Cue Points and Beatgrids in tinytunes DJ

Cue points and beatgrids are the “navigation system” of your tracks.
They let you jump to important sections instantly and make it easier to line up beats when mixing.

This guide covers:

• What cue points and beatgrids are,
• How to create and edit them,
• The difference between global and set-specific cues,
• Practical ways to use them in practice and live sets.

1. What are cue points?

A cue point is a marker at a specific time in the track. Typical uses:

• The start of the main beat after a long intro.
• The beginning of a breakdown.
• A chorus or hook you want to hit on drop.
• A “safety” point where you know the mix always works.

You can think of cue points as bookmarks for your ears and hands.

2. What is a beatgrid?

A beatgrid is a regular grid of beats across the track:

• Each grid mark lines up with a beat.
• BPM is derived from the spacing between marks.
• A good beatgrid makes sync and looping more reliable.

Depending on tinytunes DJ's analysis features, beatgrids may be:

• Detected automatically when you first load/analyse a track,
• Manually nudged or adjusted by you.

3. Global vs set-specific cue points

tinytunes DJ distinguishes between:

3.1 Global cue points

• Stored once per track.
• Shared across:
  • All playlists,
  • All set lists,
  • All future uses of that track.
• Ideal for:
  • The “true” intro/outro.
  • Important structural markers that never change.

3.2 Set-specific cue points

• Stored inside a particular set list.
• Only apply when that set list is loaded.
• Editing these does not affect the global cues.

Great for:

• Experimental routines within one set.
• One-off edits (e.g. “shorter intro for this gig”).
• Alternative breakdowns you only use in a certain show.

4. Creating and editing cue points

Exact UI may differ, but a typical flow looks like this:

4.1 Dropping a cue

1. Load a track onto a deck.
2. Play or scrub to the position you want.
3. Press Set Cue or click a “+” near the waveform.
4. A cue marker appears on the waveform.

You can often colour or label cues (e.g. “IN”, “OUT”, “DROP”) depending on your UI.

4.2 Moving a cue

• Drag the marker directly on the waveform, or
• Use small “nudge left/right” controls while zoomed in.

For precise placement:

• Zoom in on the waveform,
• Place the cue exactly on the transient of the kick or snare.

4.3 Deleting a cue

• Click the cue marker and use Delete / Remove,
• Or use a context menu / hotkey if provided.

5. Adjusting beatgrids

If tinytunes DJ supports manual grid editing, you'll typically see:

• A grid overlay on the waveform,
• Controls to:
  • Set a grid anchor (where beat 1 is),
  • Adjust BPM up/down,
  • Nudge the grid globally.

Common corrections:

• The grid is slightly ahead/behind the kicks:
  • Use a phase nudge or drag the grid to align.
• The BPM is detected at half/double the real value:
  • Halve or double the BPM, then re-align.

You don’t need a perfect grid for casual playing, but for tight sync/loops, it helps a lot.

6. Using cue points in practice

Practical ways to use cues while learning a track:

• Structure map
  Set cues for:

  • Intro start,
  • First drop,
  • Breakdown,
  • Final chorus,
  • Outro.

• Loop practice
  Set cues around tricky loops:

  • 8-beat or 16-beat sections you want to nail.

• Transition rehearsal
  Mark:

  • “Safe in” point where you can bring the track in,
  • “Safe out” point where you can exit without clashing.

Run through a track repeatedly, jumping between cues until the timing feels automatic.

7. Using cue points in live mixing

In performance, cues let you:

• Jump back to a reliable intro if the timing went wrong.
• Skip long or boring breakdowns on the fly.
• Hit specific drops or hooks exactly on the bar.

Example workflow:

1. Start the incoming track from an “IN” cue on Deck B.
2. Use EQ and crossfader to blend.
3. If the crowd responds well to the chorus:
   • Jump back to the pre-chorus cue and run it again.
4. If you need an emergency reset:
   • Jump to a “safety” cue on a known banger track.

8. Tips and best practices

• Don’t overdo it: 4-8 well-chosen cues is often enough per track.
• Be consistent in naming/colour-coding cues so your eyes understand them quickly.
• Fix beatgrids on tracks you use often, especially:
  • House/techno,
  • Drum & bass,
  • Anything where sync/loops matter.
• Save time by setting base (global) cues once, then refine with set-specific cues where needed.

Cue points and beatgrids are small investments with huge payoff:
once configured, they turn every track into something you can navigate and re-shape almost instantly.