Hang the DJ: Automatic Sequencing and Seamless Mixing of Dance-Music Tracks

Many radio stations and night-clubs employ Disk-Jockeys (DJs) to provide a continuous stream or “mix” of music, built from a sequence of individual song-tracks. In the last decade, commercial pre-recorded compilation CDs of DJ mixes have become a booming market. DJs exercise skill in deciding an appropriate sequence of tracks and in mixing 'seamlessly' from one track to the next. Online access to large-scale archives of digitized music via automated music information retrieval systems offers users the possibility of discovering many new songs they like, but the majority of consumers are unlikely to want to learn the DJ skills of sequencing and mixing. This paper describes an automatic method by which compilations of dance-music can be sequenced and seamlessly mixed by computer, with minimal user involvement. The user may specify a selection of tracks, and may give a qualitative indication of the type of mix required. The resultant mix can be presented as a continuous single digital audio file, whether for burning to CD or for play-out from a virtual jukebox or personalized virtual radio station. Topic Area: User interfaces for music information retrieval.