 6 2 7 SWILCNOS ananena nanan a asa ees 108 6 2 8 SOC Kel S apaa cada havndne Astenas tee E AER 108 WMG DOCKS ronan T 108 6 3 1 Deck Flavors and Structure s sisien aariaa anhini 109 6 3 2 SHIFT Buttons Accessing Secon
106. efault a limiter is enabled on TRAKTOR s main output With this limiter enabled the MAIN LEVEL meters clipping LEDs don t indicate clipping anymore but instead they indicate when the limiter kicks in While the limiter virtually cancels any distortion that might occur the resulting contraction of the dynamic range though cannot be undone Therefore even with the limiter enabled ensure that the clipping LEDs don t light up too often When the orange clipping LEDs light up turning down the MAIN LEVEL knob on your S4 is of no use indeed changing the level of the already distorted or shrinked signal coming from TRAKTOR won t repair it In this scenario the Clip LEDs on the S4 will still light up to remind you that the signal in TRAKTOR is clipped and the Main Level in TRAKTOR should be turned down Should the level stay low on the MAIN LEVEL meters check also the channel faders they are probably set too low as well Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 43 Tutorials Looping and Cueing 44 Looping and Cueing Now that you have learned the basic mixing tasks we will focus on one of TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 s great features its looping facilities Prerequisites As always we assume here that you already followed the instructions in the previous tutorials TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 now is in the following state The track House 1 is loaded on Deck A The track is playing and audible The crossfader is all the way to the left
107. eles CA 90028 USA www native instruments com Japan Native Instruments KK YO Building 3F Jingumae 6 7 15 Shibuya ku Tokyo 150 0001 Japan www native instruments co p ND NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Native Instruments GmbH 2013 All rights reserved Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 ccceeecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeneess 11 1 1 What 1S TRAKTOR KONTROL SA crsccaessidivapsuizondaanbasinanstnitasenaianiiedansassiiusaasdavasenaiasdesbuudinacabae 11 1 2 The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Documentation cccccssssessesessesessescssssssseerssearesessescsssscseacaeaeess 11 1 2 1 Where to Start cccsscsccsescssescssssssssssssssssscsssscsssassssasssssssssassasassavassauessssesesuesssneacaneaeaees 11 1 2 2 Iii VAIS Manual yerisin 12 1 2 3 Manual COnventioiScere iraran e E O 13 1 3 System REquireMents innnan AAN 14 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Overview sasnnssssnnnnnnnenenennnnnnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnen 16 importing Your MUSIC sisis esc ccc es ceed aeaaaee aE aa EEan dE i iaaea aeiaai 19 3 1 What Is the Track Collection sinrigccsiinnngnrcnnn 19 3 2 IMPOrcinS MUSIC Folders 2 4 ites ses cxcieseyes eas en eeetaeteseebeatessadetnnsa daitton ke 20 3 3 Tracks Managed by iTUn S c cscccsccscsssssscscsescsessescsesvssssescsessssssescessssscaseseseacscensacsesseseseecaseeeess 21 3 3 1 Playing Tracks Managed by iTUNES c cccccccsesssscsssssssesses
108. en the Keylock is active on that Deck Note that Keylock can be activated on Track Decks only For more info on the Keylock feature of TRAKTOR please refer to the tutorial in section 14 8 Synchronization and to the TRAKTOR 2 Man ual MASTER indicator Lights up when the Deck is the tempo master This information is cru cial when synchronizing tracks Note that only Track Decks can be set as tempo master To set a Track Deck as tempo master use SHIFT SYNC see section 16 3 12 SYNC Button For more info on synchronization please refer to the tutorial in section 74 8 Synchronization and to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual Loop Size Display The Loop SIZE Display At the far right of the Deck Display the Loop Size Display shows the currently selected loop size measured in beats You can change the selected Loop size and create Loops with this size via the Loop SIZE encoder see section 16 3 8 Loop Section 6 3 5 LOAD Button The LOAD button The LOAD button allows you to load unload a track or Remix Set to and from the Deck when using Quick Loading It is used in conjunction with the BROWSE encoder which allows you to quickly browse the Playlist you re currently in 1 Turn the BROWSE encoder to select the desired track in the currently opened Playlist in the Browser Hold SHIFT and turn the BROWSE encoder to scroll through your Favorites 2 Press LOAD to load that track Remix Set to the Deck Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 113
109. erence The Decks Audio Setup Output Routing Layout Switch Left Next Layout Input Routing Layout Switch Right Next Layout MIDI Clock Direct FX1 Delay Loading Direct FX2 Reverb Transport Decks Layout Direct FX3 Flanger Track Decks Sample Play Buttons AUTO eee Hotcue Buttons Legacy Mode k id ee Remix Mode Loop Buttons ping Global Settings Effects Tempo Faders E Absolute Mix Recorder Load Buttons E Load Track Loop Recorder FX Broadcasting Jog Wheel Disable Jog Wheel Push r Details Manager Default Restore o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o File Management o Controller Manager Traktor Kontrol S4 Traktor Kontrol S2 FX Knobs Recalibrate EQ and Filter Knobs Recalibrate Traktor Kontrol F1 Faders Recalibrate The Hotcue Buttons drop down menu from the Preferences The Hoctcue Buttons preference for the S4 affects the functionality differently depending on which mode you select Legacy Mode In Legacy mode the buttons function as follows eo Pressing an unlit button will capture a Sample from the capture source Deck start playback retirgger playback Pressing a button will enter Edit mode for the Sample Slot in which the Loop and the Loop encoders control the volume and filter set tings respectively The buttons flashes when Edit mode is activated for a Sample Slot Remix Mode in Remix mode the buttons function as follows Traktor Kontrol
110. eries For a description of the FX Units on your S4 please refer to section 16 5 The FX Units You can activate two additional FX Units in the Preferences of TRAKTOR Using four FX Units instead of two implies a few changes in the FX routing scheme Please refer to section 17 4 3 Using Four FX Units for more info For the crossfader assignment press SHIFT when using the buttons This allows you to choose the crossfader s side to which the current channel is assigned and thus its corresponding Deck too gt Press SHIFT FX Assign 1 or 2 to assign the channel to the left or right side of the crossfader respectively The resulting assignment is shown by the Crossfader Assignment indicator the little arrows at the bottom of each channel see description at the end of this section O You can also unlink a channel from the crossfader by pressing SHIFT and the FX Assign button corresponding to the side it is currently assigned to This way that channel won t be affected by the crossfader position EQ and FILTER Knobs The EQ and FILTER knobs Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 135 Hardware Reference The Mixer Each channel boards an EQ section with the three usual knobs HI MID and LOW for controlling high medium and low frequency content of the signal respectively gt Turn each EQ knob clockwise to emphasize the corresponding frequency band and coun terclockwise to attenuate this band At center detent position the
111. estscsesetesseeasseneses 205 12 Appendix C Quick References cicscctccicassiesiennccnsavanacncssuaiws cued sestucndstensennstacuweinsiicanatest 209 12 1 Track Deck Quick Reference c cccccsssccssessssessssessssessescssssssssasssessssssssasssessessavassanessanessanessanesaes 209 12 2 Remix Deck Quick Reference c sscccsssscssessssecsssessssesssscsssssssssssssasssssssasassacarsavassauessauessanessanescane 212 12 3 Mixer Quick Reference u c ccccsssssssesessescssessssessssecsesesssscesssssssassssassssassasassasassasassanessasessanessaneasans 216 123 1 Main Section Quick Reference c ccssscssseccssessssessssessssssssscessssssessesssresesssssareacaeaeaees 216 12 3 2 Channel and Crossfader Quick Reference c cssssssssssssessescsestsestessssesssreststesesteseaees 217 12 3 3 Master Display Quick Reference c ccccsseccssessessssessssessescessssssssesssressssestseseaeacaees 218 12 4 PR Unit Quick Referente i 2csctas cetaceans ladnestean cei eeasauiscdcaddossicDsandeliacddindeiSealtiecus ARRA 218 12 5 Loop Recorder Quick Reference ccsssscssessssessssessssessescssssssssassssssssesssassssasassavassanessssessanescaneseaee 219 12 6 Browsing Loading and Copying Quick Reference c ccsscssesssessssesssscssescsrsstssesessstessstesssteseans 220 INQ OX 5 Sudeevedtives cod ecusis ven aaae a aaa aaa daaa aa aaa ayeved cas 221 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 10 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Wh
112. f whereas the MASTER indicator on the left Deck Display lights up 4 Start the playback on Deck B and beat match the track on Deck B with that on Deck A whether manually or via automatic Sync 5 Stop Deck A Deck B now is the tempo master the MASTER indicator on the left Deck Display turns off whereas that of the right Deck lights up If you play sets with two Decks only or if you prefer to do your beat matching manually the Auto mode might be for you it guarantees that each new track in the mix sets the tempo refer ence and all FX will synchronize to it correctly without being constrained to a single tempo If you d like to do a combination of manual and synched beat matching again leave the AUTO button engaged and enable the SYNC button for individual Decks on your S4 as needed If SYNC is enabled the new Deck inherits the tempo from the previous tempo master If SYNC is disabled the new track sets the current tempo master Note that you can also manually set a particular Deck as tempo master gt To manually set a Track Deck as tempo master press SHIFT SYNC on that Deck Using the Clock as Tempo Master If you run beat mixed sets with more than 2 Decks you should use the Clock as tempo master The clock will always give you a solid tempo reference that will not change Also if you intend to only do beat synced transitions and would like to stay within the same general BPM range throughout your set
113. folder of the TRAKTOR 2 installation fold er Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 18 Importing Your Music What Is the Track Collection 3 Importing Your Music Most likely you already have a collection of music files on your computer For those of you who can t wait for mixing their own tracks this chapter is for you You will learn here how to quickly import your music into the powerful Track Collection of TRAKTOR If you prefer to start learning how to use TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 right away skip this chapter and go on with the tutorials in chapter 14 Tutorials which make use of the demo tracks pro vided with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 You can always come back here at a later point 3 1 What Is the Track Collection The Track Collection or simply Collection represents the whole music that you have used that you are using or that you plan to use in TRAKTOR Based on the music files on your computer the Track Collection is just another way to display them The Collection makes it easy to organize tag and prepare your tracks for being integrat ed into your mix Worth to note is that the Track Collection doesn t care about the actual file structure on your hard disk nor will it alter this structure in any way as long as you don t delete your files from within TRAKTOR The Track Collection is A database storing information about your music files A convenient way to represent and search your music files according to many
114. gaged will continue playing when the play 27 back marker exits the Freeze mode section Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 89 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section Freeze mode takes the currently viewed section of the track playing and allows you to trigger individual sections as cue points These Freeze Mode cue points can be a section of a track or down to a smaller component such as a hi hat Triggering HotCue button 2 whilst in Freeze Mode The scale of the Freeze Mode section and individual cue sections depends on the viewing scale you are currently using You can adjust the scale of which you are currently viewing a track by holding SH FT turning the MOVE encoder To the right zooms out widening the track deck view to the left zooms in to the track on a more micro level At this level you can trigger indi vidual kicks snares hi hats etc Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 90 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using FX Holding SHIFT turning the MOVE encoder to adjust TRAKTOR DJ s viewing scale When in Freeze Mode turning the MOVE encoder can be used to move around the assign ments gt Turning the MOVE encoder will move the Freeze assignments by the group size of assign ments Press and rotating the MOVE encoder moves the assignments by one assignment size 5 3 Using FX This section is designed to get you swiftly up to speed with understanding how to deploy TRAKTOR DJ s effects Follow the below t
115. he Advanced Panel on bottom On the lower right you can see the cursor pointing on the Play Type button which switches the Sample Cell from One shot to Loop mode and vice versa gt Click on the Play Type button in the lower right of the Advanced Panel see screenshot above to switch the Sample to One shot mode if you wish In One shot mode pressing the relevant Sample Play button when a Sample is playing results in the Sample Slot being stopped Pressing SHIFT Sample Play button once more after stopping Sample playback will clear the Sample Slot from the Sample In case you don t hear the playing unmuted Sample check that channel C s fader is raised in the TRAKTOR software 4 5 3 Capturing a Sample from a Track Deck We have seen how you can load Samples directly into one of the Remix Decks using TRAK TOR s Browser but here s an even cooler performance feature 1 Check that the track Techno 2 is still playing on the right Deck Deck B in TRAKTOR If not start its playback by pressing PLAY If the playback has reached the end of the track press SHIFT CUE to skip back to start 2 Seta Loop on this track using the controls in the Loop section Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 52 Tutorials Using Samples in Your Mix 3 On the same Deck press an unlit Sample Play button let s say the Sample Play button 1 This automatically captures the current Loop playing on Track Deck B and copies it
116. he Mixer Please do the following 1 Push the BROWSE button to enter Browse mode On your computer screen the Browser fills up the whole TRAKTOR window 2 Turn the Loop MOVE encoders to scroll through the Browser Tree until the iTunes icon gets selected then push the encoder to open that node 3 Browse through the iTunes Library and playlists in the same manner turn the Loop MOVE encoder to scroll within the iTunes node and push the encoder to expand collapse the se lected node 4 Once the desired playlist is selected in the Browser Tree select a track from the list by spinning the jog wheel or turning the BROWSE encoder 5 To load the selected track on to the left or right Deck press the flashing CUE button on the corresponding channel of the Mixer A or B 6 Repeat steps 3 5 to load a track on the other Deck 7 When you are done press the BROWSE button again to leave the Browse mode The iTunes tree node represents a read only view on your iTunes Library and playlists Editing functions are not available in this view Software Equivalent Of course you can do all this from the TRAKTOR user interface too 1 Click the iTunes icon in the Browser Tree to open that node 2 Browse through the Library and playlists as you would do in iTunes 3 Load a track into a Deck as you would do from a normal TRAKTOR Playlist for example by dragging the track onto that Deck 3 3 2 Importing a Selection of Tracks from iTunes
117. he Sample is a copy of the Loop f the current playback position is outside any active Loop the Sample starts at the cur rent playback position and its size is defined by the selected loop size as displayed by the Loop Size Display The Decks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 121 Hardware Reference The Decks The Remix Slot now lights up dimmed to indicate that the Sample is loaded but not audible because it is either muted or stopped To tell whether the Sample is stopped or muted have a look at the TRAKTOR software If the Sample is muted its waveform in the Sample Slot is dimmed while the lit unlit Sam ple Play button indicates whether or not the Sample is playing When importing a Sample from the loaded track as soon as the Sample is played live three times in the main mix the Sample is automatically saved to the Collection for later use Quick Loading a Sample from a Playlist By holding SHIFT and pressing an unlit REMIX SLOTS button you load the currently selected Sample from the currently active Playlist into the relevant Remix Slot Other Methods for Loading a Sample You can also copy a Sample from other Sample Slots or from the Loop Recorder by using the Copy mode or load a Sample from the Browser by using the Browse mode Both modes are explained in detail in section 16 7 Browsing Loading and Copying Playback Controls in Loop and One shot Mode Once a Sample is loaded into a Remix Slot the button control
118. he cue channel Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 136 Hardware Reference The Mixer Ce In Browse mode the Headphones Cue button is used to load the selected track on to the 27 corresponding Deck Track Decks only See section 16 7 Browsing Loading and Copying for more info on the Browse mode Deck Assignment Indicator The Deck Assignment indicator on channel A The Deck Assignment indicator labeled A B C or D shows which software Deck is currently controlled by the S4 Deck nearby simultaneously it shows on which channel the Deck nearby is playing For example if the Deck Assignment indicator of channel C lights up showing a C it means that the left Deck on your S4 controls Deck C in TRAKTOR y Furthermore the color of the lit Deck Assignment indicator reminds you whether the con N trolled Deck is an upper Deck blue or a lower Deck white Channel Fader and Channel Meter J The channel fader and meter The channel fader controls the channel s level before the signal is sent to the crossfader and Main section The channel meter gives you a visual feedback on the pre fader level of the signal on this chan nel Blue This is the normal operating area of the track Orange These LEDs can light as the level of the track is increased i e increasing gain increasing EQ adding FX etc Audio quality will not be affected if the orange LEDs light here but it is good practice to control you
