Hello everyone, this question is very simple, how can I find the key of a track? I intend to mix … :w00t:
you ve 2 options:
- buy software who does that for you → http://www.mixedinkey.com/
2.train your ears by playing the key on a keyboard and find it out by yourself
with the program mixedinkey you can save the keys in id3-tag and p.ex order in traktor your tracks by key !
greets
or option 3
download rapid evolution, personally i think this is better than mixed in key and it’s free
http://www.mixshare.com/wiki/doku.php?id=rapid_evolution
Or if you are broke,
Try to figure it out yourself. Load up a piano and find the root note and then follow by figuring out the notes thereafter.
[quote]howiegroove (1/1/2010)[hr]Or if you are broke,
Try to figure it out yourself. Load up a piano and find the root note and then follow by figuring out the notes thereafter.[/quote]
lol how is that any cheaper than the one i suggested
sorry…missed the free part. :doze:
ive used mixed in key before and its a great piece of kit.
anything that can do the same job for free id definitely recommend!
as for me, i prefer to just run my finger down the piano roll until i hit the root note of the song. you’ll know you’ve hit it when you can press this key continuously without it sounding out of key with the tune!
then just play around from there to find a succession of notes that work with the tune!
if your ears aren’t ‘tuned’ to it, then one of those pieces of software will do the job for you quickly and efficiently
Thanks!! 
Bryan, i have a dumb question… :w00t:
If you press note by note on a piano, you can find out if the key is a C, D, E, A, … sharp (#) or not. But it looks like those softwares (mixed in key and rapid evolution 2) provides more accurate informations, like the chord and if it’s a major or minor… C#m for example.
Do we really need to know the chord and its type (major, minor, …) to mix tracks in key or the simple note will be good enough ?
Please accept my apologies for upping this… but i really need an answer to my last question…
i havent used mixed in key but i dont think it’s telling you the chord, it’s telling you the scale
i just play along till the notes sound good, the book music theory for computer musicians helped me out a lot too
ctdf,
Actually I think its just telling you the key signiture.
After mixed in key has finished its analysis it generates a code based on the key it thinks the song was created in. Just how accurate that analysis is remains to be seen. Whatever.
Say for example mixed in key generates a code of 1A for a given song.
The wheel above points to the key of Aflat harmonic minor.
Take this to its next logical conclusion and find the notes and chords
that reside within the key of A flat harmonic minor using the link below.
As far as I can see mixed in key assumes the tune is harmonic (probably good enough) but say the tune is based on a melodic or natural minor scale?
The good news is the link below also allows you to select
harmonic, melodic and natural.
Take note of that as the results vary.
[url]http://www.guitar-chords.org.uk/a-flat-harmonic-minor-chords.html[/url]
I’ve obviously selected the harmonic minor.
Ab harmonic minor scale notes: Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb G
Now the chords. Abmin Bbdim Cbaug Dbmin Ebmaj Fbmaj Gdim
Sorted 
Personally I also prefer to run my fingers and use my ears but to be honest
when I first started out my ears weren’t fully tuned.
[quote]Do we really need to know the chord and its type (major, minor, …) to mix tracks in key or the simple note will be good enough ?[/quote]
Not really but its probably better to fully understand why and how things work.
One possible example is outlined above where 2 tunes appear to share the same key signiture but in reality those keys vary slightly causing a very slight key clash. From a compositional standpoint it matters.
thats what i meant (in my head :D)
Yeah understood. Its just nomenclature at the end of the day.
**looks for his thesaurus **
[quote]krome (1/27/2010)[hr]As far as I can see mixed in key assumes the tune is harmonic (probably good enough) but say the tune is based on a melodic or natural minor scale?
[/quote]
Emmh… i’m not very good in music terminology in my mother language (french) and i am even worse in english… what are those “harmonic”, “melodic” and “natural” scales and what is the difference between them ?
[quote]krome (1/27/2010)[hr]One possible example is outlined above where 2 tunes appear to share the same key signiture but in reality those keys vary slightly causing a very slight key clash. From a compositional standpoint it matters.[/quote]
Which tunes are you talking about ?
