SurfMix

SURFMIX

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AUTOMIX

SURFMIX

Help: how to use SurfMix

New to SurfMix? Take the tour for a one-minute look around, or tap a topic below. Each one takes about a minute to read.

Getting started

Tap the library button at the top middle (the one with the music note), or tap a deck's artwork or song title.
Tap ADD MUSIC to pick songs from your device, or LOAD DEMO BEATS to try it out first.
Tap A or B next to a song to load it onto that deck. If you opened the library from a deck, just tap the song.
Tap the mixer button (next to the library button) to go back to the decks, then tap ▶ to play.
Slide the crossfader at the bottom to blend from deck A (left) to deck B (right).

The decks

Top strip: the song's artwork, title, key and time left. The long strip under the title is the whole song. Tap it to jump anywhere.
Waveforms (middle): deck A on top, deck B below. They scroll as the music plays, and the white lines are the beats. Drag one to scratch.
Turntable: shows the tempo change (%), the BPM, the time played and the time left. Touch and drag it to scratch, or to nudge the beat in CDJ mode (Menu → Decks & playback → Platter mode).
Pitch slider (outer edge): speeds the song up or slows it down. + and − push it ahead or hold it back for a moment, to line up the beats by ear.
KEY LOCK: keeps the song in the same musical key when you change its speed.

PLAY and CUE

▶ / ❚❚ starts and pauses the deck.
While paused: tap CUE to set the cue point where the song is. At the cue point, hold CUE to listen, and let go to jump back.
While playing: tap CUE to jump back to the cue point and stop.

Matching beats: SYNC, BPM and loops

SYNC matches this deck's speed and beat to the other deck that is playing.
The BPM box (and the ⋯ button) open the deck options: eject, reverse, slip mode, BPM ÷2 / ×2, TAP tempo, set the beat grid, key shift and reset the pitch.
‹ 4 › is a quick loop. Tap the number to loop that many beats, and tap it again to carry on. ‹ and › halve or double the length.

Pads: CUES, LOOP, FX and PAD

Use the tabs under each deck to switch pads. On small screens, tap the open tab again to see more (1/2, 2/2).
CUES: 8 hot cues. Tap an empty pad to save the spot you are at, and tap a lit pad to jump back there. To clear one, tap DELETE and then the pad. The buttons under the pads turn them into JUMP, SLICER or SAMPLER pads (see “Pad modes” below).
LOOP: tap a pad to loop that many beats (¼ to 32). IN and OUT set your own loop, RELOOP jumps back into it, and ½ / ×2 change its length. Turn on ROLL and hold a pad for a stutter effect: the song carries on where it would have been when you let go.
FX: three effects per deck. Pick an effect, tap ON and turn the knobs. WET sets how much you hear, and the second knob changes the sound (echo time, speed and so on).
PAD: a touch effect pad. Pick an effect, then touch and drag on the square: left/right and up/down change the effect. Let go to stop, or tap HOLD to keep it on.

Pad modes: CUES, JUMP, SLICER and SAMPLER

The CUES tab has four kinds of pads. Pick one with the buttons under the pads: CUES, JUMP, SLICER or SAMPLER. The tab shows the one that is on. On small screens, tap the open tab again until the buttons show, or tap ⋯ and pick one in the PADS row.
CUES: your hot cues.
JUMP: moves the song back (top row, ◀) or ahead (bottom row, ▶) by 1, 4, 8 or 16 beats and stays on the beat, so the mix keeps in time. A loop that is on moves along with it. This works while paused too.
SLICER: the 8 beats around where you are, one beat per pad, and the lit pad follows the music. Hold a pad to repeat that beat, or press another to switch. Let go and the song carries on where it would have been. The slicer needs a BPM.
SAMPLER: plays the 8 sampler sounds, the same ones on both decks. A pad stays lit while its sound plays. Tap EDIT to change the sounds in the sampler panel.

The beat phase meter

The slim bar on each waveform, on the side that faces the other deck, counts the 4 beats of the bar. The lit part is the beat you are on.
When both decks play, a small arrow shows where this deck's beat is against the other deck's: left of the centre line is behind, right is ahead. It turns bright when the beats line up.
To match the beats by ear: set the same tempo with the pitch slider (or SYNC), then nudge with + / − or the platter until both arrows sit on the centre line and both bars light the same beat.
You can turn it off in Menu → Appearance → Beat phase meter on the waveforms.