119. he track Activate Stripe Navigation via gt Press SHIFT press and rotate the Jog Wheel on the currently playing Deck You can now navigate through the track to visually preview To jump to a desired position on the track gt Press the CUE button To exit from Stripe Navigation view em Press the MOVE encoder Mixing Manually The S4 allows you to control TRAKTOR DJ s decks in a similar fashion to conventional turnta bles With the SYNC mode off you can nudge the Jog Wheels to bend the tempo This may be the preferred DJ workflow for those who like to utilize manual beat matching A With SYNC mode and KEYLOCK off you can Pitch Bend AEE With FLUX mode engaged try experimenting with scratching the Jog Wheels and triggering HotCue buttons Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 82 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section Using the Tempo Faders The S4 allows you to control the tempo of a track s playing in TRAKTOR DJ by manually ad justing the Track Deck s tempo Adjusting the tempo of the currently playing track s tempo ad justs the global tempo of TRAKTOR DJ By default the track playing will play at the currently selected tempo setting of the Tempo fader The Tempo fader by default provides you with the opportunity to maneuver through a range of 8 of the tempo There may be occasions for ex ample a track transition where you wish to navigate your way to a much faster or slower tempo for a track You
120. her shaped by the controls on the corresponding channel of the Mixer Since the track is loaded on Deck A you can control its sound on chan nel A showing a lit blue A letter Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 28 Tutorials Playing Your First Track EEDE The Channel A At this point you will hear some audio coming through your speakers or PA If not please check the following section 4 1 3 If You Don t Hear the Track If the track is playing on the Deck but the audio coming through your amplification system is not loud enough or if there is no sound at all check the following Atthe bottom of your S4 verify that the crossfader is moved all the way to the left Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 29 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track Above the channel fader should be raised on channel A LETTEEET TT LLTEEEET ETT The channel meter the vertical bar of LEDs along the channel fader see picture above should show some activity If not check that the HI MID LOW and FILTER knobs higher up on that channel are set to center position at the top of the channel push the GAIN encoder once to reset the channel s input gain to O dB At the top center of the Mixer the MAIN LEVEL knob should be turned at least part of the way to the right You should see the MAIN LEVEL meters going up and down If not at the top center of the TRAKTOR window check that the MAIN knob is raised If you see some activi
121. hich allow you to control the corresponding FX Units in the software You will find a detailed description of every control element in the FX Units in section 76 5 The FX Units You can activate two additional FX Units in the Preferences of TRAKTOR Using four FX Units instead of two implies a few changes in the FX routing scheme Please refer to section 17 4 3 Using Four FX Units for more info 6 1 4 Loop Recorder The Loop Recorder is another powerful tool for live remixing your tracks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 102 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts The Loop Recorder on your S4 The Loop Recorder in TRAKTOR The Loop Recorder allows you to instantly create loops whether coming from the Mixer s mas ter signal from a particular Deck or from a physical audio input As soon as the loop is record ed it is automatically triggered You can then blend between the loop playing in the Loop Re corder and your main mix Moreover you can save the recorded loop to your hard disk or bet ter transfer it directly to any relevant location in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 typically a Sam ple Slot on a Remix Deck You will find a detailed description of every control element in the Loop Recorder in section 16 6 The Loop Recorder Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 103 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts 6 1 5 Front and Rear Panels The front and rear panel of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 contain controls and connectors re
122. his option is checked you will not be able to perform normal scratching techniques because TRAKTOR will no longer check if you re pressing the jog wheel or not The wheel will then behave as a pitch bend at all times like when rotating the wheel from its outside edge Jog Wheel Disable Jog Wheel Push By default this option is unchecked 7 3 1 Restore Default The Restore Default section holds only one element the Restore button Default Restore The Restore button This button recalls all default factory settings for TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 and lets you choose its basic Deck configuration via the Setup Wizard To carry out the restoration procedure do the following 1 Click the Restore button The following message appears Traktor 2 Native Instruments Do you really want to reset all Kontrol S4 2 Upon confirmation the default control settings and audio routing is set accordingly You are now ready to start again with a fresh TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 168 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 S4 Control Options 7 3 2 Calibration The Calibration section allows you to perform the calibration for various knobs faders and jog wheels on your S4 in order to correct potential inaccuracies of both center position for the knobs and range of the control elements FX Knobs Recalibrate EQ and Filter Knobs Recalibrate Faders Recalibrate Crossfader Recalibrate Jogwheel Recalib
123. icnndes da rierienned non danke 187 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 9 Table of Contents 9 2 5 Using the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 with a Laptop ccesessescesesesestesestestsesteseseeeees 188 9 3 Loose Jog Wheel Top Plate ascvestcdcuvird sand dicta dud wa italvanwadun indie N 188 9 4 TRAKTOR Gra SN OS sedana E N teers 189 9 5 Getting Hel asscsesneidataiiinntaiciadnnandainn E iin T 189 9 5 1 Knowledge Base Readme Online Support c csssscssessesessescssestsssscsseatessstescaeseaee 189 9 5 2 FOMM a gia saeaasiondacueaieucanuanuleuanuanrass 190 9 6 Updat s onnenn cies xiii latina a len eens heet nee cose wt one E a 190 10 Appendix A Common SetupS sisiiccccseiesicanceseccncecctcectesscsaseasscssecadeestataniateusaeateavsceadearts 191 10 1 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup c csscsssssssessescssescssessssesssssssssssssscsssacansasssaresssesssescaneacane 191 10 2 Adding a Microphone c cscsssescssescssescssessssessssessesesssscessassssarsssssssssssasassasansavansauessaressauessanessaee 198 TONS USin Seat Master MIKEN ccs cctecteceseceeeetretert inn E E E E eh aresesns 201 10 4 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 with Turntables or CD Decks c scscsscssessesessescssescsnescsssstesssessstescanescane 201 11 Appendix B Technical Information sccseiseccccceneevccccasewsesecceaserssnesessescnseecsocecsensessenauenens 205 11 1 Technical Specifications c ccccccessesssssscsesssscsessescssssecessscscsssssscssssseesescesstsese
124. id Marker TRAKTOR DJ will save the BeatGrid location as a Hotcue this is why many tracks will ap pear with one white HotCue button When using TRAKTOR DJ s Loop Slicer the S4 s Hotcue buttons 1 4 and REMIX SLOTS buttons located above the HotCues control Slices Hotcue buttons 1 4 will illuminate green when in Loop Slicer mode whereas the REMIX SLOTS orange Refer to the section 15 2 6 Using Loops When using TRAKTOR DJ s Freeze Mode the S4 s Hotcue buttons 1 4 and REMIX SLOTS buttons control Slices HotCue buttons 1 4 will illuminate blue when in Freeze mode whereas the REMIX SLOTS located above the HotCues buttons orange Refer to the sec tion 15 2 7 Using the MOVE Encoders To delete any stored cue points loops etc hold the SHIFT button whilst pressing the Hot Cue button you wish to delete The button will no longer be backlit ng Hotcue Points To make a new Hotcue point using the S4 gt gt Press one of the available non backlit Hotcue buttons The selected Hotcue button will now be backlit blue Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 86 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section 5 2 6 Using Loops You can use the S4 to perform Loop functions in TRAKTOR DJ by either manually engaging the LOOP IN OUT buttons or by selecting a loop size with the Loop encoder and pressing to engage Triggering a loop in TRAKTOR DJ using the Loop Encoder Storing Loops Using the S4 When you find thos
125. ill controlled by the crossfader and channel faders Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 80 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ 5 1 8 Deck Control oveckc An S4 Jog Wheel You can use the S4 s jog wheels to scratch find cue points manually adjust a tracks tempo rewind and seek or search through a track Seek through a Track You can seek through a track playing in TRAKTOR DJ by 1 Pressing and spinning a Jog Wheel s top plate you can seek through a track to find a nice bring in point for example 2 Once you have found an interesting point for cueing let s say a downbeat keep pressing the top plate and release it when a downbeat arrives in the other track Deck A starts play ing from that point Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 81 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ Note that you can also stop the playback by pressing the PLAY button before you seek an in teresting point with the Jog Wheel Once you have found the point you can release the Jog Wheel since the Deck is not playing you won t lose the point When a downbeat arrives in the other track press PLAY again on the left Deck Stripe Navigation When a track is playing in a TRAKTOR DJ Deck you have the opportunity to engage Stripe Navigation This function allows you to visually preview any point in the track without altering the current playback and at your choosing jump to that position of t
126. in a cued channel adjust its GAIN encoder so that its channel meter activ ity roughly matches that of the channel currently on air TRAKTOR already does this for you by automatically setting the level for each newly loaded track to a satisfying value This so called Autogain feature relies on the gain values ex tracted from your tracks Nevertheless depending on the particular EQ filter and FX ap plied to the cued track you might have to double check the level consistency before you mix in the track Moreover what is important here is the average level of the specific part of the track that you re about to mix in Checking the Main Level The signals coming from all channels are mixed together according to the relative levels set by the channel faders and by the crossfader This mix is then sent from TRAKTOR s main output to the Main section Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 42 Tutorials Adjusting Levels The Main section on your S4 In this section The LED meters show the actual level being output from the device So when the MAIN LEVEL knob is turned down these meters will go down too These meters do not mirror what is seen in TRAKTOR PRO although though the clip LEDs will still light on the S4MK2 when TRAKTOR clips Adjust the MAIN knob in TRAKTOR s Master panel so that the values on your S4 s MAIN LEVEL meters stay in the upper part of the blue areas without reaching the orange clipping LEDs By d
127. in the play ing Track Deck Remix Deck Pressing the LOOP IN button sets a Floating Cue Point at the current playback position This Floating Cue Point will serve as Loop In Point as soon as you press the LOOP OUT button Hint The LOOP IN button is the perfect tool for setting a Floating Cue Point without stop ping the playback whether you set a Loop Out Point later or not Pressing the LOOP OUT button sets a Loop Out Point at the current playback position and acti vates a Floating Loop between the previously set Floating Cue Point and this Loop Out Point You can reuse the same Loop In Point for several Loops simply set a new Loop Out Point and the previous Loop In Point will be used for the new Floating Loop The LOOP IN and LOOP OUT buttons also act as indicator they light up simultaneously to in dicate that a Loop is running If looping is active but the playback position is outside any Loop only the LOOP OUT lights up When a Loop is running you can fine tune its Loop In and Loop Out Points by holding the cor responding button depressed and using the jog wheel gt Hold the LOOP IN or LOOP OUT button depressed and spin the jog wheel to adjust the Loop In or Loop Out Point of the running Loop Bear in mind that all your actions affect a Floating Loop and not the original Stored Loop if any Hence if you plan to use the modified Loop later don t forget to store it For example you can do this by assigning the Loop to
128. in the previous tutorial see 14 2 5 Setting a Cue Point as Starting Point This mode also affects the Loop In and Loop Out Points so that they will automatically be positioned directly on the beat Of course you can also change the size of manually set Loops via the Loop SIZE encoder as described above When setting a Loop manually the Loop Size Display above the Loop S ZE encoder might not always match the actual loop size Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 45 Tutorials Looping and Cueing Moving a Loop You can also quickly move the active Loop across your track by using the Loop MOVE encoder at the left of the Loop section MOVE O ACTIVE The Loop MOVE encoder gt To move the Loop turn the Loop MOVE encoder The size of the move also corresponds to the loop size that is currently set as displayed above the Loop SIZE encoder Turning the Loop MOVE encoder when there is no Loop currently active lets you jump back ward forward through the track by the same loop size See section 16 3 8 Loop Section for more info Storing a Loop In the previous tutorial we looked at how to store Cue Points This is as simple as pressing an unlit Hotcue button An unlit Hotcue button Storing Loops works similar gt To store the active Loop press an unlit Hotcue button The Hotcue button lights up this time in green you ve just stored a Loop that you can return to simply by pressing the same Hotcue button again
129. in the software 6 4 2 The Main Section The Mixer s Main section The Main section allows you to both monitor and adjust the overall output level of your mix i e the level being output from the device In this section The LED meters show the actual level being output So when the MAIN LEVEL knob is turned down the MAIN LEVEL meters will go down too A The MAIN LEVEL meters do not mirror what is seen in TRAKTOR PRO although though the clip LEDs will still light on the S4MK2 when TRAKTOR clips Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 132 Hardware Reference The Mixer y Adjust the MAIN knob in TRAKTOR s Master panel so that the values on your S4 s MAIN LEVEL meters stay in the upper part of the blue areas without reaching the orange clipping LEDs When the orange clipping LEDs light up turning down the MAIN LEVEL knob on your S4 is of no use indeed changing the level of the already distorted or shrinked signal coming from TRAKTOR won t repair it In this scenario the Clip LEDs on the S4 will still light up to remind you that the signal in TRAKTOR is clipped gt Refer also to 14 3 2 The Practice 6 4 3 The Channels and the Crossfader A channel on the Mixer channel B pictured Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 133 Hardware Reference The Mixer The channels and the crossfader make up the core of the mixing scheme Signal Flow As a rule of thumb the signal coming from a Deck arrives at the top of
130. ing to the left moves the start point of the loop to an earli er point in the playing track whilst to the right a latter point Whilst triggering the green Hotcue buttons in Loop Slicer Mode experiment with turning V ihe Loop Encoder to adjust the loop size for some interesting creative results Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 88 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section 5 2 7 Using the MOVE Encoders The MOVE encoders serve a number of purposes when used with TRAKTOR DJ The default mode of these encoders allows you Beatjump forwards or backwards in a track according to the size of the loop display Turning to the left moves backwards in the track whereas to the right forward Waveform Zoom Pressing SHIFT rotating one of the S4 s MOVE encoders will zoom the waveform of the corre sponding TRAKTOR DJ Deck To the right zooms out widening the track deck view to the left zooms in to the track on a more micro level Freeze Mode Pressing one of the S4 s MOVE encoders will engage Freeze Mode on the corresponding TRAK TOR DJ Deck TRAKTOR DJ splits the Freeze Mode area into Slices Hotcue buttons 1 4 on the corresponding S4 section will illuminate blue in this mode and represent TRAKTOR DJ s Slices 1 4 The REMIX SLOTS buttons above them illuminate orange and represent from left to right Slices 5 8 Pressing the MOVE encoder to engage TRAKTOR DJ s Freeze mode Unlike Loop Slicer mode Freeze Mode when en
131. it Normal not used globally lit when activated SHIFT loads a set of three predefined FX SHIFT selects next FX from FX list as as set in Preferences gt Traktor KON set in Preferences gt Effects gt FX Pre TROL S4 gt S4 Control Options gt Direct Selection FX 1 3 FX DRY WET knob Adjusts the ratio between unprocessed dry signal and processed wet signal FX Knob 1 3 FX parameter 1 3 FX dependent Parameter for 1st 2nd and 3rd FX Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 144 Hardware Reference The Loop Recorder Control element Single mode Group mode FX Button 1 3 FX Button 1 resets all FX parameters Activates deactivates FX slot 1 3 lit when to their default value slot activated FX Buttons 2 and 3 FX dependent lit SHIFT button loads in this slot the next when activated FX from FX list as set in Preferences gt Ef SHIFT button loads a predefined FX ECIS A tent ECNON as set in Preferences gt Traktor KON TROL S4 gt S4 Control Options gt Direct FX 1 3 FX Mode button Normal switches the FX Unit between Single mode and Group mode lit when MODE Group mode activated SHIFT saves current settings as default settings snapshot These settings will then be recalled the next time you load this FX or by pressing the FX Button 1 Single mode only Assigning FX Units to Channels The FX Units can be assigned to any number of channels in