[quote]mike dessler (1/28/2010)
Emmh… i’m not very good in music terminology in my mother language (french) and i am even worse in english… what are those “harmonic”, “melodic” and “natural” scales and what is the difference between them ?
[/quote]
Click this link for the answer
[quote]
Which tunes are you talking about ?[/quote]
Any tune or tunes that mixed in key analyses.
[quote]krome (1/29/2010)[hr]Click this link for the answer
[/quote]
Hehe, never heard about this lmgtfy… very funny ! 
Anyway, my question came right after checking by myself on Google. :hehe:
I think I understood the “technical” difference between those scales… All of them are the scales up and down of a particular note with a slight difference between them. With minor scales, it’s on the seventh note for the harmonic scale (which is half-tone higher on the way up AND on the way down) and on the sixth and seventh note for the melodic scale (which is half-tone higher for both of them on the way up BUT identical to the natural scale on the way down).
My question was more something like “why use one instead of another ?” or “How comes there are three scales for a single note ?” or “Is one of them more appropriate depending of the type of music you are producing ?”
Let’s say for example… one day, a teacher explained me the difference between major and minor chord. He said “one of them is happy and the other is sad”. Then, he played a E major followed by a E minor and I immediately understood what he was talking about. Since then, when i want to create a dark atmosphere in my tracks, i always use minor chords and major chords when i want something more bright…
I’m looking for a similar explanation… to understand which one i should use depending on how I want to sound.
Hi Mike glad you saw the funny side of the link.
[quote]
My question was more something like “why use one instead of another ?” or “How comes there are three scales for a single note ?” or “Is one of them more appropriate depending of the type of music you are producing ?”[/quote]
To be honest I could write a ver bad book about why use one over another but I suppose the succinct answer is each of the 3 minor scales has its own particular flavour or fingerprint.
Not only for melodies but for the accompanying harmonies too.
C Melodic Minor scale notes: C D Eb F G A B
Cmin Dmin Ebaug Fmaj Gmaj Adim Bdim
C harmonic minor scale notes: C D Eb F G Ab B
Cmin Ddim Ebaug Fmin Gmaj Abmaj Bdim
C natural minor scale notes: C D Eb F G Ab Bb
Cmin Ddim Ebmaj Fmin Gmin Abmaj Bbmaj
I encourage you to try each to get an idea of how they sound.
Also notice all three contain diminished chords.
Diminished chords are highly unstable and seek resolution more so than major or min. Think dark and you are on track.
Two contain augmented chords.
Augmented chords have a tense sound too that also seeks resolution.
Another chord type not even listed above is the Suspension chord.
sus2 and sus4 chords which offer a suspenseful sound.
Yet another chord type, the power chords. neither major nor minor
only 2 of the three notes of the triad are used (no 3rd) so the melody usually defines major or minor tonality.
Now depending on genre a lot of modern composers who aren’t bound by the laws of functional harmony mix and match chord sets otherwise known as borrowing chords. I think the days of worrying or being forced to use one chord type over another are well and truly numbered. Thankfully.
Unless you want to sound all arty and classical.
Summary
maj=happy
min=sad
augmented=tense
diminished =angry
sus2/4=suspense
power=neutral
its fair to say music isn’t like mathematics it comes more from the heart so any attempt to over formulize it will more than likely sound too mechanical or predictable for the listener.
So the mix and match approach (trial and error) is the way forward imo.
By the way heavy metal or heavy music more often than not uses power and harmonic minor chords with melodies from all manner of exotic scales.
Trance uses the natural minor (aeolian) with borrowed chords a lot to get that euphoric sound.
Thank you VERY much for taking the time to give me this detailed answer ! :Wow:
Now, it’s up to me to try… and if something great comes from what I learned with the knowledge you shared with me, i will upload so you can listen to !
BTW, sorry for my bad english… i do my best but unfortunately, i lost a lot of my skills in the last years… i don’t practice enough !