The mixer

Each deck has a volume fader and a FILTER knob. Turn it left for a muffled sound or right for a thin one; the middle is off.
When the mixer is small, tap EQ to show TRIM (loudness), HI, MID, LOW, the headphone CUE and the crossfader A / THR / B setting. Tap EQ again to go back.
Kill a band: tap HI, MID or LOW under its knob to cut the highs, mids or bass completely. The name lights up while it is cut; tap it again to bring the sound back.
Double-tap any knob or fader to reset it. With a keyboard, hold Shift while dragging for fine moves.
MASTER sets the overall volume. Under it are the two headphone knobs. CUE MIX blends what you hear in your headphones: all the way left (CUE) is only the channels you've cued, and all the way right (PGM) is the main mix the crowd hears. CUE GAIN is your headphone volume.

The tool buttons: AUTOMIX, SAMPLER and TRANSITIONS

On a tablet or computer, the tool buttons are in the middle of the screen, between the two decks' SYNC and LOOP buttons. On a phone, tap TOOLS at the top.
Each button opens its own panel where the deck pads and the mixer usually are. The decks, waveforms, play buttons and crossfader stay on screen, so you can keep mixing.
Tap the same button again, or ✕, to go back to the pads and the mixer. The library button works the same way.

Automix

Automix plays a queue of songs and mixes each one into the next for you, on the beat. Tap AUTOMIX to open its panel.
Fill the queue: in the library, tap + next to a song and choose Add to Automix queue. Or use ADD FROM LIBRARY (the song selected in the library, or all your songs in the library's order) and ADD PLAYLIST. A playlist's PLAY IN AUTOMIX puts the whole playlist in the queue. Use ▲ ▼ to change the order, × to take a song out and CLEAR to start over.
START AUTOMIX plays the first song on deck A and gets the next one ready on deck B. If music is already playing, Automix carries on from there. STOP AUTOMIX stops the mixing straight away and leaves the music playing. Pausing the song that is playing stops Automix too.
NOW PLAYING and UP NEXT show what is playing and what comes next, and the bar shows how long until the next mix. SKIP mixes into the next song now.
TRANSITION picks how songs are mixed: SMOOTH (a crossfade, swapping the bass halfway), ECHO OUT, FILTER, CUT (on the first beat of a bar), BRAKE or SPIN BACK. LENGTH is how many beats a mix takes.
SYNC TEMPO (on by default) matches the next song's speed to the one playing, so the beats line up. After the mix it eases back to its own tempo.
AUTO CROSSFADE mixes by time instead of beats: set the TIMER from 1 to 12 seconds, and every mix starts that many seconds before the playing song's music ends and crossfades into the next song over that time (on a beat, in the chosen TRANSITION style). While it is on, LENGTH is not used. Tap it again to go back to mixing by beats.
Automix moves the crossfader (and sets each channel's crossfader assign to A and B). Songs leave the queue as they start playing. You can still touch anything: move the crossfader or load another song on the waiting deck, and Automix goes along with you.

Sampler

Tap SAMPLER in the middle of the screen to open it (on a phone, tap TOOLS, then SAMPLER). You can also play the same sounds from a deck's pads with the SAMPLER pad mode.
Tap a pad to play its sound: air horn, siren, laser, rewind, scratch, bass drop, riser and clap. Tap it again to start it over. A pad lights up while it plays, and the line along its bottom shows how far the sound has got.
ONE SHOT plays the whole sound with one tap. HOLD plays a sound only while you keep your finger on its pad.
VOLUME sets how loud the sampler is. The sounds go through MASTER, so they are in your recordings too.
CUE also sends the sampler to your headphones. Turn VOLUME down to hear a sound in your headphones only, before the crowd does.
STOP ALL fades out every sound that is playing.
To use your own sounds, tap EDIT, then LOAD on a pad and pick a sound file. Up to 20 seconds of it are used, and any silence at the start is skipped. RESET puts the built-in sound back. Tap EDIT again when you're done. Your sounds stay on this device, and a small dot next to the pad number marks them.
To play the pads from a MIDI controller, tap MIDI LEARN and look under Sampler in the list.