132. ix Deck 2 Press an available REMIX SLOTS button to copy the recorded loop to the corresponding Remix Slot 6 7 Browsing Loading and Copying Your S4 offers various ways for finding tracks and Samples and loading them on to the desired Decks or Sample Slots You can quickly load tracks and Samples from the currently selected Playlist or from your Favorites You can browse the entire content of your Track Collection for tracks and Samples via the Browse mode You can copy a Sample directly from the track loaded on the upper Deck You can copy a track or Sample from one location to another on your S4 via the Copy mode Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 148 Hardware Reference Browsing Loading and Copying You will find in 112 5 Loop Recorder Quick Reference a Quick Reference table summing Ww up the basic functionality of each control element needed for browsing loading and copy ing 6 7 1 Browsing Tracks and Samples Quick Loading Tracks and Samples You can quickly select tracks and Samples for loading via the BROWSE encoder located at the top of the Mixer The BROWSE encoder at the top of the Mixer 1 Hold SHIFT and turn the BROWSE encoder to scroll through the Browser 2 Turn the BROWSE encoder to scroll through the selected Playlist You can see the items being scrolled in the TRAKTOR Browser By turning the BROWSE encoder you scroll the Playlist that is currently selected For more info on the Bro
133. k the SHIFT button can also help you to define the track s Beatgrid manually This allows you to redefine the Grid of a track from your S4 on the fly would the Beatgrid ever appear to be wrong or missing Tapping is used in conjunction with the SYNC button See sec tion 16 3 12 SYNC Button above for more details Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 130 Hardware Reference The Mixer 6 4 The Mixer aE COUET EENERI TEIT ELN The Mixer in the middle of your S4 This section describes the general handling of the Mixer on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 You will find in 112 2 Remix Deck Quick Reference a Quick Reference table summing up 4 the basic functionality of each control element on the Mixer Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 131 Hardware Reference The Mixer 6 4 1 Mixer Overview The Mixer is equipped with four channels each of them controlling the signal coming from one particular Deck channel A B C and D control the signals coming from Deck A B C and D respectively Thanks to the logical layout of the channels on the Mixer you can quickly see what goes where Channels on the left A and C control the signals from left Decks in the software Channels on the right B and D control the signals from right Decks in the software Channels in the middle A and B control the signals from the upper Decks in the soft ware Channels on the sides C and D control the signals from the lower Decks
134. king Press either button to unlock the tempo Both buttons light up dimmed when the TEMPO fader is near O LOOP IN button Sets a Floating Cue Point at current playback position without stopping the playback This Floating Cue Point will serve as Loop In Point when you press the LOOP OUT button see below Lights up together with LOOP OUT when playback is within an active Loop In Loop Hold to adjust Loop In Point with jog wheel LOOP OUT button Sets a Loop Out Point at current playback position and activates a Floating Loop between the previously set Floating Cue Point and this Loop Out Point Looping active Lights up together with LOOP IN when playback is within the active Loop lights up alone when playback is outside the active Loop In Loop Hold to adjust Loop Out Point with jog wheel Loop MOVE encoder Push activates deactivates looping Loop active Loop move controls Turn to move the Loop by the selected loop size as displayed in the Loop Size Display SHIFT turn to move the Loop by 1 beat steps No Loop active Beatjump controls Turn to jump by the selected loop size as displayed in the Loop Size Display SHIFT Turn to jump by 1 beat steps Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 210 Appendix C Quick References Track Deck Quick Reference Control element Function Loop SIZE encoder Push activates deactivates looping Activating looping automatically sets a Floating Loop at curren
135. knob does not alter the signal TRAKTOR provides you with various types of EQ each of them having its own personali ty You can choose the EQ type in Preferences gt Mixer gt EQ Selection For more info please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual Below the EQ the FILTER knob allows you to adjust the channel s on board dual mode filter From the center detent position turning the knob clockwise activates a high pass filter where as turning it counterclockwise activates a low pass filter On left and right end the filter al most acts as a high frequency and low frequency killer respectively gt From its center detent position turn the FILTER knob clockwise to cut low and mid fre quencies and counterclockwise to cut high and mid frequencies TRAKTOR provides you with three different types of dual mode filters You can choose the filter type in the Preferences gt Mixer gt Filter Selection For more info please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual Headphones Cue Button The Headphones Cue button The Headphones Cue button CUE allows you to send the channel s signal to the cue channel in other words to your headphones This is a basic feature for DJing since it allows you to cue the audio playing on that channel before using it in your mix gt Press the CUE button to send the channel s signal to your headphones The Headphones Cue button lights up when activated i e when the corresponding channel is sent to t
136. ls Using Samples in Your Mix In TRAKTOR the Remix Deck C now holds the Sample in the upper Sample Cell of the first Sample Slot On your S4 the corresponding Sample Play button is now dimmed indicating that the Sample Slot holds a Sample which is not audible yet 4 5 2 Triggering the Sample Triggering the Sample is as simple as pressing the dimmed Sample Play button 1 Press the dimmed Sample Play button to trigger the Sample 2 Press the button again to mute the relevant Sample Slot Press once more to unmute it 3 Press SHIFT the Sample Play button to stop the Sample and skip back to start the next time it is activated The Sample is looped This is because the Sample is in Loop mode which is indicated by the loop symbol on the left side of the Sample Cell C3 Bells 1 ee eee ne er eee C3 Bells 1 gt The Sample C3 Bells 1 in Loop mode To change the Play Type of the Sample to One shot mode the Advanced Panel of the Remix Deck needs to be opened Double click repeatedly on the upper border of the Deck to cycle through the Deck Layouts until the Advanced Panel becomes visible Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 51 Tutorials Using Samples in Your Mix New Remix Set 1 4 17 3 1 Deck B C3 Bells 1 a e e a n ae e gt C3 Bells 1 CUE CUP NM 182116 18 1 4 12 1 2 4 8 16 32 gt IN ouT PACE i i x2 ka b gt 79 000 PITCH GAIN 2 uma ii The Remix Deck C with t
137. ls through the Browser Tree Push expands collapses node in the Browser Tree Loop SIZE encoders Turn scrolls through the Favorites Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 150 Hardware Reference Browsing Loading and Copying gt Press a flashing target to load the selected track or Sample After a target has been selected the Browse mode stays active allowing you to load items to other locations Track Decks or Sample Slots gt When you are finished press the BROWSE Encoder again to deactivate the Browse mode While in Browse mode you cannot control the Decks 6 7 2 Copying across the 4 Direct Copy for Samples You can directly export a Sample from the current track by pressing an unlit Sample Play but ton empty slot Please refer to section 6 3 9 REMIX SLOTS Buttons for further information on this Using the Copy Mode The Copy mode allows you to copy a track or a Sample from one location to another on your S4 gt To activate Copy mode press and hold the BROWSE Encoder While the BROWSE Encoder is held depressed all available copy sources are flashing the Headphones Cue buttons CUE on the Mixer for tracks the Sample Play buttons on the Decks for Samples and the PLAY button in the Loop Recorder for the recorded loop if any gt Press a source to select it The selected source stops flashing and remains continuously lit After a source has been selected all potential targets st
138. mize the S4 s MIDI properties such as MIDI channel or CC numbers of its individual controls Native Instruments has included the Controller Editor The Controller Editor should have been installed during the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 installation procedure If you cannot find the Controller Editor on your computer you can install it from the TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 installation disc TRAKTOR mode and MIDI mode may be used simultaneously for example you can control TRAKTOR in TRAKTOR mode then hold SHIFT and press BROWSE to switch to MIDI mode to control other software or hardware over MIDI For more information on how to use your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 as a MIDI controller please refer to the Controller Editor Reference Manual provided on the installation disc Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 159 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The Preferences Window 1 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is a highly customizable DJ system Many of its features can be modi fied so that it best suits your preferred way of DJing customizable features include audio con figuration Decks Mixer transport controls overall software layout FX Browser file manage ment to mention a few Since the customization of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is not supposed to take place in a live sit uation these settings are found in the software only This also ensures you against accidental modification of the settings while playing 7 1 The Preferences Window Most
139. modify the behavior of other control elements on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 giving you access to some secondary functions For more info on the SHIFT buttons please refer to section 16 3 2 SHIFT Buttons Ac cessing Secondary Functions 6 2 2 Knobs A knob on your S4 Knobs are rotary potentiometers with limited range this is indicated by the limited white ring around them By turning them you can dial an absolute value for the parameter The small white line on their top indicates the current value of the parameter within the defined range Depending on their purpose most of them have a center detent at the middle default posi tion which is shown by the little notch on their ring 6 2 3 Encoders An encoder on your S4 Encoders are endless rotary potentiometers this is indicated by the full white ring around them By turning them you can dial a value for the parameter relatively to its current value in the software All encoders have a step by step movement Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 105 Hardware Reference Types of Control Elements Additionally encoders have a push action available pushing the encoder can trigger some other function 6 2 4 Jog Wheels oveckc A jog wheel on your S4 Functionally speaking the two jog wheels are quite similar to the encoders described above they have an endless rotary movement here continuous and an additional push action availa ble on their top plat
140. multiple of it 88200 Hz For a bet ter understanding 48000 Hz is used by DAT recorders and for DVD films recording 96000 Hz is typical for DVD HD DVD and Blue ray Disc audio recording You should be aware that a higher sample rate also causes higher CPU load Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 180 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Settings on Windows The Control Panel Process Buffer Lower the buffer size value for a quicker response of your computer to TRAKTOR controller and software actions When converting audio information to digital and vice versa the audio driver needs to store the data in buffer packages audio buffers which are then sent to and processed by the CPU The higher the buffer size the longer it takes for a signal to finally arrive at the out put as audio You might experience this as late response in between hitting a key on a con troller which controls music software on your computer and hearing sound at the output This delay is called latency A rule of thumb is lower buffer size results in lower latency However there are more factors to latency than buffer size alone e g CPU speed and RAM size You should start off with a higher buffer size setting and gradually decrease the value until you find the perfect balance between playability and audio quality for your sys tem If you experience crackling at the audio output the buffer size is very likely to be too low for your computer s CPU to
141. n Effect Pressing any of the S4 s FX buttons 1 3 located in the FX 1 or FX 2 sections will engage the corresponding TRAKTOR DJ effect When a button is pressed you will notice that it illumi nates orange Within the Effects display of TRAKTOR DJ the corresponding FX bank will also be highlighted orange Follow the below tutorial to familiarize yourself with how to utilize the S4 to control TRAK TOR DJ s effects l 2 3 Load a track into Deck A and begin playback Press FX button 1 at the top of Channel A to reveal TRAKTOR DJ s Effect display In TRAKTOR DJ if not already selected by default ensure the Delay effect is selected in the left most bank Using the FX 1 section located in the top left of the S4 press FX button 1 The button will illuminate orange you will also be able to hear the Delay effect being ap plied to the track playing Move the FX knob 1 to either the left or the right Observing TRAKTOR DJ you will notice that your movements with the FX knob control the corresponding X axis in TRAKTOR DJ Moving the FX knob to the right subsequently moves the Delay effect along its X axis With the effect still engaged turn the DRY WET knob to the right You will hear the amount of the Delay effect increase This movement is mirrored on the Y axis within TRAKTOR DJ s Effects display Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 93 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using FX 1 Now turn FX knob 1 all the way to the right
142. ncentrate on the cued track turn it clockwise when you want to hear more of the main mix You are now ready to work on the track playing on Deck B without interfering with the main mix sent to your audience Regardless of the mix that you re hearing in your headphones the main mix is still controlled by the crossfader and channel faders 4 2 4 Synchronizing the Second Track Before mixing in the track playing on Deck B we will use TRAKTOR s automatic Sync feature to adjust its tempo to that of Deck A This is done in just one step via the SYNC button The SYNC button on the right Deck gt Press the SYNC button on the right Deck to synchronize its tempo and phase with those of Deck A The SYNC button lights up Now the two tracks are in perfect sync Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 33 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track By slowly turning the CUE MIX knob on the front panel you will hear the second track come into the mix in sync with Deck A Note that you should always adjust the tempo of the track that is not audible to the audience 4 2 5 Setting a Cue Point as Starting Point You will probably want to have more control over which particular part of the track you mix in For example most of the time not only the tempos but also the downbeats of both tracks should match Using a particular point in a track for mixing in triggering etc is called cue ing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 lets you mark points for cueing
143. nd B will now transmit the signals coming from your external audio sources to channel A and B on the Mixer respectively For more info on the input routing see section 17 4 2 Adjusting the Input Routing Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 204 Appendix B Technical Information Technical Specifications 11 Appendix B Technical Information You will find here the technical specifications and the block diagram for the audio interface of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 11 1 Technical Specifications Jacks and Sockets 4 input jacks IN 1 2 and IN 3 4 for mono RCA plugs 1 input jack MIC for mono 6 3 mm 1 4 inch phone plug 2 output jacks MAIN OUT 1 2 for 6 3 mm 1 4 inch TRS balanced phone plugs 2 output jacks MAIN OUT 1 2 for mono unbalanced RCA plugs 1 headphones jack for stereo 6 3 mm 1 4 inch phone plug 1 external footswitch input jack for 6 3 mm 1 4 inch TRS phone plug 2 MIDI IN OUT 5 pin DIN circular connectors 1 ground terminal screw 1 Kensington lock slot 1 USB 2 0 Type B 1 power supply connector Audio Specifications Audio Inputs A D Channels 5 Sample rate 44 1 48 88 2 96 kHz Bit resolution 16 24 Converter Cirrus Logic Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 205 Appendix B Technical Information Technical Specifications Cross talk 111 dB Full scale level 12 4 dB DNR a weighted 98 3 dBu THD N 0 05 Frequency response 0 5 dB 20
144. ng top plate of the Remix Deck including all Sample Slots The Hotcue button under each Sample Play button will also function as a Play and Cap ture button As a shortcut if the Sample is already playing the Hotcue button will retrig ger the Sample For any playing Sample the Hotcue button s brightness follows the Sample s rhythm It is also possible to skip through a Sample Slot s Sample Cells by pressing SHIFT a Hotcue button however this is dependent on whether the Hotcue buttons are set to Re mix or Legacy mode in TRAKTOR s preferences See 17 3 S4 Control Options for further information For a more in depth description of the Remix Deck and its capabilities please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual 4 6 Adding FX Now that we have seen the basics of playing tracks and Samples on the Decks and mixing them together let s see how to add effects or FX in the TRAKTOR terminology TRAKTOR has an extremely powerful effect section By default there are two different FX Units in TRAKTOR which can be assigned to any of the Decks These FX Units are directly mirrored on your S4 above each Deck Delay An FX Unit in TRAKTOR Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 55 Tutorials Adding FX An FX Unit on the S4 Prerequisites As always we assume here that you already followed the instructions in the previous tutorials TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 now is in the following state The track Techno 2 is loade
145. ng on the NI logo in the upper right corner of the user interface Alternatively you can find the version num bers of all installed Native Instruments applications when showing the details for an applica tion within the Overview page of the Service Center Updates are available on the Update page in Service Center or on our website under http www native instruments com updates Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 190 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup 10 Appendix A Common Setups This appendix shows you how to connect your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 with your other gears in various setups For a reference of each socket or control element to be found on the rear and front panel of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 please refer to section 16 8 The Rear Panel and 76 9 The Front Panel respectively It goes without saying that all setups require that TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 was correctly instal led on your computer beforehand For more info on the installation procedure please refer to the separate Setup Guide We will first describe the most basic setup Then we will show you some interesting add ons 10 1 TRAKTOR KONTROL 4 Basic Setup This setup is the most common It is also described in the Setup Guide and used in most of the tutorials Let s start with the fundamentals the S4 your computer your headphones and an amplifica tion system Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 191 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR
