So first let’s look at the “best” key detection software options we have today. So the big question for DJs is: Should you use Mixed In Key, the “industry standard”? Or should you just rely on the key detection built in to your DJ software? Or something else? So… which software is best? And there are other alternatives, free and paid for, either standalone or part of other music-related apps. Move forward to today, though, and nearly all DJ software has key sync built-in. This information could then be “seen” by DJ software, enabling DJs to mix in key. But luckily there was a piece of software called Mixed In Key, a standalone key detection app, to add this information to MP3s. (I remember doing so with a piano keyboard and some rudimentary chord knowledge, gained from my training as a guitarist.) The arrival of key detection softwareĮven as recently as a few years ago, DJ software didn’t even have key detection built into it. DJs wanting to mix in key “back in the day” had to do this, too. Trained musicians can quickly figure out the key of a piece of music – some can even do so without resorting to an instrument. The combination of being able to know the key of a song, “lock” that key even when changing tempo, and even have your software suggest potential matching tracks, has been a game-changer for DJs in recent years.īut just as when your software guesses your tracks’ BPMs wrong, no amount of hitting the “beat sync” button is going to save your mix, if the key detection is incorrect, you’ll have a similar problem too. But which key detection is best right now That’s what we’ll find out in this article. Check out our own Matt Donner’s breakdown of Lizzo’s Truth Hurts using Captain Melody HERE.Mixing in key – making sure your tracks are compatible harmonically when you DJ – is one of the big areas of DJing that has been made easier by digital DJing. Another favorite you should know about is their suite of Captain Plugins used for creating melodies, chords, and bass lines. Mixed In Key is a fabulous company that creates incredibly useful and creative tools for producers and DJs. Nothing will ever beat good old-fashioned, analog listening. Remember, if it sounds good, that’s what really matters. Just like with many rules in music, they can be bent or broken so long as you understand the underlying premise. These scales only share three notes so there is a possibility of harmonic clashing.Īll and all, the best answer is to test your mixes out. This is the equivalent to moving up one semitone, C to C# for example but it is not recommended to try this when both song parts have dense harmonic and melodic content happening during the mix. Moving + or – 3 is probably not often going to work as well. ![]() Moving + or – 1 works because each of the scales share six of seven note.Moving from say 3A to 2B or 3B to 4A works as well.This works because these two scales are relative and share all the same notes. We could also stay in the same number position and shift from A to B or B to A (major to minor). The obvious answer is to stay in the same key, 4 A to 4A, for example. ![]() Again shifting up from C two positions, we move 14 semitones, or C to D.Ī mix works well between two different keys when the scales of each share many of the same notes. ![]() If we start on C, moving up 7 semitones, we arrive at G. Moving left or right one space from any position on the Camelot Wheel, we have a key change of a Perfect Fifth which is 7 semitones away. With a little understanding of music theory, we can explain why, for instance, a mix between 12A and 1A works.Īn octave is made of 12 notes or semitones.
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