Guides

The digger's glossary

The words that come up when people hunt for tracks, in plain English.

ID

An unidentified track. In a tracklist, "ID - ID" means nobody has named the artist or the title yet. Also used as a verb: to ID a track is to identify it.

Dub

An unreleased version of a track, usually a producer's own file passed to DJs before release. Many dubs never come out at all.

VIP

Variation In Production. A reworked version of a track by its original producer, often made for their own sets.

Edit

A modified version of an existing track by someone other than the original producer: extended, re-arranged, re-drummed or otherwise tweaked for the dancefloor.

Bootleg

An unofficial remix or edit released without the rights holder's permission. Often only available on SoundCloud or as a free download.

White label

A record released with a blank label and no artist credit, originally to test reactions or dodge licensing. Now used for any anonymous release.

Promo

A pre-release copy sent to DJs and press. Promo pools are subscription services that distribute them.

Forthcoming

Signed and scheduled but not yet released. The word to look for in a caption when you are wondering whether an ID is buyable.

Camelot wheel

A notation for musical keys arranged so that adjacent codes are harmonically compatible. 8A is A minor, 8B is C major; moving one step around the wheel or switching the letter keeps a mix in key.

Harmonic mixing

Choosing the next track so its key is compatible with the current one, so vocals and melodies do not clash across a blend.

Key lock

A player feature that keeps a track's pitch constant while its tempo changes. Also called master tempo.

Cue

A saved position in a track. Hot cues jump to it, memory cues mark it. They live in the software that set them and are not part of the audio file.

Fingerprint

A compact numerical description of a piece of audio that can be matched against a database. What Shazam does, and what four of ID Crate's recognition services do.

Chromaprint

An open-source audio fingerprinting library. ID Crate uses it to notice when the same unknown track has appeared in several different clips.

Extended mix

The full-length version of a track with a longer intro and outro for mixing, as opposed to the radio edit.

Crate

Your collection of tracks. From the milk crates records were carried in. Crate digging is looking for music.