146. notice by turning the GAIN encoder on either Channel A or B clockwise that the gain level of the currently playing Deck increases Vice versa turning the knob counterclockwise will cause the level of the track playing to decrease Pressing the GAIN encoder will reset the gain value Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 76 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ 5 1 5 Using EQs When you move one of the S4 s EQ knobs on either of Channels A or B the corresponding ef fect can be observed via TRAKTOR DJ s Equalizer section To reveal the Equalizer display of a TRAKTOR DJ Deck using the S4 gt Press FX button 2 located at either the top of channel A or B The Equalizer drawer will be revealed in the relevant TRAKTOR DJ deck VIELTIEL nual ful pom m The LOW EQ of Channel A being turned anti clockwise and the corresponding affect in TRAKTOR DJ s Equalizer Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 77 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ 5 1 6 Using the Filters The S4 s FILTER encoders located on Channels A amp B can be used to apply the Filter effect to a TRAKTOR DJ Deck Moving one of these FILTER encoders from its 12 o clock position ini tiates the Filter function in TRAKTOR DJ TRAKTOR DJ s Filter engaged symbol To reveal the Filter display of TRAKTOR DJ gt Touch your finger on the Filter section of a TRAKTOR DJ Decks Equalizer display Turning one of the S4
147. nything else it gets directly inserted in TRAKTOR s signal flow Deck Configurations In TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 the upper Decks A and B are always Track Decks The lower Decks C and D are Remix Decks by default but you can switch them to Track Decks or Live Inputs or even deactivate them You will find a detailed description of every control element in the Decks in 16 3 The Decks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 99 6 1 2 Mixer Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts The Mixer is sitting in the middle of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller and of TRAK TOR s window PUNEO The Mixer on the S4 controller and in TRAKTOR i GAIN FILTER j e FX FILTER 1 FX FILTER 2 FX MID MID FILTER i i T2 A 3 FX Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 100 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts The Mixer receives on its four channels 1 the audio signals coming from the four Decks de scribed above There is one channel for each Deck Hence channels are labeled from A to D according to their corresponding Deck As any DJ mixer the Mixer s purpose basically is to adjust the relative level of each channel to control the channels frequency content possibly feeding them into the FX Units see section 16 1 3 FX Units below before sending the overall result to the Main section 2 and in the end to generate the mix that is sent to your audience Of course the Mixer also provides you with a crossfader
148. o turn on the FX Unit globally The FX On button lights up Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 59 4 On channel B press the right FX Assign button labeled 2 to assign Deck B to this FX Unit as well You can deactivate the left FX Assign button on that channel if you want to hear the new FX more distinctly The FX Knobs 1 3 and the FX Buttons 2 and 3 will give you access to each of the advanced parameters for that FX At any time you can press the FX Button 1 to reset the parameters to their default value As for Group mode the DRY WET knob allows you to adjust the balance between the un processed dry signal and the processed wet signal 4 6 6 Storing a Snapshot If you find yourself making the same settings to the FX each time and would like to set a de fault state for the FX parameters simply do the following 1 Adjust the FX Knobs and Buttons to your liking 2 Press SHIFT MODE to store these settings as snapshot The next time you press the FX Button 1 with this FX loaded its parameters will assume the values you stored It s now time to check another new feature introduced in TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 the Loop Recorder 4 1 Using the Loop Recorder Earlier we saw how you can use Remix Decks as a means for triggering one shot and looped Samples But this is how to work with existing material the Loop Recorder on the other hand allows you to record new material on the fly Tutorials Adding FX Traktor Kont
149. ol S4 Manual 185 Troubleshooting and Help Hardware related Problems 9 2 2 USB and Driver Issues Once your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is connected and turned on wait a few seconds and give a look at the USB indicator located in the Master Display in the middle of your device A Q MASTER The USB indicator in the Master Display If the USB indicator is flashing there is no connection to the computer or there is a problem with the driver Please check the following points The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is a USB 2 0 device and will not work on a USB 1 0 1 1 port A bad USB cable can be responsible for connectivity problems Try using a different cable bearing the official USB logo in some cases using a shorter cable might help Check that the driver is correctly installed You can do this for example by looking for the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Control Panel see 18 2 1 Opening the Control Panel for more info If you cannot find the Control Panel the driver is most likely not installed at all In this case please re install the driver from the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 installation disc as described in the separate Setup Guide Driver Installation Note in Windows As any other USB device the driver installs exactly for one USB port If you connect the TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 to another port a standard Windows dialog opens in which you can install the driver to that port f you have previously installed the driver on your computer once
150. om the track on Deck B this time while tweaking the FX loaded on the FX Unit 2 1 Turn channel B s EQ knobs back to neutral position 2 Activate the FX Assign button 2 on channel B 3 Press the REC button on the Loop Recorder and tweak the FX Knobs and buttons of the FX Unit 2 as you see fit Since the Loop Recorder records the audio including any processing by the FX you can cre ate this way brand new loops from your existing tracks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 64 Tutorials Using the Loop Recorder 4 7 3 Overdubbing You can also dub over the current recorded loop building additional recorder layers on the fly To do this 1 Press the REC button while the Loop Recorder is already playing an existing loop and 4 1 4 press REC again to exit overdubbing The new audio will then be added to the existing loop If you don t like the overdub just hit UNDO and it will clear your last overdub and you can try it again If you hit UNDO once more it will act as a redo and bring back the overdub If you want to completely clear all the contents of the Loop Recorder just press UNDO while the Loop Recorder is stopped Further Uses of the Recorded Loop One of the great things about the Loop Recorder is that you can use it to record loops that you can then transfer to the Remix Decks To do this we will use the Copy mode on the S4 1 Hold down the BROWSE button to enter Copy mode You will see the PLA
151. on and press the corresponding Hotcue but ton You can see that the button is no longer lit Creative Uses of Hotcues Hotcues aren t just bookmarks to particular sections of a track they can also be used for crea tive techniques such as remixing parts of a song beat juggling effects etc As an example we will show you here how you can quickly make use of a Loop stored in a Hotcue slot to introduce the track you re about to mix in By the way this will allow us to sum up what we ve learned until now Provided that you carefully followed the instructions in the previous tutorials the track Tech no 2 is still loaded on Deck B Let s say that the track on Deck A is on air crossfader at full left and you want to prepare the track on Deck B for mixing in 1 Start the playback of the next track and send it to your headphones by activating the CUE button on the corresponding channel 2 Find an interesting Loop near the beginning of the track by using the controls in the Loop section of the right Deck 3 Once you have a nice Loop running store it by pressing an unlit Hotcue button and leave it playing 4 Now start to bring this Loop in your mix for example by implementing the lowcut we ex plained in the previous tutorial see 14 2 7 Mixing In the Track by Using the Channel EQ and Filter 5 When you re about to fade out the previous track completely release the Loop on the new track and you re done
152. on calibration please refer to the separate Jog Wheel Calibration Guide in the Documentation subfolder of the TRAKTOR 2 program folder Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 193 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup gt Connect one end of the included USB 2 0 cable to the USB socket on the rear panel of your S4 and the other end to an available USB 2 0 port on your computer USB 15V 1 2A ON OFF The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 is a USB 2 0 device and will not work on a USB 1 0 1 1 port If possible do always use the USB cable provided with the S2 box to operate your unit Longer or lower quality USB cables may not transfer sufficient power to the S2 which may lead to performance issues For proper operation it is also advised to always connect the power sup ply Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 194 Appendix A Common Setups TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Basic Setup Turn Down All Volume Controls gt Before you plug any audio cable make sure to turn down all volume controls both on your S4 and on your amplification system This will avoid any possible audio artifacts that could damage your speakers and your ears Connect the Main Outputs to Your Amplification System gt Onthe rear panel of your S4 connect the Main Output 1 2 s 1 4 sockets balanced or the RCA sockets unbalanced to your amplification system depending on the type of in puts supported by your amplifier or active speakers 2 1 VOLUME BOOTH MAIN
153. on o ccscsccssssessesessescssessssessssessssesssscessassssasssessssssssasassavassavaneauessanescaneasaes 155 6 9 The Front Panel ensenen n a 156 6 10 TRAKTOR KONTROL S4MOdeS ccsccesteneesevesnerestvevesanentvarevcenneveret E O 157 610 1 Nativeiraktor Modessa enisi aueiiied cheer abated 157 6102 WVU HG ias anaana a Gch desdann 158 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 8 Table of Contents 7 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 siciicsntesnsicncsnicvcasduciexisnctcnsecccracsssantanerseteatearsceasesies 160 7 1 The Preferences Window cccceccccsscsccsccscsessesessesesseeccseesssessssessssesssacessasssearssearsseaseasarsacaneacaneaeeess 160 7 2 Settings and Preferences for the S4 Control Elements csccsssscssestesesesesescstescstestessstereaeeseas 161 7 3 SA Control PCOS a mene E EE E eenctery 163 7 3 1 Restore Defa ltsrrenosecansiiiininianin a i 168 7 3 2 Calibration c2uieinkan ine nnn a asauealnaennt 169 74 Other Settings of Interest oec A L 169 741 Switching the Deck Flavors c csssssssessssessssessescsseesssessssesssssssssssssavassaansaensaescaneseaes 170 74 2 Adjusting the Input Routing occ cscessescscssescscssesssescssssesessessssssecessassesssssseesasesssees 170 7 4 3 Using Four FX UNits cscscecsccsccsssescscsssscsesseseseessscsescscsssseavsscessscsesscscseasaseseacsceseassecass 173 7 5 The Setup Wizarde css eect teenie cece E E E E E E 174 8 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel ssssse
154. op when you pressed the Sample Play button it will still capture audio from the source Deck but will instead take it from the current playback position The loop will automatically be cut to the length of the cur rent Loop size as displayed in TRAKTOR gt Capture a few Samples from various places in the track on Deck B and play around to get used to the basic playback controls that we described above triggering muting etc 4 5 4 Unloading a Sample If at any time you d like to clear the contents in one of the Sample Cells hold the SHIFT but ton and press the corresponding Sample Play button to stop the Sample then repeat the same action to clear the Sample Cell The Sample Play button turns back off 4 5 5 Getting More Controls over the Samples Once you have a Sample loaded in one of the Remix Decks you have many more controls over the Sample at your disposal To access them we need to switch the focus of the right Deck on your S4 to the lower Remix Deck D in TRAKTOR gt Press the DECK D button to switch the right Deck focus to Deck D The button lights up All other elements on the right Deck now control the Sample Slots on Deck D in TRAKTOR We won t describe all of the functions here refer to 16 3 The Decks and the TRAKTOR 2 Manual also but at least show you some of the available functions Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 54 Tutorials Adding FX The jog wheel allows tempo bending outer rim and scratchi
155. order to process the signals com ing from the corresponding Decks To do this use the FX Assign buttons on the desired chan nels See section 16 4 3 The Channels and the Crossfader for more info You can activate two additional FX Units in the Preferences of TRAKTOR Using four FX Units instead of two implies a few changes in the FX routing scheme Please refer to section 17 4 3 Using Four FX Units for more info 6 6 The Loop Recorder The Loop Recorder allows you to seamlessly record a piece of audio material coming from vari ous sources and directly blend it into your mix Furthermore it allows you to record many lay ers on the same loop overdubbing Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 145 Hardware Reference The Loop Recorder The Loop Recorder on your S4 The recording source for the Loop Recorder can be selected via the Loop Recorder s Source menu in TRAKTOR Please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual for more info A You will find in 112 4 FX Unit Quick Reference a Quick Reference table summing up the Y basic functionality of each control element on the Loop Recorder 6 6 1 DRY WET Knob The DRY WET knob controls the mix between the main output of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 and the output of the Loop Recorder As soon as some audio material recorded into the Loop Re corder is played back you can blend it into your main mix As long as the Loop Recorder is stopped or empty the DRY WET knob is disabled Hence i you
156. ore info on this re For more info on what a Layout is please refer to the separate TRAKTOR 2 Manual 6 3 4 Deck Display Informed at a Glance The Deck Display holds six indicators along with the Loop SIZE Display The Deck Display Indicators in the Deck Display The six indicators in the Deck Display provide various Deck related information ON AIR indicator lights up when the Deck is audible on the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 main outputs This indicator takes the crossfader position as well as the corresponding channel fader position into account in order to decide whether the Deck is on air or not In a nutshell When the ON AIR indicator is lit think twice before starting or pausing the Deck REMIX indicator lights up if the lower Deck C or D is a Remix Deck This notably allows you to know that the REMIX SLOTS buttons of the S4 are controlling the Remix Deck be low provided that you didn t change their assignments see the description of the Sam ple Play buttons in section 6 3 9 REMIX SLOTS Buttons DECK A or DECK B indicator lights up in blue when the Deck on your S4 is focused on the upper Deck Deck A on the left Deck B on the right in TRAKTOR Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 112 Hardware Reference The Decks DECK C or DECK D indicator lights up in white when the Deck on your S4 is focused on the lower Deck Deck C on the left Deck D on the right in TRAKTOR KEYLOCK indicator lights up wh
157. ort your own music into the pow erful Track Collection of TRAKTOR so that you can use all TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 fea tures with your own tracks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 12 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Documentation Chapter 14 Tutorials is a selection of tutorials focused on your controller They will let you progressively discover how to use the various tools provided by TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 These practical examples will simplify the learning process and get you quickly started with computer based DJing Chapter t5 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ is a concise overview of using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ on an iOS device Chapter 16 Hardware Reference is an extensive reference of all hardware control ele ments to be found on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware controller Whenever you are unsure about the functionality of a particular control element you will find here all the necessary information Chapter 17 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 shows you how to customize TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 in order to make it fit your particular needs Chapter 18 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel describes the on board audio inter face of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware controller Chapter 19 Troubleshooting and Help provides you with a list of most common problems and their solutions along with info on how to get help Finally three appendixes provide you with useful additional info
