• How do I install Self-DJ JUKEBOX, Concrete DJ, or Concrete Tools

• Windows security won't let me run the installation or update.  What can I do?

• Which version of Windows works best for products?

• How do I load my music and videos in Concrete DJ?

• How do I load my music and videos in Self-DJ JUKEBOX?

• What is MediaMerge all about?

• MediaMerge found my files OK but many are coming up with "Unknown" artists and titles.

• How come artists and titles show up in iTunes but not in Concrete DJ or Self-DJ?

• How can I use MediaMerge to copy media files to my external hard drives?

• I've fallen and I can't get up

• How do I add files to Concrete DJ from an external hard drive?

• How do I use Self-DJ with different media libraries on external hard drives?

• How do I play my media files in Concrete DJ?

• How do I use MediaMerge to merge a bunch of music collections into one?

• How do I get Self-DJ to start up by itself automatically when the computer is turned on?

• How do I get the computer to shutdown with a touch screen and no mouse or keyboard?

• How do I connect my computer to a home stereo?

• How do I connect my computer to a mixer?

• How do I connect my computer directly to an amplifier or powered speakers?

• My PC is slow.  How do I tune my computer for DJ'ing?

• How can I import my media library from another software program into Self-DJ or Concrete DJ?

• How many songs can I store on my hard drive?

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1. Click the product link on the Downloads page
   or
   on the Thank You page after a purchase to run the installation program.

2. Follow the prompts and accept defaults (recommended).

3. Launch the product.

4. Answer Yes to activate the product.  If you are installing Concrete Tools you do not need to enter an activation key.
   Or
   Answer No to evaluate a product.  Products run for 20 minutes until activated.  Once you activate the product, those annoying prompts and messages go away, and you can run products with no time limits.

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1. Instead of opening the link and running the installation or update program, save it to your desktop instead.

2. Right-click the download for a menu.

3. Left-click Run as... Administrator.

4. The installation will run normally.

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Windows XP is the recommended choice.  While products also run on Windows 2000, XP or higher has more complete tag information built-in to Windows for your media files.  Windows Vista is more sluggish and quirky with too many prompts and security issues.  For this reason, Vista is not recommended, especially for production systems.  If you must run Concrete DJ on Vista, check out our Support page if you are having trouble.  You may experience problems on 64-bit versions of Windows.

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1. Run MediaMerge stand-alone or click the Add button when viewing the Media Library from Concrete DJ.

2. Browse to the path for your media files in "Search Here" and click the Start button.

If you are running MediaMerge from Concrete DJ, click the Cancel button if you know where your media files are or MediaMerge will search your entire hard drive automatically.

If you are just getting started, try loading just one or two folders of music before you go for the whole hard drive to see how things work.

Except for Minii,  if you own the Professional Edition of a product or higher, you have more options.  Consider running Media Merge, included with these products, and reorganizing your collection first.  This makes it much easier to find what you are looking for, and also to duplicate your collection for backup purposes or whatever.  Read the post further down to find out more about Media Merge.

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1. Run MediaMerge stand-alone or click the Add Tunes button in Setup mode.

2. Browse to the path for your media files in "Search Here" and click the Start button.

If you are running MediaMerge from Self-DJ, click the Cancel button and browse to where your media files are if you know, or MediaMerge will search your entire hard drive automatically.

If you are just getting started, try loading just one or two folders of music before you go for the whole hard drive to see how things work.

Except for Minii,  if you own the Professional Edition of a product or higher, you have more options.  Consider running Media Merge, included with these products, and reorganizing your collection first.  This makes it much easier to find what you are looking for, and also to duplicate your collection for backup purposes or whatever.  Read the next post to find out more about Media Merge.

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What is MediaMerge all about?

MediaMerge is included with all products except Concrete Tools.  It searches for media files and adds them to your media library.  You can also use MediaMerge to edit media file tags and merge multiple media file collections into one.  MediaMerge is very handy for copying your collection to an external hard drive.

1. Searches folder(s) or drive(s) for media files.  This is how music and videos get loaded into your media library.
   
2. Merges and reorganizes media files from one or more drives or folders into a single collection.  This makes it far easier to find what you are looking for and avoids duplication.

   Merge renames media files to the industry standard Artist - Title.Type, e.g. ACDC - Back In Black.mp3 and copies them to folder by artist on the destination drive you are merging to.

   Merge reorganizes media files into folders under C:\My Music\ by artist where C: is the letter of the destination drive you are merging to if you are using external hard drives.

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Don't you hate it what that happens?1

If tag information is not available, rename the media file using the industry standard format of Artist - Title.mp3 where mp3 is wav, wma or other media file format type and try adding it to your media library again.

