Keymixing

bagelator · Post by **bagelator** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:07 pm

spooKs wrote:I only mix records that are in the key of B flat to be honest.

safe i play the bflat clarinet

wascal · Post by **wascal** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:13 pm

4linehaiku wrote:is just playing different notes on a keyboard until one sounds nice with the tune a resonable method of finding the key it's in?

Yep, thats about it. The main thing is making sure you play each record at the same bpm when you're doing this

sully_shanks · Post by **sully_shanks** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:14 pm

4linehaiku wrote:
abZ wrote:It's funny my dnb buds never notice when I keymatch but one time I was playing and a friend that is into deep house walked through the door and listened for 10 minutes and said "wow dnb keymatched" That was when I was still playing dnb of course
I would imagine that this sort of thing is perfectly suited to epic 5 minute long deep house mixes. Wasn't it Sasha & John Digweed who made a big deal about keymixing at some point?
In the words of someone, "John Digweed: Playing boring tunes really really well". I quite like some Deep House though, so I should probably stop dissing.

Finally, given that I don't have musical training and I can't tell what note is going on by ear, is just playing different notes on a keyboard until one sounds nice with the tune a resonable method of finding the key it's in?

lots of notes will sound nice, but only 1 (the root) will sound 'right'

numaestro · Post by **numaestro** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:40 am

I would have thought keymatching is essential - mixing isnt just about running two (or more) records at the same speed-right? How you achieve that is a matter of taste - working out the scales or just using your ears.
Personally I follow the three P´s approach a)practiseb)preparation and c)patience.

spooKs · Post by **spooKs** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:56 am

4linehaiku wrote:
wascal wrote:The idea of beatmatching and working out the key of over 200 dubstep records in an afternoon doesn't strike me as a lot of fun. Especially as I'm still don't know how you work out a tune's key beyond humming along with it. Do you just bash a keyboard until something sounds right or what?

it's not so much just bashing a keyboard, remember there's only 7 notes in our musical language

pete_bubonic · Post by **pete_bubonic** » Thu May 17, 2007 11:52 am

randomhed wrote:Ive got a key lock on my decks, never used it once but after reading this i may investigate a lil further.

No time stretch, pitch correction algorithms sound good. Yet. Even the super dooper expensive pioneer cdj's still sound a bit crap on the master tempo setting.

reptilian · Post by **reptilian** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:38 pm

best not to get too hung up on what key its in and just use your ears

one reason is that something might be in harmony with something else, eg. different key but still sounds cool and in tune.

its one thing writing down all the different keys but to get into which keys may or may not go (especially if there's chords in there) gets pretty heavyfrom a theory perspective

also, something in the same key might still sound shit, you don't want to get into trying to "key match" for its own sake...

owengriffiths · Post by **owengriffiths** » Thu May 17, 2007 1:05 pm

I dont understand how a song which is made up of several different keys can be narrowed down just to the one.

And if there are only 7 notes, how comes even the smallest piano will have at least double the amount of keys

pete_bubonic · Post by **pete_bubonic** » Thu May 17, 2007 2:17 pm

owengriffiths wrote:I dont understand how a song which is made up of several different keys can be narrowed down just to the one.

And if there are only 7 notes, how comes even the smallest piano will have at least double the amount of keys

I'm not musically trained so someone should probably correct me but:

All the keys are in a scale that centres around one note, the root note. I guess this is the dominant key of the track. So if you have the Chromatic scale (every semi tone in an octave) based in E, the that's where the scale begins and ends.

I think.

Rob H · Post by **Rob H** » Thu May 17, 2007 2:19 pm

owengriffiths wrote: And if there are only 7 notes, how comes even the smallest piano will have at least double the amount of keys

more than one octave, and those 7 notes are excluding sharps/flats

pete_bubonic · Post by **pete_bubonic** » Thu May 17, 2007 2:29 pm

CFour wrote:
owengriffiths wrote: And if there are only 7 notes, how comes even the smallest piano will have at least double the amount of keys
more than one octave, and those 7 notes are excluding sharps/flats

Also, these are just in the western scales, you have to completely retune instruments to play indian and middle eastern scales as far as I am aware.

The western octave is built of 12 semi tones. But in India they fully embrace what we call quarter notes.

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Thu May 17, 2007 3:27 pm

spooKs wrote:
4linehaiku wrote:
wascal wrote:The idea of beatmatching and working out the key of over 200 dubstep records in an afternoon doesn't strike me as a lot of fun. Especially as I'm still don't know how you work out a tune's key beyond humming along with it. Do you just bash a keyboard until something sounds right or what?
it's not so much just bashing a keyboard, remember there's only 7 notes in our musical language

There's 12 as has been pointed out.

Mind you if you go for free jazz skronk style, keys are essentially irrelevant. As are rhythms. It's all about vibe and drill noise

j_j · Post by **j_j** » Thu May 17, 2007 3:52 pm

^ definately 7 ..

i think 90% of you would keymix daily and not even notice..
all the gadgets and knowlegde in the world wont help you if you have a shit ear..feel it out or be stuck halfway thru a set caught looking at key stage mixing notes..like a mc spitting live reading a lyric book..not the look.

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Thu May 17, 2007 3:56 pm

It's 12 chromatic, but seven to any key. Sharps and flats innit

wascal · Post by **wascal** » Thu May 17, 2007 3:59 pm

J_J wrote:all the gadgets and knowlegde in the world wont help you if you have a shit ear..

very true. btw no need to keep a book with key lists or anything, just mark the inside of the record sleeve in pencil

j_j · Post by **j_j** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:01 pm

insane party dj's.......yawn..

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:26 pm

wascal wrote:
J_J wrote:all the gadgets and knowlegde in the world wont help you if you have a shit ear..
very true. btw no need to keep a book with key lists or anything, just mark the inside of the record sleeve in pencil

But then the keys are going to be out when you change the pitch. Much better just to know your records well and then you'll have a good idea about what goes into what. And it isn't going to help if the tune has a key change is it.

Better just to practise and find out for yourself

wascal · Post by **wascal** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:48 pm

Shonky wrote:Much better just to know your records well and then you'll have a good idea about what goes into what.

Correct, theres no substitute for this tbh.

jason burns · Post by **jason burns** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:01 pm

when i can get the key lock to work on final scratch, i've been able to pull off some "on key" mixes. basically if 2 tunes are relatively close i just find a strong musical note on one tune. pitch it up or down till i think it sounds good with the other tune, then lock the key, then go about matching the tempo like normal. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

jason burns · Post by **jason burns** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:01 pm

when i can get the key lock to work on final scratch, i've been able to pull off some "on key" mixes. basically if 2 tunes are relatively close i just find a strong musical note on one tune. pitch it up or down till i think it sounds good with the other tune, then lock the key, then go about matching the tempo like normal. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Keymixing

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