158. ossfader Note that if you switched a Deck to Live Input it cannot be focused from your S4 see 16 3 1 Deck Flavors and Structure Hence with four FX Units activated you cannot access the Live Input s dedicated FX Unit from your S4 Of course you can still control this FX Unit in the software 7 5 The Setup Wizard The Setup Wizard lets you configure TRAKTOR in a few simple steps It also is a convenient way to restart with a fresh out of the box setup The Setup Wizard does two things It lets you choose from a few basic audio MIDI and general setup configurations and au tomatically sets the available options accordingly It resets all other TRAKTOR settings to their default values You can start the Setup Wizard in two ways Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 174 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The Setup Wizard gt Select Start Setup Wizard in the Help menu of the Application Menu Bar to see this bar Fullscreen mode must be deactivated Launch Service Center Open Manual Downloads Visit Traktor 2 on the web Visit Beatport on the web Start Setup Wizard N About Traktor 2 gt Or click the Setup Wizard button at the bottom left corner of the Preferences window Setup Wizard Walk through Let s walk you through the S4 configuration using the Setup Wizard 1 On the welcome screen click Next to confirm you have connected TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 to your computer via USB 2 The Wizard asks whe
159. ossibly process them on the way The basic rule is you need to ensure that no signal is clipping while simultaneously trying to use the full dynamic range available Just to keep it short there are two reasons behind this Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 40 Tutorials Adjusting Levels By using the full dynamic range available you keep the noise level low relative to your mix As a result all the details of your music are better rendered When a signal is clipping it is not getting louder just worse The loud parts typically the beats are cut which both reduces the dynamic range and introduces distortion in your mix The speakers will suffer from this and so will your audience Be also prepared for some angered sound technician or club owner coming down on you Hence you should always make sure that your signals stay at levels that satisfy these two re quirements 4 3 2 The Practice To assist you in adjusting levels the Mixer of your S4 is equipped with various level meters and controls Each level meter consists of a bar of blue LEDs indicating the signal level along with an orange LED at the top indicating the clipping A channel meter The rule mentioned above can thus be translated as follows gt Best practices when adjusting levels Ensure that the displayed levels go high enough in the blue areas but don t reach the orange LEDs or only rarely Letting your levels go in the red or orang
160. ot To delete the content of a Hotcue slot press SHIFT desired Hotcue button The button s LED turns off By deleting a Hotcue slot you also delete the Cue Point or Loop it contained Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 125 Hardware Reference The Decks Hotcue Buttons in a Remix Deck Context If the Deck in focus is a Remix Deck the RGB Hotcue buttons function in the following way gt Pressing a Hotcue button will trigger the Sample Cell to play The Hotcue button illuminates gt Pressing a Hotcue button on a playing sample will mute the Remix Slot The Sample continues to play but is muted The button will flash to indicate that the Slot is muted The RGB button mirrors the color of the Sample within TRAKTOR To unmute a Remix Slot gt Press the Hotcue button again The Remix Slot will be unmuted and the Hotcue button will remain illuminated To capture a sample from a Remix Deck s capture source Deck gt Press an unlit Hotcue button To stop a playing Sample gt Press SHIFT Hotcue button To delete a stopped Sample gt Press SHIFT Hotcue button To load a new Sample from the Browser me Press SHIFT unlit Hotcue button Remix Slot Buttons The functionality of the REMIX SLOTS buttons when controlling a Remix Deck with the S4 de pends on the Hotcue Buttons setting in the Traktor KONTROL S4 section of the TRAKTOR Preferences Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 126 Hardware Ref
161. our screen show a Satisfying level to adjust the microphone input gain you can follow the guidelines described in section 14 3 Adjusting Levels 4 When the meters show a satisfying level click Close at the bottom of the Preferences win dow to confirm your modifications For more info on the input routing see section 17 4 2 Adjusting the Input Routing Once the microphone input gain is set don t touch this GAIN knob anymore To control the volume of your microphone within your mix use the MIC VOL knob on the S4 s front panel in stead see below Notes Your microphone signal is now sent to the Aux channel in TRAKTOR This has following inter esting consequences The volume of the microphone is controlled by the MIC VOL knob on the front panel of your S4 MIC VOL You can also control the microphone volume via the AUX knob at the right of the crossfad er in TRAKTOR You can select the microphone signal for use in the Loop Recorder by choosing Aux in the Loop Recorder s Source menu Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 200 Appendix A Common Setups Using a Master Mixer By having assigned the microphone signal to the Aux channel you still have four internal Decks at your disposal Track Decks or Remix Decks 10 3 Using a Master Mixer In some situations you might want to use other audio devices independently from the TRAK TOR KONTROL S4 system like an additional setup with turntables and
162. p Recorder 60 102 adjusting the loop size 62 deleting a recorded loop 64 DRY WET knob 62 146 overdubbing 65 147 PLAY button 63 148 Quick Reference 219 REC button 63 65 147 recording a loop 62 reference 145 SIZE button 63 146 Source menu software 62 200 transfering a recorded loop to a Sample Slot 65 UNDO button 64 65 147 Loop section on Track Decks 44 117 Loop Size Display 45 113 Loop SIZE encoder on Track Decks 44 47 119 Looped mode 123 Looping 44 Loops activating deactivating 47 119 adjusting the size 45 117 119 Floating Loop 118 moving 46 117 setting in a track 44 45 117 storing 46 125 LOW knob 30 136 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 227 Index M MAIN knob software 30 Main level 42 MAIN LEVEL knob 30 MAIN LEVEL meters 30 MAIN OUT section 153 Main Outputs 1 2 195 Main section 18 42 101 132 Manual Looping prefs 165 Manually cueing 38 MASTER button and indicator 69 70 142 Master Display 34 139 Alert indicator 139 MASTER button and indicator 69 70 142 Preview Play indicator 140 QUANT button and indicator 35 70 142 SNAP button and indicator 34 70 141 USB indicator 140 186 MASTER indicator Deck Display 69 113 MASTER indicator Master Display 69 Meters 107 channel 30 137 Metronome icon 68 MIC VOL knob 157 200 Microphon
163. per Remix Deck s Sample Cells The REMIX SLOTS buttons allow you to load and play Samples Each button represents a Sam ple Cell in one of the four Sample Slots of a Remix Deck Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 120 Hardware Reference If you don t want to use Samples at all or if you don t want to mix Track Deck controls and 7 Remix Deck controls you can activate alternate functions for these Sample Play buttons in Preferences gt Traktor KONTROL S4 gt S4 Control Options For example they can be used as Beatjump buttons or as additional Hotcue buttons Please refer to section 17 3 S4 Con trol Options for more info Sample Slot States The LED of each REMIX SLOTS button indicates its current state Remix Slot Play button Remix Slot s state Unlit Empty Sample Slot Dimmed Sample loaded but stopped or muted Lit Sample loaded and playing Capturing a Sample from another Deck If a track is currently loaded into a Track Deck you can directly export a Sample from that track by pressing an unlit REMIX SLOTS button Select the Deck to be captured from with the Capture Source selection drop down menu in the Remix Deck s Header New Remix Set MASTER The Capture Source selection drop down menu in the Deck s Header Once you press an unlit REMIX SLOTS button a Sample is copied from the current playback position to the Remix Slot f the current playback position is within an active Loop t
164. r Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 97 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts 01 11 70 19 The equivalent control elements on a Track Deck in TRAKTOR The two Decks on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 allow you to control the four software Decks labeled A B C and D available in TRAKTOR The left Deck on your S4 can control the upper Deck A and lower Deck C in the software The right Deck on your S4 can control the upper Deck B and lower Deck D in the soft ware On your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller each Deck provides you with a multi function jog wheel with advanced transport functionality via its top plate 1 and outer rim 2 a TEMPO fad er 3 to adjust the playback s speed a Deck Display 4 giving you various information about the Deck s state a Loop section 5 Sample Play buttons 6 and Hotcue buttons 7 with differ ent functionality according to the Deck type Track Deck or Remix Deck see below the tradi tional PLAY and CUE buttons 8 along with a few other useful control elements Of course you will find equivalent features in the TRAKTOR software Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 98 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts Both left and right Decks also provide a SHIFT button 9 when held depressed this button modifies the function of many other control elements see section 16 3 2 SHIFT Buttons Ac cessing Secondary Functions for more info Many control elements on the Decks can have their func
165. r like effects by pressing the corresponding Hotcue button repeatedly you might prefer to deactivate QUANT to create repetitions shorter than a beat Locking the Key of Your Tracks When synchronizing tracks you alter their tempo and consequently their pitch or key For small tempo adjustments this is not really serious but when the tempo is changed more frankly the resulting pitch might get problematic kick sounds would lose their power vocals would sound silly etc To avoid this TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 provides you with a Keylock feature that uncouples the tone and the tempo of a track Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 71 Tutorials Synchronization 1 Load two tracks with quite different tempos on Deck A and B Start the playback on both Decks and synchronize Deck B to Deck A You can clearly hear how the tone of the track on Deck B changed 3 Now press SHIFT PLAY on the right Deck of your S4 This activates the Keylock on that Deck The tone of the track gets back to its original value thus preserving most of its acoustic feeling In the Deck Display the KEYLOCK indicator lights up to remind you that the Keylock is active on that Deck 48 4 In Conclusion There is no correct sync setting it all depends on your DJ style and the kind of music your sets will consist of Regardless of which setting you choose you can see all necessary info on your S4 and pilot your DJ set accordingly Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual
166. r volumes and only light the orange LEDs occa sionally Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 137 Hardware Reference The Mixer To correct the channel level adjust the GAIN encoder at the very top of the channel For Ww more info on how to set your levels correctly see the tutorial in section 14 3 Adjusting Levels Crossfader Assignment Indicator The Crossfader Assignment indicator The Crossfader Assignment indicator shows you the side of the crossfader the channel is as signed to To change the crossfader assignment hold SHIFT and press the desired FX Assign buttons see above at the beginning of this section Crossfader pom m The crossfader The crossfader controls the mix between the signal s assigned to its left and right side At the center position the crossfader has no effect channel levels are then only defined by the re spective channel faders see above At each crossfader s end the opposite signals are totally cut O You can customize the fading curve of the crossfader in TRAKTOR s Preferences Please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual for more info You can quickly see which channels are assigned to each side of the crossfader by looking at the Crossfader Assignment indicators right above the pairs of little arrows You can change the crossfader assignments via SHIFT FX Assign buttons For more info on these control ele ments see above in this section Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 138
167. raktor Kontrol S4 Manual 162 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 4 Control Options In this page settings are grouped into four sections S4 Control Options Restore Default Cali bration and LEDs 7 3 4 Control Options On the Traktor KONTROL S4 page of the Preferences the S4 Control Options section allows you to adjust the way your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller reacts to your actions The fol lowing paragraphs thoroughly describe each of the available settings Layout Switch Left and Layout Switch Right The Layout Switch Left and Layout Switch Right menus allow you to change the behavior of the Layout switching function on both Decks yout Switch Left Next Layout Layout Switch Right Next Layout The Layout Switch Left and Right settings On your S4 Layout switching is done by pressing SHIFT DECK C on left Deck and SHIFT DECK D on right Deck In each menu following options are available Next Layout default Repeated pressures step through available Layouts Layout O Selects fixed Layout 0 in the list Layout 1 Selects fixed Layout 1 in the list The list of available Layouts can be customized in Preferences gt Layout Manager For more in fo on how to create and manage Layouts please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual Direct FX 1 3 The three menus Direct FX 1 Direct FX 2 and Direct FX 3 allow you to choose the FX to be directly loaded when holding SHIFT Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 163 Cus
168. rate Left Recalibrate Right The Calibration section The calibration can be done separately for four groups of control elements each of them pro posing its own Recalibrate button FX Knobs for recalibrating the FX DRY WET knob and FX Knobs 1 3 on both FX Units EQ and Filter Knobs for recalibrating EQ s and FILTER knobs on all channels of the Mix er Faders for recalibrating the TEMPO and channel faders Crossfader for recalibrating the crossfader on the Mixer Jogwheel for calibrating the touch sensitivity of the jog wheels The left and right wheels are calibrated independently For more information on the manual calibration routine please refer to the separate Jog Wheel Calibration guide from the Traktor 2 documentation folder 7 4 Other Settings of Interest This section describes a few other settings of the TRAKTOR Preferences that affect the way your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 reacts Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 169 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Other Settings of Interest 7 4 1 Switching the Deck Flavors As explained in section 16 1 1 Decks all Decks can be individually switched between differ ent Flavors Track Deck Remix Deck or Live Input This is done in the Decks page of the Preferences via the two lower menus in the Deck Flavor section A Track Deck B Track Deck C Sample Deck D Sample Deck The Deck Flavor section allows you to select another Flavor for each of the lower Decks
169. rmation o Appendix A shows you how to integrate TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 to your studio or live setup in various configurations o Appendix B gives you the technical specifications of the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 con troller o Appendix C provides you with Quick Reference tables for all control elements on your controller Should you have any doubt about a particular control element you will find here a useful reminder 1 2 3 Manual Conventions This section introduces you to the signage and text highlighting used in this manual This man ual uses particular formatting to point out special facts and to warn you of potential issues The icons introducing these notes let you see what kind of information is to be expected Whenever this exclamation mark icon appears you should read the corresponding note careful ly and follow the instructions and hints given there if applicable Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 13 Welcome to the World of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 System Requirements This light bulb icon indicates that a note contains useful extra information This informa tion may often help you to solve a task more efficiently but does not necessarily apply to the setup or operating system you are using however it s always worth a look Furthermore the following formatting is used Text appearing in drop down menus such as Open Save as etc and paths to loca tions on your hard drive or other storage devices is printed in talics
170. rol S4 Manual 60 Tutorials Using the Loop Recorder The Loop Recorder on your S4 You could for example capture the signal from the microphone input on the S4 record your scratching in real time or just record a few bars of a particular track while tweaking the FX settings Prerequisites One more time we assume here that you already followed the instructions in the previous tuto rials TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 now is in the following state The track Techno 2 is still loaded on Deck B The track is playing and audible remem ber if the track is over press SHIFT CUE on the right Deck to skip back to the begin ning The Deck A is stopped if it s not the case press the PLAY button on the left Deck The crossfader is all the way to the right FX Unit 2 is in Single mode and loaded with your favorite FX None of the FX Units are assigned to channel B both FX Assign button on channel B must be off Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 61 Tutorials Using the Loop Recorder 4 7 1 Choosing a Source The Loop Recorder can capture the input from several sources In TRAKTOR you can choose the desired source by clicking on the Source menu the drop down menu directly under the Loop Recorder s DRY WET knob The Loop Recorder s Source menu in TRAKTOR In this menu you have following choices Main will record TRAKTOR s overall signal Cue will record any channels whose Headphones Cue button is on
171. rossfader 29 36 134 138 assignment 135 Crossfader Assignment indicator 138 CUE button Deck on Track Decks 35 128 CUE button Mixer 33 37 136 Cue channel 33 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 222 Index CUE MIX knob 31 33 37 157 Cue Points Floating Cue Point 118 setting and storing 34 storing 125 CUE VOL knob 31 157 Cueing 34 44 Cueing a track in the Browser 31 140 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 160 D Deactivating looping 47 Deck 17 96 flavor 99 109 170 focus 110 111 overview 108 DECK A indicator 26 DECK A D indicators 112 Deck Assign buttons 54 111 Deck Assignment indicator 137 DECK C button 111 DECK D button 54 111 Deck Display 112 DECK A indicator 26 DECK A D indicators 112 KEYLOCK indicator 72 113 Loop Size Display 45 113 MASTER indicator 69 113 ON AIR indicator 112 SAMPLES indicator 112 Default FX 56 Delay FX 57 Device Monitor Control Panel 181 Direct FX 1 3 prefs 163 Direct Loop prefs 164 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 223 Index Displays 107 Distortion 41 43 Documentation 11 Driver issues 186 Drop Out Detection Control Panel 183 DRY WET knob FX Unit 57 60 DRY WET knob Loop Recorder 62 146 Dynamic range 40 E Effects 18 55 101 Encoders 105 EQs 30 42 136 using when mixing in a track 36 External audio input 99 110 F
