Searching BeatsBase
What’s in the BeatsBase Database?
The BeatsBase Database is essentially a collection of the track data for tens of thousands of songs. For each song, the database contains at least the title, artist, and original tempo but in many cases also includes genre, subgenre, original key, time (length), year and label of release.
How do I search the database
Searching the database is easy. All you have to do is follow the Search link on the main site navigation bar and you will be directed to the BeatsBase search form. By entering your search criteria into the appropriate boxes in this form and hitting the ‘Search >’ button BeatsBase will return a results table of tracks matching your criteria.
Should you wish to search for playlists or mixes containing particular tracks, all you have to do is click the ’search playlists’ or ’search mixes’ link below the search box, enter your search criteria, and hit ‘Search >’.
What is strict searching?
By checking the strict searching box on any of BeatsBase’s search forms you limit your search to return only songs that exactly match your search criteria. For example, searching for ‘love’ in the track title and ‘daft punk’ in the artist name without strict searching will return every song with the word ‘love’ somewhere in its title and every song by Daft Punk. The same search using ’strict searching’ would only return songs with ‘love’ in the title by ‘daft punk’ (e.g. Digital Love).
What does ‘Include double/half counts’ mean?
Whilst many users may wish to search the database for tracks based on their BPM count, it is considered unlikely that they would be looking for an exact tempo match. With this in mind the BeatsBase search form enables users to search for tracks with a BPM count +/- a number of beats-per-minute. That way users can finds tracks of a similar, not necessarily exact, tempo suitable for mixing in their next set!
Equally useful is the ‘include double/half count’ checkbox which allows the search results to include tracks with a BPM count exactly half or double the entered amount. Whilst these tracks may be vastly different in tempo, they remain compatible for mixing purposes and so users will appreciate their potential inclusion in their search results.