How to make an 8-bar DJ intro

Work out the section

An eight-bar intro gives you 32 beats in 4/4. If the track is at 124 BPM, eight bars last about 15.48 seconds. To calculate it for another tempo, multiply 32 by 60 and divide by the BPM. Find a passage you can use as an intro and check where the phrase starts as well as how long it lasts.

Mark the first beat

Open Montaje (session) and connect the file. Zoom into the waveform near the intro and place the cursor on the first beat. Open Rejilla (grid), enter the BPM and use Cursor como primer golpe (cursor as first beat). Choose the bar division. If the first beat is at 12.40 s at 124 BPM, the eight-bar window ends around 27.88 s.

Listen and keep the intro

Select those eight bars. Use Bucle de selección (loop selection) to hear how the end and the start of the phrase fit together. The preview may pause briefly when it goes back to the start of the loop. If there is a click at the edge, try a short fade and check that the first beat keeps its attack.

Save the section as a region in Marcas (markers), check its start and end and export it from Opciones → Exportar regiones… (options → export regions). The WAV contains the section once. For a full version with that intro, copy the selection to a track and build the session there with the rest of the song.