172. rossfader all the way to channel A so that you are only hearing the track on Deck A At the same time bring the channel volume fader all the way down for channel B Press the Cue button B below the CUE MIX knob The button lights up indicating that Deck B is now sent to the Cue channel which you now hear in the headphones Note that now no matter where you move the crossfader you will still hear Deck B because its cue is on Press Cue button B again to toggle it off and press Cue button A You will now hear the track playing on Deck A no matter what position the crossfader is in This is due to the fact that Deck A s Cue button is on and the CUE MIX knob is still in the center position Press both Cue buttons A and B so that they are both active illuminated Turn the CUE MIX knob all the way to the left Now toggle the two Cue buttons on and off Notice that when both Cue buttons are off unilluminated there is no signal at all coming through the headphones Press both Cue buttons so that they are off Turn the CUE MIX knob all the way to the right If the channel faders are up you will be able to hear the main mix coming through your headphones A Notice that when both channel faders are down there is no signal at all coming through the headphones Move the crossfader from one side to the other to hear the main mix in the headphone cue A Remember that no matter what mix you are hearing in your headphones the main mix is st
173. rview 2 FX Units The signals coming from the Decks can be further processed by two FX Units located at the top of your hardware and software interface You can even activate two ad ditional FX Units in the software allowing you to process each Deck individually The FX Units give you access to the whole collection of high quality FX included in TRAKTOR The left FX Unit on your S4 can control the left FX Unit s in the software The right FX Unit on your S4 can control the right FX Unit s in the software 3 Mixer Sitting in the middle of your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller and of TRAK TOR s window the Mixer receives on its four channels the audio signals coming from the four Decks described above There is one channel for each Deck As any DJ mixer the Mixer s purpose basically is to adjust the relative level of each channel to control the channels frequency content possibly feeding them into the FX Units before sending the overall result to the Main section at its top and in the end to generate the mix that is sent to your audience You will find a more detailed presentation at the beginning of chapter 16 Hardware Refer ence followed by a thorough description of each control element to be found on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller For an in depth explanation of each and every function provided by the TRAKTOR software please refer to the separate TRAKTOR 2 Manual It is available as a PDF file in the Documentation sub
174. s Artist Loopmasters Loopmasters Loopmasters Loopmasters Loopmasters Loopmasters Loopmasters Loopmasters Tutorials Playing Your First Track Demo Tracks Demo Remix Sets k Release Release SHIFT and turn the BROWSE encoder to scroll through the Playlist and navigate to the track House 1 2 Once the track is highlighted press the LOAD button on the left Deck to load that track on to Deck A The track is loaded In TRAKTOR its waveform and info appear on Deck A House 1 Loopmasters w SYNC 01 58 127 00 04 01 0 0 127 00 lt i I gt 4 ee lilat aell anaa aa salad ij P CUE CUP 4 1 32 V16 1 8 1 4 1 2 4 gt 3 1 40 7 e a 32 gt IN OUT The LOAD button on the right Deck of your S4 would have loaded the track on to Deck B in TRAKTOR In addition to using the S4 to load a track you can also drag and drop tracks from the Browser or from a folder on your computer directly into one of TRAKTOR s Decks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 27 Tutorials Playing Your First Track 4 1 2 Playing the Track gt Once the track is loaded simply press the PLAY button at the bottom of the left Deck The track starts playing The PLAY button lights up and the waveform starts moving in TRAKTOR Again pressing the PLAY button on the right Deck would have started the playback on Deck B To Each Deck Its Own Channel The audio playing on each Deck can be furt
175. s its playback Its functionality depends on the Sample s Play Type Loop or One shot which is indicated by the Play Type indicator to the left of a Sample Cell it either depicts a loop or an arrow symbol To change the Play Type of the Sample the Advanced Panel of the Remix Deck needs to be opened Double click repeatedly on the upper border of the Deck to cycle through the Deck Layouts until the Advanced Panel becomes visible below the Deck as shown in the screenshot below Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 122 Hardware Reference The Decks New Remix Set SYNC MASTER C3 Bells 1 c3 Bells 1 r gt CUE CUP fM 182116 18 14 12 1 2 4 8 16 32 gt IN OUT BACTVE i i x2 L4 b gt PITCH GAIN 2 a TORRID sync The Remix Deck C with the Advanced Panel on bottom On the lower right you can see the cursor pointing on the Play Type button which switches the Sample Cell from One shot to Loop mode and vice versa gt Click on the Play Type button in the lower right of the Advanced Panel see screenshot above to switch the Sample to One shot mode if you wish In Loop mode the Sample will be played back looped The Remix Slot button acts as follows Playback state Remix Slot button Sample stopped Press to start playback Sample playing Press to mute unmute the Sample SHIFT press to stop the Sample The next time you trigger the Sample it will start playing from its start position In One shot
176. s processing see 74 6 Adding FX We recorded a loop in the Loop Recorder and it played in sync with the track see 74 7 Using the Loop Recorder The Tempo Master For all this to work TRAKTOR needs both a tempo and beat reference it can synchronize things with We call this the tempo master The tempo master doesn t have to be the same throughout your mix but there is always one tempo master and only one For example by activating SYNC on a Track Deck you say to TRAKTOR Synchronize the track on this Deck with the current tempo master Samples playing in Looped mode on a Remix Deck as well as loops recorded in the Loop Recorder always play in sync with the current tempo master In TRAKTOR the Clock or any Track Deck can be the tempo master TRAKTOR s Clock can provide a tempo and a tick Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 66 Tutorials Synchronization A Track Deck can provide the tempo and the beats from the track that is currently play ing The Beatgrid So that a Track Deck can provide reliable tempo and beats these must be precisely deter mined in the loaded track if not the reference wouldn t make any sense Therefore tracks must first be analyzed beforehand by TRAKTOR in order to determine the BPM as well as the position of the beats The result of this analysis is the so called Beatgrid There is a specific Beatgrid for each of your tracks A track s waveform with Grid Marker 1 and
177. section You will also learn how the RGB buttons behave when using the TRAKTOR DJ app 5 2 1 PLAY buttons Pressing either of the PLAY buttons will toggle playback on the corresponding TRAKTOR DJ Deck Whilst the track is playing pressing the PLAY button again will pause the deck Keylock The Keylock function of a TRAKTOR DJ Deck can be activated by pressing SHIFT PLAY on the S4 5 2 2 CUE Buttons The use of the S4 s CUE buttons function as follows in TRAKTOR DJ Pressing the CUE but tons places a Cue Marker and stops the deck If you press it again playback starts from the Cue point and lasts for as long as you hold the Cue button Once you release it playback stops and jumps back to the Cue point 5 2 3 SYNC MASTER Buttons The SYNC button on the S4 allows you to automatically sync a track s tempo in BPM to the track currently playing in TRAKTOR DJ The S4 s SYNC buttons illuminate orange when engag ed Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 84 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using the Transport Section When using TRAKTOR DJ there are occasions when a Deck is in a Half Sync state This is when the BPMs of the Decks match but the phase alignment does not For example With two tracks playing scratching one of the Jog Wheels without a FLUX button engag ed and releasing out of time With two tracks playing in Sync and using Cue points out of time When a TRAKTOR DJ deck is in the Half Sync state The SYNC symbol of th
178. sks or high CPU usage within a music program that uses the device as audio driver Reset A click on this button resets the error count Connection Monitor Section The Connection Monitor section holds two displays and a button Number of Clients displays the number of clients connected to the interface Multiple ASIO applications are counted separately WDM and WASAPI increase the number by one no matter how many WDM WASAPI applications play audio USB Data Errors counts USB data errors Poor quality or long cables as well as irradiation can be the source of data errors on the USB bus Reset A click on this button resets the error count Information Section The Information section holds two displays and a button Driver Version See the currently installed driver version here Firmware Version See the currently installed firmware version here Troubleshooting Guide Click Show to open the Troubleshooting Guide 8 3 Using the 4 Audio Interface with Other Music Applications The use of the S4 s on board audio interface is not limited to the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 sys tem you can use it with any other music applications installed on your computer To do this you need to configure your music applications accordingly most of the time you will find a Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 183 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Using the S4 as your Default Audio Interface setting in the options or preferences of yo
179. ssesecesscsesssesseesesnesseeseess 21 3 3 2 Importing a Selection of Tracks from iTUNES c scsccssssessesesestesesesesescsescaresteseaeerees 23 3 3 3 Importing munes Playlists wes cecwrntwewinndcnevndainwawinindtinddind 24 MANGIA RAL Sct shel A eels en ees eeepc eee meee ch oe eee cee eee cee eee 25 4 1 Playing Your First Track ieseiivvencoiiivecvvaitra vided dative diac aaa 25 4 1 1 Quick Loading 4 TraCk sis s cessssicarsnsseiauwuniGnewinwuarenanauie acne 26 4 1 2 Playing the MACK ciiisean R Aiea eee Feces 28 4 1 3 If You Don t Hear the Track c ccsssscssssssssssssessesessescsssscsssssssavessssessssessassscansaeessseesees 29 4 2 Mixing In a Second Track c cccsseccsssssscssssssessscsssescscssscecessscsesssscsessssssteseesssetseecnstecsesaseseneasseneses 30 4 2 1 Cueing a Second Track Directly from the Browser cssssssssssesesescsestssestessstescateseaee 31 4 2 2 Loading and Playing the Second Track cssssssssssescsescsescsssstessssesssesssescsesteseseeeees 32 4 2 3 Using Headphones to Prepare the Mix c ccscscssescscsssescscssscsessescsessssessscscesessseesess 32 4 2 4 Synchronizing the Second Track c sssssssssesessessssessssessssessssessescsssaaseatansaessavescaescaee 33 4 2 5 Setting a Cue Point as Starting Point c cscessssesssesssessesessescsssscsssatsssaesssescaeseaes 34 Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 4 43 44 45 46 47 48 Table of Contents 4 2 6 Interlude In Case the Left Tra
180. start position SHIFT dimmed lit button unloads Sample from Sample Slot button turns back off Hotcue buttons 1 4 Unlit empty Sample Slot Press to load a Sample from the track at current playback position in Loop mode and stopped LED color green for Looped mode blue for One shot mode Dimmed Sample loaded and stopped Press amp hold to trigger the Sample Upon release playback stops and skips back to start Lit Sample playing LED s brightness follows Sample level Press to retrigger the Sample In Legacy mode SHIFT lit dimmed button activate Edit mode for Sample Slot button starts flashing where you can use the Loop MOVE and Loop S ZE encoders to control volume and filter settings for the Sample Press SHIFT button again to deacti vate Edit mode In Remix mode SHIFT lit dimmed button selects the next Sample Cell in the Sample Slot See also the Hotcue Buttons section in 17 3 S4 Control Options for informa tion on Remix and Legacy mode PLAY button Press to start playback of Sample Slots Press again to stop playback and reset it to start position Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 215 Appendix C Quick References Mixer Quick Reference Control element Function CUE button Stopped Samples Press amp hold to trigger Sample Slots Upon release playback stops and skips back to start Playing Samples Press to retrigger Samples SYNC button Re synchronizes
181. support team to be able to pro vide you with quality assistance Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 189 Troubleshooting and Help Getting Help When communicating with the Native Instruments support team keep in mind that the more details you can provide about your hardware your operating system the version of the software you are running and the problem you are experiencing the better they will be able to help you In your description you should mention How to reproduce the problem What you have already tried to fix the problem A description of your setup including all hardware The brand and specifications of your computer When installing new software or software updates a Readme file is included that contains late breaking news and new information that was not yet included in the documentation Please open and read this Readme file before contacting Technical Support 9 5 2 Forum In the Native Instruments User Forum you can discuss product features directly with other users and with experts moderating the forum http www native instruments com forum 9 6 Updates Whenever you encounter problems it is recommended that you first download and install any available software updates Updates are released regularly to fix known problems and to con tinuously improve the software The version number of your software is displayed in the About dialog for any Native Instruments application This dialog can be opened by clicki
182. t You can hear that our adjustments to the EQ are now part of the recording You ll notice that the loop automatically started playing when it finished recording If you don t want this to happen just push the PLAY button during recording Now the loop will only trigger when you explicitly tell it to Playing with the Recorded Loop You can control the balance between the looped recording and the main output using the Loop Recorder s DRY WET knob Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 63 Tutorials Using the Loop Recorder The Loop Recorder s DRY WET knob You can stop and start again the recorded loop by using the PLAY button By doing this you ll notice the following The Loop Recorder always stays in sync with the Deck B which is our current tempo ref erence we say tempo master for more info on tempo references check the tutorial in section 4 8 Synchronization You don t have to bother with the DRY WET knob position when stopping the Loop Re corder when you stop the Loop Recorder the DRY WET knob is automatically bypassed whatever its current position is This ensures a seamless transition with the main signal at its original level Deleting the Loop and Trying Again If you don t like what you hear and want to try again gt Press the UNDO button when the Loop Recorder is stopped Now the recording has been cleared and you can try again For example you could try again to record a loop fr
183. t playback position with the selected loop size Turn no active Loop selects a loop size in beats for the next Floating Loop that will be set The selected loop size is displayed in the Loop SIZE Display above Turn Loop active halves doubles the size of the current Loop REMIX SLOTS buttons Unlit empty slot Press to export a Sample from the track loaded on that Deck at current playback position if playback is within an active Loop the Loop is copied The Sample is loaded in Looped mode and with the same playback state as the track muted if playing Press SHIFT button to load the Sample selected in the Playlist Dimmed Sample loaded but stopped or muted Lit Sample playing Sample in Looped mode Press to start mute unmute the Sample Press and hold for one second to stop playback and reset it to start position Sample in One shot mode Press to start playback Press again to stop play back and reset it to start position SHIFT dimmed lit button unloads Sample from Sample Slot button turns back off Hotcue buttons 1 4 Unlit empty slot Press outside any active Loop to store a Cue Point at cur rent playback position Press within an active Loop to store this Loop LED color blue for Cue Point green for Loop Lit When the Deck is playing press to jump to that Cue Point Loop When the Deck is stopped press amp hold to trigger the playback from that point Upon release playback stops and skips b
184. th the drivers for your S4 controller during the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 installation proce dure This section describes the Traktor KONTROL S4 Control Panel user interface 8 2 1 Opening the Control Panel You can open the Control Panel in various ways gt From within TRAKTOR Go to Preferences gt Audio Setup and click the Settings button located at the right of the Latency slider and display Audio Device Traktor Kontrol S4 Sample Rate 44100 Hz Latency gt From your desktop Go to Start gt Programs gt Native Instruments gt Traktor KONTROL S4 Driver gt Traktor KONTROL S4 Control Panel Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 178 The S4 Audio Interface and Control Panel Settings on Windows The Control Panel If you cannot find the Control Panel the driver is most likely not installed at all In this case please re install the driver as described in the separate Setup Guide Here is what you get when opening the Control Panel TRAKTOR KONTROL 54 CONTROL PANEL Ca Audio Settings gt F Audio Processing Diagnostics 44100 Hz v Sample Rate Process Buffer Device Monitor Streaming Processing State 6 1 ms Output Latency The Control Panel On the left side you find two tabs Audio Settings and Diagnostics gt Click on the tabs at the left to open the corresponding page of the Control Panel 8 2 2 Audio Settings Page The Audio Settings page
