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Looping

A loop plays a stretch of the track over and over, on the beat, so you can hold a groove while you set up the next track, or stretch an intro or outro. Loops land on the beat grid, so the track needs a tempo first (it gets one the first time it loads; see When tracks are analysed).

The LOOP controls

In 2-Deck the LOOP column sits between the pads and the jog. Under its title:

  • The loop length in the middle box, such as 4. Press it to start a loop of that many beats from where the track is playing; it turns green while the loop plays. Press it again to leave the loop and play on.
  • ‹ and › either side of it halve and double the length, from 1/32 of a beat up to 512 beats. While a loop plays they halve or double that loop too.
  • IN and OUT make a loop of any length. Press IN where it should start (it lights grey while the waveform marks out the loop), then OUT where it should end. The loop plays at once, in lilac.

In 4-Deck each deck has the same loop box, smaller, beside PLAY and CUE.

With quantize on, IN, OUT and the start of a loop snap to the nearest beat.

Beat loop pads

The BEAT LOOP pad page has a loop of each length, as on the DDJ-FLX4: 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 beats. Press a pad to loop, and press it again (or another one) to leave or change it. See Pads for how to open a page.

Loop rolls

A loop roll loops only while you hold the pad. Let go and the track carries on from where it would have been had it never looped, so the mix stays in phrase. Right-click a pad tab and choose LOOP ROLL to put the page there. Its pads go from 1/16 to 8 beats; short rolls make stutters and build-ups.

Saved loops

A loop you bring in from VirtualDJ, or one saved on a hot cue, shows on its hot cue pad with a loop sign instead of a play mark. Pressing it jumps to the loop and plays it.

Keyboard and controllers

  • openDJscript has loop 4 (or any length) and loop_exit, so you can put loops on keys in Settings › Keyboard (see Keyboard shortcuts).
  • On a DDJ-FLX4, LOOP IN and LOOP OUT set a loop, RELOOP/EXIT starts a loop of the current length or leaves one, and the CUE/LOOP CALL buttons halve and double it. See DDJ-FLX4.