How to · Engine DJ

Auto-tag your tracks in Engine DJ.

Engine DJ does not have automatic energy or mood tagging. Here is how to do it manually inside the software, and how Vibes uses on-device AI to tag your whole library and export the results directly into Engine DJ.

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Vibe Sort interface showing tracks tagged with energy and mood vibes

Tag tracks by feel in Vibe Sort, then export labeled playlists into Engine DJ.

Auto-tag your tracks in Engine DJ, step by step.

Engine DJ does not offer automated tagging by energy or mood. You can add tags manually using the Genre, Comment, or Label fields directly in the track list, then use Smart Lists to surface tracks that match.

Open your collection in Engine DJ

Launch Engine DJ on your computer and let your collection sync or load. All your tracks should appear in the Collection panel on the left. Make sure any connected drives are mounted so tracks are visible.

Choose a field to use as your tag

Engine DJ does not have a dedicated tag field for energy or mood, so pick a free-text field you are not already using: Comment, Genre, or Label all work. Decide on a consistent set of values before you start, such as 'peak', 'warm-up', or 'closing', so your tags stay uniform across the library.

Edit tracks by clicking directly in the field

Find the track in your collection. Make sure the Genre, Comment, or Label column is visible in your track list (right-click a column header to add columns if needed). Double-click the field for that track and type your chosen tag value. When you have multiple tracks selected, double-clicking a field on any of them will prompt you to apply the change to all selected tracks at once, which makes batch-tagging a group faster than editing one at a time. Repeat for each group you want to label.

Create a Smartlist to group tagged tracks

Once you have tagged a set of tracks, right-click Collection (or an existing Playlist) in the left panel and choose 'Create Smartlist'. Set a filter rule matching the field and value you used, for example Comment contains 'peak'. Engine DJ will automatically populate it with every track that matches, giving you a ready-made list for that energy level.

The catch

Engine DJ has no way to suggest tags automatically: every track must be opened and labeled by hand. Multi-select speeds up the process when you want to apply the same tag to a group at once, but the initial categorization decision still requires manual judgment for each track.

Afterhours

Mysterious

Introspective

Evolving

The faster way

Let on-device AI tag your Engine DJ library for you.

Vibes imports your Engine DJ library, runs audio analysis on every track using CLAP embeddings, and trains a small model on your own tagging decisions. The wand button then suggests energy and mood vibes for tracks you have not touched yet. When you are ready, Vibes writes labeled playlists directly into Engine DJ's database.

See how it works

On-device AI learns your taste: the model trains on how YOU tag, so suggestions match your actual system rather than a generic label.

No cloud upload: analysis and the model run entirely on your machine, so your music never leaves your drive.

Tag at speed with Vibe Sort: flip through tracks and apply or skip suggestions in seconds, instead of opening each track individually.

Export to Engine DJ in one step: Vibes writes playlists per vibe directly into Engine DJ's m.db database, so your labeled crates appear next time you open the software.

Organize in Vibes, export to Engine DJ.

Your playlists, tags, ratings, and cue points travel back to the gear you play on, so nothing you do in Vibes is locked away.

Track 001

Artist A

128

Afterhours

Mysterious

Introspective

Track 002

Artist B

124

Cozy Floor

Peaceful

Home

Track 003

Artist C

132

Rave

Aggressive

Festival

Build & Release

Playlists

Vibes

Mood

Aggressive

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Peaceful

Playful

Tense

Function

Arrangement

Sets

Club Night 12/28

NYE Closing Set

Rooftop 01/04

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Vibes handles the tagging and library prep work that Engine DJ does not automate. Engine DJ remains the software you use for performance and hardware sync. Vibes sits upstream: you tag and organize in Vibes, export to Engine DJ's database, and perform with Engine DJ as normal.

Yes. The model trains on the vibes you assign yourself, so the more tracks you tag in Vibes the more accurately the wand reflects your own categories and taste. It is not a generic preset: it learns your library specifically.

Vibes runs its own analysis (BPM, key, audio embeddings, waveform) independently. You do not need to redo anything in Engine DJ first. Import your library into Vibes, let it analyze, and start tagging. Analysis runs locally and does not overwrite anything in Engine DJ until you choose to export.

Methodology