Why does this needed?  This is because many media files have incorrect tags, no tag information at all, or are in a proprietary format.  Tag information is often missing or incorrect, especially when downloading from those "free" sharing sites.  Media files come up as "unknown" in Self-DJ and Concrete DJ when tag information is missing or if there is no tag at all as with wav files.  It also happens when the information is not available from earlier versions of Windows like Windows 2000 with wma files or when media files are in a proprietary format like m4a.

The best solution is to own the CD and rip the music yourself using Concrete DJ or other high quality, non-proprietary ripper.  You will need an internet connection so that title, artist and other info can be downloaded and entered automatically and correctly.

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M4a files and proprietary Apple formats show up in the iTunes® library correctly and nowhere else by design.  Companies like Apple enjoy proprietary and protected formats because they lock you in to using their players.  These companies also like to name media files and album art, cryptically with names that have little meaning, probably to discourage you from using other media players or to be able to easily copy your music collection.

There is nothing worse than paying for music downloads, that you can't play everywhere.  Or worse yet, having a problem with your computer and losing your licenses ... and all your music.  We recommend using only non-protected, standard media files.  That way, you can enjoy your music on any player or PC without worries.  Because of its greater popularity and compatibility, the mp3 format is the recommended choice.  You can also use the Concrete ripper to make your own mp3's in any quality, with complete and correct tag information, from 192 Kbps to 320 Kbps.  The higher the number, the better the quality.  You can also rip CD's to wma and other formats too if you choose, after all, variety is the spice of life..

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I've fallen and I can't get up

Actually, we can't help you with that.  We were just checking to see if you got this far.

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Just browse to set the "Copy Here" path to your external drive (target destination).  Set from the path in "Search Here" to where the source files are located.  As a bonus, your files will be tested to make sure they work and neatly organized into My Music and My Video folders at the target destination defined in "Copy Here".  Media files are renamed to artist - title.typ, e.g. "Back In Black - ACDC.mp3" so you know what you have.

A copy of your media library is stored on your external hard drives so you can easily use different libraries with different external hard drives.

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Click the Add button for the menu shown above.  Choose a typical location for automatic searching or click Browse... to select where you want to start your search. 

NOTE:  Click the library icon to the top left of the shifter button to view the media library if something else is showing.

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Self-DJ JUKEBOX is designed to make it easy to switch between media libraries.  By using different external hard drives with different media content you can always be sure what gets played.

From the Setup screen, click the ... button to the right of Library and browse to the drive or folder containing the library you wish to use.  The next time Self-DJ is started, it will show only the media files in that library.

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Here's how (repeat as many times as needed)

1

Attach external, USB, network, and other drives containing media to your computer.

2

3

4

5

artist - title.typ   (e.g. ACDC - Have A Drink On Me.mp3)

1. \My Music
   \My Videos
2. \My Playlists
3. \My Album Art
4. \My New Music
5. \My Ripped Music

Once your library has been reset you will be prompted to search for media files.

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1. Right-click the Start button.

2. Double-click Open folder.

3. Double-click Programs folder.

4. Double-click Startup folder.

5. Copy a short-cut to SelfDJ.exe (it usually lives in C:\Self-DJ) and paste it in the Startup folder.

6. If you are running the Professional version of Windows, check the documentation to start up Windows without any prompt.  This way, Self-DJ will start up automatically.

7. If you are not running the Professional version of Windows you will need to have the Self-DJ choose the username to start Self-DJ.

Note:  Any programs, or short-cuts to programs in the Startup folder for a user are run automatically when that user logs in.

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1. Connect a momentary switch to the two pins for your power switch.  Unlike an ordinary on/off switch, a momentary switch is usually spring loaded so it doesn't stay in the on position.

2. If you wish to maintain the existing wiring to the on/off button if the motherboard is mounted in a computer case, simply solder the two wires connected to the switch to the two wires going to the on/off switch, and leave the original wiring connected.  The order of the two wires to the momentary switch doesn't matter.

In the diagram below, the two pins for the on/off switch are circled in red.  Quickly shorting the two pins with any conductor, even a paper-clip, gives the same effect as a momentary switch.  The pins are typically identified in small print on the motherboard itself and in the hardware manual.

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Connect a 3.5mm stereo male to 2 RCA male jacks cable to the 3.5mm female headphone output from your laptop or the 3.5mm female speaker output jack on the back of your computer (usually green).

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Connect a 3.5mm stereo male to 2 RCA male jacks cable to the 3.5mm female headphone output from your laptop or the 3.5mm female speaker output jack on the back of your computer (usually green) to the 2 RCA female line in jacks (usually red and white) on your mixer.

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The simplest way is to connect the computer directly to the amplifier using a 3.5mm stereo male to 2 RCA male jacks cable and two RCA female to 1/4 male adapters  to the channel 1 and 2 inputs on the back of the amplifier. 