185. the Beatgrid indicated by the white vertical segments 2 The track s Beatgrid is not only important when a Track Deck is set as tempo master but also when you want this Track Deck to be synchronized with the current tempo master whichever it may be The included demo tracks used in the tutorials were previously analyzed therefore they already have a reliable Beatgrid Before you can effectively use the synchronization facilities on your own tracks you will have to analyze them By default this is done automatically when you import your music into the Track Collection For more info on how to do this see chapter 73 Importing Your Music For all the details on the Beatgrid the Analysis and the Track Collec tion please refer to the separate TRAKTOR 2 Manual What Is Synched and What Is Not Basically time evolving FX are always automatically synched to the current tempo master On the other hand for each Track Deck you can decide whether to use the automatic Sync or not for example if you want to beat match the track manually see tutorial in 14 2 Mixing In a Second Track or if you don t want any beat matching at all for that track Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 67 Tutorials Synchronization 4 8 2 Who s the Master You can build your mix using various Deck setups you can mix with two Track Decks only or make use of the lower Remix Decks default setup or even replace the Remix Decks with an other two Track
186. the channel GAIN en coder and goes down to the bottom channel fader The only exception to that rule is the pair of FX Assign buttons although they are sitting right under the GAIN encoders they actually tap the signal after the EQ and FILTER knobs and before the channel fader GAIN Encoder The GAIN encoder The GAIN encoder controls the input level of the signal coming from the corresponding Deck gt Turn the GAIN encoder to adjust the channel input gain This notably affects the resulting level as shown by the channel meter at the bottom If the channel meter indicates that the signal is clipping turn down the GAIN encoder For more info on how to set your levels correctly see the tutorial in section 14 3 Adjusting Levels gt Push the GAIN encoder to reset the channel input gain to O dB FX Assign Buttons The FX Assign buttons The FX Assign buttons labeled 1 and 2 allow you to assign the channel and its corre sponding Deck both to the desired FX Units normal layer and to a particular side of the cross fader Shift layer Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 134 Hardware Reference The Mixer For the FX Unit assignment press the left or right button to assign this channel to the FX Unit 1 or 2 respectively The button lights up when the channel is routed to the corresponding FX Unit When activating both buttons on the same channel FX Unit 1 and FX Unit 2 will process the channel s signal in s
187. the four FX Units 1 4 activated channels are differently routed to the FX Units Each channel and its dedicated Deck have their own FX Unit FX Unit 1 2 3 and 4 are assigned to channel and Deck A B C and D respectively This routing cannot be changed only activat ed deactivated Controlling Four FX Units from your S4 When the four FX Units 1 4 are activated in TRAKTOR the FX Units on your 4 follow the Deck focus of the Decks underneath Depending on whether the left Deck focus is on Deck A or C FX Unit 1 on your S4 is assigned to FX Unit 1 or 3 in TRAKTOR respectively Depending on whether the right Deck focus is on Deck B or D FX Unit 2 on your S4 is assigned to the FX Unit 2 or 4 in TRAKTOR respectively This way each FX Unit on your S4 always controls the software FX Unit needed for the Deck in focus below Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 173 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The Setup Wizard Due to the different FX routing scheme the FX Assign buttons work differently FX Assign button Function with four FX Units FX Assign 1 Channel A Assigns the channel to FX Unit 1 Channel B unused Channel C Assigns the channel to FX Unit 3 Channel D unused FX Assign 2 Channel A unused Channel B Assigns the channel to FX Unit 2 Channel C unused Channel D Assigns the channel to FX Unit 4 For more info on the FX Assign buttons please refer to section 16 4 3 The Channels and the Cr
188. ther you want to use TRAKTOR with a MIDI controller Select No here as TRAKTOR is already pre configured for use with the S4 3 The Wizard asks whether you want to use an external DJ mixer in your setup Select Yes and confirm with Next In case of TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO this screen is skipped and external mixing is auto selected 4 Select a basic setup for your Decks how many Decks and what Deck Flavors to use Se lect 2 Track Decks 2 Remix Decks from the drop down menu and confirm with Next 5 The last screen of the Setup Wizard sums up your selection of options four Decks two Track Decks and two Remix Decks an external DJ mixer your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 controller the keyboard layout derived from the system settings You can click Back to change the settings made Cancel to cancel the Setup Wizard completely or Finish which confirms your selections Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 175 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 The Setup Wizard TRAKTOR starts with the selected settings and a matching interface layout e g if you selected to use an external DJ mixer TRAKTOR s software mixer will be hidden You can always change the Layout of the user interface with the Layout selection menu in TRAK TOR s header ooo fi i i N Fx To change the Deck Flavors click on the Deck letter in a Deck s upper right corner and select a Flavor from the drop down menu Pack Deck Remix Deck Ls Live Input Internal Playback Scratch
189. this is the ideal mode to use To set it up do as follows Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 69 Tutorials Synchronization 1 In TRAKTOR s Clock panel deactivate the AUTO button Set the Clock as tempo master whether by activating the MASTER button in the Clock panel or by pressing the MASTER button on the Master Display of your S4 in the middle of the Mixer The Clock panel should now looks like this The Master Display on your S4 should now look like this A Q 3 On your S4 activate sync on all Decks by pressing the respective SYNC buttons This way all Decks will instantly follow the Clock s tempo You can then set the Clock s tempo to the tempo you intend to play your set via the numeric field to the right of the MASTER but ton see picture above gt Change the Clock s tempo by clicking the displayed BPM value and dragging your mouse vertically while holding the mouse button depressed You can see the tempos on every Deck changing accordingly As in Auto mode you can change the tempo master at any time from your S4 by pressing SHIFT SYNC on the desired Deck or by pressing MASTER again in the Master Display 4 8 3 Other Useful Tools for Synching Lastly we would like to quickly mention here three other interesting features related to syn chronization the Snap and Quantize modes and the Keylock function Snap and Quantize Modes As you probably remember we already mentioned the Snap and Quantiz
190. tion customized in order to fit your specific needs and habits For more info on this please refer to chapter 17 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Three Types of Audio Material Three Deck Flavors Your Decks can handle three different types of audio material each of them leading to a spe cific Deck Flavor Tracks A track is a song stored in digital format stored on your hard disk For instance the traditional way of DJing consists in playing back a particular sequence of tracks a so called Playlist Decks handling tracks are called Track Decks Samples A Sample is a small piece of audio material If its physical content does not really differ from a track s content it s all about audio stored in digital format on your hard disk the difference between them is both in their size and purpose in general a Sample is much shorter than a track and it is aimed to be added to or blended into your main mix Notably Samples are perfect material for live remixing Decks handling Sam ples are called Remix Decks Each Remix Deck provides you with four Sample Slots con taining 16 Sample Cells each Audio input Whereas the two aforementioned audio material types are played back from your hard disk Decks C and D can also be switched to Live Inputs in which case they transfer audio signals coming from the outside world to TRAKTOR s audio processing and mixing facilities Whether it s a microphone a turntable a keyboard or a
191. to the selected Deck config uration Bear in mind though that the Setup Wizard additionally resets all TRAKTOR settings to their default values For more info on the Setup Wizard please refer to section 17 5 The Setup Wiz ard Using the Preferences In some circumstances you might prefer to manually set the correct routing for incoming au dio signals in TRAKTOR depending on your specific needs This is notably the case in the fol lowing situations You already customized TRAKTOR and don t want to lose all your particular settings Your desired configuration is not proposed by the Setup Wizard You can directly configure the audio routing options via the Input Routing page of the Prefer ences Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 171 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Other Settings of Interest o Audio Setup o Output Routing L Mono not connected R notconnected o MIDI Clock Loading L Mono not connected Transport Decks R not connected Mixer Global Settings L Mono not connected Effects R notconnected Mix Recorder Loop Recorder Broadcasting L Mono not connected Br er Details a E E Layout Manager File Management Controller Manager L Mono not connected Traktor Kontrol X1 R not connected o o o o o o o o o o o o Traktor Kontrol S4 L Mono not connected R not connected Input Routing page in the Preferences panel In this page you can choose th
192. tomizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 S4 Control Options Direct FX1 Delay Direct FX2 Reverb Direct FX3 Flanger The Direct FX 1 3 settings Reminder In Single mode press SHIFT FX Button 1 SHIFT FX Button 2 or SHIFT FX Button 3 to load the selected Direct FX into the corresponding FX slot In Group mode press SHIFT FX On to load all three Direct FX into their respective FX slots Sample Play Buttons The Sample Play Buttons menu lets you choose alternate functions for the four Sample Play buttons on Track Decks Sample Play Buttons AUTO The Sample Play Buttons setting The Sample Play buttons default behavior on Track Decks is thoroughly described in sec tion The following options are available AUTO default This is the default behavior The buttons can have two sets of func tions depending on the type of the Deck underneath o If the lower Deck is a Remix Deck which is the default situation the Sample Play buttons control the Sample Slots of this underlying Deck o f you switched the lower Deck to Track Deck the Sample Play buttons trigger Beat jumps on the current Deck from left to right 4 beats backward 1 beat backward 1 beat forward and 4 beats forward This is also true for the lower Deck when focused Beatjump The Sample Play buttons trigger Beatjumps from left to right 4 beats back ward 1 beat backward 1 beat forward and 4 beats forward respectively Direct Loop The
193. tor Kontrol S4 Manual 49 Tutorials Using Samples in Your Mix 4 5 1 Loading a Sample from the Collection You can load Samples directly from your Track Collection This will give us the opportunity to try the Browse mode on your S4 controller this mode allows you to browse your whole comput er for tracks and Samples The PREVIEW button 1 Push the BROWSE encoder in the middle of the S4 to enter Browse mode The PREVIEW button lights up You can see all available targets flashing on your S4 among them the four Sample Play buttons on each Deck 2 Turn the Loop MOVE encoder to select the Track Collection folder from the Browser Tree Press the Loop MOVE encoder button to expand the folder node 3 Turn the Loop MOVE encoder to select the All Remix Sets folder from the Browser Tree Press the Loop MOVE encoder button to expand the folder node 4 Turn the Loop MOVE encoder to select the Dirty Trap folder from the Browser Tree 5 Turn the BROWSE encoder to highlight the Sample C3 Bells 1 in the Playlist 6 On the left Deck press one of the flashing Sample Play buttons let s say the first one to load the Sample into that particular Sample Slot 7 Push the BROWSE encoder again to leave Browse mode You can do this in the software too simply drag and drop the Sample from the list onto a Sample Cell of a Sample Slot The Sample is now loaded and ready to play Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 50 Tutoria
194. tor Lit when Snap is active Clock Master button Sets the Clock as tempo master lit when Clock is set as master Clock Master indicator MASTER Lit when the Clock is set as tempo master Quantize button Activates the Quantize option lit when Quantize is active Quantize indicator QUANT Lit when Quantize is active 12 4 FX Unit Quick Reference See section 16 5 The FX Units for more details on these control elements Control element Single mode Group mode FX On button Normal activates deactivates FX Unit Normal not used globally it wher activated SHIFT loads a set of three predefined FX SHIFT selects next FX from FX list as as set in Preferences gt Traktor KON set in Preferences gt Effects gt FX Pre TROL S4 gt S4 Control Options gt Direct Selection FX 1 3 FX DRY WET knob Adjusts the ratio between unprocessed dry signal and processed wet signal FX Knob 1 3 FX parameter 1 3 FX dependent Parameter for 1st 2nd and 3rd FX Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 218 Appendix C Quick References Loop Recorder Quick Reference Control element Single mode Group mode FX Button 1 3 FX Button 1 resets all FX parameters Activates deactivates FX slot 1 3 lit when to their default value slot activated FX Buttons 2 and 3 FX dependent lit SHIFT button loads in this slot the next when activated FX from FX list as set in Preferences gt Ef
195. ts current position even if this position does not match the position of the TEM PO fader on your hardware This has the benefit of solving all possible offset related is sues occurring when you change the software Deck s tempo by any other means e g syn chronizing the Deck to another tempo switching the Deck focus or moving the tempo fader in the software o There is no more risk of any tempo jump when you touch the TEMPO fader o The Tempo Offset buttons have the same functionality as in Absolute mode indicat ing any offset between software and hardware faders among other things Additional ly they allow you to shift the range of the TEMPO fader pressing a Tempo Offset but ton when both are unlit moves the range down up by half range e g by 6 for the default range 6 The tempo fader in the software Deck jumps accordingly e Like in Absolute mode you can move the handle of the TEMPO fader to another posi tion without altering the software Deck s tempo by holding SHIFT depressed while moving the fader This is not only useful to cover the whole range of the tempo fader in the software should there be any offset between hardware and software faders but Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 166 Customizing TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 S4 Control Options it also allows you to go beyond this range and change the Deck tempo within 100 while preserving the current fader accuracy as defined by the range set in Preferen ces gt
196. ts the mid frequency content of the signal Low frequency knob LOW Adjusts the low frequency content of the signal FILTER knob Adjusts the on board bipolar filter Headphone Cue button CUE Sends the pre fader signal to the cue channel headphones Deck Assignment indicator A B C Lights up when corresponding software Deck is currently under focus on D the S4 Channel fader Controls the channel s level Channel meter Gives a visual feedback on the channel s pre fader level Blue signal below clipping Orange signal clipping Crossfader Assignment indicator Left arrow lit channel assigned to the left side of the crossfader Right arrow lit channel assigned to the right side of the crossfader Crossfader Controls the mix between signals assigned to its both sides Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 217 Appendix C Quick References Mixer Quick Reference 12 3 3 Master Display Quick Reference Control element Function Alert indicator Flashes when there is something wrong Main Volume knob or Head phones Volume knob too low in the software CPU load too high laptop power supply disconnected USB indicator Lit if the driver is up and running Flashing if there is no connection to the computer or a problem with the driver Preview Play indicator Lit when a track is loaded into the Preview Player SNAP button Activates the Snap option lit when Snap is active SNAP indica
197. ty on the MAIN LEVEL meters of your S4 but don t hear any sound then double check the connection starting with the cable going from the S4 s Main Outputs to your PA 4 2 Mixing In a Second Track Now that you have learned how to quickly load and play tracks using the TRAKTOR KON TROL S4 see the previous tutorial let s see how to mix in a second track On the way you will learn a few basic mixing tasks that every digital DJ needs to know how to cue tracks syn chronize tracks start the playback at the right position and mix the tracks together using the crossfader Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 30 Tutorials Mixing In a Second Track Prerequisites We assume here that you already followed the instructions in the previous tutorial see 74 1 Playing Your First Track TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 now is in the following state The track House 1 is loaded on Deck A The track is playing and audible The crossfader is all the way to the left 4 2 1 Cueing a Second Track Directly from the Browser Before we load another track we will use TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 s Preview Player to cue the track in the headphones directly from the Browser PHONES CUEMIX CUEVOL The PHONES socket and headphones controls on the front panel 1 If it s not already done plug a pair of headphones to the PHONES socket on the front panel of your S4 2 On the right of the PHONES socket turn the CUE VOL knob fully down and put on
198. uch as synching or Auto Looping with them If you have stored tracks in other folders or on external storage devices you can add these folders to the list of TRAKTOR Music Folders as follows 1 Open Preferences gt File Management Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 20 Importing Your Music Tracks Managed by iTunes 2 Click Add at the bottom of the Music Folders section 3 Navigate to a folder you want to add 4 Confirm with OK Repeat to add all of your Music Folders Subfolders are automatically included in the scan Hence you don t need to add them to this list 3 3 Tracks Managed by iTunes If you have organized your music collection with iTunes TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 offers direct access to your iTunes Library and your iTunes playlists 3 3 1 Playing Tracks Managed by iTunes You can browse your iTunes Library and playlists directly from your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 By the way this will be the opportunity to introduce you to browsing and loading from your hardware controller For this we will use following control elements Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 21 Importing Your Music Tracks Managed by iTunes Any of the jog wheels Any of the Loop MOVE encoders located below each jog wheel The BROWSE encoder located beneath the MAIN knob in the center of the device Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 22 Importing Your Music Tracks Managed by iTunes The CUE buttons located on each channel of t