Transitions and EQ kills

Tap TRANSITIONS for one-tap moves on each deck. They start on the next beat and last LENGTH beats (2, 4, 8 or 16). Only one move runs on a deck at a time.
ECHO OUT: the song stops on the beat and its echoes ring out, then the deck pauses.
SPIN BACK: the record spins backwards and stops (in about a second, whatever the length).
BRAKE: the record slows down to a stop, like switching off a turntable (3 seconds at most).
FILTER OUT: the sound gets thinner and thinner, then the deck pauses and the FILTER goes back to the middle.
FADE OUT: the volume fades down, then the deck pauses and the fader goes back up.
FILTER IN and FADE IN: bring a deck in (they start it if it is paused). Use them on the song you are mixing in.
A move lights up while it runs. Tap it again to cancel it, and the channel goes back to normal.
KILL LOW, MID and HIGH cut that part of the sound until you tap again. They are the same as tapping LOW, MID or HI under the mixer's knobs.

The library

The tabs at the top switch between TRACKS (all your songs), PLAYLISTS, HISTORY (what you've played) and SUGGESTED (good next songs for the deck that is playing). The library opens on the tab you used last.
In TRACKS, search by title, artist, album, BPM or key, and tap a column name (TRACK, ARTIST, BPM, KEY, ENERGY…) to sort. Tap it again to reverse the order.
Tap A or B next to a song to load it onto that deck. If you opened the library from a deck, just tap the song, on any tab.
Tap + next to a song to add it to a playlist, to start a new playlist with it, or to add it to the Automix queue. On a phone held upright, Remove from library is in this menu too.
On a computer you can drag songs onto a deck, or drop files anywhere on the page to add them.
Your songs, cue points, playlists and history are saved in this browser on this device. They are never uploaded anywhere.

Playlists

Open the library, tap PLAYLISTS and then NEW PLAYLIST. Or tap + next to any song and pick New playlist… to start one with that song.
To add a song, tap its + and pick the playlist. A song can be in as many playlists as you like, but only once in each.
Tap a playlist to open it. ▲ and ▼ change the order, ✕ takes a song out of the playlist (it stays in your library), and A / B load it onto a deck.
An open playlist has RENAME and DELETE at the top, and ‹ BACK to see all your playlists again. PLAY IN AUTOMIX hands the whole playlist to Automix, which plays and mixes it for you.

Set history and tracklists

SurfMix keeps a list of the songs you play. A song counts once it has played for 30 seconds with its channel fader up and the crossfader open on its side, so a song you only hear in your headphones isn't listed.
The songs are grouped into sets. A new set starts each time you open SurfMix, or after 2 hours with nothing played. Open the library and tap HISTORY to see your sets, newest first. Tap a set's date to show or hide its songs.
COPY copies a set as a tracklist (time, artist, title, BPM and key), ready to paste into a post or a message. SAVE keeps it as a text file.
Songs that are still in your library have A / B buttons to load them again. CLEAR HISTORY at the bottom deletes the whole list.

Harmonic mixing and suggestions

Songs in keys that go well together blend more smoothly. The KEY column shows each song's key, from its key tag or from the track analysis.
Keys are shown as Camelot codes (like 8A or 9B) or as musical keys (like Am or C): change it in Menu → Appearance → Key notation. In Camelot, a song mixes well with the same code, one number up or down (8A → 9A or 7A), or the same number with the other letter (8A → 8B).
While a deck is playing, the keys in the library that mix well with it are highlighted: a filled key is a great match, an outlined one a good one. On a computer, point at a key to see which deck it matches.
ENERGY (1 to 10) shows how intense a song feels, from chilled to peak time. More bars light up as it gets higher. It shows once the song has been analysed.
SUGGESTED lists the best next songs for the deck that has been playing longest (or for the other deck, when you open the library from a deck). It looks at the key, the tempo (close to the deck's BPM, or half or double) and the energy, and leaves out songs that are on a deck or that you've already played in this set. The chips under each song show why it was picked.