31 field sample export file

export.csv

Note optional field names in top row.  Enclose string data in quotation marks.  If your program does not support all fields, leave them blank but be sure to include commas.

You will need an activated copy of the Professional Edition or higher of Self-DJ or Concrete DJ, or the full version of MediaMerge for this to work.  If you are importing from the original Tequila JUKEBOX software, see additional instructions below:

Concrete DJ Users

Most versions of iTunes, Windows Media Player and PC DJ are supported directly.  If you cannot import your media library this way, follow the procedure below for Self-DJ Users.

1. In your media player or DJ software, create an export file and save it to your desktop.  If you are using Windows Media Player, download and install the Winter Player Pack first to be able to export additional fields.

2. Run Concrete DJ.

3. Drag and drop the media library exported from these programs on any Concrete DJ player and follow the prompts.

Self-DJ Users

This procedure will work for Self-DJ users and Concrete DJ users whose other software programs not supported directly.

1. Download the sample comma separated text file (export.csv) and open it with Notepad for a list of supported fields with sample data.

2. Create an export file using your other software program in exactly the same format as the sample.

3. Run MediaMerge, click Import, browse to the .csv file you created, and follow the prompts.

Original Tequila JUKEBOX Users

If you are importing from the original DJ version of Tequila JUKEBOX (last release was 6.7) you will need to edit these import file fields as follows or your new media library will not be correct.  The easiest way is to use a spreadsheet to do a search and replace.

Rating (field 21)

Search and replace the data in the "Rating" column in the following order:

1. Replace all occurrences of "5" with "0"

2. Replace all occurrences of "1" with "5"

3. Replace all occurrences of "4" with "1"

4. Replace all occurrences of "2" with "4"

Genre (field 18)

Search and replace the data in the "Genre" column in the following order:

1. Musical - Replace all occurrences of "71" with "77"

2. Hawaiian - Replace all occurrences of "70" with "200"

3. Halloween - Replace all occurrences of "69" with "201"

4. Pop - Replace all occurrences of "68" with "13"

5. Techno - Replace all occurrences of "67" with "18"

6. Green Bay Packers - Replace all occurrences of "66" with "202"

7. Karaoke - Replace all occurrences of "58" with "203"

8. Cajun - Replace all occurrences of "56" with "204"

9. Swing - Replace all occurrences of "55" with "83"

10. Ethnic - Replace all occurrences of "54" with "48"

11. Polka/Waltz - Replace all occurrences of "53" with "75"

12. Comedy - Replace all occurrences of "52" with "57"

13. Loop - Replace all occurrences of "51" with "205"

14. Disco - Replace all occurrences of "12" with "4"

15. Other - Replace all occurrences of "50" with "12"

16. Folk - Replace all occurrences of "49" with "80"

17. Effects - Replace all occurrences of "38" with "206"

18. Reggae - Replace all occurrences of "32" with "16"

19. Classical - Replace all occurrences of "36" with "32"

20. Holiday - Replace all occurrences of "34" with "207"

21. Soundtrack - Replace all occurrences of "15" with "24"

22. Hip Hop/Rap - Replace all occurrences of "33" with "15"

23. Blue Grass - Replace all occurrences of "17" with "208"

24. Rock - Replace all occurrences of "1" with "17"

25. Blues/R&B - Replace all occurrences of "11" with "14"

26. Children's Music - Replace all occurrences of "9" with "209"

27. Country - Replace all occurrences of "8" with "2"

28. Jazz - Replace all occurrences of "5" with "8"

29. Not Classified (other) - Replace all occurrences of "0" with "12"

If an entry for a media item already exists in your library, the new fields will be added to the existing data record.  Also, files specified in your export file must exist or those records will be skipped.  Be sure the data path is correct before importing.

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30. How many songs can I store on my hard drive?

A basic rule of thumb is 1 MB disk space per 1 minute.

Let's assume that:

• 20% of your disk space is dedicated to Windows
• 80% of your disk space is available for music
• An average song is 3 minutes

Here are the basic calculations:

80% of 500GB = 400 GB available for music

It really depends on several factors; how the song was encoded; constant (CBR) or variable bit rate (VBR) encoding, and quality.  This table will give you conversion factors to easily find out how many songs your hard drive will hold.

Advanced software like Concrete DJ uses VBR encoding as the default since it varies the bit rate to produce a higher quality sound file, using less disk space than CBR.  The default VBR encoding rate used in Concrete DJ is Extreme to provide you with the best balance of sound quality and disk space efficiency.  The Extreme setting in Concrete DJ provides better sound quality than the highest CBR setting of 320Kbps and uses less disc space.

For best performance, only use 80% of your system disk for music.