199. upply In 100 240V 60 50Hz 0 4A Out 15V 1200mA 10 8VA Dimensions and Weight Depth 33 8 cm Height 7 22cm Width 50cm Weight 3 4kg Environmental Specifications Operating temperature 5 to 35 C 41 to 95 F max 85 non condensing humidity Storage temperature O to 40 C 32 to 104 F max 85 non condensing humidity Do not install this unit in locations exposed to high humidity or direct sunlight Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 208 Appendix C Quick References Track Deck Quick Reference 12 Appendix C Quick References This appendix provides you with you Quick Reference tables summing up the basic functionali ty of each control element on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 This gives you a quick and con cise overview of all basic functions of your controller For more info on each control element please refer to the descriptions in chapter 16 Hardware Reference 12 1 Track Deck Quick Reference Deck controls for when the Deck in focus is a Track Deck See section 16 3 The Decks for more details on these control elements Control element Function DECK C or DECK D button Normal switches the focus of your S4 Deck between upper and lower Deck in TRAKTOR Lit when lower Deck focused SHIFT switches the Layout in TRAKTOR LOAD button Normal loads selected track on the Deck when using Quick Loading SHIFT unloads the track from the Deck i e it clears the Deck Lights up when
200. ur S4 In this chapter we describe actions on the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Of course every action on your S4 is instantly mirrored in TRAKTOR For an in depth explanation of all features provided by the TRAKTOR software please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual Quick References You will find in section 17 5 The Setup Wizard a series of Quick Reference tables summing up the basic functionality of each control element on your S4 6 1 Areas and Concepts This first section will give you an overview of TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 s main areas both on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware controller and in the TRAKTOR software On the way we will describe some important concepts that together build the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 sys tem You will continuously encounter these concepts in your work with TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 Previous chapter 74 Tutorials proposes a practical approach of how these concepts are im plemented 6 1 1 Decks TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 provides you with four virtual Decks The Decks are the place where tracks Samples and live input are played back The Decks can be seen as the virtual equiva lent to the good old vinyl or CD decks just with a bunch of powerful additional features and the flexibility of a computer based system Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 96 Hardware Reference Areas and Concepts ecke RESET o DECK A C J E O ua n mu DUN TRANSPORT il A Deck on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 hardware controlle
201. ur music applications allowing you to select the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 as audio interface For more info please refer to the documentation of your music applications 8 4 Using the 4 as your Default Audio Interface If you want to use the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 for playback of all audio applications on your computer not only for music software you have to set it as your default audio interface 8 4 1 Windows For Windows 7 and later you can define the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 as your default audio interface as follows Open Start gt Control Panel gt Hardware and Sound gt Sound Select the Playback tab In the device list select Traktor KONTROL S4 and click Set Default Select the Recording tab In the device list select Traktor KONTROL S4 and click Set Default Click OK to close the dialog Sl gee De 8 4 2 MacOSX For Mac OS X you can define the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 as your default audio interface as follows 1 From the Apple menu select System Preferences 2 Inthe panel that opens click Sound 3 On the Sound Effects tab select Traktor KONTROL S4 in the Play alerts and sound ef fects through menu 4 Click the Output tab and select Traktor KONTROL S4 from the Choose a device for sound output list 5 Click the Input tab and select Traktor KONTROL S4 from the Choose a device for sound input list 6 Close the window to confirm your changes Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 184 Troubleshooting and Help TRAKTOR Won
202. utorials to gain an understanding of how the S4 can be used to control them A TRAKTOR DJ has three banks of available effects each of which contains eight effects AA Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 91 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using FX 5 3 1 Reveal a Deck s Effect Display You can use the S4 to reveal a Deck s Effect display in TRAKTOR DJ by gt Pressing FX button 1 located at the top of channel section A or B The effects display of TRAKTOR DJ will be revealed for the corresponding Deck You will notice that the top of this Effects display contains three effects Each of these represents the currently available effect as part of a bank ey To change the individual effects as part of the TRAKTOR DJ effects bank you will need to manually select these within TRAKTOR DJ Simply press the relevant effect section to re veal the drop down menu of 8 available effects in that bank The Effects Display section of TRAKTOR DJ 5 3 2 Using the 4 s FX Section The S4 contains two FX sections located above each of the jog wheels Here you can trigger effects in TRAKTOR DJ by pressing the FX buttons 1 3 turn their corresponding FX knobs to control their effect parameter visible along the X axis in TRAKTOR DJ and further manipu late effect variables by using the DRY WET knob visible along the Y axis in TRAKTOR DJ Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 92 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Using FX Triggering and Controlling a
203. uts to its corresponding channel on the Mixer As a consequence all control elements for this Deck are deactivated On your S4 you cannot put the focus on a software Deck working as Live Input For an in depth description of the Live Input please refer to the separate TRAKTOR 2 Manual 6 3 2 SHIFT Buttons Accessing Secondary Functions The SHIFT buttons have an overall purpose regardless of the Deck Flavor Remix Deck or Track Deck A SHIFT button The SHIFT buttons one on each S4 Deck act as modifiers for other control elements on your TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 they allow you to access a secondary function when using other control elements simultaneously much like the Shift key on your computer keyboard The Decks Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 110 Hardware Reference The Decks gt To access the secondary function of any control element hold SHIFT depressed when us ing that control element For the Deck and FX Unit control elements SHIFT operates locally which means that you cannot use the SHIFT button on the opposite side of your S4 to access the secondary functions of a Deck or FX Unit For the Mixer the SHIFT button on either side can be used to access the secondary func tions On Track Decks the SHIFT button additionally allows you to define the Deck tempo See section 6 3 13 SHIFT Button for further information 6 3 3 Deck Assign Buttons Switching Deck Focus The Deck Assign buttons have an overall
204. uts when the MAIN BOOTH switch is set to Booth 4 Booth Main Switch when the MAIN BOOTH Switch is set to Main the 1 4 outputs will have their volume adjusted with the MAIN LEVEL knob on the top of S4 When set to Booth the 1 4 outputs will have their volume controlled independently by the LEVEL knob on the rear panel 6 8 2 INPUT CHANNEL B Section The INPUT CHANNEL B section allows you to route external signals to the TRAKTOR software INPUT CHANNEL B LINE PHONG 4 IN 3 OO The INPUT CHANNEL B section on the rear panel 1 LINE PHONO switch Choose here the appropriate level line or phono for the source connected at Inputs 3 4 2 Line Phono Inputs 3 4 RCA sockets IN 3 4 Connect here an external audio source turntable CD deck etc Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 154 Hardware Reference The Rear Panel 6 8 3 MIC Section Microphone Gain knob GAIN Adjust here the input gain for the connected microphone see below 6 Microphone socket MIC Connect your microphone here 6 8 4 INPUT CHANNEL A Section The INPUT CHANNEL A section allows you to route external signals to the TRAKTOR software INPUT CHANNEL A LINE PHONO 2 IN The INPUT CHANNEL C section on the rear panel 1 LINE PHONO switch Choose here the appropriate level line or phono for the source connected at Inputs 1 2 2 Line Phono Inputs 1 2 RCA sockets IN 1 2 Connect here an external audio sourc
205. utton DECK C or DECK D Switches the focus of your S4 Deck between upper and lower Deck in TRAK TOR SHIFT button switches the Layout in TRAKTOR LOAD button Loads the currently selected Sample into the first empty Sample Cell of a Sam ple Slot when using Quick Loading Lights up when you press the jog wheel s top plate Jog wheel Outer rim tempo bending Top plate scratch direct control on playback position Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 212 Appendix C Quick References Remix Deck Quick Reference Control element Function ON AIR indicator Lit when the Deck is audible on the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 main output REMIX indicator Lit showing that this Deck is a Remix Deck DECK A or DECK B indica tor Unlit DECK C or DECK D indica tor Lit showing that your S4 Deck is focused on the lower Deck C or D in TRAK TOR KEYLOCK indicator Not used no Keylock on Remix Decks MASTER indicator Not used Remix Decks stay always synchronized to another tempo master Loop SIZE Display Shows the loop size selected via the Loop SIZE encoder TEMPO fader Increases decreases Deck tempo Hold SHIFT to move the fader without altering the tempo Tempo Offset buttons up down LOOP IN button Lit button indicates offset between tempo fader in the software and TEMPO fader on the S4 Pressing either button resets the tempo to the TEMPO
206. utton al lows you to toggle through TRAKTOR DJs Quantize Size settings The smaller the quantize size you select relates to how quickly from pressing a HotCue button will trigger The 1 4 beat set ting being the smallest available size By pressing the QUANT button you will notice TRAK TOR DJ displays the Quantize sizes as you toggle through the settings The QUANT button 5 1 3 Deck Volume Controls and Crossfader When using the S4 with the TRAKTOR DJ app the device controls Decks A amp B The S4 s A amp B channel faders therefore control the volume of Decks A and B If the crossfader is all the way to the left you will only hear Deck A if the volume fader of A is turned up If it is all the way to the right you will hear Deck B if its volume control is turned up A You will notice that when you move the S4 s crossfader the corresponding crossfader in AX TRAKTOR DJ moves simultaneously Likewise with the channel faders Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 75 Using the S4 with TRAKTOR DJ Key S4 Functions Using TRAKTOR DJ a The Mixer section of the S4 and the corresponding TRAKTOR DJ Equalizer section A In TRAKTOR DJ Deck A is located at the top and Deck B found below In TRAKTOR DJ 43A for the iPhone the deck view slider indicates that Deck A is located at the top and B at the bottom 5 1 4 Adjusting Channel Gain The channel GAIN encoders are located at the top of the S4 s channel sections You will
207. ve lights up to indicate that you are manually controlling the playback position The jog wheel also provides additional features Inside an active Loop while holding the LOOP IN or LOOP OUT button depressed use the jog wheel to adjust the Loop In Point or Loop Out Point respectively See section 76 3 8 Loop Section for more info on this In Browse mode you can use the jog wheel to scroll through the selected Playlist See section 16 7 Browsing Loading and Copying for more info on this Your jog wheel can also be switched to a special Jog mode providing you with advanced features like FX control or filter control Please refer to section 17 3 S4 Control Options for more info 6 3 7 Tempo Fader The TEMPO fader Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 115 Hardware Reference The Decks The TEMPO fader controls the tempo of the focused Deck Pulling the TEMPO fader down wards upwards increases decreases the tempo respectively By default the range of the TEM PO fader is 6 The TEMPO fader s range can be adjusted in two ways To narrow the range gt Press SHIFT FLUX buttons The Tempo Range is reduced to a minim of 2 To increase the range gt Press SHIFT RESET buttons The Tempo Range increases to a maximum of 100 You can change this range in Preferences gt Transport gt Tempo Both the tempo fader in the software Deck and the TEMPO fader on your S4 are affected by this setting RESET Buttons
208. vorites Push loads unloads selected item in the Preview Player When an item is load ed into the Preview Player turning BROWSE seeks through the loaded item When Browse mode is not active load the selected track by pressing LOAD on the desired Deck load the selected Sample by pressing the desired Sample Play button PREVIEW button Press amp release activates track preview play Browse mode BROWSE encoder Usual functions see above Jog wheels Scrolls through the Playlist Loop MOVE encoders Turn scrolls through the Browser Tree Push expands collapses node in the Browser Tree Loop SIZE encoders Turn scrolls through the Favorites Flashing control elements Press to load the selected item on to this location Copy mode Flashing control elements While holding the BROWSE encoder depressed press any flashing source and then any flashing target to copy the corresponding track or Sample Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 220 Index A Absolute prefs 166 Absolute mode 117 Adjusting levels 40 Alert indicator 139 Aligning tracks 35 Analysis 20 67 Assigning FX to channels 57 135 Audience 41 Audio input 99 110 Audio interface 177 Audio Processing Control Panel 180 Audio Settings Control Panel 180 AUTO button 68 Auto Loop prefs 166 Auto mode tempo master 68 AUX knob software 200 Index B Basic setup 191
209. whatever you will send to it 4 6 3 Assigning Decks to the FX Unit and Bringing In the FX Now we need to assign this FX Unit to a Deck To do this we use the FX Assign buttons at the top of each channel on the Mixer below the GAIN encoder Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 57 Tutorials Adding FX The FX Assign buttons on each channel Let s assign the FX Unit 1 to Deck B 1 Press the left FX Assign button labeled 1 on channel B to assign Deck B to the FX Unit 1 2 Slowly turn the DRY WET knob clockwise to bring in the FX You now hear the track on Deck B being processed by the FX Unit 1 You can assign other channels to the same FX Unit For example if you also want to apply 7 these FX to the Samples loaded on Deck C or D simply press the FX Assign button 1 on the corresponding channel s 4 6 4 Controlling the FX Unit You can control each FX in this FX Unit by turning the respective FX Knob 1 3 The FX Knobs 1 3 gt Play around with the FX Knobs 1 3 and listen to the result on the audio You can also activate deactivate each FX individually by pressing the corresponding FX Buttons 1 3 be low Changing the FX in a Slot You can load another FX in each slot Let s switch the first FX slot to the Gater Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 58 Tutorials Adding FX Hold SHIFT and press the FX Button 1 repeatedly to scroll through all available FX until the Gater is selected in the first slot of the
210. wser the Playlists and the Favorites please refer to the TRAKTOR 2 Manual At any time you can load and cue the selected item into the Preview Player by pushing the BROWSE encoder see below Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 149 Hardware Reference Browsing Loading and Copying gt To load the selected track or Sample press LOAD on the desired Deck If the focus is on a Remix Deck the Sample will be loaded into the first empty Sample Slot Only audio with a maximum length of 48 seconds can be loaded into Sample Slots For Samples you can also press SHIFT the Sample Play button of an empty Sample Slot to load the selected Sample into that Sample Slot Please refer to section 16 3 9 REMIX SLOTS Buttons for more info on this Using the Browse Mode The Browse mode allows you to browse your entire Collection directly from your S4 controller gt To activate the Browse mode press the BROWSE encoder When Browse mode is active all available targets start flashing and act as load buttons the Headphones Cue buttons CUE on the Mixer for tracks and the Sample Play buttons on the Decks for Samples gt Browse through your tracks and Samples by using the jog wheels and encoders as follows Action Function BROWSE encoder As usual Turn scrolls through the Playlist SHIFT turn scrolls through the Favorites Push Exits Browse mode Jog wheels Scrolls through the Playlist Loop MOVE encoders Turn scrol
211. you press the jog wheel s top plate Jog wheel Outer rim tempo bending Top plate scratch control direct control on playback position SHIFT top plate seek through track fast forward rewind In Loop hold LOOP IN LOOP OUT and spin the jog wheel to fine tune the Loop In Point Loop Out Point ON AIR indicator Lit when the focused Deck is audible on the TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 main outputs SAMPLES indicator Lit when the lower Deck is a Remix Deck DECK A or DECK B indicator Lit when your S4 Deck is focused on the upper Deck Deck A or Deck B Traktor Kontrol S4 Manual 209 Appendix C Quick References Track Deck Quick Reference Control element Function DECK C or DECK D indicator Lit when your S4 Deck is focused on the lower Deck Deck C or Deck D KEYLOCK indicator Lit when Keylock is active MASTER indicator Lit when the Deck is the tempo master Loop Size Display Shows the loop size selected via the Loop SIZE encoder TEMPO fader Increases decreases Deck tempo Hold SHIFT to move the fader without altering the tempo Tempo Offset buttons up down Lit button indicates offset between tempo fader in the software and TEMPO OFFSET fader on the S4 Pressing either button resets the tempo to the TEMPO fad er position Press both buttons simultaneously to lock the tempo to O the TEMPO fader is then disabled Both buttons light up to indicate the tempo loc

Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2

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