Track analysis: key and energy

SurfMix works out each track's BPM and beat grid, its musical KEY and an energy rating from 1 to 10. This happens when you load a track on a deck, or for the whole library at once with ANALYZE at the top of the library (it shows up when some songs haven't been analyzed yet, with how many; tap it again to stop). It all happens on this device: nothing is uploaded.
The beat grid is lined up with the start of each kick drum and its tempo is measured over the whole song, so the grid lines stay on the beats in the waveform from start to end. Songs analyzed by an older version get a new grid the next time they are loaded (or with ANALYZE); a grid you set yourself (TAP, BPM ÷2 / ×2, Set beat grid here) is kept.
A BPM or key tag written by other DJ software (rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, Mixed In Key…) comes first. The detected key is used for tracks without one.
Camelot keys: a number from 1 to 12 with A for minor and B for major (8A is A minor, 8B is C major). Keys with the same number, or one number apart with the same letter, mix in harmony: 8A goes with 7A, 9A and 8B. Prefer note names (Am, C)? Go to Menu → Appearance → Key notation.
The KEY on each deck is the key you hear: it follows the key shift and, with key lock off, the pitch. A dot appears next to it when the two decks' keys mix well. (Tablets held upright and phones held sideways show keys in the library only.)
Energy: 1–3 calm and ambient, 4–5 chilled, 6–7 grooving house and pop, 8–10 peak-time techno and drum & bass. It comes from how loud, fast, busy and bright a track is.
Key detection is a very good guess, not a promise: a minor key sometimes shows as its relative major (8A as 8B). Those two share a number, so they still mix. Trust your ears.

Phones and tablets

Phone held upright: the A / mixer / B buttons at the top choose what shows under the turntables.
Phone held sideways: the pads button next to SYNC swaps that deck's turntable for its pads and effects.
On a phone, TOOLS at the top opens AUTOMIX, SAMPLER and TRANSITIONS (tablets and computers have these buttons in the middle of the screen). To switch pad modes on a small screen, tap ⋯ under the pads and pick one in the PADS row.
To get the full screen, add SurfMix to your home screen (see Install as an app below).

Headphones and recording

Headphones: go to Menu → Mixer & audio → Headphone cue output. Choose a split cable (left ear is cue, right ear is the main mix) or a 4-output audio interface.
Tap CUE on a channel to hear it in your headphones before the crowd does.
Turn CUE MIX (under MASTER) toward CUE to hear only the cued channel, or toward PGM to hear the main mix. In between, you hear both, which helps when lining up the beats. CUE GAIN sets the headphone volume.
On a small screen, the headphone knobs are on the mixer's EQ page.
Recording: tap Start recording under Record your mix. When you stop, tap SAVE (or Save recording in the menu) to keep the file. Format chooses Compressed (small M4A or WebM files) or WAV (best quality, about 10 MB a minute, up to 2 hours). With Save a tracklist on, you also get a .txt file with the same name that lists the songs played during the recording and when each one started.

Keyboard shortcuts

With a keyboard (a computer, or an iPad with a keyboard), every deck button has a key: W / O play, Q / P cue, E / I sync, 1–4 / 7–0 hot cues, ← → the crossfader, B the library and / search. The full list is in Menu → Keyboard shortcuts.
To change a key: tap the key next to an action, then press the new key. Hold Shift too if you want Shift + that key.
A key does one thing only. If it already had a job, it moves to the new action and the old one shows — (no key).
To clear a key: tap it and press Backspace. Esc cancels without changing anything.
RESET TO DEFAULTS puts every key back the way it came.
Besides the deck buttons you can give keys to beat jumps, loop ½ and ×2, key lock, hot cues 5–8, start / stop recording, start / stop automix, the AUTOMIX, SAMPLER and TRANSITIONS panels and the 8 sampler pads.
Hold Shift with a hot cue key to delete that cue. While the library is open, ↑ ↓ pick a song, Enter loads it and Shift + ← / → loads it on deck A / B.

Backup and restore

Menu → Backup & restore → BACKUP saves one small file with your settings, cue points, BPM and key analysis, playlists, set history, MIDI mappings, keyboard shortcuts and sampler setup.
The music files are not in the backup. Keep your music somewhere safe yourself.
To restore (on this device or another one): tap RESTORE and pick the backup file. SurfMix shows what's in it before anything changes.
Then add the same music files to the library. Their cue points come back by themselves, even for songs you add later.
On iPhone and iPad, choose Save to Files when the share menu opens, so you can find the backup again.

MIDI controllers

Use Chrome, Edge, Opera or Firefox on a computer or Android. Safari and iPhone/iPad can't use MIDI controllers in the browser.
Plug in your controller, open Menu → MIDI controller and tap CONNECT MIDI. Allow MIDI if the browser asks. Move a knob: the Last message line shows that SurfMix can hear it.
Tap GUIDED SETUP. SurfMix asks for one control at a time (play, cue, sync, jog wheel, pitch, hot cues, faders, crossfader, filters, EQ, browse knob, master and the headphone CUE MIX and CUE GAIN knobs). Press or move each one when asked. It moves on by itself. Tap SKIP for a control your controller doesn't have, and UNDO if the wrong one got learned.
To map anything else, tap MIDI LEARN. Pick a control by tapping it on screen, or choose it from the list, then move or press it on your controller. The list also has controls that aren't on screen, like the library browse knob, load to deck A/B, the jog wheel's touch sensor and the FX pad's X and Y.
Tap DONE (or press Esc) when you're finished.

Jog wheels: when SurfMix asks for one, touch the top of the wheel and turn it, then let go. It learns the touch sensor and the turning in one go, and works out how your wheel sends its movement.
Knobs and faders: move them all the way, one way and back. SurfMix works out on its own whether a knob is a normal knob or an endless one.
Fine-tuning: every mapping is listed under Mappings, where you can change how a knob or wheel is read. Soft stops a fader from jumping until it reaches the on-screen value.
Keep your setup: use EXPORT to save your mappings to a file, and IMPORT to load them on another computer.

Something not working?

No sound: tap the screen once, because browsers only start sound after a tap. Check that the device volume, the channel fader, the crossfader and MASTER are up.
Choppy sound: go to Menu → Mixer & audio → Audio latency, choose Safe and reload the page. Closing other apps and tabs also helps.
Looks out of date after an update: reload the page once or twice.
Songs missing: songs are kept in this browser only. Clearing the browser's website data removes them, so keep your music files.

Record your mix

Format Save a tracklist with the recording

Records the master output. When you stop, tap SAVE to keep the file (on phones you can share it or save it to Files). WAV files take about 10 MB a minute and stop by themselves after 2 hours. The tracklist (a .txt file with the same name) lists the songs played during the recording, with their times.

Appearance

Theme Waveform style Waveform zoom Show artwork on platters Show remaining time Beat phase meter on the waveforms Key notation

Decks & playback

Pitch range Pitch fader direction Platter mode Jog sensitivity Stop mode Hot cue pads Show the PAD tab (FX pad) on the decks Key lock on by default Quantize cues and loops to the beat SYNC also aligns beats (phase) Auto gain (level-match tracks on load) Allow loading onto a playing deck BPM detection range

Mixer & audio

Crossfader curve Reverse crossfader (hamster) Filter resonance Headphone cue output Master limiter (prevents clipping) Audio latency

Latency changes apply the next time the app starts.

MIDI controller

MIDI is off.

Mappings 0

Light up controller LEDs

GUIDED SETUP walks you through the usual controls one at a time: just press or move each one when asked. MIDI LEARN maps any single control: tap it on screen or pick it from the list (including ones with nothing on screen, like the library browse knob or the jog wheel's touch sensor), then move or press it on your controller. Works in Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox on computers and Android. Safari and iPhone/iPad do not support Web MIDI.

Keyboard shortcuts

Tap a key to change it, then press the new key. Backspace takes the key away, Esc cancels. A key can do one thing only: giving it to another action moves it there.

Hold Shift with a hot cue key to delete that cue, or with a crossfader key to move it all the way. While the library is open, ↑ ↓ pick a song and Enter loads it.

Hold Shift while turning a knob or fader for fine control. Double-click or double-tap any knob or fader to reset it.